The National tribune., 1903-06-04

| 10 Ills IlCIHeG. WHO lhtlu, dHu LII
ally. after much wrestling and meditation,
became converted and joined his mothers
chErch. the Methodist Episcopal, to which.
he always afterward clung and in which
he became conspicuous and Shining from
tier light. -
In 1901 he was licensed as an exhorter..
Moving the same year with his father to
Lewiston County he LOCATED near an acad-
emy, in which he entered as student, and
made rapid progress during his short pc
riod of attendance. He also exercised his
gifts as an exhorter,- thus ncurring ridi-
cule among. his associates, two of whom
determined to decoy him to the banks of
creek and throw him into the deep wa
ter. He was on the alert, however, and
| though not n believer in immersion, he ad-.
ministered to his prosecutors the baptism
they had intended for him, thus beginning
long series s-of athletic encounters for
religions sake, in which, so far as he
leaves us afit record. he was, as on this
occasion, Invariably the victor. The per-
secutions he endured and the Indifference
of his teacher, shortened his course of study
and caused him to abandon the school.
At the age of IS he entered regularly upon
his ife-work as .an-.itinerant Methodist
preacher.
LONG AND STRENUOUS CAREER.
His ministerial life, after taking regu-
lar orders, covered q period of more than
65 years, 20 of which were, for the most
part, given within The limits of the
Southern States, he. in the meantime,
being domciled in Kentucky. He spent
45 years in Illinois, during all of
which period he made Pleasant Plains, in
Sangamon County, where he owned
farm, his family residence. Fifteen years
of his ministry he did duty as circuit
rider in parishes, or .'circuits," which in
volved hundreds of miles Of itineration,
the rude cabins of the frontier being his
places for preaching. The remaining 50
years of his clerical life was given to the
duties of Presiding Elder, post to which
he was first appointed in 1872, and there
after, with almost unbroken succession,
was repeatedly appointed by the Bishops,
until, in that important Office, second only
to the Bishopric, he rounded out a half
century of efficient supervisory service. In
all he baptized 1900 persons and preach
ed $1,000 sermons. d.
His earlier districts, as Presiding Elder,
were even larger than his circuits, cover
ing at times portions of territory now en-
braced within several States of the I'm
ion. Much of the country was without
roads-in some instances even devoid Of
trails-the lonely , itinerant having to
gauge his course by general direction,
u across trackless wastes, by certain fixed
ODleclS Ou CoHSldHlJ eApdHuihS
nn1 ms ne neat @as q the Summers
sun and the more inhospitable rigors Of
the Winters blasts, unbridged, swollen
and turbulent streams seem never to have
limpeded his progress, since it is said Of
him that he seldom missed an appoint
ment. Coming at long intervals into these
} lonely frontier homes with such uniform
punctuality must indeed have made his
visitatiOns seem to their occupants like
those of an evangeL. And why not? He
was their highway commissioner, their
newspaper, their railroad, their telegraph
and telephone; he was indeed the voice of
one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye
the way and make the path straight" for
a dispensation of which he was the proph-
ct and which he lived to see in fulfllment.
His earliest appointments were in cir
cults embracing areas along the line be-
tween Kentucky and Tennessee extending
into both States, and then perhaps tine
!, next year far away in the "Ohio country
around Chillicothe. He was allowed, by
: church rules. $50 year salary. But the
! country was new, the people were poor,
money was almost unknown among them.
, and during neither of the first years of his
J arduous travelling service in the ministry,
did he receive one-half, even, of the mea-
ger allowance. But this fact did not seem
to distress the ardent young Zealot-he
|
all its hindrances.
, A DISPLAY OF MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY.
i, By 1905 Peter Cartwright, then 20 years
: old, had become a full-fedged backwoOds
/ Methodist preacher, and entered upon stir
; ring career as wrestler with the miniOns
7 of the evil one, who humerously abounded
in those parts. The followi: is a sample
! episode, told in his own words, in the au-
photography:
"Our last quarterly meeting was camp
7 meeting. We had many tents, and large
. turnout for n new country; perhaps, there
never was a greater collection of rabble
2 and rowdies. They came drunk, armed
with clubs, knives and horsewhips, and
swore they would break up the meeting.
After interrupting us often on Saturda y
night. they collected early Sunday morn.
ing, determined on general riot. At
: o'clock l was appointed to preach. About
the time l was half through my discourse
: two well-dressed young men marched into
the congregation with loaded whips, and
hats on, rose up in the midst Of the ladies'
] and began to laugh and talk. They were
! near the stand, and 1 requested them to
t desist and get off the seats; but they
/. cursed me and told me to mind my OWL
e business, and said they would not gel
y down. I stopped trying to preach, and
S called for magistrate. There were two
d at hand, but l saw they were both afraid
t ordered them to take these men into
: custody, but they said they could not do it
!, l told them, as left the stand, to com
/. mand me to take them, and would do il
o, at the risk of my life
s II advanced toward the two young men
= They ordered me to stand off, but 1 ad
vanced. One of them made q pass at my
D head with his whip, but l closed in witt
i him, and jerked him off the seat. A reg
d ular scuffle ensued. The congregation by
s this time were all in commotion. l heard
: the magistrates give general orders, COM
u manding all friends Of order to mid ir
s suppressing the riot. In the scuffle
e threw my prisoner down, and held hin
d fast; he tried his best to get loose told
r him to be quiet, or l would pound his
f chest well. The mob rose, and rushed tc
r the rescue of the two prisoners, for they
!, had taken the other young man also. Al
e old drunken magistrate came up to me
s. and ordered me to let my prisoner go.
:. told him l should not. He swore if l die
t not, he would knock me down. l told
J. him to crack away. Then one of my
e friends, at my. request, took hold of my
e prisoher, and the drunken justice made
e pass at me; but 1 parried the stroke, and
: seized him by the collar and the hair OF
|, the head and fetching him sudden Jerk
e forward, brought him to the ground, and