Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-07-12

teacher; had been county commits
sioner of schools, and we were sure
of his vote. Our friends had chosen
another preacher and we were sure
he would vote against us. These two
had chosen one of the local officers
n constable-and until that year
school trustee. Personally he be-
licved the earth fiat, but he had
warm regard for me, and his children
were in school. How he would vote
was uncertain. But apart from this
we wanted to convince the commu-
nifty. So we prepared some simple
apparatus to illustrate the motions
of the heavenly bodies, and the next
night began again the discussion of
the question: "Resolved, That the
earth is fiat and stationary, and that
the sun moves around it once in "a
hours"
The discussion of the second even
ing developed no great or new ideas
on either side, but the arguments
grew more earnest, and on the side
of our opponents more personal The
second speaker was in dead earnest,
and was dramatic as well. He chose
a position beside my chair, and made
occasional hammering gestures de-
scending toward my head. / thought
of the trip hammer so finely adjust
ed that it could touch watch on
the anvil and not break the crystal,
and 1 hoped his mighty poundings
would continue to stop above my
head. At the close of each heated
period he cleared his throat with
threatening gargle, looking down at
me the while. AT times he INDUCED
in sarcasm.
Hes q college student-ah! And
he's come out here to instruct us
ah! Yes, and to larn us about the shape
of the yarth-ah! And he knows
more'n what Joshua did-ah! Breth-
ering, do ye reckon Joshua didn't
know what to pray fur? Did he say
'Yarth, stand thou still on thine aXel-
tree? MOI. lie says, seZee, Sun,
stand thou still upon Gibeon-ah!
And thou moon in the valley of
| Ajalon-ah!' But he knows more'n
Joshua! Yes, / shouldn't wonder ef
he allows he knows more'n God
| Almighty that writ this book-ah!
tell We, brtchering, hits the docterin
of infidelity-ah! And any man that
III teach it ought to be drummed out
Of the country-ah! R-r-r-r-r-ck!"
Truly, there was more to be said
on this side of the question than I
had thought. And it was evident that
the audience was by no means a unit
in our favor. The hour drew late.
The discussion ended, and the judges
went out in the dark to decide.
The vote stood two to one in our
| favor. The constable cast the decid-
ing vote. But he admitted to me that
he was not fully satisfied. The deci-
sion lay somewhat heavily upon his
conscience. He sought an interview
with me soon, explaining that his
vote was on the merit of the argu-
ment as he understood it, and not an
Endorsement of my position on the
question. lie asked me to come home
with the children and spend night
and answer some other questions.
So few nights later / stayed at his
house.
After supper l set candle on a
stool, and, taking a ball of yarn,
stuck a knitting needle through it,
and walked round and round the
candle, holding the ball high on one
side and low on the other. and turn
ing the ball the while. The eXplana-
ton lasted long, but at last it was
counted satisfactory. My friend, the
constable, declared himself converted
So we went to bed, and the earth
rolled out into the sunlight again.
After all, we are not so far removed
from the same opinion. When Cotton
Mather preached in Boston that the
sun is the center of the solar sys
tem-and Cotton Mathcr, spite of his
vanity and follics, was a progressive
man in his day-so learned and intel
ligent n man as Chief Justice Samue
Sewall, went home and recorded ir
his diary his protest. Let us moi
hasten to call people ignorant who
went into isolation in ScwalPs tim,
and have kept pretty well the ideas
Of his age on some matters.
But must tell about two of m,
converts. One of them came to mi
when | returned next year. He hat
been to London, the county seat o
Laurel county. The railroad had jus
been finished TO that point, and h
: had seen it. The rails, he said, wer,
as far apart as he could reach, bu
as they stretched away in the dis
tancc they almost came together.
Don't that Show" he asked witt
the zeal of u new convert, that every
thing works toward the center o
gravitation?"
The other was my friend the con
stable. The subject came up in OIL
| first meeting. I brought it up, and h
fought shy of it. So | pressed tn
{ matter, for / suspected that he ha
5 fallen from grace. At length, he said
"Wcll, I reckon l mought as we
{ own up. They say an honest confcs
g sion is good for the soul. You mad
! that seem mighty plain, and though
, | believed it. But / wasn't comforta
d BILE. 'Peared like every time the oil
e thing Topped over she was goin' I
: spill us off, and couldn't git aroun
S Joshua and the corners and foundt
G tions of the earth. And l said: lie
= God be true and every man liar
). And I don't want to believe it, an
e amt agoin' to-"
!. I took the hand of my friend an
p said: "If were in your place I don
t believe ] would"
a So l have no doubt there yet n
S mains opportunity for some ambition