Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-02-18

a wool hat or fur cap from one, n coat
from another and a pair of jeans trous-
ers from n third, eked out his scanty
support very materially Nor was this
all for on his ''home round"-that is.
when on that part of his circuit that
brought him toward home-he might be
seen with ham or fitch of bacon on
one side of his saddle, u pair of chick
ems or n wild turkey on the other, and,
it may be haunch of venlson or n bag
of corn in front, all the contributions
of those who gave willingly of what
they had to give at all. These, with an
occasional wedding fee, sum varying
from 25c to 81, paid by a youth in his
first suit of ill-ftting store clothes,
constituted his principal reliance for u
livelihood. His wife did her own work,
and her neighbors brought in supplies
from time to time to help out the
preacher, So on the whole, he lived
about as well as they, and, what was
better, was fully content with what he
had, and cheerfully sang:
| "No foot of land do possess,
No cottage in this Wilderness"
The meeting houses" where he
preached We're as plain as the people
and the fare. In kentucky, Tennessee,
and the Southern States generally, the
first injecting houses" were of logs, and
in q style of architecture that closely
approXimated that of the settlers
cabins. Where there were school
houses these We're used for religious
| purposes, but where there We're none
the cabins Of the settlers were en-
ployed, and almost anyone, whether he
was member of the particular de-
nomination to which the circuit rider
belonged or not, was generally willing
to open his house for preaching. Where
regular houses were built for SERVICE
| however the neighborhood was under.
stood to have advanced considerably
on the road to refinement. "Quarterly
meeting" at one of these waySide log
| sanctuaricS was a great occasion. The
| presiding elder was always there, with
as many of the brethren as could be
mustered. Long before the appointed
hour for the service the roads We're full
| of primitive vehicles on the way to the
meeting house. Anticipated wagons,
a man and his wife on the front seat,
| two or three wooden chairs just behind
| for invited guests, and the balance of
the load made up of children packed in
| straw, were common. but more fire.
| queent were the riders on horseback.
| They came in twOs and threes, men and
women, with children in front and be-
hind, and on arriving at the grove In
| which the church was situated they
tied the horses. not always far enough
apart to prevent an equine dispute,
scattered ear-corn on the ground in
front of them to be about equally di-
vided between the steeds and the stroll
ling pigs that always infested the
neighborhood on such occasions, and
men and women separated into groups.
Down at the always convenient spring
the former gathered, the elders to
smoke their pipes and talk crops, their
| juniors to discuss politics. In and
| about the church the old women talked
butter and eggs. or discussed the attire
Of the one worldly" girl sure to be
| found in every neighborhood, while
their daughters sat silent, for it was a
liuAihi iuOoC thdt
young girls and children should be
seen and not heard.
A stir in the little crowd about the
door told of the arrival of the elder
and his brother circuit riders, for the
| elder was just as much circuit rider
as the rest, except that his circuit was
bigger, and a few of the nearest filed
into the church, whittier the preachers
had preceded them. The brethren
said their prayers, took their seats,
| conferred among themselves in loud
whispers as to the order of service,
and then some one struck up famil-
lar hymn. All Joined Justify, and the
sound thereof, waited out of the open
windows and down the hill to the
spring, notified the brethren there that
''meet!n' had begun" and induced an
instant suspension Of crop talk and
stampede in the direction of the meet
ing house. BY the time the hymn was
ended the house was filed and the reg
ular service Of the day began.
There was preaching in abundance,
for preaching was the main feature of
the exercises. The preaching would
hardly be acceptable in a 100000
church nowadays, for it often happened
that grammar and rhetoric were con
spicuous by their absence, but there
was always enthusiasm in any guam
tity, and also plenty of Scripture. The
old preachers of those days did not
know much about the graces of oratory,
but they did know all about the Bible,
for it was the one book that they con-
stantly read, and that they were thor
oughly conversant with from cover to
cover. proposition was started, and
Bible texts in confirmation of it were
cited; if it could be proved from the
Bible, well and good; If not, no matter
what it was. or who stated 1t, it was
rank infidelity, and the proposer was
an infdel. The nice distinctions of the
higher criticism We're unknown quanti-
ties; the preachers of those days knew
nothing of the Javist, and the Elohist.
Where the apostle affirmed "Wives, sub
init to your husbands" they said that