The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-02

could do almost anything that did not involve Q
call upon the State treasury. 10 was of use IN
organizing a force TO resist the savaaes; but was
not needed to preserve good order in the com.
had been committed among the settlers, al.
though there was not \ school nor a church In
Taught to shoot at lie mothers knee and
the nearest approach u. n church was the cir
library in the crown OF his hat. and his meeting
house wherever he happened to be ~ the lnR
spreading tree OF the great forest. These circuit
riders have been the true evangeIisls OF the
boGkwoods, worthy disciples OF the Master Who
have done will never be known till the great day
The close of the Revolutioaary war saw the
setting of such a tide Of emigration into Ten
nessee and Kentucky as has never been. known
anywhere In this country. not even. when the
completion of the Erie Canal first threw open
the great West to Eastern enterprise. hobcrt-
but into ii the west.going settlers ventured,
till by the year 1894 the colony numbered
H. men gi,b abe Ns. 70 y, Miel 3 an cs axe or tb esnq men a
spread in all directions, and Il was not long be-
fore there were no less than thirty-fy stations
each one of these stations could now be
found a rude log building. about sixteen feet
where, seated at o rough pine table, might be
seen a single woman OF uncertain age, with a
group Of young, learners about, her, She was
not q shining light Of erudition, but, having no
children of her own. she was thought peculiarly
truth To tell. she did turn out men and women.
SOME OF whom while living were ornaments "
the nation, and in dying lsft names hhat WI,
schoolhouses were also the first places OF worship
In. the colony.
ny his wife, and his erudition IL shown by the
fact that he always insisted that the saving of
Thomas 4 kempis. Man proposes. and TOD
disposes,' is to be found somewhere in the Book
ofJob. But II he had little book knowledge, he
that the general education Of the people is the
only sure bulwark OF n nations liberties.
Therfore: no sooner was the colony strong
from the say ages than he invited to IL the Rev.
Thomas i. Cralghead TO open there a seminary
OF, higher learning, Mr.. Craighe"d was a schol-
arly gentlemln, ut to grace the academic
grove and he Mt once founded tho Davidson
Academy and furnished tuition in, what we
should now call the usual English branches"
at the rate, say the minutes, Of -four. pounds
per annum, payable in hard money" This in
%stitutiOn subsequently grew into the University
We need to bear in mind that during this en-
tire period the Cumberland colony was girdled
with savage fire, and that. with only brief and
infrequent intervals. there was scarcely u day
when II was not death TO venture. except in con"
siderable bodies. much beyond r~ite-shot, OF the
fortified stations This fact makes strikingiy
endurance Of these men, but also the Unborn love
of enlightened liberty and Christian civilization
which has come down to us all from our PURITAN
and Covenanting ancestry. Robertson was Of
ScOtCh-irish descent; but there must have been
a strain Of Puritan blood in him or else there IS
ism and Cotton Mather Congrcgatl% onalisin
than can he seen with the naked eye, IL IS GER
tain that some of his laws might, have been
enacted by the godly gentry who hanged the
Salem witches.
Among other OF Robertson'sl laws which might
have been enacted by the New England Puri;
tans was one which ~enjoined tho omission OF all
s s@ce at p smbRiiI9y Worship ON ON" the SABBATH. Under
this act two persons were once arraigned. the
one for buying; and the other Pr, for selling a
that they had not contaminated the bargain on
the holy day. One had merely, said to the other:
- If ~ N.snrA NJ SIrnhnN / mil niNR Nnn an DlnCh
for the d~arky:" and, as there was no
overt action, both were let of with the
vices were prohibited. on the minutes Of the
was "Orded Vt samuel Henry be find loss for
profancly swearing. In ye presnce OF ye CT"
and even John Rains, the Joa5 OF the Young
abusing a neighbor on the public thoroushfarc.
AS he paid down his fine the gallant Captain re-
y" do not object TO having to pay for speaking
the, truth; but. fine or no fine. ] 10 insist that he
is the damnedest scoundrel in the settlement"
And he added some other explosives which
showed that he meant to have the full value Of
But this churchgoing people did drink whis-
key. II was at first brought down the river
, ,rShar na ,ssrs snca sn rag oeihE 20 IN c Rpvs' 8 H. eI tme
bitant prices. To remedy this evil the court en-
,6sp s. shs ssr no Sn Prtrson f ThGs p a ae FaiiinF if to a ntt mSre
u sufficient supply. an enterprising indiyidual
appoqnced his intention to erect a dissiliery;
4 A". N'bt WI plp1t v , h'N'' h"hiSt bhS |
ing that the " constitutional right, Of his
questioned, he went direct to the Legislature
and procured the passage of a law With this
grain scarce. owing to the Obstruction OF agri-
culture by the withdrawal of planters and
laoorers to Oppose the intestlng sayagesi sound
served for the subsistence Of the settlers and Of
the new immigrants upon their arrival" The
speech Robertson made on this occasion was 4
model OF oratOrical brevity. II was merely this:
" The conversion of grain into ,spirituous
bSnnty Of Providence It is nnserviceable to
white men and devilish for Indians"
Robertson held his own against the majorlty
his constituents got the better OF him. and a dis
.tillery was erected in the teeth Of the, law and
Hcifer, and the custom OF the distiller was to
blow a cows horn whenever a - run " OF the hot
served in q drinking cup made from the
horn, OF a buffalo, and the Western phrase,
:. Taking a horn is said TO have originated
Another Of Robertson's errors was one fixing
the charges of inn keepers. Only specified sums
The traveller and his horse, and certain rates for
his spiritual consolation. II rum fioated melted
per fiuid pint; hut il tallow sank in it-thereby
showing that IL contained more spirit than
landlord could demand eight pence.
There was neither gold nor silver in the coun-
and a. the North Carolina promises to
had toprovide some other circulating
He adopted about everything that
could he either worn or eaten, and also affixed a
rates which represented certain quantities OF
land thus making ;he solid earth itself pass
from hand to hand like more portable articles.
II became a common expression 10 say, II will
takeor give"a "three-twenty or 'six-forty,"
hose figures denOting so many acres. A yaluR-
able O40-acre tract in the suburbs of Nashville
once sold for three axes and two COW
BELLS" another for "a good rife and a clear
loned bell, y and the Hon. Randall VI. Ewing OF
Tennessee informed me that his great-grand-
father, who was the clerk of ItOberts0n's court,
Dnee gave a valuable tract Of SEQ acres for
plough. horse, and insisted to heday Of his death
that II was the best bargain he ever made.
These Instances are curiOusly illustrative of
The manners and way of life Of these people,
Who were in "a wide forest, and AT least ten
lays distant from the most westerly civilized
and they show that the first set
Hers beyond the Aileghanies were not the rude
lncouth. and uncultiyated baCkwOOdsmeu they
are generally pictured, but were thinking men,
order loving, and God fearing. and. in charar-
.er and principles, stTikingly like our own Puri-
an ancestors. Ii their dwellings were of logs
Z was because nothing else was impeTyious to
indian bullets. If they went abpuf clad