Year: 1879

SHELL" PREACHER.


A Sermon Upon the Different Denomi-


nations into Which the Christian


Church ia Divided.


A lady correspondent of an ex-
change gives a sketch of a sermon
she heard in Georgia, from which
we give an extract:


The preacher was apparently
about fifty years of age, muscular
and we'll proportioned, On enter
ing the pulpit he took off his coat
and hung it on nail behind him,
then opened his collar and wrist
bands, and wiped the perspiration
from his face, neck and hands. He
was clad in striped-cotton home-
spun, and his shirt was Of the same
material. He had travelled several
miles that morning, and seemed
almost overcome by the heat. But
the brethren sung a couple of hymns
while he cooled off, and when he
rose he looked comfortable and
good natured.


He had preached there once or
twice before, but to most of the
audience he was stranger. Hence
he thought it necessary to introduce



himself as "Old Club Ak Davis,
from seriven county, a Half Hard
and Half Soft-Shell Baptist"


II have given myself that name,"
said he, "because I believe the Lord
elected me, from all eternity, to go
ahead in the backwoods and grub
out the path and blaze the way for
other men to follow. After the
thickest of it is cut away, a good,
warm Methodist brother will come
along and take my trail, and make
things smoother and u good deal
noisier. And utter all the under-
brush is cleared out, and the owls
and wolves are skeered back, and
rattlesnakes is killed off, a Presby-
terian brother, in black broadcloth
and white cravat, will come along
and cry for decency and order.
And they'll both do good in their
spere. 1 don't despise a larnt man
even when he don't dress and think
and do as l do. You couldn't pay
mo enough to wear broadcloth,
summer nor winter, and you
couldn't pay a Presbyterian brother
enough to go without it in dog
days.


"God didn't make us all alike nv
brethering; but evory man has his
own spere. When God has q place
to fill he makes man and puts him
in it. When lie wanted General
jackson, he made him, and set him
to fghtin' Injuns and the English !;
when he wanted George Wuitte-
field, he made him to blow the
Gospel trumpet as no other man
ever blowed it; and when he
wanted Old Club AK Davis, he
made him and sent him to grubbin'
in the backwoods.


"But my shell isn't so hard but
1 can see good pints in everybody {;
and as for Presbyterians, they are a
long way ahead of us Baptists and
Methodists in some things. They
raise their children better than any
people on the face of the earth.
Only o few days ago Methodist
class leader said to me-: Brother
Club AK, WAS born Methodist,
L was raised q Methodist, and by
the grace of God I hope to die q
Methodist; but, thank God, I've
got Presbyterian wife to raise
my children And I believe, my
brethering, if the Lord should
opensthe way for me to marry agin,
Id try my best to find Presbyte-
rian woman, and run my chances of
breaking her into the saving doc
trines of feet,washin' and INNER.
sion afterwards"


just at this point he was inter-
rupted by two spotted hounds that
had been continually runnieg up
and down the pulpit stairs. One of
them jumped upon tho seat and
began to gnaw his coat-tail, in
which was something he had
brought along for lunch. He
turned slowly around and took him
by the ears and tail and threw him
out of the window behind him as
easy as if he had been young
kitten. The other took warming