Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-01-28
&eadiug.
A STORY OF SEVEN DEVILS.
I Frank r. Stockton, in The Ccnt,ry.]

The negro church which stood IN the pine
woods near the little village of Oxford Cross
Roads, in one of the lower counties of Vir-
ginia, was presided over by Uncle Pete; :;
but on Sundays the members of his cOngre-
CATION addressed him as Brudder Peter.
He was an earnest and energetic man, and,
although he could neither read nor write,
he had for many years eXpOunded the Scrip
lures to the satisfaction of his hearers. His
memory was good, and those portions of
the Bible which from time he had heard
read were used by him, and frequently with
powerful effect, in his sermons. His inter-
pretations of the Scripture were generally
entirely original, and were made to suit the
needs, or what he supposed to be the needs,
of his congregation.
He enjoyed the good opinion of every
body, excepting one person, and that was
his wife. She was high-temp pered, and had
the habit Of giving too much time to the
church, and too little to the acquisition
of corn bread and pork. She gave him
tremendous scolding one Saturday, which
so affected the spirits Of the good man that
it influenced his decision in regard to the
selection Of the subject for his sermon the
next day.
He did not take any particular text, for
| this was not his custom, but he boldly stat
ed that the Bible declared that every wo-
man in this world was possessed by seven
devils and the evils which this state of
things had brought upon the world he show
ed forth with much warmth and feeling. If
his deductions could have been proved to be
correct, all women were creatures who, by
reason oftheir sevenfOld diabolc possession,
were not capable of independent thought or
action, and who should in tears and humil-
ty place themselves absolutely under the ALL
thority of the other sex.
When he approached the conclusion of his
sermon, Brother Peter closed with bang of
the Bible, which, although he could not read
word of it, always lay open before him
while he preached, and delivered the con-
Guiding exhortation of his sermon:
"Now, my dear brev'ren OBJ this congre-
CATION, want you to understan' dat dar's
muffin in dis yer sarmon Wot you've JUS
heerd to make you think yoursefs angels.
BY no means, brev'ren; you was all brung
up by wimmen, an you've got ter lib wild
'em, an ef anythin' in dis yer worl is
ketchin, my dear brev'ren, it's habin deb
bills, and from Wot I've seen oh some oh de
men oh dis worl' 'spect dey is persest OBJ
bout all de debbils dey got room fur. But
de Bible dom say muffin p'intedly on de sub
jec' OBJ de number oh debbils in man, an
'spect dose dat's got 'em-an' we ought ter
leel pow iul tilauhlui, my ueai pieFieH, ue''
de Bible don't sayw all's got 'em-has 'em
cording to circumstances. But wild de
wimmen it's different; dey's got just sebin,
an bless my soul, brev'ren | think that's
huff.
"While / was a turnin' Ober in my min
de subiec' OBJ dis sarmon, dere come ter me
bit of Scripter Wot l heerd at a big preach
in an baptizin' at Kyarter's Mills, bout ten
year. ago. One OBJ de preachers was a-tell-
in about ole mudder Ebe a-eatin' de apple,
an says he: DE sarpint fus come along wild
a red apple, an says he, You glib dis yer to
yer husban', an he think it so mighty good
dat when he done eat it he glib you any
thing you AK him fur, eff you tell him Whar
she frew dat apple away. 'Wot you mean,
you trhin' sarpint,' says she, 'a-fotchin' me
dat apple wot amt good fur muffin but ter
make cider wid?' Den de sarpint he go
fotch her yaller apple, an she took one
bite an den says she, Go long wild ye,
you fool sarpint' wot for you fotch me dat
June apple wot amt got no taste to it?'
Den de sarpint he think she like sumpin'
sharp, an he fotched her green apple.
She takes one bite OBJ it, an den she frows it
at his head an sings out, is you 'spectin
me to glib dat apple to your Uncle Adam
an glib him de c0lic?' Den de debbil he
|
take no such trif1in' nubbinS as dat to her
husban' an she took one bite and frew it
away. Den he 90 fetch her two udder kim
OBJ apples, one yaller with red stripes an de
udder one red on one side an green on de
udder-mighty good-lookin' apples, too-de
kim you git S2 bar'l fur at the store. But
Ebe, she wouldn't hab neider kind OBJ 'em,
an when she done took one bite out OBJ each
one, she frew it away. Den de old debbil
sarpint he scratch he head, an he say to
hese'f: 'Dis yer Ebe, she powerful 'ticklar
bout her apples. Reckin 1'll have ter wait
till after fros', an fotch her real good one
An he done wait till after fros', an den he
fotch her a. Albemarle pippin, an when she
took one bite OBJ dat, she JUS go 'long an
eat it all up, core, seeds, an all. Look
hyar, sarpint,' says she, 'hab you got anud-
der OBJ dem apples in your pocket" An
den he tuck one out an glib it to her. 'Cuse
me, says she, Use gwine ter look up Adam,
an eff he don't want ter know whar de tree
is Wot desc apples grow on you kin hab
him fur a caWntiel' ham,
cam now, dear brev'ren, while l was a
turnin' dis subjec' ober in my min AM won
derin' how de wimmin come to hab JUS
seben debbils apiece, done reckereck dat
bit OBJ Scripter wot l heerd at Kyarter's
Mills, an reckon dat 'splains how de deb
UllS SOI lHleI WOuldIl. be Dbl PlHt lC uoH1
fotch Mudder Ebe seven apples, an ebery
one she take bite out of glib her debbl."
AS might have been expected, this ser
mon produced great sensation. and made
deep impression on the congregation. AS
a rule the men were tolerably we'll satisfied
with it, and when the services were over
many of them made it the occasion of shy
but very plainly pointed remarks tUtheir
female friends and relatives.
Butthe women did not like it at all. Feel
ings of Indignation soon spread among all
the sisters Of the church. Each one of them
knew she had not seven devils, and only
few Of them would admit the possibility Of
any of the others being possessed by quite
so many. Their preachers explanation Of
the manner in which every woman came to
be possessed of just so many devils appeared
to them of little Importance. What they
objected to was the fundamental doctrine of
his sermon, which was based on his asser
tion that the Bible declared every woman
had seven devils.
Although Sunday afternoon had scarcely
begun, the majority of the women of the
congregation began to call their minister
Uncle Pete. This was very strong evidence
of sudden decline in his popularity.
That afternoon an irate committee, COM
posed principally Of women, but including
also few men who had expressed disbelief
in the new doctrine, arrived at the cabin Of
their preacher, but found there only his wife,
cross-grained old Aunt Rebecca. She in
formed them that her husband was not at
home.
"He's done gagged hisse'f," she said, "ter
cut and haul wood fur Kunnel Martin ober
on Little mount'n, fur de whole OBJ neX'
week. It's fourteen or thirteen mile from
h'Var an eff he'd started termOrrer maWn-