SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE IN THE BRUSH.
Having made arrangements with Father E----, a venerable and faithful
Bible-distributor, to canvass a very rough, wild country, I determined
to visit the county-seat, and address as many of the people as could be
assembled. I did this for the purpose of explaining to them that the
entire State and country were being canvassed in this manner, for the
purpose of supplying every family that would receive it with a copy of
the Bible, either by sale or gift. As they had been so much imposed
upon by wandering peddlers, I found it very important to explain to
them that it was not a money-making enterprise--that the books sold
were furnished to them at cost. It was also my invariable custom to
solicit a collection for the Bible Society, wherever I preached,
however poor the people might be. It increased their self-respect to
give them this opportunity to aid in supplying their own destitute poor
with the Word of God.
My ride to B----, the county-seat, was through a rough, wild, and
broken region. This may be judged from the fact that the average value
of the land, improved and unimproved, of the entire county, as returned
by the assessors, and published in the Report of the Auditor of the
State for the preceding year, was but one dollar and seventy-nine cents
per acre. Even this was a little more valuable than the land of an
adjoining county that I explored most thoroughly, the average value of
which, as published in the same Report, was one dollar and seventy-four
cents per acre. Yet these counties had been settled more than fifty
years.
Arriving at the little village, a perfect stranger, my first inquiry
was for some professor of religion who would be likely to take an
interest in my work, and aid me to make arrangements, if possible,
to preach there the following Sabbath. I was directed by my host to
call on the school-master of the place, whom I found to be an old
man more than sixty years of age, who gave me a warm welcome, and
cheerfully rendered me the desired aid. Upon inquiry, we learned that
the court-house, which was the place used by all denominations for
preaching, would not be occupied the next Sabbath, and accordingly it
was arranged that a notice should be circulated that I would preach
there on that day, at 4 P.M. This accomplished, I left the village to
attend to other duties, and await the Sabbath.
As there was no newspaper at this county-seat, and but a very
few families resided there, and only a few days intervening, the
uninitiated in southwestern backwoods life will wonder how the people
in the adjacent hills and valleys were to be notified of this service
and a congregation assembled. But I had been long enough in the Brush
to have no apprehensions upon this point. I knew that they would not
only all be notified for miles around, but that the most of them
would be present. I have found by experience that it is one of the
peculiarities of the wilder and wildest portions of the country, that
the people will be at the greatest possible pains to notify their
neighbors far and near whenever a stranger will preach, whatever may be
the day of the week or the hour of the day.
I have frequently arrived at a solitary log-cabin, late in the
afternoon, after a wearisome day's ride through a rough, wild,
mountainous region, and almost as soon as I had made myself known as a
preacher, they would say:
"Can't you preach for us here to-night?"
"Oh, yes," I have replied; "but I have seen very few cabins for a long
way back, and I can't understand where the congregation is to come
from."
"We know that," they have rejoined; "but there's a heap of people
scattered over these hills, and if you will agree to preach for us
to-night, you will be sure to have a houseful."
As soon as my assent was given, father, sons, and daughters have
started off in different directions to notify the nearest neighbors,
who immediately abandoned their work to inform other and more distant
neighbors. In this manner all the families over a wide extent of
country would be notified in a short time. Nearly all would abandon
their work, and with it all thought of supper until they should return,
and, taking their children with them, would start at once for the place
appointed for the preaching. In such cases I have never failed to have
the promised houseful. Indeed, I have traveled on horseback over wide
regions of country, where, had I sufficient health and strength, I
could have preached every night to a new congregation assembled as thus
described.
I returned to B----, and reached the court-house at the appointed
hour. The announcement that they would be addressed by a preacher
from L----, the largest city in the State, had drawn together an
unusually large audience. Before commencing the services, I was
introduced to the county judge, who was also a Baptist preacher. He,
with others, had been informed of my coming, and kindly came to the
county-seat, and gave me the sanction and aid of both his ministerial
and judicial presence. He very naturally assumed the position of
master of ceremonies, and introduced me to his Christian brethren
and "fellow-citizens," who not only honored him as their spiritual
shepherd, but had elevated him by their suffrages to his judicial
position. He politely escorted me to the judge's seat, which was
my pulpit, and sat with me there during the services. This "seat"
was simply a high, narrow platform at the end of the room, extending
entirely across the court-house, with a railing in front of it, and
supplied with benches and a few chairs.
I can not here adopt the very common and convenient expedient
of writers, and say that the dress and general appearance of my
congregation can be more easily imagined than described. In sober
truth, kind reader, granting to your imagination the very highest
power, I am constrained to believe that you are entirely unequal to
this task. There was very little if any foreign texture there. Their
dresses, coats, and other garments had, almost without exception, been
spun on their own wheels, woven in their own looms, dyed in butternut
from their own hills, and made and fashioned in accordance with their
own taste without consulting any fashion-plates. As they were bound by
no rules, there was variety, and there were very marked displays of
originality. Best of all, there was comfort, and patriotic instincts
were gratified by the exhibition of domestic fabrics. It was a rare
display of woolsey.
In addressing such an audience the speaker was always gratified and
rewarded by the closest attention. I have never seen such listeners as
the people in the Brush. They gave a speaker not only their ears but
their eyes, and their whole attention. They seemed unwilling to lose
a word that he uttered; they yielded themselves to his power. Their
faces moved and glowed responsive to his sentiments; and his own mind
was animated and enkindled by this sympathy of his audience. I suppose
the chief reason of this very marked attention was the fact that the
most of these people read very little, and very many of them could not
read at all. Hence they acquired the most of their information on all
subjects, religious and secular, by being good listeners. Preachers
and politicians, the pulpit and the stump, were their chief sources
of education. The school and the press were comparatively powerless.
Political, theological, and all other controverted questions were
settled in the minds of the people by oral discussions. Henry Clay
once presided over a theological discussion between the Rev. Alexander
Campbell, the founder of the sect popularly known as "Campbellites,"
and the Rev. Dr. N.L. Rice, of the Presbyterian Church, which was
continued through several days, and attended by a large concourse of
people. This debate was but a type of hundreds, probably of thousands,
that have been held in all parts of the Southwest. Let either a
Calvinist or an Arminian challenge the other to discuss the question of
the "Perseverance of the Saints," or "Falling from Grace," and, however
remote and wild the region, the people for miles around would abandon
work and business, and attend for days upon the discussion. Such
debates on the question of Baptism have drawn crowds together in this
manner times without number. Any petty lawsuit would bring together the
most of the people in the neighborhood, to hear the speeches of the
opposing pettifoggers or lawyers. County and circuit-court days were
the great days of the year, when the people left their homes en masse,
and went up to the county-seat in neighborhood cavalcades, and hour
after hour, and day after day, listened to the speeches of the opposing
counsel. In cases of unusual interest and excitement, such as a murder
trial, I have known a very general turnout of the wives and daughters,
and have seen them sit for hours together and listen to such speeches.
As already described in a previous chapter, political discussions
on all questions, State and national, were still more universal and
popular, and stump-speeches delivered to these crowds did more to
decide the minds of the people in regard to the questions discussed
than newspapers and all other causes combined.
This fondness of the people for public discussion, and speeches upon
all sorts of subjects, and the remarkable attention they give to a
speaker, have done very much to develop the peculiar and often very
remarkable oratory that prevailed in these wild regions. Their speakers
were so stimulated by the attention given them, and by the visible
effects produced by their words, as to draw out all their powers. While
they molded the minds and opinions of the people, the people molded
their peculiar style of oratory. They acted and reacted upon each
other.
It is impossible for a man to become animated and eloquent in
addressing an inattentive, listless, stolid audience. I remember
hearing in New England a story of the olden time, when, to avoid
cooking a Sunday dinner, a pan of pork and beans was put into the hot
brick oven, after taking out the bread and pies that were generally
baked on Saturday afternoons. The pork and beans were baked in this
manner, and taken from the oven for the Sunday dinner. An old divine,
remarkable for his eloquence and wit, on one occasion "exchanged" with
a brother clergyman whose parish was noted for the production of white
beans.
"How did you like preaching for my people?" said the latter, as the two
met some time afterward.
"It did very well in the morning," said the witty divine; "but in the
afternoon it was exactly like preaching to so many bags of baked beans."
It is not at all strange that in these times there are a good many dull
pulpits. There are so many audiences that, either from their minds
being absorbed with business or other thoughts, or from sheer mental
and physical stupidity, are as irresponsive and as little stimulating
to a speaker as "so many bags of baked beans."
But I had no such fault to find with my audience on this occasion. Had
there been any inattention, the fault would have been my own. The fact
that I hailed from the great city to which they sent their tobacco and
other products--the Jerusalem of their affection and State pride--was
of itself sufficient to secure me a most respectful and attentive
hearing. I had proceeded with the services, and was about half through
my sermon, when a gentleman entered the open door of the court-house,
halted for a time upon the threshold, and gazed at me for some moments
with that excited and intense earnestness with which a stranger is
regarded in those regions, where the presence of a stranger is a rare
occurrence. He wore a black broadcloth suit, and his appearance and
bearing indicated a professional rather than a laboring man of that
region. The sheriff's seat was close to the door, at his right hand,
and this was occupied by my friend, the venerable school-master of the
village, to whom I have before alluded. Turning to the school-master,
he plied him with questions for some time, which he evidently answered
with great reluctance as he kept his eyes constantly upon me, giving
the closest attention to my sermon. At length he turned his head from
him, as far as possible, and refused to answer his questions. I had
no doubt, from appearances, that in this pursuit of knowledge under
difficulties he was seeking information in regard to the preacher he
had come upon so unexpectedly. After standing in the door and listening
to me for some time, he very deliberately folded his arms, dropped his
head in an apparently meditative mood, and promenaded back and forth
before me from one side of the court-house to the other. The ladies
and a part of the men were within the bar. The rest of the audience
were on seats outside the bar, against the walls, and in the windows,
so that there was ample room for this promenade over the brick floor in
the space between the bar and the seats against the wall. I had had too
wide and varied an experience in addressing audiences to be seriously
disturbed by this somewhat unusual proceeding, and, as the audience
gave me the strictest possible attention, I continued my sermon, and
my abstracted friend continued his promenade and his meditations. At
length, tossing up his head suddenly, he whirled about, and, moving
with a rapid step, marched across the room, passed within the bar,
ascended to the Judge's seat, and sat down on a bench at my left hand.
After sitting here a while, he lay down and stretched himself at full
length upon the bench. Finally he sprang to his feet suddenly, and,
evidently supposing that I was concluding my sermon, stepped in front
of me, elbowed me back as gracefully as such a thing could well be done
in such circumstances, and, bowing profoundly to the audience, he said:
"There is a fine crowd here, and I believe I will make a speech."
This was too much for the patience of my audience, and was greeted
by a general and indignant shout of "Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!"
from nearly every one present, several of the brethren rising to their
feet, prepared to enforce order by physical force if necessary.
My clerical friend the Judge, who was sitting on my right, arose
with them, and, in the name of law and order, commanded him to take
his seat, reminding him of the severe legal penalty for disturbing
religious worship. Meanwhile I stood a silent and passive spectator of
the scene.
During my sermon I had been struck with the very marked attention of
a rather short, compactly built man, with very keen, black eyes, who
seemed all unconscious of his very singular attitude. He was in the
window, at my left, nearest the Judge's seat, and had sat through
the sermon, squatted upon his heels, leaning his back against the
window-jam, looking directly into my face, and listening to every word
that I uttered with the most gratified and animated interest. He was
among the first to spring to his feet, and stood in the window, his
black eyes flashing fire, and evidently more than willing to supplement
the Judge's words by any acts that might be necessary to restore order.
[Illustration: A candidate's unsuccessful effort to make a speech.]
Order was, however, restored without force. My friend with a speech to
make reluctantly resumed his seat. I resumed and concluded my sermon,
and was, in the vernacular of the people, about to "lift a collection"
for the Bible Society. At this point my oratorical friend sprang in
front of me, and exclaimed, with great vehemence:
"There is a fine crowd here, and I am going to make a speech. I
won't be put down by Judge Locke, this man from L----, or anybody else."
This was the signal for the wildest possible excitement. Every man,
woman, and child in the audience sprang to their feet, all shouting at
the top of their voices,
"Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!"
One immensely tall and large woman at my right, head and shoulders
above the group of sisters by whom she was surrounded, with an
indescribable bonnet of the largest old-time pattern and a dress of
home-made woolsey, in the excess of her excitement and rage, jumped
up and down, whirling completely around and jerking her head like a
snapping-turtle, and shouted at the top of her voice, which rang sharp
and shrill above the general roar,
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
My friend with the fiery black eyes leaped at a single bound from his
perch on the window-sill to the Judge's seat, and seizing the intruder
by the collar, jerked him in an instant to the floor below, where he
was reënforced by other zealous brethren, among them my host, who was
sitting at the opposite end of the room, and together they "snaked" him
out of the house in much quicker time than I had ever seen such a feat
performed before. The quickness of the whole transaction was wonderful.
A part of them took him to the jail, which was but a few yards distant,
where he was locked up. Order being again restored, the hats were
passed, and I received a collection amounting to about five dollars.
As soon as I pronounced the benediction, the people crowded around
me and expressed their intense mortification and sorrow at these
occurrences.
"We've got a pretty bad name here anyway," said one, "and if any such
thing happens, it is always sure to be when there is a stranger here
from a long way off."
"I don't want to fight," said my friend with the fiery black eyes, "any
more."
The reverend Judge and the brethren and sisters, one after another,
gave expression to their deep humiliation, and my fiery friend kept
stepping about nervously, and repeating over and over, half to himself
and half to me:
"I don't want to fight any more."
At length, shutting his fist, and bringing it down emphatically, he
said:
"I don't want to fight any more. But I won't see religion abused
anyway. I will fight for my Master."
Looking at his closely knit, compact form, his quick, vigorous
movements, and his flashing eyes, I could read in his "any more" the
story of many a fierce fight before his conversion--which I could not
now doubt was genuine.
At length I inquired who the gentleman was that had made the
disturbance, and had been so suddenly locked up in jail. I confess
I was somewhat surprised to be informed that he was a lawyer and
candidate for prosecuting attorney for the county. This was the first
Sunday in August. The election was to come off on the following Monday.
He had been making speeches in different parts of the county every day
for two or three weeks before. It was very evident that he was not a
teetotaler, though, as I afterward learned from himself, he entertained
a very high regard for temperance as a theme for oratorical display.
I learned that before sundown his opponent in the canvass magnanimously
interposed in his behalf and bailed him out of jail, being chivalrously
unwilling to profit by his enforced absence from the polls from such a
cause on the ensuing election-day.
After breakfast the next morning, I concluded to walk over to the
court-house and see how the election progressed. As soon as I entered
the yard, a "sovereign" whom I had not seen before approached me, with
a large water-bucket in one hand and a quantity of quarters, dimes, and
other change in the other, which he shook before me, and said:
"We are agoing to have a general treat, stranger; would you like to
throw in?"
I declined as politely as possible, and he passed on to the tavern to
expend the proceeds of his collection for a pail of whisky. "A general
treat" is where the whisky is purchased by a "general collection"
taken in this way, and put into a water-bucket or larger vessel, and
all parties come forward and help themselves with a gourd dipper. A
general treat so early in the morning gave promise of a lively day. As
I entered the court-house door, my friend the candidate recognized me,
and advancing with the most consequential air, and bowing with a great
deal of assumed dignity, he said:
"I believe, sir, you are the gentleman from L---- that preached here
yesterday?"
I replied, "Yes, sir."
"Well, sir," said he, "I wish to apologize to you. I very much regret
what occurred. I came into the court-house, and saw that there was a
very fine crowd, and I concluded that I would deliver them a temperance
speech. I have a very fine one that I have delivered in Cincinnati,
Louisville, and St. Louis, that I was agoing to give them, but they
hauled me out like a dog. I am a candidate for commonwealth attorney,
sir, and I suppose the affair will injure me somewhat in this precinct;
but I think, stranger, that I shall make the race."
Passing through another part of the county some days afterward, I
learned that, sure enough, he did "make the race," being elected by a
large majority.
It is but simple justice for me to add that, in all my extended travels
in the Southwest, this is the only instance where I have had the
slightest interruption in the discharge of my professional duties. I
have uniformly had that kind, cordial, and hospitable reception for
which the people are so justly famed. All my readers will understand
that _whisky_ was the sole cause of this exceptional case.