Home > Authors Index > Marietta Holley > Samantha at Coney Island > This page
Samantha at Coney Island, a novel by Marietta Holley |
||
Chapter 10. We Hear A Great Temperance Sermon, But Josiah Still Hankers For Coney Island |
||
| < Previous |
Table of content |
Next > |
|
________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER TEN. WE HEAR A GREAT TEMPERANCE SERMON, BUT JOSIAH STILL HANKERS FOR CONEY ISLAND
I looked well. Faith had a bad headache, I guess the job of gittin' that information into Mr. Pomper's head had tuckered her out, so I and my pardner sot off alone. All the way there my mind wuz real riz up thinkin' I wuz goin' to see sunthin' very grand lookin' and scriptural, and I said over and over to myself a number of times with deep respect and or, "Tabernacle! Tabernacle!" Yes, I felt some as if I wuz the Queen of Sheba and Josiah wuz Solomon, though I might have knowed, my pardner lacked the first ingregient in Solomon's nater, wisdom. And I probable wuzn't so dressy as Miss Sheba, 'tennyrate I hadn't no crown or septer, a brown straw bunnet and umbrell meetin' my wants better, but not nigh so dashy lookin'. But my feelin's all come from the name of the place we wuz bound for, and the patriarchical, Biblical past my mind wuz rovin' round in. Yes, my mind wuz rousted up and runnin' on the trimmin's of the Ark and Temple. I thought like as not I should see purple curtains hung on shinin' poles, jest so many cubits long and high, and gorgeous carpets to walk on and ornaments and fringes and tossels. I would not ask questions, but I wuz prepared for splendid lookin' things and lots of 'em. Well, if you'll believe me there wuzn't a thing there that I expected to see, not a ornament or curtain or tossel, and nothin' but jest common ground to walk on like our suller bottom or dooryard. And long benches all through it as fur as the eye could reach almost. The platform wuz big as most meetin' housen, but bare and plain, and there wuz what seemed to be sheets hung up round the hull concern, though rolled up so we could see out all round us. There wuz only one way it come up to my idees, and that wuz the cubits. I should think it wuz jest about as many cubits long and broad as anything ever wuz or ever will be. They say it will hold five thousand folks, and I should judge they wuz all there that mornin', and had brung their children and relations on both sides. They wuz havin' a song service when we went in, and to hear five thousand voices or so fillin' that Tabernacle full of high and inspirin' melody, wuz indeed a treat. It filled it so full that it oozed out of the sheets on all sides and soared up through the encirclin' green trees, up, up towards the blue sky, and no knowin' how much furder it did go upwards, clear up to Heaven like as not, for that place we have always been told is the home of music. It wuz sunthin' to remember as long as you lived to hear that great flood of melody flow out and swash and sway round us, bearin' us some distance away from ourselves. My Josiah tuned up and sung jest as loud as any of 'em, but his singin' would have sounded better if he had sung the tune the rest did. He sung the tune he had always been used to singin' hims in, he is dretful sot on it, and don't like to change. But as he seemed to enjoy it so much, and the great rush of melody wuz so powerful his voice wuz onnoticed. The him wuz, "How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord." Mr. Pomper wuz jest ahead on us, and thinkin' he would see better, I spoze had got up on the bench, and jest as he shouted out with the rest, "How firm a foundation," the bench broke and down he come, but in the big volume of sound, his yell of fright wuzn't heard no more than the note of a mosquito in a cyclone. In the intervals of silence Josiah sot and made comments to me on the surroundin' seen, that alas made me know his mind wuzn't riz up on such hites as mine wuz. He commented on the looks of the men around him, and cast the idee in my face that there wuzn't any on 'em so good lookin' as he wuz, or nigh so distinguished in their means. I felt sorry to think he wuz so blinded, though of course he looks good to me. And he talked about the wimmen and advanced the idee that they well might take pattern by his pardner in their looks and deportment. Josiah after all is a man of good sense. [Illustration: "_Mr. Pomper, thinkin' he would see better, got up on the bench, and jest as he shouted out 'How firm a foundation,' the bench broke and down he come._" (_See page 168_)] As I looked round me, I liked the place more and more. What need wuz there of upholstery and carpets? Brussels never turned out such a carpet as old Mom Nater had spread all round that Temple of hern. Old Gobelin never wove such tapestry. No Empress of the wonder-laden East ever had hung in her boodore such a marvelous green texture as drooped down in emerald canopies above us. No golden lamp ever gin such a light as sifted down over the matchless green overhead, to light that solemn sanctuary. No organ ever gin out such sweet sound as the birds warbled anon or oftener. No jeweled ornaments ever sparkled on a altar like the emerald and gold winged butterflies flutterin' round that sacred hant, amongst the wild flowers that blossomed even up to the door. And it seemed as if the soul could soar up easier somehow when you could look right into the blue mystery of the sky, the trackless path that souls mount up on in prayer and praise. Somehow plaster and mortar seem more confinin'. Though I d'no as it really makes any difference. Heaven is over all, and the soul's wings can pierce the heaviest material, bein' made in jest that strong and delicate way, but yet it seemed more free and soarin' somehow, and as if the path heavenward wuz clearer. The breezes kind of hung off and didn't come in. Josiah said they wuz afraid to land on Thousand Island Park for fear of bein' fined for travelin' on Sunday, but it wuzn't so, they didn't come because it wuz so sultry and kinder muggy. I'd hearn that the man who wuz goin' to preach wuz a dretful smart man, a Evangelist and Temperance Lecturer. A man so gifted and good that folks would go milds and milds to hear him, he seemed to hold the secret of inspirin' men and wimmen, and rousin' 'em out of their cold icy states, and drawin' 'em right along towards the mounts he habitually stood on. He'd done sights of good, sights on it. And anon I see a stir round the preacher's stand that made me know the speaker of the day, the great Revivalist and Temperance worker had come. And most immegiately a tall figger passed through the crowd that made way for him reverentially. There wuz a smile and a good look on his face for all the bretheren round him, some like a benediction, only less formal. As he come out on the stand and stood before us I could see that there wuz a light shinin' on his face as if ketched from some heavenly and divine power. His eyes wuz soft and deep lookin', as if he knew jest how mean and weak humanity wuz, and wuz sorry for folks, and would like to tell 'em the secret he had found out, how to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, specially the devil. His smile wuz sad and sweet, jest about half-and-half. His features wuz good, and his hair, which wuz light brown to start with, wuz considerable gray round his forward. His voice wuz like the sound of deep waters that penetrates through all lighter voices and that you hear through 'em all, jest as you hear the voice of the great River through all the murmurin's of the trees and bird song on the shore. He gin out a him in that sweet melogious voice that wuz as good as singin' or better. The him told how, though we could not climb up into Heaven to bring the Lord Christ down, yet how love had still its Olivet and Faith its Galilee. And one verse wuz:
His prayer seemed to bring Heaven so near to us that we could almost look in. He asked the Lord to draw nigh to us, and He did. He asked Him to help us bear our daily trials and temptations, and the weary wearin' cares of life, and we felt that He would help us. We felt that that sweet strong appeal for the Comforter to come into our lives to bless and strengthen us for good work, wuz answered then and there. The Word he read wuz that incomparable chapter in Hebrews, in which Paul tells of the mighty works wrought by faith, of them who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life agin. And on to the end of that matchless chapter. And the text wuz, "Wherefore seeing we are encompassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." And then follered a sermon that wuz better than any I ever hearn in my life, and I have sot under splendid preachers in my day. But this, though delivered in simple language wuz so helpful, lifting us, holding us up, so we could ketch a glimpse of the right way and inspire us with the strength to foller it. He pinted out to us the sins that so easily beset us, easily indeed. Not the old sins of Adam and Noah and the rest--patriarchal sins that made us feel reproachful towards the old sinful patriarchs and comfortable toward ourselves. No, he pinted out the besettin' sins that are rampant and liable to ruin us in the nineteen hundreds. After speakin' of the other deadly sins that are liable to lay holt on us, such as oncharitableness, envy, jealousy, bigotry, intolerance, injustice, over-weaning ambition, and other personal and national sins, he spoke at length of that monster sin, that national disgrace, Intemperance. I spoze it wuz some as if when you tapped a barrel filled with pure water, why pure water would flow out of it. And I spoze he wuz so full of his great life work aginst that gigantick evil Intemperance, that them ideas had to flow out when the plug of silence wuz removed. And readin' what he had about them who through faith had stopped the mouth of lions, escaped the edge of the sword, I spoze he wanted to make his hearers feel that they too could so arm themselves with faith and the power of His might, as to stop the mouths of these nineteenth century lions, overthrow the laws entrenched in lion-like strength in the stronghold of National protection, and escape the edge of the sword of personal greed and selfishness, and put to flight the army of the aliens from God and the good of humanity. And I spoze when he thought of them wimmen who had received their dead raised to life agin, he thought of the yearly sacrifice to Intemperance, the thousands and thousands of husbands, sons, brothers who are struck by the death blight now, makin' ready to fall into those oncounted graves. And he wanted to roust 'em up and save their souls and bodies alive and give them back to these wimmen agin, raised from the dead. Yes, his warnin's and appeals wuz all directed to this present time and preached to us. He never mentioned them old Egyptians who wuz all dead and drownded out years ago, both by the Red sea, and the long swosh of the sea of Time, or the old Jews and Hebrews, nor he didn't dwell on science or philosophy, but he pressed the truth home to the hearts of his hearers, how the Lord Jesus had once dwelt upon earth, how He had passed through all the cares and sufferings that we wuz passing through, how He wuz tempted by the sins, pained by the griefs of the world, and how He pitied us and would help us. As I say, instead of Bible crimes that had been committed centuries ago, he dwelt strong and as if his hull heart wuz in his words on that terrible national crime back of most all the other sins and crimes of to-day. That stands a huge black shape blocking up the world's progress, that we ort to try our best to fight aginst, and how we had a Helper. And his idee wuz that good men, clergymen and such, who are wont to stand off and look down on the battlefield, ort to buckle on their armor and join in the warfare. And he said that if sometimes the battle smoke hid the form of our great High Priest and Helper we mustn't forgit that He wuz there, lookin' on, seeing how the battle went between the Right and the Wrong, and giving His help towards the right side in His own good time, and he gin us to understand that: "For," sez he: When Right opposes Wrong, shall Evil win?
It wuz a grand and powerful effort. It wuzn't so flowery as I've hearn, but the strength, the pathos of it wuz wonderful. I didn't wonder as I hearn him talk of what I'd been told that day by different ones of how people flocked to hear him, how he might have the choice of big city churches with big salaries accordin', but he had chosen to stay by the common people. Had elected that he would not have wealth and station, that he would go about tellin' of the love of God, urgin' men to accept Him, goin' about doin' good. As we listened to him, everything seemed possible, the right seemed possible to do, it almost seemed as if we felt the crown restin' on our tired foretops. And he ended the sermon as he had begun it with a few words from the Book, "Now bretheren quit ye like men, be steadfast, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." And then agin he breathed out his very soul in prayer, and we wuz lifted up some distance towards the Better Country. As he ended his words we all heaved some long sithes and seemed to fall down some distance, and found ourselves to our great surprise still on the old earth. A enthusiastick little woman, who'd shouted out, "Amen!" with the best of 'em sez to me, "Wasn't that sermon a grand one?" "Yes," sez I, "it come right from his heart, and went to mine. It lifted me up some distance above the earth," sez I. "Yes," sez she, "the Elder is one of the saints on earth, but we are afraid he hain't long for this world." "Why?" sez I. "He don't take any care of himself. He lives alone with an old housekeeper who is dretful slack and don't have any faculty, and he don't have things for his comfort, though he don't complain. He gits no end of money, but gives it all away, or it is wasted to home. I went to his house once on business,--I am from the West," sez she,--"and it wuz so bare and desolate lookin' that I almost cried. He ort to marry," sez she, "I have five daughters myself, and three onmarried nieces and they all say the same thing, that he ought to be married to some woman who would jest worship him, for no woman could help it, and take care on him. For," sez she with a shrewd look, "the smartest men and the most spiritual ones are the most helpless, come to things of this world." "Yes," sez I, "our minister to Jonesville could no more make a mess of cream biscuit than he could fly. He is great on the Evidences, and a great Bible expounder, but he couldn't sew on a button so it wouldn't pucker the cloth, if he should cry like a babe." "No," sez she, "I presume not, my girls are splendid with the needle, and good cooks, and so religious--it's a sight! and so are my sister's three girls, though they don't quite come up to my five." Well, there wuz a stir in the crowd. The Elder had come down and wuz shakin' hands right and left with them that crowded up to him. The little woman pressed towards him and I wuz drawed along in her wake by the crowd, some as a stately ship is swep' on by a small tug and the flowin' waves. And anon, after shakin' hands with her, he took my hand in hisen. A emotion swep' through me, a sort of electric current that connects New Jerusalem to Jonesville and Zoar. He bent his full sweet penetratin' look onto me, it seemed to go through my head clear to my back comb, and he sez, "Have I met you before?" "Yes," sez I, "in sperit, we have met, I want to thank you for the words you have said this day. It seems to me I shall be good for some time, it seems that I _must_ after hearin' your discourse, and I want to thank you for it, thank you earnest and sincere." He smiled sort o' sad and yet riz up, and sez, "We are all wayfarers here on a hard journey, and if I can help anyone along the way, it is I who should be thankful, and," sez he, "may God bless you, sister!" And he passed on. But he seemed to leave a wake of glory behind him as he went, some like the glow on the water when the sun walks over it, a warmin' life givin' influence that comes from a big soul filled with light and goodness. I seemed to be riz up above the earth all the way back to the hotel, though in body I wuz walkin' afoot by the side of my pardner. He too wuz enthused by the sermon--I had reconized his little treble voice shoutin' out "Amen!" and he said now that it wuz grand, powerful! "Yes," sez I, "and good and holy and tender!" "Yes indeed!" sez he. And he added, "Speakin' of tenderness, I do hope the beef will be tenderer than it wuz yesterday. I don't believe they have such beef to Coney Island." _ |
||