The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-01-06
BILLARP.

notable men, notable piety and learning
and eloquence. 1t is est T. our people 70
listen to their picked N as they dispense
wisdom from our pull They aee casting
bread upon the waterthey arescattering
seeds of repentance aIlove and: hndneW
that viii grow and 3 and 'hesr fruit.
ers did not increase thoolice like theydo
when a circus comes, when a political
meeting or an election tates the commun.
ity. We don't lock oudoors nor hide our
chickens. They didn'ome hungry and
they don't look hungryld those who have
honored our mansion y feasted on Mrs.
Arp's good things out ofpect to her. They
know Il 10 bad maEners . a guest to slight
the bountiss Of providen at q generous ia
BILE. They are good comny-rich In pleas
ant memories and witud ~anecdote. A
more unselish, genial. thkful and self sac
ridcing assembly than Methodist confer.
ence cannot befound in tbublunary world.
II the love Of money Is rty the root Of all
evil, just think what a gia curse these min.
tsters escape. Most Of thehave families to
support for 1t Is a phibphic fact that
like they all car. And thu - good wives,
too, for q woruan is obJie to be good who
makes up her mind to mara preacher, end
especially q Methodist picher. She has
got to forswear the fashio and the follies
Of life, and live for her Isband and her
children-her duty and herod. It Is easiIy
possible for q woman to dthat and move
every two years besides. "sir children are
trained to economy, and " always have
children-lots of children ho are born on
the fly, sorter like some ofurs were when
my wife was running from,e foul invader
and dodgine their scouts at cry crossroads;
sometimes they are in a Pity good house
and sometimes in q poor onaat has q leaky
root and walls that are lively night.
But the comforts Of the cult riders are
being gradually improved. lost of them
have four churches to sufer1th, and have
to provide their own transpOItion. whether
it be an old Methodist mare 4 saddle-bags
or a Presbyterian horse anDuggy. Sam
Jones says he furnished his o, nag the first
year he rode the circuit and Teived $65 for
the support Of his family. 7 average cir.
cult riders pay In this confence Is row
about S400-some more and soc less. ] seq
one name on the list who receed only $134
I wouldent live in that naboriod II / could
help it: / wouldent settle down any nabof.
hood where the people didn's p the preach.
er. It is a bad sign. Il Is dgn that tho
land Is poor or the People me-. But, the
preachers must go where they're sent, and
1t is missionary work to go tore poor and
the ignorant and proclaim theospel. The
preacher can do this from q sse of Chris
ian duty, but It Is hard on thsife and the
children. Il is q school whei thu young
preacher can learn how to prcL and can
develop, II there Is any gum ihim. It ID
like a young lawyer practicing / a Justices
court. It gives confidence IN hiselt, and IL
he makes q bIunder there Is ,body who
knows it. It is like a railroad mabeginning
his railroad life as q trackraiser ID climbing
higher and higher, until, like !. Thomas,
he reaches the highest place. Use bishops
and presiding elders were all ciuit riders
at the start and are full OF thmemories
about their first experience and ieir many
hardships The example Of jon Wesley
still animates these Methodists, Il he cross
ed the ocean to preach to savages.H He ford
ed rivers, crossed swamps, slel on the
ground, and went bare-footed, al with all
that he lived to be eighty-eightyears old
and has left a name with more amesakes
than any Christian name in the wild. But
he, too, had troubles worse than adians or
He married too late, an married
too much-a widow with four chiren can
hardly mate happily with q man ,ty years
old. She robbed HIM of his subance and
ran away several tirues, ard at st he let
her go and wrote in his journal: I" did not
her, I did not dismiss her, will not
recall her." Fortunately there werno chill
It seems to me that I could veryasily be-.
a Methodist. To say that I could NJ would
be q ref ction upon thousands Of Fat and
good m n who have lived and did in,the
faith q, d are 10Y among the blesse. And
30, too / could be q Baptist or aE isco.
l wouldent have far to 60. But ]
like my own church government te best.
The other day the preachers answted the
some plausible reasons, but all them
left out the reason that ania ates mosChris-
tians when they choose q church am q
Baptist because my father Is Of becase my
mother was. This is the kind Of reasa that
controls IS out Of every 100 members Z any
church. Most every church member wnt to
q particular church In youth, or to a lrtic.
ular Sunday school and then and Thea got
their religious association fixed, and the had
desire to change 1t. They knew q the
usages OF that church, when to stand q and
when to sit down and when to kneeand
when to sing, and how to take a nap o the
sly, II the day was hot and the preacher ulI.
As my good friend, DR.. Powell, would ay:
'fIt air depends either on the EereiIty 6ifhe
environment" Ths learned doctor iour
guest, aud, having for twenty years had
charge Of the State lunatics, he has rnae q
speciality of thu laws Of heredity, andt is
both instructive and entertaining to iste to
him. IF there is no heredity," saidhe,
'sthen environment comes next" The lea
is, that If a man was Of Scotch d~escent,n nd
his ancestors fer several generations ysre
John Knox Scotchmen. he would be a Pss-
byterian just as naturally as water rms
down hill. BE might be left an orphaIin
infancy and grow up without religious trim
jig, and be as wicked as Satan, but il he O.
came converted at q Methodist revivalhe
would join Presbyterian church. That's
heredity y, and it prevailsin all denominations
to Q large extent. It is stronger than envira.
ment, both in man and beast.
Now, Mrs. Arp was q Methodist-a vey
exemplary Methodist when ! married he,t
but her heredity on that line was not overy
strong, and so, like q dutiful wife, she cana
over to my church. ! was her environmen,
and it was stronger than her heredity. Sb
would ba Q joined mosu anything for Nd
then. II it was to do over again l have m.
doubts, for now she is my environment, AMI
I am the prisoner. We have DR.. Powell arr
DR.. Glenn with Us, and we had MIR. Yarbor-
ough and Mr.. White, and they We're discuss
ing the prodigal son, when MIR. Marlborough
remarked that 'the return of the prodieaI
and his generous, overwhelming forgiveness
was the central figure in the painting, and
all that about the envy Of the elder sun was
just shading put in by the artist to fill up
the picture. The world is full Of things real
ly unnecessary, but put in as ornament. No
doubt that there are parts Of a horses leg
hat the horse could have got along without
as welI.n Right here DR.. Powell bounced
ed him and denied that there was anything
made without q beneicent purpose-not even
the color of the hair on q horses leg-and ne
made the fur fly for a while, They fougGS
hard all round, but when the dinner pen
rang they closad much nearer together tnan
have a ~harmonizing effect.
Blessings on the preachers. May they 1--we
and have free course wherever they go.