Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1918-05-25
ALMOST HAD RELIGION


two classes, the saints and the sinners-no
degrees among the former but quite few
among the latter, that is to say, the ordi-
nary sinner could be easily brought to the
mourners bench at the annual summer
90 'tracted effuts,' but the sinner, who had
stood at the crOssrOad, one leading from
grave yard, and sold himself to the devil,
if he (the deviD would give him a gift to
play the fiddle and had nerve enough to
play jig, while the headless spooks seam
pered by, was to their minds beyond the
pales of saving grace. Such sinners could
sit and grin at the ''elder" while he was
preaching his most blood curdling hell and
damnaton sermon and find amusement in
those meetings, where the convicted sin
ners were screaming "bretheren what shall
| do to be saved
1t was in meeting of this nature that
Bob Brazile, who had joyfully gone through
many "tracted effuts" without having had
any rcmorse of conscience, when he got hit.
While Bob had long since been put down as
having sold his soul to the devil, yet he was a
bully good fellow and one of the most reliable
as well as trustworthy men on the plantation,
but he was a hardened sinner, and in the
minds of his colored bretheren, "wus gwine
to hell in hand baskit." He would not
call ode figers'' and cuss, but "wust NV
ALL he would go fishing Sunday and
''wonce" offered the preacher a mess of
fish he caught on Sunday.
Oh Bob was an awful sinner and all of
the preachers had long since given him up
as the absolute property of the devil May
perhaps, dear reader, you have no idea what
a painful process one had to undergo in
those ''tracted effuts' in order to get con-
verted First of all after you had listened
to ''most powerful sermon" Of about two
hours duration, and listened to the plaintiff
"moans' of the brothers and sisters, bear
ing up the words of the elder, and saw the
sisters shout themselves almost nude, you
must fall under conviction, that the prayers
of the righteous might besiege heaven for
your convertion If you happen to be
harden sinner you mi ght be under convic-
ton for whole week, but you must keep
in constant prayer, eating little or nothing
and looking serious every minute, and per-
haps at the end of the week your sins
would drop from you like clap of thun
der and you would out run the devil and
all his hosts and reach the realm of ever
lasting bliss. Whether right or wrong the
people had been educated or tutored up to
that belief and it was impossible to change
them.
AS said above Bob had been some sinner,
but at one of these E'tracted effuts' he fell
under conviction. The meeting was just
about to close when he fell under conviction,
but this was such star in ode elders
CROWN that the meeting was extended one
week to try to convert Bob. During that
week he prayed earnestly and hard and
made every effort to see the light. Not one
time did he lose his temper with the devil
ish old mule he was blowing, and devilish
old mule is said advisedly, for one Of those
long cared skunks would make a preacher
cuss. He would even stop his mule and I'M
cover a worm or bug that got covered up
with the dirt from his turn pillow, so SOFT
ened had his heart become One night after
returning from most glorious meeting,
which was heard two miles away, Bob was
in agony and as he lay in his bed praying
for forgiveness and freedom from past sins,
in the deep stiffness Of the night, when ma
c1o ho hoo q