Preacher at Sangamon District
While I was on the Sangamon District, I rode one day into Springfield on some little business. My horse had been an excellent racking pony, but now had the stiff complaint. I called a few minutes in a store, to get some articles; I saw in the store two young men and a young lady; they were strangers, and we had no introduction whatever; they passed out and off. After I had transacted my little business in the store, I mounted my stiff pony, and started for home. After riding nearly two miles, I discovered ahead of me a light, two-horse wagon, with a good span of horses hitched to the wagon; and although it was covered, yet the cover was rolled up. It was warm weather, and I saw in the wagon those two young men and the young lady that I had seen in the store. As I drew near them, they began to sing one of our camp-meeting songs, and they appeared to sing with great animation. Presently the young lade began to shout, and said, “Glory to God! Glory to God!” the driver cried out, “Amen! Glory to God!”
My first impressions were, that they had been across the Sangamon River to a camp-meeting that I knew was in progress there, and had obtained religion, and were happy. As I drew a little nearer, the young lady began to sing and shout again. The young man who was not driving fell down, and cried aloud for mercy; the other two shouting at the top of their voices, cried out, “Glory to God! another sinner’s down.” Then they fell to exhorting the young man that was down, saying, “Pray on, brother; pray on, brother; you will soon get religion.” Presently up jumped the young man that was down, and shouted aloud, saying, “God has blessed my soul. Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Glory to God!”
Thinking all was right, I felt like riding up, and joining in the songs of triumph and shouts of joy that rose from these three happy persons; but as I neared the wagon, I saw some glances of their eyes at each other, and at me, that created a suspicion in my mind that all was not right; and the thought occurred to me that they suspected or knew me to be a preacher, and that they were carrying on in this way to make a mock of sacred things, and to fool me. I checked my horse, and fell back, and rode slowly, hoping they would pass on, and that I should not be annoyed by them any more; but when I checked my horse and went slow, they checked up and went slow too, and the driver changed with the other young man; then they began again to sing and shout at a mighty rate, and down fell the first driver, and up went a new shout of “Glory to God! another sinner’s down. Pray on, brother; pray on, brother; the Lord will bless you.” Presently up sprang the driver, saying, “Glory to God! he has blessed me.” And both the others shouted, and said, “Another sinner’s converted, another sinner’s converted! Halleluiah! Glory to God!” A rush of indignant feeling came all over me, and I thought I would ride up and horsewhip both of these young men; and if the woman had not been in company I think I should have done so; but I forbore. It was a vexatious encounter; if my horse had been fleet, as in former days, I could have rode right off, and left them in their ‘glory’; but he was stiff, and when I would fall back and go slow, they would check up; and when I would spur up my stiff pony, and try to get ahead of them, they would crack the ship and keep ahead of me; and thus they tormented me before, as I thought, my time, and kept up a continual roar of “Another sinner’s down! Another soul’s converted! Glory to God! Pray on, brother! Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Glory to God!” till I thought it was more than any good preacher ought to bear.
It would be hard for me to describe my feelings just about this time. It seemed to me that I was delivered over to be tormented by the devil and his imps. Just at this moment I thought of a desperate mudhole about a quarter of a mile ahead; it was a long one, and dreadful deep mud, and many wagons had stuck in it, and had to be prized out. Near the center of this mudhole there was a place of mud deeper than anywhere else. On the right stood a stump about two feet high; all the teams had to be driven as close to this stump as possible, to avoid a deep rut on the left, where many wagons had stuck; I knew there was a small bridle-way that wound round through the brush, to avoid the mud, and it occurred to me that when we came near this muddy place I would take the bridle-way, and put my horse at the top of his speed, and by this means get away from these wretched tormentors, as I knew they could not go fast through this long reach of mud. When we came to the commencement of the mud I took the bridal path, and put spurs and whip to my horse. Seeing I was rapidly leaving them in the rear, the driver cracked his whip, and put his horses at almost full speed, and such was their anxiety to keep up with me, to carry out their sport, that when they came to this bad place they never saw the stump on the right. The fore-wheel of the wagon struck centrally on the stump, and as the wheel mounted the stump, over went the wagon. Fearing it would turn entirely over an catch them under, the two young men took a leap into the mud, and then they lighted they sunk up to the middle. The young lady was dressed in white, and as the wagon went over, she sprang as far as she could, and lighted on all fours; her hands sunk into the mud up to her armpits, her mouth, and the whole of her face, immersed in the muddy water, and she certainly would have strangled it the young men had not relieved her. As they helped her up and out, I had wheeled my horse to see the fun. I rode up to the edge of the mud, stopped my horse, reared in my stirrups, and shouted at the top of my voice,
“Glory to God! Glory to God! Halleluiah! Another sinner’s down! Glory to God! Halleluiah! Glory! Halleluiah!”
If ever mortals felt mean, these youngsters did; and well they might, for they had carried on all this sport to make light of religion, and to insult a minister, a total stranger to them. But they contemned religion, and hated the Methodists, especially Methodist preachers.
When I became tired of shouting over them, I said to them:
“Now, you poor, dirty, mean sinners, take this as a just judgment of God upon you for your meanness, and repent of your dreadful wickedness; and let this be the last time that you attempt to insult a preacher; for if you repeat your abominable sport and persecutions, the next time God will serve you worse, and the devil will get you.”
They felt so badly that they never uttered one word of reply. Now I was very glad that I did not horsewhip them, as I felt like doing; but that God had avenged his own cause, and defended his own honor, without my doing it with carnal weapons; and I may here be permitted to say, at one of those prosperous camp-meetings named in this chapter, I had the great pleasure to see all three of these young people converted to God. I took them into the Methodist Church, and they went back to Ohio happy in God. They were here on a visit among their relations, from that state, and went home with feelings very different from those they possessed when they left.