The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1907-01-11

Hamilton on his hands He sought a
hiding place in Louisiana. He bought
800, 900 acres OF land on Red River,
then with kindred spirits proceeded to
New Orleans and concocted plan Of
secession, and the building of con-
federacy OF his own. Fifty-fye years
later Jefferson Davis and kindred
spirits, in the old ST. Charles Hotel,
within a stones throw OF the old Ca
blldo, planned and launched the
Southern COnfederacy, based upon the
disruption of the Union, the perpetual
ton of human slavery and the reyiy-
al of the African slave trade.
Professionalism too, has unique his
tory here. Its struggle has been hard
and its tenure precarious. Forty
years ago Bishop Holland N. Nc
Fyeire said: "The gospel pillow share
never struck harder gleb than Louisi-
ana" All along the Methodists have
had q libeIal share in this struggling
tenure.
To this day there are whole parish
in Louisiana, with forty and fifty
thousand souls, without a Protestant
preacher or church of worship lamong
the whites. In 1880. in the thirteen
cotton states were 3,343, 5l4 voters Il
years old, and 1880, 600 of them could
not read their ballot-more than QUE
third. There has been great progress,
but in 1900 forty-slx per cent of the
people were illiterate in the state of
Louisiana. The Methodist Episcopal
Church has a history on this historic
soil. She always follows the flag, for
the world is her parish. No sooner
had "Old Glory Haunted from the
old Cabildo, than little circuit rider
set out and rode from Natchez down
the east bank of the river to New Or
leans In his diary we find this la
comic entry: II have tramped this
iowa all day and God is not in this
place"
sNinety-three years ago, two Method
ist Epi>,Dai nta,bus Nue sul t'
Louisiana, and their circuitsl embraced
what is now the Red River District of
the Gulf Conference, John Shrock and
Richmond Motley. They swan rivers,
camped with Indians, slept in the
woods and ran the gauntlet of border
outlaws and ruffians. The name of
John ShrOck will survive so long as
the archives of Methodism are intact.
He WIS the Peter Cartwright of the
Creole country.
On Johns first visit to Alexandria,
he walked into little shack called a
court house, mounted the judges and
proceeded with Daniel Come tC
Judgment. A hooting mob surround
ed the house and told John they were
going to put him in Red River. Johr
shed his coat, rolled up his sleeves
siezed his loaded Spanish quot, wen
out to the mob and notified them tina
if they would come at him in single
file he would do them all up alike
John won out, and the leader tool
him to dinner. The mob became
Johns standbys afterwards.
Richmond Nolley's name must b.
preserved. The Gulf Conference, tn,
combined Methodists of the world
must not let this name fade from he
annals or lapse into the dim realm o
the unknown and unforgotten. (
spirit so chaste, so obliviOuS to self
SO apostolic, so lost to all save hi
Masters message, his name and hi
martyr death must be rescued. 1t de
serves a place high up in the list @
heroes of the Cross. Richmond Mol
ley went to the Attakapas country
and the rutfians dragged him from hi
.. pulpit, and had him on the way to tn
bayou, when a big, fat colored woma
seized her hoe and emancipated tn
preacher on the spot One cold eve
ming he plunged his horse into
stream. The preacher got acros
alone and started afoot to his work
He was found dead and cold, but o
his knees, with Bible before him.
The Gulf Conference has a priceless
and tender heritage in the memoir
and ashes of Richmond Motley. w
need to resurrect his name and en-
! balm it anew as delightsome an
delicate treasure entailed to us.
Sometimes we 90 down into the deer
dark wood, where under the trees
4 alone on his knees, Richmond Nolle
! received his last charge. We love t
linger there with memories and teal
The soft sough of the pine is there
1 the big beach and the magnolia ar