NEBRASKA AND HER CAPITAL.
Nebraska is so named from the Nebraska, or Platte river. It is derived
from the Indian _ne_ (water) and _bras_ (shallow), and means shallow
water. In extent it is 425 miles from east to west, and 138 to 208 from
north to south, and has an area of 75,995 square miles that lie between
parallels 40° and 43° north latitude, and 18° and 27° west longitude.
The Omahas, Pawnees, Otoes, Sioux, and other Indian tribes were the
original land-holders, and buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope the only
herds that grazed from its great green pasture lands. But in 1854,
"Uncle Sam" thought the grassy desert worthy of some notice, and made
it a territory, and in 1867 adopted it as the 37th state, and chose for
its motto "_Equality before the Law_."
The governors of Nebraska territory were:
Francis Burt, 1854.
T. B. Cuming, 1854-5.
Mark W. Izard, 1855-8.
W. A. Richardson, 1858.
J. S. Morton, 1858-9.
Samuel W. Black, 1859-61.
Alvin Saunders, 1861-6.
David Butler, 1866-7.
Of the state--
David Butler, 1867-71.
William H. James, 1871-3.
Robert W. Furnas, 1873-5.
Silas Garber, 1875-9.
Albinus Nance, 1879-83.
James W. Dawes, 1883.
Allow me to quote from the _Centennial Gazetteer of United States_:
"SURFACE.--Nebraska is a part of that vast plain which extends along
the eastern base of the Rocky mountains, and gently slopes down toward
the Missouri river. The surface is flat or gently undulating. There are
no ranges or elevations in the state that might be termed mountains.
The soil consists for the most part of a black and porous loam, which
is slightly mixed with sand and lime. The streams now in deeply eroded
valleys with broad alluvial flood grounds of the greatest fertility,
which are generally well timbered with cottonwood, poplar, ash, and
other deciduous trees. The uplands are undulating prairie. Late surveys
establish the fact that the aggregate area of the bottom lands is from
13,000,000 to 14,000,000 of acres.
"THE CLIMATE of Nebraska is on the whole similar to that of other
states of the great Mississippi plains in the same latitude. The mean
annual temperature varies from 47° in the northern sections to 57° in
the most southern. But owing to greater elevation, the western part of
the state is somewhat colder than the eastern. In winter the westerly
winds sweeping down from the Rocky mountains, often depress the
thermometer to 20° and sometimes 30° below zero; while in the summer a
temperature of 100° and over is not unusual. In the southern tier of
counties the mean temperature of the summer is 76-1/4°, and of winter,
30-1/2°. The greatest amount of rain and snow fall (28 to 30 inches)
falls in the Missouri valley, and thence westward the rainfall steadily
decreases to 24 inches near Fort Kearney, 16 inches to the western
counties, and 12 inches in the south-western corner of the state.
"POPULATION.--Nebraska had in 1860 a population of 28,841, and in 1870,
122,993. Of these, 92,245 were natives of the United States, including
18,425 natives of the state. The foreign born population numbered
30,748.
"EDUCATION.--Nebraska has more organized schools, more school houses,
and those of a superior character; more money invested in buildings,
books, etc., than were ever had before in any state of the same age.
The land endowed for the public schools embraces one-eighteenth of the
entire area of the state--2,623,080 acres." The school lands are sold
at not less than seven dollars per acre, which will yield a fund of not
less than $15,000,000, and are leased at from six to ten per cent
interest on a valuation of $1.25 to $10 per acre. The principal is
invested in bonds, and held inviolate and undiminished while the
interest and income alone is used.
The state is in a most excellent financial condition, and is abundantly
supplied with schools, churches, colleges, and the various charitable
and reformatory institutions. Every church is well represented in
Nebraska. The Methodist stands first in numbers, while the
Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational are of about equal strength.
The Catholic church is fully represented.
The United States census for 1880 shows that Nebraska has the lowest
percentage of illiteracy of any state in the Union. Iowa comes second.
Allow me to compare Nebraska and Pennsylvania:
Nebraska, 1.73 per cent cannot read, 2.55 per cent cannot write;
Pennsylvania, 3.41 per cent cannot read, 5.32 per cent cannot write.
Total population of Nebraska, 452,402; Pennsylvania, 4,282,891.
Geographically, Nebraska is situated near the centre of the United
States, and has an average altitude of 1,500 feet above the level of
the sea, varying from 1,200 feet at the Missouri river to 2,000 feet at
the Colorado state line. The climate of Nebraska is noted for its
salubrity, its wholesomeness, and healthfulness. The dryness of the
air, particularly in the winter, is the redeeming feature of the low
temperature that is sometimes very suddenly brought about by strong,
cold winds, yet the average temperature of the winter of 1882 was but
17°, and of the summer 70°.
I only wish to add that I have noticed that the western people in
general have a much healthier and robust appearance than do eastern
people.
Later statistics than the United States census of 1880 are not
accessible for my present purpose, but the figures of that year--since
which time there has been rapid developments--will speak volumes for
the giant young state, the youngest but one in the Union.
The taxable values of Nebraska in 1880 amounted to $90,431,757, an
increase of nearly forty per cent in ten years, being but $53,709,828
in 1870. During the same time its population had increased from 122,933
to 452,542, nearly four-fold.
The present population of Nebraska probably exceeds 600,000, and its
capacity for supporting population is beyond all limits as yet. With a
population as dense as Ohio, or seventy-five persons to the square
mile, Nebraska would contain 5,700,000 souls. With as dense a
population as Massachusetts, or 230 to the square mile, Nebraska would
have 17,480,000 people.
The grain product of Nebraska had increased from 10,000 bushels in 1874
to 100,000 bushels in 1879, an average increase of 200 per cent per
year. In 1883 there was raised in the state:
Wheat 27,481,300.
Corn 101,276,000.
Oats 21,630,000.
Mr. D. H. Wheeler, secretary of the state board of agriculture, has
prepared the following summary of all crop reports received by him up
to Nov. 13, 1883:
Corn, yield per acre 41 bushels.
Quality 85 per cent.
Potatoes, Irish 147 bushels.
Quality 109 per cent.
Potatoes, sweet 114 bushels.
Quality 111 per cent.
Hay, average tame and wild 2 tons per a.
Quality 107 per cent.
Sorghum, yield per acre 119 gallons.
Grapes, yield and quality 88 per cent.
Apples, yield and quality 97 per cent.
Pears, yield and quality 52 per cent.
Condition of orchards 100 per cent.
Spring wheat threshed at date 82 per cent.
Grade of Spring wheat, No. 2. First frost, Oct. 5. Corn ready for
market, Dec. 1.
In 1878 there were raised in the state 295,000 hogs, and in 1879 a
total of 700,000, an increase of nearly 250 per cent. There are raised
annually at the present time in Nebraska over 300,000 cattle and
250,000 sheep.
The high license liquor law was passed in Nebraska in 1883, requiring
the paying of $1,000 for license to sell liquor in a town of 1,000
inhabitants or more, and $500 elsewhere, all of which is thrown into
the common school fund and must be paid before a drink is sold. Liquor
dealers and saloon keepers are responsible for all damages or harm done
by or to those to whom they have sold liquor while under its influence.
During my stay of almost three months in the state, I saw but seven
intoxicated men and I looked sharp and counted every one who showed the
least signs of having been drinking. There are but few hotels in the
state that keep a bar. I did not learn of one. Lincoln has 18,000 of a
population and but twelve saloons. Drinking is not popular in Nebraska.
I will add section 1 of Nebraska's laws on the rights of married women.
"The property, real and personal, which any woman in this state may own
at the time of her marriage, and the rents, issues, profits, or
proceeds thereof, and any real, personal, or mixed property which shall
come to her by descent, devise, or the gift of any person except her
husband, or which she shall acquire by purchase or otherwise, shall
remain her sole and separate property, notwithstanding her marriage,
and shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, or liable for
his debts.
"The property of the husband shall not be liable for any debt
contracted by the wife before marriage."
The overland pony express, which was the first regular mail
transportation across the state, was started in 1860 and lasted two
years. The distance from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco was
about 2,000 miles and was run in thirteen days. The principal stations
were St. Joseph and Marysville, Mo.; Ft. Kearney, Neb.; Laramie and Ft.
Bridger, Wy. T.; Salt Lake, Utah; Camp Floyd and Carson City, Nev.;
Placerville, Sacramento, and San Francisco, Cal. Express messengers
left once a week with ten pounds of matter; salary $1,200 per month;
carriage on one-fourth ounce was five dollars in gold. But in the two
years the company's loss was $200,000. Election news was carried from
St. Joseph, Mo., to Denver City, Col., a distance of 628 miles in
sixty-nine hours. A telegraph line was erected in Nebraska, 1862; now
Nebraska can boast of nearly 3,000 miles of railroad.
I want to say that I find it is the truly energetic and enterprising
people who come west. People who have the energy and enterprise that
enable them to leave the old home and endure the privations of a new
country for a few years that they may live much better in the "after
while," than they could hope to do in the old home, and are a people of
ambition and true worth. The first lesson taught to those who come west
by those who have gone before and know what it is to be strangers in a
strange land, is true kindness and hospitality, and but few fail to
learn it well and profit by it, and are ready to teach it by precept
and example to those who follow. It is the same lesson our dear
great-grandfathers and mothers learned when they helped to fell the
forests and make a grand good state out of "Penn's Woods." But their
children's children are forgetting it. Yet I find that Pennsylvania has
furnished Nebraska with some of her best people. Would it not be a good
idea for the Pennamites of Nebraska to each year hold Pennsylvania day,
and every one who come from the dear old hills, meet and have a general
hand-shaking and talk with old neighbors and friends. I know Nebraska
could not but be proud of her Pennsylvanian children.
LINCOLN.
In 1867 an act was passed by the state legislature, then in session at
Omaha, appointing a commission consisting of Gov. Butler, Secretary of
State T. P. Kennard, and Auditor of State J. Gillespie to select and
locate a new capital out on the frontier. After some search the present
_capital_ site was chosen--then a wild waste of grasses, where a few
scattered settlers gathered at a log cabin to receive the mail that
once a week was carried to them on horseback to the Lancaster
post-office of Lancaster county. The site is 65 miles west of the
Missouri river, and 1,114 feet above sea level, and on the "divide"
between Antelope and Salt Creeks. 900 acres were platted into lots and
broad streets, reserving ample ground for all necessary public
buildings, and the new capital was named in honor of him for whom
Columbia yet mourned. Previous to the founding of Lincoln by the state,
a Methodist minister named Young had selected a part of the land, and
founded a paper town and called it Lancaster.
The plan adopted for the locating of the capital of the new state was
as follows: The capital should be located upon lands belonging to the
state, and the money derived from the sale of the lots should build all
the state buildings and institutions. After the selection by the
commission there was a slight rush for town lots, but not until the
summer of '68 was the new town placed under the auctioneer's hammer,
which, however, was thrown down in disgust as the bidders were so few
and timid. In 1869, Col. George B. Skinner conducted a three days' sale
of lots, and in that time sold lots to the amount of $171,000. When he
received his wages--$300--he remarked that he would not give his pay
for the whole town site.
The building boom commenced at once, and early in '69 from 80 to 100
houses were built. The main part of the state house was begun in '67,
but the first legislature did not meet at the new capitol until in
January, '69. From the sale of odd numbered blocks a sufficient sum was
realized to build the capitol building, costing $64,000, the State
University, $152,000, and State Insane Asylum $137,500, and pay all
other expenses and had left 300 lots unsold.
The State Penitentiary was built at a cost of $312,000 in 1876. The
post-office, a very imposing building, was erected by the national
government at a cost of $200,000, finished in '78. Twenty acres were
reserved for the B. & M. depot. It is ground well occupied. The depot
is a large brick building 183×53 and three stories high, with lunch
room, ladies' and gents' waiting rooms nicely furnished, baggage room,
and broad hall and stairway leading to the telegraph and land offices
on the second and third floors. Ten trains arrive and depart daily
carrying an aggregate of 1,400 passengers. The U.P. has ample railway
accommodations.
All churches and benevolent societies that applied for reservation were
given three lots each, subject to the approval of the legislature,
which afterward confirmed the grant. A Congregational church was
organized in 1866; German Methodist, '67; Methodist Episcopal and Roman
Catholic, '68; Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist, and Christian, '69;
Universalist, '70; African Methodist, '73, and Colored Baptist, '79. A
number have since been added.
THE STATE JOURNAL CO. On the 15th of Aug., 1867, the day following the
announcement that Lancaster was _the place_ for the capital site there
appeared in the _Nebraska City Press_ a prospectus for the publication
of a weekly newspaper in Lincoln, to be called the _Nebraska
Commonwealth_, C. H. Gere, Editor. But not until the latter part of
Nov. did it have an established office in the new city. In the spring
of '69 the _Commonwealth_ was changed to the Nebraska _State Journal_.
As a daily it was first issued on the 20th of July, '70, the day the B.
& M.R.R. ran its first train into Lincoln, and upset all the old stage
coaches that had been the only means of transportation to the capital.
In '82 the State Journal Co. moved into their handsome and spacious new
building on the corner of P and 9th streets. It is built of stone and
brick, four stories high, 75 feet on P and 143 on 9th streets. The
officers are C. H. Gere, Pres.; A. H. Mendenhall, Vice Pres.; J. R.
Clark, Sec., and H. D. Hathaway, Treas. The company employs 100 to 125
hands. Beside the _Journal_ are the _Democrat_ and _News_, daily; the
_Nebraska Farmer_, semi-monthly; the _Capital_, weekly; the _Hesperian
Student_, monthly, published by the students of the University, and the
_Staats Anzeiger_, a German paper, issued weekly.
On my return from Milford, Wednesday, I sought and found No. 1203 G
street, just in time to again take tea with the Keefer family, and
spend the night with them, intending to go to Fremont next day. But
Mrs. K. insisted that she would not allow me to slight the capital in
that way, and to her I am indebted for much of my sight-seeing in and
about Lincoln.
Thursday afternoon we went to the penitentiary to see a little of
convict life. But the very little I saw made me wonder why any one who
had once suffered imprisonment would be guilty of a second lawless act.
Two negro convicts in striped uniforms were lounging on the steps ready
to take charge of the carriages, for it was visitor's day. Only good
behaved prisoners, whose terms have almost expired, are allowed to step
beyond the iron bars and stone walls. We were taken around through all
the departments--the kitchen, tailor shop, and laundry, and where
brooms, trunks, harnesses, corn-shellers, and much that I cannot
mention, are made. Then there was the foundry, blacksmith shop, and
stone yard, where stones were being sawed and dressed ready for use at
the capitol building. The long double row of 160 cells are so built of
stone and cement that when once the door of iron bars closes upon a
prisoner he has no chance of exit. They are 4×7 feet, and furnished
with an iron bedstead, and one berth above; a stool, and a lap-board to
write on. They are allowed to write letters every three weeks, but what
they write is read before it is sent, and what they receive is read
before it is given to them. There are 249 prisoners, a number of whom
are from Wyoming. Their meals are given them as they pass to their
cells. They were at one time seated at a table and given their meals
together, but a disturbance arose among them and they used the knives
and forks for weapons to fight with. And they carried them off secretly
to their cells, and one almost succeeded in cutting his way through the
wall. Only those who occupy the same cell can hold any conversation.
Never a word is allowed to be exchanged outside the cells with each
other. Thus silently, like a noiseless machine, with bowed heads, not
even exchanging a word, and scarcely a glance, with their elbow
neighbor, they work the long days through, from six o'clock until
seven, year in and year out. On the Fourth of July they are given two
or three hours in which they can dance, sing, and talk to each other, a
privilege they improve to the greatest extent, and a general
hand-shaking and meeting with old neighbors is the result. Sunday, at
nine A.M., they are marched in close file to the chapel, where Rev.
Howe, City Missionary, formerly a missionary in Brooklyn and New York,
gives them an hour of good talk, telling them of Christ and Him
Crucified, and of future reward and punishment, but no sectarian
doctrines. He assures me some find the pearl of great price even within
prison walls. They have an organ in the chapel and a choir composed of
their best singers, and it is not often we hear better. Rev. Howe's
daughter often accompanies her father and sings for them. They are
readily brought to tears by the singing of Home, Sweet Home, and the
dear old hymns. Through Mr. Howe's kind invitation we enjoyed his
services with them, and as we rapped for admittance behind the bars,
the attendant said: "Make haste, the boys are coming"; and the iron
door was quickly locked after we entered. A prisoner brought us chairs,
and we watched the long line of convicts marching in, the right hand on
the shoulder of the one before them, and their striped cap in the left.
They filed into the seats and every arm was folded. It made me sigh to
see the boyish faces, but a shudder would creep over me when, here and
there, I marked a number wearing the hoary locks of age. As I looked
into their faces I could not but think of the many little children I
have talked to in happy school days gone by, and my words came back to
me: "Now, children, remember I will never forget you, and I will always
be watching to see what good men and women you make; great
philanthropists, teachers, and workers in the good work, good
ministers, noble doctors, lawyers that will mete out true justice,
honest laborers, and who knows but that a future Mr. or Mrs. President
sits before me on a school bench? Never, never allow me to see your
name in disgrace." And I hear a chorus of little voices answer: "I'll
be good, Teacher, I'll be good." But before me were men who, in their
innocent days of childhood, had as freely and well-meaningly promised
to be good. But the one grand thought brightened the dark picture
before me: God's great loving-kindness and tender mercy--a God not only
to condemn but to forgive. Nine-tenths of the prisoners, I am told, are
here through intemperance. Oh, ye liquor dealers that deal out ruin
with your rum by the cask or sparkling goblet! Ye poor wretched
drunkard, social drinker, or fashionable tippler! Why cannot you be
men, such as your Creator intended you should be? I sometimes think God
will punish the _cause_, while man calls the effect to account. For my
part, I will reach out my hand to help raise the poorest drunkard from
the ditch rather than to shake hands with the largest liquor dealer in
the land, be he ever so good (?) Good! He knows what he deals out, and
that mingled with his ill-gotten gains is the taint of ruined souls,
souls for which he will have to answer for before the Great Judge who
never granted a license to sin, nor decided our guilt by a jury.
Mrs. K. had secured a pass to take us to the insane asylum, but we felt
we had seen enough of sadness, and returned home.
_Friday._ About two P.M. the sky was suddenly darkened with angry
looking clouds, and I watched them with interest as they grew more
threatening and the thunder spoke in louder tones. I was not anxious to
witness a cyclone, but if one _must_ come, I wanted to watch its
coming, and see all I could of it. But the winds swept the clouds
rapidly by, and in a couple of hours the streets were dry, and we drove
out to see the only damage done, which was the partial wreck of a brick
building that was being erected. Reports came in of a heavy fall of
hail a few miles west that had the destroyed corn crop in some places.
This was the hardest storm seen during my stay in the state. [ERRATA.
Page 245, last line but one, in place of "Nebraska is visited" read
"Nebraska is _not_ visited." Third line from bottom leave out the
word "not" from commencement of line.] Nebraska is not visited, as some
suppose, with the terrible cyclones and wind storms that sweep over
some parts of the West; nor have I experienced the constant wind that I
was told of before I came; yet Nebraska has more windy weather than
does Pennsylvania.
The sun comes down with power, and when the day is calm, is very
oppressive; but the cool evenings revive and invigorate all nature.
_Saturday_ we spent in seeing the city from center to suburb and
drinking from the artesian well in the government square. The water has
many medical properties, and is used as a general "cure-all."
Climbing the many steps to the belfry of the University, we had a fine
view of the city, looking north, east, south, and west, far over
housetops. Many are fine buildings of stone and brick, and many
beautiful residences with well kept lawns. The streets are 100 and 120
feet wide. Sixteen feet on each side are appropriated for sidewalks,
five of which, in all but the business streets, is the walk
proper--built of stone, brick, or plank--and the remaining eleven feet
are planted with shade trees, and are as nicely kept as the door yards.
The streets running north and south are numbered from first to
twenty-fifth street. Those from east to west are lettered from A to W.
Saturday evening--a beautiful moonlight night--just such a night as
makes one wish for a ride. Who can blame me if I take one? A friend has
been telling how travelers among the Rockies have to climb the
mountains on mountain mules or burros. My curiosity is aroused to know
if when I reach the foot of Pike's Peak, I can ascend. It would be
aggravating to go so far and not be able to reach the Peak just because
I couldn't ride on a donkey. So Mrs. K. engaged Gussie Chapman, a
neighbor's boy, to bring his burro over _after dark_. All saddled,
Fanny waits at the door, and I must go.
Good bye, reader, I'll tell you all about my trip when I get back--I'll
telegraph you at the nearest station. Don't be uneasy about me; I am
told that burros never run off, and if Fanny should throw me I have
only three feet to fall. I wonder what her great ears are for--but a
happy thought strikes me, and I hang my poke hat on one and start.
One by one her feet are lifted,
One by one she sets them down;
Step by step we leave the gatepost,
And go creeping 'round to a convenient puddle,
when Fanny flops her ears, and lands my hat in the middle. Well, you
cannot expect me to write poetry and go at this rate of speed. My
thoughts and the muses can't keep pace with the donkey.
Most time to telegraph back to my friends who waved me away so grandly.
But, dear me, I have been so lost in my reverie on the lovely night,
and thoughts of how I could now climb Pike's Peak--_if I ever reached
the foot of the mountain_,--that I did not notice that Fanny had
crept round the mud puddle, and was back leaning against the gate-post.
Another start, and Fanny's little master follows to whip her up; but
she acts as though she wanted to slide me off over her ears, and I beg
him to desist, and we will just creep. Poor little brute, you were
created to creep along the dangerous mountain passes with your slow,
cautious tread, and I won't try to force you into a trot.
Well, I went up street and down street, and then gave my seat to Hettie
Keefer.
"What does it eat?" I asked.
"Oh, old shoes and rags, old tin cans, and just anything at all."
I wish I could tell you all about this queer little Mexican burro, but
Hettie is back, and it is time to say good night.
In 1880, Kansas was so flooded with exodus negroes that Nebraska was
asked to provide for a few, and over one hundred were sent to Lincoln.
Near Mr. K.'s home, they have a little church painted a crushed
strawberry color, and in the afternoon, our curiosity led us right in
among these poor negroes so lately from the rice and cotton fields and
cane brakes of the sunny South, to see and hear them in their worship.
They call themselves Baptist, but, ignorant of their church belief,
requested the Rev. Mr. Gee, then minister of the Lincoln Baptist
church, to come and baptise their infants.
I went supplied with a large fan to hide a smiling countenance behind,
but had no use for it in that way. Their utter ignorance, and yet so
earnest in the very little they knew, drove all the smiles away, and I
wore an expression of pity instead.
The paint is all on the outside of the house, and the altar, stand and
seats are of rough make up. The whole audience turned the whites of
their eyes upon us as we took a seat near the door. Soon a powerful son
of Africa arose and said:
"Bruddering, I havn't long to maintain ye, but if ye'll pray for me for
about the short space of fifteen minutes, I'll try to talk to ye. And
Moses lifted up his rod in de wilderness, dat all dat looked upon dat
rod might be healed. Now in dose days dey had what they called
sarpents, but in dese days we call dem snakes, and if any one was bit
by a snake and would look on dat rod he would be healed of de snake
bite." How earnestly he talk to his "chilens" for de short space of
time, until he suddenly broke off and said with a broad grin: "Now my
time is up. Brudder, will you pray?" And while the brudder knelt in
prayer the audience remained seated, hid their faces in their hands,
and with their elbows resting on their knees, swayed their bodies to a
continual humumum, and kept time with their feet; the louder the
prayer, the louder grew the hum until the prayer could not be heard.
One little Topsy sat just opposite us keeping time to the prayer by
bobbing her bare heels up and down from a pair of old slippers much too
large for her, showing the ragged edges of a heelless stocking, while
she eyed "de white folks in de corner." After prayer came the singing,
if such it may be called. The minister lined out a hymn from the only
hymn book in the house, and as he ended the last word he began to sing
in the same breath, and the rest followed. It did not matter whether it
was long, short, or particular meter, they could drawl out one word
long enough to make six if necessary, and skip any that was in the way.
It was only a perfect mumble of loud voices that is beyond description,
and must be heard to be appreciated. But the minister cut the singing
short, by saying: "Excuse de balance," which we were glad to do. I was
very much afraid he was getting "Love among the roses" mixed in with
the hymn. While they sang, a number walked up to the little pine table
and threw down their offering of pennies and nickels with as much pride
and pomp as though they gave great sums, some making two trips. Two men
stood at the table and reached out each time a piece of money was put
down to draw it into the pile; but with all their caution they could
not hinder one girl from taking up, no doubt, more than she put down,
and not satisfied with that, again walked up and quickly snatched a
piece of money without even pretending to throw some down. The minister
closed with a benediction, and then announced that "Brudder Alexander
would exhort to ye to-night and preach de gospel pint forward; and if
de Lord am willin, I'll be here too."
A number gathered around and gave us the right hand of fellowship with
an invitation to come again, which we gladly accepted, and evening
found us again in the back seat with pencil and paper to take notes.
Brudder Alexander began with: "Peace be unto dis house while I try to
speak a little space of time, while I talks of brudder Joshua. My text
am de first chapter of Joshua, and de tenth verse. 'Then Joshua
commanded the officers of the people, saying,' Now Joshua was a great
wrastler and a war-man, and he made de walls of Jericho to fall by
blowen on de horns. Oh, chilens! and fellow-mates, neber forget de book
of Joshua. Look-yah! Simon Peta was de first bishop of Rome, but de
Lord had on old worn-out clothes, and was sot upon an oxen, and eat
moldy bread. And look-a-yah! don't I member de time, and don't I magine
it will be terrible when de angel will come wid a big horn, and he'll
give a big blah on de horn, and den look out; de fire will come, and de
smoke will descend into heaven, and de earth will open up its mouth and
not count the cost of houses. And look-a-yah! I hear dem say, de Rocky
mountains will fall on ye. Oh, bruddering and fellow-mates, I clar I
heard dem say, if ye be a child of God, hold out and prove faithful,
and ye'll receive the crown, muzzle down. Now chilen, my time is
expended."
And with this we left them to enjoy their prayer meeting alone, while
we came home, ready to look on the most ridiculous picture that can be
drawn by our famous artist in Blackville, and believe it to be a true
representation. Poor children, no wonder the "true blue" fought four
long years to set you free from a life of bondage that kept you in such
utter ignorance.
Monday morning I felt all the time I had for Lincoln had been
"expended," and I bade my kind friends of the capital good-bye.