The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-09-10
KNEW HIM TOO WE'LL.
How a Revivalist Was Downed
by Tennessee Coun-
try Folk.

prettiest coves and valleys in oil the
state, when l heard a voice singing on the
trail ahead, AS | anne nearer | discov-
cred a man seated on q rock with a book
in his hand. He was a hard looking Gus
toner. ragged, unshavcd and unwashed,
and ne sung with such energy and in
such harsh tones that / suspected he was
crazy. However. as 500 as be heard and
saw me he called out:
"Be not afraid, stranger; l am here to
do the Lords work. Two months ago l
was the most shuckless critter in all Ten
nessee, and wicked to boot. Light has
busted in upon me, and ! am tryin' to
make my Teller critters see and mend the
error Of their ways. Let us sing"
Ho had q Moody and Sankey hymn book,
but he could only read with difficulty,
and his enthusiasm was too great for him
to stick to the text. He burst into song.
When he had finished his song no
nounced that he was q ~revivalist on his
tour to stir up the sinners of the noun
tains, and that he vas to hold services
that afternoon at Wharton's Valley, about
five miles away. As / was bound for the
same place We went on in company. 1
soon discovered that the man was rough,
ignorant and given to plug tobacco, but
he seemed earnest in his mission, and so /
found many excuses for him. He could
chow more tobacco in a given time and
spit further through his front teeth than
any man | ever saw. Icarried o few plugs
in my knapsack for the benefit of the ma
tives at large, and he 500 discovered this
and now and then would observe:
Eyes, stranger, although you may hev
bin a pirate, there's hope ahead fur you,
and I'll take another bite O. that plug"
By the time we had arrived at Whar-
tons, he had wasted half my stock, and
had spat upon every rock on the wayside.
There were two cabins here, with three
Others within the mile, and about fifteen
people had gathered to hear the r~evivalist
talk. He introduced me as "a Teller crit
ter" he had picked up on the way, and
added that l evidently needed praying for
the worst way. The people received him
learned tho reason. When we had had o
about the open door of the cabin, and the
r~evivalist began by saying:
''Thar's sin and wickedness yere-heaps
of it. Youuns is nuthin' but a shuckless
pack of sinners on yer way to a fiery fur
mace fed with sulphur and brimstun. The
devil is clus behind the hull of ye, an he's
bound to git ye."
"Look-a-yere, Joe Williamsi" inter
rupted a tall and serious looking noun
taineer as he rose up s'let's start this
yere circumstance at the beginnin'. In
the fust place, who was YER
Don't interrupt a sarvent of the Lordl''
warned Joe.
eyes, who was YEP inquired a woman
as she laid aside her snuff stick to stand
up. Eye was pore an shuckless an low
down, Joe Williams, only a few weeks
ago. Yer hull family was bar'fut, an tho
best we had to eat was bar meat an
pones. Ye drank mo- whisky than all
the men put together, an ye never had a
second shirt to yer backl"
This wasn't a corker for Joseph. He
heard the woman through with a smile,
and then said:
"a sarvent of the Lord must take the
abuse of shuckless sinners and turn the
other cheek. l hev cum up yere to warn
ye that the seventh signals has bin sot in
the heavens as o warmth Wool Wool
Wool Them as gin heed will pass down
the trail clothed in silks an satins an
pearls. Them as scoff an revile an cuss
around will be Token by the heels an
flung into the fiery furnace, which is 100
feet deep an full of twistin' sarpints."
Two children were overcome and began
to cry at this, but the father of one of
them gave him a box on the ear and rose
up and said:
"Who was you an what. is you? We
all know you to be a shifless, onery,
shuckless varnint. You wasn't fit to wipe
up skunk's lie fur ten long vars. Then
you went over to Knoxville, jined tho
Salvation Army, an hev cum back yere to
call us pore and wuthless sinners"
"Let US sing" said the r~evivalist, as
the other paused, but the people groaned
him down, and the other continued:
"We'vo bin feedin' yer pore heart
broken wife and children, an you hep bin
g~allivantin' around an purtendin' you had
q call from the Lord to whoop 'er up.
kin tell yo to yer face, Joe Williams. that
this settlement wants mono O. your kind
of religun, an it wants q mighty sight
less of you'll Git right down an shetiS
"Hain't l got religun?" demanded Doc.
HAS o bar got wings?" answered one
of the women. ''Tho Lord wouldn't hev
ye, Joe, an you know it. You'stooonery
all through. You's too lazy to hold to
religion if you got it."
Hes jist got to shetl", shouted another
woman.
"Haint | got no call to spread the Cos
pel?' asked Joe.
Mary call" answered one of tho men
who had spoken before. You has jist
got a call to DO meaner pizen, and that S
all thar is to It,"
"An' I've mistook, hev II" queried the
alleged revivalist.
"You hevl Now, then, you pint fur
home! Marian is thar a-waitin' an the
three children ar thar a-waitin' an you
jist git up an arm some pork an corn an
let the Lord alone. II ye don't do it thar's
gwine to be sone tar an feathers around
yerel"
"Nayburs," said Joe after a painful
pause, ''if I've mistook then I've mistook.
/ reckon you know better nor me, an I'm
willin' to take advice. Beats all creation
how l mistook, but Ishsn't go agin yer
words"
With that he stepped down and out and
ceased to be q revivalist and soon disap-
peared. Then the big mon with the seri-
GUS face got up, turned his eyes to
heaven and said; ''Oh, Lord, we is onery
nm mean and low down. We is shuckless
an shifiess. We bev made whisky agin'
the law, an we hev bin liars an p~rofaners.
Thar's nothin' pizen mean that we hewitt
done at some time or other, but we rcck-
ons on thy goodness to forgive. We is
pore an ignorant. Some of Gus can't read
nor write, an we is allus ailin' with bod
H. -.- 49,