Year: 1859

Sermon on Pixies Peak.


'fVFhar Dc hen scratch, dar shsspe to find Bug


NV Hearers ~ am informed that a


dark complexioned preacher in Columbus,


Ohio, once took the above for his text, and


proved from it that our first parents fell


out Of an apple tree into mud hole, which


caused their first born to be as black as
your hat. I am afraid that my cOlored Co
lab0rer has made much more out of il than


/ cans for turn il over, sci it up on end,
lay Il down and spread It open--afler all,
this old rooster don't find much 10 pick at.


In the first place, my brethren, / win
PROFOUND pious conundrum: ''Why are
men like watchesl Because you must look
inside of them for their good qualities, and
Judge Of them by their s'work. .


Well, my brethren, the work of men and
women in general consists, for the most
part in scratching, and the prospect Of a
bug Is the incentive. You may notice,
my brethren, that whenever a hen makes
a scratch, she always gives a pick; but
whether she ge8s bug at every dip is
very uncertain. 1 imagine not. Never
lheless, ''whar de hen scratch, dar she
spec to find a bug.


Expecting is one thing, you know, my
friends, and finding is another. You may
turn over many stone, in this precious
world, and find no bug after all. Phresa-
logically speaking, the. human head is one.
vast bump Of expectation and nothing else.


There are various sorts of bugs, gentle
men, in this buggy sphere. There are
big bugs, little bugs, tumble bugs, straddle
bugs, bed bugs, hum bugs, and bug bears.
But you needn't scratch about much TO
find anyof these, for they are every
where thicker than shippers in a three
year old cheese.


To find the bug you so earnestly desire
dilligent scratching; and if by so
doing you don't happento catch it, you can
comfort Yourself with the reflection that
you put in the licks and fought to have
been yours If young man takes girl
around to see the shows, feeds her with
tit-bits, and buys her calicoes, his title to
a kiss is indisputable-for, "Whar de hen
scratch dar she spec to find bug"


The bug that you are after, my brethren,
is the gold bug, but lack day, how many
Of you scratch in vain yet it is found in
manure heaps as well as in auriferous
places. The farmer turns it up with his
plough, and the gardner with bis spade,
and yet thousands keep scratching here
and there without finding nary bug.


A few months ago, hundreds of you fell
to scratching Frazer's river, expecting to
find a mighty big bug. Well, you scratch
ed, and. scratched, scratched; and
what did you turn out at last la monstrous
humbug You got frightened and scram-
bled for home, a vast sight more buggy
than when you went-for, ''Whar de
hen scratches, there she expects to find a
bug"


And now you all want to go to Pixies
Peak country; but then there is so many
ways to get there, you are IN a quandary
which way to choose. It's like getting to
Heaven. The Catholics insist upon going
through purgatory-the Baptists go
roundabout way, and keep where there
is plenty of water, as they belong to the
class known as amphibiae--the Presby-
terians thinks their road the safest, though
rather hot-the UniVersaIists declare
theirs to be the most pleasant--while the
Methodists shout "halleluiah," and scare
up rabbits as they journey on the good old
Jordan route. But when you are once
there Cat the diggings I mean, for I'm
sure you'll never reach the other place.
one stands as good chance as another
and / don't know but little better.


You all have about an equal amount Of
hope if not pluck, and each will probably
pitch in and dig with all the energy Of
terrier at a gopher hole-for, ''Where the
hen scratches, there she expects to find a
bug"


Let me make another application Of the
text my brethren. Beware of the oily
tongued sycophantic friend--who is ever
ready to do small favor-whc processes
a willingness to serve you at all times
who praises you as the fox did the crow
for while be is thus squeezing himself into
your good grace, he has an eye on your
yourself forgetting for the moment
that "Whar de hen scratches, dar she
spec to find bug"


My friends, how uneasy the immortal
mind is in its pent up prison Of clay? How
it seems to exalt in its freedom while
winging its way TO azure fields of light
and glory, or wandering amid the green
old bowers of the past where none but 1
itself is permitted to roam.


What then must be Its delight when
forever released from its thraldom Of flesh,
and no longer dependent upon bread, beef
and potatoes! The day will come when
liberty, such as mortals have not ye.
known, will be blissfully realized in the
eternal sphere, Observation-Disclosures
the hen scratches, she expects to find a
bug;" So mote it be