Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1889-02-20
a R-MAR&A3L- Man.
rhs Manner in VIII ch IL Chorcd PrcaeAe
Learned to Read the B.blc.

rhs Manner in VIII ch II ca pred PrcSeAer
Learned To Read the BibIc.
Roy. Na:han Smith. Il priTl i've Bahiist
pea her. tail ana SIM. .ns'i " the tirSt
gan e wD1ld aoL b. taken fora Y more ihan
an ave age negro. Gat, says the Il,icon sGa.D
Ic'G7 dph. R6v. Ma. aan Snith Is III so'ne re-
spccts II very remarkable laan. lie CLAIMS
to be tifty-two years Old. though he does NOT
look 1t, and enjoys III hrs declining years he
reputation of beng an honest as weh rs a
sensible nlSn.
The manner in Which he first lca1acd 10
read. now he WAS strutll wi the ''spcfit,
AMI noW he began prcaehiAE, 'eeiAS lise IA
cnaptor aiom hoouGol3rl. and yet the story
is told liz tnc most straisnl-forwtrd 4nataner,
in all carncstness and III a nlanncf taaat de-
Ties denial.
! At an early ace. while phwinr as 4 slave
in II Mis- ,issnpl COTTON led. he says he was
suddcnly lcllcd 10 inc ground by solnr' alng
like II dun thud, that changed the whole
course of his life. 1t was the "spertn thdt
str,4ck niI4, ne says, ,istd immediately he
saw scenes prlghtcr than the sun had ever
snone on before, there WAS all brightness
above hlm ana below an awful gHlf. The
trees around in the wood, lowed to him as he
looked ut them, and every tnhg wt,s greatly
changed. For several weeks he remained
under the spell and during thst time his
master thought he mad lost his niad.
$50 | hasa,' said Saith, SO far as tenn.
poral things were concerned" FINALLY he
canse out ftonl under the spell, and ene
night he hsGa dream, or rather II vision.
He saw something like a pot Doiiins over, aad
out OF the steam came nttle mar with an
open book in hls hand flacing 1t before The
dreamer, the little man pointed I'd tue book
OF John and told him 10 reau. Smith was
CONSCIOUS of the fact hat he did net know
ono letter from anOtner and IN an instant
remembered how ne had pored over the lit
tie black Testament given AIm by his uacie,
and which he kept locked nb IN his trunk.
But he couM not resist as much as he
trlcd looking at the book, and then, to his
great amaZeEacnt, he read tic book of JOAN
as readily us sssay body could tavc done. he
read the booE through to the Cnd and then
read other books They were as easily read
as the first. Thus. N IA single night, hc had
learned to read. The little man hen van
ishcd as he had appeared, and the balance
of the night was spent in finding himself
preacn.ng 10 crowds OF people, OF walk .ng
mp ard down among the congregation and
Saving souls.
Tnc next morning when he awolSc he went
y
Testament, opened il, and The first word to
| meet hls eye was john. He tried to read,
and he found that n. could read we'll as
| he did the night before when told to do SO
| by the little malE Then nc went to an old
| negro ON the place, who was preaching
around. and told hia tnat he could read the
! Bible. The old man told hln that ne did not
knew 4 word III the book. Smith opened his
Testament and read aloud The old negro
was astonlsAed and cold hlna ne must be d
preacher, that he Rad beeh ordainea to
preach. That was thirty y-1iveyears ago, and
| in that time he had read the Bible, news
paHers or any thing IN the shape of read
ing, and yet was never taught II letter;
| When his smaster fcfugcd from Msssis-
sppi and settled in Americas, Smith was
phe of the party In 1861, when the Federal
ts%vcrnmcnt had work done IN Anderson
vsaE,. Smith was one of the hands. and it
wAs while there that he was induced to at
teAad general meeting of Primitive Bap-
| lists. The text for the morning was a verse
Smith had read when the little man
showed him the way to read. This inn
pressed hi9 very RhacR and that night he
was taken into the church. In short
whsia afterrard he went to preaching and
has kept 1t pp. lie had church in Laur-
CHS ,Oulit NlAt -llNo hillOo Aiohi n'oSOh,
and one in Houston CouRty. When he has
no money he walks the distance, believing
that lac must ssot incur u debt.
Smith has haeme4izcd the entire Bible
Prom Genesis to Revelation. He can tell
tho Verse, chapter and book or any extract
asked of him. and without the least hesita-
tion. Not only can he repeat eny passage,
but he can give hs idea of the meaning oil
il. He visits the store OF Davis a. Balkcom
occasionally, and often some one tries tc
trip him with his Bible knowledge, but it is
always v failure.