Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-01-06
CHRONICLE LETTER BOX.

Letser From tine Rev. j. III. Gold.
DEAR CHRONICLE:- According
tc promise / take from the slumbers
OF the night feSs moments for COM
municating to you and through You
to my dear friends about our old
home.
The conference year, just closed,
has been happy one indeed, the
ensuing one at present promises to
be more so. came to my new cir
cult and preached one week ago
yesterday to large, intelligent and
appreciative congregation, leaving
my family in Ashley county. On
Monday / returned, expecting to
start with my family ON Wednes-
day. 1t began TO rain Monday
night and continued at intervals,
through the following day and
night, with very dark clouds. A
gloomy prospect indeed for move
of forty miles on sand roads with
family. / made 1t an object of
prayer, committing all to the Lord.
Just at sunrise Wednesday morn
ing the clouds departed in the
East, and in a few minutes we had
a cloudless sky which continued
so till our arrival at the parsonage
in the afternoon of Thursday. Here
we found one of the most comforta-
BILE and convenient parsonages fur
nished to our hand, in a refined, in
telligent and hospitable community.
/ preached, yesterday, in the neat
est country church have seen in
Arkansas, about one hundred yards
from the parsonage door. And such
singing as we had was truly an in.
spiration to the soul.
By invitation, / visited to-day
another of my churches, situated in
a village called Rock Spring. The
occasion was Sunday School cele-
bration and thanksgiving dinner,
one of the most enjoyable affairs of
the kind l ever attended. The
singing of the Sunday School num-
bering over hundred voices was
grand, evincing excellent vocal
training. An excellent repast inter-
spersed with pleasant tete q tete,
closed the programme. Then the
fragments were gathered, and the
preachers family were not forgot
ten. All this seemed enough for
one Christmas day, including sever
al visits of Santa Claus to the par
sonage. But we returned home to
find in the Church at our door
beautiful Christmas tree, bearing
varied and precious fruits in the
midst of a host of bright and happy
faces. / never knew a Christmas
tree to bear ham, corn meal, pota-
toes, iced cakes and cans Of fruit
before. This one did and all for the
preachers family, and besides, there
were many other little delicacies to
please the children. 1t has been a
most enjoyable Christmas to this
writer, pleasant to the body and ed
flying to the soul.
When / shall have visited one
more church / will have seen all on
my circuit, four in number, with
parsonage centrally located. We
have camp-grounds at two of them,
and hope to have at least one camp.
meeting this year. What a pleas
ure it would be to have the attend
ance of some of our Tennessee
preachers and especially Bro. Gull
lOm with whom l have enjoyed so
many precious seasons of Grace.
The lands here do not yield on an
average so much per acre as on
Bayou Bartholomew and Gum
Ridge, but for some reason, the
people seem to make more and en-
joy it better. This is a healthy
country. 1 really enjoy drinking
the water. 1t is so pure, and as
limpid as can be. We have a good
deal of sandy soil but much of it is
fine for farming. / passed over
some splendid woodland to day,
the growth consisting of hickory
and white oak with hazel, which a |
friend said could be bought at about |
50 per acre. 1t very much resem-
bled what would be considered the
finest tobacco lands in Tennessee.
This was only short distance from
the railroad.
Wishing pleasant Christmas
and a happy New Year to the
and it's many readers,
Adieu. JOHN H. GoLD.
Monticello, Ark, Dec. %, 1882.