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 NEW
“What makes New Generation Korean 1 outstanding is that it will serve

NEW GENERATION KOREAN

both teachers and students well. Each conversation is presented with new
vocabulary and a concise description of grammar points and practices with Beginner Level
a clear layout for easy navigation. Students will benefit from quick access
to target grammar for self-study while there is still room for further teacher AUDIO file available
instruction. The four skill practices at the end of each chapter are manageable (mp3)
in terms of length and difficulty for class or self-study exercises. The vocab-
ulary lists, conjugation table, and answer keys at the end of the book will serve
as useful resources for more self-study.”
Soyoung Kang, Carleton University

“Appropriate for the first and second semester of Elementary Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL)

GENERATION
classes in the North American college setting, this user-friendly book is a timely and welcome
addition to the field of KFL education.”
Andrew Sangpil Byon, University at Albany, SUNY

KOREAN
“The world of Korean language learning for anglophones has always been dominated by authors and
content from Korea and/or the United States, so teachers and learners in Canada (where Korean is
increasingly popular) will be delighted by this colourful and engaging new textbook, its Canadian
orientation, and its streamlined presentation.”
Ross King, University of British Columbia

New Generation Korean is an immersive and visually appealing resource specifically designed
for secondary and post-secondary Korean language learners, as well as independent self-study SECOND EDITION
enthusiasts. Meticulously crafted by experienced instructors with a deep understanding of the Korean
language, this revised second edition presents targeted learning objectives and best-practice lessons
across eight comprehensive chapters.
With a focus on practicality and effectiveness, New Generation Korean guides students on a path
toward attaining Korean language proficiency while fostering a genuine appreciation for Korean
culture. To further enhance the learning experience, audio files are included, complementing the
content with authentic auditory material. Convenient QR codes are provided throughout,
facilitating quick access to audio clips, and promoting effective listening practice.
MIHYON JEON is an associate professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures,

Beginner Level
and Linguistics at York University.
KYOUNGROK KO is an associate professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at the
University of Toronto.
DAEHEE KIM is a professor in the Department of Korean Language Education at Mihyon Jeon
Wonkwang University.
YUJEONG CHOI is an assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at the
Kyoungrok Ko
University of Toronto. Daehee Kim

W SECOND EDITION
AHRONG LEE is an assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Yujeong Choi
Literatures, and Linguistics at York University.

E
Ahrong Lee

O N

N EA
I
N E RA
T
N
ISBN 978-1-4875-5707-2

G E
O R
K
9 781487 557072
 NEW
Beginner Level

GENERATION
KOREAN
SECOND EDITION

Mihyon Jeon
Kyoungrok Ko
Daehee Kim
Yujeong Choi
Ahrong Lee

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2023
Toronto Buffalo London
utorontopress.com
Printed in the U.S.A.

ISBN 978-1-4875-5707-2 (paper) ISBN 978-1-4875-5708-9 (PDF)

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without prior written consent of the
publisher – or in the case of photocopying, a licence from Access Copyright, the
Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

We welcome comments and suggestions regarding any aspect of our publications –

please feel free to contact us at news@utorontopress.com or visit us at utorontopress.
com.

Publication cataloguing information is available from Library and Archives Canada.

Cover design: John Beadle

This work was supported by Core University Program for Korean Studies through
the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and Korean Studies Promotion
Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2018-OLU-2250001).

We wish to acknowledge the land on which the University of Toronto Press

operates. This land is the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, the
Haudenosaunee, the Métis, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of

Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of
the Government of Ontario, for its publishing activities.
 Contents

Preface 7 Lesson 6 어제 어디에 갔어요? 87

Components 8 대화1 89
Characters 10 대화2 95
Lesson Table 11
Lesson 7 지금 공부하고 있어요. 103
대화1 105
대화2 111
Lesson 1 
한글 13
Lesson 8 스케이트 탈 수 있어요? 119
Lesson 2 
안녕하세요? 29
대화1 121
대화1 31
대화2 127
대화2 37

Lesson 3 다운타운에 살아요. 43

대화1 45 Appendices
대화2 51 Vocabulary List 1: by lesson 136
Lesson 4 비빔밥 먹으러 가요. 57 Vocabulary List 2:
in alphabetical order 150
대화1 59
Answer Key 164
대화2 65
Listening Script 169
Lesson 5 전화번호가 뭐예요? 73 English Translation 175
대화1 75 Conjugation Table 182
대화2 81
 Preface

NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1 is designed for Korean language learners at the

secondary and post-secondary education levels and for independent self-study
adult learners. It is available in both paper and digital formats. The soft-cover
book version is for users who prefer the traditional printed page, while the
digital version accommodates the needs of tech-savvy learners and offers the
benefits of a lower price, easy portability and convenient access. In addition,
the digital form includes automatic grading, integrated multimedia and diverse
online resources.

NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1 presents learning goals and best practices

lessons developed by professors with extensive KSL/KFL teaching experience
in Canadian and Korean universities. The collaborative authors brought their
expertise from the fields of Korean Education as a Second Language (KSL),
Korean Education as a Foreign Language (KFL), and Educational Linguistics to
the development of lessons that reflect a realistic use of the language relevant
to both high school students and adults.

The classroom-tested lessons in NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1 will guide

students to effective and efficient learning of the Korean language and an
appreciation of the Korean culture. The book is presently available in Canada
and North America. We hope that NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1 will be widely
used to support the teaching and learning of the Korean language in a fun and
effective way.

7
 Components

NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1 is comprised of eight lessons. It is recommended

that 8-10 hours be devoted to each lesson for a total of approximately 64-
80 hours. Lesson 1 introduces the fundamentals of the Korean alphabet. The
remaining lessons contain the following components:

Introduction
Conversation 1
Grammar Points
Listening and Speaking 1
Reading and Writing 1
Conversation 2
Grammar Points
Listening and Speaking 2
Reading and Writing 2
Korean Culture
Just for Fun

•  Introduction Each lesson begins with an introductory illustration, warm-up

activities, and learning objectives.

•  Conversation Each lesson includes two sets of conversations in real-life

settings. Each conversation provides a variety of expressions, vocabulary,
and grammar that are necessary to communicate successfully in Korean.
The accompanying practice section allows learners to practice exchanging
experiences and ideas. Audio files are available to help learners practice
listening, speaking, and pronunciation.

•  Grammar Points Each lesson covers five to six grammar points divided into
two sections. Each grammar point includes concise explanations followed by

8 NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1

 two sets of practice questions. In the paper version, answer keys are provided
at the end of the book. In the e-book version, learners can check the answer
keys each time they answer a question.

•  Listening and Speaking Each lesson contains two sets of listening and
speaking sections. Each section presents one to three listening passages
followed by comprehension questions. The subsequent speaking section offers
learners an opportunity to apply their listening and speaking skills to a variety
of communicative settings.

•  Reading and Writing Each lesson contains two sets of reading and writing
sections. Each section has a reading passage through which learners develop
skills to comprehend the passage and discover how the new vocabulary,
expression and grammar points previously learned are used in the context.
Each reading text is accompanied by comprehension questions. This section
also includes a task to help learners develop writing skills.

•  Korean Culture At the end of each lesson, students are provided with the
opportunity to learn about Korean culture and to make a comparison to their
own culture. Topics are relevant to each lesson so that learners can expand
their cultural knowledge in relation to what they learn during class.

•  Just for Fun introduces fun activities related to Korean language and culture.

New words are introduced on each page when they first appear. Circled letters are
attached to indicate irregular verbs and adjectives (e.g., 두껍다 ㉥). The vocabulary
lists in the appendices indicate irregular verbs and adjects by presenting
conjugated forms in the parentheses as in the example of 두껍다 (두꺼워요).

9
 Characters

김지영 저스틴 아담스 비비안 첸

(Jiyeong Kim) (Justin Adams) (Vivian Chen)
Korean teacher, Korean 1st year in university, Canadian 2nd year in university, Chinese

제니퍼 김 모하메드 나세리 이민호

(Jennifer Kim) (Mohammed Naseri) (Minho Lee)
2nd year in university,
3rd year in university, Iranian 3rd year in university, Korean
Korean-American

다니엘 슈미트 마리아 산토스 토니 로빈스

(Daniel Schmidt) (Maria Santos) (Tony Robbins)
4th year student, German Grade 11, Filipino Grade 12, Australian

10 NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1

 Lesson Table

Lesson Topic Function Vocabulary Grammar Culture

•R
 eading Korean vowels and
•K
 orean vowel sounds and letters
consonants accurately
Korean •K
 orean consonant sounds and letters Essential
1 한글 •B
 uilding Korean syllables in
alphabet •S
 yllable block building expressions
accurate order
•B
 asic pronunciation rules
•R
 eading Korean words

•N  1은/는 N2이에요/예요: N1=N2

•G
 reeting Country, • Y es/No question Greetings in
2 안녕하세요?
•S
 elf-introduction occupation •N  1은/는 N2이/가 아니에요: N1≠N2 Korea
• - 도 vs. -은/는: Markers for comparison

• - 어요/아요: Informal polite ending

•M
 aking basic sentences in
•V  owel contractions in polite forms
다운타운에 informal settings Activities, Use of 우리 in
3 • [ Place]에/에서: Location markers
살아요. •E
 xpressing location of an location Korean
• [ Place]에 있어요: Expressing location
entity
• - 이/가: Subject marker

• - 고 싶다: Expressing desire

• -(으)러 가다: Go/come in order to
•O
 rdering food (do something)
비빔밥 먹으러 Korean Dining
4 •M
 aking polite commands Food, place • - 지요?: Seeking agreement
가요. Etiquette
•M
 aking negative statements •안  /못: Negation
• - 을/를: Object makers
• - (으)세요: Polite request/command

•N  umeric system I: Sino-Korean numbers

•C
 ounting numbers
전화번호가 Numbers, days • [ time]에: Time marker
5 •M
 aking an appointment Korean Age
뭐예요? of the week •N  umeric system Ⅱ: Native Korean numbers
•B
 uying goods
•C  ounting units

• - 었어요/았어요: Past events

• - 하고: With/and
Ethnic
어제 어디에 •E
 xpressing past events Transportation, • - (으)로: By means of
6 neighborhoods
갔어요? •T
 alking about transportation seasons • - 보다 (더) and 제일: Comparatives and
in Seoul
superlatives
•A  에서 B까지: from [place A] to [place B]

• - (으)세요: Honorific expression

•D
 escribing progressive • - 고 있다: Action in progress
How to address
지금 공부하고 events Family, • - 지만: But/although
7 people in
있어요. •U
 sing honorific forms weekend plan • - (으)ㄹ 거예요: Future events
Korean
•D
 escribing cause and effect • - 어서/아서: Because
• - 고: And

• - (으)ㄹ 수 있다/없다: Can/cannot

• - 어/아 주다: To do something for someone
•A sking hobbies
• - 네요: Surprise or admiration Popular
스케이트 •E xpressing ability
8 Hobbies • - (으)ㄹ 줄 알다/모르다: To know/not know how hobbies in
탈 수 있어요? • E
 xpressing obligation and
to do Korea
necessity
• - (으)ㄹ까요?: Asking someone’s opinion
• - 어야/아야 되다: Obligation/necessity

11
1
Lesson

한글
 Have you ever learned other languages before? Why do
you want to learn Korean? Discuss what you know about
들어가기
the Korean language.

Learning Objectives
Reading Korean vowels and consonants
Building Korean syllables in the correct order
Reading Korean words

Vocabulary Korean alphabet

Grammar Korean vowel sounds and letters
Korean consonant sounds and letters
Syllable block building
Basic pronunciation rules
Korean Culture Essential Expressions

14 NEW GENERATION KOREAN 1

Vowels
1 Simple Vowels
Hangǔl is the name of the Korean alphabet. It was created in 1443 by King Sejong
and his royal scholars. Like the English alphabet, Hangǔl consists of letters that
represent vowel sounds and consonant sounds.
A vowel is a necessary part of the Korean syllable structure. There are eight simple
vowels and thirteen diphthongs. The pronunciation, similar sound in English, and
graphical representation in Hangǔl of the eight simple vowels are shown in the table
below. When a syllable begins with a vowel, the silent consonant letter ㅇ is written
before the vowel.

Similar Sound 
Sound* Hangǔl Letter With silent ㅇ
in English

ɑ arm ㅏ 아

ŏ saw ㅓ 어

o mow ㅗ 오

u moon ㅜ 우

ǔ put ㅡ 으

i bee ㅣ 이

ɑe apple ㅐ 애

e every ㅔ 에

* Using the McCune-Reischauer Romanization System

Lesson 1 한글 15
 Another Random Document on
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either riding or walking. A good deal of skill, as well as a good deal
of awkwardness, may be displayed in putting on and tying on a pair
of leggins; and when a man displays unusual facility and skill in this
matter in his travels through the Brush, he is at once taken to be
either an itinerant preacher—or a horse-thief. In long horseback
journeys these leggins are invaluable as a protection against mud,
rain, and cold. I have traveled over the muddiest roads, many days
and weeks, when, on arriving at the house of some hospitable
friend, I was so completely bespattered and covered with mud that I
looked very much like the roads through which I had been traveling;
but, on taking off my leggins and overcoat, I laid aside the most of
the mud with them, and so presented a very respectable
appearance.
But the saddle-bags were indispensable. In them I carried all the
changes in my wardrobe, and all such articles for my personal
comfort as one can have whose home is on horseback; together
with such reports, documents, and papers, as were indispensable to
me in the prosecution of my labors. With a large blanket-shawl rolled
compactly together, and strapped with my umbrella behind my
saddle upon a pad attached to it for this purpose, I was prepared to
travel without any regard to rain or weather.
Behold me, then, with my new and complete outfit, mounted and
starting for the Brush, in a broad-brimmed white hat, snuff-colored
overcoat, butternut-dyed pantaloons, leggins, heavy boots, and
spurs. My saddle-bags were thrown across the saddle, and my
blanket-shawl and umbrella strapped behind it. As I rode out of the
city into the country, I met a countryman on his way to town, who
greeted me with a pleasant "How d'y, sir?" and, as he scanned with
a pleasant face my outfit, he added, "Traveling, sir?" A countryman,
and to the "manner born," that was his quick recognition and
approval of the perfection and completeness of my outfit for the
Brush. Two negroes, who were felling a huge tree in the dense
forest at the roadside, paused in their labor, and manifested their
approval with a broad African grin, and "Mighty nice hoss, dat,
massa!"
In my next chapter I shall make good these comments.
 CHAPTER III.
THE ITINERANT PIONEER PREACHER'S FAITHFUL HORSE.
I think a good horse is worthy of a niche in the temple of fame. I
know that many men have been immortalized in song and
eloquence, and had magnificent monuments erected to their
memory, who have never done one half as much for the good of the
world as the faithful animal I rode so many years, through the wilds
of the Southwest, in the service of the American Bible Society. But
very few men have done as much to promote the circulation of the
Word of God, "without note or comment," as she did in those years
of faithful labor.
If there be a paradise where there are purling streams, grateful
shade, and fat pastures for horses that have been faithful and true, I
am sure that she has a high rank in "the noble army" of horses that
in sunshine and in storm, with unflagging devotion, have borne
itinerant pioneer preachers through mud and rain, and sleet and
snow, as with glowing, burning zeal they have prosecuted their
heroic Christian labors. All honor to the itinerant's faithful horse—my
own among the number! My very pen seems to catch new
inspiration, and dance with delight, as I attempt her eulogy.
In fact, she shrank from no toil in the prosecution of this good work.
She never kept me from fulfilling an appointment by refusing to ford
a river. She never hesitated to enter any canebrake it was necessary
for me to cross, and, though the canes were ever so thick and
tangled, and resisted her progress like so many ropes or cords
around her breast, yet she pressed carefully and firmly against them,
until they yielded to her power, and we emerged safely from the
thicket. She never flinched from climbing the steepest mountain-
paths, where I had to hold on to her mane with both hands to keep
from sliding off behind her; and then she would as kindly perform
the more difficult feat of descending such paths, stepping carefully
and firmly so as not to stumble or fall, while I kept my position in
the saddle by holding on to the crupper with one hand and guiding
her with the other. In a word, she never failed or disappointed me at
any time, in any place, or in any particular.
She was of medium size, light-sorrel color, white face, and in all
respects of admirable form and mold. She had been broken for the
saddle to either pace, trot, or gallop, and each gait was about as
easy and perfect as possible. In long journeys of weeks, and
sometimes of months, her movements were always free and fleet,
and by alternating from one gait to another she bore me about as
easily and gently as one could well wish to be carried on horseback.
But her kind, affectionate disposition was her crowning excellence. I
never hitched her and went into a house for a long or short stay,
that she did not greet me as soon as I opened the door on my
return with her affectionate whinny. She would recognize me among
the congregation, as I came out of any church where I had
preached, or wherever she could see me in the largest gatherings of
people, and always with the same warm salutation. Whenever I
went to her stable in the morning, or wherever I approached her
after a brief separation, her demonstrations of affection were as
strong as they could well be without human powers.
On one occasion I rode up to the bank of a small river, very near its
mouth, and hailed the ferryman on the opposite side. While waiting
for him to cross, I led her down upon the planks which extended a
short distance into the river, that she might drink. Wading into the
water, she stepped beyond the planks and instantly sank to her
breast in the mud. It was the sediment that had been deposited
there by numerous freshets. As she went down the entire depth of
her fore-legs in an instant, she made one desperate effort to
extricate herself, but in vain. She seemed to comprehend her
condition perfectly, turned to me with a beseeching look and groan,
and did not make another struggle. I told her to lie still, and started
on a run to get some teamsters, whom I had met with their large
six-horse teams as I rode up to the river-bank, to help me in getting
her out. They kindly came to my aid, and by putting my saddle-girth
under her breast, and tying ropes to each end of it, they lifted her
out of the mud by main strength. When she was fairly on her feet,
her demonstrations of gratitude were most remarkable. She thanked
me over and over again as plainly and strongly as horse-language
would possibly admit of, danced around me with delight, persisted in
rubbing her nose against me in the most affectionate manner, and
showed a joy that seemed wellnigh human. It was warm summer
weather, and on reaching the hotel on the opposite shore I had her
legs and her entire body from the tips of her ears to the end of her
tail thoroughly washed and rubbed dry. After dinner I resumed my
journey, and she was as well as ever.
Everywhere, during all the years that I traveled in the Brush, my
Jenny—for that was the name I gave her—made friends for herself
and me. If I rode up to a house upon a plantation, hailed it
according to the custom of the country, and was welcomed to its
hospitalities by the owner, he would call a negro servant:
"Ho! boy, carry this horse to the stable and take good care of her.
D'ye hear?"
When I dismounted, she understood that her long day's journey was
ended, and knew where she was going as well as the servant did.
When mounted, she would start with a fleet pace that was almost as
gentle in its movements as the rocking of a cradle; which would
make the rider roll the white of his eyes with the supremest African
delight. Very often I have seen them turn their faces, beaming with
satisfaction, and cast back furtive glances upon groups of young
Africans that were gazing after them with an admiration that was
only equaled by their envy of the rider's happy lot. Before reaching
the stable a friendship, if not affection, was established that insured
the most liberal allowance of "fodder" and corn, and the most
thorough currying, brushing, and care. I have no doubt that on
many such occasions they promised themselves a pleasant stolen
night-ride, to visit friends on some near or remote plantation, and
that they did not forget or fail to make good their promises. When I
sometimes had occasion to protract my stay for several days, it was
amusing to listen to the frequent applications from young Africa to
ride her to the brook and water her. They were intensely solicitous
that she should not fail to get water—or themselves rides! At all
places, whether on cultivated plantations or deep in the Brush,
whether she was cared for by black or white, she received the same
kind attention. Hence she was always in the best order and condition
—always able and ready to take me the longest journeys, through
any amount of mud and mire, and over the roughest roads,
wherever it was necessary for me to go. I am sure that the people
were the more glad to see me on her account. My honored
instructor, the venerable President Nott, of Union College, in his
lectures on the "Beautiful," used to say:
"Young gentlemen, undoubtedly the two most beautiful objects in
nature are a beautiful horse and a beautiful lady. I hope you will not
think me ungallant in putting the horse before the lady." I gratified
the love of the beautiful in a fine horse, and so won their esteem
and love. But I was often as much surprised and gratified at her
behavior in her travels with me upon Western steamboats as upon
land. On one occasion I took her on board a large New Orleans
steamer with a deck-load of mules, horses, sheep, etc., and rode
some two hundred miles. I reached the place of my destination
about midnight, and was obliged to land at that hour. She was
standing immediately back of the wheel-house, and on the side of
the boat toward the shore. But the boat was so loaded that I was
obliged to lead her a long distance around by the stern, past the
heels of braying mules and bellowing cattle, to the point opposite
the place from which I had started; then forward, crossing the boat
immediately in front of the roaring wood-fires, which were on the
same deck, and on to the bow, where I led her down the plank on to
a large wharf-boat. I then led her the entire length of this boat, and
down a long plank-way to the shore. And all this through the
indescribable din and confusion made by mates and deck-hands in
landing freight, passengers, and baggage, and the deafening
screech of the whistle in blowing off steam. When I took her by the
bits and said, "Come, Jenny," she placed her head against my
shoulder and followed me all this long, crooked, noisy route, with
the confidence of a child. I had led her on and off a great many
noisy steamers, but that was the most notable instance of all.
But my Jenny had some other qualities which I should never have
discovered had they not been made known to me by others.
Elsewhere in this volume I have spoken at length of my visit to a
celebrated watering-place, and of the numerous gamblers and other
strange characters that I met there. It was in the midst of a very
wild region. When I had arrived within a few hours' ride of the
springs, I stopped to dine at a house of private entertainment. A
large four-horse stage, loaded with passengers bound for the
springs, soon drove up and stopped at the same house, which was
the regular place of dining for the passengers. After dinner I rode on
to the springs, keeping along the most of the way in company with
the stage. My Jenny attracted very marked attention from the driver
and passengers. The driver especially was profuse in his expressions
of admiration. As I rode up to the hotel, the listless, lounging
visitors, who were so deep in the Brush that they had very little to
attract or interest them, regarded her gait and movements with
general attention and delight. When I dismounted, a black boy was
soon in my saddle, and my Jenny moved off to the stable with her
usual fleetness and grace. I entered the hotel and registered my
name, without any prefix or suffix to indicate my employment or
profession. The weather was very hot, the roads very dusty, and
after the fashion of the country I was at once furnished with water
to wash. As I stood wiping myself, the stage-driver rushed into the
room and up to me in great excitement and said:
"Mr. Pierson, will you allow your horse to run? The money is up and
we'll have a race if you'll only allow her to run"—at the same time
holding up and shaking in my face a mass of bills that were drawn
through his fingers, after the fashion of gamblers in those parts. I
was startled to hear my name pronounced in a strange place, and by
a stranger, but in a moment bethought me that he had learned it by
looking on the hotel-register. I was more startled by the strangeness
of the proposition. As the servant stood with my saddle-bags on his
arm, waiting to show me to my room, I answered perhaps a little too
abruptly, "No, sir," and followed him to my room, to prepare for
supper. When the supper-bell rang, and I stepped out of my room
upon the piazza, a portly man of gentlemanly bearing, who had
evidently taken his position there to wait for me, approached me
pleasantly and said:
"I hope, sir, you will reconsider your decision and allow your mare to
run. As soon as you rode up I offered to bet two hundred and fifty
dollars that she would outrun anything here, and the money is up.
Allow me to say that I am an old Virginian, and a judge of horses,
and if you will let her run I am sure to win."
By this time I had entirely recovered my self-possession, and,
bowing politely, I looked directly into his eyes and said:
"Do you think, sir, it will do for a Presbyterian clergyman to
commence horse-racing so soon after reaching the Springs?"
He was as much startled as I had been—in fact, so startled that he
could not say a word, and I left him without any reply, and went in
to supper. When I returned from the dining-room I found him at the
door, and he approached me in the most subdued and respectful
manner and said:
"Allow me to speak to you again, sir. I wish to apologize, sir; I beg
your pardon, sir; I assure you, sir, that nothing would induce me
knowingly to insult a clergyman."
I responded, very pleasantly:
"I am certain, sir, that no insult was intended, and therefore there is
no pardon to be granted."
He thanked me very warmly for my kind construction of his motives,
and left me with a lighter step and brighter face. His companions
were all greatly pleased with my treatment of the matter; and, as I
have elsewhere said, there was a general turnout of all the gamblers
—of whom he was one of the most prominent—to hear me preach in
the ballroom the next Sabbath. But I need not say, to any one at all
familiar with life in the Southwest, that he had to "stand treat" all
around among his companions, for being thus, in the vernacular of
the country, "picked up" by the preacher.
In passing through another part of this county the following winter, I
rode up to a blacksmith-shop to get a shoe tightened. As soon as
the blacksmith came out he said:
"Wasn't you at the Springs last summer with this mare?"
I replied in the affirmative, and, on looking at him, recognized the
man that kept a little shop there, and had shod her in the summer.
"Well," said he, leaning upon her neck, patting her affectionately,
and looking into vacancy with a pleased expression, as if living over
some pleasant scene in the past, "they got her out, preacher, and
run her, any way." And then, as if to make the matter all right with
me, he looked up into my face and said, with the most satisfied
smile and emphatic nod: "And, preacher, she beat, she did. He won
his money!"
During my vacation-trips to the East, for several summers, I left my
horse with some kind, warm friends upon a plantation, for the ladies
and children to ride as they might wish. At first it was difficult for me
to make satisfactory arrangements to leave her for several weeks. I
could not trust her at a livery-stable. There I felt sure she would get
a great many stolen rides. I found also that the temptation was too
great for the virtue of some professed friends with whom I left her,
for on my return I found she had been overridden, and looked worn
rather than rested from the vacation I had intended for her as well
as myself. But in my travels I found a lady from my native State,
New York, who had gone South as a teacher, and married a planter.
There was a slight disparity in their ages. I would not take oath as to
the exact difference, but I heard a good many times that, when
married, she was nineteen and he forty-nine. If that was so, the
marriage furnished confirmation of the popular talk and notions
concerning "an old man's darling." He was certainly as kind and
indulgent as a husband could well be. She was a Presbyterian and
he a Baptist. He was kind and genial, and full of vivacity and life,
and loved to entertain me as his "wife's preacher," and for her sake,
as well as to gratify his own warm social instincts. Here, at each
return for years, I ever found the warmest welcome and the kindest
home. To her my visits were like those of an old friend, for, when far
away from the companions and scenes of early life, the ties that
unite those from the same State become strong and endearing. But
far stronger than this is the bond that unites members of different
churches to their own clergymen, and especially when they but
rarely enjoy their ministrations. Gifted, intelligent, and full of energy,
and also sympathizing deeply with the object of my Christian toils
and labors, she spared no pains to make her house what it ever was
to me, a delightful resting-place and home. A large, fine chamber
always awaited me, to which they gave my name, and here I spent
many delightful hours. I brought to them many tales of my
adventures in the Brush, for which my host had the keenest
appreciation, and I heard from him many accounts of preachers and
preaching he had known and heard that are hard to be surpassed,
which I intend to give my readers in another chapter. It was with
these friends that for years I left my horse during all my vacation-
journeys. Here she became a family pet. Here I was sure she would
never be overridden, and always receive the kindest care. Here she
came to be regarded with an attachment, if possible, greater than
my own; for, when I returned for her, the children would have a
hearty cry as I rode her away. When at length I closed my labors in
the Southwest and left the region, my kind Baptist friend was more
than glad to procure her for his Presbyterian wife, and I left her
where I was sure she would have the kindest treatment while
serviceable, and enjoy a comfortable and honored old age.
 CHAPTER IV.
OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST.
The hospitality extended to ministers of the gospel by the people
who lived in the Brush was generous and large-hearted to a degree
that I have never known among any other class of people. They
obeyed the Scripture injunction, "Use hospitality without grudging."
They were "not forgetful to entertain strangers." I found their tables,
their beds, their stables, and indeed all the comforts of their rude
homes, always open for the rest and refreshment of myself and my
indispensable horse. We were as welcome to all these as to the
water that bubbled from their springs and "ran among the hills."
At the commencement of my itinerant life, on leaving the families
where I had spent a night or taken a meal, I used to propose to pay
them, and ask for my bill; but I found this gave offense. Many
seemed to regard it as a reflection on their generosity for me to
intimate or suppose that they would take pay for entertaining a
preacher. I therefore adopted a formula that saved me from all
danger of wounding their feelings, and relieved my character from
all suspicion of a disposition to avoid the payment of my bills. It was
as follows: When about to leave a family, I said to them, "I am
indebted to you for a night's entertainment," to which the general
response was: "Not at all, sir. Come and stay with us again,
whenever you pass this way."
It was a very rare occurrence that I was permitted to cancel my
indebtedness by paying for what I had received.
In thanking them for their hospitality, as of course I always did on
leaving them, they made me feel that I had conferred a favor rather
than incurred an obligation by staying with them.
For years it was my custom to apply for entertainment at any house
wherever night overtook me, and I invariably received a cordial
welcome. This application for entertainment was always made
according to the custom of the people, and in their own vernacular,
which I will illustrate by an example.
In my horseback-journeyings I had reached the tall, dense, heavy
forests of the bottom-lands of the Mississippi River, about a dozen
miles from the Father of Waters. As the sun was about setting, I
came upon a large "dead'ning," where the underbrush had been cut
out and burned off, the large trees had been girdled and had died,
and a crop of corn had been raised among the dead forest-trees,
before the new-comer in this wilderness had been able to completely
clear a field around his newly-erected log-cabin. Turning off from the
corduroy-road upon which I had been traveling, I took a footpath,
and, following that, was soon as near the cabin as a high rail-fence
would allow me to approach on horseback. A short distance from
this log-cabin was a still smaller one occupied by a colored aunty
and her family, and used for a kitchen; and not far off still another
log-building, used for a barn and stable.
The most of my readers in the older sections of the country will
suppose that I had now only to dismount, hitch my horse, climb the
fence, rap at the door, and so gain admittance to my resting-place
for the night. Far otherwise. Only the most untraveled and
inexperienced in the Brush would undertake so rash an experiment.
Sitting upon my horse, I called out in a loud voice, "Hello there!"
That call was for the same purpose that the city pastor mounts the
stone steps and rings the bell at the door of his parishioner. It was
rather more effective.
A large pack of hounds and various other kinds of dogs responded
with a barking chorus, a group of black pickaninnies rushed from the
adjacent kitchen, followed to the door by their sable mother, with
arms a-kimbo and hands fresh from mixing the pone or corn-dodger
for the family supper; all, with distended eyes and mouth, and
shining ivory, staring at the stranger with excited and pleased
curiosity. At almost the same instant, the mistress of the incipient
plantation approached the door of her cabin, stockingless and
shoeless, with a dress of woolsey woven in her own loom by her
own hands, and cut and made by her own skill, with face not less
pleased and excited than the others, and her cordial greeting of
"How d'y, stranger—how d'y, sir? 'Light, sir! [alight]—'light, sir!"
Remaining upon my horse, I replied: "I am a stranger in these parts,
madam. I have ridden about fifty miles since morning and am very
tired. Can I get to stay with you to-night, madam?"
"Oh, yes," she replied, promptly, "if you can put up with our rough
fare. We never turn anybody away."
I told her I should be very glad to stay with her, and dismounted.
The dogs, who would otherwise have resisted my approach to the
door by a combined attack, obeyed their instructions not to harm
me, and granted me a safe entrance as a recognized friend.
Such was the universal training of the dogs, and such the uniform
method of approaching and gaining admittance to the houses of the
people in the Brush. My hostess informed me that her husband was
at work in the "dead'ning," but that he would soon be at home and
take care of my horse.
I told her that I could do that myself, and she sent her little son
along with me to the stable, where I bestowed that kind and, I may
say, affectionate care that one who journeys for years on horseback
learns to bestow upon his faithful horse. I then entered the cabin,
and received that warm welcome that awaits the traveler in our
Western wilds.
Shall I describe my home for the night? It was a new log-house, less
than twenty feet square, and advanced to a state of completeness
beyond many in which I had lodged, inasmuch as the large openings
between the logs had been filled with "chink and daubing." The
chimney, built upon the outside of the house, was made of split
sticks, laid up in the proper form, and thoroughly "daubed" with
mud, so as to prevent them from taking fire. A large opening cut
through the logs communicated with this chimney, and formed the
ample fireplace. The roof was made of "shakes"—pieces of timber
rived out very much in the form of staves, but not shaved at all.
These were laid upon the roof like shingles, except that they were
not nailed on, but "weighted on"—kept in their places by small
timbers laid across each row of "shakes" over the entire roof. These
timbers were kept in their places by shorter ones placed between
them, transversely, up and down the roof. In this manner the
pioneer constructs a roof for his cabin, by his own labor, without the
expenditure of a dime for nails. With wooden hinges and a wooden
latch for his door, he needs to purchase little but glass for his
windows, to provide a comfortable home for his family. His latch-
string, made of hemp or flax that he has raised, or from the skin of
the deer which he has pursued and slain in the chase, which, as the
old song has it—
"Hangs outside the door,"
symbolizes the cordial welcome and abounding hospitality to be
found within.
At the end of the room opposite the fireplace there was a bed in
each corner, under one of which there was a "trundle-bed" for the
children. There was no chamber-floor or chamber above to obstruct
the view of the roof. There was no division into apartments, not
even by hanging up blankets, a device I have seen resorted to in
less primitive regions. From floor to roof, from wall to wall, all was a
single "family" room, which was evidently to be occupied by the
family and myself in common. A rough board table, some plain
chairs, and a very few other articles completed the inventory of
household furniture of the pioneer's home to which I had been
welcomed.
Such a home was the birthplace of Lincoln, and many other of the
greatest, wisest, and best men that have ever blessed our country.
Such homes have been crowned with abundance, and have been the
scenes of as much real comfort and joy as any others in our land.
I have found that curiosity is a trait that is not monopolized by any
one section of country or class of people. It belongs to all localities,
and to all grades and kinds of people. I therefore, in accordance with
what a pretty wide experience had taught me was the best course to
pursue, proceeded at once to gratify the curiosity of my hostess as
to who her guest was, and what business had brought him to this
wild region. I told her my name, and that I was a Presbyterian
preacher, and an agent of the American Bible Society. This not only
satisfied her curiosity, but was very gratifying information to her, and
I received a renewed and cordial welcome to her home as a minister
of the gospel.
In the course of the ordinary conversation and questions that attend
such a meeting of strangers in the Brush, I learned that she and her
husband had emigrated from a county some hundreds of miles east,
which I had several times visited in the prosecution of my mission,
and I was able to give her a great deal of information in regard to
her old neighbors and friends. We were in the midst of an earnest
conversation in regard to these people, when her husband came in
from his labors. On being introduced to me, and informed in regard
to my mission, he repeated the welcome his wife had already given
me to the hospitality of their cabin.
Our supper was such as is almost universally spread in the wilds of
the Southwest. It consisted of an abundance of hot corn-bread, fried
bacon, potatoes, and coffee. A hard day's labor and a long day's ride
prepared us to do it equal justice.
The evening wore rapidly away in conversation. Such pioneers are
not dull, stupid men. Their peculiar life gives activity to mind as well
as body. My host was anxious and glad to hear from the great
outside active world, with which I had more recently mingled, and
had questions to ask and views to give as to what was going on in
the political and religious world.
At length our wearied bodies made a plea for rest that could not be
refused, and I was invited to conduct their family worship. This
invitation was extended in the language and manner peculiar to the
Southern and Southwestern sections of the country. This is
universally as follows:
The Bible and hymn-book are brought forward by the host, and laid
upon the table or stand, when he turns to the preacher and says,
"Will you take the books, sir?"
That is the invitation to lead the devotions of the family in singing
and prayer. It has been my happy lot to receive and respond to that
invitation—as I did that night—in many hundreds of families and in
some of the wildest portions of our land.
The method of extending an invitation to "ask a blessing" before a
meal is quite as peculiar. Being seated at the table, the host, turning
to the preacher, says, "Will you make a beginning, sir?"—all at table
reverently bowing their heads as he extends the invitation, and while
the blessing is being asked.
So, too, I have "made a beginning" at many a hospitable board in
many different States. I did not that night make the mistake that is
reported of an inexperienced home-missionary explorer, in similar
circumstances, who, laboring under the impression that "to retire"
and "to go to bed" were synonymous terms, said, "Madam, I will
retire, if you please."
"Retire!" she rejoined; "we never retires, stranger. We just goes to
bed."
Sitting with the family before the large fireplace, I said, "Madam, I
have ridden a long distance to-day, and am very tired."
"You can go to bed at any time you wish, sir," said she. "Just take
the left-hand bed."
I withdrew behind their backs to "lay my garments by," took the left-
hand bed, turned my face to the left-hand wall, and slept soundly for
the night.
When I awoke in the morning, husband and wife had arisen and left
the room, he to feed his team, and she to attend to her household
duties in the kitchen. After an early breakfast, and again leading
their family devotions, I bade them good-by, with many thanks for
their kindness, and with repeated invitations on their part to be sure
to spend the night with them should I ever come that way again.
But I have never seen them since.
I have very often recalled a hospitable reception in the Brush, of a
very different character, the recollection of which has always been
exceedingly pleasant to me. Wishing to visit a rough, wild, remote
region, at a season of the year when the roads were almost
impassable on account of the spring rains and the mud, I concluded
to go the greater part of the distance by steamboats, down one river
and up another, and then ride about fifty miles in a stage or mail-
wagon. The roads would scarcely be called roads at all in most parts
of the country, and I shall not be able to give to many of my readers
any true idea of the exceeding roughness of that ride. A
considerable part of the way was through the bottom-lands of one of
the smaller Southwestern rivers that swell the volume of the
Mississippi. A recent freshet had left the high-water mark upon the
trees several feet higher than the backs of our horses; and as we
jolted over the small stumps and great roots of the trees, from which
the earth had been washed away by the freshet, I was wearied,
exceedingly wearied, by the rough road and comfortless vehicle in
which I traveled.
At length we came upon a very pleasant plantation, with a
comfortable house and surroundings, where the driver, a boy about
fifteen years old, told me he would feed his team, and we would get
our dinner. It was not an hotel. Mail-contractors in this region often
make such arrangements to procure feed for their horses and meals
for the few passengers that they carry, at private houses. As I
entered the house I was greeted with one of those calm, mild, sweet
faces that one never forgets. I should think that my hostess was
between thirty-five and forty years old. I was too weary to engage in
much conversation, and she was quiet, and said very little to me. As
I observed her movements about the room in preparing the dinner, I
thought I had never seen a face that presented a more perfect
picture of contentment and peace. I felt perfectly sure that she was
a Christian—that her face bespoke "the peace of God that passeth all
understanding." When she invited the driver and myself to take
seats at the table, I said, "Shall I ask a blessing, madam?"
With a smile she bowed assent, and, as I concluded and looked up,
her face was all radiant with joy, and she said excitedly, "You are a
preacher, sir!"
I replied, "Yes, madam."
"Well," she responded, "I am glad to see you. I love to see
preachers. I love to cook for them, and take care of them. I love to
have them in my house."
I told her who I was, explained the character of my mission, and
expressed, I trust with becoming warmth, my gratification at the
cordiality of her welcome.
"Oh," said she, "if I was a man, I know what I would do. I would do
nothing but preach. I'd go, and go, and go; and preach, and preach,
and preach. I wouldn't have anything to pester me. I wouldn't marry
nary woman in the world. I'd go, and go, and go—and preach, and
preach, and preach, until I could preach no longer; and then I'd lie
down—close my eyes—and—go on."
Was there ever a more graphic and truthful description of an
earnest, apostolic life? Was there ever a more simple, beautiful
description of a peaceful Christian death? They recall the statement
of Paul, "This one thing I do"; and the story of Stephen, "And when
he had said this, he fell asleep."
The people who have spent their lives deep in the Brush, as this
good woman had, have no other idea of a preacher of the gospel
but one whose duty and mission it is to "go" and "preach." They
have been accustomed to hearing but one message, or at most a
few messages, from their lips, and then hear their farewell words,
listen to their farewell songs, shake hands with them, and see them
take their departure to "go" and "preach" to others who, like them,
dwell in lone and solitary wilds. Meetings and partings like these
have originated and given their peculiar power to such refrains as—
 "Say, brothers, will you meet us—
Say, brothers, will you meet us—
Say, brothers, will you meet us
On Canaan's happy shore?

"By the grace of God we'll meet you—

By the grace of God we'll meet you—
By the grace of God we'll meet you
On Canaan's happy shore."
This woman knew little of the great world—had little that it calls
culture; her language was that of the people among whom she lived,
and was such as she had always been accustomed to hear; but her
thoughts were deep and pure, her "peace flowed like a river," and
her communion with God lifted her to companionship with the
noblest and best of earth. Though I spent but little more than an
hour in her presence, and many years have passed since that
transient meeting, her picture still hangs in the chamber of my
memory, calm, pure, and saintly, and breathing upon my spirit a
perpetual benediction.
 CHAPTER V.
OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS IN THE BRUSH.
Religious meetings, popularly denominated "basket-meetings," were
known and recognized as established institutions in the Brush. They
were among the assemblages that had resulted from the sparseness
of the population in those regions. Where the country was hilly and
mountainous, and the settlers were scattered along the streams in
the narrow valleys; or the land was so rough and poor that only
occasional patches would reward tillage; or for various other causes,
the families were but few, and far distant from each other, it was a
very difficult matter for the people to leave their homes day after
day to attend a continuous meeting. Hence, among other religious
gatherings, they had long been accustomed to hold what were called
basket-meetings.
These meetings involved less labor and trouble than camp-meetings,
and could often be held where such a meeting would be impossible.
They were usually not as large, and did not continue as many days.
They were called "basket-meetings" from the fact that those from a
distance brought their provisions, already cooked, in large baskets,
and in quantities sufficient to last them during the continuance of
the meeting. They put up no tents or cabins on the ground. They did
not cook or sleep there. They most frequently commenced on
Saturday, and continued through the Sabbath. They generally had a
prayer-meeting and preaching on Saturday forenoon, and then
adjourned for an hour or two. During this intermission the greater
part of the people dispersed in groups among the trees, and took
their dinner after the manner of a picnic. Those living in the
immediate vicinity returned to their homes for dinner, taking with
them as many of those in attendance as they could possibly secure.
Every stranger was sure of repeated invitations to dine, both with
these families and neighborhood groups among the trees, and at the
adjacent cabins. After dinner they reassembled and had a repetition
of the services of the morning.
Unlike a camp-meeting, they had no services at night. When the
afternoon meetings were concluded, the people dispersed and spent
the night at the cabins within two or three miles around. All the
people in these cabins usually kept open house upon such an
occasion. They were present, and, after the benediction was
pronounced, they mounted the stumps and logs and extended a
general invitation to any present to spend the night with them. Not
satisfied with giving this general invitation, they jumped down and
went among the rapidly dispersing crowd and followed it with private
personal solicitations to accept their proffered hospitality.
On the Sabbath, they reassembled with augmented numbers, and
the services of Saturday were reënacted, with such additions and
variations as the circumstances might demand.
The first basket-meeting that I ever attended was so new and
strange to me in all its incidents, that, though many years have
intervened, my recollections of it are as vivid as though it had
occurred but yesterday. It was in a very rough, wild region. The
country had been settled a long time, so that those in attendance
were genuine backwoods people "to the manner born." The place of
meeting was in a tall, dense, unbroken forest. The underbrush had
been cut and cleared away, a few trees had been so felled that rude
planks, made by splitting logs, could be placed across them for seats
for the ladies, while the men mostly sat upon the trunks of other
fallen trees. The pulpit or "stand" for the preacher was original and
truly Gothic in its construction. It was made by cutting horizontal
notches immediately opposite to each other, in the sides of two large
oak-trees, standing about four feet apart, and inserting into these
notches a board about a foot wide, that had been placed across a
wagon and used for a seat by some of those present in coming to
the meeting. The preacher placed his Bible and hymn-book upon this
board, hung the indispensable saddle-bags in which he had brought
them across one end of it, and so was ready for the services. I
thought I had never seen in any cathedral a pulpit more simple and
grand. Those towering, grand old oaks, with their massive,
outstretching branches, spoke eloquently of the power and grandeur
of the God who made them. And yet, small and puny as the
preacher appeared in the contrast, it was a fitting place for him to
stand and proclaim his message to the people who worshiped
beneath them. Comparatively unlearned and ignorant as he was, he
could tell them from that open Bible what they would never learn in
the contemplation of grand old forests, or stars, or suns, or all the
sublimest works of nature. All these are mute and dumb in regard to
the story of the cross. However they may enkindle our rapture, or
excite our reverence, they will never tell us how sin may be forgiven
—how the soul may be saved.
The indispensable matter in the selection of grounds for a basket-
meeting or a camp-meeting in the Southwest was a good spring of
clear, running water. This must be so large as to furnish an
abundance of water, not only for all the people who would be
present, but for all the horses necessary to transport themselves and
their provisions to the place of meeting. In hot weather the demands
for water were large, and there was need for a "clear spring" like
that so beautifully described by the poet Bryant:
"... yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs,
Wells softly forth, and wandering, steeps the roots
Of half the mighty forest."
The sermon on this occasion was plain, sensible, and earnest. The
preacher was superior to the people, and yet in all respects one of
them. He had been born in the Brush, raised in the Brush, and had
spent many years in preaching to the people in the Brush. He
dressed as they dressed, talked as they talked, and, unconsciously to
himself, used all their provincialisms in his sermons. In his thoughts,
feelings, and manner of life he was in full sympathy with them. He
had toiled among them long, earnestly, and successfully. He had
preached to a great many congregations, scattered over a wide
extent of Brush country. He had been associated with his brethren of
different denominations in holding a great many union basket-
meetings similar to the one now in progress. He was widely known,
beloved, and honored. Perhaps the most widely known, honored,
and successful pastorate in the country has been that of the late
Rev. Dr. Gardner Spring, in New York. But I do not think that Dr.
Spring, with all his talents, culture, and learning, could possibly have
been as useful, as successful, as honored among these people, as
was this preacher. He could not have eaten their coarse food, slept
in their wretched beds, mingled with them in their daily life, or been
in such complete sympathy with them in their poverty, struggles,
temptations, and modes of thought, as to have so won their love
and reverence, and led them in such numbers to the cross of Christ.
"There are diversity of gifts, but the same spirit," etc. I honor these
noble and heroic workers in the Master's vineyard, who thus toil on
in the Brush, through scores of years, all unknown to fame. Many of
them know nothing of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but they know how
to win souls to Christ, and the highest authority has said, "He that
winneth souls is wise."
That congregation, when assembled, seated, and engaged in their
devotions, presented a scene not to be forgotten. The preacher,
small in stature, stood upon a rude platform at the feet of the
massive columns of his pulpit. The people were seated among the
standing trees, upon seats arranged without any of the usual
regularity and order, but lying at all points of the compass just as
they had been able to fall, the smaller trees among the larger ones.
The voice of prayer and song ascended amid those massive,
towering columns, crowned with arches formed by their
outstretching branches, and covered with dense foliage. It was the
worship of God in his own temple. It carried the thoughts back to
many scenes not unlike it, in the lives and labors of Christ and his
apostles, when they preached and taught upon the Mount of Olives,
by the shores of Gennesaret, and over the hills and valleys of
Palestine. It gave new force and beauty to the familiar words of
Bryant's grand and noble "Forest Hymn:"
 "The groves were God's first temples, ere man learned
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them—ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
And supplication....
... Be it ours to meditate,
In these calm shades, thy milder majesty,
And to the beautiful order of thy works
Learn to conform the order of our lives."
At the conclusion of the morning sermon the greater part of the
congregation dispersed among the trees to take their dinner in the
manner I have already described. I was invited to go with the
preacher to a cabin about a mile distant, where we were to have our
home during the meeting. We mounted our horses and accompanied
our host through the woods to his residence. As I looked back, I saw
that we were followed by some forty or more other guests. On
reaching his home I found three buildings—a log-house, log-kitchen,
and log-stable. Our horses were put in the stable and bountifully fed
with corn in the ear and fodder. "Fodder" in these regions has a
limited signification, and is applied only to the leaves which are
stripped from the corn-stalks, tied in small bundles, and generally
stacked for preservation. The stalks are not cut, as in the North and
East, but the leaves are stripped from them while standing. This is
the usual feed for horses in the place of hay.
The house was similar to all log-houses, but, as our company was so
numerous, I had the curiosity to ask our host how large it was, and
he told me that he cut the logs just twenty feet long. Its single room
was, therefore, less than twenty feet square. We, however, received
a warm and cordial welcome, and host, hostess, and guests seemed
exceedingly happy. With a part of the company, I was soon invited
into the adjoining house to dinner. This was much smaller—not more
than ten or fifteen feet square. A loom in one corner filled a large
part of the room. This was a very important part of their household
treasures, as the greater portion of the clothing of the entire family
was woven upon it. A long, narrow table, of home construction,
occupied the space between the foot of the loom and the wall. There
was a large fireplace in front, before which the coffee was smoking.
A chair at each end and a bench on each side of the table furnished
seats for ten guests. Our bill of fare was cold barbecued shoat,
sweet potatoes roasted in the ashes, bread, honey, and coffee. Our
honey was from a "bee tree," and our bread was of the Graham
variety, from the necessities of the case. The wheat had been
ground at a "horse mill" in the neighborhood, where they had no
arrangements for separating the bran from the flour. Such a dinner
was not to be despised by hungry men. By the way, I have found
that over a very wide extent of our country the men, on such
occasions, always eat first and alone, the women meanwhile
standing around the table and waiting upon them. After we had
finished our dinner, the table was rapidly reset by the aid of the
"sisters" present, and ten more guests took their seats and dined.
The same course was repeated until the table was set five times,
and fifty persons had dined bountifully in that little log-cabin.
Having all dined, we returned to the preaching "stand," and the
congregation reassembled. I preached to them at 4 p.m., and all the
services were conducted to the close in a manner not essentially
different from preaching services elsewhere.
The audience was dismissed for the night, and dispersed among the
nearest cabins. My clerical friend and myself were joined by a young
licentiate, and returned to spend the night at the house at which we
had dined. The company was not as large as that at dinner, but to
one inexperienced in such life, as I then was, it was beyond my
comprehension how they could be entertained for the night. My
experience and observation at dinner had shown me how we could
get through with our supper. A succession of tables I understood,
but how could that be applied to sleeping arrangements? A
succession of beds was a kind of "succession" I had never heard or
read of in ecclesiastical or any other history. But my perplexities
were evidently not felt by any one else in the company, and I
dismissed them.
All seemed as happy as they could well be. Conversation was
animated. All tongues were loosed. There were stories of former
basket and other meetings, of wonderful revivals, and of remarkable
conversions. There were reminiscences of eccentric and favorite
preachers who had labored among them long years before. There
was the greatest variety of real Western and Southwestern religious
melodies and songs. These were interspersed with the conversation
during the evening, and were the source of great and unfailing
interest and joy. So the hours rolled on, and all were happy. It was
the occasion to which they had looked forward, and for which they
had planned for months—the great occasion of all the year, and it
brought no disappointment. For myself, I must say that if I ever
drew upon my stores of anecdote, and whatever powers of
entertaining I may possess, it was upon this occasion. I was quite in
sympathy with the general joy and good feeling. During the evening
one and another had called for the singing of different religious
songs that were their favorites. On such occasions there was a
general appeal to a young lady, who was quite the best singer in the
company, to know if she knew the song called for; and if she did it
was sung. At length a hymn was called for, and in response to the
usual appeal she said she did not know it. I opened a book, found
the hymn and tune, handed it to her, and said, "Here is the hymn
with the tune. Perhaps you can sing it."
She declined to take the book, saying, with the utmost frankness,
"Oh! sir, I can't read."
I now learned to my amazement that all the hymns and tunes she
had sung that evening she had learned by rote—learned by hearing
them sung by others. She was a young lady, some eighteen or
twenty years old, of more than common beauty of face and form,
and yet she had no hesitation at all in revealing the fact that she
could not read. I afterward received a similar shock on remarking to
a young lady that I met at a county-seat, whose home I had
previously visited, "I understand that a number of the young ladies
in your neighborhood can not read."
"Oh!" said she, "there are only two young ladies there that can
read."
I afterward visited many neighborhoods where it was as proper to
ask a young lady if she could read as it was to ask for a drink of
water, the time of day, or any other question.
At length the evening passed, and the hour for rest and sleep came.
One of our number "took the books" and led our evening devotions.
A chapter was read, our final hymn was sung, and we all bowed in
prayer around that family altar. As we arose from our knees, the
brethren present all walked out of doors. The sisters remained
within. Some "Martha" among them had enumerated our company.
There were three beds in the cabin. These were divided, and a
sufficient number of beds made up on the bedsteads and over the
cabin-floor to furnish a sleeping-place for all our company. This
accomplished, some signal—I know not what—was given, and the
brethren returned to the house. I followed them. The sisters were all
in bed, upon the bedsteads, with their heads covered up by the
blankets. We got into our beds as though these blankets had been
thick walls. Our numbers in this room included three young ladies, a
man and his wife and child, and six other men.
When we awoke in the morning some of the brethren engaged in
conversation for a time, until Mr. W——, the preacher, remarked, "I
suppose it is time to think about getting up."
At this signal the sisters covered their heads again with their
blankets, and we arose, dressed, and departed. My companion for
the night was the young licentiate; and as we walked toward the
stable to look after our horses—the first thing usually done in the
morning by persons journeying on horseback—I remarked to him,
"Last night has been something new in my experience. I never slept
in that way before."
He looked at me with an expression of the profoundest
astonishment, and exclaimed, "You haven't!"
I said no more. I saw that I was the verdant one. I was the only one
in all the company to whom the experiences of the night suggested
a thought of anything unusual or strange. So trite and true it is that
"one half of the world does not know how the other half lives."
The Sabbath was the "great day of the feast." It brought together
some three or four hundred people—a very large congregation in
such a sparsely settled country. I made an address to them in the
morning, explaining the extended operations of the American Bible
Society in our own and other lands. I told them that the Society was
then attempting to place a copy of the Word of God in every family
in our country; that Mr. K——, a venerable and honored class-leader,
had been appointed to canvass their county; and that either by sale
or gift he would supply every family in the county with the Bible that
would receive it. All of these facts were new to the most of them,
and were listened to with the greatest interest. Large numbers of
them had no Bibles in their families; they were more than sixty miles
from a book-store, which many of them never visited, and they were
glad to have the Bible brought to their own doors, and furnished to
them at so small a price. By making these statements I gave the
Bible-distributor an introduction to the people scattered over a wide
extent of country, which prepared them to welcome him to their
families and greatly facilitated his labors.
My brief address was followed by a sermon entirely different from
those of the preacher I have already described, and deserves notice
as a type of thousands that are preached to the people in the Brush.
Scarcely a sentence in the sermon was uttered in the usual method
of speech. It was drawled out in a sing-song tone from the
beginning to the end. The preacher ran his voice up, and sustained it
at so high a pitch that he could make but little variation of voice
upward. The air in his lungs would become exhausted, and at the
conclusion of every sentence he would "catch" his breath with an
"ah." As he proceeded with his sermon, and his vocal organs
became wearied with this most unnatural exertion, the "ah" was
repeated more and more frequently, until, with the most painful
contortions of face and form, he would with difficulty articulate, in
his sing-song tone:
"Oh, my beloved brethren—ah, and sisters—ah, you have all got to
die—ah, and be buried—ah, and go to the judgment—ah, and stand
before the great white throne—ah, and receive your rewards—ah,
for the deeds—ah, done in the body—ah."
From the beginning to the end of his sermon, which occupied just an
hour and ten minutes by my watch, I could not see the slightest
evidence that he had any idea what he was going to say from one
sentence to another. While "catching his breath," and saying "ah," he
seemed to determine what he would say next. There was no more
train of thought or connection of ideas than in the harangue of a
maniac. And yet many hundreds of such sermons are preached in
the Brush, and I am sorry to add that thousands of the people had
rather hear these sermons than any others. This "holy tone" has
charms for them not possessed by any possible eloquence. As the
preacher "warms up" and becomes more animated in the progress
of his discourse, the more impressible sisters begin to move their
heads and bodies, and soon all the devout brethren and sisters sway
their bodies back and forth in perfect unison, keeping time, in some
mysterious manner, to his sing-song tone.
It seemed sad to me that such a congregation, gathered from such
long distances, should have the morning hour occupied with such a
sermon. But it was a union meeting, the preacher was the
representative of his denomination, and they would have gone away
worse than disappointed—grievously outraged—if they could not
have heard this sermon with the "holy tone."
But our basket-meeting was to be signalized by an incident always
interesting in all countries, in all grades of society, among the most
rustic as well as among the most refined. After the benediction, a
part of the congregation who were in the secret remained upon their
seats, casting knowing and pleasant glances at each other. My friend
W——, who, like a good many other preachers, and some preachers'
wives, had faithfully kept a secret that a good many were "just dying
to know," took his position in front of the "stand." A trembling,
blushing, but happy pair advanced from the crowd, and took their
position before him. The groom produced from his pocket the
indispensable license. The dispersing crowd, having by some electric
influence been apprised of what was going on, came rushing back,
and mounted the surrounding stumps and logs, forming a standing
background to the sitting circle. All looked on and listened in silence,
while the preacher in a strong, clear voice proceeded to solemnize
the marriage and pronounce them husband and wife. The scene was
strange and strikingly impressive. It seemed a wedding in Nature's
own cathedral. The day was perfect. Some rays from the sun
penetrated the dense foliage above and fell upon the scene,
mingling golden hues with the shadows, as the poet, the recently
deceased A.B. Street, has so beautifully described:
"Here showers the sun in golden dots,
Here rests the shade in ebon spots,
So blended that the very air
Seems network as I enter here."
After the usual congratulations and kisses the groom withdrew, and
reappeared in a few moments mounted upon a large gray horse.
The bride, having gained the top of a stump, mounted his horse
behind him, and the two rode away, as happy and satisfied as they
could well be.
The larger congregation of the Sabbath made larger demands upon
their hospitality; but these demands were fully met. The dinner, both
under the trees and at the cabins, was but a reënactment of the
scenes of the day before on an enlarged scale.
In the afternoon Mr. W—— preached a sensible and earnest sermon,
like that of the day before. In my pocket-diary, written at the time, I
have characterized it as a "thundering sermon." His voice was
strong, and capable of reaching the largest congregations that he
addressed in the open air. This sermon concluded the services of the