Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-02
WAS THIS LIE JUsrIF1ABLEg
A Colored ministers Entertaining stOr

A COlOred Minister'S Entertaining Story.
Whilst l was on visit to Eden No. .,
Central Railroad, about two weeks since,
and waiting for delayed train to take
me back to the city, met an estimable
colored man, a minister of the Baptist
Church, 1 think, in that vicinity. In
the course of conversation | learned that
he was the former slave, and in his young
days the 'hOuse boy'' of a gentle
man by the name of MurkIsOn,
VINO lived before the war, and, perhaps,
still lives, in the State of North Carolina.
The expression 'tMy old MASTER" which
he so often used whilst the conversation
progressed, and his gentlemanly and
respectful bearing towards his
white listeners, at once showed
me that he had been reared by one of the
Old-tIme "gentle folk families of the good
old North State. The topic of CONVEX
sation finally drifted to the question, Scan
a deliberate lie be justiiabe under any
circumstances After various argu-
ments, pro and con, had been advanced
by the bystanders, some of whom were,
like myself, Willing away the time until
the cars arrived, the minister, whom l
will call Andrew, said: "Well, gentle
men, if you will permit me l will relate
an incident that happened to me when l
was boy, and of a deliberate lie which
l tOld-the only one (?), by-the-by, l ever
told in all my life. and, perhaps, some of
you gentlemen may agree with me that it
was Justihable-at least | Will assure you
l thought it was at the time it happened.
My old master was always very strict
with the youngsters which he owned, and
at the least shOrtcOming on the part of
any one of US he would say - "YOu young
rascal, go and cut a hickory and bring it
to me, and be quick about it, too" This
order always meant sound warming up
of the jacket. If it did not, as l have too
often found to my sorrow, then-extend to
seat of the trousers, including the cuticle
encased in those necessary attaibutes to
decent appearance in society. On one
| occasion, after a fragrant derelictiOn of
duty, the old gentleman being in pas
sion at the time, called out, "YOu young
scoundrel, 80 and get hickory" To lag
| behind for an instant after such an order
meant sure and certain double dose of
| the well known application. How to es-
| cape this impending faggellatiOn was
| question busy in my mind as | ran to obey
| the mandate. Leaving the porch of the
| house in run on my way to the thicket
| where my tormentors grew in abundance,
! l eSpied a stranger on horseback with his
! saddle-bags strapped to his saddle, quiet
| ly riding down the road. The question
! that perpleXed my mind was at once
| solved. | knew that If l could get old
/ master and the stranger in conversation
| the former might forget what he had
! sent me for, and l by this forgetfulness
| luckily escape the dressing | was other
! wise sure to receive. No sooner had the
| way of escape presented itself than
| seized it at once; and, approaching the
| traveller hat in hand, | accOsted him as
| follows Good evening, sir. My old mas
! ter, who lives in yonder house, sent me to
! ask you if you will be so kind as to ride
| up to the house and come IN, as he is very
! anxious to see you about a little business.
| I'll hold your horse, sir The stranger
replied: why, boy, there is some mistake
and your master, L am sure, does
not know me- ooh no, sir,
there amt any mistake. Master saw you
/ from the window as YOU were riding
along, and told me to be in hurry and
catch yOn before you passed. No, sir,
there's no mistake, Pm sure, because we
could see you plainly BY this time he
had gotten just in front of the house. l
| begged the traveller to wait for moment
until | could tell my master that he was
sorry that he could not stop to see him.
| ran into the house where master was
sitting by a big black jack fire, and said:
"There's a stranger out in the road, sir.
in front of the house who babe me tell
you that he would like to see you very
much, and please to come out and see
him. Old master Immediately got up and
fastened out on the piazza, and hailed
the traveller very kindly, asking him to
alight, that his boy would hold his horse,
and please to come in and take some re-
freshments with him. The stranger re-
piled that he was very sorry that he could
not accept the kind invitation, that he
was compelled to hurry On,as he had been
in the saddle since daybreak, and was in
Of q
seen, but whom he learned lived about
IS miles further up the road near the Dor
ders of Tennessee; that he was
anxious to make all the speed
he could, and would not
have stopped at all had not his boy told
him that he was very anxious TO see him
on some important business. The old
gentleman, with surprise in his face, said:
"Why, the young rascal, l did not tell
him anything of the kind, but l sent him
to get me a hickory, with which was
about to inflict upon him well mcrited
chastisement; in fact, l did not even
on the contrary, he came running to me-
and asked me to make haste, that there
was a traveller in front of the house who
was inquiring for me and that he was
very anxious to see me, so
came out at once to see what you
wanted" | saw that my scheme was
was working beautifully, but L was, all
the same, trembling like leaf shaken by
a high wind, and fearing my ruse might
turn against me instead of in nv favor.
Ny old master, with all that courteous
hospitality that our Old-time Southern
white fOlks-and there are a few left yet
knew so we'll how to extend to q stranger,
or anyone else, commenced laughing kind
ly and said: "Well, sir, as the young
scOundrel has fooled both of us, come in
at any rate and let US make the acquaint-
ance of each other. My name, sir, is
John MurkisOn, and have lived on this
plantation for fifty years, and my father
before me and his father all have
lived here time out of mind The trav-
eler replied, why, sir, it is very strange,
for my name is MurkisOn, too. l am the
son of Henry Murkison, who lived near
Culpeper Court House in Virginia; ne
has recently died, and l, having no
brothers or sisters, and being quite alone
in my Virginia home, thought that /
would set out and try and find an uncle
of mine, my deceased fathers only bro
Their. have never seen this uncle, but
learn that he lives in this State, about !
100 miles from here, somewhere
near the borders Of Tennessee In |
twinkle Of the eye my old master held the |
traveller with his arms tightly clasped !
around his neck, crying, Welcome, well !
come, my boy, to my hOmel You are my !
nephew-the son of my only brother, |
whom 1 loved so wellp And then my old |
master called out in a hasty voice:
'LiZziep (that was my old mistress) |
Charlotte! Emma! Lucyp (these were |
my young misses come here quickly; | |
have some one here to introduce to you.' |
They all came running in GREATNESS |
haste, and then there was such another |
hugging and kissing and a crying and a |
laughing as was seldom if ever seen in |
old North Carolina before or since. / !
was in the corner with the rim and |
half of the crown of my old felt hat /
away down my throat trying to suppress |
the laughter that was every now and then I
bursting forth from the crevices in my |
throat which the rim and crGwn failed to |
fill tightly. l knew now for certain that |
my hide would not be tanned this time |
after all that hugging and crying and kiss |
ing. And the preacher turned full upon /
us and said, 'Well, gentlemen, was that |
lie justifable under the circumstances" |
The train at this moment hauled up to the /
station. "All aboard" was cried, and l |
was off for home. AS there was no time |
for me to answer this perpleXing question, |
will your kind readers do so?
Editor Morning Nel1S: The above story
was related to me at the time and place
mentioned therein by the worthy divine
UAndrew - although the words and man.