The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-10

came to his relief. He had been on long, hard tour, and was within one days jotrney of his headquarters, where he had some money, but his tavern bill took precisely his last cent, as if the innkeeper had known the amount and made his bill to suit; stin he felt no great concern about it, because the days were short and cold. and both his horse and himself could stand it very well till night. when he would find relief. But on leaving the inn. he found his horse had lost a shoe. and the foot was so very tender tha he did not think he would be able to get him over the rocky road that lay before him. The difficulty is my horse must have shoe, and have no quarter to pay for one what shall I do?' And just as he was beginning to feel this embarrassment, 1t commenced showing and showed rapidly until a beautiful soft carpet covered his way, and made the travelling more pleas ant both to, himself and horse than if there had been a shoe on his foot No man had more confidence in God, or greater reliance on Providence. but he took care not to expect Providence to do for him what he could and ought to do for himself. A Great Preacher.
 Dr. Henry B. Bascom of Kentucky was said to be one of the greatest and most powerful of American pulpit orators. Marvellous things are told of his preach ing in the flush ofits manly prime. On one occasion "a whole congre gation rose up, apparently unconscious and pressed toward the pulpit, absorbed in strong emotion. On another occasion in a camp meeting sermon such effect was produced that there could be no more preaching until the nex4 day. In the Tabernacle " l.. nt trnt Long before sunset crowds were pouring into the immense church, which. by the time 1t was dark. was filled by as compact a mass of human beings as was ever crowded within it's walls. His sermon produced the unprecedented effect of loud and apparently irrepressible ap- plause. It was the strangest case ever witnessed of congregation fairly break ing down before a preacher"
 It is related of him that once in Bal timore "a venerable Methodist lady of great piety and intelligence. said to him, Brother Bascom. have heard with pleas ure many of your sermons. but how does it happen that nobody shouts when you preachT Madam. said he. I never aim ed at such a result; but cannot tell what might happen with @ suitable subject The conversation led him to prepare sermon on the text 'Halleiujah, for the Lord God Onnipotent reigneth. The old lady was present at its delivery. Before the service closed. the congregation was wrought up to a pitch of excitement SD intense that whenever the preacher reach ed the first word of his text. thousand voices cried out simultaneously. Halle lujah-' and Halelujah" rang and rolled and pealed at the close like the voice Of many waters The text had given the keynote of the orthodox old Methodist shout. and the walls of the church shook with the halleluiah chorus. His venerable friend was more than satisfied that Dr. Bascom could raise shout.
 In Kentucky they tell of the effect pro- duced on Henry Clay by the second ser lNDn preached by pr. Bascom at Lexing- ton. The first had been failure. MT. Clay. whose guest Bascom was. had en- gagged him in conversation up to the time of preaching and he was not in time. At his next visit he took care to leave MT. Clay's house soon after breakfast, and retire to the adjoining woods for prayer and meditation. A large congregation | had assembled at the court house ana | Mir. Clay's greatest natural orator or the American pulpit" stood before them 1 to preach on righteousness. temperance and a judgment to come.
 | The full inspiration was upon him now.
 , His daring sweep of thought: his glow ing illustrations; his impetuous and elec- tric Reclamation. his searching appeals to the conscience held his audience spell bound. Clay was listening for every word and at length carried away beyond all sense Of the proprieties of time and place, l he rose up and gave vent to his excite ment by crying out, "Well done, Bascom! 1 Give it to them! give it to them!"
 Absent Mindedness.
 | Absent mindedness Is one of the char l acteristcs of the great mind. and the Methodist preacher of the old and pres ent day has not escaped it. It Is told oi the great preacher. Valentine Cook, that he had his peculiarities and his eccentric | ities also.
 Being almost constantly absorbed in thought. and withal having a mind SC constituted than when directed to any particular subject. he seemed to lose sight l in A great measure of everything else he was generally regarded as an absent | minded man. It was related Of him tha' 1 soon after his marriage his wife accom- panied him to one of his appointments | After preaching an excellent sermon he mounted his horse and rode back tc the residence of his father-in-law where they were then living. When he entered the hall door, Mrs. Slaughter very nat | l wife. He was deeply mortified and i'm mediately started back in pursuit of her When they met. porcciving that her | feelings were much wounded, he burst into tears and made every explanation , that the nature of the case would ad' | mit-assuring her that in future he would | try to do better. He was frequently known to leave his horse tied up in the | woods or safely housed in the stable oi some friend where he had preached and walk all the way home, never once think | ing of his horse until interrogated on the | subject by his wife or children. On ont | occasion he started for an appointment | some six or eight miles from his resi- | dence When but a short distance from | the chapel at which he was to preach he turned aside into the barrens, as was his custom. for the purpose of spending l a while in private devotion. On remount ing his horse and returning to the road l he unwitt!ngly took the wrong road and was jogging along towards home, hum | ming n favorite tune, when met by some 1 of his friends who were going to heal him preach. Well. brethren" said the old gentleman very pleasantly, are you not going the wrong way?' They thought not. We are going to Bibb's Chapel tc hear you preach, and this is certainly the right road" He appeared much as- founded and laughed as much as any oi l them at his blund-r.
 Do not many of the brethren recall such occurrences in their own experience? | They are all welcomed to Montgomery | and no doubt the Lord will abundantly bless their annual gathering,
 
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