■^ ^ "/ ^ - - v!^ 
 
 O"^ . s ' ^ ^ 
 
 p^^. 
 
 
 -e., 
 
 
 
 \' 
 
 .0^-. 
 
 
 O 
 
 ^^ 
 
 -V 
 

 
 N 0' 
 
 f <f> 
 
 
 
 ,"°.. 
 
 
 
 ^' 
 
 
 
 mKr %r --, 
 
 
 
 
 .0 o^ >.^.* ^^v ^^. %;t.->^ ,.o-' 
 
 V 
 
 \ '' 
 
 > 
 
 C^^ 
 
 .0 
 
 S _ s » o 
 
 1 •-_ '^^^ ^^' 
 
 
 ■.'^ %. 
 
 
 - .S^ ^ ^%^> .V^ ^< 
 
 
 U 
 
 ^ c^^' 
 
 ' ^-P 
 
 •y V 
 
 
 
 
 
 <^^ ■'Oijx"*' A^.O^C 
 
 
 * r-^T-^N-v 
 
 
 
,/ 
 
<iJl- JiL 
 
^,i\^^\ 
 
THE 
 
 OLD PINE FARM: 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 
 
 rOMVRISING LOOSE SKETCHES FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF 
 
 A SOUTHERN COUNTRY MINISTEK. 
 
 S. O. 
 
 N x\ S 11 V I L L E . 
 SOUTHWESTERN PUBEISHTNO HOUSl: 
 
 CHARLESTON i—SOUTHERN BAP. PUBLICATTON SOCIKTr. 
 
 NEW YORK :— SHELDON * COMPANY. 
 
 BOSTON :-f;Oi:LI» .V LlNf'OLN. 
 
'c'^:\^ 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the ycfir 1859, by 
 
 GEAVES, MAEKS & CO., 
 
 in the office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District 
 
 of Tennessee. 
 
P K E F A C E 
 
 This is nut a "slavery" book, pro nor con, as 
 might be supposed from a glance at the title, but 
 is intended to show up some of the features 
 of Southern ministerial life among the country 
 churches. 
 
 Many books of a similar character have been 
 put forth, exhibiting the phases of E'orthern and 
 English experience, and it was thought due to the 
 profession that its members in the " sunny south," 
 should have a place in the picture. 
 
 Author. 
 
 .S'. a, May I, 1859. 
 
^tV 
 
1^ 
 
 CO Is^ TENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Preface 3 
 
 Chapter I — The Minister, 7 
 
 II— The Journey, 15 
 
 III— The Farm, 20 
 
 IV— The Methodist Meeting, 26 
 
 V— The Return, 32 
 
 VI— Home Matters, 39 
 
 VII— The Hired Boy, 45 
 
 VIII— The House Raising, 5!) 
 
 IX— The Distiller, 56 
 
 X — The Explanation, 66 
 
 XI — Church Discipline, 73 
 
 XII— The Protracted Meeting, 86 
 
 XIII — Sickness in the Family, 91 
 
 XIV— The Catholic Convert, 97 
 
 XV— The Country Funeral, Ill 
 
 XVI — Disruption of the Coalition, 118 
 
 XVII— The Crisis, 127 
 
 XVIII— The Runaway Match, 133 
 
 (v) 
 
vi CO^' TENTS. 
 
 XIX— Raising the Salary, 140 
 
 XX— Clouds Gathering, 148 
 
 XXI — The Progress of Events, 156 
 
 XXII — Emigration, 1C5 
 
 XXIII— The Resignation, 171 
 
 XXIV — Dadd}^ Cyrus goes Home, . 177 
 
 XXV — Unexpected Relief, 185 
 
 XXVI— Winding Up, 191 
 
 XXVII— Westward, Ho ! 197 
 
PINE FARM 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SOUTHERISr SIDE 
 
 CHAPTER I.— The Minister. 
 
 It was a cold, raw, dismal morning in the month 
 of March, the most disagreeable part of the whole 
 year in our Southern clime, when " winter still lin- 
 gers on the budding bush ; " now a few days of mel- 
 low sunshine, inviting the farmer' to drive his team 
 afield — then a blustering wind howling through the 
 forests and sweeping across the plains — again a cut- 
 ting breeze, freighted with the mists of the chilly 
 North, mocking the hope of early spring, and doubly 
 disagreeable to the system relaxed by the preceding 
 warmth. 
 
 Such was the day whose gray dawn found Mr. 
 Watkins busy with preparations for his departure to 
 meet an appointment, distant some twenty miles. 
 
 " Come, Mary," said he, addressing his wife, " let 
 me have a cup of coffee and a bite of bread ; I can't 
 wait for breakfast: it's a long ride, and my horse is 
 
 (7) 
 
8 PINE FARM. 
 
 slow, and some complained of my tardiness at tlic 
 last meeting." 
 
 The good woman thus addressed was hastily making 
 her plain toilet, and casting a glance at the little sleep- 
 ers on their pallet, to see that they were properly cov- 
 ered, passed out into the kitchen, and calling Betty 
 to her assistance, was soon lost to other considera- 
 tions in preparing a hasty meal for her husband. 
 
 Though dimly light without, it was still night 
 within doors, and a resinous fire sent its rays dancing 
 over the floor, and walls, and rafters of the log 
 kitchen, and as the ruddy light streamed through 
 the cracks, the familiar sounds and pleasant odor of 
 " cooking '' greeted Mr. Watkins as he passed by on 
 the way to the stable to look after his old " gallant 
 gray." 
 
 But old daddy Cyrus had anticipated him, and 
 was currying the horse, which was deliberately par- 
 taking of his food as his master entered. 
 
 "Ah! Cyrus, you here! I hardly thought you 
 were astir so early." 
 
 "Hi, massa, you tink I bin lay down and sleep 
 when missis and Betty gone for cook breakfast. 
 More den dat, he no look right for massa go feed 
 hoss when he got on clean close for preach in." 
 
 " Well, you can saddle him and bring him round 
 directly; I shall soon be ready to start." 
 
 " Yes, massa, soon he bin eat some corn and fod- 
 der I ketch him and bring him round to de gate. 
 But he onus eat little bit, hoss can 't trabel good if 
 you no feed him." 
 
on THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 9 
 
 After this brief colloquy, Mr. Watkiiis returned 
 to the house to make up a fire and wait until his . 
 faithful wife and domestics had made the necessary 
 arrangements for his leaving ; and as he walked off', 
 old Cyrus might be heard singing in a low tone, as 
 he ran the curry-comb over the horse: 
 
 "0 de old ship of Zion, liallelu, hallelu, 
 De old ship of Zion, halleluya; 
 She hab carried many a thousand, 
 And she'll carry as many more, 
 glory, halleluya." 
 
 " Dat 's a Methodis song," muttered the old man to 
 himself, "but I love for sing um, he make me feel 
 good." 
 
 Pending the preparations for leaving, let us intro- 
 duce our friends more particularly to the reader. 
 
 Mr. Watkins was a representative of a large class 
 of Southern preachers, who give the strength of 
 manhood a^nd the experience of old age to a toilful, 
 self-denying ministration to the Baptist churches. 
 With but limited means for the support of their 
 families, spiritually '' working for nothing and find- 
 ing themselves," life is with them a struggle for ex- 
 istence, until wornout mortality finds the rest of a 
 quiet grave. 
 
 Having several churches to "supply," often at 
 very inconvenient distances from home, much of their 
 time is spent away from tlicir fiimilies, their secular 
 business is necessarily neglected, and the hard task 
 of providing for and training their children devolves 
 mainly on thoir ).nti(M)t, weak, laborious wives. 
 
10 PINE FARM, 
 
 Should it not then be a matter of pitj, rather than 
 
 reproach (if it were true), that " a preacher's children 
 
 are the worst in the wiiole neighborhood." 
 
 Mr. Watkins, at the time we Avrite, was some thirty 
 
 years of age, of moderate education, with a wife and 
 
 three children. The Pine Woods Farm, of about 
 
 three hundred acres, on which he lived, a colored 
 
 woman w^ith two small children, old Cja'us, a small 
 
 lot of live stock, with fiirming utensils, make up the 
 
 sum total of his worldly possessions. True he could 
 
 not sing 
 
 " ISTo foot of land do I possess, , 
 ■ jNTo cottage in this wilderness," 
 
 but his lot in life was quite as hard as many who 
 could. 
 
 For five years he had given himself to the ministry 
 of the Word, and the labors of those five years had 
 perhaps brought him in enough to buy another horse, 
 when the carrion crows should have held a carnival 
 over old gray's carcass. 
 
 He had nov>^ in charo-e four con otg orations ; the 
 nearest three, and the farthest twenty miles from 
 his residence ; the other two, twelve and sixteen re- 
 spectively ; and, according to a custom long prevail- 
 ing, two days of the week were given to each of 
 these congregations — Saturday being '' church meet- 
 ing," or "conference" day, with preaching (when a 
 sufficient number of people could be got together), 
 and Lord's day devoted to preaching and adminis- 
 tering such ordinances of the church as might be 
 required. 
 
OR TiiE SOUTHERN SIDE. H 
 
 Having but little education, Mr. Watkins, never- 
 theless, was gifted with more than ordinary abilities, 
 a good address, and had made use of such time as 
 could be spared from his churches and his farm in 
 adding to his store of knowledge. Ardent and san- 
 guine, he was seldom depressed by. difficulties, always 
 hoping for a " better time coming." By dint of hard 
 work, with the help of old Cyrus, he managed always 
 to raise enough from, the farm to supply the simple 
 wants of his family, not forgetting, also, ''to entertain 
 strangers ; " wliilc his prudept, quiet, managing wife 
 contrived, with Betty, to keep things in order about 
 the house and yard. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins was about three years his junior, 
 the eldest daughter of a neigboring farmer, who a 
 few years after her marriage had emigrated to the 
 West in search of better lands and better facilities 
 for bringing up and settling a large family, leaving 
 Betty, the negro woman, as her patrimonial inheri- 
 tance. Sad vras the parting which sundered the 
 social ties between herself and family, and gladly 
 would she have gone with them ; but Mr. Watkins 
 not being able at the time to find a purchaser for 
 his land, they agreed to ''bide their time," in the 
 hope of joining their friends after a while in their 
 new home. 
 
 But they were destined to remain longer than they 
 expected in their native State, and indeed it was not 
 very long before they found their little home was 
 becoming r. dear spot to them, ns one after another 
 liifercnt improvements were made — a rose bush 
 
12 PINE FARM, 
 
 planted here, a tree there, an addition made to the 
 house, and the front paling glistening in its covering 
 of spotless whitewash ; so that the recollection of 
 former connections and of earlier days grew fainter as 
 the cares of the present succeeded to the remembrance 
 of the past. Such is life, and a blessed arrangement 
 of Providence it is, that time and circumstances 
 should assuage the grief, and remove the sorrows of 
 poor Jmmanitj. 
 
 Thus it was that Mr. and Mrs. Watkins became 
 happy in themselves, happy in their children, their 
 servants, their little business; and happy in the 
 esteem and confidence of their neighbors; these, 
 being generally like themselves, humble in their pre- 
 tensions and pecuniary means, plain, simple in their 
 habits, and kind in their sympathies and little acts of 
 friendly regard. 
 
 The day with which our story opens was the veo-u- 
 lar time of meeting with the Green Mount church, 
 situated in the upper part of the district in which Mr. 
 Watkins lived. This was a wealthy congregation, and 
 but for the want of proper training might have saved 
 their preacher the labor and suffering of his long, 
 cold ride. 
 
 Mr. Watkins had just entered on the second year 
 of his ministerial " supply ;" and though much pleased 
 with his services, the church had very crude notions 
 of what is meant by the " support of the ministry." 
 
 Having been long accustomed to the dispensation 
 of a " free Gospel," the previous year's contributic^n 
 of forty dollars was thought a decided mark of regard 
 
OK THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 13 
 
 for their popular preacher, and Mr. Watkins like too 
 many who liad preceded him, was too modest to cor- 
 rect the impression ; or, having been raised himself* in 
 the same school, and never having felt the pain of 
 pinching necessity, he perhaps gave the matter very 
 little consideration. The people liked him, and he 
 liked them ; the congregations which attended on his 
 ministry were large, and his prospects for usefulness 
 flattering; what could he desire more?" 
 
 " Well, Mary, I must be going," remarked he, 
 rising from his early breakfast, " Cyrus, I see, is at the 
 gate with the horse, and it 's a tedious journey. Good 
 bye, do n't expose yourself in this weather, and keep 
 the children by the fire." 
 
 " Good-bye, dear," replied his "vvife, " I am sorry 
 you have to ride so far this unpleasant day. Do try 
 and get back as soon as you can ; it always makes me 
 sad when you are away from home." 
 
 " Indeed, my dear, I always carry a heavy heart 
 from home, and often do I cast an anxious thought 
 back to the dear ones in our little cottage. But God 
 will provide ; I know, and I feel, that it is wrong not 
 to trust him wdio has said, ' I will never leave thee 
 nor forsake thee;'" and drawing on his overcoat and 
 taking his saddlebags on his arm, Mr. Watkins walked 
 out to the gate, where Cyrus was holding his horse. 
 
 " Massa, you no gwine tek your umbrella long ? 
 May be he rain fore you get up yonder; aint you see 
 he bin cloudy now ? " 
 
 " Perhaps it w^ould be better to do so, Cyrus," re- 
 plied Mr. Watkins, looking upward, ^^ It 's rather cold 
 
l-i PINE FARM, 
 
 for much rain, but the weather may change ; go to the 
 house and get it for me." 
 
 " Yes, sir, carry um for true," said Cyrus, starting 
 for the umbrella, " he no good for get wet dis time de 
 year." 
 
 " Missis ! Missis ! I tank you for de umbrella, mam, 
 for massa." 
 
 '' yes," replied Mrs. Watkins, handing it to him 
 at the door, " how could I have forgotten it." 
 
 " Ah, dat 's him, now massa can go." 
 
 '' Keep everything straight until I get back, 
 Cyrus," said Mr. Watkins, mounting his horse, "give 
 particular attention to the woodpile, and see to the 
 cattle, this cold spell is very trying to them. We 
 must try and plant some corn next week. Good-bye." 
 
 ^'Yes, sir, I tek good care of ebery ting, by de 
 help of de Lord. Good-bye, massa, God bless 3'ou," 
 and Mr. Watkins started on his cheerless way, through 
 the dark pine forest, while Cyrus went to his duties as 
 directed. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. I'j 
 
 CHAPTER U.—TJie Journey. 
 
 The keen north wind was any thing but pleasant 
 to Mr. Watkins, as mile after mile he held on his 
 weary way, and an occasional drizzle verified the ap- 
 prehension of old Cyrus, expressed by his advice in 
 regard to the umbrella. Long before reaching the 
 half-way point in his journey, he found he was getting 
 "too cold for comfort;" his feet particularly being 
 unprotected, had become damp from the light showers 
 which had passed over, and he felt strangely tempted 
 to stop and "warm" at some of the houses which 
 were scattered here and there along the road. But 
 the day was advancing, and his slow beast made slow 
 progress ; many tiresome miles still lay before him, 
 and resolving to " endure hardships as a good soldier 
 of Jesus Christ," by dint of checking and thumping 
 with his heels, he urged old gray along. His mind, 
 too, was busy as well as his body. He tried to anti- 
 cipate the business that was likely to come before the 
 Conference, the probabilities were decidedly against 
 having a congregation large enough for a regular ser- 
 mon ; hence he could find some employment in mak- 
 inc^ out such " remarks " as mis^ht be deemed suitable 
 to the occasion. Then his thoughts would revert to 
 the dear ones at home, and he would wonder if they 
 were gathered around the fire, — the little ones, per- 
 haps, nestling in the corner of the ample fireplace. 
 
 "Ah, me," he would sigh, as he soliloquized on tho 
 hardships of a country minister. " Many think it 
 
16 rrXK FARM, 
 
 an easy life, this riding roiiiid and preaching to th<' 
 churches, but little do thev kno^v of its trials. Meth- 
 odist preachers sometimes talk of their privations, 
 and doubtless some of them have a hard time of it ; 
 may God reward their self-denial." Then he would 
 hum the good old song, 
 
 " Must I be carried to the skies, 
 
 On flowery beds of ease ; 
 While others fought to win the prize, 
 And sailed through bloody seas." 
 
 Again he would muse on the low state of religion in 
 the country; '^ one gone to his farm and another to his 
 merchandise." Thence turn his thoughts to the con- 
 dition of the world at large ; the vast numbers to 
 whom the Gospel had not yet come ; the corruptions 
 of church establishments in civilized lands ; the very 
 few who observed " a patient continuance in well-do- 
 ing" amid the general wickedness, and wonder when 
 the world would be converted. Here a vile doubt 
 would be injected by Satan, What if it should be a 
 mistake, after all ? Who knows, but after all the toil 
 and pains-taking, the preaching and praying, that man 
 does not at last go to an eternal sleep when the 
 grave closes over him ? But the thought is tor- 
 ment, and he prays, "Lord save me from an evil 
 heart of unbelief." "Lord let thy kingdom come." 
 And as the recollection of the cloud of witnesses, and 
 the fulfillment of God's promises in times past come 
 to mind, and as the glories of the latter days gild 
 the horizon of Hope, Love burns within his soul. Zeal 
 prompts to continued exertion as he seems to liear, 
 
OR THE SOUTIIERX SIDE. 17 
 
 " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
 crown of life," — not be thou '^ successful,'^ — that may- 
 be impossible ; but be thou "faithful.'' For a time, 
 home is forgotten, cold unfelt, inconveniences disre- 
 garded, and he hardly knows whether he is in the 
 body or out of it. But alas ! as in the case of the 
 disciples, wdiile the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, 
 and our worthy minister gradually comes to find him- 
 self plodding along his gloomy way, benumbed with 
 cold, the damp winds sighing among the waving pines 
 and whistling a tuneless melody about his ears. 
 
 By this time he had entered a clearing, called, in 
 Southern parlance, a '' new ground," over which lay 
 numerous piles of logs and brush, many of which were 
 on fire, sending up volumes of smoke and shedding a 
 genial warmth around. One of these was burning 
 near the road side, around which were several negroes 
 working, and a white man overlooking and directing 
 their operations. 
 
 As Mr. "VVatkins approached the log-heap, he was 
 addressed in a friendly manner by the overseer. 
 
 " Good morning, Bro. Watkins. Come, ride up and 
 warm awhile ; you m.ust be well chilled riding against 
 this sharp wind." 
 
 " Thank you, Bro. Orton ; I am very cold, and at 
 the risk of being a little late at meeting, I must thaw 
 my hands and feet." 
 
 "And your nos.e," pleasantly remarked the over- 
 seer. "- 1 hardly think you will meet much of a con- 
 gregation to-day, and am rather surprised at youT 
 going '^ 
 
IB PiNE FARM, 
 
 ^' To have consulted only my feelings would have 
 certainly resulted in my remaining at home," returned 
 Mr. Watkins. '' And if I had thought it would be so 
 very disagreeable, perhaps I should not have come 
 anyhow. But, doubtless, it is all for the best, and I 
 shall feel better for having done what duty seemed to 
 require." 
 
 " I should be glad to go with you, cold as it is, but 
 my time, as you know, belongs to my employer, and 
 he might not like me to leave the plantation." 
 
 " 0, of course it would not be right for you to go 
 without permission, where there is no necessity for 
 your doing so. Faithfulness to secular engagements is 
 a part of religion, and in observing this we render an 
 acceptable service to God. '• Forsake not the assem- 
 bling of yourselves together,' is an apostolic exhorta- 
 tion which should by no means be disregarded when- 
 ever circumstances will allow its observance; but 
 religion is something which should control the whole 
 man in all the relations of life ; and one may serve 
 God in his field, his storehouse, or his workshop." 
 
 ''' So I think," replied Mr. Orton ; " and thus I try 
 to .console myself when prevented from attending as 
 I desire at the church. We read, 'it is according to 
 that a man hath and not according to that he hath 
 not,' that he must be judged." 
 
 " Very true, Bro. Orton, only do n't let us make 
 excuses when none really exist. I suppose you will 
 be at church to-morrow ? " 
 
 " 0, yes, Providence permitting, I will certainly be 
 there, rain or shine." "^ 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN^ SIDE. 19 
 
 " Well, bring all you can Avith you, and try and get 
 the negroes on the plantation to come, as many as 
 can do so, and I trust we may have a good meeting 
 yet, unpromising as appearances now are. But I 
 must be going ; there are still five miles of riding 
 before me ; it is now eleven o'clock, (looking at his 
 watch.) Good morning, Bro. Orton.'' 
 
 ^'Good day, Bro. Watkins," returned the overseer, 
 extending his hand ; " a pleasanter ride to you than 
 I expect you will have." 
 
 Mr. Watkins mounted his horse and reluctantly 
 rode away from the rousing new ground fire, to en- 
 counter again the biting blast. But the warming had 
 greatly helped him, and he did not become so cold 
 again during the remainder of the journey. Old 
 gray, too, seemed to move with more life after his 
 little resting spell, and at the end of an hour's jolt- 
 ing, on ascending a hill, Mr. Watkins was gladdened 
 with the sio;ht of the old weather-beaten meetins;- 
 house, dingy with age and the storms of a quarter of 
 a century. 
 
 A few horses hitched about under the trees showed 
 that his expectations in regard to a small congrega- 
 tion, were not disappointed. So tying the reins of 
 his bridle to a limb of a tree, he dismounted and 
 walked into the house to join those who had preceded 
 him, where we will leave him for a while, and go back 
 to see how the family are getting on at home. 
 
20 PINE FAIUI, 
 
 CHAPTEIi IlL— The Farm. 
 
 Who that has ever traveled through South Carolina 
 and Georgia but has remarked the uniformity of de- 
 sign as respects the dwellings of the country-people — ■ 
 varied chiefly by the pecuniary circumstances of the 
 owners ? The little log cabin, with a single room and 
 a clay chimney. This represents the lowest class. 
 
 Two log pens, and two back shed rooms, with a 
 passage through the center and a piazza in front ; 
 clay chimney at each end of the house. This is the 
 second class in the ascending scale. 
 
 Two story house, built of pine boards, with four 
 rooms in the body of the house, and two shed rooms 
 behind ; brick chimney at each end, piazza in front, 
 and passage through the center. This is the third 
 class — men who are getting " well-to-do in the world." 
 
 Large two story double house, eight rooms, chimney 
 running up through the roof, giving a fireplace to 
 each room ; piazza or portico in front, and passage 
 through the center. This completes the series, and 
 here we find the lordly planter, with all the appoint- 
 ments of comfortable and stylish living. Occasional 
 deviation from these descriptions may of course be 
 found, according to the peculiarity or amount of taste 
 in individuals ; but the picture in the main is, we think, 
 correctly drawn. 
 
 To the second in the series belonged our worthy 
 preacher ; but while thus low down in the scale, there 
 
OR TJIE tOUTlIERX SIDE. 21 
 
 was about the premises abundant evidence of an ele- 
 vation of taste above his class. The trim flower- 
 garden in front of the house, with its neatly white- 
 washed palings, vines climbing about the piazza, 
 carpeted floors, books, magazines, and newspapers, 
 about the rooms, and pictures on the walls ; vegetable 
 garden in the rear of the yard, an orchard of various 
 kinds of fruits and many other little matters, marked 
 the refined taste of the preacher and his family. 
 
 The operations of the fiirm, too, vrere conducted in 
 a manner creditable to the industry and good judg- 
 ment of its managers. The soil, indeed, was not 
 originally very fertile ; but was made to yield an 
 abundance to satisfy the simple wants of the family. 
 The everlasting worm-fence of the south inclosed the 
 cultivated grounds ; but even this was, in one sense, 
 straight — that is, it was put up plumb and true, 
 and well secured with '' stakes and riders." The con- 
 dition of the live stock also, betokened a degree of 
 attention paid to it, uncommon in this latitude, which 
 usually consists in '' penning " the cattle at night, and 
 turning them out in the morning to work for a liv- 
 ing — the motto observed in regard to hogs being em- 
 phatically, "root pig, or die." As to sheep, the 
 armies of useless curs of every size and color, white, 
 black, brindled, bob-tailed and crop-eared, which in- 
 fest the yards of rich and poor, -white and black, make 
 that animal almost as much of a show in somp places, 
 as a lama or a camel. ,, 
 
 The principal crop raised at Pine Farm was, Indian 
 corn, with cow-peas planted between the rows ; a small 
 
22 
 
 PINE FARM, 
 
 field of -wheat, oats, sweet potatoes, and a patch of 
 sugar cane. But the indispensable cotton patch, pro- 
 ducing that which is deemed of essential utility as an 
 article of sale, was not neglected. True, it was not 
 a large crop, but like everybody else, Mr. Watkins 
 ^*must have some cotton." 
 
 Cotton ! what a power in the world ! It is music in 
 the ear of the speculating dealer. 
 
 Cotton ! The wealthy nabob assumes a loftier air 
 as he rides over his vast plantation. 
 
 Cotton ! The merchant prince contemplates, with 
 proud satisfaction, the piles in his warehouse and his 
 vessels freighted for foreign shores. 
 
 Cotton! "The lords of the loom," calculate its 
 profits as they stalk amid the clatter of machinery 
 preparing it for the varied uses of man. The poor 
 man rejoicjjs in the expectation of the return of his 
 summer's work ; and the domesticated African, as he 
 hoes the grass away from the roots of the plant, and 
 gathers the fleecy locks into his basket, wonders Vvdiere 
 all the cotton goes to! Wonderful thing! For long 
 ages an insignificant plant in some out of the way 
 corner of the earth, '^' wasting its sweetness on the 
 desert air," now receiving the homage of the sons of 
 Mammon, as it sits a king upon the throne of trade. 
 
 But to return to our friends. Saturday is a busy 
 day to country people. The yard must be swept, 
 clothes done up, house put in order, and things fixed 
 up generally for Sunday ; so that after breakfast 
 Mrs. Watkins was soon diligently engaged in domeS' 
 tic duties, the children in the meantime bringing in 
 
OR THE fc^OUTHERN SIDE. 23 
 
 wood from the pile which Cyrus was accumulating in 
 the yard, and rendering such little assistance in dif- 
 ferent ways as they were capable of. 
 
 We have said that three children composed the 
 family of Mr. and Mrs. Watkins. Julia, the eldest, 
 was a promising child of ten years growth, resembling 
 in form and face her much-loved father, Avith mild 
 blue eyes, dark ringlets clustering about a high fore- 
 head, that indicated an uncommon degree of intellectu- 
 ality ; amiable, and ever ready to help " mother " about 
 household matters, and with quite a feeling of impor- 
 tance, was wiping the cups and saucers at the table, 
 after bringing in an armful of wood. 
 
 Susan was three years her junior, a romping, merry 
 little black-eyed reproduction of mother ; and Tommy, 
 as he toddled in with a turn of lightwood, presented 
 a specimen of a hearty fellow who required more 
 than three years to develop fully his mental and 
 physical tendencies. 
 
 " Mother," said Julia, '' why did you not v/ake me 
 up this morning to see father ? I am sorry he has 
 gone away ; will he come back soon ? " 
 
 " I hope he will return on Monday, my dear. L 
 thought it best to let you sleep, as by your gettim^ 
 up it might have disturbed the smaller children, and 
 I did not have time to dress them before getting 
 something for your father to eat." 
 
 Julia thought this a good reason, and made no reply, 
 though she thought how much she would have liked to 
 kiss father before he went away. 
 
 " 0, mother," cried Susan, --i ^re is Tommy play- 
 
24 I'ixE rAUM, 
 
 iiig with the fire," as this last-named personage waa 
 making fiery circles in the air with a straw lighted at 
 the end. 
 
 ''Don't do so, Tommy," said his mother, reprov- 
 ingly ; '^ fire is a dangerous thing to play with ; you 
 know how little Willie Jones was burned last week." 
 
 ''Put it down, sir," commanded Susan. "Mother, 
 he won't do it." 
 
 "I is, mudder," rejoined Tommy, dropping the 
 straw. 
 
 Julia, who was standing near, quietly picked it up 
 and threw it behind the fire. " Now^, Tommy, let me 
 get you something to play with." So saying, she 
 stepped across the room and took a primer from the 
 table. " Here, Tommy, look at these pretty pictures, 
 and let Susan tell you about the horses, and dogs, and 
 birds." 
 
 This arrangement seemed to suit him very well, and 
 as it gave Susan an opportunity to exercise a little 
 brief authority as teacher, they seated themselves on 
 the floor and Avere soon absorbed in the wonders of 
 natural history. 
 
 Things being " put to right " in house and kitchen, 
 Mrs. W. spent the morning with Betty in such busi- 
 ness as did not expose them to the weather, while 
 C^a'us gave his time principally to cutting up fire 
 wood and attending to the stock. 
 
 During the afternoon the wind veered around to the 
 west and brushed away the clouds, giving promise of 
 a fair day on the morrow^ In the evening, after the 
 supper things were cleared away, Mrs. AY. called in 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 25 
 
 tlie servants, and gathering the children around the 
 firephice, read some passages from the Bible, and all 
 then kneeled down while she commended them and 
 her absent husband to the kind care of the heavenly 
 Father. After prayer she led in singing a devotional 
 hymn, in which she was joined by the little company, 
 when they retired for the night to seek the rest of 
 " nature's sweet restorer." 
 
26 I'TNK FAP.M, 
 
 CHAPTEIl l\.— The Meiltodisl Meeting. 
 
 The wind, which was blowing with considerable 
 force when the family retired to bed, gradually sub- 
 sided, and by midnight the air was still. The morn- 
 ing broke clear and cold, and a frosty sheet, spread 
 out on plain and hillside, reflected, from its pure crys- 
 tals, the rays of the rising sun, and as it melted under 
 the influence of the increasing warmth, there went up 
 a vapory cloud as though earth would ofl'er incense in 
 acknowledgment of descending mercies. Higher still 
 mounted the sun in the heavens, sending down a flood 
 of light over mountain and valley, field and forest, 
 running stream and quiet lake. Far off upon the sea, 
 where the monsters of the deep roam in unrestrained 
 freedom, his rays danced upon the deep blue waters ; 
 the dormant germs of earth felt his life-giving power, 
 and nature's warblers joined in a chorus of thanks- 
 giving to Him who made the sun to rule by day. The 
 deep tones, as they floated in musical solemnity from 
 the spires of the crowded city, and the sweetly modest 
 ring of the village bells, and the Sabbath stillness of the 
 country, all seemed to tell "this is the Lord's day ! " 
 Alas ! that man should so disown its obligations. . 
 
 The Lord's day ! What means it? 
 
 Go ask the affrighted soldiers Avho saw the mighty 
 angel roll back the stone from the door of the 
 sepulcher. 
 
 Ask Jerusalem ruined and her scattered people. 
 
on THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 27 
 
 Ask death vanquished and devils in dismay. 
 
 Ask the cloud of ^vitnesses "who have run their race, 
 received their crowns, and in company with those who 
 heard the morning stars sing together, strike their 
 harps of gold to the glory of the Deliverer. 
 
 Hear that shout wliich filled heaven as he entered, 
 " Lift up your heads ye everlasting gates, and be ye 
 lifted up ye everlasting doors." 
 
 And, as you learn of the resurrection of " the first 
 fruits of them that slept," learn, too, that by faith in 
 Him may earth's children cursed, be able to join the 
 shout of earth's children redeemed, " de;ith where 
 is thy sting ? grave where is thy victory ? " 
 Blessed be God for tb.c Lord's day, when the hi borer 
 may rest, and v;hen the pious may go up to the house 
 of God, to learn wisdom from the teachin^-s of His 
 Spirit's inspiration. 
 
 A day like the one we have described was such as 
 would call the w^orshipers to the house of God, and a^ 
 there w^as no meeting of their own people within reach, 
 the family at the Farm determined to pay a short 
 visit to their Methodist friends, Avho assembled at a 
 meetinghouse some four miles distant. 
 
 Mrs. W. signified this intention to Cyrus, and in 
 due time he had harnessed up the remaining horse, a 
 gentle, steady animal, known as "Bob," and was in 
 waiting with the clumsy wagon at the ^te. The 
 two larger children were to accompany their mother, 
 who, taking Julia beside her and, seating Susan in a 
 small chair, bade Cyrus odcupy the front seat as 
 driver. The old man had spruced himself up in a 
 
28 PINE FARM 
 
 suit of Ills master's old clothes, and looked as staid 
 and respectable as any parson's servant in the coun- 
 try. Everything being ready, the party drove off, 
 leaving Tommy in the care of the faithful Betty, 
 ^ "whose husband Joe had come to visit her from a 
 nelHiborinG; farm. 
 
 An easy drive of an hour brought them to the 
 meeting, and Methodist preachers being " minute 
 men," as respects commencing the service at the ap- 
 pointed time, Mrs. \Y. felt rather mortified, being a 
 'preacher's wife, at finding them singing the first 
 hymn. However, taking her children by the hand, 
 she entered the house and took up her position at the 
 J first convenient seat, the whole con2:reofation standinfj 
 during the singing of the hymn. This was succeeded 
 by a prayer of much seeming earnestness and unction, 
 in which the members participated, manifesting their 
 sympathy by an occasional " Amen " and other de- 
 monstrations peculiar to that people. 
 
 The singing of a solo by the preacher, completed 
 the preliminary and devotional services, when he an- 
 nounced his text, and began his discourse. He was 
 a man of education and talents ; and having an easy 
 flow of words, common to nearly all his class, he 
 appeared to have no trouble in gaining and retaining 
 the attention of his audience. At first calm and 
 deliberate, gradually rising in fervor, ideas seemed 
 crowding for utterance. Heaven, earth, and hell 
 came within the range of his argument and imagina- 
 tion, and throwing off in the conclusion some pas- 
 sages which would have done credit to the eloquence 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 29 
 
 of men of greater fame, lie appeared to throw some 
 of his hearers into an ecstasy of happiness. Amen! 
 (jlory ! and chipping of hands, might be heard in dif- 
 ferent parts of the house, and in one or two cases a 
 laugh, sounding strangely to unaccustomed ears, indi- 
 cated the emotions of the hearts from whence it pro- 
 ceeded ; and in the midst of this scene, some would 
 say of confusion, others of spiritual enjoyment, the 
 preacher closed his sermon and gave an invitation to 
 any who desired to join the cluirch, or have prayer 
 made for them, to come forward to ''the altar." A 
 number " went up," while the congregation sang an 
 inspiriting hymn. This concluded, two persons, a 
 man and woman, members of the church, presentee] 
 an infant child to receive the rite of baptism, where- 
 upon the minister, according to the prescribed service, 
 proceeded to pour a little water on its forehead. A 
 string of appointments followed, and the preacher, 
 raising his hands, dismissed the people to their respec- 
 tive homes. 
 
 A few minutes passed in shaking hands and mutual 
 inquiries made in relation to each other's health and 
 the health of families, — remarks on the pleasant 
 change in the Aveather and the sermon just delivered ; 
 invitations extended and promises made in relation to 
 visiting, and our little party was on its homeward 
 way. 
 
 "How did you like the meeting, Cyrus ? " asked 
 INIrs. W., when they had gotten fairly on the way. 
 Now, Cyrus was an out-and-out Baptist. Nothing 
 short of an old-fashioned experience, and going 
 
30 PINE FARiM, 
 
 " clean under," came up to liis notions of a Christian 
 baptism. He was always ready, too, for a discussion 
 on the subject with anybody who opposed him, and he 
 would sometimes get sorely bothered, but, like old 
 John Bunyan, who was always ready for a lift with 
 the devil, Cyrus would " pitch into " the next oppo- 
 nent with undaunted courage ; and though his argu- 
 ments might be shaken, there was no such thing as 
 shaking his faith, — just as well try t) make Sir Isaac 
 Newton doubt the principle of gravitation. 
 
 " I like de preachin and pray in bery much, ma'am," 
 he accordingly answ^ered, " and de singin, too, dat 
 make me feel mighty good ; but I aint like de baptizin, 
 dev aint hab water nuff, and de chile too little." 
 
 "Mother, have any of us children been baptized?" 
 asked Julia, 
 
 . " No, my dear, the Baptists never baptize any who 
 do not profess to believe and repent of sin." 
 
 " vViiy, then, do the Methodists do so, mother ? does 
 the Bible say they must?" 
 
 " The Bible does not enjoin the baptism of infants, 
 but the Methodists, and several other denominations, 
 think it should be done because, under the Jewish 
 dispensation, they were regarded as part of the con- 
 gregation or church." 
 
 " But I do n't call dat baptism, no how," put in the 
 old man, " only pour little water on he head; wish 1 
 could see dat man, I tink I could show him dat aint 
 right." 
 
 ^' Well, they think it is right of course, though it 
 seems strange hov,- they can do so." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 81 
 
 " Mother, I tliink I would like to be baptized." 
 
 " Vfiiy so, iny daughter." 
 
 " Because, mother, I believe tlie Bible, all that I 
 know of it ; and I love the Savior, and when I do 
 wrong, I am sorry for it, for I know I ought not to 
 sin against God." 
 
 *' Bless de chile," murmured old Cyrus. 
 
 "Well, my dear," replied Mrs. W., with emotion, 
 " I am sure it would give me great happiness to see 
 you baptized if I thought you were prepared for it." 
 
 " I do not think I am worthy, for I am a sinner, 
 but the Bible says, Jesus came to save sinners, and I 
 heard father read, * he that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved.' " 
 
 " I think you had better speak to your father about 
 it. I do not like to give you advice in so important 
 a matter." 
 
 By this time they had reached the lane leading by 
 the house, and little Tommy, having caught a sight of 
 them coming, ran to get a ride. 
 
 " Stop, Cyrus, and let him get in," said Mrs. W. 
 " Has my little son been a good boy ? " 
 
 " Yes, I'se been a dood boy ; I did n't cy, but Pom- 
 pey did." 
 
 " Here 's Pompey, too, at the gate," and getting out 
 with Julia and Susan, Mrs. W. bade Cyrus take Pom- 
 pey in with Tommy and drive them round to the 
 stable, and walked into the house where Betty was 
 laying the table for dinner. 
 
32 PINE FAKM, 
 
 CHAPTER Y.— The Behirn, 
 
 Nothing of special interest occurred at the meeting 
 where we left Mr. W. Like the generality of Satur- 
 day meetings, there were few persons in attendance — 
 some extempore remarks from the preacher, followed 
 hj a '' church meeting," in which nobody knew of 
 any thing requiring particular attention, a motion for 
 adjournment, and the meeting was dismissed. Among 
 several invitations to spend the night, Mr. W. decided 
 to accept one from Bro. Williams, the senior deacon, 
 a good and true man and the main pillar of the church 
 at Green Mount ; a man who, under proper training, 
 would have been an uncommonly efficient member; 
 as it was, the expenses of the church, such as they 
 were, devolved mainly upon him, and he had more 
 than once intimated to the brethren the necessity of 
 a greater degree of liberality, especially toward their 
 minister. 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. W. did not appear to be and 
 really was not in necessitous circumstances, yet the 
 small pittance given him was wholly inadequate to 
 the services rendered, and there was a strong proba- 
 bility that, without some improvement, his situation 
 would become embarrassing; and one object Bro. 
 Williams had in insisting on his going home with him, 
 was to have some conversation on this subject. What 
 occurred that night at his house we can not saj*^, but 
 the next day the deacon w^as circulating a paper which 
 
oil THE SOUTHEiiX tilDE. 83 
 
 proved to be a subscription list for the benefit of the 
 niinister. 
 
 This was a new feature in the financial operations 
 of Green Mount. Hitherto there had simply been 
 a collection taken up at the end of the year, amount- 
 ing to some twenty or thirty dollars, the large major- 
 ity giving nothing, and a few contributing from fifty 
 cents to five dollars. 
 
 Some objection was made to the " innovation " — 
 *' it looked too much like preaching for money" — ■ 
 "the old plan was the best." A few even intimated 
 that " preaching ought to be a free thing." "Paul 
 preached the Gospel Vv-ithout charge," and why not 
 others ? On the whole, however, the measure met 
 with approbation, and by persuasion and his personal 
 influence, Bro. Williams succeeded in takins: un a 
 subscription amounting to nearly one hundred dollars. 
 The result of his application to one man who was not 
 a member of the church, was particularly gratifying. 
 
 " Yes, sir,'' said this individual, " put me down ten 
 dollars, and here is the money, if you want it. Mr. 
 W. is a poor man and ought to be helped ; he should 
 not be allowed to leave his business and ride all the 
 way up here for nothing. If you wish more at any 
 time," he added, " I hope you will call on me." The 
 good deacon thanked him kindly, and sincerely 
 wished that others who ou2;ht to do so, would take the 
 same view of the matter. 
 
 The day, as we have said in the previous chapter, 
 
 was fine, and a large congregation had assembled, and 
 
 'hen Mr. AV. had closed one of his happiest efforts, 
 
34 nxE I'AiLM, 
 
 there were many who gave evidence of the poAver of 
 God's Word upon their hearts, and as they quietly 
 dispersed, there was a general feeling that some ar- 
 rangement should be made for having a visit from 
 their pastor oftencr than once a month. 
 
 Mr. W. spent the night with Bro. Orton, so that he 
 had only fifteen miles to ride the next day, and the 
 overseer's obliging wife having given him an early 
 breakfast, he was enabled to reach home by the middle 
 of the forenoon, much to the joy of his family. The 
 children came crowding about him before he could get 
 into the house. Susan ran to tell mother that he had 
 come, Julia carried the saddlebag.s, v/hile master 
 Tommy asked " fader " to let him " tote de umbella." 
 
 "I am so glad you have got back," said Mrs. W., 
 meeting him at the door. " The children have been 
 looking up the road for the last hour, but I did not 
 Uiink you would have been here so early." 
 
 ''^A spur in the head is worth two on the heels,' 
 you knoAv," said he, smiling. "Old Gray, too, had 
 one in Im head, I think, probably in the shape of a 
 horse trough, though he doubtless fared well last 
 night. I stayed with Bro. Orton, and good Sister 0. 
 gave me an early start this morning.'" 
 
 " What a bitter cold ride you must have had on Sat- 
 urday."' 
 
 " Yes, but I soon forgot it after it was over, which 
 I find is the way with most troubles." 
 
 After spending a few minutes in conversation with 
 his wife, Mr. W. went out to put away his horse, 
 which having done, and it being some time before 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 
 
 35 
 
 dinner, he concluded to walk out to the field where 
 Cyrus was at work. 
 
 " Well, Cyrus," said he, as the old man drove out 
 at. the end of the row, " laying off corn ground I 
 
 see." 
 
 ^' Yes, massa, but I aint make do row bery straight, 
 and I git long bery slow. I glad you come, I most 
 fraid you bin git sick from de cold." 
 
 " no, I am back again feeling very well, thank 
 the Lord. You can go on till noon, and after dinner 
 my horse will be sufficiently rested to work and we 
 can finish laying off the field so as to plant some corn 
 
 to-morrov\'." 
 
 So saying, Mr. W. returned to the house, and 
 Cyrus proceeded with his plowing. 
 
 " How have you employed your time since I have 
 been away, Mary?" said he, drawing a chair before 
 
 the fire. 
 
 ^' Well, we spent the day on Saturday chiefly withui 
 doors," replied she, "but yesterday we went out to 
 hear the circuit rider preach.'' 
 " And how did you like him ? " 
 "Very well indeed; he seems to be a pious man, 
 and is decidedly talented, I think. I wonder he was 
 not appointed, to a city church." 
 
 "Well the Methodist rule is, you know, to keep 
 the preachers moving, and if he is such a man as you 
 take him to be, he will doubtless come in for his share 
 of eligible stations." 
 
 "We had a baptism also at the close of the ser- 
 
 vice. 
 
36 l^I^'E FARM, 
 
 "That must liave interested you, however mucli il 
 ma,y have disagreed with your views of propriety. I 
 srppose of course there was not an immersion.'' 
 
 " 0, no," answered she, " the subject would hardly 
 have admitted of that form. It was Mrs. Wright's 
 youngest child ; Jane, I think it was called ; was it 
 not, Julia? " 
 
 "Yes, ma'am," replied the child. 
 
 "What did you think of it, Julia?" asked he. 
 
 "Why, fiither, I did not know what to think. It 
 did not look like baptizing to me. They did not do 
 like you do at all. The minister took a pitcher and 
 poured the water on the baby's head." 
 
 Mr. W, could not help smiling at her artless sim- 
 plicit}?-, as he asked her " what the 'baby' seemed to 
 think about it ? " 
 
 Julia laughed in her turn at the idea of the baby 
 thinking any thing about the matter, but "father," 
 she answered, "I don't think it liked it much, for it 
 crM." 
 
 "Well, I suppose it was a little astonished," said 
 he. 
 
 " Do not our Pedobaptist friends dip the children 
 in a font sometimes ?" asked Mrs. W. 
 
 "That was once the rule, and may be so still for 
 aught I know ; but the 'practice is entirely abandoned. 
 The Episcopal service required the child to be dipped 
 unless its state of health forbade it, and Mr. Wesley, 
 who was the founder of the Methodist church, and 
 followed the Episcopal form, is said to have given 
 great offense to some persons in Savannah, because 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 37 
 
 he refused to sprinkle or pour water oil a healthy 
 child. But the inconvenience attending the immer- 
 sion of infants has long since caused its abandonment, 
 and the ' solemn application of "vvater,' as it is termed, 
 by sprinkling or pouring, is now universally practiced, 
 at least in all the branches of the Western church, 
 Romish or Protestant. The Greek, or Eastern church, 
 which prevails in Turkey, Greece, and some other 
 countries in the East, and which is the established 
 church of Russia, continues the Apostolic form as 
 respects the ordinance, though departirjg from it as 
 regards the subjects. It is difficult to account for this 
 diiference between the two establishments. Perhaps 
 it may be referred to a greater degree of worldly re- 
 finement, which, consulting its ease and taste, shrinks 
 from what many term the troublesome and indecent 
 practice of dipping the person in water." 
 
 "But how can people talk so, when the Bible 
 plainly teaches our duty in the matter," remarked 
 Mrs. W. 
 
 "There are many strange things in the world," re- 
 plied Mr. W., '-but strange as they are they still 
 exist. The substitution of an ordinance of man for 
 that of God, must have originated in a willful disre- 
 gard of his authority ; but we must suppose that 
 many pious persons in the present time, who from the 
 force of education and a veneration for long- estab- 
 lished usage, think they are doing God's service while 
 they are perverting his ways in the perpetuation of 
 error." 
 
 At this point the conversation was interrupted by 
 
?,8 PINE FARM, 
 
 Susan's running in to announce tliat " dinner was 
 ready in tlie kitchen;" whereupon Mrs. W. and Julia 
 proceeded to prepare the table for its reception. 
 They both thought of what had passed on the road 
 from church the day before, and the latter desired 
 very much to know what her father would say about 
 the matter. But, somehow, she felt a degree of tim- 
 idity in introducing the subject, strangely at variance 
 with her usually confiding manner toward him. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN" SIDE. 39 
 
 l^ 
 
 CHAPTER YL—Ho?7ie Matters. 
 
 " Mary, can you spare Betty from the yard to- 
 day ? " said Mr. W., as he rose from the breakfast 
 table. 
 
 "If you stand in need of her assistance, she must 
 go (jf course, though I shall miss her very much; 
 what do you wish her to do ? ^' 
 
 "To drop corn. Cja'us and I can get along by 
 ourselves, to be sure ; but it 's rather an awkward 
 business w^ithout a third hand. Still, I would rather 
 take a little longer to plant the field than to impose 
 any extra labor on you." 
 
 " 0, no, it will not be any extra labor that I know 
 of, only I shall have to delay some matters that I 
 would like to have attended to. There is nothino: 
 requiring immediate attention that I can not do with 
 the children's help." 
 
 " Let us know some of your operations and I can 
 better judge of the matter." 
 
 "Well, there are several nests ''to make f>r tlie set- 
 ting hens ; that must be done at once, but Tommy ^ 
 and Pompey can get the straw for me. Then there 
 is a pot of soap to boil. That I can start and let 
 Julia mind it, while Susy can stay with her and rock 
 the cradle with Betty's youngest child. Betty gener- 
 ally makes Pompey do it when she can be near by. 
 But the most important of all, perhaps, is the garden. 
 J have done very little yet, and the season is pretty 
 
40 PINE FARM, 
 
 far advanced : yet I can manapje for a day or two to 
 get along -svithout her, and I am very anxious for 3'Ou 
 to get a fair start with the crop : you have to lose at 
 least one day in every week, and sometimes more." 
 
 Mr. W. stood musing for a few moments with his 
 back to the fire. "Well, the truth is," said he, "I 
 must try and get a little more help, some hoAV or 
 other. I don't like to interrupt your matters, and as 
 you say I am compelled frequently to leave my work, 
 so that it comes hard on Cyrus, and if he should give 
 out I should he very much put to it to get along. 
 Wonder where I could hire a hand? " 
 
 " I am sure I do n't know," replied his wife ; " it 's 
 a had time to hire ; everybody has made arrangements 
 for making a crop, now. Pity you did not think of 
 it at the be':!;innin^ of the year." 
 
 ^'Father," said Julia, ^' I heard Joe tell Betty that 
 he saw John Waters in the road as he was coming 
 here, and John asked him if he knew where he could 
 get some work to do." 
 
 A shade of sadness passed across Mr. W.'s face at 
 the mention of John Water's name. "Poor John," 
 said he, " I do n't wonder at his wishing to get away 
 from home ; for between his drunken father and ter- 
 magant stepmother, the boy must have a time of it. 
 But I do n't see how they will manage without him ; 
 he does everything I expect that is done about the 
 place." 
 
 "Well, now, I shouldn't wonder," remarked Mrs. 
 Vf ., " if you might contrive some plan to cm)^<oy 
 John, and it would be such a good thing if you ctxiiid. 
 
OK THE SOUTHERX SIDE. 41 
 
 It woukl not only be helping us but liim, also ; and 
 who knows but it may be a Providential thing to save 
 him from rain." 
 
 Mr. W. remained sometime without replying. ^' It 
 looks like a dull chance, Mary ; but, as you say, it 
 may be a design of Providence, and there is no harm 
 in trying. John would suit very well, and I think 
 would be a fine boy if he had a fair showing. So if 
 you can do without Betty I will ride over this even- 
 ing after we 've done work, and see Waters about the 
 matter, if I can catch him sober." 
 
 This plan was finally agreed upon, and Mr. W. left 
 the house, desiring his wife to send Betty on as soon 
 as she could do so. Everything was soon put in 
 order for the forenoon ; table cleared away, floor 
 swept, and nine o'clock found Mrs. W. with Pompey 
 and Tommy, busy in the fowl-house, and Julia presid- 
 ing over the uncertain destinies of the soap-pot, while 
 Susy was sitting by, rocking the cradle and singing 
 
 "Bye baby in the tree top, 
 AVhen the whicl blows the cradle will rock." 
 
 About a half hour later Mrs. W. heard some one call- 
 ing from the back door, and presently Susy came to 
 say that, " Miss Caroline Simpson come." 
 
 " Tell her to walk this Avay, Susy." 
 
 Miss Caroline stopped a minute to see Julia's oper- 
 ations, and then walked across the yard to the fowl- 
 house. 
 
 " Setting hens, Mrs. W.?" asked Miss Caroline, as 
 she put her head in at the door. 
 
42 PINE FARM, 
 
 -' Yes," replied she, " and I am glad you have 
 come, for I have got a provoking animal here ; per- 
 haps you may suggest some way to manage her : good 
 morning." 
 
 " Good morning. I suppose it 's a hen that won't 
 set ; and if that 's the case I advise you to give in at 
 once. I tried last week to make one set, but do as I 
 would she would stand. She had taken a notion to 
 set on an empty nest, and as that did not pay, I con- 
 cluded to put her on some eggs, but she would not 
 stay on the nest. I then put a basket over her and 
 left her all night ; and when I went to look at her 
 next morning, you think the contrary old thing 
 was n't standing straight up ? I do believe she stood 
 up all night. So I first turned her out of doors and 
 put the eggs away until I could find one more tracta- 
 ble. Turn her out, Mrs. W. ; it's no use trying." 
 
 "Well, I think I'll take your advice, for awhile, at 
 least ; perhaps she '11 change her mind in a day or 
 two. I have about got through here, now ; let's take 
 a walk in the garden ; thou2:h I have not much to 
 show you." 
 
 '' I 've no doubt you have as much to show as any 
 one else," remarked Miss Caroline ; " you always have 
 an early garden. Dear me," she continued, as they 
 entered the garden, " what fine peas ; they are nearly 
 large enough to stick. Our's are just coming up." 
 
 "I might have had them much larger but for 
 the backward spring ; they 've been planted long 
 enough." 
 
 *' And then your cabbage seed have come up beau- 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 43 
 
 timl/"' said Miss. 0. "I hope you'll be able to give 
 us some plants to set out." 
 
 " 0, certainly ; if I have them to spare, j^ou shall 
 have as many as you Avish. But I must show you 
 something of Mr. W.'s work." So saying she cariiecl 
 her visitor to a corner of the garden, where there was 
 a square of Irish potatoes. " Have you seen any 
 larger than these ? " 
 
 "Well, I declare!" said Miss C, holding up her 
 hands, " you must have planted them last summer." 
 
 " 0, no," answered Mrs. W., laughing. " Mr. W. 
 planted them since Christmas, but he prides himself 
 on his skill in raising potatoes, and he made the 
 ground very rich. Beside, it is as you see, the warm- 
 est part of the garden. But let us go to the house, 
 Caroline. I wish to see hovv' Julia is getting on with 
 the soap." 
 
 " Why, very well, indeed," replied Miss C, turning 
 to go. " I stopped a minute with her, just now, — 
 though there 's no knowing," she added, " how soap 
 boiling will turn out. Sometimes it seems the thing 
 is witched, and you may boil and boil uU to no pur- 
 pose. Some people say it is witched." 
 
 " You do n't believe in witches, do you? " said Mrs. 
 W:, amused at Miss C.'s humorous way of talking. 
 
 " No, I don't," answered she; "but it's mighty 
 curious. It 's as bad as trying to set a contrary hen. 
 Mother put me to mind a pot of soap once, and it 
 boiled about a week. I never got so tired of stirring 
 in my life, and it never did make good soap. Old 
 *narm Daphne said it was conjured, and wanted to do 
 
44 PINE FARM 
 
 something to it to break the spell ; but I forget what 
 it was. I remember thous-h once when the butter 
 would n't come, she put a ten cent piece in the 
 churn." 
 
 "I suppose, then," said Mrs. W., laughing, "she 
 would put a half a- dollar in a soap pot." 
 
 But Julia's soap did not need any conjuring pro- 
 cess, for it was evident on examination that it would 
 soon be ready to be taken from the lire. So after 
 giving her some simple directions, Mrs. W. proceeded 
 to prepare dinner for the fimily, in which she was 
 much assisted by Miss 0., whose humor the meanwhile 
 served much to amuse her friend. 
 
oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 41 
 
 CIIAPTEIl Yll.—The Hired Boy, 
 
 At early dawn the next morning John Waters had, 
 v/ith a lio;hter heart than he had carried for many a 
 day, accompanied Mr. W. and Cyrus to the fiehl. 
 He had spent a happy night, though it took him some 
 time to satisfy himself that the change was not a 
 pleasant dream. The contrast presented between his 
 own miserable home and that of his new friends, their 
 pleasant conversation, the wholesome food to which 
 he had long been a stranger, the evening devotions, 
 and the air of quiet contented happiness which per- 
 vaded the little circle, was new and strange to him ; 
 and as he was shown to the shed-room and told by 
 Mr. W. that " this was his room," he seemed to have 
 been translated to some dreamland — a realization of 
 some of the fairy tales with which the fancy of his 
 early childhood was beguiled ; and after his friend 
 had bidden him " good night," and closed the door 
 behind him, he sat down on a chair, absorbed for a 
 time in thought and lost in singular emotions. He 
 wondered if this was not too good to last — if he ever 
 could do enough for his benefactors. And then he 
 was to be paid for having all this happiness conferred 
 upon him ! The thought was so ridiculous he could 
 scarcely restrain a hysterical laugh. Well, he could 
 plow and hoe, and he knew all the country around, 
 and could go on errands anywhere for Mrs. W. And 
 then he could make a little wagon for Tommy, and 
 
■^^ PINE FARM, 
 
 he reckoned he could make a cage and catch some 
 mocking birds for the little girls,— ho did n't know 
 whether this would be exactly right, but he would 
 ask Mr. Watkins about it. 
 
 What could thej do with all the books and news- 
 papers he saw about the house ! He wished he could 
 read. Mother did teach him a little, but that was a 
 long time ago, and he had forgot it nearly all ; may- 
 be Julia would teach him at night,— he knew she 
 could read, for he had heard her read to Tommy and 
 Susan about ^- an old man that found a rude boy upon 
 one of his apple trees stealing apples.'^ Somehow he 
 thought he had heard something like it before, but ho 
 could not remember where. And then the pictures 
 around the walls, he wondered if they made them or 
 got them somewhere else— maybe they sent to Charles- 
 ton for them. 
 
 But he had to get up soon in the morning ; so pull- 
 ing off his shabby old clothes, hoping he M get some 
 better ones by and by, he blew out his candle and lay 
 down on the soft mattress between the white sheets. 
 
 Then the dim light of other d;:ys came stealing 
 over his memory^ and he thought— though he was no^ 
 certain about it— that a long time ago, before mother 
 died, he had slept in a bed like this. He wondered 
 where she was now; he knew where her grave was— 
 he had often gone there and sat down by the tree he 
 had planted and wished he was lying beside her. But 
 he had heard preachers and others say that good peo- 
 ple went to heaven when they died, and he knew she 
 was good— everybody said thcd. Even father, when 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. ' 47 
 
 he was sober, said she was too good for such a man as 
 he was, and wished he was with her now. 
 
 Then a dreamy vision passed before him. He 
 starts ! Asiain a drowsiness comes over him — and the 
 boy was sleeping in forgetfulness of the " lights and 
 shadows " Avhich had crossed his brief pathway. 
 
 John w^as awake, refreshed, and ready for work, 
 when the first clear ring of chanticleer's trumpet an- 
 nounced the coming day ; and when Mr. W. called at 
 his door he had gone to the stable to gear up the 
 horses for the plow. 
 
 " Hi, massa Jonny, you beat me gitten up so,^' said 
 old Cyrus, who reached the lot a few minutes after 
 him. "Bless de Lord, I hope we git 'long better 
 now." 
 
 John was gratified at the compliment, but Mr. W. 
 coming up at the moment, he made no reply. 
 
 " V/here is the seed-corn, Cyrus?" asked he. 
 
 ^' I gwine git 'em now, sir ; he all ready in de 
 barn." 
 
 "Lead Bob up to the door, John, and let Cyrus 
 throw the bag; across his back." 
 
 John obeyed tlie ^ii'^ction, and the party moved 
 off to the scene of the day's labor. When the hour 
 for breakfast arrived Mr. W. invited the boy to the 
 house, but he expressed a w^ish to remain witli " daddy 
 Cyrus," and have his breakfast sent to liim. Where- 
 upon his employer left them to join his family at the 
 morning meal, while John and Cyrus took the horses 
 from the plows and led them to a pond at some dis- 
 tance to drink. When they returned, they found 
 
48 PINE FARM 
 
 Pompej with a pan and basket, with victuals for each, 
 which, after throwing some fodder to the horses, they 
 proceeded to dispatch. 
 
 "Poor Waters," remarked Mr. W. to his wife, as 
 they Avere sitting at table, " he 's got low down indeed, 
 and is a striking exemplification of the Scripture that 
 * wine is a mocker, "^and strong drink is raging; and 
 he that is deceived thereby is not wise.' '^ 
 
 "I can remember when he was well off," returned 
 she. '-Indeed, people thought Jenny Moore was 
 doing remarkably well to marry him ; but it shows 
 how deceptive appearances sometimes are." 
 
 '' Yes, he began business with a plantation and 
 twenty negroes left him by his father, and his wife 
 had five or six more ; she also had some money, it was 
 said, but I do not know how much. But it has all 
 gone like the morning cloud and the early dew, and 
 a blessed thing it is that Jenny has gone too. I 
 trust that we may be able to keep John until he is 
 grown. I am afraid they will not let him stay ; it 
 was difiicult to get him, rather." 
 
 Why, what objection had they to his coming?" 
 
 '' Well, Waters did not particularly oppose it, but 
 his wife did not appear to like the arrangement, and 
 she generally manages to carry her point. But after 
 setting forth the advantage it would be to John, I 
 offered them two months' wages in advance, and 
 the prospect of a little ready money seemed to turn 
 the scale. Poor creatures, they needed it badly, 
 and I felt as thougli I would willingly have advanced 
 the whole year's wages if it had been possible." 
 
Oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 49 
 
 " But why, in the vrorki, father, do n't the people 
 do something ? " asked Julia. " They might make a 
 crop, or Mr. "Waters might go about and dig wells like 
 Mr. Bennett, and Mrs. Waters could sew, and raise 
 poultry, and have a garden." 
 
 " Truly they might, my child, but you have not lived 
 long enough, or at least have not been so situated as 
 to know any thing of the dreadful effects of liquor 
 drinking. May God forbid that you should ever ex- 
 perience them." 
 
 " How did John seem about the matter ? " asked 
 Mrs. W. 
 
 <' Why, poor fellow, he looked like a man on trial 
 for his life, and when it was decided that he should 
 come, I could not help thinking his feelings were sim- 
 ilar to those of one in whose case a jury had brought 
 in a verdict of not guilty. When we got out to the 
 road I asked him if he would not ride behind me on 
 the horse ? ' No, sir,' said he, ' I could run from here 
 to your house without stopping.' " 
 
 Mrs. W. thought what a dreadful state of things it 
 must be thus to change the natural instincts of the 
 heart. 
 
50 VISE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER YJU.—T/ie House Raising. 
 
 The crop of wheat had been harvested, and corn 
 laid by. Nothing much remained to do about the 
 farm in the way of cultivating the crop but running 
 over the cotton a time or two more, and settinf? out 
 and working potatoe slips. Just about this time of 
 the year, the farmer has a short season of comparative 
 leisure, and Mr. W. determined to improve it, by 
 getting some of his neighbors to assist him in putting 
 up a new barn, the old one beginning to be much the 
 *' worse for wear," or rather old age and weather. 
 With Cyrus and John he had cut the poles which 
 were to be used for the body of the building, peeled 
 the bark from them, and was getting out the clap- 
 boards with which to cover it. One serious difficulty 
 lay in getting the heavy logs to the building site. It 
 might be done indeed with Mr. W.'s own small wagon 
 and team, but it would be a tedious process, and bor- 
 rowing was a thing he always avoided if possible. 
 True, there were few of his neighbors but what were 
 more or less in debt to him in that line ; now a hoe 
 just to use a few hours in the garden, the hands had 
 all the hoes in the field; then an auger, a jack plane, 
 or some other carpenter's tool. His little wagon, too, 
 it was so handy to go to the mill with, or to ^he rail- 
 road for a barrel of flour. And thus it was, his im- 
 plements, agricultural and mechanical, were scattered 
 about the neighborhood, few persons thinking it 
 
on THE SUUTIIEILN SIDE. 51 
 
 necessary to put themselves to any trouble In return- 
 ing such small articles ; and his blacksmith's bill at 
 tlie end of the year was not unfVequently increased 
 by sundry repairs on his wagon, in consequence of 
 injuries received in its various expeditions. They 
 were so insignificant though, that the borrowers could 
 not spare the time to take it to the workshop. " Bob," 
 too, was now and then cut out of an afternoon's rest, 
 because *' he was so gentle, anybody could drive 
 him." These things sometimes annoyed the minister 
 and incommoded his family; but wasn't he a preach- 
 er? How then could he refuse? He must, by all 
 means, set a good example. All this, however, he 
 AV;is willing to let remain as it was, and have his 
 neighbors continue in his debt. Borrowing he very 
 much disliked, and had about come to the con- 
 clusion to do the best he could vfith his own small 
 wagon and team. Everybody knew his situation, and 
 if they did not offer assistance, he did not feel dis- 
 posed to ask it, though John strongly urged that he 
 was entitled to some return for the favors shown to 
 others. 
 
 "It's nothing but right, Mr. W.," said the boy. 
 " You have helped a great many people in different 
 ways since I've been living with you." 
 
 "Well, let it go so," replied the preacher, "I like 
 to feel independent, and I have no doubt we shall be 
 able to get along. There will at least be no difficulty 
 in getting help to raise the house; people like to go 
 to a raising for the fan of the thing." 
 
 But the minister was unexpectedly relieved from 
 
6^ riNE iwuM, 
 
 all embarrassment by Mr. Jones, ^Yllom he met on the 
 road as he and John were returning from their work in 
 the woods. 
 
 " I forgot to say to you the other day, Bro. W.," 
 remarked this gentleman, after the usual salutations 
 had passed, " that my wagon and oxen are at leisure, 
 and 3'ou will find them very useful in getting up your 
 loo;s. Tom can brino; them over in the mornino; and 
 spend the day in hauling." 
 
 " I thank you, Bro. Jones ; it would be much better 
 than getting them up w^ith my weak force, but I 
 should dislike to put you to any inconvenience. You 
 may not be able to spare Tom very well." 
 
 " Well, just leave that Avith me. Tom is not very 
 busy, and if he was, it Avould make no difference. A 
 man who wouldn't make some sacrifice to help a 
 neighbor through a strait, ought not to live among 
 men." 
 
 "That is well spoken, Bro. Jones, and I only wish 
 the sentiment was more general. To one who has 
 the right feeling on the subject, it is a satisfaction, a 
 pleasure to deny himself sometimes in order to benefit 
 oth,ers. But there are too many who seem to feel like 
 
 the man who 
 
 'lived on the river Dee, 
 I cared for nobody, and noLody cared for me.' " 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Jones, " and you wouldn't have 
 to go a thousand miles to find some of those ' river 
 Dee ' people. I have had some experience in these 
 matters, but let it pass. I suppose you have engaged 
 help to put up the barn ? " 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 53 
 
 "0 yes, quite a number luive promised to come 
 over. I particularly requested the Allen boys and 
 Davis to come as 'notcliers.' They excel in that 
 
 nre. 
 
 "Very well, William ^vill also be there-. Ho may 
 come over with Tom and the wagon to-morrow, but if 
 not, I will send him to help you raise. Good evening." 
 
 " Good even, Bro. Jones, I am very much obliged 
 to you. 
 
 *'Not at all, not at all," returned Mr. Jones, put- 
 ting his horse into a gallop to avoid the ministers 
 
 thanks." 
 
 "A clever man that, John," observed Mr. W. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he has helped us at home in many ways, 
 and often talked to father about his " 
 
 The boy did not finish the sentence, and Mr. W. 
 continued by turning the conversation, to divert his 
 mind from, a painful subject. 
 
 The next morning, at sunrise, Tom's " Avhoa buck," 
 announced that the oxen had arrived, and by dinner 
 time the logs were hauled and laid down in a square 
 about the. spot wlicre the house was to go up. Mr. 
 W. was about to dismiss him with a small present, 
 but Tom insisted that there was " no use in his going 
 home before night, and massa wouldn't look for him 
 no how," so the afternoon was spent in hauling up 
 the boards and rafters, and in getting out the blocks 
 to serve as the foundation of the barn, and thus every- 
 thing was in readiness to go to work the next day. 
 To The uninitiated, a brief discription of a "house 
 raising " may not come amiss. 
 
54 PINE FAILM, 
 
 In tlie olden time, and in certain localities at the 
 present, the term is in some degree synonomous 
 •with a frolic, and many a house has been raised at the 
 expense of a broken head, not to speak of lighter 
 disasters ; such as the loss of a nose or an ear. Such 
 things though are getting " few and far between ; " 
 people are beginning to learn that liquor is not essen- 
 tial to mental or bodily effort, even at a house-raising. 
 In raising the house, though, the blocks and sills 
 having been properly adjusted, and sleepers and floor 
 laid down, a man is stationed at each corner to " notch " 
 the logs, while others remain on the ground to hand 
 them up. Sometimes, when there are not hands 
 enough to supply a man to each corner, the notchers 
 have to move from one corner to another, an incon- 
 venient^ not to say dangerous arrangement, particu- 
 larly in the last stages of the raising. For the first 
 fev/ rounds those on the ground have an easy time of 
 it, but their labor increases with every additional 
 course of logs, until a good deal of scheming has 
 finally to be resorted to, such as climbing and "jack 
 screv/ing," in order to get them up. This latter ope- 
 ration requires a pretty strong back, being an example 
 of the third .kind of lever, in which the power (i. e. 
 a man's shoulder) is between the fulcrum and the 
 weight. By this process, one end of the log is thrown 
 up on one corner of the house, where it is held by 
 the notcher, until the other end can be carried up by 
 climbing. The workmen in the present case were all 
 sober and industrious, and before the sun went down, 
 Mr. W. had the satisfaction of seeing the barn raised, 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 65 
 
 rafters set up, and sheeting nailed on, so that nothing 
 remained to be done except to cut out the door and 
 put on the clapboard roof, which could be easily done 
 by the home folks. 
 
 All hands stayed to supper, after which they dispersed 
 quietly to their homes, carrying with them the hearty 
 thanks of the minister, and the happiness of having 
 done an act of kindness to one who well deserved it 
 at their hands. 
 
56 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— The Distiller. 
 
 '' Hello ! " 
 
 Such was the salutation wliich called Mrs. Watkina 
 to the door on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, a fort- 
 night after the event recorded in the foregoing 
 chapter. 
 
 The summer had carpeted the hills and vales with 
 luxuriant verdure. The spring flowers had gone and 
 the time of fruit was come, and our friends were re- 
 joicing at the prospect of coming plenty. Industry 
 and favorable seasons had done their work, and the 
 minister and his family, with thankful hearts, looked 
 over the fields of rustling corn and blooming cotton. 
 
 The sun was slowly sinking to the wesl, and the 
 hum of innumerable insects arose from field and for- 
 est, and a dreamy influence* seemed to hang upon tliG 
 very atmosphere. A second "hello" indicated the 
 impatience of the visitor as the lady was coming tc 
 answer the summons. Looking out she observed a 
 stout, coarse-looking man sitting on his horse at tlie 
 I gate. His florid face and bushy whiskers did not im- 
 part to him a particularly intellectual cast of counte- 
 nance, and there was an air of hauteur about his old 
 white hat turned up at the sides, and an indiff'erence 
 to appearance manifested in his whole dress. He 
 carried in his hand a large walkingstick, which seemed 
 to threaten instant demolition to any one who would 
 presume to dispute the Avord or will of its imperious 
 
on TUE SOli'iJERN 61DE. 57 
 
 master. He rode a liigh-mettlcd horse, whicli pawed 
 the earth with impatience. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins at a ghmce recognized the man as 
 'Squire Young, '^ the richest man in the neighbor- 
 hood," and advancing into the piazza, she politely 
 invited him to come into the house. 
 
 *' No, thankee, ma'am," replied ho. "Is the par- 
 son at home ? " 
 
 "Mr. Watkins is somev/here about the place, sir, 
 and if you will come in I will have him called." 
 
 " Well, I wish you would ; I want to see him on a 
 little business." 
 
 The lady returned to her work and directed Susan 
 to run out into the yard and call her father to the 
 house. Susy started on the errand, but her father 
 who was working with John in the sweet-potato patch 
 in the rear of the garden, had heard the "hello" at 
 the gate, and was coming across the yard. 
 
 "Father, one man want to see you." 
 
 " Very well, my dear, 1 am going lo see him now." 
 
 Mr. Watkins had no difficulty in making out his 
 visitor as he saw him through the passage of the 
 house, and muttered to himself as he passed out to 
 spea.k to him, " I wonder what Young wants with 
 me." 
 
 " Good evening, Parson,'' said the 'Squire, as Mr. 
 Watkins approached. 
 
 " Ilovf are you, Mr. Young ? " returned the minis- 
 ter. " Won't vou come in, sir ? " 
 
 " No, T 'ra in a sort of a hurry ; it 's a mighty busy 
 time with me just noAv." 
 
58 PINE FARM, 
 
 The preacher understood the allusion but made no 
 remark. 
 
 " I hear you have a good lot of peaches," continued 
 the 'Squire, " and I called to see if I could buy them 
 from you." 
 
 " I have never sold any fruit, sir, and do not care 
 to do so." 
 
 To a difterent customer and under different circum- 
 stances, the minister would in all probability have felt 
 differently disposed ; but he did not deem it necessary 
 at this stag-e of the conversation to say so to his visi- 
 tor, and the 'Squire, thinking his indifference was 
 assumed only for the purpose of driving a good bar- 
 gain, with pretended carelessness remarked, that " he 
 could n't give much, but concluded to come over and 
 make an offer; it was a good fruit year, and he could 
 get peaches cheap anywhere, but he had heard the 
 preacher's were rather fine, and thought he would 
 rather sell them than to let them be wasted." 
 
 Now, the vrorth}^ minister disliked very much to 
 offend any one, and especially at his own house, and 
 would gladly have dismissed the subject ; but he per- 
 fectly understood the 'Squire's maneuvering, and de- 
 termined to come out at once, candidly, and put a stop 
 to the negotiation. A more prudent, or less consci- 
 entious man might, perhaps, have adopted a different 
 policy, and asked a price which he knew the other 
 would not give. But Mr. Watkins despised hypocrisy, 
 and with a secret satisfaction that it was in the road 
 and not in the house he was dealing with the distiller, 
 he spoke right out. 
 
01? THE SOl'TIIERN SIDE. 59 
 
 *' To be plain with you, Mr. Young : I suppose you 
 ^isli the fruit for your distillery, and as such I can 
 not sell it to you.'' 
 
 The 'Squire was evidently taken aback by the frank 
 and independent tone with which this was said, and 
 in seeming surprise asked " what difference it made 
 as to the use he intended to make of the fruit?" 
 
 "I can not be made a party, sir," replied the 
 preacher, " to a business w^hich is productive of such 
 consequences as liquor-making and liquor-selling." 
 
 "But I do not see," persisted Young, " why you 
 should inquire iiito the use to be made of an article 
 you sell." 
 
 ^'I admit the correctness of the rule you intimate, . 
 sir, as respects its general application ; but when one 
 knows, or has reason to suspect, that a bad use is 
 intended, the matter assumes a different aspect. I 
 would readily lend my gun to a neighbor, if a steady,' 
 upright man, without asking questions, — or even send 
 it to him by a servant if requested to do so. But if it 
 came to my knoAvlcdge that a man asking the loan of 
 my gun meditated mischief in the use of it, I should 
 promptly and sternly refuse the application. A drug- 
 gist has a right to sell strychnine, but not to one 
 whom he knows intends to commit suicide, or poison 
 his wife. I know the purpose you have in buying 
 peaches, and by selling to you I should be accessory 
 to the crime." 
 
 '^ You consider it a crime, then, do you? That's 
 a serious charge, sir." 
 
 "I do so esteem it, sir," answered the minister, 
 
60 PINE FARM, 
 
 firmly, " under the circumstances tliat you do it, to 
 distill liquor, and ten years' experience in the business, 
 I should think, ought to have brought you to the same 
 conclusion." 
 
 " Why your brother Bates sells all the liquor I 
 make ; how do you keep him in the church? " 
 
 *' It is not for me alone to turn a man out of the 
 church, sir ; though I blush for shame at the thought 
 of the church's allowing; so flaf]:rant a wrons: to 20 
 unnoticed, and trust the reproach will not continue 
 much longer." 
 
 '• Well, well, Mr. Watkins, you can do as you like ; 
 but you ought to remember that ^^ou have a family to 
 support. For my part, I know if I do n't 'still ' some- 
 body else will, and I had just as well turn an honest 
 penny as any one else. Moreover, you know we are 
 commanded to 'labor to support the weak,' and it is 
 said to be ' more blessed to give than to receive,' and 
 we can't give unless we make something to give 
 with." 
 
 Mr. Watkins co«ld hardly repress a smile at tlie 
 thought of 'Squire Young's reputation for "giving," 
 as he remarked that " the same authority forbids us 
 to ' do evil that good may come,' and that his visitor 
 had certainly seen enough of the dreadful effects of 
 liquor-making and grog-drinking in the neighbor- 
 hood." 
 
 " However," abruptly remarked the 'Squire, " it 
 was only a part of my business to buy the peaches, 
 and there seems to be no prospect of our agreeing 
 about that. I called, also, to request you to send 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 61 
 
 Waters' son over to my house. I have hired him 
 until we get through the press of work." 
 
 " Send John over to your house ! Why I have 
 hired him for the balance of the year." 
 
 " I can't help that ; I am just from Waters' house 
 and he agreed to let me have him ; and well he might, 
 for he owes me enough — more than he will ever pay. 
 I promised, nevertheless, to pay half the wages and 
 If't the balance go to his account." 
 
 " You astonish me, sir," replied the minister. 
 *' Aside from the injustice of the thing, it will put 
 me to serious inconvenience for him to leave at this 
 time." 
 
 "Well, I'm sorry to discommode 3^ou, but it can't 
 be helped ; my work is pressing, and I must make 
 any shift while the season lasts." 
 
 " But how could Waters hire his son to you after 
 making a bargain with me and receiving a part of 
 his Avages in advance?" 
 
 " Did you have the contract in writing ? " asked 
 Youno^. 
 
 " No. I did not think it necessary to have any 
 writings about so .simple a transaction. Who ivould 
 have thou2;ht of such a thin2;?" 
 
 "It's always best to have writings, sir," said the 
 distiller, complacently. " There are some writings 
 between me and Waters which give me the advantage 
 of any one else." 
 
 Mr. Watkins now began to understand the true 
 state of the case. This last remark had thrown lio;ht 
 over the whole matter. He remembered that several 
 
62 PINE FARM, 
 
 years before a large part of Waters' property had 
 passed into Young's possession — sold under a foreclo- 
 sure of mortgage ; that mortgage was, perhaps, not 
 yet satisfied, and Waters was a mere ^' tenant at will," 
 on the land of his creditor. His stern and pitiless 
 master would, therefore, have but little difficulty in 
 bringing him to a compliance with his wishes, and 
 Waters knew that Mr. Watkins would give up his 
 claim to John before he would see him and his wife 
 turned out of doors. The case appeared almost hope- 
 less, and after a few moments pause, Mr. Watkins 
 concluded to submit the question to John himself, and 
 abide the issue. He, therefore, directed Betty who 
 was passing into the yard through a side gate, to say 
 to John he wished to speak with him a minute. 
 
 " My business is large, Mr. Watkins," resumed the 
 distiller, *' and it is important for it to go on; yours 
 is small and it won't amount to much anyhow ; so you 
 ought not to hesitate about giving up the boy." 
 
 The minister's cheek mantled at this insolent 
 speech, but recollectng himself, he Cjuietly remarked 
 that, '' large or small, his family were dependent on 
 it for a living ;" intimating, also, that Young had a 
 few minutes before reminded him of the necessity of 
 providing for them. 
 
 "Well, now, look here, Parson," said the 'Squire, 
 coaxingly, "I don't want to be hard on you, and we 
 can compromise the matter. If you will let me have 
 the peaches reaso7iahle, I will give up my claim to the 
 boy." 
 
 A curl of the lip, expressive of unmitigated con- 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 6 
 
 o 
 
 tempt, Avas the only reply to the infamous proposal, 
 and John Waters coming up at the moment, Mr. Wat- 
 kins explained to him how matters stood. 
 
 " All that I have to say, sir," replied John, ''is that 
 I won't go." 
 
 The boy tried to say this calmly, but his voice was 
 slightly tremulous, and a palpable agitation affected 
 his whole frame as he stepped back and laid his hand 
 on the garden paling for support, 
 
 ''I rather expect it is not exactly as you please 
 about it," said the distiller. "You are not your own 
 man yet, and I have hired you from your father." 
 
 "I tell you again, I won't go. Don't provoke me 
 too far." 
 
 Mr. YVatkins saw that a storm was threatened, and 
 thought it best to try and allay it. 
 
 "Perhaps you had better go, John," said he, "I 
 regret it very much, but it will only be for a short 
 time I hope, and your father may have good reasons 
 for what he has done." 
 
 A tear started to the boy's eye at this remark, but 
 it quickly dried as Young observed, " yes, he has good 
 reasons for it, and the less said about it the better." 
 John tightened his grip on the paling, for a moment 
 his teeth were clenched and his breath came quick 
 and hissing between them. His eye flashed fire as he 
 broke out. 
 
 " You canting old hypocrite, say that again, and 
 big as you are, I'll tear you from that horse," and he 
 stepped forward and laid his hand on the reins of the 
 bridle. 
 
64 PIXE FARM, 
 
 " John ! Jolm ! " said Mr. Watkins, taking hold of 
 Ills arm, " v.liat do you mean.'' 
 
 But the boy's blood was up, and he ans^ye^ed, "I 
 mean to sav that this man is an old scoundrel and 
 hypocrite. Yes, sir," said he, addressing the distiller, 
 *' you can go to the camp-meeting, and shout, and 
 laugh, and talk to people about religion ; and you, 
 and your brother in rascality, Bates, with your devilish 
 still and grogshop, you have killed my mother, ruined 
 my father, and made me worse than an orphan. You 
 have got rich by making other people poor ; and you 
 have done more wickedness than all the rest of the 
 settlement put together. Now, sir, I 'dare you to 
 speak to me again as jou. did, and I tell you I won't 
 work at your infernal still if you never make another 
 gallon of liquor; I had enough of it last year, and I 
 will die before I will go there again." 
 
 UnffQ and fear seemed contending; in the distiller 
 during this speech. His face was alternately red and 
 wJiite, now like crimson, then pale as a sheet, and 
 Avhen John stopped speaking, and still held on to tlie 
 bridle, the Squire appeared in doubt as to what he 
 should do. Should he ride over the boy, or sit and take 
 his bold abuse ? How could Squire Young submit to 
 such an indignity, he who was accustomed to rule 
 nearly all with whom he had any thing to do? But 
 perhaps he remembered something of an old saying, 
 about " taking wit in one's anger," boys sometimes 
 grow to be men, and there was no telling what even a 
 high-spirited lad might attempt, exasperated by the 
 thought of wrongs and cruelties inflicted on his 
 
oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 65 
 
 parents. Tlie unusual noise had attracted tlio notice 
 of Mrs. Watkins, who came out to the gate followed 
 hj Julia and Susan, in timid wonder. Seeing how 
 matters stood, she called in a soft voice, " John ! 
 come into the house John!" The boy dropped the 
 bridle reins and obeyed the call. At the gate he 
 stopped and gave a piercing glance at the distiller — 
 then turned and walked on with the lady. 
 
 Young sat a moment in continued surprise and in- 
 decision, then wheeling his horse, rode away without 
 even biddins; Mr. Wakins adieu. He had been en- 
 raged and humbled by a boy. 
 6 
 
C6 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER X.~The ExplanaHo7i. 
 
 Our little family were sitting out on the piazza en- 
 joying the cool Southern breeze ; cool, not abstractly, 
 bufin contrast with the heated atmosphere of a sultry 
 summer's night. The sea breeze, though losing much 
 of its stimulating properties long before reaching its 
 terminus, penetrates some fifty miles into the pine 
 land regions, and to appreciate its refreshing influ- 
 ence after an oppressive day, one must feel the fan- 
 ning of its gentle wings. Indeed, a great advantage 
 possessed by the lower over the middle regions of the 
 Southern Atlantic States, is in the breezy nature of the 
 atmosphere. Though the thermometer may range 
 higher, yet the heat is seldom as oppressive as it is 
 among the elevated sand hills of the interior. 
 
 It is contended by some that all the world is on an 
 equality, that what any particular section may lack of 
 advantages possessed by another, a compensation is 
 to be found in some superiority in other respects. 
 This is hardly true to the letter, and yet, doubtless, 
 there is not so great a disparity between different 
 places as many imagine. Often is one led away to 
 seek a better country in our great Western domain, 
 who, disappointed in his expectations, looks back with 
 longing to the old homestead. The doctrine of equal- 
 ity is particularly true in its application to the different 
 parts of our own State. While the lowlander does 
 not have equal advantages with t])ose living in higher 
 
OK THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 67 
 
 atitudes in respect to diversified scenery and cold 
 water springs, he finds a compensation in level fields, 
 ■^ne roads, and a climate tempered by the winds which 
 naving swept across the ocean, carry refreshing cool- 
 ness to the dwellers on the plains. 
 
 Our friends had partaken of the evening meal, and 
 the evening prayers had ascended from the family 
 altar, and they were grouped in pleasant conversation 
 on the piazza. There was a pause of some minutes 
 as though each was absorbed in thought, wdien John 
 suddenly broke the silence by saying, " I reckon you 
 thought strangle of me to-dav, Mr. Watkins, when I 
 spoke so to Squire Young. I hated it myself after 
 it was all over, but I could n't help it at the time." 
 
 "I confess I was surprised, John," replied the 
 minister, *^'it was so different from your usual manner. 
 The Squire's deportment and words were very pro- 
 voking, but we ought always to try and govern our 
 passions, else there is no telling to what extremes they 
 may drive us." 
 
 ''' I have no doubt that is true, sir, and if it were to 
 do over again I think I would act differently. But," 
 he added, after a pause, *' you do n't know, sir, what 
 feelings I had. It seemed to me I could see mother, 
 as she often sat crying about fathers drinking so, and 
 tell me she hoped I would die before I ever became a 
 drunkard. And then it came fresh to my recollection 
 how Mr. Young came to our house with another man, 
 and took away all of our negroes, and how there was 
 such a crying among them when they parted. And 
 Patty, my nurse, took me up iu her arms and said, 
 
 v' 
 
G8 PINE FARM, 
 
 * good-bye sonny, Patty have for go leave you now. 
 De Lord bless you cbile, but do n't cry, may be you 
 buy nigger back, bimcby.' And then mother asked 
 Mr. Young to let old Maum Hager stay — Maum Hager 
 had raised her, and she hated to see her go off — she 
 v/ould try to pay him somehow. The man that was 
 with him said he wished he would let the old woman 
 stay, but Mr. Young said it would do no good, she 
 would have to go sometime, and Bates wantetl his part 
 of the money. I was a little boy, sir, but I shall 
 never forget the time ;" and he buried his face in his 
 hands and wept. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins took the children and retired into 
 the house, while her husband sat in silence, with heart 
 too full for utterance. 
 
 After his emotion had a little subsided, he said, '^ I 
 know something of that transaction, John, but I sup- 
 posed you were too small to remember any thing 
 about it. The man who was with Youns; was the 
 sheriff who had gone there to levy on the property. 
 I have heard him speak of it more than once as being 
 the severest trial to his feelings of any thing that oc- 
 curred durins; his term of office. 
 
 " The negroes were sold under a mortgage given to 
 Young and Bates a year or two before. Your father 
 had stood security for a man by the name of Tur- 
 ner, who, at the time was looked upon as an upright, 
 managing man ; but he suddenly disappeared and left 
 your father to answer to his creditors. To avoid a 
 lawsuit and gain time to make the money, your father 
 executed a mortgage on property to those men, and I 
 
oil THE SOUTilEIlN SIDE. GO 
 
 have no doubt but that his land is now subject to that 
 instrument. 
 
 " I suppose, sir," remarked John, " that Turner was 
 in debt to Young and Bates then." 
 
 " Yes, to a considerable amount, but he owed a 
 good many other debts for which your father was 
 security, and these men bought up those debts at a 
 discount, and thus got the whole matter in their ovrn 
 hands." 
 
 The boy left his chair and walked back and forth 
 across the floor, abstracted and agitated. He was 
 evidently meditating some important, perhaps despe- 
 rate step. 
 
 Mr. Watkins deemed it prudent to divert his mind 
 from the subject and soothe his feelings. 
 
 "Come sit, Jolm," said he, "and let us talk about 
 other matters. 1 hope you will not cherish any re- 
 vengeful feelings. ' Vengeance is mine ; I will repay 
 saith the Lord.' Be assured it will all work out right 
 in the end. God, who 'sees the end from the begin- 
 ning,' may have suffered all these troubles to come 
 upon your family to accomplish some design of be- 
 nevolence vvhich we can not now think of. One 
 member is without doubt happy, ' where the Avicked 
 cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.' Y^ou 
 have received a lesson on intemperance and the faith- 
 lessness of man that may be of vast service to you, 
 and bad as the case now seems, your father may be 
 brought by his trials to seek the salvation of his 
 soul." 
 
 John, who had resumed his sent, had nothing to 
 
PINE TARM, 
 
 say to this. It might be as the minister said, but his 
 frame of mind did not dispose him to consider it as 
 he ought, and not having " tlie wisdom which is from 
 above," he could not fully appreciate it. Still he felt 
 the force of Mr. Watkins' remarks, and was by no 
 means insensible to the vast importance of religion. 
 
 "Mr. Watkins," said he, after a short silence, 
 ^' were you at the Methodist meeting last year, the 
 time they had such an excitement there?" 
 
 ^'No; I Avas oft' at one of my own churches holding 
 a meeting ; but I heard something of it. I think too 
 I heard you seemed at one time to be interested 
 in it." 
 
 " Yes, sir, I was," replied the boy. '^ I felt I was 
 a sinner, and I wanted to be a Christian. Mother 
 used to make me say my prayers, and said she hoped 
 I would be a Christian if I lived, and would meet her 
 in heaven ; and when they gave an invitation to peo- 
 ple to be prayed for, I went up among the rest. I 
 don't know how it might have been, sir, but while I 
 was kneeling down that man came up and put his 
 hand on my head, and began telling me what I must 
 do, and it seemed to drive away all the good feeling I 
 had ; and when the prayer was ended and he began 
 to sing, I thought I would n't go to the meeting any 
 more, but would stay at home and try to pray the best 
 I could. But the more I thought about it the less I 
 felt disposed to try. If that man has got religion, I 
 thought, I do n't see what good it does. But I know 
 that was wrong." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thought of the Scriptures : " If the 
 
on THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 71 
 
 liglit that is in thee be darkness, how great is that 
 darkness." 
 
 " It was wrong John,'' he replied. '' We ought not 
 to allow the bad conduct of professing Christians to 
 prevent us from doing right. If I had suffered my- 
 self to be influenced by such tilings I should long 
 since have given up in despair. But I know that the 
 bad conduct of those who profess to be religious, can 
 not affect the truth of God, and the Scripture says, 
 ' every one shall give account for himself to God.' " 
 
 ^' Well, sir, I suppose you must be right, and I wish 
 I could be a Christian. I think I would be if I knew 
 how." 
 
 " The way is very plain, John, if we will only at- 
 tend to what the Bible says." Julia had returned to 
 the piazza and was listening with intense interest to 
 her father. 
 
 '^ The whole duty of man," he continued, ^' is 
 summed up in few words, — ' fear God and keep his 
 commandments.' The Christian religion is beauti- 
 fully and mercifully simple as it is developed by in- 
 spiration. It consists simply in believing on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, — that is, trusting in Him : repenting 
 of sin ; that is, being sorry for, and breaking off from, 
 sin ; and being baptized into the name of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He who does this truly 
 and sincerely is a Christian ; and having become such, 
 as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he must fight the 
 good fight of faith, — love God and live to His glory, 
 using all the means which God has given for the dis- 
 ciple's growth in grace and knowledge, as earnest 
 
72 , riNE FAllM, 
 
 prayer, studying the Scriptures, and doing good to 
 Iiis fellow creatures. Thus acting, the comfort of the 
 Holy Spirit will be with him, the Word of the Lord 
 will direct him. God will give him grace according 
 to his day, and he will certainly finish his course with 
 joy and keep the faith, and as sure as God's promise 
 stands, he will be saved. Think of these things, 
 John, and may God help you to learn and obey the 
 truth ; and let me earnestly exhort you to put away 
 all bitterness of feeling toward any one who may 
 have injured you. 'If ye forgive not men their tres- 
 passes,' said the Savior, ' neither will your Father who 
 is in heaven forgive your trespasses.' " 
 
 The night was advancing and the party broke up, 
 John to try and follow the minister's advice, and the 
 minister rejoicing in the hope of his speedy conver- 
 sion to God. 
 
 Julia wished to say something to her father, which 
 she determined to do at some other time. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 73 
 
 CHAPTER X^l.— Church Discipline. 
 
 About three miles from Mr. Watkins' residence 
 was the ''Rocky Spring" church. 
 
 This establishment was large as respects member 
 ship, but possessed of little wealth, there being only 
 a few individuals who were accounted " rich," even in 
 that plain community. But what was better far, 
 there was a degree of spirituality about it which, with 
 churches as with individuals, is often characteristic of 
 the poorer class, — the greater shame to such as feel 
 no sense of obligation for bounteous blessings. 
 
 A higher degree of intelligence might have added 
 still more to the piety which distinguished many of 
 the members. At all events, it would have given 
 them more courage in the discharge of certain duties 
 and the correction of certain evils^ — one in particular 
 which detracted mucjh from the church's influence, 
 and caused grief to the hearts of those interested in 
 its welfare. 
 
 No-jv there are two things which, in our Baptist 
 churches, tend more than all else to mar their peace, 
 destroy their effectiveness, and try both their patience 
 and disciplinary skill. These two things are, liquor- 
 drinking among the male white members, and mar- 
 riage relations among the blacks. There will some- 
 time causes occur among the latter class that would 
 puzzle a court of judges ; and in respect to the for- 
 mer, the difficulty is to get a man to acknowledge 
 
 / 
 
"74 I'lNK FARM, 
 
 himself intoxicated, '' He takes a drink, to be sure, 
 as any man in a free country and in a free church has 
 a right to do ; but that he ever gets drunk!— he gives 
 the charge a flat denial." 
 
 He may, indeed, in returning from a muster, or an 
 election, or the court-house, claim more of the road 
 than the law allows him, making a track that would 
 serve as a foundation for a "Virginia fence ;" he may, 
 on horseback, perform feats of balancing that would 
 do credit to a rope-dancer ; but he " defies any man 
 to say that he ever saw James Brown drunk— that's 
 his name, James Brown ; and he aint ashamed to 
 
 own it." 
 
 But, should he be honest enough, as is sometimes 
 the case, to "confess to the soft impeachment," it is 
 generally done with so much penitence, and such fair 
 promises of amendment, that the brethren can but 
 forgive him and hope for the best. There were some 
 cases of this description in the Rocky Spring church, 
 which had been standing for -some time, and our 
 worthy minister had preached, and prayed, and ex- 
 horted, but without any permament effect. There 
 was one case, however, which for flagrancy ev^y one 
 felt to be far worse than those of the " weak breth- 
 ren," who would sometimes be " overtaken in a fault ;" 
 and yet how to get hold of it,-'to make it assume a 
 shape that would be actionable— was the trouble. It 
 was the cause of a man of substance, perhaps the 
 richest man in the church ; one, too, of will, who 
 would not lightly brook any interference with his 
 " private business," and to bring him to trial was like 
 
OK THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 75 
 
 bearding a lion in liis <]or> q^ ^i • 
 
 ^-^1. Watkins had expostulated- with him hnt ,. 
 
 e iitoe^sit/ tor some action to be tnl-on . k * 
 t!ie members seemerl tn fi,- i ., • ' '^"' 
 
 only be moL!r 7 • ' *'" """'^t^"- ""^t "o* 
 only be moderator, but cte the offending member to 
 
 appear at conference, make a motion" Znd it 
 
 +. '^eiaom took anj part m chiirph mnt 
 
 cite Bto. Hanson Bates to appear at the next confe 
 
 all apparently relieved at the thon<.ht that n J ".'"' 
 liad been made to brin,, ,, . ="' *'''"' " beginning 
 account ^ ''"' ''otor'ous oflender to • 
 
 The ne,vs spread abroad that Bates wis to bn t • 1 
 
 die wit^ h,s business-this was a free country and he 
 was willing to try the rlr^bt ^f ti 1 ""'"'^ ''"" '^'> 
 bi= off ■ , ,. ^ °* *'' church to pry into 
 
 his affairs, and dictate to him abont H,» 
 of his own concerns." management 
 
 The occasion, as might be expected, drew together 
 
 a iar^e crowd, and not fhr^ Inocf • '■^fe^'-iier 
 
 ana not the least prominent among the 
 
76 PINE FARM, 
 
 concourse in the cluircli yard before service, was the 
 portly form of 'Squire Young. 
 
 "A pretty state of things," remarked this gentle- 
 man to the bystanders, "a church to be interfering 
 with a man's business in this way ! " 
 
 " .For my part," said another, whose face exhibited 
 a description of flowers which derived their class and 
 order from the deposits in Bates' " bar," " for my 
 part, I have long believed that Watkins was a 'Maine 
 Law man.' " 
 
 Several remarks of a similar kind were made by 
 different persons, when some one in the house having 
 raised a song, the anxiety of the people induced them 
 to go in and w^itness the proceedings from the begin- 
 
 ning. 
 
 Mr. Watkins having delivered a discourse, he came 
 down from the pulpit and announced that the church 
 would proceed to hold the usual monthly conference ; 
 also stating that any one who felt so disposed might 
 remain, and particularly inviting visiting brethren to 
 take seats with them and participate in the proceed- 
 ings. The clerk then read over the " order of busi- 
 ness," the several items of which were duly attended 
 to, though all were evidently absorbed in the special 
 case of the occasion. The last thing on the record 
 of the preceding was the citation of Bro. Hanson 
 Bates. 
 
 Here there was a pause — then a subdued whisper- 
 ing, several members looked appealingly to Bro. 
 Peters, when this gentleman arose and said : " Bro. 
 Moderator, (a profound silence) as the mover of the 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 77 
 
 ^solution whicl. brings this case before us, it ™ay bo 
 thought neeassary for ,uo to say something aboul t 
 I have not much to say, more than that in common 
 VI th others I have, for sometime past, felt that some 
 act,on ought to be taken in rehuion to it for the credi 
 
 that B,?P :■ • "• "''>^ """• ^'" <^'''^''» '^'-'■S- 
 that B.o. Bates ,s ,n the habit of selling ardent spirfts 
 
 and having disorderly conduct about Ws houseitha; 
 ^s h,s storehouse, and I would lil^ to know if he ad- 
 mits or denies the charge." 
 
 Bro. Bates arose and°said: "Bro. Moderator, I am 
 constrained to pronounce this a singular and ' disor- 
 deily proceeding. I„ the first place, there has been 
 no regard paid to the form observed, in sendin. a 
 committee to see me before citing me before °he 
 church; but I shall not stickle at this. What sur! 
 pnses me, though, is, tliat the church should assume 
 to inquire into my private business affairs. This is a 
 free country, sir, and the church has no right to inter- 
 lere with me in this unwarrantable manner " 
 
 A buzz among Mr. Bates' friends, interspersed with 
 some words indistinctly heard, like " independent fel- 
 low, that s the way to talk," etc., testified their 
 approbation of his speech. 
 
 " r acknowledge, Bro. Moderator," replied Bro 
 i'eters, 'the justness of Bro. Bates' excepting to the 
 conduct of -the church in not having sent a committee 
 to visithim, but the notoriety of the offense may be 
 urged ,n extenuation, not to mention the fact that 
 several individuals had informally spoken to him and 
 expostulated with him. But will he, haying waived 
 
78 PINE FARM, 
 
 this objection, say whether or not the charge is 
 true?" 
 
 *'I deny the right to inquire into the matter," said 
 Mr. Bates. 
 
 " Then / submit," rejoined Bro. Peters, '' whether 
 the church will sustain the objection." 
 
 Bro. Watkins having requested one of the deacons 
 to take the chair, spoke as follows : 
 
 " Bro. Moderate^', I very much regret the course 
 which this matter is taking, and before proceeding 
 w^ith what I haTO to offer, I wish to disclaim any feel- 
 ing of unfriendliness toward Bro. Bates, and any dis- 
 position to interfere with, or even to inquire into, his 
 business, provided it be made to appear that it is of 
 such a character as does not derogate from the honor 
 or utility of Christianity. But where common report 
 as well as the testimony of individual members, go to 
 show that one is engaged in a business that is hurt-, 
 ful to himself, to his neighbors, and to religion, the 
 church certainly has the right to institute an inquirj'' 
 into the matter ; with a view to correct the evil if it 
 exists, and to defend him from the imputation, if he 
 is innocent. Such is the nature of the case before us, 
 and as such I contend for the exercise of the church's 
 prerogative. Nevertheless, it would not be proper in 
 my opinion to be precipitate, and as Bro. B. com- 
 plains that the usual courtesy has not been shown 
 him, by the appointment of a special committee, I 
 should not object to letting the matter lie over to the 
 next meeting, so that if possible it may be adjusted 
 without proceeding to extreme measures.'* 
 
OK THE SOUTHERN 6 IDE. 79 
 
 All seemed to acquiesce in these views, and a-motion 
 was about to be made that the case be deferred, "when 
 Bro. Bates arose and objected — " he had been ar- 
 raigned for ti'ial, and they might now proceed to dis- 
 pose of it to suit themselves ; he wislied no committee 
 to come about him." 
 
 ''Will you say, then, Bro. Bates, whether the 
 charges are true or not ? " remarked the moderator. 
 
 " I contend, sir, that I have a right to follow any 
 business which the law authorizes." 
 
 "But suppose, Bro. B.," said Bro. Jones, ''this 
 business outrages, by its effects, your moral obliga- 
 tions — your obligations to God, to society — can the l^ 
 fact that the civil law permits it, justify the violation 
 of these obligations ? And as the church professes 
 to be made up of those who hold these obligations 
 superior to all human law, has it not a right to call 
 one to account who does violate them ? " 
 
 "And suppose, sir," returned Bro. B., "that the 
 church sees fit to fine, imprison, or put me to death for 
 it, is it to thus set aside the authority of the state ? " 
 
 "No, sir," rejoined Bro. Jones; "and you know 
 that you are supposing a case that has no existence. 
 You well know that the Baptist church assumes to 
 inflict no physical pains or penalties for the transgres- 
 sion of its rules — that its extreme penalty extends no 
 farther than the exclusion of an offending or per- 
 versely refractory member." 
 
 " Well, I see you are determined to have things 
 your own Avay, and I shall leave you to carry out 
 your own ends. T shall do as I please in the conduct 
 
80 PINE FARM, 
 
 of my own business, and not ask the permission of the 
 church about it." So sa^^ing, Bro. Bates took his hat 
 and indignantly walked out of the church. 
 
 "Bro. Moderator,'' spoke Bro. Peters^ "I consider 
 this a case which imperatively requires the discipline 
 of the church. Bro. Bates has not only treated it 
 with contempt, but signified his determination to per- 
 sist in a course which is dishonoring to Christianity, 
 and detrimental to the welfare of the people, tempo- 
 ral and eternal. I therefore move, sir, that his name 
 be erased from our books, and that he no longer be 
 considered a member of this church." 
 
 "I second the motion," said Bro. Jones. 
 
 " Brethren," said the Moderator, " you have heard 
 the motion ; if any one desires to express an opinion 
 on it let him now speak freely. No response. If no 
 one has any thing to say," continued the moderator, 
 " I shall proceed to put the question. All in favor 
 of this motion let it be known by saying ' aye.' " A 
 unanimous " aye " seemed to come from the whole 
 church. 
 
 " If any are opposed to the motion, let it be known 
 by saying 'No.' No response to the call. Bro. 
 Bates, then, is, by unanimous vote, excluded from this 
 church, and the clerk will make an entry in accord- 
 ance therewith. Is there any thing more requiring the 
 notice of the conference ? " continued the moderator. 
 
 " I think, sir," responded Bro. Peters, '' that some 
 confession or explanation should be made by Brethren 
 Smith and Craswell. They have, on several occa- 
 sions, as is known to many here present, been under 
 
on THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 81 
 
 the influence of lic^uor to a degree not becoming pro- 
 fessing Christians, and in my presence the church has 
 been severely censured for taking no notice of it. If 
 the church is not faithful, it can not exert a whole- 
 some influence. I do not say that we should be hasty 
 or unnecessarily strict ; it is always better to reclaim 
 an offending member, if possible, than to exclude 
 him, and as these are cases of public notoriety, I 
 would be glad to see these brethren waive all formal- 
 ity and save the delay and trouble of appointing a 
 committee to wait on them." 
 
 Bro. Smith vvas an old man, and had been for many 
 years a member of the church. He was esteemed a 
 good neighbor, and kindly disposed man generally ; 
 and but for his " besettino:: sin," mlsiht have been a 
 shining light. He owned his weakness, but could not 
 be prevailed on to adopt the only safe course — to ab- 
 stain entirely from the use of spirits : consequently 
 his good qualities were in a great measure neutralized 
 by his bad habits. 
 
 He was much affected on the present occasion, and 
 with considerable agitation arose and confessed his 
 fault, and promised amendment. 
 
 *"' Can you not agree, Bro. Smith," asked the mod- 
 erator, " to say that you will abandon the use of liquor 
 entirely ? I do not say that the church has a right 
 to require this, for I do not think it has ; but it would 
 be a great satisfaction to the brethren if you would 
 voluntarily do so ; It would strengthen their confidence 
 and your efforts." 
 
 Bro. Smith stood for some m.oments without speak- 
 
 4+ 
 
g2 Vl^E FARM, 
 
 ing. His whole frame shook, his lips quivered, and 
 there was evidently a violent struggle between the 
 voice of duty and the clamor of appetite. Appre- 
 hension, too, lest he should not be able to keep the 
 promise, made him hesitate. 
 
 "I'll try," at last he uttered, and burying his face 
 in his handkerchief, sunk down on the bench. 
 
 Bro. Peters could scarcely command himself to ex- 
 press a " hope that the church would receive Bro. 
 Smith's acknowledgement, and that the brethren would 
 pray for him, and in every way try to help him to 
 keep his resolution ; " which of course was agreed to. 
 
 After the feeling had a little subsided, the modera- 
 tor asked Bro. Craswell " what he had to say to Bro. 
 Peters' suggestions?" 
 
 Now Bro. Craswell was a different man from the 
 other. True, he was not essentially a bad man, but 
 he dearly loved the " critter," and no less loved his 
 own reputation. He Vfas given to boasting, that he 
 could " drink " without getting drunk, and to get up 
 before the congregation and confess his fault was more 
 than his vanity could stand. The wicked wags who 
 often enticed him into irregularities would laugh him 
 out of countenance. So he cleared his throat and 
 swallowed and rose to his feet, then swallowed again 
 and cleared his throat. 
 
 ''Ahem ! " he began, " Bro. Moderator, I do some- 
 times take a drink, it 's true (another swallowing 
 
 and ahem), but, sir, I Bro. Peters what do you 
 
 mean by being under the influence of liquor?" 
 
 This brother, being thus appealed to, explained what 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 83 
 
 lie meant by being under the influence of liquor 
 generally, and in Bro. Craswell's case in particular, 
 specifying, also, the time and place of a recent of- 
 fense. 
 
 '' Well, I was at the election and took a drink," 
 replied the culprit, *' but I did not get drunk. I knew 
 everything that was going on just as well as any- 
 body." 
 
 Here a titter went through the crowd of " out- 
 siders,'' who seemed to take much interest in the pro- 
 ccedin2:s. 
 
 '' More shame to you then," saM Bro. Jones. " I 
 would rather confess I did not know what I was 
 about." 
 
 ^'Why, what did I do ? " 
 
 " Did n't you throw off your coat and jump up and 
 crack your heels together, and say you could whip 
 any 'co-operation' man on the ground?" 
 
 (Another suppressed laugh.) 
 
 " I do n't remember any thing about it," returned 
 Craswell, " and if I did, I do n't believe in being run 
 over by the Yankees." 
 
 '' I do n't suppose you do remember it," significantly 
 remarked his tormentor. " But," continued Jones, 
 " did n't you offer to run a horse race ? " 
 
 " Yes, but I didn't intend to do it." 
 
 "Who helped you on your horse to go home?" 
 
 *' 0, that was only the mischief of the boys, I could 
 have got on the horse by myself." 
 
 *' Well," answered Bro. Jones, " I was one of the 
 * boys,' and I certainly intended no ' mischief.' Now 
 
84 PINE FARM, 
 
 Bro. Craswell, why not come out at once and confess 
 your faultj and not be dodging in this way ? " 
 
 " I tell you I was nH drunk. I reckon I know. I 
 have been drunk in my time." 
 
 The Brother was evidently getting warm, and the 
 patience of the church was becoming exhausted, while 
 the mirth of the outsiders was increasing. The mod- 
 erator therefore interposed by remarking, that " he 
 very much regretted the brother's equivocating man- 
 ner ; there could be no doubt, from the evidence, that 
 he had acted very improperly, and that there should 
 be a stop put to srfth scandalizing conduct." 
 
 To this agreed Bro. Whiston, who up to this time 
 had said nothing in the conference. He further re- 
 marked that, "knowing the brother's weakness, he 
 was disposed to exercise ail possible leniency toward 
 him, but he w^as himself at the election, and should 
 certainly have thought himself ' druiik^ if he had been 
 in Bro. Craswell's situation ; that is when he got sober 
 e'nough to think any thing about it. And, Bro. Mod- 
 erator," he added, " the worst feature in the case is 
 that Bro. Craswell denies the fact." 
 
 Poor Craswell began to find himself in a straight 
 place and begged for " quarter." " He was n't pre- 
 pared just then, but if they would let the matter lie 
 over to the next meeting, he hnew he could give the 
 church satisfaction." 
 
 This, after some discussion, was agreed to, but with 
 much reluctance, and not until Bro. Craswell had 
 promised to keep straight in the meantime, and to 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 85 
 
 tell the ivhole truth about the matter ; after which 
 the Conference was closed in due form. 
 
 " Well, we have had a fine specimen of Baptist 
 government, to-day," remarked the " Squire," as he 
 came out of the house. " To think of a church's in- 
 terfering with a maii's private business ! I hope we 
 shall hear no more about a ' free government.' " 
 
86 PINE FARM. 
 
 CHAPTER XU.—The Protracted Meeting. 
 
 A liiONTH after the discipline meeting described in 
 the preceding chapter, came on the annual protracted 
 meeting ^vith the Rocky Spring Church. 
 
 These meetings form a striking feature in Southern 
 religious societj^ They are usually held in the latter 
 part of the summer, when the crops are laid by and 
 nothing remains to be done but to gather them in. 
 The farmers feel that for that year their fortunes are 
 made, be the crop large or small, nothing can be done 
 until another year, and their anxiety is past. Then 
 come on the protracted meetings. 
 
 The utility of these institutions has been warmlj'' 
 discussed, and while it is unquestionably true that 
 in the main they have been of much benefit, yet some 
 evil may have resulted from them ; in other words, 
 they have been perverted to improper uses. What 
 feasting and good cheer do they not aftbrd to the gay ! 
 What a time for candidates to electioneer! From 
 about the middle of July to tlie middle of September, 
 one need not desire better living than may be had at 
 the hospitable picnics aiForded by the liberal-hearted 
 country people at the meeting houses, and the hospi- 
 talities of their d^Yellings at night. All the products 
 of the field, the pasture, the fowl-yard, and the orchard 
 are dispensed in rich profusion, and the pastry often 
 to be met with would not suffer by comparison with 
 the preparations for a marriage festival. Weeks be 
 
OR. THE SOUTHERN' SIDE. 87 
 
 fore the time the appointments for the occasion are 
 published in all the neighboring churches ; the attend- 
 ance of ministers is requested, and a general invita- 
 tion given to everybody to come, and thus vast con- 
 courses of people are collected, prompted by a great 
 variety of motives. Where the size of the house can 
 not afford the necessary accommodation, an arbor of 
 bushes is sometimes erected, and not unfrequently 
 temporary seats are placed in a grove of trees, where 
 the congregation assemble to listen to the preaching. 
 
 To avoid confusion among the number of ministers 
 sometimes present, and to relieve the pastor of respon- 
 sibility, a committee of church members is appointed 
 to arrange the exercises ; and now the "work begins. 
 
 An objection which is urged against meetings of 
 this character is, that an undue excitement is produced 
 among the people, that a degree of animalism is en- 
 gendered, which is mistaken for spiritual influence, the 
 legitimate effect of the Word preached, and thus 
 members are brought into the church who are un- 
 changed in heart, and who, when the excitement sub- 
 sides, lose all interest in religious things, and go back 
 to the world. And that by this means an injury 
 results both to the individual and to Christianity. 
 
 This is an objection which is not without foundation, 
 but it is attributable rather to the conduct of the 
 meeting, than to the meeting itself. Some measures 
 are resorted to which are not authorized by the Scrip- 
 tures, and which experience has shown to be question- 
 able, if not improper. But until people, and the 
 preachers in particular, learn better the *' simplicity 
 
88 PINE FARM 
 
 that is ill Christ," it will be difficult to get along with- 
 out them. 
 
 However, let everything be done with ever so much 
 propriety, and in strictest accordance with apostolic 
 precedent and precept, there will be some taken in 
 that time will show had better been left out. And 
 thus the kingdom of heaven continues to be what it 
 was in the days of Him who compared it to a net cast 
 into the sea, which draws to shore all kinds of fishes. 
 The present meeting was held with the church last 
 mentioned, and from all Mr. \Yatkins' " appointments" 
 were persons present ; several were also present by 
 invitation, and the exercises began with a sermon from 
 one of them, Bro. White, on the importance of Chris- 
 tians cultivating a greater degree of spirituality, and 
 praying especially for a blessing on the meeting. 
 Others followed, during this and the following day, on 
 different subjects, with increasing congregations, and 
 on Lord's day, the whole country was assembled ; 
 white and black, old and young, professors and non- 
 professors — all seemed moved by a single impulse to 
 " turn out." There was great unanimity or rather 
 uniformity in the character of the discourses from 
 the different ministers, so far as it respected the lead- 
 ing orthodox views — total depravity, human weak- 
 nesses, salvation by grace, etc., the subject of baptism 
 rarely alluded to, and w^hen it was, it was in such a 
 way as to indicate a very slight appreciation of its 
 importance as a part of the remedial system. Strange 
 that a people who are distinguished from all others 
 chiefly by this ordinance in respect to its action and 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 89 
 
 subjects, sliould take so much pains to show its non- 
 essentiality. There was one, however, who evidently 
 ^' differed from his brethren " in this, and took occa- 
 sion more then once to urge upon the people the pro- 
 priety — nay, the necessity, of yielding obedience to 
 all God's requirements, and, -while guarding them 
 against the error of " Sacramentalism," showed, at 
 the same time, that an appointment of God to accom- 
 plish an end, carried with it all the authority and 
 power with which he invested it; and that to be ii 
 Christian it was not only necessary to profess faith, 
 and show signs of repentance, and be able to tell an 
 experience like others, but to yield obedience to an or- 
 dinance which was sanctioned by the Savior's example 
 and enjoined by his authority. That such, and such 
 only, had a right to a Christian name and a Christian 
 assurance. In short, that the promise of salvation is 
 to " him who believeth and is baptized." These views, 
 set forth -with considerable force, were from the "wor- 
 thy pastor himself. In a company made up of such 
 a variety of materials they could not of course be 
 expected to meet with universal favor. Some, even 
 of his own brethren, especially the ministers, thought 
 he was " rather strong on baptism." But, his words 
 evidently told upon the people, and at the close of 
 his exhortation on Lord's day afternoon, there was a 
 considerable manifestation of feeling in the crowd who 
 went up by invitation to join in prayer, and for re- 
 ligious conversation. 
 
 The meeting continued tlie next day, and though 
 the assembly was much diminiir^hcd, yet the interest 
 
0© PINE FARM, 
 
 was increased, and thus it went on from day to day 
 until the following Lord's day, when there was a 
 larger crowd present, if possible, than at any previous 
 time ; a large company of persons was baptized " into 
 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," 
 who went their ways rejoicing, and the ministers 
 went elsewhere to preach the Word. 
 
 We need not say there was light, and joy, and love 
 in the pastor's cottage, and in the pastor's heart, when 
 we say that among those who had '^ put on Christ," 
 were Julia and John. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE, 91 
 
 CHAPTER XIU.—'' Sickness in the Family:' 
 
 " The even tenor of their way," which had marked 
 our friends at the Farm during the year, was at last 
 interrupted by a visitor which pa^^s his attention alike 
 to rich and poor. A heathen poet has said that, 
 " pale death knocks at the palaces of the great and 
 the tabernacles of the poor." And though the visitor 
 we are about to introduce is not so terrible as the 
 subject of the poet's verse, yet it is one of his ser- 
 vants, and one who at all times is unwelcome — an 
 intruder Avho never receives v/illingly the hospitalities 
 of his host. Among the thousand forms assumed by 
 this disturber of peace, is that known in common 
 parlance as " measles." What the doctors may call 
 it we know not — doubtless they have some more re- 
 spectable itame for it ; but it all comes to the same 
 thing, and as " a rose by any other name will smell 
 as svr'eet," so the pang of the toothache is not soothed, 
 nor are the measles less troublesome by calling them 
 according to science, and like some other ills to which 
 flesh is heir, this latter is one of the evils which it is 
 said '^ must be gone through with." How happy the 
 family Avhich can boast that " they have all had the 
 hoopingcough and the measles." No uneasiness is 
 felt bv hearino: that these diseases are in the nei";h- 
 borhood ; no keeping up of quarantines at the gate 
 against the neighbor's children. But it is useless to 
 try to put off the evil day. Our friends, at the first 
 
92 PINE FARM, 
 
 alarm, had taken all the usual precautions to guard 
 against the infection ; but like cholera and yellow 
 fever, which leap over all the barriers which doctors 
 and councilmen can erect, so the fact was apparent 
 from John's flushed cheeks and certain accompanying 
 pimples, " thick as autumnal leaves which strew the 
 brooks in vallambrosa," that the measles had invaded 
 the minister's cottage. John was a hearty boy, though, 
 and hardly lay down for it, and in a few days w^as 
 about again. But this was only the "beginning of 
 the end." Julia, Susan, Tommy, Betty and her chil- 
 dren, all took it in quick succession, the heads of the 
 family and old Cyrus alone escaping by previous con- 
 traction. So that within a fortnight the whole house- 
 hold that could take it w'cre under its influence. Mrs. 
 Watkins, we have said, w\^s measle-proof, but certain 
 infant wailings which came from her room, and Mr. 
 Watkins' diligent attention .to the cradle, indicated 
 her lielplcss situation at a time when her services 
 were most important. 
 
 Jolm, however, was beginning to get strong again, 
 and Susie having lost the fever, tvould be up and fly- 
 ing around attending to the sick, with all the impor- 
 tance which characterized her. 
 
 Just about this juncture Mr. Watkins discovered 
 that the meal was out, and as, sick or well, children 
 must have bread, not to speak of those whose appe- 
 tites were rather sharpened by labor, something must 
 be (lone to obtain a supply of meal. So John was 
 packed off early in the morning to mill, leaving Mr. 
 Watkins, Cyrus and Susie to discharge the various 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 93 
 
 duties which the situation of the family required. The 
 mill was several miles distant, but it was hoped John 
 would be back by dinner time. Dinner time came, how- 
 ever, and passed, and evening drew on apace, still he 
 came not. Many bags were before him, the water was 
 low, and he had to submit to the miller's rule, " first 
 come first served." 
 
 Another difficulty in the meantime presented itself; 
 the baby wanted some tea, and al^ the milk had been 
 consumed by the sick, and the question, Who should 
 milk the cow? was i^atter for as grave consideration 
 as that presented in the congress of rats as to " Avho 
 should tell the cat." Mr. Watkins had never tried 
 the experiment, Susie was too little, so old Cyrus 
 seemed the "forlorn hope." But Mr. Watkins could 
 not command his countenance sufficiently to direct 
 him to do so. 
 
 " Susie, dear," said he, striving to hide his emotion 
 even from the child, " go tell daddy Cyrus to get the 
 piggip and milk the coav." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; may I mind the calf, father ? '' 
 
 "0, yes." 
 
 So away ran Susie, full of the* importance of her 
 embassy. 
 
 "Daddy Cyrus," said she. 
 
 " What, honey," said the old man, dropping his ax 
 and looking round. 
 
 "Father says you must milk the cow." 
 
 " Milk cow ! I ncbber^in do sich a tmg in my 
 life. Dat 'oman work. 3Jaybe you aint hear hiirj 
 good. Go axe him gin, honey." 
 
94 PINE FARM, 
 
 Away ^Yent Susie into the house. . 
 
 " Father, dacldj Cyrus says he don't know how to 
 milk the cow." 
 
 " Go back and tell him he must try/* answered Mr.- 
 Watkins, putting his han-dkerchief to his mouth. 
 
 Susie returned with the message to Cyrus. 
 
 ''Bless your soul, honey— kin you milk? Aunt 
 Betty bin larn none of you chillen ? " 
 
 " Julia can milk ; but I can mind the calf for you.' 
 
 " De name of sense, what you call dis ? Well, I 
 must go try.'' And oif he started to the cow-pen, 
 scratchins; his head in utter consternation. 
 
 " Daddy Cyrus, you must get the piggin." 
 
 " Shure nuff; w^here him? Go fetch him, honey, 
 I '11 get de calf time you come. Did I eber tink I have 
 for milk cow," said he to himself as he walked toward 
 the pen. "Wonder now if massa aint been joke ? " 
 
 Susan soon came back, and Cyrus having turned 
 the cow and calf together, fixed up for the tug of war. 
 
 But Crumpie did not seem to relish the business ; 
 do as he would, she would move so as to keep her 
 head toward him. 
 
 " Sow, den." 
 
 He remembered having heard milkers say this, but 
 it would n't answer in the present case. 
 
 " Stan still, I tell you," said he, getting furious ; 
 "how I gwine milk and you keep turnin' round." 
 
 " Go up to her, daddy Cyrus, and pat her on the 
 back." ^ 
 
 " I wish I could git close nuff, honey ; but de ole 
 hussie keep movin' so." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 95 
 
 The COW at lost got into a fence-corner, and Cyrus 
 cautiously approached, but unfortunately on the wrong 
 side ; and as he was in the act of making her " back 
 leg," he saAV the milk-pail rolling across the pen, sent 
 by a vigorous kick from the cow's foot. He jumped 
 back as if he had been shot, and stood gazing at her 
 in dismay. 
 
 " Look ere cow, what you mean, any how ? " 
 " Daddy Cyrus, the calf will drink all the milk." 
 " Well, what I must do, chile ? Stop, leave me 
 part 'em and go axe Betty," and having effected a 
 separation between them, he posted off to the kitchen. 
 " Betty ! Betty ! wake up and talk to me." 
 Betty, who was in a feverish slumber, turned lan- 
 guidly over and asked what he wanted. 
 
 " I want some milk for de baby. Massa sen me 
 milk de cow, and de ole varmunt won't let me tech 
 
 'em." 
 
 The thought of Cyrus milking the cow was to Betty 
 better than a dose of physic. She broke out into a 
 fit of laughter, which lasted to the utter exhaustion 
 of the old man's patience. 
 
 " Come, gal, you better bin stop dat. Whot for 
 you bin laugh so? I tink say you bin sick, but I aint 
 much believe it now. You better git up and go to de 
 pen yourself." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! How did you do. Da. Cyrus? " 
 
 " HoAV come you axe dem foolish question ? Aint 
 I do like you,— turn in de calf and let 'em suck little 
 bit. Den I go up to de cow and tell 'em ' sow den,' 
 *back leg,' so I can git hold de bag for milk 'era, and 
 
96 PINE FAKM, 
 
 time I git my hand on 'em — ki, slie sen the piggin 
 clean off yonder. What must I do 'bout it ?*" 
 
 Seeing how matters stood, Betty was convinced of 
 the impracticability of Cyrus milking the cow, and 
 simply told him she did not know, and the old man 
 turned away from the door in mute despair. But 
 what was his joy, as hearing the front gate open, he 
 looked up and saw John driving in ! No time was 
 lost in making him acquainted with the state of affairs, 
 and John richly enjoying the story gave the meal in 
 charge to Cyrus, who would rather have carried meal- 
 sacks for a v»^eek than again encounter the refractory 
 cow, he proceeded to the pen and soon obtained M'hat 
 milk the calf had left, which Susie carried in triumph 
 to the house. 
 
 John, whose miscellaneous duties at home had made 
 him an exemplification of the saying that ''necessity 
 has no law," was seldom at a loss about any business 
 pertaining to a farm, and as old Cyrus remarked, 
 *"* could milk cow like 'oman." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 97 
 
 CHAPTER XlY.—TJie Catholic Convert 
 
 Mr. Watkins drove up one pleasant afternoon to 
 the house of a Brother who lived near one of the 
 churches which he supplied, and on entering was in- 
 troduced to a gentleman who proved to be quite a 
 character, something decidedly beyond the generality 
 of men usually met with in out-of-the-way places. He 
 was a man past the meridian of life, venerable in ap- 
 pearance, and intelligent to a degree that made him 
 an exception to the multitude. Added to this, his 
 reading had been extensive and varied ; and having 
 the organ of language largely developed, there were 
 few men to be met with more entertaining in conversa- 
 tion. Let the subject be agriculture, or medicine, or 
 astronomy, or religion, he exhibited a degree of pene- 
 tration and comprehensiveness, which, with his easy 
 flow of words, lent a peculiar charm to the discussion. 
 
 But, as is too frequently the case, much reading 
 had served rather to unsettle than to establish his re- 
 ligious opinions ; in all the prevailing denominations 
 he discovered things objectionable, and strange as it 
 may seem, though bold and independent in his scien- 
 tific investigations, and receiving as true nothing for 
 which he could not assign a reason, and exercising 
 his judgment without reserve in examining systems of 
 religious faith, he was brought at last to throw himself 
 upon a system which outrages reason — which binds 
 its votaries in the chains of priestly despotism, while 
 
98 PINE FARM, 
 
 it blindfolds them with a napkin of superstition. The 
 Bible interdicted, reason silenced, and the right of 
 private judgment denied, unquestioning obedience is 
 required to that which is at variance with the intellect 
 and the Scriptures — violates the principles of logic, 
 the inductions of science ; and having persuaded him 
 to sell his birthright for less than a mess of pottage, 
 turns the man into a tool. Such are some of the par- 
 adoxical phenomena of humanity. 
 
 Mr. Watkins had heard something of this man, and 
 felt an uneasiness in being brought in contact with 
 him, which he would have been ashamed to own. 
 The circumstances of the case were particularly try- 
 ing. Here he was, in the midst of a family of wdiich 
 he was the religious teacher. His reading on Roman- 
 ism had not been extensive, and his general education 
 was limited. Before him w\as a man who had been at 
 no little pains to post himself in the argument, and 
 whose controversial proclivities would in all probabil- 
 ity involve him in a disputation ; and to be beaten in 
 the presence of those who looked up to him as their 
 spiritual guide, w^as a thought not pleasant to contem- 
 plate ; so he resolved to avoid, if possible, all occasion 
 for discussion. He felt indeed that his opponent 
 could advance no argument, properly so called, in 
 support of his system, but the minister might not be 
 able to make it appear so. On the whole, therefore, 
 it might be advisable to act on the principle that 
 " prudence is the better part of valor," and he strove 
 to lead the conversation away from all questions of 
 "doubtful disputation.'^ 
 
oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 99 
 
 But his efforts were unavailing. Somehow, his 
 Catholic friend would wedge in something so as to 
 turn the conversation in the desired direction ; and 
 before he was aware of it, the preacher found himself 
 in the attitude of a disputant, and having crossed the 
 river, his only plan seemed to be, to take up his course 
 for the gates of the city. 
 
 "Why, sir, you talk about the infallibility of your 
 church ! How do you make it out infallible ? The 
 days of inspiration have passed." 
 
 " 0, I perceive you do not understand the matter, 
 sir," replied the Catholic. " The church does not 
 profess to be inspired, but to be supernaturally pro- 
 tected from error." 
 
 " And pray, sir," rejoined the minister, '' what is 
 the difference? What was the object of inspiration 
 but supernaturally to protect the Apostles from error ? 
 You, and this company, must see that the distinction 
 is only in the words used." 
 
 "Why, you must acknowledge that there is an over- 
 ruling Providence which directs the affairs of the 
 world, and regulates the conduct of men, which pro- 
 tects us in things temporal and spiritual ; but there is 
 no inspiration in the matter." 
 
 " I do acknowledge an overruling Providence," said 
 Mr. Watkins, " general and particular ; but it is not 
 in this sense we are using the term ' supernatural 
 protection.' We are using it in reference to infalli- 
 bility in imparting spiritual knowledge — in giving 
 rules for the observance of Christians in interpreting 
 the will of God ; and in this sense it ?« synonymous 
 
100 PINE FARM, 
 
 mous with inspiration, and if, in this respect your 
 church claims to be infallible, its infallibility must be 
 obtained by inspiration, or visions, or the ministration 
 of angels ; and unless you can show that it is predi- 
 cated on some of these, I must dispute your claim to 
 * supernatural protection.' " 
 
 "But sir," answered the Catholic, "I contend that 
 by virtue of the supremacy with which Peter was in- 
 vested in having committed to him the ' keys,' he was 
 the first head of the church on earth, and the same 
 dignity and authority which he possessed was trans- 
 mitted to his successors. Christ said that ' on this 
 rock he w^ould build his church, and the gates of hell 
 should not prevail against it.' Peter was the Rock, 
 for that is what his name signified. He was the first 
 Bishop of Rome, and his successors must be the rep- 
 resentatives of the same head, the continuation of the 
 same rock, and possess the same keys. Therefore, the 
 Pope of Rome is the head of the church, and the 
 Roman Catholic church is the church, and all others 
 that profess to be such are only sects and not churches." 
 
 " Pray, stop a little," said the preacher, *' such a 
 crowding of things together is rather confusing. Let 
 us consider one at a time. 
 
 "First, You say that to Peter w^ere committed the 
 keys ; this I admit : but that it conferred on him any 
 supremacy, I deny. The keys were not a symbol of 
 supremacy. In Christ's church, or rather congrega- 
 tion, no man is, nor ever has been, supreme. Christ 
 himself said, ' one is your Master, and all ye are 
 brethren.' " 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 101 
 
 ^' What, sir," acked the Catholic in surprise, ''you 
 say the keys conferred no supremacy on Peter?" 
 
 "Assuredly not," continued the minister, '"one is 
 your Master, and all ye are brethren.' Keep cool, 
 and let us examine the matter." 
 
 "0, I am not getting excited at all. I am only 
 surprised at the position you take." 
 
 " Very well, then. Now I suppose of course you 
 allow that this was a figurative transaction, that there 
 were no real keys given, iron, steel nor brass. That 
 however, would not aiFect the matter if there had been 
 real keys used, for even then, they would only have 
 been intended as a symbolic representation. The 
 question then is, what did they symbolize ? 
 
 "JSTow in every figure there must be a reality from 
 which the figure is taken, and which the figure repre-. 
 sents. For instance, a man is said to be a pillar of the 
 church, or a pillar of the state. This is a figurative 
 expression drawn from architecture. A pillar is a 
 post or column which supports a building ; and to 
 call a man a pillar of the church or state, is to say 
 that he supports or sustains those institutions in dif- 
 ferent ways. We need not multiply illustrations. 
 
 "AYell, a key, implies a look, a lock implies a door, 
 and a door implies a house. A key then is intended 
 to open a door, and give admittance into a house, or 
 rather inclosurc. What, now, does this giving of the 
 keys to Peter imply ? Undoubtedly that he was to 
 use them in opening something, and that something 
 was the kingdom of grace or favor, as we learn from 
 subsequent developments. lie used them first on the 
 
102 PINE FARxM, 
 
 day of Pentecost, when the doors of the kingdom 
 were opened to the Jews under the commission to 
 ^ go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature.' He used them asjain at the house of Cor- 
 nelius, eight years after, when by the direction of a 
 vision, he opened ' the door of faith ' to the Gentiles, 
 and admitted them to a common participation with 
 the Jews in the blessings of the kingdom. 
 
 "Now, sir, mark it; these were the only instances 
 in which Peter ever made use of the ' keys,' and in 
 both intances he used them under instructions. The 
 keys had now done their work ; the doors had been 
 opened, and pope, bishop, nor devil can close them. 
 Peter's authority, or supremacy, or whatever you 
 may term ' it, was at an end ; the keys were returned 
 to his Master, and the vain boast ^hat they hang at 
 the girdles of high church dignitaries is all a myth 
 of prelatical assumption. Now, sir, are you satisfied 
 about the ' keys ?'" 
 
 " No, sir," answered the Catholic. '' I am not. 
 You can not prove that Peter's authority stopped 
 there ; but proceed to the other points. What have 
 you to say about the succession of Roman bishops, 
 from Peter to Pio Nono ? " 
 
 '^^ I am not concerned about a succession which has 
 never been established, and which would amount to 
 nothing if it could be done. A succession of Roman 
 bishops is no more than a succession of Jerusalem 
 bishops, or Ephesian bishops, or Constantinople bish- 
 ops, and if it could be proved that Peter was bishop 
 of Rome, there would still be lacking evidence to 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 103 
 
 show that he transmitted his authority or po^Yer to any 
 successor — indeed, it is palpably plain that he did not." 
 
 "Why, my dear sir, you talk as if you did not be- 
 lieve in an Apostolic succession at all. 
 
 " I certainly do not," said the minister, " and until 
 I see the Apostolic ' signs ' accompanying, it is prob- 
 able 1 never will." 
 
 " What then did the Savior mean, when he said the 
 gates of hell should not prevail against his church?" 
 
 " Allowing that he said this," replied Mr. Watkins, 
 " he could only mean, as I think, that there would 
 always be a congregation of true believers and obey- 
 ers — that this congregation never should become ex- 
 tinct ; which, by the way, has been, and continues to 
 be the case. But it is possible that you and others 
 have misread the passage to which you allude." 
 
 0, that is out of the question, sir. I have too often 
 read it, and it is the main pillar of the Pope's su- 
 premacy." 
 
 "Very well," said the preacher, "let us read it. 
 ' When Jesus came into the coasts of Csesarea,' etc. 
 (Matt, xvi, 15-18.) Now observe first, it was the 
 gates of Hades (not hell) — the unseen world, which 
 should not prevail. 
 
 " Next, what is it against which these gates should 
 not prevail? It strikes me that there is a mistake 
 made here by both Komanists and Protestants, by 
 not understanding what is symbolized by the phrase 
 * gates of hell," or hades, which the best philologists 
 tell us is not used in the same sense as ^ gchenna,' or 
 hell. But expositors, not observing tliis, seem to 
 
104 PINE FAKIVI, 
 
 think it means some evil power which is to attack the 
 church, but which will not be able to overcome it. 
 Now, in all symbols, there must be some analogy be- 
 tween the symbol and the thing symbolized. What 
 then is the office of a gate? It does not make an 
 attack on any thing, but is used to bar the entrance to 
 an inclosure ; to exclude whatever is not designed to 
 enter it, and include whatever is not designed to go 
 out of it. When cattle, for instance, are inclosed in 
 a pen and make an irruption against the gate, break 
 it down and escape, we say that the gate could not 
 prevail against them, i. c, could not withstand them." 
 
 The Catholic and all the company appeared in- 
 tensely interested in this new exegesis, and the min- 
 ister continued. " You perceive, then, that this ' pre- 
 vailing ' was to be a passive and not an active thing — • 
 a standing against, and not an attack upon, something. 
 
 " What was this something, I again ask ? Let us see 
 if some other passages will not help us to the inter- 
 pretation. David said, ' Thou wilt not leave my soul 
 in hell ' (sheal or hades.) Again : ' Thou hast re- 
 deemed my soul from the poAver of the grave ' (sheal 
 or hades). To whom did the prophet allude? Cer- 
 tainly to Jesus Christ. When he was crucified and 
 was buried, he entered the gates of hades ; the gates 
 closed on him, and wicked men had a short triumph. 
 But on the third day there was an earthquake, an 
 angel descended, the Savior burst open those gates. 
 
 " ' The rising God forsakes the tomb, 
 The tomb in vain forhids his rise.' 
 
 What, then, was it against which. the gates of Hades 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SII)E. 105 
 
 should not prevail ? Was it not the truth which 
 Peter uttered, Tiiou art the Christ the Son of the 
 LIVING God ? If He had not been this, the gates 
 would have prevailed against Him, because he would 
 have been only man, poor, weak man, with no strength 
 to set at defiance the power of death. 
 
 "But, supposing that it is the church against which 
 the 'gates' shall not prevail — even then it does not 
 help your cause ; for keeping in mind the office of 
 the symbol, we must refer the matter spoken of 
 to the general resurrection, in respect to which Paul 
 says in the conclusion of his argument in this respect, 
 * death where is thy sting ? grave (Hades) where 
 is thy victory?' And, at that time will bo brought 
 to pass, in all its fullness and glory, the great truth 
 that ' Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God ;' for *as Jesus died and rose again, so also them 
 who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.'" 
 
 These were " strange thinojs" to the Catholic. He 
 could not gainsay them, but having committed him- 
 self to ''Mother Church," of course he could not ad- 
 mit tlieir truth. Had she not denounced reason as 
 corrupt, and should one of her children dare to let 
 reason produce in his mind a doubt of her infallibility? 
 He, therefore, could not keep his position. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Watkins, what have you to say against 
 the doctrines of our church ? " 
 
 "Which one of them, sir?" 
 
 " Any of them. Transubstantiation, for instance ?" 
 
 " I Avould prefer hearing you saying something in 
 favor of it." 
 
106 PINE FARM, 
 
 ^'Well, I of course believe it to be true, and can 
 prove it to any unprejudiced mind." 
 
 '^' Proceed, sir," said the minister. " I have talked 
 a good deal ; you can lead in the argument, and I 
 will state my objections when you get through, that 
 is, unless you prove the doctrine to be true." 
 
 " I make my argument, then," said the Catholic, 
 '' on the words of Christ and the decisions of the 
 Church. Jesus said to his disciples, ' this is my body.' 
 He said again, ' except ye eat the flesh of the Son of 
 Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.' 
 Now, if this does not prove that the elements are 
 transubstantiated, then language has no meaning. 
 ' This is my body,' what can be more explicit ? Again, 
 the church has so decided, and the church being in- 
 fallible, can not be mistaken. Therefore, transub- 
 stantiation is true. Now, sir, we will hear your, ob- 
 jections." 
 
 " Why, are you through already ? You make short 
 work of it indeed, and you must excuse me for saying 
 that I can not regard as an argument that which takes 
 for granted the very thing in dispute. 
 
 "Now, sir," continued the preacher, *'let us exam- 
 ine the passage, ' this is my body,' a passage on which 
 Romanists rely so confidently in support of their no- 
 tion. Does it, as you affirm, mean that the bread 
 was literally, and substantially, and essentially the 
 body of the Savior? Then your body is literally and 
 substantially grass ; for it is written, '• all flesh is grass.' 
 
 " Also, our Lord w^as a door, for he said, ' I am 
 the door.' 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 107 
 
 " Again, he was a vine, ' I am the vine, ye are the 
 branches.' 
 
 ** Once more ; in the same connection in which it is 
 said, ' this is my body,' it is also said, ' this cup is the 
 New Testament in my blood.' Can it be that the cup 
 was tlie New Testament? Is not rather the plain 
 and obvious meaning of the passage, the wine in this 
 cup represents my blood? So, also, this bread repri3~ 
 sents my body." 
 
 ^' Why, sir," interrupted the Catholic, " Your great 
 man, Martin Lutlier, taught our doctrine in regard to 
 the passage, ' this is my body.' You presume to set 
 up your judgment, not only against the church, but 
 your own leader." 
 
 "Excuse me, sir," quietly remarked Mr. Watkins, 
 ^'if I do not acknowledge the leadership. I am 
 told to ' call no man master on earth.' Luther was a 
 great man, and was raised up, I doubt not, by God for 
 a great work ; and in the fulfillment of his destiny, 
 he struck a blow at the Papacy from which it has nevei 
 recovered, and from which it never vfill recover. 
 Nevertheless, he was only a. man, and neither inspired 
 nor ' supernaturally protected from error ; ' and I cer- 
 tainly do set up my judgment against any man, living 
 or dead, Romanist or Protestant, if, in my judgment, 
 he speaks not according to the law and the testimony. 
 And, in that instance, that wonderful man gave a 
 striking exhibition of mental obliquity. In justice to 
 him, however, he did not teach exactly what your 
 church does. He contended for consubstantiation, in 
 which there is a mysterious presence of the body and 
 
108 PINE FARM, 
 
 blood of the Lord, combined Tvith the bread and wine 
 Whereas, transubatantiation implies a change of the 
 bread and wine into the real body and blood of the 
 Lord — something which outrages every sense in a 
 man's body, seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and 
 smelling ; and is contrary to reason, science, and the 
 Holy Scriptures. And you will pardon me for sa^^ing 
 that a man can no more rationally believe such a thing 
 than he can believe he is corporeally constituted to 
 inhabit the sea, or that fishes are adapted to living 
 on dry land. You do not believe it. The Pope does 
 not believe. Not one of the fallible men that made 
 up the infallible council which decreed the dogma, be- 
 lieved it. One may believe that which is above the 
 comprehension of the senses, but he can not believe 
 that which is contrary to the senses.'' 
 
 " Hold, hold, sir," said the Catholic, " you are get- 
 ting excited. I certainly ought to know what I be- 
 lieve." 
 
 " So you ought, but it seems you do not. How do 
 you obtain a knowledge of external objects — trees, 
 stones, houses, etc.?" 
 
 " By the senses, of course," replied the Catholic. 
 
 " Well, what is this ? " asked the minister, holding 
 toward him a book. 
 
 " This ! a book, what else can it be ? " 
 
 *' I deny it," said the preacher, " it is a stone." 
 
 "Indeed," answered the other, "You are disposed 
 to jest." 
 
 " By no means," said Mr. Watkins, " prove it to be 
 a book." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 109 
 
 *'Prove it ! why don't I see it, can't I feel it ?" 
 
 " Then, sir, with only the testimony of two of your 
 senses, you affirm positively that it is a book, and yet 
 you reject the testimony of all the senses in respect 
 to the bread and wine. Now, if it is by the senses 
 that we obtain a knowledge of things, can you or any 
 other man believe the bread to be transubstan- 
 tiated?" 
 
 " Well, what have you to say about the turning of 
 water into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee ? " 
 
 "• That," replied the minister, " w^as a real, sensible, 
 bona fide, transubstantiation. It looked like wine, 
 tasted like it, smelt like it, and produced the same effect 
 on the system. That case and your transubstantiation 
 present no points of resemblance whatever." 
 
 Here there was a pause, and Mr. Watkins was dis- 
 posed to discontinue the discussion, but his friend did 
 not seem satisi&ed. 
 
 " Mr. Watkins," he asked, '' what is your standard 
 of infallibility?" 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures, sir." 
 
 " But the Scriptures are variously interpreted. 
 Who then is to determine their meaning ? " 
 
 " To his own master every one stands or falls." 
 
 "Ah, there is where we Catholics have the advan- 
 tage of you. We have an infallible interpreter." 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked the minister. 
 
 "The Church, sir," answered the Catholic. 
 
 " The church indeed ! I think, if you will consider 
 the matter, you will discover that your infallible inter« 
 preter is as great a figment as transubstantiation. 
 
no PINE FARM, 
 
 Every individual member of the church, from the 
 Pope doAvn through the descending series of cardinals^ 
 bishops, priests, monks, friars, etc., is fallible. This 
 you admit. How then can these, individually fallible, 
 come collectively infallible ? " 
 
 " I can not say, sir, but it is so, for the church has 
 so decided." 
 
 '• A poor reason truly," replied the minister, " and 
 one that will not be likely to satisfy a, reasonable man. 
 If the church decides that two blacks make a white, 
 or two wrongs make a right, no man in his proper 
 mind can believe it, no more can he believe that two 
 fallibles, or a thousand fallibles, can make an infal- 
 lible;" 
 
 Mr. Watkins here proposed to stop the discussion, 
 and no objection was made. The parties slept in the 
 same room, and the conversation was resumed after 
 they lay down, and the preacher at last fell asleep 
 while the Catholic was talking. The next morning 
 they rose and went down together to breakfast, but 
 neither seemed inclined to renew the controversy, and 
 when the hour approached for service at the church, 
 the minister left to attend his appointment, and his 
 friend went elsewhere on his way. They parted in 
 all friendliness of feeling, which they continued to 
 maintain toward each other. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XV.— The Country Funeral. 
 
 All countries have their peculiar customs, and 
 these differ considerably even in the same countries. 
 Ostentation is something that pertains to humanity, 
 and is displayed in life and in death, varied by the 
 means at command, and absent only in exceptional 
 cases whore interest or idiosyncrasy falls below or 
 rises above tlic weakness. But amid all this vain 
 show, or mixed up Avith it, there is to be found some- 
 thing of genuine feeling — true affection, and some- 
 thing which seems to have survived the ruin of Eden, 
 and rises superior to the moral depravity which per- 
 vades the mass of humanity. Total depravity is true, 
 so far as relates to its earthly universality. It is not 
 true, as respects its entire control of its subjects, out- 
 side of Tartarus, and except in the cases of those who 
 have reduced themselves so low in sin as to be inca- 
 pable of a moral impression. The cry of distress, 
 and the silent sorrow of the heart, blasted in its 
 affections, and weighed down with troubles which fol- 
 low in the train of the curse, finds an answering sym- 
 pathy in the natures of such as " groan and travail" 
 in common with them ; and where such sympathy is 
 wanting it must be in such natures as are concreted 
 over by the indurating influences of the world, the 
 flesh, and the devil. 
 
 This sympathetic exhibition is strikingly displayed 
 
112 riNE FARxM, 
 
 in the plain and sincere regard manifested in tlie 
 country customs of burying the dead. 
 
 There is, indeed, something impressive in the bhict 
 hearse, with its dull black trimmings, the black 
 plumes that nod from the heads of the black horses. 
 And as it passes through the streets with its train of 
 carriages, and, as arriving at the gates of the cemetery, 
 the cortege follows the body to its resting place among 
 marble obelisks, cenotaphs, slabs, and mausoleums, 
 the whole scene tells a tale of helpless mortality. 
 
 ^^ Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 
 But in the free open country, where the free birds 
 sing, and the wild flowers bloom, there is something 
 of special interest in the sight of simple-hearted 
 neighbors collected together to pay a last tribute of 
 kind regard to the departed. 
 
 It was an incident of this kind, which, on a bright 
 autumn morning, called Mr. Watkins to a house of 
 mourning. A little child, the center of earthly affec- 
 tions to its parents, around which clustered the hopes 
 of future happiness and usefulness, had been taken 
 from the evil to come ; a flower of earth, transplanted 
 to the garden of the celestial paradise, a little proba- 
 tioner, just started on life's journey, taken away from 
 the doubtful issue of earthly trial. Strange ! is it not, 
 that people should weep about such a thing ? 
 
 Yet nature will speak, even while it bows in resig- 
 nation. And who knows but the cause of the weep- 
 ing will intensify the rejoicing when they meet again 
 " up yonder." 
 
 The little innocent lay shrouded in a pine coffin 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. IVd 
 
 placed on two chairs in tlie center of a room, around 
 the wails of which were seated the female part of the 
 attending neighbors, Avdiile the men Avere gathered on 
 the front piazza or standing about the steps waiting 
 for the usual service of such occasions to begin. Mr. 
 Watkins was sitting by a table near the coffin, seem- 
 ingly in meditative sympathy with the bereaved family, 
 when a man approached, and in a low tone requested 
 him to proceed. He arose and comm.enced by reading 
 a portion of the Scriptures suited to the occasion, and 
 announced as a passage suggestive of a few remarks, 
 a verse in one of John's epistles, " And the world 
 passeth away and the lusts thereof, but he that doeth 
 the will of God abideth forever." 
 
 '' ' And the world passeth away.' To discuss this 
 proposition," he began, " by offering evidence of its 
 +ruth, would be an unnecessary work. No one dis- 
 putes it, no one doubts it. But as Peter wrote to the 
 bretiiren to stir up their pure minds by way of re- 
 membrance, so it is useful to remind people of that 
 which they well know, lest absorbed by the world, 
 they forget that it is passing away." 
 
 And thus he went on, analogically illustrating the 
 fact that everything pertaining to earth was uncertain 
 and changeful. 
 
 The trees of the forest, the beasts of the field, 
 all organic life must cease to live; yea even inor- 
 ganic matter is subject to change by tlie laws which 
 govern it. 
 
 " 'Passing away.' Why look you, friends, see that 
 old man, as he goes, leaning upon his staff, bending 
 
114 PIXE FARM, 
 
 under a load of years and infirmities. Speak kindly 
 to him. Ask him " Father ! ^yhy this staif to support 
 your tottering frame ? what means the dimness o^ 
 your eyes ? and the feebleness of your movements ? " 
 And he will answer, " Son, I was once young; these 
 feeble limbs once trod the earth elastic with the buoy- 
 ancy of youth, and steady in the strength of man- 
 hood ; the few silver hairs scattered over this old head 
 once shone in glossy blackness ; these old eyes now 
 dim, could scale in vision the mountain top, and watch 
 the eagle to its eyrie. But time has done its work, 
 and I am ' passing away.' 
 
 " Look at this lovely child, beautiful even in the 
 paleness which tells of coming corruption, and ask 
 what means the repose, in strange contrast with its 
 active playfulness ? Where has gone the lively prattle 
 that once rejoiced the hearts that loved it, and that 
 love it still ? What has gone with the brilliancy that 
 lighted up those windows of the soul ? And there 
 comes a response as from the spirit world, ' it has 
 passed away.' 
 
 " Behold that gay band of pleasure's children. 
 Listen to the ravishing music by which their graceful 
 limbs measure the mazes of the dance. How lightly 
 rings the silvery laugh ! how brightly flash the eyes that 
 meet ! Can dull care ever enter that charmed circle ? 
 Will those hearts ever grieve, and weeping be heard 
 from their voices ? Will those limbs be palsied with 
 age or lie cold in the prison-house of the grave ? 
 
 Come, behold again when time and trial have done 
 their work. The merry laugh is hushed ; the brilliant 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 115 
 
 lights lire gone, and the quiet stilhiess that broods 
 over yonder earth mounds tells the story, ' they have 
 passed away.' And will it ever be so ? shall pain, 
 and sorrow, and parting, -and woe, forever fill the cup 
 of humanity's curse? Shall the trail of the serpent 
 be always found among the flowers that bloom in the 
 garden of human happiness ? ! is there not some- 
 thing that survives the decay of earth ? 
 
 "Listen to the words of the apocalyptic vision. 
 ' And I, John, saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, 
 descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
 bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great 
 voice out of heaven, saying. Behold, the tabernacle 
 of God is Avith men, and he shall dwell with them, 
 and they shall be his people, and God himself shall 
 be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no 
 more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain, for the former things are 
 passed away.' 
 
 '• ' 0, the hope, the glorious hope, 
 The hope through Jesus given. 
 The hope, when days and years are past, 
 We all shall meet in heaven.' " 
 
 And the minister kneeled down, and was joined in 
 a fervent prayer by the pious present, that the occa- 
 sion might be blessed to all, and that the bereaved 
 might be comforted by that comfort which God only 
 can give. And rising, he gave out and sung the 
 hymn, 
 
116 nXE FARM, 
 
 "There is a liope, u glorious hope^ 
 More blessed and more bright, 
 Than all the joyless mocking, 
 The world esteems delight." 
 
 Then came tender hands and adjusted the drapery 
 of death ; then came strong hands to bear away the 
 little sleeper to its resting place. And then the 
 funeral train moved off silently, and with sad hearts, 
 as the sounds of bitter grief proceeded from the 
 child's mother. 
 
 Arrived at the burying ground, all gathered about 
 the grave, surrounded by others, where lay the mold- 
 ering mortalities that testified to the truth of inspired 
 record : " Sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, for that 
 all have sinned." 
 
 How strange is death ! Why should men die ? 
 Why not continue to live on and on ; life ever re- 
 newed by the agencies which support it. Is it not 
 just as natural that people should live as that they 
 should die ? Can not the power that brings them 
 into being continue them in being? Most certainly. 
 Why then should they die ? Find the answer in the 
 history of Eden's ruin, wdiere man innocent became 
 man guilty — man perfect became man depraved, and 
 his nature becoming corrupt, the same corruption 
 is transmitted to his posterity, and thus decay and 
 death reigns over the human race. 
 
 But turn and see the other side of the picture, 
 where the second Adam repairs the ruin of the first, 
 and rejoice in prospect of the "better day coming," 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 117 
 
 when death shall be swallowed up in victory, and from 
 the hearts of the great multitude redeemed, shall come 
 the shout of triumph like the sound of many waters, 
 " death where is thy sting, Hades where is thy 
 victory ? " 
 
 With tender care the little body was lowered into 
 the grave, and over it were placed the boards to pro- 
 tect the coffin from the superincumbent earth ; then 
 came the hollow sounds of the falling clods, and with 
 it a fresh burst of grief from the smitten hearts ; 
 spadeful after spadeful of earth poured in until a red 
 mound appeared above ground. This was smoothed 
 over and stakes were driven down at either end — the 
 minister, raising his hands, pronounced a short praj^er 
 and a benediction, and the crowd dispersed. The 
 weeping parents returned to their sad home, to come 
 again and plant flowers about the spot now so dear 
 for the treasure it contained. And in after days, 
 when grief is assuaged, and from the earthly their 
 aifections are transformed to the heavenly, and they 
 find it is good to be afflicted, and the balm of Grod's 
 grace has healed the wounds his chastisement had 
 made, they will look with melancholy pleasure on the 
 " little green grave," and long for the time of the 
 reunion to come, " when this mortal shall put on im- 
 mortality." 
 
118 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER ^Yl.—Disrvption of the Coalition. 
 
 Any union in Church or State, social order or 
 business pursuits, to secure to itself permanent benefit 
 or usefulness, must be founded in virtue — must have 
 for its basis certain great principles of right, and a 
 disposition of heart and mind in the covenanters an- 
 swering thereto. Hence a good government is the 
 result of right constitutional principles, written not 
 only on paper or parchment, but on the hearts of the 
 people : and so long as there is an adherence to these 
 principles, so long may the government be expected 
 to be permanent and strong. 
 
 There is, indeed, a power in wrong. Kings may 
 form alliances for oppression — to perpetrate the jus 
 divinmn by which tyrants rule ; but selfishness is at 
 the bottom of it all ; and wrangling about " mine 
 and thine" — apprehension about the "balance of 
 power " — continually threaten to dissolve the com- 
 pacts : and Avronged right, on which their thrones too 
 often rest, will heave up like the swell of an earth- 
 quake, and tumble the oppressors from their toppling 
 hights. For long ages has the struggle between 
 might and right been maintained, and doubtful, nay, 
 disastrous has often been the issue ; for " on the side 
 of oppressors was power ;" but it was a power extra- 
 neous to itself. But right, feeble in ab extra force, 
 has within itself a strength, an endowment by Him 
 who is the source of right : and gradually, slowly, to 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 119 
 
 cotemporaries almost imperceptibly, it has been grow- 
 ing, increasing ; gathering, little by little, accessions 
 of power. It is almost ready for the final trial, and 
 only waits the fullness of time to shake the heavens 
 and the earth. Then out of the ruins shall come the 
 throne of right, to be set up upon the principles of 
 right, and occupied by the Author of right. 
 
 As compacts of wickedness are entered into by the 
 dignitaries of earth, so do the little ones of earth form 
 copartnerships in iniquity, which for a time seem to 
 prosper ; but selfishness being the bond of union, 
 they are in continual danger of disruption, with ter- 
 rible consequences to the contracting parties. Such 
 was the nature of the firm of Bates & Young, and 
 the catastrophe of its dissolution was as might have 
 been expected. 
 
 According to the articles of agreement between 
 these worthies, all the liquor made at Young's dis- 
 tillery was to be delivered at Bates' store, and this 
 latter gentleman was to sell the same to the best 
 possible advantage, reserving to himself certain com- 
 missions, and paying over the balance to Y'^oung. 
 
 To secure the faithful performance of these con- 
 ditions, they entered into a written contract ; having 
 also a private understanding as to various expedients 
 by which the stock should be made to go as far as 
 possible — the least injurious of which was a prudent 
 use of water ; of other ingredients we forbear to speak. 
 This arrangement was highly advantageous to both 
 parties. It saved Young from the odium attaching 
 to the profession of a retailer. He was a wholesale 
 
1^0 PINE FARM 
 
 dealer ; and, as in some other things, the magnitude 
 of the crime lessened the degree of guilt. A man 
 ivlio kills liis fellow-man is a murderer — a conqueror 
 ^vho kills a million is a hero, A man Avho steals a 
 shoat to keep his family from starving is taken to the 
 "whipping-post — another who gets off with half the 
 capital of a bank is a '' lion '' in fashionable circles. 
 So a cross-road retailer is beneath the notice of re- 
 spectable people, while a distiller or importer, who 
 supplies the means of trade to a thousand retailers, 
 is to the last degree respectable. Bates being not 
 very sensitive about social position, did not much 
 consider of these things ; and if he did, why he kept 
 a store, and of course would be expected to keep 
 whatever people wanted. 
 
 But what of the victims of tliis league of iniquity? 
 Is one man to benefit himself at the expense of an- 
 other's ruin ? Bah ! what a question to ask in this 
 progressive age ! Let every man look out for him- 
 self. If Thomson sells a man a gun, it 's no concern 
 of his wdiether or not the fool kills somebody wdth it. 
 And if Bates supplies a man with a quart of whisky, 
 and the wretch goes home under its influence, and 
 runs his wife and children off into the woods, or to a 
 neighbor's house, or knocks old Tom on the head 
 with a fence rail, is Bates to abandon the sale of 
 liquor, or Young its manufacture ? Nonsense ! Just 
 as well say that an apothecary should not keep opium, 
 because that silly fellow Green put himself into a 
 sleep that ''knows no waking," that ho might escape 
 the thought of having " wasted his substance in riot- 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 121 
 
 ous living." Surprising indeed that people will have 
 such old fogy notions ! 
 
 But the course of iniquity does not always run 
 smooth, and selfishness, true to its instincts, is sus- 
 picious and watchful. Young had serious misgivings 
 as to the correctness of Bates' returns, and Bates, 
 equally on the alert, had heard of several instances 
 in which his partner had sold secretly a gallon or so 
 at the distillery. They hoth acted on the maxim to 
 *' treat all men as rascals," and to trust no one farther 
 than you can see him ; and by some law of humanity, 
 not yet fully understood, each vras aware of the others 
 distrust. Psychologists might, perhaps, explain it on 
 some newly discovered principle ; but be that as it 
 may, the fact is evident that emotions, feelings, or 
 states of mind are mysteriously intercommunicable. 
 For some time did these suspicious thoughts haunt 
 thes-e men, but both seemed averse to taking the ini- 
 tiative m requiring an explanation, because neither 
 had sufficient evidence to authorize such a proceed- 
 ing. An incident jSnallj occurred, however, which 
 presented a fair -opportunity for bringing the matter 
 to an issue. 
 
 Dan Spencer had been drinking pretty freely at 
 Bates' "'bar," and becoming rather noisy, he was 
 •admo-nished once or twice to keep more quiet. But 
 iie paid little attention to the remonstrance; and 
 'some ladies coming to the store to " trade," were so 
 annoyed and frightened by his boisterous behavior, 
 that they soon left without making any purchases. 
 This exasperated Bates, and they had but just gone 
 G 
 
122 PINE FARM 
 
 out, when he began to speak to Spencer in very plain 
 terms ; told him, unless he conducted himself better, 
 . he might go elsewhere " to drink." Spencer, in his 
 turn, became enraged, and expressed the supremest 
 contempt for the storekeeper and his liquor, asking 
 him "if he thought there was no liquor in the neigh- 
 borhood but at his store." 
 
 " There is none that you can get," said Bates. 
 
 "■ That 's all you know about it. I can get as much 
 as I please at Young's still." 
 
 The thought flashed upon Bates that he might turn 
 the quarrel to some account, as he replied : 
 
 "You can't do any such thing. Young has no 
 license, and he sells all his liquor to me ; and, unless 
 you can prove you got it there, I must believe you 
 lie about it." 
 
 -Here v^as a dilemma for Spencer. He knew he 
 ought not to betray Young, but his character as a 
 man of truth was at stake. The bystanders began 
 to laugh at him ; and, in desperation, he exclaimed : 
 
 " I did get a jug of brandy from him last week, 
 and I can prove it, too !" 
 
 "Ah, yes," retorted the storekeeper; "begged it 
 from him, I suppose ?" 
 
 " It 's a lie !" shouted Spencer ; " I bought it, and 
 paid for it." 
 
 Bates did not much relish the "lie," but he Avas 
 aiming at a purpose, and kept cool. 
 
 "Very well," said he; "I advise you to go there 
 again;" and he walked round behind the counter, and 
 began apparently to look over his books. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 123 
 
 Spencer continued to talk, striding across the floor 
 with his hands in his pockets, and his hat set on the 
 side of his head with a most independent air. What 
 was his dismay, on turning toward the door, to see 
 'Squire Young walk into the store ! It had a more 
 sobering effect than a bowl of coifee. 
 
 "Good morning, gentlemen," said the 'Squire to 
 the company. 
 
 The salutation was returned, and the 'Squire eased 
 himself into a chair, and leaned back against the 
 counter. 
 
 There was a pause, and one of the company was 
 about to make a remark about the weather, when 
 Bates, taking advantage of w^hat had just passed, to 
 relieve the matter of embarrassment, said to Spencer: 
 
 "Novr, sir, we'll see whether you have told the 
 truth ;" and he related to the 'Squire what had passed. 
 Young's face underwent as many changes during the 
 recital, as it did when John Waters, holding the reins 
 of his horse, portrayed his character in such vivid 
 colors. There was no chance to deny out of the 
 scrape — a living witness was present, and one who 
 would rather have been a hundred miles away ; but 
 he had to meet the issue, much as he disliked it. 
 
 " Well, I did n't like to tell on you, 'Squire," 
 said he, sheepishly ; " but this man provoked me 
 to it." 
 
 Young looked clubs and fists at him, but made no 
 reply. 
 
 " What am I to understand about this matter, Mr. 
 Young?" asked the storekeeper. 
 
124 piNE faum, 
 
 This plainly implied distrust of his honesty, brought 
 the 'Squire to his speech, and he gruffly answered: 
 
 " You can think what you please, sir." 
 
 "But, sir," returned Bates, "have you no more 
 honor than to violate our agreement so?" 
 
 " Do you mean to impeach my honor, sir ? I ex- 
 pect, if the truth were known, your own dealings 
 would not bear the strictest scrutiny. I ought to 
 have got more money than I have for the quantity 
 of liquor that has been sent to your store." 
 
 The 'Squire had risen during this speech, and stood 
 facing his partner, wdio remained behind the counter. 
 
 The storekeeper, in his turn, was fully roused by 
 the reflection on his honesty, and the scene was get- 
 ting interesting. The loafers began crov.'ding up, and 
 Dan Spencer was as sober as a chancellor. 
 
 " I dare you to repeat that, sir ; and I '11 put you 
 out of that door faster than you came in !" 
 
 " I do repeat it, you infernal scoundrel I" roared 
 the 'Squire, at the same time striking at Bates with 
 his walkingstick. 
 
 Bates instantly caught up a two-pound weight, 
 which was lying on the counter, and hurled it at 
 Young's head, and in a moment he w^as stretched 
 bleeding o,nd senseless on the floor. 
 
 All was now the wildest confusion. Several ad- 
 vanced to raise the fallen man, but it seemed useless ; 
 and one of them seizing a bolt of cloth, placed it 
 under his head, while another began bathing his head 
 with water. 
 
 ^' Go for the doctor, Spencer;" and this gentleman, 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 125 
 
 mounting his horse, clashed down the road in search 
 of medic'cil assistance. 
 
 Bates, in the meantime, not knowing the extent of 
 the injury he had inflicted, and fearing the worst, re- 
 tired to tlic back room, and unlocking the safe, pro- 
 ceeded to transfer all the money to his pocketbook, 
 to be readj?" for an emergency ; intending to leave his 
 affairs to be settled by liis wife. He then stepped to 
 his house, a hundred yards distant, and hastily com- 
 municated to his wife the state of aifairs ; giving her 
 a few brief directions to follow in case he should be 
 compelled to leave. Having done this, he deposited 
 a revolver in each side-pocket of his coat, and slipped 
 a dirk within the waistband of his pantaloons ; then 
 returned to the store, leaving orders to have his horse 
 in readiness. 
 
 A thousand thoughts shot through his brain as he 
 walked back. " He might stay and stand his trial ; 
 he would hardly be convicted of any thing but man- 
 slaughter ; but there w\as %ome risk ; and then he did 
 not like the idea of lying in jail, even until the gov- 
 ernor's pardon could be obtained ; loerhaps^ too, he 
 would not grant one. On the whole, it was less 
 trouble to keep out of harm's way. He could get a 
 fair start before a warrant could be issued, and no 
 one would voluntarily try to stop him, armed as he 
 was. But Young might not be killed ; he would see 
 hovf matters w^ere tending." 
 
 ^^Well, Bates," said one, as he entered, "I think 
 you have fixed him." 
 
 " Is he dead ?" asked the storekeeper. 
 
126 PINE FARM, 
 
 " No ; but his skull is broken." 
 
 A groan from the wounded man smote the ears of 
 the crowd — whether it reached the heart of the store- 
 keeper is doubtful. Perhaps it did ; perhaps it was 
 policy which induced him to tell them to take him up, 
 and lay him on the bed in the back room. 
 
 For an hour they stood round him, applying such 
 restoratives as unprofessional skill dictated, when they 
 were relieved by the appearance of the physician. 
 
 " Where is Spencer ?" was asked. 
 
 " He has gone to inform Young's family of his 
 situation," replied the doctor ; and went immediately 
 to the patient. 
 
 " What do you think of it, doctor ?" he was asked, 
 after having examined the wound. 
 
 " A bad case — very bad, indeed." 
 
 ^' Can he be moved home ?" 
 
 *' Yes, on a litter, if he lives long enough. I told 
 Spencer to bring some negroes v/ith him." 
 
 Late in the afternoon the doctor left with his 
 patient, borne by four negroes on a litter, accom- 
 panied by the wounded man's wife and a few persons 
 who were at the store. They reached home after 
 dark, and every attention was given to the patient 
 which skill or affection could suggest. 
 
 The next morning the clerk was alone in the store, 
 and Bates' whereabouts was known only to a select 
 few. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XYII.—Tke Crisis. 
 
 " Good morning, doctor," said Mr. Watkins, as he 
 ascended the steps of the piazza at Young's house. 
 
 " Good morning, sir," replied Dr. Thomson. " I 
 am glad you have come ; the family here are in great 
 distress, and their minister is away on the circuit." 
 
 " I should have come last night, but did not hear 
 of the dreadful state of things until this morning. 
 What is Mr. Young's condition now, sir ? " 
 
 "Very critical indeed, sir: but there is some hope 
 that his injuries may not prove fatal. He is now in a 
 high fever, and raves a good deal." 
 
 ^^ What a shocking thing," said the minister, " shock- 
 ing, shocking ! And Bates — where is he ? " 
 
 " Cleared out, so Jackson says, who came by the 
 store a while ago. I sif})pose, though, he will lie 
 around, not far off, to see how the case will terminate. 
 But come into the room, sir." 
 
 Mr. AYatkins, as he entered the apartment, saw a 
 scene which sickened his heart. On a bed lay the 
 wounded man, the bandages about his head giving 
 evidence, by the blood which had oozed through them, 
 of the wound beneath. By the bedside sat his wife, 
 an impersonation of distress, while around stood 
 several negroes, under the direction of Deacon Jones, 
 to prevent Young from injuring himself in his sudden 
 outbreaks of delirium. 
 
 Mr. AVatkins and Mr. Jones silently shook hands. 
 
128 
 
 PINE FARM, 
 
 The minister would like to say something to Mrs 
 Young, but what could he say ? 
 
 " Stand back there, you infernal villain. You dare 
 to accuse me of dishonesty. I took you from the 
 ashes, and this is the thanks I get for it." 
 
 Mr. Jones passed his hand soothingly over the 
 raving man's face. 
 
 *'Yes, Mr. Grayson, I know it 's wrong to make 
 liquor. >i^ >!< ^ That sermon you preached on in- 
 temperance — I felt it : it made me mad ; but I knew 
 it was the truth." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thought he would try the effect of 
 soothing words, but they fell unheeded on the sufferer's 
 ear. 
 
 " Do n't come here to torment me, Waters. I 
 could n't help your drinking. -^ ^ ^^ 0, your wife ! 
 Well, that did look hard, but what could I do?" 
 ^ ♦ >K u Q-^yQ ^^p stilling, Mr. Grayson ! What 's 
 the use to talk so ? What 's done, can't be undone." 
 
 * "^ * "Kepentance! Forgiveness! Do you 
 think there is any forgiveness for me ? " "^'^ * ^ 
 "If I make restitution! Why that would take all 
 I've got." * '^ '^ ''Yes, that would be better 
 than to be lost, lost, lost. Well, I '11 see Mr. Watkins. 
 I know he is a good man; he wouldn't sell me his 
 peaches, to turn God's blessings into a cuise with 
 them." - * ^' "But Restitution! That's a 
 hard word to one who would have to restore so muck' 
 
 * * * ''Well, yes, you are right, sir. It does 
 not look so large when you put it by the side of 
 SALVATION ! " 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 120 
 
 Thus the poor man continued at intervals during 
 the day ; toward evening the fever subsided, and with 
 it his delirium, and as the shades of night settled upon 
 the earth, he sunk into a stupid sleep. During that 
 long night, the physician watched the case with in- 
 tense interest. Would exhausted nature be able to 
 recover? The attendants seemed to share fully in 
 the anxiety. Mr. Watkins retired to the parlor for a 
 short time with Mrs. Young, and tried to offer such 
 consolation as the desperate nature of the case would 
 allow. Hour after hour passed. The silence almost 
 of the tomb pervaded the house. The dim light in 
 the sick man's chamber added to the gloom. how 
 gladly, after the hours of weary watching, did the 
 occupants of that dismal chamber welcome the coming 
 of the " day star " which paled the glare of the sickly 
 taper ! 
 
 The sick man himself, seemed to feel its influence. 
 A feeble groan escaped him — he turns languidly in his 
 bed — his eyelids open, and as his gaze passes around 
 the room, the practiced eye of the physician discovers 
 that reason has returned to its throne. 
 
 "Be quiet, Mr. Young," said he, mildly, "you 
 have been severely hurt, but I hope you are better 
 
 now." 
 
 " How did I get here, doctor." 
 
 " Kind friends brought you, sir ; but you must 
 not talk. Your mind and body require the utmost 
 quiet." 
 
 Young submitted to the directions, at least in part, 
 but he could not help wondering who those kind 
 
130 PINE FARxM, 
 
 friends were — he could not remember any who were 
 at the store. 
 
 The physician heartily thanked the attendants for 
 their patient watching, which was sincerely indorsed 
 by Mrs. Young ; and saying there was " no necessity 
 for extra attention at present," he requested the lady 
 to keep the house quiet and call him if necessary; 
 then, throwing himself on a temporary pallet on the 
 floor, in a few minutes was sound asleep, worn out 
 with fatigue and excitement. 
 
 ■ Deacon Jones was almost as much exhausted as 
 the doctor, having set up two nights and a day ; and 
 begging Mr. Watkins to take his place, he mounted 
 his horse and rode home, promising to return at 
 night. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins had sent John Waters over after 
 breakfast to inquire how Young was, and if neces- 
 sary to relieve her huaband, who also availed himself 
 of the opportunity to go home to rest, promising, in 
 like manner, to return. So that John and Mrs. 
 Young were left alone with the servants to attend the 
 patient during the day. 
 
 It would not have been surprising if, after what had 
 occurred, John had been embarrassed by his peculiar 
 situation, nor that the Squire should participate in the 
 feeling. But John bore himself bravely through the 
 ordeal, giving every possible attention to his charge. 
 
 He had just handed him a drink of water, and was 
 again seated, and was waiting to perform any other 
 service which might be required. Observing a slight 
 movement of the patient, he instinctively looked up 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 131 
 
 to see if any thing was wanting. Young's eyes were 
 fixed on him with a steady gaze. John turned away 
 his face, and sat with an uneasy feeling, looking at 
 the vacant wall. Another movement of the patient 
 attracted his notice, but he did not take his eyes from 
 the wall. He felt that the gaze was still upon him. 
 
 "How old are you, John?" 
 
 The abruptness of the question startled the boy, 
 but he promptly answered 
 
 " Fourteen years, sir." 
 
 Young said no more for some time, but his thoughts 
 were evidently busy. His gaze was still fixed on the 
 boy, who was again intently engaged in tracing the 
 varied scenery of a white wall. 
 
 Perhaps the Squire's memory was busy with 
 thoughts which brought again the shadow of the de- 
 grees that had gone far down in the dial of life. Some 
 scene which had well nio-h faded awav under the in- 
 fluence of worldl}^ cares, was freshening under the 
 touch of that mysterious agent which "sponges oif" 
 the incrustations of the brain, and brings out the 
 hidden characters. 
 
 The work on which it was now employed might 
 have brought out successively the parts of a picture 
 in which were mingled the forms of a drunken man, 
 a legal process, a v/eeping woman, frightened negroes, 
 and an innocent-looking flaxen-haired boy. Who can 
 tell either, but that the faint recollection of a delirious 
 dream about Restitution might be disturbing his mind ? 
 Nothing was said to indicate his train of thought, and 
 closing his eyes, the man lay for some minutes as if 
 
132 PINE FARM, 
 
 in sleep ; suddenly he opens them and they meet the 
 boy's. 
 
 " John, that was an unpleasant affair which hap- 
 pened between us last summer at Mr. Watkin's, but 
 I hope you won't think any thing of it." 
 
 " no, sir, no, sir," said the boy, earnestly. " But 
 do n't talk about that now, Mr. Young ; the doctor 
 says you must be quiet. I do n't care any thing about 
 it. I have learned something since then, I hope, sir, 
 and I do n't think I would do so again. Try and go 
 to sleep, Mr. Young," and a tear rolled down his 
 cheek as he spoke. 
 
 What is that ! Is it a quiver about the sick man's 
 lip ? And look ! Does there not seem to be a slight 
 moisture about his eyes ? 
 
 No one could say, certainly. The wife's handker- 
 chief was over her face as her husband turned with a 
 sigh in his bed, and John had found relief in the 
 picturesque scenery of the wall. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XVm.—The Runaway Match. 
 
 Rap ! rap ! rap ! " Who keeps house." 
 
 "We shall have to accord you that honor, Mary," 
 said Mr. Watkins, rising, " but in this case at least, 1 
 must occupy the post of doorkeeper." 
 
 As the light shone out through the open door, the 
 minister discovered a party of three persons standing 
 in the piazza, a lady and two men. The lady was 
 hanginor on the arm of one of the men, while No. 3 
 appeared to be acting as a sort of rear guard, stand- 
 ing a little back, and armed with a murderous looking 
 stick. 
 
 '* Good evening, parson," said the gentleman in ad- 
 vance, " we 've come to get you to do a little piece of 
 service for us, and as we are rather in a hurry, I hope 
 you will do the work first and ask for explanations 
 afterward." 
 
 The shrewd minister had guessed, at a glance, the 
 nature of the business, and this speech only served 
 to strengthen his suspicion ; he therefore promptly 
 asked them into the room, secretly determined, how- 
 ever to have the explanations first and the work, if 
 done at all, second in order. 
 
 Now getting married is sometimes like the pursuit 
 of knowledge — "it is consummated under difiiculties." 
 Marriage is indeed the natural state of man, having 
 for its authority the highest divine right. People 
 always have got married, and always will, it is pre- 
 
' ■0*' 
 
 134 PINE FARM, 
 
 sumed, in the present state. But somehow, in this 
 contrary world, while all acknowledge its propriety 
 as an abstract principle, yet in certain applications 
 there will serious opposition be made. Indeed, in 
 some cases, cold, unimpassioned prudence seems'justi- 
 fied in protesting against the measure, while on the 
 other hand, still colder selfishness or pride is alto- 
 gether unreasonable in its demands. So that, like 
 many other things, no uniform rule in regard to its 
 observance can be laid down. 
 
 In practice, however, love generally laughs at laws 
 and locksmiths, be it ever so demure in the presence 
 of frowning opponents. Many have doubtless read 
 the story of the youth who was forbidden the door, 
 but crawled in at the window. 
 
 In the "Palmetto State," too, lovers have less 
 "^ trouble in effecting their purpose than in less favored 
 localities; less favored, we mean, in the fiicilities for 
 getting married. No publishing of bans, no license 
 from the court. The marriage service, too, whether 
 performed by priest or layman, judge or constable, 
 being equally valid. The " officiator " may, to be 
 sure, be prosecuted, but the parties not separated. 
 Nevertheless, there is generally a good deal of pride 
 in having the thing done respectably, and hence the 
 services of an ordained minister are decidedly pre- 
 ferred, and some would not like at all the suggestion 
 to be " married by a magistrate." 
 
 But it will not do to keep the impatient party at 
 Mr. Watkins' waiting, so we must recur to the conver- 
 sation between them and the minister. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. ' 135 
 
 " You wish to get married you say, William ? Why 
 then did you not have the ceremony at Mrs. Gile?' 
 house? I do not like to marry runaways, and have 
 almost determined several times to give notice to -that 
 effect." 
 
 ^' Why you see, parson, they object to the match, 
 but I hav n't got time to tell you about it now. 
 I 'm looking out every minute for somebody to come." 
 
 '' Well," said the minister, " I know you both to be 
 orderly, respectable young people, and I do n't see 
 why there should be any objection to the match, 
 though I can't know wdiat private reasons there may 
 be for it. However I will ask you one question, and 
 if that is satisfactory it will settle the matter. Are 
 vou both of le2;al ao;e ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, we are," answered the bridegroom ex- 
 pectant, much relieved that all obstacles were now 
 removed. 
 
 "Very good, then; no one has a right to prevent 
 your union ; and if you are determined to marry, the 
 sooner the better. Take your places on the floor." 
 
 The parties instantly stood up facing the minister. 
 
 " Julia, stand up beside the lady, dear ; and j^ou, 
 sir, (addressing No. 3,) take your place beside your 
 friend. Let us go through in due form." 
 
 "And do make it short, parson," said the gentleman. 
 
 " I call all persons here present," began the minis- 
 ter, " to witness the union of this man and this woman 
 in the bonds of a matrimonial engagement. 
 
 '• Do you, William Owens, promise and agree tc 
 take this woman to be your wedded wife ? " 
 
136 PINE FARM, 
 
 "I do, sir," responded William Owens. 
 
 "Let me get through, first, before you answer,'' 
 said the minister, trying in vain to command his fea- 
 tures. After a little he began again, and making up 
 a short extempore service, "the silken tie that binds 
 two willing hearts," vv'as soon indissolubly woven. A 
 few words of prayer concluded the form, and Mr. 
 Owens and Miss Giles were one. 
 
 " Now they may come," said Mr. Owens. " I 
 reckon they can't untie the knot." 
 
 Slam -went the gate. Miss Gi — no, Mrs. Owens — 
 started and turned pale, but Mr. Owens assumed all 
 the important bearing of a married man, and told the 
 lady " not to be frightened — they were too late and 
 he would protect her to the last extremity." 
 
 Mr. Watkins himself felt a little uneasy, fearing 
 there might be an unpleasant scene, and was not a 
 little gratified on opening the door to encounter a no 
 more wrathful countenance than old Cyrus' physiog- 
 nomy presented. 
 
 " Must I tek dem horse at de gate and put 'em way, 
 Massa?" 
 
 " I suppose so. Hey, William, we have had the 
 marriage, we must now have the feast." 
 
 "No, I thank you, Mr. Watkins. They're fixing 
 up for us at home. Can't you all go and take 
 supper : 
 
 Mr. Watkins politely excused himself and family, 
 but said John could go if he wished. 
 
 " Well, come John, catch your horse. No backing 
 out, you must go." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 137 
 
 John had never attended any thing of the kind, 
 and he knew, from Mr. Watkins' manner, he rather 
 •wished him to go. So asking daddy Cyrus to saddle 
 Bob, he proceeded at once to get ready ; and by the 
 time the horse was brought round, they were all pre- 
 pared to leave. 
 
 " What's the fee, Mr. Watkins ? " asked the now 
 bridegroom de facto. 
 
 " I never make any charge, William." 
 
 " Yes, but that ain't going to do. You've done me 
 a great service and I will pay for it. I have 'nt got 
 much you know ; but it shan't be said that William 
 Owens didn't pay for getting married. Sallie here 
 would be ashamed of me." 
 
 Mr. Watkins would willingly have resigned his per- 
 quisites in favor of the newly-married pair, but he 
 knew it would not be pleasant to Owens, poor as he 
 was, and he therefore received the bill which was ex- 
 tended to him. 
 
 '' Come, let's go, Sallie ; I know they 're anxious to 
 see us." 
 
 ^' I hope you won't be so bad scared as you were 
 coming," said No. 3. '^ Would n't wonder now if you 
 had some dodging to do yet." 
 
 " I can take you through a by-path if you wish," 
 said John. 
 
 ''Any way you please; all ways are the same to 
 me now," replied Owens. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins adjusted the bride's shawl for her, 
 and Mr. Watkins claimed the privilege of escorting 
 her to the gate. 
 
138 PINE FARM, 
 
 Owens led the horse up to the block and saw his 
 wife safely seated. All the party then mounted and 
 John taking the van, the • bridal pair occupied the 
 center, while No. 3. brought up the rear. "Good 
 night," all round — kind vvishes for a pleasant ride — 
 and the clatter of hoofs died away in tlie distance. 
 
 " How much did he pay you, father ? " 
 
 " Ah ! Julia, your first thought is about the money, 
 hey?" 
 
 " Well, father, mother wants a pair of shoes and 
 a new bonnet so bad. She has been wearing her old 
 bonnet ever since I can remember, almost." 
 
 "Well, let's go to the light and see." 
 
 " Five dollars ! Father, did you ever get so much 
 before for marrying any body ? " 
 
 " Not often," he replied. 
 
 "Dear me; why that, with what mother has got, 
 will buy ever so many things — shoes for Tommy, and 
 stockings for Susy, and bonnet for mother. I don't 
 want any ; mine will last all the w^inter." The father 
 looked with noble pride on his noble child. 
 
 '^ How I do dislike runaway matches," remarked 
 Mrs. Watkins. ''I wonder you don't refuse to marry 
 them." 
 
 " Well I should under ordinary circumstances, but 
 there was no cause why that couple should have been 
 driven to the necessity of running away ; they were of 
 age, and Owens is a steady, industrious young man." 
 
 His wife could not gainsay the truth of his reply, 
 but she could not help thinking it was a strange way 
 of doing things. 
 
OR THE SOUTilERN SIDE. 139 
 
 " Do you think you would run awa^^, Julia ? " said 
 he, smiling. 
 
 "Why father! you astonisli me! But I would, 
 too, she added ; " if you and mother ever run away 
 I'll run after you." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thought of the saying of the wise 
 man, " Train up a chihl in the way he should go, and 
 when he is old he will not depart from it." 
 
140 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.— Raising the Salarij. 
 
 The church at Sandy Run had been in the habit of 
 paying very little for its preaching, which might have 
 been accounted for in several ways. First. There 
 might have been a covetous leaven aifectins the lead- 
 ing members. Secondly. They had never been taught 
 to feel themselves bound to pay a preacher any thing 
 for his services. Thirdly. Some were opposed to 
 paying for preaching on principle ; and, Fourthly. The 
 larger part, perhaps, had never thought any thing about 
 the matter, because it had never been brought to their 
 notice. When, therefore, the subject was formally 
 brought before the conference of raising a salary for 
 the minister, it produced an uncommon sensation. 
 
 The usual form of business had been o-one throuirh 
 with when Deacon Bryan rose and requested the pas- 
 tor to retire for a short time, as he wished to offer a 
 resolution which he might not like to hear discussed. 
 
 After the minister had left the house, wondering 
 what the resolution could be, a moderator, pro tern., 
 was called to the chair. Bro. Bryan remarked that 
 he might, perhaps, better than in any other way, 
 bring the contemplated business before the confer- 
 ence, by reading the following i^reamble and resolu- 
 tions : 
 
 "Whereas, Our brother Watkins has faithfully 
 served this church for several years, and had for said 
 service received but a very small compensation ; and, 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 141 
 
 whereas, said minister's increasing family involved an 
 increased expense in providing for them a living ; 
 and, whereas, our brother's means of support are 
 known to be quite limited, therefore, 
 
 ''Resolved^ That this church proceed to take such 
 steps as in its judgment will be best adapted to secure 
 for Bro. Watkins a suitable compensation for future 
 services. 
 
 *' Resolved further^ That a committee be appointed 
 to carry into effect this measure, and that they be in- 
 structed to report at the next regular meeting. 
 " (Signed) B. C. Bryan, 
 
 A. A. Carter." 
 
 The Chair then announced that the subject was 
 open for discussion, whereupon Bro. Bryan spoke to 
 the resolution as follows : 
 
 ''Bro. Moderator: If it were not that this matter 
 now before us is a new feature in the history of this 
 church, I should not deem it necessary to say any 
 thing in support of the measure. I know, though, 
 that it appears strange to some of the brethren, and 
 to forestall any prejudice in their minds, I request the 
 attention of the meeting for a short time. 
 
 " The support of the ministry is a thing clearly 
 taught in the Scriptures. Our Savior said, ' the la- 
 borer is worthy of his hire ;' and the apostle Paul 
 repeatedly enjoined upon the churches the propriety 
 of contributing to the carnal wants of those who min- 
 istered to tliem in spiritual things. Somehow, though, 
 we have never properly considered the subject, and 
 
142 PINE FARM, 
 
 our minister lias never urged the duty upon us ; but 
 knowing as I do, and as we all do, that he stands m 
 need of help, I would like to see some relief extended 
 to him by a cordial passing of the preamble and 
 resolutions, and a corresponding action in carrying 
 them out. I should like to hear the views of the 
 brethren on the subject." 
 
 Bro. Bryan, at the closing of this short speech, 
 took his seat, and a dead silence of several minutes 
 ensued. It was getting rather awkward, if. not em- 
 barrassing, when Bro. Bryan repeated his desire to 
 hear the brethren. 
 
 "0, yes, brethren," said the moderator, "speak 
 out. Let there be a free expression of opinion." 
 
 Hereupon there were several whispering confer- 
 ences begun in different parts of the house — three or 
 four heads grouped together, apparently in earnest 
 conversation. The moderator stood it a minute or 
 two longer, when he broke out a little impatiently : 
 
 "Brethren, these private consultations amount to 
 nothing ; at least they benefit nobody but yourselves. 
 Speak out and let the church hear what you have to 
 
 say." 
 
 The seconder of the resolutions here mustered suffi- 
 cient courage to rise and say that "he agreed entirely 
 in the views of Bro. Bryan, and did not see what 
 could be said against them ;" and joining in the de- 
 sire to hear the others, he sat down. 
 
 There w^as a drawing off of heads from a circle, 
 which had been discussing, in a low tone, some pro- 
 ject known only to itself, and the attention of the 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 143 
 
 several members was directed to an individual who 
 appeared to be meditating a speech. 
 
 He first blew his nose, the sound of which some- 
 what resembled the sound of a tin trumpet (twate) ; 
 then he cleared his throat (ahem) ; this was followed 
 by the ejection of a liuge quid of tobacco, and a con- 
 tribution to the coffee-colored pool under his feet. 
 
 Another blast of the trumpet, another clearing of 
 the throat, another contribution to the pool, (it was a 
 little dryer this time, and somewhat frothy,) and 
 Bro. Jennings was fairly " up." He began very 
 deliberately : 
 
 "Bro. Moderator! I don't like this movement, 
 (ahem) ; I do n't believe in preaching for money, 
 (twate) ; the gospel is a free thing, and should be 
 preached without money and without price, (spit.) 
 
 " More than this, sir : our custom has always been 
 to do things according to Baptist usage, and I think 
 we ought to stand by the old landmarks of the de- 
 nomination. We 've got along very well on the old 
 plan, and it 's a good rule to let well enough alone. 
 If, sir, we get to having new-fangled notions among 
 ITS, there 's no telling where it will stop. The next 
 thing we'll have a singing master, with his Maw, sole, 
 faw ' — that '11 call for money ; then there '11 be a 
 parcel of agents, and they '11 want money ; and, in 
 a year or two, the preacher will find, that his pay is 
 too little, and he'll be wanting still more 'money; 
 and instead of the gospel being a free thing, it '11 be 
 the costliest thing in the whole country : and, for my 
 part, sir, I want this matter stopped at the start." 
 
144 PINE FARM, 
 
 Ahem, twate, spit, and Bro. Jennings took his seat, 
 and looked around with the air of a man who felt that 
 he had demolished at least one threatening evil. 
 
 The ice being broken, several others on the same 
 side were emboldened to speak, insom.uch thai the 
 moderator, instead of having to urgt them to an ex- 
 pression of opinion, was compelled to decide the 
 claims of parties to the floor. It did not, however, 
 require much to be said by the no-pay party " to ex- 
 haust the argument," and they determined to stanu 
 by their votes— which, at this stage of the business, 
 appeared to constitute the majority. 
 
 But Bro. Bryan was resolved not to give it up 
 without a struggle, and at least get some satisfac- 
 tion out of the leaders of the opposition ; so he pro- 
 ceeded to catechise Bro. Jennings after the following 
 fashion : 
 
 "Bro. Jennings,'' said he, "if you were to engage a 
 man to come and repair your house or reap your 
 wheat, would you not expect to pay him for it?" 
 
 Bro. Jennings seemed to think the deacon was pre- 
 paring a trap for him, and he answered slowly and 
 cautiously, 
 
 "Yes; but what has that got to do with it?" 
 
 " Well,'' rsturned the deacon, " is it not of as much 
 importance that your spiritual house should be kept 
 in order, and your spiritual man be fed, as your tem- 
 poral house and carnal man ? What will it matter, 
 after a few years, if you have lived in a leaky honsc, 
 and been stinted in food? If our earthly Jiouse of 
 this tabernacle be dissolved, we have, a building of 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 145 
 
 God, a house not made witli hands eternal, in the 
 heavens." 
 
 " O, that's a different thing. Beside I'm not able 
 to be paying so much for preaching. Paul said he 
 ' preached the Gospel without charge.' " 
 
 " So he did, but he had no wife or children to feed 
 and clothe ; and he specially charged the churches 
 that it was their duty to minister in carnal things to 
 them who ministered to them in spiritual things. So 
 that he certainly did not intend that his peculiar case 
 should be a precedent to encourage tlic churches in 
 starving out their preachers." 
 
 "Who'wantsto starve out the preachers? Don't 
 I give every year to his support ? " 
 
 " Yes, I believe you do. I know you subscribed 
 five dollars this year." 
 
 ^' Well, then, what are you talking about? " 
 
 " Bro. Jennings, how much have you spent this 
 year for tobacco ? " 
 
 "That's none of your business." 
 
 "But it is my business in the present connection, 
 and I have an object in asking the question ; though 
 it is not necessary to do so, for I brought a supply 
 for you from town last spring, and that I know cost 
 twenty-five dollars. Now you profess to believe reli- 
 gion to be most important of all things, and you treat 
 it as if it were of less account than a useless habit. 
 Let me ask you again how do you expect Mr. AYatkins 
 to support his family? " 
 
 " Why, work as I do." 
 
 " He does vfork, and that much harder than you 
 
 7 
 
146 PINE FAllM, 
 
 do. And lie is compcUedj moreover, to lose more oi 
 less time every week in attending his appointments, 
 and is often in his field when he ought to be at his 
 books." 
 
 " Well, I do n't want any book-preaching. Just 
 let a man get up and preach as the Lord gives him 
 light and liberty. Didn't Christ tell his disciples 
 to take no thought what they should speak ? '' 
 
 "Yes, he told them so, and also told them to 'take 
 no thought for the morrow ' in providing for their 
 wants ; but I do n't think all the members of this 
 church follow this last injunction very closely. Bro. 
 Jennings," he continued, " you ought certainly to 
 know that the circumstances under wdiich our Lord 
 said these things were peculiar, and not intended for 
 literal and perpetual observance. Else, how could 
 Paul, speaking by the same Spirit, say 'if a man 
 would not work, neither should he eat?' and write to 
 Timothy to give attendance to reading?" 
 
 Here the moderator interposed by saying he was 
 sorry to see a division on so plain a matter of Chris- 
 tian duty, and thought it would be better to let the 
 whole matter lie over to the next meeting, so that the 
 brethren could think about it. He could not but 
 hope that there would be entire unanimity if it w^as 
 properly considered. 
 
 " I will not throw any obstacle in the way of your 
 suggestion, sir," said Bro. Bryan, " though I feel a 
 good deal like bringing the matter to a test. I wish 
 to know if this church will vote down the preamble 
 and resolutions before us." 
 
on THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 147 
 
 "Bro. Moderator," observed a member, ^- 1 approve 
 of your suggestion, and move that the matter lie 
 over." 
 
 ''I second the motion," said another. 
 
 " Brethren, joii have heard the motion : what shall 
 we do?" 
 
 All seemed waiting to hear what Bro. Bryan would 
 say. 
 
 "I shall not make any objection," said the deacon, 
 seeing the general attention directed to him. And 
 on putting the question it was decided that the mat- 
 ter lie over until the next reo;ular meetinir. 
 
 "I wish Jennings could be a poor man, and a 
 preacher for one year," remarked the deacon, as he 
 walked down the aisle. 
 
 " Would you like to be one of his audience for that 
 length of time ? " asked one at his elbow. 
 
 '* 0, I did not think of that. That's a new feature 
 in the case." 
 
148 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER XX.— Clomls Gathering, 
 
 Why is it so often the case that after a long course 
 of prosperity a man will make one false step which 
 ruins all? The newspapers announce the "unex- 
 pected failure of George Grimkins, Esq." This Mr. 
 Grimkins had risen, by industry and management, 
 from a state of poverty to one of affluence. His 
 name could command the control of money to any 
 desirable extent. Nobody suspected that there was 
 anything wrong about his business, and^Samuel Bones, 
 Esq., as he reads the account at the breakfast tiible, 
 in gown and slippers, utters an exclamation of aston- 
 ishment, throws down the paper, and pulls on his 
 boots. He hasn't time to answer the question of his 
 wife as to his sudden surprise, but simply points to 
 the paper as he slips into his coat, and hurries down 
 street to learn the particulars. 
 
 "What's this about Grimkin's failure?" he asks of 
 a knot of men gathered on a street corner. 
 
 " Disasters at sea, decline in cotton, indorsements 
 for the house of Yfily & Co.," etc., etc. 
 
 Such was the talk on the street, while in otlier 
 circles it was thousrht his wife and daughters were 
 " carrying their heads too high." To think of their 
 keeping a coach and footmen in livery! And tlicn, 
 such parties as they gave ! 
 
 " Was he not insured in any way ? " asked Bones 
 of his informants. " I thought he was too managing 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 149 
 
 a man to neglect that. And then he shoukl have 
 taken collateral security for the use of his name." 
 
 " Of course he ought,' ^ all replied, and all thought 
 how differently all would have acted. Strange, is it 
 not, that the same telltale newspaper should, in the 
 course of a few months, chronicle the same thing, 
 varying only in circumstantials, of several of these 
 same " mana2;in2; men." 
 
 Many will remember the story of the captive king 
 who was draw^ing the chariot of the conqueror — how 
 he philosophized on the turning of the wheel. 
 
 But these disasters are not confined to kings, nor 
 merchant princes, nor lordly planters. All conditions 
 of men are subject to them, though it is true that the 
 chances against them are in proportion to the absence 
 of any thing to bo lost. 
 
 Our friend, the minister, was about to pass an 
 ordeal of the kind. He was, as w^e have seen, in 
 limited circumstances, but had continued to keep his 
 family in comfort, and notwithstanding his small 
 means, his credit was considerable ; his neighbors 
 knew that he would not promise more than there was 
 a reasonable prospect of his being able to perform. 
 Hence, when he was induced to sign a paper with a 
 friend who wished to buy a tract of land adjoining the 
 ^' Farm," there was no difficulty in the purchaser's 
 becoming legally possessed of said land. The minis- 
 ter did not like "going security " to be sure ; but then 
 was he not going to have a pleasant neighbor ? He 
 could not tell who might come and settle down by 
 him, and neighbors are sometimes troublesome. Be- 
 
150 PINE FARM, 
 
 sides, Charlton was an enterprising, managing man, 
 and be assured Mr. Watkins that one crop, or at least 
 two, would enable him to " take up the paper." 
 
 The preacher did not sleep as soundly as usual, the 
 nif]!;ht after the transaction, but these feelinijs wore 
 oiT after awhile, and he finally settled doAvn in the 
 persuasion that '' it would be all right." 
 
 There would, indeed, come a misgiving over his 
 mind now and then, as passing the farm of his neigh- 
 bor, he observed an air of neglect about the prem- 
 ises, and the more so, as Charlton had during tlie 
 summer, bought another tract adjoining. He thought 
 he had land enough already for his ''force." But 
 people said Charlton was an enterprising man, and no 
 doubt had an eye to the rise in land to take place 
 when the projected railroad was done. So his appre- 
 hensions were quieted until the fall market opened 
 with a decline in cotton, and prices continually tend- 
 ing downward. 
 
 To mend .the matter, the banks " contracted " — shut 
 off the streams of money. Creditors became alarmed, 
 and such is the perversity of human nature, that at 
 the very time the poor debtors wish to retain their 
 funds, the creditors are the more exacting. While 
 *' de grand confidence" continues, they don't want 
 the money — would much rather have it in circulation, 
 " only pay me the interest, I have no use for the 
 money ; " and the foolish debtor, pleased at the 
 thought of his " credit," will hold on to the money 
 and make additional purchases. Conscience will 
 sometimes whisper that such a course is not exactly 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 151 
 
 right — securities may suffer by it. But conscienco 
 is a bothersome sort of a thing, and will sometimes 
 get stirred up unnecessarily. Anyhow, every one is 
 certain that nobody will suffer by liim. We can not 
 say, then, on the whole, that Mr. Watkins was much 
 surprised on reaching home from an appointment, 
 just before the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas 
 for his district, to find an '^ invitation " to atterfd the 
 session of said court, and answer, as security, to the 
 complaint of one of his friend Charlton's creditors. 
 
 His wife observed the troubled countenance with 
 which he read the instrument. 
 
 " This comes of standing security," he remarked, 
 when he had reached the end. 
 
 "But you won't have to pay the debt, will you?" 
 asked Mrs. Watkins. 
 
 " That remains to be seen. At all events, I regret 
 having run the risk." 
 
 "0, well, my dear, do n't let it trouble you. It 
 will no doubt be all for the best ; *"A11 things work 
 together for good to them that love God.' I do n't 
 see how you could have avoided helping a neighbor 
 who asked you to do so." 
 
 " I could have refused to sign the paper," he an- 
 swered, with a degree of pettishness that was quite 
 uncommon. 
 
 " Well, but you have done it now, and fretting over 
 it will not mend the matter. All of us are liable to 
 make mistakes, and all we can do is to learn wisdom 
 by experience, and above all, to trust our Father who 
 has said lie will never leave us nor forsake us. Yon 
 
152 PINE I'xlRM, 
 
 will see, I am satisfied, tliat this ma,tter, which is at 
 present so trying, will work out for good." 
 
 The subject was again discussed after supper, in the 
 presence of all the family. John Waters listened at- 
 tentively to the conversation, but said nothing until 
 he gathered from it a clear understanding of the state 
 of aifairs. 
 
 " If the case goes against me," said the minister, 
 ^' I can only sell out and look for a new home else- 
 where. We are young yet and healthy, thank God, 
 and I trust we shall be able to get along." 
 
 '' Well, all I've got to say, Mr. Watkins is, that go 
 as it may, I '11 take my chances with you. You 've 
 done a heap for me, and I '11 stick to you. Would 
 you go to the West, if 3^ou sold out ? " 
 
 *' I can't say as yet, John, what course I should 
 take, but it is probable I should go West." 
 
 " I wish you would, sir. I 've heard great accounts 
 of the country out there. William Jones has been 
 out to Mississippi and Texas, and he says the land is 
 very rich, and a fine chance to raise stock. He told 
 me, too, that land could be bought for a dollar and a 
 quarter an acre." 
 
 ''Yes; that is the government land. But yoo, 
 perhaps, do not know that it is all in a wild state, 
 and it is a good deal of trouble to settle it. You 
 have to go right into the woods or prairies, and put 
 up a few cabins and clear land to work. The wild 
 animals are sometimes pretty troublesome, and In- 
 dians arc found in some places that are more trouble- 
 some still." 
 
4 
 
 Oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 153 
 
 " I did not think of all that, sir ; but other people 
 go there and I reckon we could manage to get along. 
 I should n't care about the wild beasts, though, be- 
 cause we could hunt them, and the bears and deer 
 would be good to eat while we were raising some cat- 
 tle and hogs ; but I had rather not go where there are 
 Indians." 
 
 " 0, no," said Julia, '^ do n't go among the Indians. 
 They scalp people and burn their houses." 
 
 "It isn't that I'm afraid of them, but I'd hate to 
 kill the creatures. But some of them are friendly, 
 are they not, Mr. Watkins ? " 
 
 " Yes : and perhaps they would all be so, if it were 
 not for the bad conduct of the white settlers." 
 
 " Father, how long before you will go ? " 
 
 "We have not determined to go at all yet, my 
 dear." 
 
 " No, sir ; but I mean if we do go." 
 
 " That will depend on circumstances ; though I 
 confess that if I find it necessary to break up, I 
 should be for doing so soon as possible." 
 
 " The reason I asked," replied Julia, " was to know 
 if I could not do something to help along when Ave 
 get out there. I might be large enough in a year or 
 two to keep a little school." 
 
 - "Keep school for boars and Indians, Miss Julia? 
 I 'm afraid you would find them dull scholars," ob- 
 served Jolm. 
 
 " 0, no ; but I don't think father would go to such 
 a wild place as that. Do you think so, mother ? " 
 
 "I can not say, my dear; perhaps he could not do 
 
154 PINE FARM, 
 
 anj better. But I must say I hope we can find some 
 situation more desirable." 
 
 John rather tliought he ''would like a new country, 
 but was willing to any arrangement that suited the 
 rest — he could get along any way." 
 
 " If we keep talking about it," remarked the minis- 
 tor, " we shall get into the humor for moving sure 
 enoucrh. So I think we had better dismiss the sub- 
 
 o 
 
 ject for the present, and see how we can get on here 
 for a while longer, at least." And asking Julia to 
 hand him the Bible, the preacher proceeded with the 
 evening devotions, in which, Vfith a thankful heart, 
 he acknowledged the mercy and goodness of his 
 heavenly Father in surrounding him with so many 
 blessings, in giving him a family which was a solace 
 to him in time of trouble. And committing his ways 
 unto the Lord, he rose from his knees with a full 
 assurance that all his steps would be ordered aright. 
 
 A few minutes were then spent in promiscuous 
 conversation, though it was plain that one subject 
 occupied for the time a more prominent place in their 
 thoughts than any other. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins retired to her room, vrhither her 
 husband and Julia soon followed ; and John, as he 
 was going out, asked if ''he cared if Jac brought 
 some hounds for him to raise. Jac said he could aet 
 some firstrate puppies from Mr. Whiston's." 
 
 Mr. Watkins smiled, as he replied : " Fixing up for 
 the bears and deer, hey John? Well, tell him to 
 bring them along; they'll do to chase the rabbits 
 away from the garden, anyhow." And the boy weiit 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 155 
 
 to his bed to form gigantic schemes of hunting and 
 farming in the "Far \Yest." Whether the '* visions 
 of the night " partook of the complexion of his wak- 
 ing thoughts, we can not certainly say, but a sudden 
 start as he was sinking to sleep, and the words "Tow- 
 ser," "buffD.lo," escaping from his lips, seemed to in- 
 dicate that the scene of his dream was not laid about 
 " Pine Farm.'' 
 
156 PINE FARM, 
 
 CHAPTER 'X.Xl.— Thc Projress of Events. 
 
 I\Ir. Watkins did not delay to socure legal advice 
 in a matter so important as one which involved nearly 
 all he was worth. He accordingly left home the next 
 morning for the Court House, and arriving there pro- 
 ceeded promptly to the office of a lawyer — a man of 
 profound legal knowledge, and correct moral princi- 
 ples. The writ was submitted to his inspection, and 
 at his request, Mr. Watkins gave a clear, straight- 
 forward statement of the whole case. When he had 
 concluded, the lawyer frankly told him it was a 
 gloomy prospect, and he was afraid Mr. Watkins 
 would have to suffer for his kindness; *'he had him- 
 self issued writs against Charlton for as much as he 
 was probably worth, and had understood that others 
 had also sued him. Tlie revulsion in trade also had 
 much depreciated the value of much of the property 
 which Charlton had bought, and on the whole Mr. 
 Watkins would be a loser to the full amount of 
 his indorsement." 
 
 "Then," said the minister, ''let me at once confess 
 a judgment and have my property sold and pay it. 
 I can not afford to pay interest and the costs in addi- 
 tion to the debt." 
 
 " That is honest and honorable, sir," replied the 
 lawyer; "but as you have consulted me in the case, 
 1 must advise against the course j^ou propose to 
 adopt. There is nothing wrong* legally nor morally, 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 157 
 
 in availing onesself of the privilege ^vhich the law 
 allows in such a case as this. Indeed it is absolutely 
 necessary that sufficient time should be allowed to 
 settle such matters. I, therefore, advise, if you can 
 do so, to borrow the money from some judicious friend 
 and settle the debt. This will give you an opportu- 
 nity to sell 3^our own property, and not let it go off, at 
 half its value, under the sheriff's hammer." 
 
 " If I only knew who to go to," said the minister, 
 musingly. " There is a great scarcity of money in 
 the country, I think, and it h always a hard thing to 
 get when one stands much in need of it — so at least I 
 have been informed." 
 
 " Very true, Mr. Watkins ; but the only way is to 
 tri/. You may, perhaps, find it easier than you ex- 
 pect. If you can not do so within a month, come 
 here again, and we may be able to devise some other 
 plan which will answer the purpose." 
 
 With this understanding the minister left the office, 
 and mounting his horse, proceeded on his homeward 
 way. 
 
 Durins; his ride, his mind was disturbed with un- 
 pleasant thoughts. It was pretty well reduced to a 
 certainty that he should have to lose a considerable 
 sum of money — to him, indeed, very large. It would 
 seriously diminish his little property : his family was 
 increasing in number and expensiveness. The morti- 
 fication, too, of riding round the country trying to 
 borrow money, was exceedingly humbling. If it was 
 to buy property with, it would be a different matter, 
 and nobody would think any thing of it — perhaps 
 
158 PINE FARM, 
 
 several would be rather anxious to make the invest- 
 ment. But he wanted the money to save his property 
 from being sacrificed, and this was altogether another 
 affair. 
 
 As the lawyer, said, though, the only way was to 
 try — there was no crime in it, if it was mortifying ; 
 and thus ruminating he approached the house of a 
 man whom he knew was in the habit of lending 
 money. It was getting toward dinner time — he 
 would stop and dine with him, and try his chances 
 there — it would do for a beginning, anyhow ; and rid- 
 ing up to the gate he alighted, and walked toward the 
 house. 
 
 The man was sitting in the piazza reading over tlie 
 sherifi''s sales and other advertisements in the district 
 newspaper, and though he received his visitor politely, 
 there was not much of cordiality in his manner. He 
 seemed to have some misgivings as to the object of 
 his visit. 
 
 " Been up to the Court House, Mr. Watkins ? " said 
 he, after the usual salutations had passed. 
 
 "Yes, sir; and it's a jaunt which I never fancy 
 much." 
 
 ''Any news about there?" 
 
 '' I heard nothing, sir ; my visit was one of busi- 
 ness, and having dispatched it, I left immediately." 
 
 ''I'm told there's a good deal of sueing done this 
 court. The deputy sheriff stopped here the other 
 day, and he had a bundle of writs — several, I think, 
 for your neighbor Charlton." 
 
 Here was on opportunity at once for opening tlio 
 
OR THE SOUTHEilN 611) E. 159 
 
 matter of borrowing, and the minister determined to 
 avail himself of it. It would be better than spending 
 an hour or two beating the bush in uncertainty, and 
 if the man refused he would feel better on the road 
 than in his house, and he had time enough to reach 
 home to a late dinner. 
 
 " That was the business which took me to the Court 
 House, sir. I am security for Charlton for a tract of 
 land, and my lawyer advises me to pay it and save 
 the costs. Can you let me have the money, sir ? " 
 
 "Well, ahem, I haven't got any by me, or very 
 little. How much do you want ? '' 
 
 " Twelve hundred dollars, sir." 
 
 '^0, I haven't urot nisjli that much; but mavbe 
 I might collect some at court. What security Vy-ill 
 you give ? " 
 
 '^ A mortgage on my place, sir ; I consider that 
 ample security, but if it is not, I will give no other." 
 
 " My rule," replied the money-lender, ^' is two 
 good names beside the principal, and ten per cent, 
 interest. If you will give that, I will try and see 
 what I can do. I may be able to raise it, but money 
 is very scarce." 
 
 Mr. Watkins started to say, with habitual polite- 
 ness, that he was "much obliged to him ;" but recol- 
 lecting that it would be hypocrisy to do so, he re- 
 marked that it was " not worth while to say any 
 thing more on the subject." 
 
 "The day is passing," he continued, "and I must 
 bid you good morning." 
 
«» 
 
 160 %^ PINE FARM, 
 
 *' Good morning, Mr. Watkins. Call •\Ylienever jou 
 are passing." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thanked him, and said he " would, 
 perhaps, take some opportunity of doing so." 
 
 " My first experience in money borrowing,'* he 
 muttered to himself, as he rode away ; " Avould that it 
 were the last.'' 
 
 A ride of an hour and half brought him to the 
 Farm, and Mrs. Watkins having delaj^ed dinner 'a 
 little in expectation of his return, the family WTre 
 just sitting down to the table as he rode up. 
 
 There was an illy concealed desire to know the re- 
 sult of his trip to the Court House, but the minister 
 seemed not to be in a communicative mood. His 
 countenance indicated fatigue ; despondency of heart, 
 too, might have chased away the smile with which 
 he was accustomed to salute the household on his re- 
 turn from a journey. No questions were therefore 
 asked, and having bathed his face and hands, he sat 
 down in silence to the refreshments spread before 
 them. The meal proceeded in silence, and at tlie 
 conclusion the minister leaned back in his chair. 
 
 " Yf ell, Mary, we shall have to pay that security 
 debt I suppose. Charlton, I find, is hopelessly in- 
 volved." 
 
 " All I have to say, then, is let us try and pay it, 
 and go on the best we can. ' God vrill provide.' " 
 
 Who can estimate the worth of such a woman? 
 No reflections upon her husband's imprudence, no 
 reproachful croakings about coming distress. How 
 different from one who is ever fretful, complaining, 
 
OE, THE SOUTHERN SIDE. -* 161 
 
 and " does n't know what in the world we 're Q'oinn; 
 to do," in whose eyes all the troubles and inconveni- 
 ences of life assume the shapes of " Gorgons, Hydras, 
 and chimeras dire." God's richest blessings be upon 
 the hopeful, truthful, Christian wife. 
 
 Mr. Watkins laid before the family the plan pro- 
 posed by the lawyer, at the same time expressing his 
 doubt of its practicability. 
 
 "I know some," he continued, ''who would cheer- 
 fully render the necessary assistance if they could, 
 but unfortunately they are not the kind of people 
 that can do much in that way." 
 
 " There is nothing like trying," replied Mrs. Wat- 
 kins, " and if you can not succeed, the wide world is 
 before us. Dark dispensations often come, doubtless, 
 to work out designs which can not be known at the 
 time." 
 
 '' It would come hard to sell the Farm. How do 
 you think you could stand it to see it go into the 
 hands of strangers ? " 
 
 " Stand it ! Why, do like thousands of others Avho 
 have been forced to the same necessity. I have no 
 doubt but that we can get another place somewhere, 
 and that is better than many who have gone before, 
 that ' had no continuing city.'" 
 
 " Father, I think I should like to go to the West and 
 teach school," said Julia. "Besides, we might settle 
 near our friends that have gone there. I can hardly 
 remember them, but would like very much to see 
 liiem. 
 
 John said nothing, but he tlnjught if hounds and 
 
1()2 ' PINE FARM, 
 
 hard work \YOiild be of any avail, he >YOuld try and 
 clo his part. 
 
 From his inmost soul Mr. Watkins thanked the 
 Giver of all Good for giving him such a family. 
 Vv^liat tvas the wealth of earth in comparison with it, 
 and '^, hat vrere misfortunes to a man thus blessed? 
 With a light heart he arose from the table and accom- 
 panied John to the field, the latter burning with desire 
 to render some service to the family to whom he owed 
 so much. 
 
 The minister did not delay in his exertions to raise 
 money. He diligently canvassed the neighborhood 
 where he thought there was any probability of getting 
 it ; he applied to all whom he could approach without 
 a loss of self-respect, and at the end of the month 
 reported himself at the lawyer's office. 
 
 "I can not get the money from any one individual, 
 sir. I can make it up from several persons, but I will 
 not give personal security, because I intend to keep 
 clear of going security myself hereafter. So I have 
 determined to sell out and move away." 
 
 " How did you expect to secure the lender ?" asked 
 the lawyer. 
 
 "By a mortgage on my farm, sir." 
 
 " Is it worth the money ? ' 
 
 " Yes, sir, I could have sold it several times for 
 nearly double the amount ; though to force it on the 
 market now, I do n't know what it will bring." 
 
 "Very well, sir; just execute a paper for me, and 
 I will advance the money." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but — T have determined to go, and while 
 
on TliE SOUTHERN SIDE. 163 
 
 I sincerely thank you for the kindness, I am com- 
 pelled to decline it." 
 
 " But you do not intend to move at this season of 
 the 3^ear, and it v/ill take some time to wind up your 
 business, I suppose." 
 
 " I would rather not go until the fall, but perhaps 
 I can make arrangements to rent the place for t4ie 
 balance of the year. But if not, my neighbor, Jones, 
 Vvill give my family shelter until we can get off, and 
 also let me have some land to plant." 
 
 ^•That all may be," replied the lawyer, ''but it 
 would be better to reserve the Farm and sell it your- 
 self. You can then advertise it, and have time to 
 make a better bargain." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thought a moment, then got up and 
 walked across the floor. 
 
 " That certainly is true, sir," said he, stopping sud- 
 denly and addressing the lawyer, '' and I could make 
 a better crop on a place that I am accustomed to. 
 Please draw up the paper." 
 
 The lawyer at once addressed himself to the busi- 
 ness. 
 
 He was in the act of writing the words '' This In- 
 denture," when he turned to the minister. 
 
 " Excuse me, Mr. Watlvins, for asking if this is all 
 the money you owe, and if your property is free from 
 incumbrances. My reason for asking is, that this is 
 not my money which I advance you ; it belongs to an 
 estate, and b}^ lending it I become your indorser,, and 
 I only take this mortgage as collateral security." 
 
 " I raav owe a hundred dollars beside, sir ; but not 
 
164 PINE FARM, 
 
 « 
 
 more than I can pay on demand, and my property is 
 subject to no claims that I am aware of." 
 
 "That is sufficient, sir." 
 
 The paper was draivn up, signed, sealed, and de- 
 livered; the money paid over, the debt settled, and 
 high twelve o'clock found the minister on his way 
 home. 
 
 "Lawyers have a bad name," he soliloquized, as he 
 rode out of the old Court House town, "but my expe- 
 rience so far does not justify the imputation 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XXU.— Emigration. 
 
 Various are the schemes adopted as a means of 
 relief from trouble. The broken merchant, his money 
 and his credit gone, his family, reduced from stylish 
 opulence to humiliating poverty, seeks for solace in 
 the exciting fumes of liquor. The poor, degraded 
 wretch, inured to toil, does the same. The frail, con- 
 fiding victim to seductive arts, drowns her shame in 
 dissipated and abandoned revelry, or despera,tely puts 
 an end to her existence. Again, the hard necessities 
 of life, or the desire for ease and position, whispers 
 in the ear of depravity that wily cunning or bold rob- 
 bery opens the way to their attainment; while in a 
 few instances stern virtue and determined resolution 
 bends to honest elFort in order to repair the ills of 
 life. 
 
 To none but the Christian, though, comes the con- 
 soling reflection of a treasure in the heavens — bags 
 which wax not old, where no moth nor rust can cor- 
 rupt, and where no thieves can break through and 
 steal. Yet while in the flesh, in common with others 
 of like passions, the Christian must do something to 
 make a living. ''In the sweat of thy face shalt thou 
 eat bread." And so even the Christian must work to 
 feed, to clothe, to educate his children ; and thus does 
 he discharge the trust committed to him. 
 
 It is not surprising, then, that in the perplexity of 
 his situation, Mr. Watkins should look round for 
 
 >w;. 
 
1G(3 PINE FARM, 
 
 some avenue of escape, nor that in selecting it he 
 shouhl turn his face to the hind of promise in the. 
 West. 
 
 Blessed America ! where broad prairies and fertile 
 ■woodlands, loftly mountains and green valleys invite 
 the landless and houseless to independence, to happi- 
 ness, to homes ! 
 
 The oppressed subjects of priestcraft and kingcraft 
 beyond the water, have heard the story of teeming 
 plenty and boundless room, and by thousands and 
 tens of thousands they have braved the terrors of the 
 "vasty deep" to seek for bread, for freedom, and a 
 home, under the ample folds of the '' Star Spangled 
 Banner ;" and the cry is still they come. Hills and 
 plains, lake and river, field and forest, have welcomed 
 the strangers, and the invitation yet is, come. Come 
 one, come all. Come to freedom, come to abounding 
 plenty. Come from the dominion of the despot's 
 power. Come from the heavy burdens of exacting 
 hierarchies — from " the Koran, tribute, or the sword," 
 — from tithes, indulgences, and inquisitorial cruelty. 
 Come and help to build up the People's Empire, 
 where subjects are sovereigns, and rulers are servants, 
 and under his ovv'n "vine and fig tree" each may 
 sing the song of hh Zion, and none may hinder his 
 worship. 
 
 And as from afar the nations catch a glimpse of 
 the symbol of civil and religious liberty, as it floats 
 from the People's Temple and waves over the People's 
 land; and as the jubilant shout of humanity, disen- 
 thralled from humanity's oppressive sway, rings in 
 
oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 167 
 
 their ears, the answer to the invitation comes back in 
 vessels freighted with outcasts and the friendless. 
 And as they crowd the shores of the Atlantic, the 
 cry of " Room — room " is heard, and Westward, Ho ! 
 is the word. 
 
 What is the meanino; of all this ? Who knovfs but 
 in the fullness of time these exiles may turn upon 
 their oppressors ? Who has so scanned the prophetic 
 page as,, to say this will not be the means of casting 
 doY^'n the thrones of prophetic vision? But let us 
 "stand still and see the salvation of God." 
 
 Not only to the inhabitants of the old world, how- 
 ever, does emigration hold out the hand of relief. 
 Our own people, their lands exhausted and their 
 means reduced, turn with fond hope to the resources 
 of the " Great West," and our friend, the minister, as 
 already seen, had fully made up his mind to try his 
 fortunes in that favored region. Having done this, 
 all his arrangements were made with that view. 
 
 By the kindness of his lawyer friend, he was ena- 
 bled to spend the year at home, and thus saved the 
 trouble and expense of temporarily settling a new 
 place. In planting his crop he had reference chiefly 
 to what could be readily turned into cash, and cotton, 
 therefore, bore a large proportion to other things cul- 
 tivated — only enough provisions being secured to an- 
 swer his purposes until he could get off. In order to 
 increase as much as possible his slender means, the 
 minister began early and attended diligently to his 
 business. It was important that he should do this, 
 for the snlo of his place would but little more than 
 
168 PINE FARM, 
 
 relieve him, perhaps, of his security debt. He must 
 also have money to buy land with, and provisions for 
 the first year, not to speak of traveling expenses. 
 And thus, with a will, the whole household bent them- 
 selves to the task. 
 
 " But why," it may be asked, ^' did not his churches 
 come to the preacher's relief?" Aye, why ? The 
 Green Mount church might have done so alone, and 
 some of the members there would have willingly gone 
 into the measure. But the large majority had by no 
 means attained to such a point of liberality. And 
 Mr. Watkins knew the people of his charge too well 
 to expect much help from them. Moreover with his 
 feelings of independence, it is doubtful whether he 
 would have agreed to any thing of the kind, and so 
 thought nothino; about it. 
 
 An advertisement vras put into the district paper, 
 offering for sale a certain tract of land having such 
 routes and boundaries as therein named. Said place 
 could be bought on accommodating terms, and pre- 
 sented many inducements to one desiring to purchase. 
 
 This advertisement soon attracted several persons 
 to look at the property, wdio w^ere duly shown over 
 the premises by the proprietor, and by John in his 
 absence. But there was one man whom the family 
 particularly vrished to have buy the Farm, and that 
 was good Deacon Jones. To many it would seem 
 strange that people should care who might come into 
 possession of a piece of property they desired to sell. 
 *' What difference does it make?" tlie}^ ask. ''So 
 one gets a good price, it does not matter wdio is the 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 160 
 
 purchaser." Such people can not understand the 
 sentiment of one vrho would rather receive a smaller 
 sum from an approved purchaser, than a larger one 
 from a person who can not appreciate the many little 
 nameless charms which the preacher and his family 
 had thrown around their cherished homestead. 
 
 Now Mr. Jones did not really need the addition to 
 his landed estate — might not need it for some years. 
 Yet the kind regard he had for his friends, and know- 
 ing how much it would soothe their regret at parting 
 with the Farm, to know that it had not passed into 
 the hands of strangers who had no sympathy with 
 them, caused the deacon seriously to consider whether 
 it would not be better for him to make the purchase. 
 lie tried to persuade himself and others that it was 
 entirely a matter of interest with him, (doubtless it 
 Vv'as so to some extent). '' Who knows but he might 
 get a bad neighbor, if the place was put up for sale. 
 He had lived beside it too pleasantly for years, to be 
 annoyed by a new-comer." And then William was 
 nearly of age — he would probably soon get married, 
 and would want, a place. To be sure he did not have 
 the money in hand to buy mih, but the debt was 
 in the hands of a guardian of minors, and the money 
 would not be wanted for some time. On the whole 
 he would ride over anyhow, and secure the refusal j)f 
 the place — he was not obliged to buy if he did not 
 wish to ; so acting ander the spur of these consider- 
 ations, the worthy deacon saddled his horse and pro- 
 ceeded to the house of his friends. 
 
 It might have been all fancy, but one or two of the 
 
ITO PINE FARM, 
 
 neighbors tliat he met on the road, thought he ap- 
 peared rather more in a hurry than usual. Somehow 
 the old gentleman was not disposed to stop, according 
 to custom, and "pass the health of the family" with 
 those he met. Perhaps he was afraid somebody 
 would buy the Farm before he could get there ; or, 
 perhaps, this wa.s all imagination, though John vrould 
 insist that he looked som.ehow suspiciously uneas}'' 
 when he saw a strange man ride off from the gate as 
 he himself rode up, and that he appeared a good deal 
 relieved when informed that it was only a traveler, 
 who had called to get some refreshment. At all 
 events, it was observed that on his return home with 
 the promise of refusal, he was much more deliberate 
 in his movements — stopped to have a talk with at 
 least two persons on the road, and to help a little 
 darkey through the branch with a lot of unruly calves. 
 But it was the old man's nature to help the needy, 
 and it must be confessed that there was nothing 
 remarkable in the circumstance. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 171 
 
 CHAPTEll XXlll.—The Resignation. 
 
 In leaving a place where one lias long lived, there 
 are many things which make the removal painful to a 
 sensitive nature. The breaking up of old associa- 
 tions — the dissolution of ties, social and religious, 
 however insignificant these may seem to the uniniti- 
 ated, are serious thin2;s when the trial comes. 
 
 Among the severest trials to our worthy minister, 
 was having to give up his churches, where for years 
 he had preached the everlasting — the good news — of 
 the provision, rich, free, and abundant, made for the 
 recovery of fallen human nature. Many would think 
 this separation a trifling affair when one had received 
 so little compensation for the labor bestowed. But 
 experience teaches that this makes not so much dif- 
 ference as would be supposed, as respects the pain of 
 parting. Even people who have lived unhappily 
 together, experience a degree of regret in separating, 
 of which they supposed themselves incapable while 
 there was no prospect of a disruption of their rela- 
 tions. Oh! the bitter compunction, the heartfelt sor- 
 row for wrongs and injuries done to our fellows when 
 the time and opportunity for making amends has 
 passed ! Many has been the man who would have 
 given a kingdom to have a word unsaid, a deed un- 
 done — a little chance to confess a fault and ask 
 foririveness. 
 
 There were, to be sure, none of these things to add 
 
172 PIXE FARM, 
 
 to the bitterness of parting in the case of Mr. Wat- 
 kins. True, he did feel that he had not been as 
 faithful as he sliould have been — not as diligent as 
 the nature of his work required, and he thouglit if it 
 were to do over again he would try and do better. 
 But he had injured no man — had ''coveted no man's 
 silver, nor gold, nor apparel." Yet he felt sad at the 
 thouorht of leavinc:. His determination had become 
 generally known throughout the country where he 
 labored — at least everybody had heard of it ; but it 
 seemed an improbable sort of thing, and hardly any 
 one thought he really would go. lie had become a 
 part and parcel of the country — a fixture which people 
 scarcely imagine could be moved ; and they thouglit 
 some how or other, by hook or by crook, they could 
 not tell how, something would turn up to prevent it. 
 When, therefore, about midsummer he announced 
 formally to the churches his fixed intention to go, and 
 advised them to look out in time for another preacher, 
 it caused no little sensation among them. " TJien he 
 really was going :" '' well they were sorry for it — it 
 would be hard to fill his place." Strange, though, 
 that no eifort was made in the only way which, under 
 the circumstances, could be effectual. Some, truly, 
 would have made almost any sacrifice to that end, but 
 as usual in such cases the feeling prevailed chiefly 
 among those who could do but little. 
 
 Of all the churches the hardest to give up v/as the 
 one nearest his residence, where his membership was, 
 and where his fixmily worshiped, and where assembled 
 the friends and neighbors he had known from child- 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 173 
 
 hood ; iiiid in teuLlci-ing liis resignation he felt called 
 upon to give them some plain and affectionate advice; 
 to impress upon them, if possible, the necessity of 
 making an earnest effort -with a vievr to a more fre- 
 quent ministration of the Word. This he resolved to 
 do in the presence of the v>-hole congregation, feeling 
 it was for the moral welfare of the whole community 
 as well as for the church. Having, therefore, an- 
 nounced his resignation from the pulpit, he proceeded 
 to speak as follows : 
 
 " I desire to sny a fe^Y words, brethren and friends, 
 wdiich I trust will be, by the grace of God, for your 
 present and future good ; and I do so with the satis- 
 faction of knowing that there can be no motives of 
 selfishness imputed to me on account of it. A few 
 months more and I shall be gone. Another will stand 
 in my place to declare to you the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ, and instruct you in the way that leads to 
 heaven. This may be one that will be more faithful, 
 and I hope more successful than your unworthy 
 speaker, but I think not one who will feel a deeper 
 interest in you; and it is from a desire that you may 
 have one who can be faithful, and, by God's blessing, 
 efficient in your service, that I take the, liberty to 
 speak as I do. It is highly necessary, then, to the 
 prosperity of the church, that you should have a min- 
 ister who can devote his whole time to the interests 
 of this one church. Believe it when I tell you that 
 preaching does not constitute the sum total of a min- 
 ister's duties ; and the plan adopted here and else- 
 wliere, of having a preacher to come and preach once 
 
174 PINE FARM, 
 
 a month, and then for him to know nothing more of 
 the church for another month to come, is a serious 
 error. 
 
 " A pastor should be with his people continually, and 
 especially in times of affliction should he be present 
 to comfort and counsel the sorrow-stricken. When 
 your children and servants arc dying, when you 
 yourselves are dying, surely then, if ever, should 
 there be one with you who can sympathize in distress, 
 and from the Word of God bring consolation to the 
 troubled. 
 
 " To have this state of things though, it will be in- 
 dispensably necessary to make greater effort, and 
 adopt a different arrangement for the minister's sup- 
 port than at present exists. You must feel that it is 
 necessary to make sacrifices to attain this end. 
 
 '' The most of you are poor, at least not what would 
 be called rich, but you can do a great deal more 
 than you have any idea of by a little eftbrt and good 
 management. 
 
 " First, give what you can in money, for a preacher 
 needs money as well as other people ; then select a 
 situation within w^alking distance of the church (for 
 many a poor preacher can not aiford to keep horses 
 enough to answer the requirements of a large family), 
 build a comfortable house, have some fifteen or twenty 
 acres of land attached, on which he can raise some 
 provisions, and keep a few cows and pigs, and give 
 him something to start with. 
 
 *'Send the family such little articles of use as you 
 may not particularly need ; show that you feel an in- 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 175 
 
 terest in them ; and thus doing, there -will be no 
 necessity for an outlay of much money, and the 
 preacher -svho can not get along comfortably and be 
 useful under such circumstances, must be the subject 
 of afflicting dispensations, or lack the management in 
 himself or family that is a necessary qualification for 
 his office. To the former we must of course submit 
 with humility, the latter can be remedied by a change 
 of ministers. Let me affectionately advise you to 
 try the experiment. Do n't say you can't do it, but 
 try, and God will help you. Begin now, at once, and 
 in whatever way I can assist you I will cheerfully do 
 it. At least begin about building a minister's house. 
 It ought to be an invariable rule, whenever a meet- 
 in2;-house is built to have a ToarsonaGje beside it, or 
 near it. Many a poor preacher might be thus induced 
 to come to the service of the church, who, for want 
 of such an arrangement, is compelled to decline a 
 call ; and if at any time you are so situated that your 
 preacher has a house of his own and does not need 
 the parsonage, it can be rented out, and the income 
 go toward the support of the church. And so, my 
 brethren, there will grow up a strong attachment be- 
 tween the church and the minister. They will feel 
 that he is their minister, and he will feel that they 
 are his people, and in days to come, when I am far 
 away, you will thank me for the suggestion." 
 
 This address plainly told upon the audience, and 
 with a feeling of sadness at the thought of parting 
 with their esteemed pastor and friend, they testified 
 their respect for his advice by appointing at once a 
 
176 PINE FARM, 
 
 committee to carry into effect the proposed measure ; 
 and before Mr. Watkins took up his journey for the 
 setting sun, he had the satisfaction of seeing the 
 scheme in successful progress. 
 
 A preacher had been called, the ground selected, 
 and the erection of the building was going on ! The 
 plan of weekly contributions had also been adopted, 
 each agreeing to give as the Lord prospered him, and 
 those having no steady income nor deposits, pledging 
 themselves to pay as soon as their means allowed. 
 
 As may be supposed, the church at Rocky Spring 
 did not fail to reap the reward of its doings. 
 
 Why will not others '' go and do likewise." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XXiy.—Dadchj Cyrus goes Home. 
 
 To estimate properly the attachment Avliich a 
 Southern household learns to entertain toward old 
 family servants, one must experience the subsisting 
 relation. People living a thousand miles away from, 
 and unconnected with it, can not appreciate it. They 
 may reason, and philosophize, and write iDOoks, but 
 they knov/ little about it. It is a sentiment which 
 can only be rightly known, by being " put in connec- 
 tion " with the parties; otherwise, they can only look 
 on, like the spectators at a psychological exhibition, 
 without sympathizing with those within ''the circle." 
 
 To the dishonor of some it must be confessed that 
 they seem to be incapable of being "impressed," 
 even when the circumstances are favorable, but such 
 cases are rare, and to those having the nature, and 
 trained in the school of the preacher and his family, 
 totally impossible ; and an incident occurred just be- 
 fore their removal which stretched the strino-s of their 
 sensibilities to a degree of painful tension. This was 
 the death of fiiithful old Cyrus. 
 
 This old man had been the counselor and friend of 
 the minister's childhood, the assistant in his efforts oi 
 maturcr years for the support of his family. The 
 earliest openings of his children's intelligence were 
 associated with his benevolent countenance and acts 
 of kindness. Often had they hung round him at tho 
 kitchen fire, or in tho quiot stillnoss of tho summer'a 
 
178 PINE FARM, 
 
 evening, listening to his tales of moving accidents bj 
 flood and field, " in de low country ; " and had been 
 kdled to sleep by his pleasant voice, as he sung the 
 spiritual songs which Y>'ere to him an antepast of the 
 music of the " happy land." 
 
 It was the earnest wish of Mr. Watkins to take all 
 the members of his familv, black and white, with him 
 to his western home. Especially did he desire that 
 old Cyrus should go, so that he might still have his 
 society, and smooth his descending way to the vale of 
 rest by little acts of kindness, which the old man 
 knew so well how to esteem. But Providence had 
 determined otherwise, and the faithful slave was des- 
 tined to find a resting-place amid the scenes with 
 which he had long been familiar. 
 
 To him, notwithstanding he participated sincerely 
 in the desire to follow the fortunes of his master to a 
 strange land, it w^as " no matter when, no matter 
 where" he was called to his account. "He knew 
 him in whom he had believed," and having long since 
 committed himself to One who ''cared for him," he 
 had no apprehension as to the issue. " The path of 
 the just is as the shining light, which shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day," and the light of a 
 better day dawning, scattered the darkness which too 
 often gathers about "the valley of the shadow of 
 death." 
 
 " Daddy Cyrus, you look sick," remarked Julia, as 
 the old man came from the field with his head ban- 
 daged with a handkerchief, and walking slowly to his 
 house. 
 
oil THE SOUTHEKN SIDE. 179 
 
 *' Yes, honey; de old frame gcttiii mighty shacklin; 
 he can't stan much now like he used to do." 
 
 " Do n't you want some medicine ? You had better 
 let me ask mother for some for you." 
 
 " I tank you, missy, if you will get old nigger one 
 dose of ile. I tink say I must bin ketch cold." And 
 Julia went to get the castor oil, while he made his 
 way to his humble bed. 
 
 The medicine was duly administered, but did not 
 seem to produce any sanative effect, and the next 
 morning found the patient in a high fever, and the 
 symptoms such altogether as to make Mr. Watkins 
 suggest the propriety of calling in a physician. Cyrus 
 rather expressed a doubt as to the necessity of the 
 step, '-hoping he would be better after awhile." 
 Mr. Watkins did not urge the matter, but charged 
 him not to neglect informing him if he got any worse, 
 and turned away with a feeling of misgiving as to the 
 nature of his illness. 
 
 '• Pneumonia, I fear,'' he muttered to himself, '' and 
 if so, it will go hard with him." 
 
 Mrs. Watkins called to see him soon after, accom- 
 panied by the children, each of whom carried some- 
 thing for him to eat. Cyrus expressed his hearty 
 thanks, but declined taking any thing at the time ex- 
 cept the cup of smoking coffee which Julia carried on 
 a tray. He, however, received the other articles from 
 the little hands of Susan and Tommy, and putting 
 them on the hearth, promised to " eat um bimeby." 
 
 All day they were bringing something, until the 
 fireplace became a perfect larder, and as Mr. Wat* 
 
180 PINE FARM. 
 
 kins and John left him at bedtime, it was with an 
 assurance from him that he was " better," though 
 they both thought he tried to imagine himself so, and 
 told them this to allay their anxiety. 
 
 A day or two passed in this way, his master in the 
 meantime having sent for a physician, but with no 
 decided change. 
 
 "Well, Cyrus, how do you feel this morning,'* 
 asked the minister. 
 
 " I do n't know, Massa. De old man aint get long 
 well. I most fraid you have for leave me behind 
 when you go to de new country.'' 
 
 His master fully shared in the apprehension, but 
 tried to cheer him up. 
 
 " But if it be the will of the Lord to take you," he 
 continued, " I hope you are not afraid to go." 
 
 ''Hi, massa; fraid of what? To go home? Aint 
 de Lord say he neber leave nor forsake dem dat trust 
 in him. I hear you read dat in de Bible at prayers. 
 
 no, sir, I bin sorry to leave you, but de old man no 
 fi'aid bout dyin." 
 
 Mr. Watkins thought of Paul's exultant shout, I 
 have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
 
 1 have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for 
 me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
 righteous judge will give me at that day. 
 
 From this time the patient steadily declined, and 
 it ])ecanie necessary that he sliould have constant 
 attendance. This was a task which Mrs. Watkins 
 and the children cheerfully assumed during the day, 
 while her husband and John Waters discharged the 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 181 
 
 duty at night, relieving each other at slated inter- 
 vals. 
 
 How anxiously did they watch that wasting old 
 frame, and yet, " as the outward man perished, the 
 inward man was renewed day by day." The patient 
 had but little to say. He was suffering from disease, 
 and sickness with the physic administered, but when- 
 ever he spoke it was generally to give a word of 
 admonition, or exhortation, or to console the family in 
 view of his departure. 
 
 " Betty try to serve de Lord. He do you good 
 when nobody else can help you. What I bin do now 
 if I no hab de Savior to help me! Massa can't help 
 me, de doctor can't cure me, but bless de Lord, I fool 
 de everlastin arms hold me. 
 
 '' Chillun ! you musn't forgit old daddy. Tank de 
 Lord, massa Johnny and little missy is done put on 
 Christ. Do n't cry honey, you all be comin along 
 after awhile I trust. I will keep lookin for you, and 
 when we get on de oder side of de river, we no part 
 agin. dat such a sinner as dis should be saved"! 
 But den agin such a Savior he have !" 
 
 Tlie physician who had assiduously attended him, 
 finally dismissed the case, saying it was useless to 
 annoy him with remedies — that exhausted nature 
 would hardly be able to recover. 
 
 This announcement caused no distress to Cyrus. He 
 was ready whenever the summons might come, and 
 " had nothinn; to do but to die." 
 
 As evening came on, it was apparent that the 
 patient was sinking, and it was agreed that all would 
 
182 PINE FARM, 
 
 sit up and see the end. The family were taking sup* 
 per, having left him for a fevf minutes in charge of 
 John. 
 
 The old man seemed to be in a gentle slumber ; so 
 gentle that John bent over him to see if he was still 
 living. Cyrus appeared to understand the movement, 
 as he opened his eyes and remarked, '' de old man 
 here yet." 
 
 John wished to say something to him, and this was 
 a favorable opportunity, perhaps the last he would 
 have. 
 
 " Daddy Cyrus, you knew my mother. Do you 
 think you would know her in heaven ? " 
 
 ''I can't tell bout dat. If she look de same as 
 when she was here — but de glorified saints — I don't 
 know, massa Johnny. But somebody can tell me, I 
 reckon." 
 
 The old man paused, and the boy's emotion was too 
 great to speak for some moments. 
 
 " Why, massa Johnny. You want me for tell um 
 something for you ? " 
 
 " I was thinking of something of the kind ; but 
 perhaps it is not right. The Lord can tell his people 
 all that they ought to know.'" 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Watkins now returned vrith the chil- 
 dren, and in silence they gathered around the dying 
 old man. It was a scene which the minister wished 
 to have impressed on the minds of the family, that 
 they might never forget how an humble Christian 
 can commit himself to his God. 
 
 Mr. Jones, who heard of the old man's situation, 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 183 
 
 rode over to see him, and finding no one in the house, 
 came, guided by the light, to th.e cabin. Without 
 speaking, he at once approached the bedside of the 
 dvino; man, and stood for a minute in silence. 
 
 " Cyrus ! " he at length said, in a low tone. " Do 
 you know me, Cyrus? " 
 
 The old man gazed at him a moment. "Yes, 
 Massa Jones, and I glad you come to see me before 
 
 I go." 
 
 '• He is with you," said the deacon, the tears start- 
 ing down his cheeks. 
 
 ^^ Certain He is, Massa. Ain't He bin say He would 
 never leave nor forsake us ? You know de Lord ain't 
 promise and den not do." 
 
 The worthy deacon could say no more, but turning 
 to a stool by the fire, sat down overcome with 
 emotion. 
 
 Slowly and heavily the minutes passed, and the 
 sympathizing spectators longed to have the scene 
 close. 
 
 " Massa Johnny ! Massa Johnny ! " said the dying 
 man, suddenly starting up, '^what's dat ? Hush! 
 
 Be easy; ain't you see um ? I tink 
 
 one look like your ma. How bright ! dey shine like 
 de raornin' star, and look like dey have wing ! Hush ! 
 
 Dey comin' closer, and beckon me to 
 
 come. May be it bin de angels come for me ! Lord 
 
 Jesus, blessed Savior, I come." The 
 
 old man fell back on the bed, a slight tremor shook 
 liis old mortality, and all was over. 
 
 " Has he gone?" asked the deacon. 
 
184 PINE FARM, 
 
 ^'Let me die the death of tlie righteous, and let my 
 last end be like his," replied the preacher. 
 
 We read in the Gospel of a poor man who was car- 
 ried by angels to Abraham's bosom. Vfho knowt 
 but that a happy group of heavenly messengers, un- 
 seen, unfelt by all but the dying saint, were gathered 
 that night in tliat lowly cabin?" 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XXV Unexpected Relief. 
 
 Mr. Watkins kept no secrets from his family in 
 relation to his business affairs, and the reason "was 
 that he had their entire confidence. They sympa- 
 thized with him in prosperity and in distress. His 
 wife, in the darkest ho;ir, by her amiable nature, cast 
 the light of hope around his way, and smiled w^hen 
 weeping would have been more congenial to her feel- 
 ings. His children were always happy, and disposed 
 to lend what little assistance they could, while John 
 Waters would have gone to the ends of the earth to 
 serve him. Even Betty Would have taken her children 
 and gone with the family, though it might have in- 
 volved a separation from her husband, if Mr. Watkins 
 expressed a wish for her to do so. But rather than 
 do this, her mistress w^ould have preferred to be left 
 herself, resting in some quiet corner of a country 
 graveyard ; and how to keep Joe and Betty together 
 formed the subject of an earnest consultation around 
 the fireside a fev,' weeks before their removal. 
 
 '^ I am greatly distressed," observed the minister, 
 " at the thought of having Joe and his family sepa- 
 rated.'' 
 
 " Separated 1 '' echoed his wife. 
 
 " Separated, father ! '^ said Julia ; ^^ why, what will 
 Jo<3 do if Betty is carried away ? And then he thinks 
 so much of Pompey." 
 
 " Separated! '' tlumgJd John; but he did not know 
 
 i^ 
 
186 PINE FARM, 
 
 •what io sai/, and, therefore, like a sensible boy, he 
 said nothing ; but he could not help thinking it would 
 be a dreadful thing. 
 
 " Why you all seem as though the thought had not 
 before occurred to you," said the preacher. 
 
 "I confess it never did to me,'' rejoined Mrs. Wat- 
 kins ; " neither does it now." 
 
 '' Indeed I Have you received information of a 
 legacy having been left us by any of our rich relations ? 
 Or has John, in his rambles over the Farm, found a 
 gold mine ? This, however, would not avail us much, 
 I suppose, as the Farm has been in due form, ' granted, 
 bargained, sold, and conveyed,' with all its . ' rights, 
 tenements, and privileges.' " 
 
 "Well, I suppose the same process can be gone 
 through with in respect to Betty and her children." 
 
 " What ! sell Betty ! And what vnll you do for 
 help?" 
 
 " I do not know. God will provide, I hope." 
 
 From the character of the man, the reader will 
 hardly suppose that Mr. Watkins really had any seri- 
 ous thought of separating the servants, but this cheer- 
 ful manifestation of self-denial on the part of his wife, 
 made him feel that he possessed in her a treasure in- 
 finitely more valuable than all the slaves in America. 
 
 " I suppose, Mr. Watkins," timidly suggested John, 
 " that the sale of the Farm will not enable you to 
 buy Joe." 
 
 " No, John ; that will only bring enough to settle 
 that unfortunate security debt and buy a small place 
 for us to settle on. The crop and the sale of such 
 
on THE SOUTIIEKN SIDE. 187 
 
 articles as we can not carry "vvith us, I hope will fiir« 
 nisli us with the means of traveling, a,nd buy provi' 
 sions for the first year." 
 
 There was no reply to this, and the party remained 
 some minutes in silent thought. A sudden " click " 
 of the gate-latch arrested attention, and presently 
 the sound of footsteps were heard coming into the 
 piazza. 
 
 " Open the door, will you, John." 
 
 As the boy obeyed the direction, he was confronted 
 by a stranger, who asked if " this was the residence 
 of Mr. Watkins ? " 
 
 ^' Yes, sir. \Yalk in, sir." And as the stranger 
 stepped across the threshhold into the room, his ap- 
 pearance attracted the earnest attention of the group 
 before the fireplace. His stature was tall and erect, 
 and the lower part of his face v/as enveloped in 
 evenly-trimmed black whiskers, w:hile a moustache 
 over the upper lip, together with a somewhat peculiar 
 dress, gave him rather a military air. Mr. Watkins 
 rose to receive him, and as he did so, the easy and 
 polished address of the stranger betokened an inti- 
 macy Avith polite circles. 
 
 " I regret the necessity, sir, which forces me to 
 claim your hospitality at an unseasonable hour; but 
 my business is urgent, and I have ridden a long way 
 to reach here." 
 
 " Then, sir," replied the courteous minister, " 1 
 hope the pleasure of giving you entertainment for the 
 night, will compensate for the trifling inconvenience 
 to which we may be subjected. You will allow us to 
 
188 PINE FARM, 
 
 have some refreshment prepared for you," he con- 
 tinued, Rs Mrs. Watkins was rising for that purpose. 
 
 The gentleman was "grieved to put them to any 
 trouble ; but his wants must so far overcome his 
 modesty as to allow him to say that a cup of coifee 
 would be very grateful, yet he would not, by any 
 means, put the lady to any inconvenience." 
 
 " Who can the man be ? " asked Mrs. Watkins of 
 her husband, as he stepped a moment into the back 
 entry for a drink of water. 
 
 " I 'm sure I do n't know. He seems to be a well- 
 informed gentleman ; but it vy^as strange that he did 
 not mention his name." 
 
 ^' There seems to be something remarkable about 
 his voice." 
 
 "Like your father's, isn't it?" interrupted her 
 husband. 
 
 The supper was soon after placed on the table, and 
 the stranger was very grateful for the fragrant cup of 
 coffee which the lady passed to him. 
 
 The minister's wife was not possessed with a very 
 large share of curiosity ; but somehow there seemed 
 to be a singular fascination about the stranger ; that 
 voice — what strange associations it brought up! 
 But of course "■ it could not be," and she blushed 
 like a girl as his eye caught hers in earnest gaze on 
 his face. 
 
 "Did there not once live a family about here by 
 the name of Wilton ? " he asked. 
 
 "There did, sir," answered the minister; "and I. 
 happen to be pretty intimately connected with them 
 
oil THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 189 
 
 through this lacl}^ Do you know any thing of them, 
 Sir : 
 
 The question seemed rather to disconcert the 
 stranger. He attempted to answer — hesitated, and 
 as he raised the coffee to his mouth, the quick eye of 
 the minister's wife detected a liquid brilliant just 
 startino; down his face. 
 
 "Brother William, is it you?" she exclaimed, rising 
 to advance toward him — yet shrinking aAvay from ap- 
 prehension. 
 
 The gentleman replied by abruptly wheeling his 
 chair from the table and receiving her in his arms. 
 
 Here now was a scene, but we drop the curtain 
 before it as something too sacred for strangers' eyes 
 to behold. 
 
 When next it rises we find the party all reseated, 
 cheerfulness on every face, and questions and answers 
 passing back and forth with rapid impatience. The 
 small hours of the morning saw them still around the 
 fire, and the "Day Star " was almost about to impart 
 a ruddy tinge to the eastern horizon when Mr. Wat- 
 kins and \Villiam Yv^ilton retired to catch an hour or 
 two of repose. 
 
 John Waters had fed the horses, milked the cows, 
 and built a rousing fire in the parlor, by which he was 
 seated, pouring over his Natural Philosophy, as Mr. 
 Watkins entered rather later than usual. 
 
 '^ Well, John, I hope Joe v/ill go with us to the 
 West." 
 
 " Will he, indeed, sir ? I am so glad,'' and the boy 
 turned his face away to hide his feelings. 
 
190 PINE FARM, 
 
 '" I wish you would ride over to liis master's and 
 ask him to come and bring Joe with him. He has 
 repeatedly said he wished I could buy him and carry 
 him with his family. I would like to get him at once, 
 as he would be very useful in helping us to wind up 
 our matters." 
 
 John thou2;ht ''he would not wait for breakfast 
 if Mr. Watkins would let him go — he could eat with 
 a better appetite after he had told Joe." But the 
 minister advised, him to wait; in the meantime he 
 could saddle the horse and bring him round to the 
 gate so as to start immediately after breakfast. 
 
 A half hour later, as the family were collected for 
 morning prayers, it was with difficulty that the 
 preacher could read the psalm, beginning, "Bless the 
 Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits." 
 
 Jolni Waters, on his return with .Joe, was met in 
 the yard by the stranger brother, vfho informed him 
 of the good account he had heard of him. " I hope 
 to be able," said he, ''to do something for you in the 
 West for the kindness you have shown to my brother- 
 in-law and his family." 
 
 John looked at him in silent bewilderment. " Kind- 
 ness to brother-in-law's family ! " He rather thought 
 the kindness was on the other side. 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 191 
 
 CHAPTER XXYl.— WincUng Up. 
 
 To those only avIio have some experience in the 
 business, is kno\Yn the stir and bustle attendant on 
 getting ready for a " move." The crop must be 
 gathered, and if of cotton, must be ginned, packed, 
 and sent to market. If the '' movers '' are going far 
 away, all the " plunder " which can not be conveniently 
 transported, must be turned into money or notes. 
 Special attention must be given to the live stock, so 
 as to have them in proper order, — fat and sleek, to 
 invite bids more readily and bring a higher price. 
 
 The most convenient way of disposing of the sur- 
 plus, is to have a sale, due notice of wdiich is given 
 some weeks before hand, enumerating tlie articles to 
 be disposed of; and it involves a good deal of "turn- 
 ing round," to have everything properly arranged, 
 that there may bo no confusion on the day of sale. 
 , A? our friends were going several hundred miles 
 avfay, and as the railroads offered facilities for travel- 
 ing far more expeditious and less expensive than pri- 
 vate conveyance, they determined to make a "-clean 
 sweep " of everything which could not be packed 
 away in the trunks. So Mr. Watkins' advertisement 
 presented an attractive bill, from the variety of arti- 
 cles offered ; corn, fodder, horses, hogs, cattle, sheep, 
 household and kitchen furniture, farming utensils, 
 with many other articles " too tedious to mention,'' 
 
192 PINE FARM, 
 
 would offer inducement to all sorts of customers, and 
 on the day of sale tlie crier found himself surrounded 
 by a large and anxious crowd. 
 
 He announced to the company as usual the terras 
 of sale; "all sums under ten dollars, cash — all over, 
 a note payable in twelve months, with good security," 
 thus inducing many a one to bid for more than ten 
 dollars, to secure the credit privilege. Cash is gener- 
 ally scarce in the country, and it's better to have a 
 long rope, if one is hung at the end of it. So at least 
 many seem, to think. These preliminaries gone 
 through with, the work began. 
 
 The auctioneer was a witty fellow (all auctioneers 
 arc), and managed, in various ways, to keep up a 
 spirited bidding to the close of the sale ; and at the 
 conclusion the minister had the satisfaction, on refer- 
 rinn; to the account sales, of learning; that a consider- 
 able amount "was entered on the book. The auctioneer 
 then announced for him that it '• was very desirable to 
 have the settlement made at once and the goods taken 
 away. Moreover it was Mr. Watkins' desire to trade 
 off the notes, as he w^as going far aw-ay and it would 
 be very inconvenient to return to collect the money. 
 This, how^ever, he- did not wish to do without the con- 
 sent of the parties. But the auctioneer did not think 
 any one could object to the arrangement." 
 
 There was some demur to this, especially when it 
 v/as known that the purchaser of the notes was to be 
 the man with whom Mr. Watkins intended to dine 
 on his return from the C. H. the preceding spring : 
 this gentleman, as usual, not having. " money with 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 193 
 
 liim, but in hopes he could raise it." But all, or 
 nearly all, finally agreed to the proposal — the chief 
 difficulty being in getting the security to suit the 
 note-shaver. 
 
 It was the minister's intention to remain a week 
 after settling his affairs, to take his family on a fare- 
 well visit to the neighbors, and with that view was 
 making arrangements with some purchasers for the 
 use of a few articles until they were ready to leave; 
 but in the midst of the conversation Deacon Jones 
 came up, and learning the case, promptly entered a 
 protest against the proceeding. 
 
 " This is now my place, sir, and I hereby issue a 
 writ of ejectment against you, and give you until to- 
 morrow evening to get your baggage to my house. 
 I have a carriage and horses, such as they are, and 
 you can have the use of them until we go to plow- 
 ing next spring. Your board I shall charge you with, 
 and expect you to pay it punctually when you get 
 rich by preaching." 
 
 There was no resisting this summary process, and 
 the minister had to " surrender," though he felt as if 
 he would rather linger at the old homestead. 
 
 How sad he felt, as, for the last time, he gathered 
 
 his family about the old hearthstone, and looked 
 
 around upon the familiar household objects, now 
 
 passed from his possession. Once "monarch of all 
 
 he surveyed" from his arm-chair, he now lool:ed 
 
 upon nothing he could call his own except his books 
 
 ■ — these he resolved at all risks to take with him, 
 
 and that evening he and John took them from the 
 10 
 
194 PINE FARM, 
 
 shelves and packed them in boxes for the long 
 journey. 
 
 The evening devotions for the last time under the 
 the roof that had so long sheltered them ! How sad, 
 how trying to sensibilities so acute as belonged to the 
 minister and his family ! Kougher natures even, into 
 which the sentimental but sparingly enters, know 
 something about it. No wonder then that tears flowed 
 thick and fast, as memory brought the recollection of 
 joys and sorrows passed. But with resignation comes 
 hope, and they rose from their knees with an assur- 
 ance that " all things would work together for good." 
 
 The next day was spent by the family in delivering 
 the various articles sold to the purchasers, their own 
 movables having been already packed away in trunks 
 ready for shipment. They had learned that useful 
 lesson — one which saves a world of confusion and 
 trouble — " a place for everything and everything in 
 its place ; a time for everything and everything in its 
 time." 
 
 This had proved a harder day's work than any they 
 had performed in a long time, and they were glad to 
 find in the evening a resting-place in the hospitable 
 dwelling of Deacon Jones. 
 
 Mrs. Watkins and the children retired early to bed, 
 and were soon followed by the members of the dea- 
 con's family, except William, who, over the kitchen 
 fire, entertained John AVaters with wonderful accounts 
 of bear and buffalo, and rich lands in the far West. 
 
 The minister and the deacon spent an hour in 
 talking over matters connected with the church — > 
 
UK THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 195 
 
 tlie new start taken in settling and supporting a 
 preacher. 
 
 "By the way," remarked Mr. Watkins, "I was a 
 little surprised at not seeing Squire Young at the 
 sale. He usually attends such places I think." 
 
 "Have you seen him lately?" asked the deacon. 
 
 " No, I have not, nor heard much of him either 
 except that he stays at home more than formerly." 
 
 " I have heard it talked around that he is in a 
 strange way — walks about continually alone in his 
 fields, and frequently stays out half the night. They 
 say he appears to be wasting away, and in his sleep 
 now and then mutters something about Restitution. 
 He must have a troubled conscience, if these things 
 are true, but it 's chiefly " negro news," which you 
 know it won't do to repeat everywhere." 
 
 " Weil, John told me the other day that it was said 
 Young had something to do with the burning of his 
 still-house, and that he had been seen lurking about 
 Bates' store at night. I do not know where he got 
 his information, and rather discouraged him from 
 talking about it ; but if it be true, it is to be feared 
 he is meditating some mischief." 
 
 *• I should not wonder if it were true, for I heard 
 at your sale that Bates was selling out, intending to 
 move away. He has very probably received a hint 
 of Young's movements." 
 
 " I hope no harm will come to any one, but it will 
 be a happy riddance to get clear of Bates. He has 
 been a curse to the neighborhood." 
 
 " Yes. indeed ; and I am glad we have got him out 
 
196 PINE FARM, 
 
 of the church. But you must be tired, it is getticg 
 late I see," loolving at the clock. . 
 
 " Yes, I would like to lie down. I feel uncom 
 monly fatigued. 
 
 Mr. Jones then -taking up a candle, conducted his 
 guesr to his room door, and they separated for the 
 night, to "seek rest in sleep." 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XXVU.— Westward Ho! 
 
 The week preceding their depai'ture was an inter- 
 esting one to our friends in receiving farewell' visits 
 from the neighbors. The good deacon's house was a 
 thoroughfare for several days together. Young and 
 old, white and black, came by day and by night to say 
 "good-bye" and weep. Mr. Watkins continued to 
 get out with his wife and see a few who by reason of 
 infirmity could not call on them. But these parting 
 scenes were getting too painful to bear, and the wor- 
 thy minister began to wish himself on the road, and 
 felt very much disposed to hurry up matters and be 
 off. Everything was ready, and it remained only to 
 drive round the carriage to the door to take them 
 to the railroad at any moment. He therefore called 
 round and intimated to Joe, who remained at the old 
 place, not to be out of the way, but to be in readi- 
 ness when the wagon came for him. 
 
 " Massa, you know what massa Johnny doin ? He 
 bin down in de hollow yonder eber since yesterday, 
 bin peck rock for someting noder. Aint you hear 
 him now ? " 
 
 "Well, let us go and see what he is after," and 
 
 throwing the bridle reins over a post, he and Joe 
 
 walked to where John was working away with a 
 
 hatchet on a rough piece of sandstone, while another 
 
 of similar size and shape was lying beside it, bearing 
 
 the marks of an iron instrument. 
 10* • 
 
198 nxE i-Ar.M, 
 
 John appeared a little confused at being thus unex-* 
 pectedlj discovered, and Mr. AVatkins was just going 
 to ask him what he was after, when his eye fell on 
 the letters J. M. W. rudely chiseled on the fiice of 
 the stone. The tears started to his eyes as the truth 
 flashed over his mind and he stood gazing at the work 
 of the poor boy's affection. 
 
 " I hated to go away, Mr. Watkins, without putting 
 something at mother's grave so I could know it. 
 Maybe I '11 be able to come back sometime and put a 
 better one there." 
 
 The minister made no reply ; what could he say ? 
 Even Joe could only murmur, as he drew his coat 
 sleeve over his face, '' de boy lub he mammy for true." 
 
 " What is the other stone for, John," the minister 
 asked, after his feelings had a little subsided. 
 
 " That is for fiither, sir. AVilliam Jones has prom- 
 ised to help me to have that set up. I am trying to 
 get them done so we can carry them up to-night. 
 We are to take the ox cart and get Joe to help us." 
 
 " Why do you do it at night." 
 
 " Well, sir, I did n't care about anj'-body knowing 
 it, and the moon will shine so we can see to get along 
 very well." 
 
 Mr. Watkins did not waste words in commending 
 his conduct, but desired him to be ready, as he ex- 
 pected to leave sooner than he had at first intended. 
 
 " I shall be ready at any hour of the day or night, 
 sir." 
 
 " Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be 
 well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the 
 
OR THE SOUTHEllX HIDE. 199 
 
 earth," came to the mind of the preacher as he walked 
 away. 
 
 The minister's and the deacon's families Avere as- 
 sembled toi2;ether for the last nio;ht. The next morn- 
 ing the emigrants were to set out for the railroad. 
 Several persons had offered assistance in getting them 
 oft', but Mr. Jones claimed this as his peculiar privi- 
 lege. 
 
 They were just rising from the supper table, when 
 '' Hello " was heard at the gate. 
 
 Mr. Jones went out to answer the summons. 
 
 " Good evening, Mr. Jones; is Mr. Watkins here?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, he is here. Won't you get down and 
 come in, Mr. Young ? " 
 
 '' No, sir ; no, sir. Please ask him to come here a 
 minute, and you come with him." 
 
 The deacon stepped back and called the preacher. 
 
 " Bring a light with you, Mr. Jones," said Young. 
 
 As the two approached the gate with a candle, the 
 Squire took a couple of packages from his pocket. 
 
 " Here, Mr. Jones, take this mortgage. I have 
 entered satisfaction on it. Both of 3^ou look at my 
 signature, and when you go back in the house sign it 
 as witnesses, and send it to Waters." 
 
 "Here, Mr. Watkins, is something for John for his 
 attention to me when that devil tried to kill me. 
 That 's all I want ;" and his horse's hoofs Avcre heard 
 soon after clattering over a distant hill. 
 
 " That's something,^' remarked the deacon, as they 
 returned to the house ; " but it is not restitution yet.'^ 
 
 " No ; and I fear his covetousness will never let 
 
200 PINE FARM 
 
 him come to it ; though there 's no telling what the 
 goadings of conscience may do." 
 
 On opening the package, John found a few words 
 of thanks and a $100 bill. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Watkins, I'll go over and stay with 
 them at home to-night, but will try and- be back early 
 in the morning." 
 
 " Very well, John : it is right that you should." 
 
 " But here, Mr. Watkins, you had better take a 
 part of this money. You may need it on the way." 
 
 " No, no, John. It is yours, and you can do with 
 it as you think proper. I have enough to pay all our 
 expenses on the road." And John went away to take 
 leave of his father, and make one more effort for his 
 salvation. >!« ?i< * * * 
 
 " x\ll ready, William ? " asked the deacon of his 
 son the next morning, as he and Mr. Watkins came 
 out from breakfast. 
 
 " Yes, sir, the carriage is at the door, and the trunks 
 strapped on. The wagon has gone to get Mr. Wat- 
 kins' boxes of books, and the negroes from the Farm." 
 
 " Very well ; you and John can go on over there 
 as soon as you get breakfast ; and you can go on to 
 drive the carriage back from the railroad." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I told Tom to wait there for us." 
 
 There were no " Good-byes " spoken between the 
 friends as the minister and his family entered the 
 carriage. Tears and embraces, and silent pressures 
 of the hand, said plainly enough " Good-bye ;" and 
 as he drove off from the gate, the minister could only 
 turn and point his finger heavenward, and say, " Up 
 
OR THE SOUTHERN SIDE. 201 
 
 yonder Well, we '11 stop and take ono 
 
 more look at the Farm, as it lies right in the way," 
 said Mr. Watkins to his wife. And driving up they 
 found the wagon all ready for a start. 
 
 Getting out of the carriage, the minister helped 
 his wife and children to alight, and in silence they 
 approached the house. How strange the echo of the 
 empty rooms which answered to their footsteps ! The 
 bare floors, the naked walls, the gossamer dwellings 
 of the spiders already forming in the corners of the 
 ceiling. Hovf strange ! They felt, indeed, 
 
 "Like one wlio treads alone, 
 Some bar.quot hall deserted," 
 
 and as the light of other days came stealing over 
 their memories, they w^ept. 
 
 '•Let us have one more prayer," said the preacher ; 
 and kneeling down on the cold floor, they committed 
 themselves to the care of a covenant-keeping God. 
 
 They look out into the back yard. How familiar 
 seemed the objects with which they had been so long 
 associated ! — the trees, the well, the garden, the old 
 kitchen, the clothes-pole stretched between the garden 
 paling and the smoke-house. 
 
 Again they come into the front piazza. The vine 
 over the door seems to droop in sadness, and the 
 flowers planted and Avatercd by the hand now about 
 to be withdrawn from them. Would any other attend 
 them as that hand h d done ? Would it protect them 
 from the frost and he drought with such assiduous 
 care? 
 
202 PINE FARM, 
 
 Those fields, too, smiling in the morning sunshine, 
 how much of comfort had they yielded to the friends 
 now leaving them ! Would not the children like to take 
 a few nuts, and acorns, and pine masts as memen- 
 toes of the dark forest where they so often ramhled? 
 
 *' But this -will not do, Mary; we must make sure 
 of the train, and we have not much time to spare." 
 
 Again they get into the carriage; but where is 
 Julia, and where is John? Ah, here they come run- 
 ning round through the woodyard. 
 
 " 1 hope you will excuse me, father, but I wished 
 to plant a rosebush on Daddy Cyrus' grave." 
 
 " All ready ! " and the horses buckled to the 
 draught — the old w^orm fences seem to be running by 
 them — the fields are passed — a canopy of pines over- 
 nangs their way, and an angle in the road shuts off 
 the scene. 
 
 Extract from a letter to Deacon Jones twelve 
 months after the removal : 
 
 ''Waters is running a vessel between New Orleans 
 and Havana. He requests me to write to you to 
 have a brick wall built around his dear Jenny's grave, 
 the money for which I enclose. Also, to say to his 
 second wife, if living, to write to him at New Orleans. 
 I did not know of his whereabouts until his letter 
 came, nor that John had given him that |100. More- 
 over, that he had written a pledge to abstain from 
 liquor, and deposited it under the stone which John 
 had prepared to mark his last resting place. 
 
 " Ever trulv, L. T. W." 
 
iVlAY 17 5905 
 
^ 
 
 0' ^ ^' ^ '^ 
 
 
 ^>^% lV^|;\i^-^- '^:^'^ 
 
 
 
 ^r- ^ t, i, S 
 
 
 u .. . ^ 
 
 
 ■ ''NO Ni 
 
 
 ^OO 
 
 .\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 c 
 
 A 
 
 
 ;>"^ "-^ 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 '^^ ^v-^' 
 
 ,0 c 
 
 >? ^^. 
 
 \> s ^ ' * /^ ''^- ^ 
 
 iV\\\W'(r>/ V 
 
 <<* 
 
 /■%. 'S/'i^: .,^^% 
 
 <■ f o 
 
 ^ -^^ 
 
 ^^. .^ c ^ '^ , -^O ' "^ ^ ' 
 
 \/ V. S * * ;■ . ^:v 3 N K 
 
 
>» 
 
 
 
 ':;^ 
 
 
 •^^ 
 
 . '^^ 
 
 ;> .V. 
 
 :^ - 
 
 •^ 
 
 A^' 
 
 
 ^Oo 
 
 «<> 
 
 o5 -r. 
 
 
 '^ ■* r, ■<?• 
 
 - ^ 
 
 
 
 il/j^'k^ 
 
 .^ ■} r. 
 
 y 
 
 4 
 
 V!^ 
 
 V V 
 
 
 _ V 
 
 ^^ 
 
 o X 
 
 
 
 
 
 .i*^' 
 
 
 O * A. 
 
 •\ 
 
 .•^^ 
 
 N G- 
 
 
 0° '' 
 
 
 
 .^^' 
 
 , <\ ^ , V 
 
 -^o^ 
 
 
 o t ^<^ 
 
 V 
 
 %^ .X> ^' 
 
 j^O o^ 
 
 0^ ^' ^ ^v'-er. ,^^ 
 
 
 
 
 vOo^ 
 
 
 *\\ 
 
 
 
 
 ;^. 
 
 o^ 
 
 >■ 
 
 
 
 ..-^' 
 
 „ "> » o 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 418 424 5 •