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THE LIFE
JACOB G RUBER
By W. P
^TKI
CKLAND.
FIFTH THOUSAND.
JfetD ijork: (h) PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PORTER,
200 MULBEEEY-STEEET. 1860.
M^./^
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by CARLTON & PORTER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Xew-York.
fi;
PREFACE
"Jacob Geuber was a character, and copied after no raan," was a remark made hj one of his cotemporaries, an aged' minister of the Bal- timore Conference, and whoever reads the sketch of his life presented in the following pages will, we think, be fully convinced of the fact. He was himself always and everywhere, and he never lost his individuality as one of the most humorous, witty, and yet withal grave and earnest preachers of his day. We have aimed at giving a faithful portraiture of the man, pre- senting the salient points of his character as they were developed during a ministry of over half a century ; and as our materials were ample, apart from the recollections of numerous inci- dents connected with his life, furnished by per- sonal friends, the reader need not fear that we
4 PKEFACE.
have taxed our imagination to fill up the pic- ture. His whole life was full of incident. Pos- sessed as he w^as of such a striking individuahty of character, it may be safely affirmed, that amons: all the varieties found in the ministerial ranks he stands alone. There are not many Cartwrights or Finleys; there was but one Gruber.
A considerable portion of the work is autobi- ographic, and will prove the more interesting on that account. The writer desires to tender his grateful acknowledgements to the Baltimore Historical Society for kindly giving him access to the Gruber papers, and for the facilities fur- nished by its estimable secretary for copying the same. He also desires to mention the kind- ness of numerous ministers in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and other conferences, for the facts and incidents furnished by them, and which have proved of great value in the prepa- ration of the work.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Early Life — Parentage — Itinerant Preachers — Conversion — Simon Mil- ler — Singular Notions about lieligion — A learned Ministry — Valentine Cook — Wicked Wish of a German Woman — Grubei-'s Call to the Min- istry— Goes upon a Circuit — Predictions — Takes his Degrees among the Mountains —Hard Service and Poor Fare — Father Turck — Dumb Man's Speech — W. M'Lenahan — An old Preacher's aversion to Bi- ographies— Second Year's Field of Labor — Power in Prayer — A remarkable Case — A German Indian — Lorenzo and Peggy Dow — An Indian Exhorter — An amusing Incident — Carlisle Circuit — Early Methodist Literature — Winchester Circuit — Ministerial Dig- nity— Bishop Asbury on Solids and Fluids — Dyspeptic Preachers — Asbury's Cure for a Clerical Parvenu — Father Eichards Page 9
CHAPTER n. Bishop George — Story of "Bishop George and the Young Preacher" unfounded — Young Americas — Rockingham — James Ward — Eevival — Strange Exercises — Gruber made Presiding Elder — Camp-meetings — Letter to Dr. Coke from a Presbyterian Minister — Water and Fire — Lost in the Mountains — Death at a Camp- meeting — Wonderful Exercises — Presbyterians shouting — A Young Divine seeking a Call — A Family Quarrel settled — An eccentric Local Preacher — A Backwoods College — Master Workman — Books of the Bar — Getting happy before the Time — Description of Solomon's Temple — Coughing up the Negroes — A Slave-trader — Strangers tested by Prayer — A good Master — Wicked Elders oo
CHAPTER in. Camp-meetings on the Greenbrier District — Commendable Emulation among the Preachers — A jolly Wedding — A Slaveholding Preacher — Monongahela District — Statistics of Camp-meetings — Bokl Sinners — A young Man with a Pistol — Conversion of a Major — Camp-meetings aqiong the Presbyterians — An Infidel Club — Assault and Battery — A "strait and stiff" Professor of Religion— A Shout in tlie Wrong Place — A happy Man — A Termagant — Qujuterly Meetings — A Man
6 CONTENTS.
in Distress — A zealous Exliorter — Interesting Historical Item — Last Interview with Bishop Asbury — High Heads — Fashionable Dress — Letter to a General Conference Delegate — Opposition to Dogs — A Dandy Preacher — Eestoring Order at a Camp-meeting — Singular Ee- proof — Blowing out the Fire — Fine Style in Preaching — Preaching before the Professors and Students of Dickinson College — Opposition to Tobacco — Preachers reproved for Smoking Page 58
CHAPTER ly.
Preaching in Cabins — Appointed to Baltimore — Light-street and Sharp- street Churches — Quaker Opposition — Conversation with a Qiiaker — The Battle at North Point — Preaching to the Soldiers — Bombard- ment— Burial with the Honors of "War — Sermon on the Fourth of July — A Strange Procession — Dreams and Visions — Old Joe's Vis- ion of Jacob's Laddei" 93
CHAPTER V.
Opposition to a City Station — Appointed to Carlisle Circuit — Appointed to the District — Great Times in the Mountains — Model Professors — Albright and his People — An honest Dutchman judged — United Brethren Church — Opposition Line — Bishop Asbury's Wish — Gru- ber's Sermon at the Washington Camp-meeting — National Sins — Address to Masters and Slaves — Displeasure of Slaveholders — Letter from Eev. S. G. Eoszel — Warrant issued for his Arrest — Arrested at Quarterly Meeting — Gave Security for his Appearance at Court — Indicted by the Grand Juiy for inciting Slaves to Mutiny and Ee- bellion 123
CHAPTER VL
Bill of Indictment — Opening of the Case — Examination of Witnesses in behalf of the State — Opening Address on behalf of the Defendant by Eoger B. Tauey of Washington City — Examination of Witnesses for the Defense — Testimony of Eev. N. Snethen — Eev, J. Mason — Eev. J. Forrest — H. G. O'Neal — Mr. Long — Eev. L. Everhart — Eev. S. L. Davis — Jacob Bowlus — John Bowlus — Messrs. Brazier, Hunt, Bealer, Blake, Middlekauff, White, and Eeynolds — Eev. F. Stier— Eev. Stephen G. Eoszel — Eev. Abner Neal — Closing Argument for the Prosecution — Mr. Martin's Argument for the Defense — Argu- ment of ]\'ii\ Pigman, Counselor for the Defense — Mr. Taney concludes the Defense — Verdict of the Jury 142
CHAPTER Vn. Eev. David Martin — Testimony of the Bible — TraflSc in Slaves — Gru- ber's Sermon at Camp-meeting — Different kinds of Heai'ers — Eepubli- can Slaveholders — History of Arrest and Trial — Eeflections — Eeview
CONTENTS. T
of the Trial — Lawyers — Inefficiency and Uncertainty of Law — Love of Money — Conference — Bishop lioberts — Exercise of Episcopal Functions — Bishop's Cabinet — The Way Appointments are ijow made — Eight of Choice — Frederic Circuit — Eest Week — Incident ^ illustrating the Power of Bigotry Page 249
CHAPTER VIIL
Conference at Georgetown — " Haltering the Condition" — Marriage — Housekeeping — Dauphin Circuit — Preacher's Allowance — Traveling Expenses — Bishop Asbury's Opinion of City Stations — Frolicking Christians — Harvest Sermon— Conference in Philadelphia — Biahop Soule — Questions — Appointments — Something strange 268
CHAPTER IX.
Bristol Circuit — Germans and Quakers — Earl^^ Field of Labor- Strange Texts — A Wonderful Preacher — Pointless Sermon — Lancaster Cir- cuit — Pride, Whisky, and Tobacco — Camp-meeting — Sutlers — A Sheep and a Goat — Burlington Circuit — A good Beggar — A Singular Druggist — Chester Circuit — J. B. Finley and his Indian Chiefs — Presbyterians and Anxious Seats — A Baptist Experience — Philadel- phia — St. George's Church — Colleagues — Great Eeform in Baltimore
— Mutual Eights — A fine House — Withdrawal of a Eeformer from the Church — Singular Certificate — Salem Circuit — Benjamin Abbott
— Eum Drinking — Tobacco Chewing — Prosperity — Sermon at St. George's in 1830 279
CHAPTER X.
Waynesburgh Circuit — Dr. Sargent — Bishop M'Kendree — Eemoval to Baltimore — Opposition to Transfer — Port Deposit Circuit — William Hunter — Baltimore, Sharp-street and Asbury — Death of Mrs. Gru- ber — Colored People — Ebenezer, Washington City — A Hollander and a Priest — Questions — Title to Heaven — Extravagance in Wash- ington— Chaplain to Congress — Singular Sermon at a Camp-meet- ing— Carlisle Circuit — Opposition Lines — Feet Washing — Chris- tians— Miracle Workers — Camp-meeting on Huntingdon Circuit ^ — Amusing Discourse — The Crow's Nest stirred up — Card Playing — "A Particular and Confidential Friend" — Sharp-street and Asbury, Baltimore — "Old Wesley" — Colored Preacliers — Spurious Eeviv- als — Profession and Practice — Visit to Eachel Martin 303
CHAPTER XI.
Lewistown — Eemoval — Eachel Martin's House — Gruber outdone — An Irish Family — Wesley's Bed — An Episcopal Parson — Undeserved Compliment— A liberal Circuit — A new Thing under the Moon —
8 CONTENTS.
Mifflin Circuit — "A better Day coming" — Animal Excitement — Church Building — Preachers' Salaries — A Bargain proposed — Mean- ing of the Word " all" — Trough Creek Circuit — Bad State of Things
— Keformers — Camp-meetings — A Slip — Tobacco Chewing and Feet Washing — The " holy Kiss " — Church sold Page 327
CHAPTER XII.
Warrior's Mark Circuit — Witches — An Ugly Old Woman — Consist- ency—A Witch tried — Shirleysburgh Circuit — A Friendly Family
— Education of Daughters in Catholic Seminary — Anxiety of the Mother — Eeflections — Personal Interview — Admission — Purgatory — Location— Heaven — Priestcraft — Short Way with the Catholics — Conversation with a Priest— "Old Mother Church" — The True Church— St. Peter a sorry Foundation — Invincible Ignorance — A Mass Meeting — High Mass — Low Mass — The Original Languages — Horse and Mass in Latin • 339
CHAPTER XIII. Hints to young Preachers — Treatment of— A Union Meeting-house — Prayer for a young Preacher — Clerical Vanity — Bombast — Eolation of an Incident — Preaching at Conference — A smart young Preacher
— Improving the Style — " Going to Heaven by way of the Moon to see the Angels " — A Wonderful Man 350
CHAPTER Xiy.
Personal Kecollections — Peculiar Characteristics — Uncompromising — Education— Gruber's Style as a Preacher — The Door of Heaven shut and the Key lost — Dietetic Scruples — Theological Attainments
— Deep Piety — Cider and Beer — Augmentum ad Mulierem — Fall- ing from Grace — Fire in the Head — Preaching to the Fishes — The Borrowed Shirt — Indian Squaws — Misquotations — Odd Reproof. 359
CHAPTER XV. Tribute to the Memory of Gruber— Last Pound- Last 'Sermon — Dr. Bond — Right to a Jubilee — Letter to the Conference — Unintermitted Labor of Fifty Years — Work done — Great Sufferings — Attachment to the Sanctuary — Last Sabbath in the Church — Discourse — Relig- ious Enjoyment — Adjustment of Temporal Affairs — Bequests to Chartered Fund, Missionary Society, etc. — Rev. S. V. Blake — Clos- ing Scene — Last Sabbath on Earth, first Sabbath in Heaven — Por- traiture of his Character — In Memoriam 37C
LIFE OP JACOB GRUBER.
CHAPTER I.
Early Life — Parentage — Itinerant Preachers — Conversion — Simon Mil- ler — Singular Notions about Religion — A learned Ministry— Valentine Cook — Wicked Wish of a German Woman — Gruber's Call to the Min- istry — Goes upon a Circuit — Predictions — Takes his Degrees among the Mountains —Hard Service and PoorFare — Father Turck— Dumb Man's Speech— W. M'Lenahan — An old Preacher's aversion to Bi- ographies—Second Year's Field of Labor — Power in Prayer — A remarkable Case — A German Indian — Lorenzo and Peggy Dow — An Indian Exhorter — An amusing Incident — Carlisle Circuit- Early Methodist Literature— Winchester Circuit — Ministerial Dig- nity—Bishop Asbury on Solids and Fluids — Dyspeptic Preachers — Bishop Asbury's Cure for a Clerical Parvenu — Father Eichards.
At the beginning of the present century there ap- peared at the seat of the Philadelphia Conference a young man from Bucks county, Pennsylvania, wlio was 'impressed with the conviction that it was liis duty to preach. The homestead whicli he liad loft was the place of his birth, which occurred February 3, 17T8. His parents, whose Christian names were
10 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
John and Platina, were of German descent, and had been brought up in the faith of the great leader of the Reformation. The German Reformed Chm-ch was among the earliest organized in Pennsylvania, and for many years, in the particular section about which we are writing, that denomination had the exclusive control of the religio/us interests of the neighborhood. The time, however, came when this quiet was broken. Two itinerant Methodist preach- ers, who, it seems, without any special ecclesiastical authority, and without any regard whatever for tlie old established order of things, had divided up the country into circuits, and claiming to be successors of the apostles themselves, thought it no robbery to imitate them in traversing the country, and preaching the Gospel whenever they found an open door. The strangeness of their manner, and the wonderful earn- estness that characterized their preaching, attracted the attention of the people, particularly the younger portion, and the cabins and barns where they held forth were crowded.
Young Gruber listened to these circuit preachers with amazement ; and though they were denounced by the staid and sober Reformers as wild and fanat- ical, he nevertheless felt stran^^ely drawn to their
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 11
meetings. There was such a fervor in their prayers^ and sucli a zeal and earnestness in tlieir preaching, full of home, practical truths, and such a power in their songs, tliat he was entirely fascinated, and soon became convinced of the need of conversion. To obtain a thing so desirable, he made a solemn vow that he would pray seven times a day. His prayers for a change of heart were soon answered, and witli gladness he went with his parents to the place of meeting, and with them joined the Methodist Church.
The names of the preachers who traveled the circuit at this time were Simon Miller and Isaac Kobinson. The former was of German descent. He was a man of genuine piety and deep experience, possessing talents as a preacher much above medi- ocrity. He could preach fluently both in English and German, and this latter qualification gave him an easy access to the German famihes. Constrained by the love of Christ to preach the Gospel, he left a home of affluence, and bidding adieu to ease and comfort, cheerfully endured the toils and hardships of an itinerant life. About this tim.e he was passing through a season of great mental depression. He labored under great discouragements and encoun-
12 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
tered violent opposition. Though large crowds at- tended his ministry, he was not satisfied unless he could witness the fruits of his labors in seeing souls converted ; and the prospect of success being gloomy, he was much dispirited. When young Gruber, how- ever, was converted through his instrumentality he was greatly comforted, and said if he could be successful in getting one such soul converted it would be a good year's work, and amply compensate him for all his labor. The conversion of this prom- ising young man was not, however, the only fruit of his toil, as several others were converted and added to the Church, The revival aroused the prejudices of the old Church, and much opposition was mani- fested among the Germans. They knew nothing about immediate conversion, and their religion con- sisted mostly in a certain course of indoctrination and the observance of the rites of the Church. Tlieir ministers had taught them, that when they were bap- tized and had been confirmed, after having passed a regular course of catechetical instruction, and crowned the whole by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, they were converted, and none could call in question the genuineness of their religion. Being thus initiated into the Church, they w^ere considered
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 13
r.s lijiviiig virtually sworn to adhere to it tlirougli life. An elder of the German Eeformed Church once said to the mother of young Gruber, thai the children must be in religion the same precisely as their parents, even if the parents were heathen.
That the reader may have a still more correct description of the religious condition of this particu- lar neighborhood, we give an account prepared by Gruber himself. He says : " The Methodist preach- ers came into the neighborhood, and held several meetings. As the result of their labors a revival commenced, and quite a number of persons were converted and professed a knowledge of sins for- given." Some of the members of the German min- ister's Church went to the old gentleman, expressing a desire to know something about this new doctrine. In reply to their inquiries about the knowledge of forgiveness, he said: "I have been a preacher more than twenty years and I do not know my sins for- given, and indeed it is impossible that any one should know it." It was not considered very won- derful by some that this preacher should be in dark- ness on that subject, as he frequently became intoxi- cated; and on a certain occasion, when the elders were unable to procure wine for the sacrament, he re-
14 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
marked that whisky would answer jnst as well. One of the elders replied, "That would be ofiering strange fire„ on God's altar." An aged Vv'oman, a member of the German Church, at one of the revival meetings where some were praising God for having pardoned their sins, stood thoughtfully shaking her head and said, "It could not be, for if they had to answer a hundred and sixty questions, as she had before she got religion, they would learn that it could not be obtained in sucli quick time."
Among the early itinerants who visited Pennsyl- vania about this time was the eccentric Valentine Cook. He was fresh from the halls of Cokesbury College, and perhaps the first native college-bred preacher that had appeared in the American Meth- odist Church". College-bred preachers in that day were held in the highest esteem, and a learned min- ister was looked up to with great veneration. When Cook made his appearance, and it was rum.ored that he was a graduate of a college, he attracted general attention. The German Reformed, like several other Churches we could name, entertained the idea that no man could possibly be qualified to preach who had not received a classical education, and hence vastly more respect was paid to Cook than to any of
LIFE OF JACOB CtKUBEK. 15
liis colleagues in the niinistiy. His learning, however, did not always avail to insure him respect, as the fol- lowing incident will show: After traveling a whole day without refreshment in a region' wdiere he was not known, he called a halt in the evening at tlie liouse of a German and asked if he could obtain feed for his horse and something for himself to eat. Being a tall, gangling, rough-looking specimen of humanity, the good woman, who was engaged in spinning, mis- took him not for a German but an Irishman. She was not at all favorably inlpressed with his appear- ance, but at her husband's request she procured a lunch for him and returned to her wheel, saying to her husband somewhat petulantly in German, she hoped the Irishman would choke in eating. After Cook had finished his repast he asked the privilege to pray, which being granted he knelt down and of- fered up a fervent petition in German. In his prayer he besought the Lord to bless the kind woman at the wheel and give her a new heart, that she might be better disposed toward strangers. Such a personal reflection was more than the good w^oman could stand, and she left her wheel and ran from the house over- whelmed wnth chagrin at her wicked wish.
We mention these incidents for the purpose of
16 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
giving the reader some idea of the times in which young Gruber commenced his religious career. Being a sprightly lad, he was soon called out to exercise his gifts in public prayer and exhortation. As usual in such cases in an early day, a storm of persecution arose not only from those who were outside of the Church and the family, but such as served to illustrate the declaration that "a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Strange as it was, the father, mother, brothers, and sisters, as if by one consent, rose up against the young exhorter, and he was obliged to leave home and seek more congenial quarters elsewhere. Some of the more zealous Methodists interpreted this differently from what young Jacob had imagined, and persuaded him that it was a clear indication of Providence that it was his duty to abandon everything for the exclusive work of the ministry. This interpretation of provi- dence was soon after verified. As he was on his way afoot and alone to the town of Lancaster he met one of the itinerants, who in a short conversation con- vinced him of the duty of entering upon the minis- try, and sent him to an adjoining circuit to fill a va- cancy. He accordingly procured a horse and went to the appointment. There was some diversity of
1
LIFE OF JACOH G RUBER. 17
opinion about the propriety of this course, even among the preachers. He had a white horse, and one of them jocosely remarked : " Well, you have got on the pale horse; death and hell will follow you; only take care that you don't let them get before you." Another remarked that " he would kill him- self in six months;" and still another affirmed that, such was his zeal and physical exertion, " one montli would put him to rest." Isone of these things, liowever, seemed to move this young son of Yulcan, (for he was a blacksmith by trade,) and, as before stated, he found himself at the place of holding the conference, in the year 1800.
He was not, however, without strange imaginings ; and as the conference embraced sickly regions in its territory, he knew not but he might be sent by the intrepid Asbury to some one of these localities, if for no other purpose than to try his faith and mettle. Many a young man has finished his course in one year's service ; but not so with Gruber. He had a powerful constitution, an iron frame capable of en- during an amount of hardship, labor, and fatigue which made him the wonder of all his ministerial companions. He had some intimations that he would be sent down to Delaware; but when the
18 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
appointments were announced by the bishop his name was connected with Tioga circuit. "Instead, there- fore, of going down," as he remarked, "I had to go up — up rivers and mountains, and take my degrees among lakes, rivers, and Indians."
Habited in a gray suit of Quakerish cut, and a drab broad-brimmed hat, he mounted his " white horse" and started for his circuit. Though young and inexperienced, being a little over twenty years of age, he buckled on the harness like a good soldier of the cross, and entered the field of itinerant war- fare right manfully. Without a colleague to whom he might look for advice, and from whom he might receive encouragement in the arduous and difficult work of the ministry, he showed himself worthy of the post assigned him, and heroically encountered the difiiculties and met the responsibilities of a large four weeks' circuit. The outlines of his field of labor are thus given by himself: "The lower part of the circuit was Wysock, then Towanda and Sugar Creek, thence up tlie Chemung some distance^ thence up the North Branch above the Great Bend." After travel- ing for six months, for which he received as salary five dollars and sixty-seven cents, his presiding elder relieved him by appointing another preacher in liis
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 19
stead, and sending him, in company with Father Anthony Tm'ck, to Herkimer circuit, to which had been added the Mohawk circuit, embracing all the country from "Jericho to the head waters of the Mohawk Kiver."
Father Turck was a native of New York, a de- scendant of one of the Dutch families that emigrated from Holland. He was received into the traveling connection in 1793, at the conference which was held in Philadelphia. He was a man of great zeal and energy, and was remarkably successful in his labors. He died March 13, 1803, in Freehold circuit, Mon- mouth county, 'New Jersey.
Gruber gives the following account of his col- league: "Father Turck was a strict disciplinarian. The first time he met a class on the circuit it was his custom at the close to propose the following ques- tions, and insist upon definite answers: 'Are you all in peace with each other?' 'Have you entire con- fidence in each other!' If the answers were satis- factory he made the following note in the class-book : 'Examined this class to-day; found all in peace and harmony ; told them to be watchful and faithful for the time to come, and not bring complaints against each other concerning any matters that occurred
20 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
previously.' He thus kept his books posted every i<j;ind."
While on this circuit Gruber fell in company with a young man who at times lost his speech. In enter- ing into conversation with him he learned that he was converted somewhere in the East, and that he was soon after impressed that it was his duty to preach ; but refusing to obey the call his speech was taken from him. This .young man during his speak- ing intervals could pray with remarkable fluency and power, and his exhortations were exceedingly appropriate and pointed. When his speech failed him he would call for a slate and write his thoughts, at the same time giving the reason why his speech was lost. At one time he attended the j)reaching of a Universalist, and after the preacher was through he rose to reply, and delivered one of tlie strongest and most eloquent arguments against the doctrine. After the meeting he was beset by several who wished, to controvert certain points with him ; but his speech was gone, and they could not get a word in reply. In the house where he boarded there was a young man who taught school in the neighborhood, and annoyed the family very much b}^ parading his learn- ing and talking about nouns and pronouns, verbs
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 21
and logic, occasionally descanting npon physics. The dumb man took the pedagogue one day in hand, and administered a severe reproof in the form of a lecture. The schoolmaster felt incensed, and rising from his seat paced the room; but the dumb man followed him, increasing in severity. Finding no quarters he left the house, but his persecutor was at his heels, using his speech to the greatest advantage while it lasted. The schoolmaster started upon a run, but he could not outstrip his enemy, who shouted in his ears : " Lord, grant that his logic may lodge in his heart, and that his physics may work all sin out of his soul !"
Gruber's presiding elder, William M'Lenahan, was a warm-hearted Irishman, who came to this country in his youth. In 1787 he entered the itin- erancy, and preached with power and unction. Great success attended his labors, which covered over a period of forty-five years, and to him, with his early colleagues in the ministry, the Church is indebted for the planting of Methodism on what was then known as the frontiers. It is a standing won- der that the laborious, self-denying pioneers of Methodism in this country have been ignored, both in general and ecclesiastical history, with but few
22 . LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
exceptions, and all we can find of their lives and labors, some of which embraced half a century, is restricted to a few lines in the General Minutes of the Conferences of the Methodist Church. This may be accounted for, perhaps, so far as the Methodist Church is concerned, in the example of Wesley, who gave but the most meager accounts of his preachers, a course which was faithfully followed by Asbury and his co- adjutors in- the early history of the Church in this country. So pow^erfuUy had this sentiment impressed itself upon the minds of the early Methodist preach- ers, that an old pioneer, just now looking over our shoulder and asking Tvhat w^e were doing, on being informed that we were writing a life of Gruber, said : "I charge you not to say a word about me when 1 am dead. Let the simple answer be appended to the question, ' Who have died this year V my humble name ; and," added he with emphasis, " I am in earnest about this matter, and you will find my re- quest recorded on the journals of the conference."
This we regard as an extreme view of the question of biography. Much that has been written, w^e acknowledge, has been of a highly fulsome character, and a great deal of varnish has been expended to make doubtful characters shine ; but that is no
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 23
reason why legitimate biograpliy should not hold a most important place in the literature of the Church and the world. History teaches by examples, and without the biographies of those who have been identified with that history we shall be without the examples, and fail of the instruction imparted there- by. Our old friend, who has such a horror of biog- raphies, is doubtless laboring under the impression that they must be so thoroughly eulogistic as to cover over all defects, and present, in the most highly colored and favorable light, everything pertaining to private and public life ; that nothing, not even the slightest error in judgment or improper movement in action can be noticed. So have we not learned what constitutes a true biography.
The second year of our young itinerant's ministry was spent on the Oneida and Cayuga circuit, em- bracing a large field in "Western Kew York. Yast tracts of wilderness interposed between the appoint- ments, and new hardships were to be endured. J^othing daunted, he scaled tlie mountains, penetrat- ed the woods, and sought the cabins nestled among them, that he might preach the Gospel to their inmates. Here he labored with the most unremitting zeal and diligence. Through his fervent appeals
24 LITE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
many were awakened and converted, and accessions were made to the several appointments in the widely extended circuit.
The Rev. Samuel Howe, an old itinerant, relates an incident illustrative of Gruber's power in prayer. At a quarterly meeting held in a barn in this part of the country, after a most impressive and power- ful sermon from the presiding elder, M'Lenahan, Gruber engaged in prayer. " It seemed," says Father Howe, " to resemble the day of Pentecost ; the barn was shaken, and the people simultaneously sprang to their feet, while shouts of joy and cries for mercy filled the place. Many fell to the floor, and others were filled with fear and fled in the greatest consternation."
In the year 1802 he was sent to Dauphin circuit alone, and traveled it, preaching from appointment to appointment, for about three months, at the close of which time he was removed to Huntington cir- cuit. His field embraced Woodcock Yalley, Bloody Run, Bedford, Deming's Creek, Morrison's Cove, Frankstown, Warrior's Mark, Half Moon, Stone Yalley, Manor Hill, Warrior's Ridge, and Hunting- ton. In writing about this circuit he says: "We had a wilderness to clear and cultivate. The hand-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 25
ful of corn among the mountains grew, the Lord gave the increase, and we gave him the glory in the public congregations, and frequently in loud shouts in family worship. Truly we had times of refresh- ing from the presence of the Lord. Many of the converts have gone to heaven. I hope to overtake tliem, and be forever with the Lord in glory. '^ The extent of his field of labor may be learned from his statement, that in two years he traveled from Tioga Point to the head of the North Branch, then to the head of the Mohawk River from Jericho to Coopers- town, thence to Utica and Rome, and fi-om thence to Paris, Geneva, and Jerusalem, including all inter- mediate points.
At a certain place on this circuit there lived a man who had been in great distress of mind, border- ing on despair. He wept much and prayed almost constantly, but found no relief. He was visited by Gruber, who conversed with him for a considerable length of time, quoting such passages of the Bible as were applicable to his case. He could not, how- ever, be pei-suaded that any promise was for him, as he believed his day of mercy and hope were gone forever. The following colloquy then ensued between Gruber and the despairing man :
26 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
" What will become of you ?"
" I shall be lost."
" Where will you go ?"
"To hell."
" But if you go there you will have it all to your- self."
" What do you mean ?"
"I mean just what I say : if you go to hell weep- ing and praying you will scare all the devils away, for I never heard or read of one going to hell weep- ing and praying."
At this a smile came over his face like sunshine on a cloud ; his despair was gone, and hope full and joyous sprung up in his soul.
On the banks of the Mohawk River, a few miles below Fort Schuyler, there lived a pious old German. He took up his residence at that place before the Mohawk Indians left that region. His contact with the Indians, and the intimate relations which sprung up between them, enabled him to become acquainted with their habits and language. In his conversation he would mix up German, English, and Indian. Gruber paid him a visit, and as the old man had heard of him he was highly pleased to see him, and invited him to accompany him to a German settle-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 2T
ment a few miles down the river. An appointment was made, and a large congregation collected in the barn. Gruber preached to them in German, and his discourse was well received. This old German Indian was deeply pious; he would begin to pray before day-break, and continue until he had dressed and left his room, and in so loud a tone as to be heard all over the house. He had a son-in-law who drank too freely sometimes. One day, while they were together in the woods, the old man said :
" Jimmy, I want to ax you a question, answer me. Which you love best, rum or your soul?"
" I love my soul best,"
" Jimmy, you be a liar before God and man."
A family resided not far from Fort Stanwix which Gruber thus describes : *' There was a happy family composed of three persons, one man and two women. Some compared them to Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The man was the husband of Hannah, and Peggy was her sister. They lived in great peace and hap- piness. At length there came along Lorenzo Dow, who took away Peggy and broke up the household, as the husband and Hannah started out with the wan- dering preacher and never after had a home. Tlie wife came to disgrace, and Peggy published it to tho
28 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
world, without, however, stating, as she should have done, that the cosmopolite Dow had lured them from their happy home. The last account I had of Dow was that he was buried by the Odd Fellows, a name which suited him admirably from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, including his long beard. Peace to his dust, and may we never see his like again."
An Indian exhorter lived in this neighborhood, who frequently addressed large congregations. On one occasion he remarked that some white men had said they did not want to go to heaven if Indians went there. " Very well," said the Indian, " what will they do? If they are not willing to go to heaven with religious Indians, they must go to hell with drunken Indians; they may have their choige."
In 1804 Gruber was sent to Carlisle circuit, which was included in the Baltimore Conference. This was also a large and laborious field. Henry Boehm, like himself of German descent, was his colleague Boehm subsequently became the traveling com- panion of Bishop Asbury, a successful and popular preacher. He is still living in the enjoyment of a green old age, and waiting for his release from earth
LIFE OF JACOB GIIUBER. 29
to join the pioneer band who have '' crossed the flood" and entered the promised inheritance. Like the Methodist preachers of olden time, Gruber car- ried a lot of books in his saddle-bags for sale among the people. The Methodist catalogue was not very extensive in those days, but what books were pub- lished were fall of practical piety. In addition to the Hymn Book and Discipline, with which the preachers were always supplied, and which they were required to circulate among the people, were, Wesley's Sermons and Notes, "The Experience of Preachers," '' Life of Hester Ann Rogers," " Thomas a Kempis," " Saint's Everlasting Rest," and portions of '• Fletcher's Checks to Antinomianisra." A taste for reading was thus cultivated among the people, which has proved of immense service in raising the standard of education and scriptural piety. Such has been the result of this policy of Wesley in requiring the preachers to sell books, that we doubt if there is a denomination in the world which buys and reads more books than the Methodists. Certain it is that it has outstripped every other denomination in the business of publishing religious books, and its immense Book Concern is the next in size and resources to the largest in the United States. In the
30 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
days of Gruber Methodist literature was in its infancy, and with the exception of the " Arminian Magazine," published by Wesley in London, there were no Church periodicals. What few works the Methodists had of a denominational character were well read, and they thus became thoroughly in- doctrinated. Next to the Bible, the Discipline, and Wesley's Tracts which were bound up with it, furnished the armory from whence the itinerants of those days drew the weapons of their spiritual warfare.
At the next Conference Gruber was sent to the Winchester circuit, having for a colleague a young man by the name of Richards. This young itinerant in a great measure destroyed his usefulness by get- ting the crotchet in his head that, to maintain min- isterial dignity, he must put on some extra airs of reserve and sanctity, l^ot being afflicted with the dyspepsia, which invariably gives a somber hue to the countenance, it became necessary for him to assume a solemn appearance. A "sad countenance," as our old English version has it, in the description of the Pharisees in the days of the Saviour, has never been regarded as the true index of spirituality. One of the old preachers who had outlived his day, and was
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 31
constantly playing upon the thousand-stringed harp, " Ye are fallen ! yc are fallen !" remarked on a cer- tain occasion that he wished some of the old preachers were as solemn as that young man. Bishop Asbury, who was present when this remark was made, smilingly said : " Do you make any allowance for solids and fluids ?" When the dyspepsia- became a fashionable complaint among preachers such an allowance was made. We recollect a reply once made by a light-hearted, joyous, talented young preacher to a pious lady, who reprovingly said to him : *' I wish you would be as serious as Brother C." *' Ah !" said the young brother, laughingly, " when I get the dyspepsia as bad as he has it I will, no doubt, be equally serious."
Religion is the sunlight of the soul, and irradiates with brightness and beauty the medium through which it shines. A "sad countenance" indicates a sad heart; but as religion is "joy unspeakable and fullness of glor}^," all gloom and despondency are driven away by the brightness of its coming.
Gruber relates the following in one of his letters respecting his colleague : " This young man preached very nice, well-connected sermons, fifteen or twenty minutes long. lie was very studious. Take the fol-
32 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
lowing for an example : A gentleman asked him to stop and dine with him, his house being directly on the route to the preacher's afternoon appointment. When tliey arrived at the house he was shown into a room, and requested to be seated until hisliost should take his horse and feed him. What was the surprise of the hospitable friend when, on returning to the house, he met the young preacher coming out with his saddle-bags on his arm. In a somewhat excited manner he asked, ' Where is my horse V
" ' Why, Mr. Eichards, you must not go away ; I expect you to stay for dinner.'
" He replied, ' I cannot stay here. There are young persons in another room laughing and talking, who interrupt me in my studies. Did you not know I was a minister ? Why would you suffer me to be insulted in this way V
" All tlie persuasion of the gentleman to have him remain, added to the assurance that he would quiet the young people in the next room, w^as of no avail ; and liaving obtained his horse, he mounted him and was away.'
This "studious" young man may serve as a type of many young ministers we have known. N'ot ex- actly as it relates to studious habits, however, nor
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 33
yet to wonderful seriousness, were tlie}^ like Gruber's colleague; but in the ridiculous assumption of supe- riority, and the supercilious airs which they put on.
Bishop Asbury sent this young divine to the lake country, and from thence as a missionary to Canada. Gruber's account of him is that, while in Canada, he left his circuit and went over to his grandmother, (meaning the Roman Catholic Church,) and that the last intelligence he had from him was that he had got among the nuns, w^ith the sobriquet Father Rich- ards, and had become quite fat and jolly, with plenty of leisure to pursue his studies. Traveling a circuit aifords a fine opportunity for becoming acquainted with human nature in all its phases, and Gruber's acuteness and hard common sense enabled him to profit by all that he saw and heard.
One of his early colleagues, who was acquainted with young Richards, being in Canada many years after, paid a visit to the reverend father at his resi- dence adjoining a Catholic seminary, near Montreal. On his way he met a lady of the establishment who conducted him to his presence. They found him sit- ting by a window enjoying the cooling breeze on a summer morning. His face was fat and rubicund, and he seemed as one wlio enjoyed the good things
34 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
of this life. Before the visitor had time to speak to the priest, he rose abruptly and left the window. Fully expecting that he had been recognized, and would be met at the door and welcomed, he ad- vanced, but it opened not. After waiting a while he knocked. Soon a servant appeared, and on being asked if Father Kichards was in he replied : " I believe he is not, sir ; but I will see." After a short absence he returned, and said, " Father Richards is not in." Unwilling to be thus disconcerted, he re- plied : " But I know he is in, for I saw him at the window but a few minutes since." "I will look again, sir," he said, and went away. After remain- ing a longer time he returned, and declared positively that he was not at home. Thus ended the visit.
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 35
CHAPTER II.
Bishop George — Story of "Bishop George and the Young Preacher " unfounded — Young Americas— Eockingham— James Ward — Eevival — Strange Exercises — Gruber made Presiding Elder— Camp-meetings— Letter to Dr. Coke from a Presbyterian Minister — Water and Fire — Lost in the Mountains — Death at a Camp- meetmg — Wonderful Exercises— Presbyterians shouting — A Young Divine seeking a Call — A Family Quarrel settled — An eccenlric Local Preacher— A Backwoods College — Master Workman - Books of the Bar — Getting happy before the Time— Description of Solomon's Temple — Cougliing up the Negroes — A Slave-trader— Strangers tested by Prayer — A good Master — Wicked Elders.
In 1806 he was sent to Winchester circuit in com- pany with a young man who, it seems, followed in the wake of his last colleague and withdrew from the Church. His presiding elder this year was Enoch George, who had been fifteen years in the traveling connection. He was subsequently elected bishop and was remarkable for his deep piety and great simplicity of manners. As a preacher his discourses abounded with pathos and power, and he was emi- nently successful. Many incidents are related of this good man. A story admirably related, which went the rounds of the press many years ago, entitled
36 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
"Bishop George and the Young Preacher," was ascertained to be wholly apocryphal. It had no foundation in fact, and yet was so full of life and so natural in its features that it could easily be taken for a veritable narrative.
Gruber enjoyed the quarterly visitations of the pious and unassuming George, and sat at his feet with the docility of a child, to receive the lessons of wisdom which his elder was ever ready to impart. In this fast age the opinions of the fathers are of but little worth, and young men with a smattering of learning, and vast resources of newspaper lore, are entirely too knowing to seek instruction from their elders. The young Americas of Gruber's day, who regarded age as a synonym of fogyism, and opposed to all progress, constituted an exception to that class. ISTow, however, the exception is on the other side. The good Bishop George served the Church for a period of thirty-eight years, and effectually impressed his mind upon many of the young preachers of that day. He closed his labors with his life in Staunton, Yirginia, August 23, 1828. His death furnished a remarkable evidence of the power of religion. To his brethren in the ministry who visited him he said, " Rejoice with me, I am going to glory. I have
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 37
been many years trying to lead others to glory, and now thither I am going." Such a living example and such a triumphant death were a legacy to the Church beyond all price.
Having finished his year on Winchester circuit, Gru- ber was appointed next to Rockingham. This circuit was included in the Greenbrier district, which was presided over by James Ward, a man of great zeal. The meetings which were held at the difi'erent ap- pointments were represented by Gruber as " good and great." In describing his presiding elder he remarked : " Some said he always preached till he got some to cry or shout." The public mind had been stirred during his time by the great revival at the Cane Ridge camp-meetings in Kentucky, and which now, after the lapse of more than half a cen- tury, are reproduced in the revivals at Bally mena, Ireland. The people attended meetings in great numbers, and wonderful results had been witnessed. Anxious that the same excitement might be expe- rienced by the people, the elder would collect at his quarterly appointments the most zealous exhort- ers, preachers, and laymen from difi'erent parts of the district. Gruber had never witnessed the strange exercises attending the Kentucky camp-meetings,
38 LITE OF JACOB GRUBEPw.
and when the opportunity presented itself, which it did at several of the appointments, he was greatly surprised. He thus describes the "jerks," as they were called : " Different classes of persons had them, men and women. Some were happy under this strange excitement, while others were miserable. Their heads would shake in quick motion backward and forward till the person would fall. Some would sit down, others would stand it out though agitated and all in commotion from head to foot. Some of the preachers spoke against this exercise as they did against shouting, and hurt the feelings of sincere persons without doing good to any." The year on this circuit was closed by a great camp-meeting which was attended by thousands, and resulted in the conversion of a large number.
A Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, writing to Dr. Coke in 1802, says of these meetings, and the wonderful conversions attending them : " This glori- ous work has disseminated a principle of love through the hearts of all Christians. Bigotry and prejudice have received a death-wound ; names, parties, and divisions seem to subside totally. Pres- byterians and Methodists love one another, they preach together, and commune together, and mu-
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 39
tuallj rejoice to see the work of the Lord go for- ward." "We might here remark that this catholicity of feeling constitutes one of the strongest evidences of the genuineness of the work. The prayer of Christ that "all might be one" is thus fulfilled.
He had now been six years in the work of the ministry, and had exhibited such good proof of his fidelity and success that the good Bishop Asbury deemed him qualified for the more responsible post of presiding elder, and accordingly, in the year 1807 he was appointed to the presidency of Greenbrier district. It embraced a wild region of country in Yirginia, said to be the roughest in the bounds of the Baltimore Conference. It extended into North Caro- lina, taking in its sweep the wildest portions of the Cumberland Mountains and Tygart's Yalley. To use his own language, he had "hard work, rough fare, and bad roads ;" but by way of offset to these disadvantages he had " great meetings." Toward the close of the year camp-meetings were held on every circuit, of which there were eight. At these camp-meetings hundreds were converted. In- deed, a camp-meeting in those days, without numer- ous conversions and large accessions to the Church, would have been a much greater wonder than to
40 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
witness such a revival at our fashionable camp-meet- ing picnics of the present day.
At that time even a quarterly meeting was con- sidered dull and profitless indeed, unless souls were converted and added to the Church, and a revival inaugurated for the coming quarter. In describing these camp-meetings Gruber said : "Some complained about too much wildfire, and called the preachers the fire company ; but we wanted fire that would warm and melt, not tame fire, fox fire, and the like. Some say ice is water fallen asleep. Some cry. Water, water, till all the fire is put out and nothing but ice remains. Then it is a cold time, a winter state truly." During the three years on this district he experienced many hardships, enough to try the faith of the most stern and sturdy in the itinerant ranks. In describing his labors he says: "My travels among the Pendleton and Greenbrier Mountains were hard and severe. One very cold night in the winter I took a path for a near way to my stopping place, but got out of my course, wandered about among the hills and mount- ains, and went to the top of one of them to see clear- ings, or hear dogs bark, cfr roosters crow, but all in vain. After midnight the moon arose ; I could then see my track. The snow was knee deep, and I went
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 41
back till I got into the right course, and reached my lodgings between four and live o'clock in the morning. The family was alarmed, and said I was late, but I called it early. After lying down and sleeping a little I arose and, getting breakfast, departed on my day's journey, filling two appointments."
At the end of his first year on the district he had a line of appointments reaching to Baltimore. On his route he passed through Tygart's Yalley to the head of the Greenbrier Kiver, a wild, mountainous region, traversed by a dim path. JSTot a single cabin was to be found in a distance of twenty miles. He struck for the mountain on the path about ten o'clock, but had not proceeded many miles until he found it covered up knee-deep in snow, and. not a single track to be seen. He picked his way, however, as best he could, and traveled on. During the day it began to rain, which rendered his journey still more uncomfort- able. At length he reached Cheat Kiver, and found it considerably swollen, with ice in the middle. When he reached the ice it was with difiiculty he dismounted, and then making his horse leap upon it, he again mounted. The ice did not break, and he was enabled to reach the other shore with little difficulty. He then proceeded on his journey, and traveled on in the woods
42 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
until niglit overtook liim, when he lost his path and became entangled in the forest. The rain, which had been pouring down, now changed into snow, and the wind blew furiously. Besides all this, it was becoming increasingly cold. What to do he knew not, except to pray. The night was spent sitting on his horse. Above the roar of the storm he could hear the scream of the panther and the howl of the wolf. It was a dreadful night, but morning came, and with it he found the path, and reached the Greenbrier Kiver about ten o'clock, which he crossed, and in a short time found himself at the house of a friend. The family were alarmed at seeing him, and expressed their surprise at his undertaking so perilous a journey, as no person had been known to pass throogh that portion of the wilderness before in winter. ISTeither himself or horse had tasted a morsel of food since the}^ started, but they were both inured to hardships and suffered but little in consequence. After obtaining some refreshment he started to his appointment, thankful for his escape from the dangers through which he had passed.
In his letters he relates some wonderful incidents occurring at meetings. Among the most remarkable he states that at one of his meetings a lady " was so
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 43
powerfully blessed tlicat the vessel broke, and the ran- somed spirit went home to glory. She shouted with her expiring breath, and left her friends below." Another lady who was in declining health desired to be taken to the camp ground that she might go to heaven from that spot. She was accordingly taken, and " in transports of joy she went up to join the song of the redeemed."
Other strange things occurred at his camp-meetings which he describes. The exercises assumed a differ- ent aspect at different times and places. Strange and unaccountable as were the jerks, they were, if any- thing, outdone in the running, jumping, whirling, dancing, pointing, and crying exercises. When he was called upon to explain these things, he replied, " I can't explain what I don't understand. If those who have them cannot understand them how is it possible for me to unravel the mystery. I am not under obligations to analyze or methodize these exer- cises, having no tools for that work,"
At one of the Greenbrier camp-meetings there were several Presbyterian families encamped on the ground. In one of their tents there was much praying and shouting. This surprised everybody. The idea of staid and sober Presbyterians encamping with the
44 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
Methodists was novel enough of itself; but that they should pray, and sing, and shout like the Methodists was incomprehensible. Gruber said to them : " Why, my dear friends, in this place your people would not own you ; you make too much noise, and you know your method is to ' have everything done decently and in order.' You are certainly out of order now." He then asked them who their preacher w^as. To this they replied : " We have no preacher ; we have prayer-meetings, and meet with the Meth- odists. We have occasional supplies, but no stated preaching. A young minister once came among us hunting a call. He read a sermon, and had so much the appearance of a d'andy that we took the liberty to question him in relation to his call to the ministry. One of our elders asked him if he had ever been con- verted. At this he became quite excited, and replied that he had come to preach to them, and not to be examined by them. The elder said to him : ' If you have not been converted we do not wish you to preach to us.' " The result was that the young divine left without a call from that people.
At this meeting an old Presbyterian clergy- man was called upon to preach. After he had got fully under way and warmed up the congre-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 45
gation caught the excitement, and several fell to the ground. It was not long before the vener- able man himself measured his full length in the stand. This created great surprise among his people. When he returned to his congregation after the camp-meeting his preaching v^as so dif- ferent, so full of life, animation, and power, that the elders of the Church became alarmed, and in- quired of him if he had not become a New Light. "JSTo," said he very meekly; "it is the same old light, but newly snuffed."
While Gruber was on the Greenbrier district many interesting incidents occurred which are worthy of note. A difficulty, unhappily, originated in Kocking- ham between two leading members of the Church ; one of them was an old member, and the other a class-leader. They stood related to each other as father-in-law and son-in-law. They had become so estranged that, though they often met at church and elsewhere, they were not on speaking terms. At a camp-meeting on the circuit, where each of them had a tent, it occurred to Gruber that a reconciliation might be effected, and he laid his plans accordingly. As the meeting progressed, and the tide of religious feeling rose among the membership, he noticed that
46 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
notwithstanding the alienation of feeling existing be- tween the belligerent brethren they were both in a pleasant frame of mind. During the interval of the public services Gruber went to the tent of the son- in-law and requested him and his wife to take a walk.
" Where do you wish us to go ?" said the class- leader.
" To the tent of your wife's father," responded Gruber.
" We beg you to excuse us, Brother Gruber."
" !No," said the elder ; '^ no excuse, you must go with me."
" If we must go, then," said the leader, " we will meet him in the woods, outside of the tents."
" Yery well. Tou and your wife take a westerly direction a few minutes from this time."
He then went to the old folks and requested them to take a walk with him, to which they readily assented, and it was but a short time before they in- tercepted the path of their children. As they met Gruber introduced them. In an instant their feel- ings were changed; they shook hands, doubly em- braced each other, and wept. The scene was too much for the sturdy German's nerves, and he wept with them. In describing this interview afterward, he
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 4Y
said : *' Thus the snare of the devil was broken ; the)^ talked and wept together, after a silence and hardness of months, like new friends on their way to heaven. They lived ever after in love, and died in the peace and hope of the Gospel."
The former presiding elder. Ward, had formed a strong attachment for a local preacher, who was pious and talented, but considerably eccentric in his manners. Ward frequently took him to camp-meet- ings, as he was very active and zealous, and withal successful in getting sinners converted. On Sunday morning, which is considered the great occasion at camp-meeting, and at which time the most talented and popular ministers hold forth, to the astonishment of everybody this local preacher was requested by the elder to preach. With all his peculiarity of man- ner the local preacher was not destitute of modesty, nor unable to appreciate the fitness of things. Ho knew that a large number had come on the ground that morning with the expectation of hearing a great sermon from some one of the popular preachers in the regular work, and he suggested his inability to meet the expectations of the people. His objections to preaching on the occasion were, however, overruled by the elder, who told him that he would follow him
48 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
with a sermon. A hymn was sung, a prayer offered, and the text announced ; but instead of entering upon its discussion he exhorted .the congregation to be patient, as he did not intend to preach, but was only going before to prepare the way, like John the Baptist. "There is one to speak after me," said he, " who is miglitier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose." This was more than the elder had bargained for, and placed him in rather a tight place, as it created expectations which he was by no means adequate to meet, ready and fluent as he was. If the elder thought in this maneuver to set off his brilliant talents by way of contrast with the odd primitive style of the local preacher, he was sadly taken in, and must have preached under a press of disadvantages entirely unexpected and altogether undesirable.
The shrewdness and wit of this local preacher scarcely ever failed him. He was prepared for every emergency. A revival had commenced near a town in which there was a college. The circuit preachers met with much opposition from the educated clergy and the learned professors of this backwoods temple of science. The local preacher sent an appointment to this place, and thought he would try his hand in
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 49
stopping the mouths of persecutors. " Having been a * master mason,' and a stone mason, and having built the college, and being acquainted with the people and their religion, he concluded that it would be no very difficult matter to silence the opposition." At the time appointed he had a large audience. His text was Eevelation iv, 8-11 : " And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al- mighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power : for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." This was a huge text, and only such as a " master builder" would think of undertaking to dis- cuss. With these he associated another passage from Revelation, as follows: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the
50 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
book of life; and the dead were judged out of those tilings which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
His preaching being more of the hortatory than expository style, he plunged at once into the spirit of his subject, dwelt upon the awful nature of holiness in God, and the necessity of holiness in man. He described the wicked in pointed terms, and was par- ticularly severe upon persecutors, whom he repre- sented as having reached the climax of wickedness, and doomed them all to the lake of fire. He assui-ed them in his application that many of their names were not written in the book of life, and strongly intimated that they might be found in the tavern-keeper's book, wiiich was not the book of life, but of death, contain- ing bills for whisky and "stirrup drams."
At a certain camp-meeting, where, notwithstand- ing all the powerful exhortations of the preachers, but few persons were found to come into the altar
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. hi
and seek religion, and where there was a general apathy among professors of religion, he resorted to the following expedient. Taking his stand in the altar at the base of the pulpit, he said, in pathetic tones, " Come on, brethren, I want to get a little more con- verted myself." Then falling at the mourners' bench he commenced praying with all his might. The effect was electrical. The people crowded in from all quar- tei"s, saints and sinners. Many professors soon became much excited, and loud shouts were heard on all sides. Approaching one who he thought became happy a little too soon, he said, " Don't shout yet, brother, you are not ready. Go on, but hold back." Many were converted on this occasion.
In one of his sermons he described Solomon's temple, and spiritualized it so as to apply it to the Christian Church. He spoke of the number and variety of the stones, and the manner in which they were pre- pared for the building. Pie remarked that they were hewed, squared, marked, and numbered, so that when elevated to their places they fitted with great exactness. Speaking of the stones dug out of nature's quarry for the spiritual temple, he said : *' Some were very rough and hard. He noticed one in particular which he himself tried to prepare for the spiritual
52 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
temple. It was so extremely hard that all his skill and force could not break it into proper shape. Be- coming impatient he gave it a tremendous blow with the hammer of the law, and it flew in pieces, when out jumped a negro and a whisky bottle."
At a love-feast held during a quarterly meeting, a brother rose to speak. As soon as he commenced he was attacked with a hacking cough, and could only utter a word at a time. He was an extensive slaveholder, and rumor with her busy tongue had whispered that he was entirely too mercenary as a master in relation to his slaves. The local preacher, seeing the difficulty of getting up the words, exclaimed in the midst of one of his coughing paroxysms, "That's right, brother ; cough up the niggers and then you'll have an open time."
We will relate one more incident connected with this local preacher. On his way to a certain appoint- ment a Methodist brother, who had heard that he frequently alluded to the domestic trafiic in slaves, which was prohibited by the Discipline of the Church, ]-emarked to him that he need not preach on the sub- ject, as there was no buying of selling of slaves among the membership. But he had others to preach to besides Methodists, and he was apprised of the fact
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 53
that there was present in the congregation a member of another Church, who had been recently engaged in the traffic, and hence he conceived it his duty, as did all ]\[etliodist preachers in that day in slave terri- tory, to show the people their transgressions, the re- ligious portion of them particularly; and in his sermon he referred to the subject, quoting the golden rule, which required all to love their neighbors as they love themselves. After this reference to an equality of feeling and ^action he remarked : " I suppose I need not say anything to you on this subject. You are all very good here, though it might possibly hap- pen among you that a man might sell his brother, and on his way home stop at a meeting, kneel down and take the sacrament, and, with the price of the slave in his pocket, rise up, and wiping his mouth, thank the Lord for all his tender mercies." Though the preachers of that day did not interfere with the simple relation of master and slave, yet they earnestly and faithfully enforced the apostle's doctrine in regard to that relation, and held the master amenable for any abuse of the same.
Gruber thus describes a rich member of the Church in the bounds of his district : '' He resided on the South Branch and was a very singular man.
54 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
He did not like to be imposed upon. He frequently had visitors, travelers who called themselves Meth- odists and wanted to stay all night. If they had a fine dandy appearance he would lot them wait on themselves though he had plenty of servants. His plan was to show such the granary where they could get feed for their horses. When they were in the granary, however, he would shut the door and request them to kneel down that he might hear them pray. Such a test he was sure would develop their true character, and it rarely failed. "When one of this class refused to pray he was sure that he was either a hypocrite or an impostor."
The closing scene of this man's life is thus described : " When I went to see him he was calm as a summer's evening; his prospects were bright, his peace great, and his hope, full of immortality. I was the last person who prayed with him, and re- ceived his dying words. He remarked: 'Some of my neighbors set me down for a hypocrite or an enthusiast in life, but I hope they will believe me sincere in dying as I shall die. Like Samson, I hope I may conquer more of the enemies of religion in my death than in all my life.' I remained with him till he breathed his last, and saw him calmly
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 55
and peacefully fall asleep in Jesus, not to wake until the morning of the resurrection. I tried to preach his funeral sermon to a very large and serious congrega- tion, from the text, 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors and their works do follow them.' Let my last end be like his."
Of another rich man in the same neighborhood he makes the following remarks : " He had a large family, owned a number of slaves, and was a good master. His slaves were better off than some per- sons who were their own masters. He had a large house, and over its numerous doors were inscribed in large letters the most wholesome lessons. Over one door was written, * God is hereP'' He thus describes the daily worship in this house : " About day-break a trumpet was blown as a signal to rise. Half an hour after this the trumpet again sounded calhng to prayers, when all the members of the household, in- cluding the family and all the servants, were required to attend. If there was a preacher there he was in- formed of the order, and if he did not rise in time family worship was held without him, as the master was determined not to break the order of family worship to accommodate a lazy preacher who
56 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
preached self-denial and then lay in bed until break- fast time, Breakfast was taken about sunrise, and then all went to their work. He was a tall straight man, and held a public office, but he was teachable as a child."
A certain minister at one of the appointments on the district, being anxious to obtain the support and influence of a rich man who was not a member of his Church, resorted to the following expedient, which we will give in Gruber's own words: "The preacher left a subscription paper, requesting this man to use his influence to get persons to subscribe for his support. After some time he called again and told the man he had a request to make of him, which was that he would consent to be an elder in his Church. The man replied that he would not do that. The minister asked, ' Why not V ' Because,' said he, 'I do not belong to your Church; my wife and family belong to the Methodists, and I go to theii meetings myself.' The minister urged: 'You might be useful in my congregation.' 'But,' replied he, 'I don't believe your doctrine.' ' ITever mind, it makes no difference whatever; you can be an elder, and you must offer a stronger reason than tliat for refusing me this request' 'Well, then,' said he, 'I have another
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 57
reason ; some of your elders get drunk.' ' I cannot help that,' said the minister, 'as that is a matter which belongs to them, and not to the Church.' ' Yery well,' said the rich influential man, I can help being an elder with them in your Church.' Thus ended the conversation. The miinster missed his mark and was disappointed, and the man missed the honor of being an elder."
58 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
CHAPTER III.
Camp-meetings on the Greentrier District — ^ Commendable Emulation among the Preachers — A jolly Wedding — A Slaveholding Preacher — Monongahela District — Statistics of Camp-meetings — Bold Sinners — A young Man with a Pistol — Conversion of a Major — Camp-meetings among the Presbyterians — An Infidel Club — Assault and Battery — A "strait and stiff" Professor of Eeligion — A Shout in the Wrong Place — A happy Man — A Termigant — Quarterly Mee* ings — A Man in Distress — A zealous Exhorter — Interesting Historical Item — Last Interview with Bishop Asbury — High Heads — Fashionable Dress — ■ Letter to a General Conference Delegate — Opposition to Dogs — A Dandy Preacher — Eestoring Order at a Camp-meeting — Singular Ee- proof — Blowing out the Fire — Fine Style in Preaching — Preaching before the Professors and Students of Dickinson College — Opposition to Tobacco — Preachers reproved for Smoking.
During the time he was presiding elder on the Greenbrier district, which included a period of three years, from 1807 to 1810, he held a large number of camp-meetings. The Rockingham camp-meeting, held in 180T, was largely attended; the ground was covered with tents and wagons. The following preachers were present, and preached on the occa- sion : Rev. Messrs. Miller, Holmes, Douglass, Carson, Xennerly, Chastain, and Fidler. This meeting was attended with great results. So intense was the ex-
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 59
citement that two whole nights were spent in singing and prayer. Camp-meetings were also held at Bo- tetourt, Monroe, Greenbrier, Blacksbnrgh, Alle- gheny, and other places. Asbury, M'Kendree, Par- ker, Boehm, Shadford, Fleming, Ilenkle, Lee, Jen- nings, Frye, Monroe, Light, Monett, and numerous other preachers of that day were present at these meetings, and they afforded an admirable occasion for an interchano^e of views and feelino-s amonsj the itinerants, who were many of them widely separated in their fields of labor. The zeal and devotion which characterized them gave them a power and influ- ence in the community which made them successful wherever they labored. The Methodist Episcopal Church was then a unit, and no questions of govern- mental or prudential policy divided the ministry or laity. Having but one work, the preachers labored assiduously for its accomplishment; and the only strife among them was as to who should do the most work, encounter the most hardships, and make the most sacrifices for the cause of Christ ; an emulation the most desirable, and worthy of imitation by all the preachers of the present day.
Gruber thus describes a wedding: " Between Harris- onburgh and Staunton, at a wedding, a large gathering
60 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
of respectable people, there were some who watched professors of religion more than themselves. They had refreshments, good things, brandy, wine, and cordials in abundance. Before the ceremony was performed the company was called around the table to drink of the good things. The minister said grace over the good creatures, after which the company partook freely. After dinner some became very zealous in disputing on religious points ; some quarreled, and two were near fighting ; they got to the door, and one threw the other down some half dozen steps, and hurt him much. A skeptic ran in, called out the preacher, and told him he never saw a prayer answered quicker than his over that good drink, for there were two men who had got so religious and so strong that they were for a fight about it. The minister confessed his fault, and said he would not ask a blessing over such drink again. But it was said he had another fault. He was a hard slavemaster. He would tie up and whip his slaves on Sunday morning ; leave them tied up in the cellar till he had gone and preached and come back. But his end was dreadful. He ordered a slave to bring out a young horse to ride to his meeting to preach. The slave said : ' O massa, that horse too wild ; he throw you!' He said: 'Go, do what I tell you.'
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEK. 61
The horse was got out, the minister started, but did not come back. The horse ran oif and killed him. In speaking of the accident in a company, one man said : ' They could not have expected a better or different end for him. It seemed as though the devil had got a bill of sale on the old fellow, and he had got him at last." This is what some persons think of slaveholding and slave-whipping preachers."
At the Conference of 1810, which was held at Bal- timore, he was appointed presiding elder of the Monongahela district, which embraced all the coun- try between the Laurel Ridge and Lake Erie, includ- ing Clarksburgh in Virginia, and Armstrong county in Pennsylvania. This large field now embraces as many conferences within its bounds as there were then circuits. With but one exception, each of the appointments were supplied with a single preacher. These preachers had from thirty to forty appoint- ments to visit ever}'- four weeks. "Hard work," said the presiding elder to his preachers, " but good and certain pay; bread and meat given, and water, living water sure, including grace and glorj^, everything that is good here, and a crown hereafter." These preachers he met every three months at the quarterly meetings, where they labored
62 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
together, and at every meeting there were conver- sions. Toward the latter part of summer, after the farmers had got tlirough with the work of the season, the camp-meetings were held, and they were gen- erally appointed at the time and place of the last quarterly meeting for the year. The presiding elder, in accordance with the request of Bishop Asbury, kept an account of these meetings, embracing the number of tents and people on the ground, the num- ber of sermons preached, with the names of the preachers and texts from which they preached, the number of persons converted, and the number of accessions to the Church.
Gruber gives several incidents that occurred at these meetings. "In one camp," he says, "some bold sinners came to fight for their master, the devil ; but our Captain, Immanuel, made prisoners of them, and then made them ^ free indeed.' One fine, strong, good-looking young man among the mourners was in great distress, and found no relief until he drew a large pistol out of his pocket, with which he in- tended to defend himself if any one should offer to speak to him on the subject of religion. When he laid it on the bench beside him the Lord blessed him and gave him a great victory over all his foes.
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 63
Having grounded the weapon of rebellion, he was prepared to enlist under the banner of the Prince of peace."
" In another camp, after midnight, among many mourners, was a large man bearing the title of major, who was in great distress, praying and crying for mercy. Some who had said none but shallow men, ignorant women, and silly children would make such a noise in a public congregation, looked on with as- tonishment. ' See there,' said they ; ' there is the major! Look ! hear! only hear him !' Presently the Lord blessed him, and he arose, and large and heavy as he was, he leaped as high as the benches, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Glory to God, there is mercy for all ! I was taught that it was only for a few ; now I know Christ died for me and for all !' In the height of his rapture he noticed one of his brother officers and called him, saying, ' Captain, come here, there is a reality in religion. Yes, there is mercy for all!' While conversing with the cap- tain, his wife, who was among the mourners in an- other part of tlie congregation, and had been con- verted, came up shouting. They embraced each other, and the scene was so deeply affecting that eyes unused to weep poured forth a plenteous tribute."
64 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
The fountains of human sympathy were broken up, and what no appeals of truth or power of persuasion could accomplish was effected by this exhibition of converting power. The conversion of a soul is an omnipotent moral power pervading an entire congre- gation ; it touches the hearts of angels and excites joy in heaven.
Many similar scenes occurred at these meetings. They frequently held them all night, and continued day and night in succession for weeks. At one of them, held between "Washington and Steubenville, Gruber said there was very little intermission day or night. " The work went on, preaching, exhortation, weeping and rejoicing, singing and praying, crying and shouting. I saw the day break three mornings at that meeting, and we fulfilled what we had sung :
' With thee all night I mean to stay, And wrestle till the break of day.' "
The camp-meetings among the Presbyterians were attended with like results. The members came in wagons from a great distance, and as some of the preachers and elders did not approve of a noise, they found it very difiicult to manage the meetings so as to bring everything under the proper regimen of order. To obviate this difficultv, when a person
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 65
became convicted and began to pray for mercy, tliey would carry him off some distance to a house and pray and sing with him. Some thought even this was unnecessary, and would suggest that they be let alone, for if the Lord had begun a good work in them he would carry it on, and it was not proper to interfere with his work. This would be seasonable advice if praying and singing are to be regarded in the light of an interference, and not as a means of grace ordained of God for the salvation of the soul, and co-operative with the Spirit in the work of conversion.
Within the bounds of the district was an in- fidel club. The oracle of this club was a little Frenchman. They usually held their meetings at taverns, and the Frenchman generally held forth on such occasions. A little doctor was also associated with him, and with the united stock of knowledge they managed to keep the club enlightened on all matters of religion. Not content with exercising the liberty they enjoyed, to entertain and promulgate their infidel sentiments, they would frequently attend Methodist meetings and annoy the people by engag- ing in controversy with any they could find willing to enter into a discussion. On a certain occasion
66 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
they attended camp-meeting, and made themselves particularly conspicuous by walking about and criti- cising everything they saw and heard. To show his contempt for the Methodists, the doctor, with a cigar in his mouth, crowded up clgse to the altar, near the pulpit, in time of worship, and puffed away much to the annoyance of all. Gruber requested him to go to some other place more appropriate for smoking. At this the gentleman of the pill-bag became quite indignant, and said he would do no such thing. At this Gruber approached him and raised his hand to take away "the smoking fire- brand," as he called it, " so near his nose." This roused the ire of the little doctor to a boiling point, and he went to a country squire near at hand and sued him for an assault and batter3\ At the close of the meetins: Gruber followed the constable and a large crowd to the seat of justice in the log-cabin. When he appeared before the justice the dignitary of tlie law advised the accused to make an apology to the doctor for his attack, as in that case the mat- ter would not go so hard with him. But Gruber replied, that he would not confess his sins till he was convinced of them, and as he was charged with a battery he w >uld like to see the doctor's wounds,
LIFE OF JACOB GRUJ3ER. 67
bruises, broken bones, and batters, causing life to be despaired of. He would be perfectly willing in that case to employ a surgeon to mend up his little body if it was broken anywhere. This was too much both for the doctor and squire, and he was bound over to court.
On the day of trial Gruber appeared with a skill- ful lawyer, and after the evidence and pleadings, the jury were not long in bringing in a verdict of not guilty. One of them remarked that the charge was brought against the wrong man, as the doctor should have been fined for disturbing the camp- meeting.
Whenever Gruber had opportunity he introduced the subject of religion. He was rough in his man- ners, sometimes exceedingly so, but beneath a rough and somewhat forbidding exterior there was a genial sympathetic heart. Riding to one of his appoint- ments on a certain occasion he fell in company with a gentleman whom he described as " strait and stiff looking." Finding that he was a professor of relig- ion, he inquired into his religious state. ISTot being able to satisfy him in regard to his personal expe- rience, he asked him " if apple trees bore, or had fruit in the winter."
68 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
The stranger replied, "No, certainly not; they bear no kind of fruit in the winter."
" Then," said Gruber, " if a man's faith is dead without good works, what kind of faith has he while liis works are bad."
" No man can live without sin," he replied ; " as soon as a man is made holy he must die ; he cannot stay in this world any longer."
" But how can he serve God in holiness, and have his fruit unto holiness and still live in sin ?"
The stranger made no reply, and they parted, both doubtless satisfied that their views on the sub- ject of religious experience were correct.
In those days it frequently happened that the min- isters of different denominations were obliged to preach in school-houses and court-houses, from the fact that there were no churches. A Presbyterian minister one Sabbath afternoon preached, by way of reading a sermon, in the village court-house. The discourse was well written, and evinced considerable theological ability ; but it was read in such a monot- onous manner that it lulled many to sleep. All was perfectly quiet, and nothing disturbed the stillness of the hour. No sound was heard but the voice of the preacher; which fell in soft cadences upon the ear
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 69
like the murmur of a distant waterfall. Suddenly a Methodist woman in the court-room broke out into a shout of " Glory ! glory ! praise the Lord for what he has done for my soul !" Those who had fallen asleep under the soothing tones of the minister were awakened, others were frightened, and the preacher himself was entirely overcome. It was some time before he could rally so as to proceed with his dis- course. When the meeting was over the woman was asked why she so disturbed the meeting. She replied: "I was converted at a camp-meeting at East Liberty last year, and while I listened to the dry sermon I thought of old times. It was just the kind I used to hear before I was converted ; I then thought of the wonderful change, and the happy meetings we have now, and forgetting where I was I had to shout."
The following from his journal in relation to a happy man and a wicked woman possesses interest:
" In Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, a man lived by himself whose name began with M. He was one of the happiest men I saw at a quarterly meeting. Going along the road a man asked me : * Do you see that house across the field V I said ' Yes.' ' There,'
TO LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
said he, 'lives M., that you saw so happy at the meeting ; he is a mechanic, lives alone, and has family prayer evening and morning. When some asked why he did so, as he had no family, he said he belonged to the household of faith, the family of God. He identified himself with all the praying families, and while hundreds and thousands were worshiping, he would worship too ; their prayers all met at the throne of grace, and great blessings came down from heaven and made a heavenly place. He would not be deprived of the privilege and blessing of family prayer. He was often heard by the neighbors praying and praising God, and shouting, 'Glory to God ! glory to God!' So did Michael."
" I will relate a case somewhat different from this : A man with a family had a wife who would not let him have family prayer, but made a noise and disturbance. He told her she must be quiet, and not interrupt him; he must pray with his family. She got w^orse still. He told her if she did not keep quiet in time of prayer he would have to correct her. She dared him to do that, telling him he would be put out of society. He went and told the leader to cross his name off the class paper, for he must do
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE. 71
what a member should not do, whip his wife. The leader took the hint, and crossed out the name. The man went home, got ready a rod, told his wife to keep quiet, etc. ; but she rattled the chairs, and made more noise than before. His prayer (I suppose) was not as long as a Pharisee's, but as soon as he was done praying he gave his wife a complete w^hip- ping. After a restless night, she went earl}' to the leader to complain about the bad man in his class, saying, 'My husband whipped me; is that the kind of men 3' on have in your class?' He said, 'Your husband don't belong to it ; he got his name out some time ago.' 'What, is he out? For the Lord's sake take him in again, or he will kill me.' That woman got converted after that, and her husband became a useful itinerant preacher. Here was per- severance in family prayer and success."
The quarterly meetings were largely attended in those days. They began on Saturday, and continued until the following Monday evening, sometimes longer. A revival was confidently looked for on such occasions, and it would be considered a very dry and profitless time if some were not converted. At eleven o'clock on Saturday a sermon would be preached by the presiding elder, after which the
'72 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
quarterly conference was held. In the evening the circuit preacher would hold forth, and at the conclu- sion of his discourse an exhortation would be de- livered and persons invited to come to the mourn- ers' bench. On Sabbath morning at eight o'clock a love-feast would be held, at which the members of the Church would relate their Christian experience. In times of revival these meetings were exceedingly interesting and profitable. The speaking exercises would be kept up till the time of preaching, when the doors would be opened and outsiders admitted. At this appointment the house generally was literally packed, and the doors, windows, and yard filled with people, many of whom had come a great distance to hear the presiding elder, who then attracted more atten- tion than one of our bishops would at the present day. At one of these meetings, after laboring hard in the pulpit and the prayer-meeting until Monday night, the preachei*s and the members were disappointed and dispirited at witnessing no revival. Not one soul was converted, nor did a single sinner give any signs of penitence. The meeting at length closed, and the congregation separated to the different houses in the neighborhood. There w^ere many at this meeting from a distance, and they were provided for by the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 73
members living in the neighborhood of the church or the school-house, as the case might be. It frequently happened that the number of strangers was so great, that the men were obliged to sleep in rows upon the floor. At this meeting was a man whose wife and relatives were membei^ of the Church. They had come from a considerable distance to attend it. He was a man of the world, and many prayers had been offered in his behalf that he might be converted at this meeting. His sleeping place was by the side of a zealous exhorter. Some time in the night the exhorter heard him groan, and thinking him under conviction, in an imploring manner asked him what was the matter. " O my dear sir," said he, "I am the most disappointed and unhappy man in the world !" This was glad news to the exhorter, and he urged him not to be discouraged, but to pei-severe in seeking, and he had no doubt but that God would have mercy upon him, and save him from his sins. " But I am sure I can't succeed," said the groaning man, " for I have tried my best ; I got the very best bait I could find, but I can't catch a single rabbit. When I go to my traps in the morning I find them all sprung and the bait all gone. I am the most unlucky and miserable man in the world."
74 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
This was too much for the exhorter, and he turned over, groaning out a prayer that the Lord would pity the poor thoughtless sinner.
In Gruber's journal we find many interesting items pertaining to Methodist history. The following reso- lutions, passed at the General Conference of 1812, we do not recollect to have seen in print ; as they possess historic interest, we insert them :
"I. Resolved^ Tliat each presiding elder, with the preachers of his district, collect materials for the his- tory of Methodism. They were to have in view the following items : 1. A short sketch of the geography of the district, including boundaries, rivers, mount- ains, soil, climate, customs of the people, etc. 2. The particular moral condition of the people at the intro- duction of Methodism. 3. By whom and at what time the first settlements were formed. 4. The difiiculties the first preachers were exposed to on account of the Indians in frontier settlements, the dangers they encountered, and their success while preaching in forts and out-posts. 5. When and by whom were the first circuits formed, also the first classes, and the revivals in difi'erent places and at diflPerent times. 6. The means by which Methodist preachers were introduced to difi'erent places. 7. How the work
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 75
progressed until it became a district ; the names and numbers of circuits, meeting-houses, private places of preaching, number of classes and members, number of traveling preachers and local preachers, general number attending camp-meetings, number converted, biographical sketches of those who had lived well and died happy among the traveling and local preachers and private members, males and females.
" 11. Resolved^ That the presiding elders and preach- ers shall be instructed to procure certificates relative to facts in their collection of materials, which cer- tificates shall have the most respectable signatures that can be obtained and submitted as hereafter directed ; the days of continuance, the order and origin of camp-meetings.
" III. Resolved^ That each of the annual conferences appoint a committee of review, consisting of three members, to receive materials submitted by the pre- siding elders and preachers, and report to the re- spective conferences ; and if approved of by the conferences, the committee shall send the materials with their report to the book agent.
'' lY. Resolved^ That the Is^ew York Annual Confer- ence be, and is hereby authorized to engage with a historian to digest and arrange the order of the hia-
76 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
tory of the Methodist Church in America, and to give the materials collected as above, with any others that may be collected from journals, letters, manuscripts, or from any other source, historical form and style.
" Y. Besolved, That our editor, book agent, and book committee be appointed a committee to read and approve the history before it is published."
While Gruber was taking? his last round on the district he met Bishop Asbury on the Alleghany Mountains. The bishop was on a visit to the West- ern Conferences, which proved to be his last. He was much attached to Gruber, and in one of his let- ters to him said he prayed for him twice every day. When they met, Gruber hitched his horse by the roadside and took a seat beside the bishop in his carriage, and had a most pleasant interview. The toil-worn veteran, feeling that his work was nearly done, exhorted the strong and stalwart itinerant to increased exertion and fidelity in the cause of Christ. Among other things he said : " O if I was young I would cry aloud, I would lift up my voice like a trumpet ! O what pride, conformity to the world in following its fashions ! Many of our people are going to ruin ! Warn them, warn them from me, while you have strength and time, and be faithful to
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. T7
your duty." It was an affecting interview, and at its conclusion the itinerant mounted his horse, and they parted for the hxst time. The whole life of Gruber showed how faithfully he carried out the bishop's injunctions in regard to the fashions of the world. Indeed, all the preachers of that day were remarka- bly plain in their dress and manners. The preachers in their conferences solemnl}^ voted against double- breasted coats and vests, and faithfully carried out the rule of the Church to give no tickets of admis- sion to love-feasts to any members of the Church who wore ''high heads, enormous bonnets, ruffles, and rings." The rule was explained by some of the preachers in the olden time thus: "High heads mean three story hats, one story for the head, another for the pocket handkerchief, and the third for a few dozen cigars." Enormous bonnets were something of the style worn by the wife of an eccentric English clergyman, who, it is said, as his wife was coming into church, cried out at the top of
his voice : " Make way for Mrs. , as she is coming
with a chest of drawers on her head." Gruber was accustomed to say, when speaking on this subject : " High heads have passed away and flat heads are in their place. Enormous bonnets have had their day,
T8 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEE.
and now little things, not large enough to shade the nose, are all the rage. Ruffles and rings, artificials and bows are round, wrong, and needless."
While preaching in a certain place on one occa- sion an unusually tall lady entered. On seeing her he stopped preaching and said : " Make room for that lady ; one might have thought she was tall enough to be seen without the plumage of that pird in her ponnet." Some days afterward the lady met Gruber and complained that he had treated her rudely. '' O sister," he replied, '' was that you ? Well, I did not not know it was you ; I thought you had more sense."
He was particularly severe on some of the modern preachers because they did not preach against the fashions of the world. Some in preaching, he said, " draw the bow and take aim at some in the congre- gation, but the arrow does not hit the mark ; it is stopped in the trimming, rigging, muff, drums, bustles, and other fashionable gear of their wives or daughters."
About that time a certain article of dress known among the ladies as the "petticoat and habit," came into general use ; and as fashion will sooner or later have its way, it obtained among the young
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEK. 79
ladies of the Methodist Church. Gruber was at- tending a camp-meeting in the neighborhood of Franklin, Pennsylvania. At this meeting there were several young ladies dressed after this fashion. Their appearance so thoroughly displeased him that, true to his instincts, he determined, if possible, to administer a public reproof. During a prayer-meet- ing some of these fashionables were grouped together, singing a hymn which was very popular in those days. This hymn, the chorus of whicli was,
" I want to get to heaven, My long sought rest,"
they sung with great animation, and their animation increased as they saw the presiding elder advance and join them. It was discovered after a while that he changed the last line of the chorus, and instead of singing,
" I want to get to heaven, My long sought rest,"
he sang.
" I want to get to heaven
With my long short dress.''''
One after anotlier, as they detected the change in the chorus, ceased singing until all had stopped, and Gruber was left alone. At this he sung more
80 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
lustily than ever, so that all around could hear. The "long short dresses" soon began to disappear, and the conscience of Gruber was not again dis- turbed on that score during the remainder of the meeting.
Gruber thus describes an interview he had with a fashionable family :
'' In one of the circuits I found a local preacher who had been an itinerant, but got married, settled himself quite easy and independent, got rich, and had a fine family; but none of his children had religion. On a Sunday afternoon, while sitting with him and his wife, a very fine young man and a fine young lady came in. The preacher introduced them to me as his children. After a friendly conversation, I took upon myself to be master of ceremonies, and introduced the father to the son after this manner : 'This is your father; he is a plain Methodist preacher ; he is trying to persuade all to come to Christ for salvation ; the young to seek first the king- dom of heaven, and children to honor and obey their parents. What will his congregation think when they look at you, his son, his oldest son ? The Lord pity you !' Then I spoke to the father: 'This is your son; this fine, gay, fashionable young man, with his
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 81
ruffles and nonsense about him, is the son of a plain
Methodist preaclier. "Wliat will your congregation
think of you when they hear you preach and see
your son as he is? Will they not think of Eli
the priest V This was amusing to the fine young
lady. I then turned to her and said : ' This is your
mother ; this plain, old-fashioned woman is your
mother. She pra^^s for you, is trying to get to
heaven, and will probably leave you behind, in a
world of pride, and vanity, and folly. Look at her.
Who that looks at you would guess that you were
I'elated to her V I then spoke to the mother : ' This
is your daughter, this fine-looking young lady, with
her ruffles, rings, curls, locket, and silly, needless
ornaments about her. Look at her. What will the
people think of 3^ou and her? you a professor of
religion and a preacher's wife. Some will think that,
though you are plain yourself, you love to see your
child gay and fashionable ; but they will wonder
who buys those costly toys and trinkets, father or
mother. Others will think that your daughter is
master and mistress both, and does as she pleases.
But some will fear that, with her beau-catchers, she
will catch a fool and go to destruction. This would
be no comfort nor credit to you or her.' Here
6
82 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
ended the introduction ; but I got little thanks for my ceremony, politeness, and plain dealing."
The following letter to a delegate in one of the General Conferences will be found interesting :
"As you are in the General Conference — and a very important one it is said to be — let me drop a hint about a part of the Discipline.
" One of our general rules forbids the putting on of gold and costly apparel. In another part we read : 'Therefore give no tickets to any till they have left off superfluous ornaments ; and give no tickets to any that wear high heads, enormous bonnets, ruffles, or rings. In visitings, etc., we are to guard against ex- pensiveness or gayety of apparel.' 'Now as soon as this is mentioned some begin to laugh, and say we are superstitious, etc., and perhaps it would not be con- sidered in order to say anything about such small points in some conferences.
'' But what shall we do with our Discipline ? ' Mind every point, great and small,' and not mend our rules, but keep them, etc. Now I pray and hope the Gen- eral Conference will do something, so that there may be some consistency among us. Pardon a hint, etc. Yote and put the section on dress out of the Disci- pline ; and let preachers and members, young and old,
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 83
, dress just as tliej please. If there is any danger, after that is done, of any of our preachers or members hm'ting the feelings of any of our fine members, put a little short section in something like the fol- lowing :
" ' Question. Should we say anything in our preach- ing or private conversation about dress ?
" * Answer. B}^ no means. This is no time to preach or to speak about such little things and small points. There is no religion in dress. Our first preachers were thrust out to raise a holy people, and Method- ism is designed to spread holiness over these lands and through all this country, etc. "We are gaining ground, carrying all before us, going fast, and shall soon be as fine and fashionable a Church as any in this world.'
" If this will not pass current (though it is accord- ing to the custom adopted by not a few) then do adopt some plan, or modify the section by leaving out some w^ords hard to be understood, such as high heads, enormous bonnets, etc., and put in plain words, such as enormous sleeves, bags of feathers, or balloons ; require decent and modest apparel that will fit the person whether it fits the fashion or not.
" There was a time when the preachers and mem-
84 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
bers of our society were convinced that there was a great deficiency of vital religion in the Church of England in America. It would be an important in- quiry now, when preachers are together from every part of America, What is the state of vital religion now in the Methodist Episcopal Church ? If it would be in order let the inquiry be made, and a re- ply too. If we advance or increase in limits, stations, bishops, colleges, preachers, agents — but not in mem- bers and vital religion — we increase our expenses and burdens till we sink under the weight, and the Lord will raise up another people to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
" I hope you have restored (or will) Mr. Wesley's rule on temperance. It always seemed strange to me when the members of our Church had to join another society to be temperate.
"Query. Ought we not to form a plain decent dressing society in our Church, and get as many as we can to join it forthwith?
"Another hint. Is there no way to prevent our circuits being ruined, cut up, or crippled, till there are no appointments left that are worth filling except Sundays — good clear Sundays — six or seven for two weeks, or one dozen appointments for four weeks;
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 85
fifty rest weeks in a year, and constant complaints about poor pay or support, and great deficiencies ? In such cases the people are burdened, and the preachers are mortified continually. Is there no remedy for these evils and defects? Lord help, help us! May the fountain of wisdom pour floods of understanding on our delegates in the General Conference, that all they do may be done right, and finished quick and complete, that they may go to their work. And may the Lord send now prosperity everywhere.
"A Methodist preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist Discipline. The Methodists should let their light shine ; not be like the world, that is in darkness and full of darkness.
" Many of our members are gay and fashionable, and do not even appear like Methodists. Do such abstain* from all appearance of evil.
" They have had great preachers, and some of the best, who said nothing about sucli things, whose wives were as gay in their dress as any, and the preachers did not dress plain themselves. Now if some have been mindful of great points in our Discipline, some ought to mind the small points ; let me do it.
" N.B. If you should have a cloudy, stormy day in your conference, and be at a loss, read some of my
86 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
letter to give some new thoughts, and clear some ideas, and brighten up the sky."
As he was himself exceedingly plain in his apparel, wearing a coat without buttons, and plain as any that could be found in Quakerdom, he was particu- larly severe on the preachers who indulged in any superfluities. It would almost throw him into spasms to see a preacher with a cane and gloves, and the sight of a cigar was insupportable. It would seem that he was the sworn enemy of canes, vails, cigars, and dogs. It is said, such was his aversion to the latter, that on a certain occasion he w^ent out of a funeral procession to pelt away a noisy cur who was following. He has been known frequently to expel them from the church or the house where he was holding meeting. A young preacher once thought to escape his ire, when reproved by him for carrying a cane, by telling him that he carried it to protect himself from the dogs. '' Ah," said Gruber, " is that it ? Well, dog-pelting is a poor business."
On one of the circuits which he traveled he had what he called "a dandy preacher" for a colleague. This young man would spend his rest days in hunting and fishing, a recreativ?. sport which Gruber thought was entirely incompatible with the ministerial pro-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 87
fession. His patience was sorely tried, and it seemed that all liis reproofs and exhortations were lost upon him. What added to his '' ])ainfal exercises," as he called them, the young man rose above the dignity of the saddle and saddle-bags, and traveled round the circuit in a gig. Failing in all his eiforts to get the young preacher into the regular itinerant harness he eventually gave him up, and prayed most fervently^ that the Lord would deliver him from a dandy preacher for a colleague.
At a camp-meeting on a certain occasion, where considerable difEculty was experienced in getting the people to observe order, from the number of young persons who were walking about, collecting in groups, and engaged in conversation, the presiding elder, in the most respectful and courteous terms, requested them to be seated. Not seeming to understand, or not caring to comply with the request, the young people paid no attention whatever to what was said, but kept up their walking and talking. Gruber, who was present, felt greatly aggrieved, and rising in the stand he roared out: "Mr. Presiding Elder, you called those young folks gentlemen and ladies, and they did not know what you meant!" He then added : " Boys, come right along and take seats
88 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
here," pointing to the right; "and you, gals, come up and take jour seats here on the left," Earnest and peremptory as he was, yet so comical was his manner that their attention was at once arrested, and they came smilingly forward and took their seats.
At another time the same difficulty occurred. At the close of a prayer-meeting in the altar, when the time had come for preaching every effort of the elder failed to get the congregation orderly arranged. Quite a number were standing on the seats, and among them several ladies. Gruber again lifted up his voice, the squeaking German accent of which immediately arrested attention, and said : " If those young ladies there only knew what great holes they have in their stockings they wouldn't be standing on the bench where they can be seen by everybody." They all dropped suddenly as if they had been shot. Order was restored, and all was quiet. After the discourse was ended one of the preachers asked how he knew the young ladies had holes in their stock- ings. " Why," said he in his quizzical manner, " did you ever know stockings without holes in them ?"
At a camp-meeting near Baltimore, after the trum- pet had been blown announcing the time for closing the exercises in the praying circles, one of them, un-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 89
willing to stop, kept on singing and praying. Grnber, somewhat impatient, and evidently not pleased at their want of obedience to order, after standing near for a short time, shouted out at the top of his voice, "That's right, brothers, blow all the lire out!"
He seemed to have as much a horror of anything graceful in a sermon as he had of anything attractive and beautiful in dress, and took real pleasure at . times in trying how rough and uncouth he could be in his expressions in the pulpit. While preaching in Camden, Xew Jersey, one of the stewards of the Church, whose ])rovince it was to tell the preachers what he thought wrong in them, ventured to speak to him on the subject of preaching, and suggested tlie propriety of his paying more attention to system, and to give a little more smoothness and arace to his words. Gruber listened to him with evident uneasiness, and as soon as he had closed his remarks replied : " O very well ; you want me to preach very nice and fine when I come to Camden among the fashionable people. I'll try." When he came round again the house was crowded to hear the preacher in his improved style. He arranged his discourse in as logical an order as he was capable of, and delivered it in a more correct manner. Not-
90 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
withstanding the cliange .in his style, he managed to utter some of the severest denunciations against formal and fashionable professors. He was allowed ever after to preach in his own wa}^ in that place.
His last sermon at Carlisle is remembered by one of the professors of Dickinson College, located at that place, as characteristic of his style of preaching. The professors of this institution were Methodists, and the most of them, if not all, were Methodist preachers. Whenever he preached in Carlisle the professors and students all turned out to hear him. On the occa- sion to which we refer they were all present. In the course of the sermon he remarked that the time was when Methodist preachers went round their cir- cuits carrying their libraries in their saddle-bags. They would preach the word as it came to them. '' ISTow," said he, " preachers are made at theological schools, and they spend a long time in making their sermons. They want to make a great effort and pro- duce great sermons, and make the impression that they are great men, and what is the result?'' Look- ing round intently for a few moments on the pro- fessors and students, he added, Vith emphasis, " The result is, great fools !"
He was a particular enemy of tobacco as well as
LIFE OF JACOli GKUBEK. 91
coffee and tea, and took every occasion to denounce their nse. Woe betide the young preaclier who would cross his path with a cigar in his mouth. He was sure to get a sound reproof for indulging in the " sin- ful practice." He thus discourses on the subject: " How shall we cure or treat a young preacher who preaches self-denial, is very severe on those who take a dram sometimes, but takes tobacco himself without ceasing, and says he cannot quit it, and it does hira good ? Is not his faith strong ? But still it is not as large as a grain of mustard-seed, or it would remove this mountain of sin. It is only as large as a grain of tobacco-seed. What a pity ! I had some acquaint- ance with a good man who was a judge of good to- bacco. One of his particular friends told me that one day he was confused in preaching, and he asked him after meeting what was the matter that he could not get along any better? 'Why,' said the preacher, 'be- cause I had such bad tobacco.' 'What,' said his friend, ' do you chew tobacco while you are preach- ing V ' Yes,' said he, ' I always take a fresh plug when I begin.' ' After this,' said his friend, ' I could always tell by his preaching whether he had good tobacco, and was careful to furnish him with the article.' May the Lord pity us, and save us ! So prays J. G-ruber."
I 92 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
The Eev. J. Aslibrook, of New Jerse}^, sends us the following : "At a qnarterl j meeting, held in Springfield, Pa., Brother J. Lybrand, of precious memory, was presiding elder, and Brother Gruber was preacher in charge. After the usual duties of the meeting were over, namely, preaching, quarterly conference, etc., a number of brethren went to the house of Brother Bull to dine ; after, w^hich, and during the absence of Brother Gruber, they indulged in smokinor cio:ars. On the return of Brotlier Graber he exclaimed, ' Dear me, what a smoke,' adding :
' Tobacco is an evil weed,
And from tlie deml did proceed ;
It spoils your breath and burns your clothes,
And makes a chinmey of your nose.'
Brother Lybrand said to him, ' Brother Gruber, that is pretty good poetry, but I doubt its theology; I do not believe that the devil made tobacco, and you must make your assertion true.' ' Well,' responded lie, 'I guess I can.' 'Get at it then.' 'I read in the Scriptures that the mustard-seed is the smallest of all seeds, that is, the smallest of all seeds that the Lord has made, and everybody knows that the to- bacco-seed is smaller than the mustard-seed, and therefore the devil must have made it.' "
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 93
CHAPTEE IV.
Preacliing in Cabins — Appointed to Baltimore — Light-street and Sharp- street Churches — Quaker Opposition — Conversation with a Quaker — The Battle at Nortli Point — Preaching to the Soldiers — Bombard- ment— Burial Avith the Honors of War — Sermon on the Fourth of July — A Strange Procession — Dreams and Visions — Old Joe's Vis ion of Jacob's Ladder.
Hitherto Grnber had been wliat is denominated a traveling preaclier, " holding forth the word of life " in cabins and school-houses and barns, as well as in the woods, in wild uncultivated districts of coun- try. He was thus brought into contact with all classes and conditions of men, and with all grades of society. An itinerant service of thirteen years had qualified him by its vigorous discipline for effective labor in any part of the Methodist field. His expe- rience in ministerial labor, connected with his versatility of talent and his inexhaustible wit and power of repartee, (notwithstanding his asperity, of manner, which caused him to be shunned by a portion of the Methodists who were ill at ease under the restraints of a discipline which, in their
94 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
opinion, more nearly resembled the asceticism of the Jesuit order than the teachings of Jesus,) drew around liim a much larger portion of the Church, who courted his society and regarded him almost in the light of an oracle. He seemed to have a dread of cities ; and what he called " the fashiona- ble flummery of city churches " gave him '' painful exercises " whenever it fell to his lot to preach in them.
Notwithstanding all this. Bishop Asbury deter- mined to give him a trial of a city station, and ap- pointed him to Baltimore. That he might not lose all his comfort, and be subjected throughout the entire time of his service to preach to those who did not dress in the same Quakerlike plainness as him- self, and who did not as rigidly, and hermitlike, abstain from all innocent recreation, and were not, like him, economical almost to parsimony, to the Light-street Church was added the colored Church in Sharp-street. The colored congregation, which was quite large, took great delight in calling him their elder, and he took equal pleasure in having it so. He accordingly entered right heartily into the work of preaching to his colored brethren, and tliey enjoyed it amazingly. The meetings in Sharp-street
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 95
were scenes of great excitement, and were entirely too noisy for the Quakers in tliat vicinity, who com- plained to the grand jury, asking that grave body, as a conservator of the peace, to present them as a nuisance. Among the witnesses called was an old Quaker who lived not far from the church, but his testimony was not sufficiently clear and to the point to justify the finding of a bill. One of the Quakers, who was opposed to the meetings of the colored people, called on Gruber to enter his complaint. He said the colored people were very unruly and hard to govern, and proffered his assistance in reducing them to order. This same godl}^ Quaker had already given the colored people a specimen of his ability to govern them. During the wdnter previous to the arrival of Gruber he went one night into their meet- ing, flourished his club, put out some of their lights, and ordered them in the midst of their singing and praying to break up their meeting. The pastor of Sharp-street, aware of this fact, was not only unwilling to accept the proffered assistance of this Quaker, but gave him to understand that the colored people had just as good a right to make a noise in their meetiiags as the Quakers had to sit in silence with their hats on ; and as they had no colored people in
96 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
their churches in Baltimore, he thought it would be advisable for them to endeavor to get them into their meetings and teach them the true Quaker order.
He did not seem to have the same admiration for the Quakers that Wesley had, though he approached more nearly that singular sect in his manner of dress than the founder of Methodism, who, if we are credi- bly informed, was not so far removed from the fash- ionable world as to exclude all ornament, and wore wrist ruffles. As Gruber was traveling one day between Cumberland and Uniontown he overtook one of this strait sect. From the plainness of his dress the Quaker supposed him to be one of their number. The Quaker soon entered into conversation with him, and asked him a number of questions. After he had finished, Gruber commenced, and tlie followino^ conversation ensued :
"Where did you come from ?"
" From Virginia," replied the Quaker.
" What part of Virginia ?"
" Apple-pie Kidge."
"That is a place I have been at in years gone by. Is it improving any ?"
"O yes, it is; there are a number of Friends there."
LIFE OF JACOB GKUJJKU. 97
"Are there any revivals of religion in those parts among the different denominations? Are any get- ting converted among the Friends at Apple-pie Eidge."
" O yes, a good man}^, I hope."
" I am glad to hear that; I am always glad to hear of the conversion of souls anywhere, and am particu- larly rejoiced to hear of conversions among the Quakers or Friends, as I never heard of such a thing before."
"Thee is uncharitable, very."
"I do not w^isli to be so. The good news you bring me gives me a much more favorable opinion of your people. Were there many converts at Ap- ple-pie Eidge f '
"I hope a good many."
" Could you give me the names of some, perhaps I might know^ them."
" O there are a number."
" Please to name two or three, as I want to have it to say that people get converted among the Quakers as well as among other denominations."
The Quaker was silent.
" Don't leave me as uncharitable as you found me.
Have you ever been converted 3'ourself ?"
7
98 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
" We don't look at these things and speak of them as thee does; there is no need of speaking or preach- ing, as every one may tnrn inward and find the true teacher and inward light."
" Do you mean by the true teacher and inward light Jesus Christ ?"
"O yes, he is the Great Teacher."
By this time they arrived at a place where they separated, and the Quaker turned to the preacher and said, " Fare thee well."
During the year he was stationed in Baltimore the battle at l^orth Point took place. It was a time of great excitement. The soldiers were encamped around the city. He went out and preached twice in the encampment. While preaching on Sunday morning, at Light-street, the boom of the cannon announced the approach of the British soldiery, and the meeting broke up in wild disorder, in the midst of the preacher's ejaculations " that the Lord would bless King George, convert him, and take him to heav- en, as they wanted no more of him." Gruber thus describes the scene : " Soon after the soldiers marched, and prepared to give the king's troops a warm saluta- tion and reception, and send as many of them as they could to heaven or hell, without praying the Lord to
LIFE OF JACOB GRUEEK. 99
convert them. I will not attempt to describe the glory of the clay and night of the bombardment, the bombs and rockets flying in their sublime beauty. Still there were persons, even in Baltimore, who did not like the war, and blamed Madison for it, saying that his administration was like the street called by his name, which began at the poor-honse, went by the jail, then passed the penitentiary, and ended on Gallows Hill."
One of the members of his Church was killed in the battle, and buried with the honors of war. He was pained with the military display which he wit- nessed at this funeral, and remarked, that he " would rather be buried with the honors of Lazarus the beg- gar than to have soldiers shoot into his grave, as though they wanted to kill him again, and then fire upward, after his spirit, as though they wanted to kill that too."
Previous to the breaking out of the late war he preached a fourth of July sermon, which is so charac- teristic of the man, and his style of preaching, that we give the substance of it to our readers. His text was John viii, 36: "If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." He thus introduces the subject:
100 LIPE OF JACOB aRUBER.
*' The word preached by our Lord himself had not the same effect in all j^laces. In some places he could not (or did not) do many miracles, because of their unbelief. The apostle saith : ' The word preached did not profit them, .not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.' The apostles (and their preaching) were the savor of death unto death to some, and the savor of life unto life to others. When our Lord spoke the words of our text there was a mixed multi- tude present, friends and enemies, serious and critical, caviling and opposing hearers. He had spoken dif- ferent things, suitable to and necessary for his hearers to hear and understand. He spoke of his Father hav- ing taught and sent him to speak and do what he did, and adds : ' The Father hath not left me alone ; for I do always those things that please him. As he spake these words many believed on him.' Then follow the words of our choice :
" ' Then said Jesus to those which believed on him ' — ^looking unto him, believing in him, and com- ing unto him, frequently imply the same thing ; we must believe in, look and come unto him, if we would be saved by him.
" 'If ye continue in my word :' we must first receive the ingrafted word, as it is called, before w^e can con-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 101
tiiiue in it; hear, and obey it: then hold it fast, con- tinue therein ; try onr experience and enjoyment by it; let it be the rule of our faith and practice; live by it, etc., etc.
" 'Then are ye my disciples indeed.' A disciple is a scholar, a learner, a follower, and Christ proposes himself as a master, a teacher, and an example. We become disciples when we deny ourselves, come to Christ, enter his school, learn of him to be wise, meek, and lowly in heart, not in appearance only, in the head, superficially, etc., but deep learning, not high ; deep humility, genuine piety. A scholar must not have his own way, learn where he pleases, and spend his time in looking at pictures ; he must be under the discipline of his master. Christ saith : ' Take my yoke upon you, and learn,' etc. To -be disciples in- deed requires more than a beginning to learn, or to fol- low. There must be a progress, a continuance, till the language, the art, or the science is attained. The scholar that becomes indolent ceases to learn, breaks the rules of the school, is rebellious, etc. ; must be cor- rected, and expelled if he does not reform. We con- tinue disciples of Christ w^hile we obey and follow him. ' Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I com- mand you ;' reverse this, and w^e are his enemies
102 LIFE OF JACOB GPwUBER.
when we break his commands. 'He that is not for me is against me.' The disciple may be as his Mas- ter and Lord, have his mind, his spirit, and walk as he walked. He has left us an example that we should follow his steps. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. They were like their Lord in spirit, in self denial, in holiness of life and conversa- tion. All around them might take knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus, and were sent by him to speak and do as they did. The apostle Paul re- proves some professing Christians because they had privileges, grace afforded, opportunities, and time sufficient to have been fathers, teachers, etc., yet they had need of milk, the food and instruction of children. They were not able to bear strong meat ; so far from being able to teach otliers tliey liad need of being taught the first principles of the oracles of God, and were unskillful in the word of righteous- ness ; they were babes, and not of fall age. The Lord have mercy on such.
" ' And ye shall know the truth.' God our Sav- iour will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledsfe of the truth. Salvation is free
o
for all, since the grace of God that bringeth sal- vation hath appeared unto all men. The Lord
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEU. 103
in his plan of salvation requires ns to come to the knowledge of the truth ; he will not force any to the truth. 'No; man need not expect the grace of God to save him unless he obeys its teachings, which is, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godl}- in this present world. Jesus Christ is the truth and the way, and through him we have access, and can come to God the Father. Hence Jesus says : ' Come unto me and I will give you rest.' This is eternal life : to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. The apostle writes in an alarming man- ner to the Corinthians : ' Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God : I speak this to your shame.' They abounded in other knowledge, in gifts, in utterance, etc., and were puffed up ; but they were lacking in the knowl- edge of God. They knew not his reconciling love shed abroad in their hearts; that Christ was in them ; or did not enjoy deep communion with God, or feel and live under the sanctifying influences of his Hol}^ Spirit. This it was their privilege to know, to enjoy. Their ignorance of this was their shame.
" ' And the truth shall make you free.' The ex- periii^eutal knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus
104 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
shall make you free from ignorance, from tlie guilt, misery, and death which sin and error has brought into the world or into tlie Church. Those who do not obtain this knowledge and freedom are exposed to the greatest danger. Read an awful passage in point, 2 Thess. ii, 10-12 : ' Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie : that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' Mark this solemn dec- laration. These persons heard the truth, they had it in reach ; it was in their power to believe it, to receive it, and to be saved or made free by it. But they did not love it; they loved error or darkness more than light or truth ; tliey closed their eyes against the light, and neglected their salvation ; re- fused to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Thus, as a prophet saitli, they have chosen their own wa3^s, (not to learn and walk in the truth,) and their soul delighteth in their abomina- tions. God saith : ^ I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them.' Isa. Ixvi, 4. Thus it is that many believe a lie, plead for sin, have pleasure in unrighteousness, fill up the measure
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 105
of their iniquities, and sink to damnation. But let us return to our text.
"'They answered him, We be Abraham's seed" — • they^ those Jews who lieard our Lord speak in sncli a manner to those who believed on him ; not they who had become his disci j3les — " and were never in bondage to any man : how sayest thou, Ye sliall be made free V " It is astonishing how they could speak so to our Lord. They must have known that their fathers had been in bondage, and that they were then under tribute to the Eomans, and, of course, were not free. Strange to tell, many in our day and generation imitate those Jews. Speak to them, espe- cially on this day, about obtaining liberty, or being made free, and they will readily and loudly exclaim, We are free Americans and no slaves, and were never in bondage to any man ! Tliey might remember that their fathers w^ere in bondage until they fonglit for and obtained their liberty ; and they ought not to forget that they may be very dependent even on man. They may read or hear articles of Lide- pendence, write their names on a paper to show that they are true Americans, and yet some of them may be more in debt than they are worth ; even if the old law was in force, which allowed a debtor to be
106 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
sold, with his wife and children, and payment to be made, it would not discharge all their debts. Hence many who make a great sliow, and talk loud about their independence, are dependent on the night to run off from their creditors ; or taken and shut up, and dependent on windows with iron-bars for light in the day, where they don't like to be. Others, who seem to cut a figure and make a great dash, who are great patriots in talk, and wish to be thonglit great friends to their country, especially when an officer is wanting, would be as poor as many of their neighbors, if they would pay their just debts, re- store what they have wrongfully taken, and not oppress, distress, or defraud the poor, the ignorant, the laborer, and the traveler.
" What is all this noise and parade about on the Fourth of July ? What means the mirth, the feasting, the expense, the shouts of some, the huzzas of the drunken, and nonsense of others? The secret, the spring of the mighty joy is, we are not under British tyranny or French oppression. We are not in bond- age to king or emperor. A query arises in my mind : Are we then like the locusts who have no king? or why do many go forth in bands to gambling, to ph^ys and balls, to barbecues, horse races, parties, etc., and
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worse. What a pity that Jesus is not oar king ; he would save iis from much hibor, from much misery, and from great expense. It is frequently said we are in a free country ! It is free to all that are not slaves ; but even in a free country there may be miserable slaves. Such are in our own country. May the Lord roll or wipe away this reproach from America !
" Jesus answered them, ' A^erily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.' Here the wretched state of the nnregenerate man is brought to open view. Though not in bondage to any man, yet a complete slave of the worst kind, and in the most wretched condition. 'To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.' Taken captive by the devil at his will, slaves to pas- sion or appetite ; a free and independent American a slave to avarice, ambition, and intemperance.
"The memorable day is come; great or little guns usher it in ; a whistle or a trumpet adds to the luster and glory of the opening morning. Who would not rise early to see the joy? Great preparations are made, and multitudes are gathering ! Great sights ! Common sense and good sense unite with judgment or sound reason to tell some they have no time or
lOS LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
money to spend ; but custom and appetite runs away . with the man ; he must show that he is a true Ameri- can. He might be thankful to heaven for liis liberty at home, or among praying persons assembled to worship God ; but he wants something better and stronger to eat and drink than home or place of wor- ship affords. Our situation at this time, as a nation or country, calls aloud for fasting, humiliation, prayer, and intercession, not for feasting and intemperance. The wise man's words are proper at this time : ' It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting; the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but tlie heart of fools is in the house of mirth.' Ecclesiastes vdi, 2,4.
" A heavy cloud hangs over our head ; it gathers blackness, and tlireatens judgments and punishments for our sins. ' Sin is a reproach to any people.' As a people we have taken great liberty to sin against God ; we have abused great mercy and neglected a great salvation ; we may expect a great chastisement and destruction if our reformation does not prevent it, and the Lord in mercy undertake for us, and preserve and save us.
"Where is our dependence for safety, prosperity, or success, in peace or war, if an Almighty arm is
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 109
engaged against us ? ' If God be for us who can be against us?' But will lie not be avenged on such a nation as this ? I do not hesitate to saj, I am more afraid of slavery and infidelity in our country than of the British and French. The sin of oppression prevails in many parts of this country. Men and women who, according to the constitution of the United States, have a right to be free, are held in chains of bondage, degraded dowm to ignorance and wretchedness, on a level with, or beneath the beasts that perish. The cry of blood arises from the ground ; God has an ear to hear it ; the poor and needy shall not always be forgotten. Blood, sweat, and tears testify against the cruel oppressor. The Judge is set against them. They cannot obtain mercy, because they showed no mercy. Infidels glory in their shame, and scatter firebrands, arrows, and death ; sport wath sacred things, and make a mock of sin. Many follow their pernicious ways, their evil and abominable practices. ' By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.' Hosea iv, 2.
" And what is more distressing and alarming, re- ligion is at a low ebb ; there is too much lukewarm- ness and formality in the Church ; professors of
110 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
religion conformed to the world in pride and vanity. The power of godliness is lacking in many. In some congregations no conversions or reformation for years past. ' Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach,' etc. Joel ii, 17. May the Lord revive his work !
" It is said some of your society have acted badly ; this is matter for lamentation ; but know this, that w4ien we have found them out we labored to reclaim them; if there was no reformation w^e expelled them from our Church. But why should some throw stones at the Methodists while they have many in their own Church to throw at ? Where is the denom- ination that does not suffer from this cause ? In some there are even ministers, elders, or official characters v^rho are unconverted, and impious, and worse ; at least, strangers to the spirit and mind of Christ, or else they would not be at the head or tail of feasts, and balls, parties, etc., and drink and associate with drunkards, etc. 'Evil communications corrupt good manners.'
" There is a great talk about war ; many comfort themselves on a recollection of past favors and pro-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEU. Ill
tection; when we were but few and weak we con- rjuered our enemies, the enemies of our country or liberties. But it ought to be remembered our cause was good ; we had many praying, God-fearing leaders or rulers. A Washington ought never to be forgotten ; he had his hours for retirement and devo- tion, and was a firm believer in Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation. His plans were crowned Avith success. The Lord gave us victory. Honor to the general ! he was the glory of his country. But glory to the God he worshiped ! May we fear and obey him ! What can we promise ourselves with compa- nies of profane soldiers, and infidel swearing officers at their head, as too many of them are ? May the Lord undertake for us, and save our country. Mark the spirit that prevails in our country at celebrations of Independence. Is it not the spirit that works in the children of disobedience ? Many eat and drink toasts till they can scarcely get up. Some must be carried home ; others stagger along from side to side ; not able to navigate the highway, they fall and wallow- in the mire, are lodged where they could not get their dog to lie. Others feel strong, are for war on the spot, abuse their friends, break each other's bones, bite, or black each other's eyes, boast of their
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wisdom, honor, riches, or liberty, which are all scarce articles with them, almost out of their, reach.
" However, they have kept the Fourth of July like true Americans. But where is the truth of their boast and liberty? "You must pardon me for abus- ing you or speaking as I did ; I was drunk or in a pas- sion." This is the plea ; but this doubles the crime. Keep sober, subdue your passion, maintain your liberty, or you are ruined. For whosoever com- mitteth sin is the servant, or, as it may properly be rendered, the slave of sin. However wise or learned, however rich, however honorable the votaries of pleasure, whosoever committeth sin is a slave ; his knowledge will augment his misery, his honor disgrace him in hell, his riches enhance his damnation. The rust (or abuse) of his gold and sil- ver eat his flesh like fire. All pleasure gone forever.
" ' But,' says one, ' I don't profess religion.' What then is your profession ? a sinner, a slave, a rebel against the King of kings ? glory not in this. It is your sin and condemnation not to have religion in the accepted time, and to die without it will secure you a complete eternal damnation.
"Fear and tremble. The greatest tyrant, from
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Pharaoh down to the most cruel slaveholder, has let his slave go free at death, sometimes in some cases before death. But the slaves of sin and Satan must live in chains of darkness and death, everlasting starv- ation and desperation, in everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. It was never prepared for men; they fitted themselves for it. It was their own choice. Christ saith in our text, ' The servant abideth not in the house forever ; but the Son abideth ever.'
"The bond person shall be cast out, and have no inheritance ; he can't abide in the world, he is cast out of the Church. ' The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.' Psalm i, 5. They shall not enter, nor abide in heaven. The Judge will say : ' Take the wicked and unprofitable servant, bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matthew xxii, 13 ; XXV, 30. But Hhe Son abideth ever' in his inher- itance; Head of his Church ; Lord of lords, and King of kings. But ' Christ as a son over his own house : whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end.' Hebrews iii, 6. The Lord has promised to ' make
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him that overcometh a pillar in the temple of God, and he shall go no more out.' They shall live for- ever in the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 'If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'
" The disciples of Moses, the servant of God, had to bear a heavy yoke of ordinances, a grievous bur- den, more than they or their fathers were able to bear. But Christ has blotted out ' the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' Col. ii, 14. Now, as the Son of God is lifted up, he draws or invites all men to look unto him for salvation, for liberty.
" ' The law was given by Moses ;' but the law worketh wrath : *for by the law is the knowledge of sin.' The law is weak through the flesh. It cannot give life ; it pronounces sentence of death on trans- gressors ; but grace and truth came by our Lord Jesus Christ. ' He bare our sins in his own body on the tree.' ' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' Gal. iii, 13. ' Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.' 2 Tim. i, 10.
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"Now liberty is proclaimed to the captives; sin- ners are made free from sin b}^ the Son of God ; free from wretchedness and condemnation. The true penitent or sincere seeker is cr} ing, ' O Lord, I be- seech thee, deliver my soul.' Psa. cxvi, 5. ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' Luke xviii, 13. He prays and groans, * O wretched man that I am ! who shall de- liver me ?' Eom. vii, 24. The Lord is nigh unto such, and rich in mercy unto all that call upon him. 'Who- soever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Romans x, 13. A soul engaged in this way obtains deliverance. The dungeon shakes, the chains fall off. Casting every care upon Him, venturing all npon him, believing in him with a heart unto right- eousness, the believer is set at liberty ; he is a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ. There is now no condemnation unto him. Those who read the last part of the seventh chapter to the Romans, ought to read the fii*st part of the eighth chapter before they stop. After the state of a person under the law, in wretchedness and condemnation, struggling for de- liverance, is brought to view, then the state and enjoyment of one under the Gospel in grace is pointed out, free from condemnation ; the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from
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the law of sin and death. The Son has not only made them free, but blessed them with wisdom and power, ' that the righteousness of the law miglit be fulfilled in them.' Eom. viii. And an apostle ex- horts them to ' stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.' Gal. v, 1. Free indeed ; tongue cannot express the joy of the soul made free indeed ; 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.' The spirit rejoices in Christ ; the soul doth magnify the Lord ; salvation is the joyful sound, the song, etc. Jesus has the gloiy. What means the noise and shouts of joy ! Has a person found a piece of silver, a sheep, or something that was lost ? Yes, more than silver, or anything this world can afford ; ' a pearl of great price,' ' the white stone,' ' the one thing need- ful,' the kingdom of heaven. What mean the songs of joy and shouts of liberty? The noise is heard afar off. It is the celebration of independence of true Christians made free indeed ; no longer dependent on Satan and sin for pleasure and happiness in sensual delights, nor on the world for riches and honor, they are rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom ; ' an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them.' 1 Pet. i, 4. They have the honor that is from above.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 11 Y
Though they do not drink toasts and give cheers according to fashion, yet they drink of the well of salvation, the river of life, the streams of grace. Their hearts are cheered, their souls are on the wing for glory.
"What means the gathering crowd, persons from east, west, north, and south, from far and near, male and female ? Is there a horse-race, or a feast ? 'No, but there are some running the race for eternal life. They eat and drink with mournful joy and glad hearts, in remembrance of Him who redeemed them with his blood, and raised them from slaves to }3rinces, and from beggars to thrones. O glory to God! ho- sannah in the highest ! their hope is full of immortal- ity, their joy is full, their souls are full of glory. They are not drunk ; they can speak the words of soberness, and are ready to give an answer to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is in them, with meekness and fear, etc. They know that they have passed from slavery to liberty, from death to life, feel the powers of the world to come, and claim, in virtue of their birth, a mansion in the skies.
"This is a real, heartfelt enjoyment, such as the world can never give, nor the cattle on a thousand hills afford. The world, with all its pleasures and
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treasures, can give but little satisfaction, a poor mo- . mentary delight or enjoyment. What happiness is there in gatherings to see and be seen ? Is tliere more happiness in eating at a feast, and paying dollars, than eating wholesome food at home, and saving mon- ey for necessary or charitable purposes? Does it make the soul truly happy to drink many and large toasts, and give many loud cheers ? Does it make a person truly v^^ise to hear the song of fools and huzzas of the drunken ? Does it give more real pleasure to the mind to hear a great gun than it would to hear a pop-gun ? ' Yanity of vanities, all is vanity, saith the preacher.'
^'Cannot a man be a true friend to his country with- out following after lying vanities, and drinking intox- icating and poisonous draughts, in the fashionable way of wishing health ? Must he ' run to excess of riot,' or fall down and wallow in the mire, to celebrate his inde- pendence? Must a person be cursed all over, (and that by persons who are a curse to a country,) over tables and bowls, because he will not drink whisky with drunkards, and keep company with swearers and gamblers, waste his substance and time, neglect his business and his salvation ? It is surely far better to fear God, and fast, and pray for our country and for
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 119
all men, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
" In conclusion : If we would enjoy liberty, peace, and happiness, we must, in the first place, make peace with God, agree with our adversary, submit oui*- selves unto him, humble ourselves under his mighty hand, and he will lift us up ; we shall then enjoy his protection. 'If God be for us, who can be against us.' 'Who will harm us if we be followers of that which is good.' In the next place, we must follow peace with all men ; as far as in us lies, have peace with all. Then the God of peace will be with us, and a wall of fire around us; glory shall dwell in our land, and Jesus reign King of nations, as well as King of saints and Prince of peace. Happy deliverance, thrice blessed freedom from war and bloodshed, con- tention and strife, from every evil work ! Freed from enemies, free indeed ; from corruption, from labor, from suffering and sorrow, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are forever at rest. Not a wave of trouble shall roll across their peaceful breasts ; all tears wiped away, they shine like the sun in the kingdom of God forever. May the Lord bless us with this freedom, and crown us with his glory. And to him be all the glory. Amen,"
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He thus describes a strange procession which he^ met between Harrisburgh and Woodstock : "After the war was over, I passed a strange procession. I had passed different droves before, but never such a one as this. It was composed of two or three dozen of colored men chained together with a long heavy chain, and a company of women and children, walking loose along in the procession. They looked sorrowful and pitiful. I gave a glance at them as they passed, and looked sharp at three white men who were driving them. As I passed them, I said, ' Hail ! Columbia, happy land ; is this free trade and sailors' rights V At this they looked cross and replied, ' Yes, we are Republicans.' "
As pastor of the colored people he enjoyed himself remarkably well, and was often amused by their peculiarities. He allowed them perfect freedom in the expression of their religious views, and at the love- feasts and general class-meetings many of their white brethren would be present, more, it is to be feared, out of curiosity than for the purpose of deriving any spiritual benefit. The colored people are proverbially superstitious, not more so, however, than others of the uneducated class among the whites ; they place great reliance upon dreams and visions, and among Gru-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEli. 121
ber's flock there were some wlio had a particular fond- ness for these mental exercises. Of sucli importance did they consider a dream, especially if it liad a relig- ions bearing, that they would relate it in meeting. At one of the speaking meetings alluded to, a colored brother rose, immediately after one of the sisters who had related her dream, and said :
"Mass'r preacher, may I tell you de vision I had de oder night ?" ,
" O yes ! speak on, Brother Joe.'^
"Well, massa, I dreamed I saw Jacob's ladder leanin' up aginst de sky, and I climbed him to git up to heaven. When I got to de toppermost round, I found it was too short to reach up to de gate. I 'eluded to splice him. When dat was done, I begun at de bottermost round, and went up to de top of de toppermost round, and den from de bottermost round of de splice up to de toppermost round, but it was too short yet. Den I come down and splice liim agin. Den I went up from the bottermost round to de toppermost, and from de bottermost round of de first splice to de toppermost round, and from de bot- termost round of de second splice to de toppermost round, and I tell you, massa, it was jist a little too short yet. I could see into de gate, and dar de heav-
122 LIFK OK JACOB G RUBER.
enly company was marcliin' along de bank of de
river of life, and I saw de angels, and heard de halle-
« luiali song, and saw de golden streets. Being some- what snpple in de jints, I thought I could jump clar into de heavenly kingdom from de toppermost round. So I give a spring, and what do you tink, massa, was de circumstance? I tell you. Lor bless your soul, I got de blamedest fall I ever got in mj' life. If I can't git to heaven no oder way, bless you, honey, I'll not try to git dar agin by Jacob's ladder."
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CHAPTEE Y.
Opposition to a City Station — Appointed to Carlisle Circuit — Appointed to the District — Great Times in the Mountains — Model Professors — Albright and his People — An honest Dutchman judged — United Brethren Church — Opposition Lin© — Bishop Asbury's Wish — Gru- ber's Sermon at the Washington Camp-meeting — National Sins — Address to Masters and Slaves — Displeasure of Slaveholders — Letter from Eev. S. G. Eosael — Warrant issued for his Arrest — Arrested at Quarterly Meeting — Gave Security for his Appearance at Court — Indicted by the Grand Jury for inciting Slaves to Mutiny and Ke- bellion.
The conference of 1815 was held in the city of Baltimore, and was drawing near its close when the intelligence came to Grnber's ear that he was to be returned to the city station. Feeling, as he ex- pressed it, that "his work was done in Baltimore, and "that he did not wish to do it over again," he hurried to the bishop and besought him to change his appointment. He had another reason, he said, for not wishing to stay in the city ; he had been, to use his own language, " like an ox under the yoke, like a slave chained to the oar, and almost at every one's beck and call, treated like a dog ; not a pet one allowed to eat the crumbs which fell from the mas-
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ter's table." Though treated as a dog, he says, "I was not a lazy dog, nor a dumb dog, nor a greedy dog, nor a stray dog that could not find a home."
When the appointments were announced his name stood in connection with Carlisle circuit, and he was thus happily relieved of tlie drudgery of a city preacher. He had not made many rounds when, in consequence of the illness of the presiding elder, Hemphill, he was appointed by Bishop Asbury to the Carlisle district. This district was large, and in- cluded the eastern slope of the Alleghany Mountains. The quarterly-meetings and camp-meetings were largely attended, and there were numerous conver- sions at each. In describing the latter Gruber said : " The shout of a king was in tlie camp ; great was the power, and deep was the work of grace in the heart and the congregation ; glorious were the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. The hills and mountains echoed the sound, and the valleys were filled with the glory. Old persons wept tears of joy, and children sung and shouted Hosanna fa the highest !" In speaking of the young converts of that time, he remarked : " They took advice, and re- nounced the vain pomp, glory, and fashions of the world, and would not follow or be led by them. The
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young people did not grow so much in the head then as they do now ; but they grew more in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There was less backsliding, and a greater increase in the membership. " We had," said he, " no opposi- tion line of camp-meetings running then ; the German Methodists, as they were then called, united with us, preached in German, and shouted with us in English." The following account of Albright and his people is given by Gruber in a letter to Dr. Bond : '' Jacob Albright was a German, a good man, very zealous, headstrong, but not headlong. His name was nut so bright in German as in English, bordering in its signification on break or broken. Some say there is nothing in a name, but I think there is great meaning in some. This I know, Jacob Albright w^as a Methodist in Lancaster county, Pa. He belonged to a class in ISTew Holland, and had license to exhort. When he obtained this license, such was his zeal to do good that he went out and preached, and per- formed the rites of baptism and marriage. He de- sired to be employed by the conference as a German missionary; but that body did not think proper to comply with his request. Believing that the Lord hod called him to preach among the Germans, he
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set np for himself, remarking that he would not go with Boehm and Otterbine, and other German preachers, as they had no discipline, and were like a rope of sand. He adopted the Methodist discipline, and traveled at large, receiving members into his Church and forming classes. He got some zealous young men to help him. When his Church was fully organized the members elected and ordained him, and he. in turn ordained his preachers. He had a singular idea about secret prayer, and believed that the most profitable way was to pray aloud, which he did ; and as he had a strong voice, his secret prayers were heard all over the neighborhood. I never knew disciples to follow their master more fully than his did. They imitated him, particularly in praying ; and if I heard any of them pray, without knowing them or seeing them, I could at once tell that they were Albrights. Some of his young ])reachers in a short time blew out in the extraor- dinary exercise of their lungs. After his death his people changed their name, and are now known as Evangelicals."
One of the preachers of this denomination lived in a part of Western Pennsylvania, and owned a grist-mill. On Sunday he went round in the neigh-
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 127
borhood to preach. From some cause or other liis mind gave way, and he was subject to strange hal- lucinations. He imagined himself to be the judge of the world, and solemnly set apart a day for the performance of that work. He erected his throne in the woods not far from the mill. As no one knew of his movements but his miller, that personage de- termined to watch them. Jacob Fulweiler was the name of this preacher. He had in the same section of country two competitors in the milling business, whom he thought were not exactl}^ as honest as they should be. At length the day of judgment came and the judge ascended his throne, and in loud but solemn tones he exclaimed : " Peter Schmidt ! Peter Schmidt ! Peter Schmidt ! come to the schudg- ment !" After a short pause he said ; " Well, Peter, you have a mill you knows, and de peoples say you dakes too much toll." Pausing again, he then an- swers for Peter :
" Yes, ray Lord, I does take too much toll ; but den you knows de times is hard, and de water is low and de taxes is high."
" Peter Schmidt, take your place on de left among de goats."
The next summons was to John Lang. "Shoij
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Lang, come to scliudgment. You keeps a mill you knows. Does you not dake too much tolls, Shon?"
" Yes, Lord, I does ; but I has a large family, and have to pay de breachers, and de times is hard."
" Shon Lang, stand on de left mit Peter Schmidt and de goats."
After judgment was passed upon his neighbors he then summoned himself '' Jacob Fulweiler, now you comes to scliudgment. Does you not dake too much tolls at your mill ?"
After a short pause he responded gravel}^ : " Yes, my Lord, I fears I does dake too much tolls. You know de times is hard, and de water low and de taxes high ; but den I gives some of de stealings to de boor beoples."
" Yery well, Jacob Fulweiler, you may go on de right among de sheep ; but it's a very tight squeeze, I dell you."
Gruber thus refers to the formation of the United Brethren Church: " Li the year 1815 the Germans had what they called a General Conference in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Pa., com- posed of fourteen preachers. " I was at it, but not in it, and was acquainted with ten of the number.
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 129
They made a Discipline, and organized themselves into a Church. Being all Germans, they labored for some years among that people according to their original plan ; but when some English members and preachers joined them, it was not long until they found out that their society was as old as the Methodist Episcopal Church, if not older. Many who were called members were opposed to being classed, or having their names on a class-paper, and for their accommodation they adopted the plan of open doors for class-meetings and love-feasts. De- termined not to be bigoted and contracted as the Methodists, they give their meetings the same name as ours, but conduct them differently. They work with their tools, take our patterns, and alter them to suit their views and fancy, without any kindness to us or credit to them."
The bishops about this time desired to have Gru- ber go out as a missionary among the Germans ; but not wishing, as he expressed it, " to run an opposi- tion line," or come in contact with the Albrights and United Brethren, who professed to preach Methodist doctrines, he declined. Bishop Asbury was particularly anxious about organizing a mission iamong the Germans, and in a letter to Gruber from.
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Chambersburgli, a short time before his death, he says : " Let it be known that one of the grand acts of my life was the organization of a capital mission amoncr the American Germans."
While Grnber was presiding elder of the Carlisle district, the most remarkable event perhaps in his life occurred. It has already appeared to the reader that, like all the Methodist preachers of that day in the slaveholding states, he bore testimony against the evils of slavery. The rough thunderbolt manner however in which he denounced wicked masters sometimes excited their ire. The event to which we allude grew out of a sermon preached by him at a camp-meeting held in Washington county, Maryland, on the sixteenth of August, 1818. Though presiding elder of the district, he had not the charge of this meeting, and was simply there as a visiting minister. The sermon was delivered on Sabbath evening ; and to show that there was nothing premeditated in it, or that he had the least collusion with any one, white or black, he tried hard to persuade a brother minis- ter to preach in his place. As no substitute could be procured, it became his duty to preach. As usual, when he preached on sucli occasions, there was a large attendance, and the whole force of the encamp-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 131
meut was out to hear liim. There were present four or five tliousand wliites aud between three and four hundred blacks. His prayer was unusually fervent, abounding in petitions for the conversion, happiness, security, and protection of his congregation.
His text was Proverbs xiv, 34: "Eighteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people."
His sermon was divided after the old style of Meth- odist preaching, being a simple textual arrangement, consisting of a question and a declaration. On the question, " What kind of righteous7iess exalts a na- tion f he noticed :
1. '' Right principles, sound doctrine, sentimental righteousness.'*' Under the head of sound doctrines lie noticed the fall and original depravity of man, his redemption by Christ, and the doctrines of repent- ance, faith, and holiness, together with rewards and punishments in a future life. He remarked that a belief in these truths would make the head right, and would make a person or a nation upright, and dis- tinguish them from the ignorant and superstitious, the infidel and the heathen. Sound doctrines would not only affect the head but the heart, producing ex- perimental righteousness. Upon all such the Spirit
132 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
of the Lord would come, which would be a Spirit of grace, peace, adoption, love and liberty ; not a spirit of fear, but of power and of a sound mind, more excellent than the spirit of this world. Such an infusion of the Spirit would make the heart right, and cleanse the inside of a person or a nation ; wliile those who have not the spirit of Christ were none of his.
2. " This righteousness," he said, " would not only- correct the head and the heart, but it would control the conduct and produce practical righteousness. The life would be right, v/ithout which all, sentiments, notions, experience, and professions of righteousness would prove of no value in the dying hour and at the bar of God. According to the Scriptures, it was made known that ' in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him,' ' He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as God is righteous ;' and if it is known that God is righteous, so every one that doeth righteously is born of him and belongs to the heavenly family. The word of the Lord declares that ' the righteous shall eat of the fruit of their doings;' and if they are faithful unto death they shall have a crown of life, an.d share in the triumphs of the first resurrection." He summed up this branch of his subject by remark-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 133
ing that in these particulars were comprised all that was necessary for him to say on the subject of national and personal righteousness, and that who- ever lacks in either of these important particulars was not scripturally, experimentally, and practically righteous.
The second division of his subject contained the following declaration : " Sin is a reproach to any people, nation, or person. Sin is the transgression of the law, and the way of transgressors is hard. He that comraitteth sin is the servant of sin, and sin is a reproach to any people, no matter what their position ; and to any person, no matter what his rank. If they are law-makers, it is a reproach to them to break the laws they make at a great expense to the public ; rulers, magistrates, and others, whose duty it is to execute the laws, and who should be a terror to evil- doers, and a praise to them that do well, should not bring a reproach upon themselves by breaking these laws. What! a drunken magistrate to administer solemn oaths to others, and be a profane swearer himself? Shame on him, even if he were a judge.
'* Sin is a reproach to the rich, who have many advantages, and ought to be thankful and religious stewards, so that they may be enabled to give a good
134 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
account of their stewardship. It is a reproach to the poor, who have but little in this world, and ought to lay up treasure in heaven and be rich in faith, giving glory to God. It is a reproach to parents, to fathers and mothers, who should set a good example to their children, that they and their house might serve the Lord. It is a reproach to the aged, who are on the brink of the grave, and ought to be in preparation for death. It is a reproach to the young, who should remember their Creator in the days of their youth, and seek the Lord early, that they may be saved from evil habits, which lay a foundation for misery and destruction.
" Sin is a reproach to professors of religion. To name the name of Christ, and not depart from iniquity ; to profess in words that they know God, and at the same time in works deny him ; to plead for Christ and advocate the cause of Satan, is an incon- sistency without a parallel, and a hypocrisy unpar- donable. The Lord says, ' Cry aloud and spare not ; show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.' All the righteousness or religion that some people have is, alas for them! only found in their prayer-book, a mere form or ceremony without the power ; and their devotion is carried on
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 135
by a kind of moral machineiy. The organ sings praise, and if a machine could be invented to pray with it would be an accommodation ; it would save the labor and trouble of reading prayers.
" But tliere are what might be called national sins, which are a reproach. And first in the catalogue is the sin of infidelity, which consists in denying revela- tion, Christ, and religion, and also denying the power of godliness. The next is the sin of intemperance, fearfully prevalent especially among our national men. Tipphng, which leads to drunkenness, is frightfully common. AVe may safely calculate on a nation of drunkards if the common use of spirit- uous liquors is encouraged and continued. It is lamentable that many of our young men, and even boys, smoke and drink, sport, revel, and gamble, get drunk, and run fast to excess and riot. It would be an honor to them if they would learn sobriety. Then there is the sin of profanity. 'Because of swearing the land mourneth.' It is a great reproach to profane the name of the Lord and the Sabbath, and ordinances of his Church. What dependence can be placed in an oath of a person who, in common conversation, swears a score of oaths per day'^ Can such a man be a friend to his country who
136 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
breaks the law of God and man? or can he be an honest man until he goes before a magistrate and pays the lawful fine for every profane oath uttered by him ? ' The way of transgressors is hard,' and if a man swears he ought to pay for it as the law demands.
"The last national sin is slavery and oppression. This in particular is a reproach to the nation. Other nations who are under the yoke of despots are pitied, especially when they are ground down under the iron heel of oppression. This nation is happily delivered from such bondage. We live in a free country ; and that all men are created equal, and have inalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness, we hold as self-evident truths. But there are slaves in our country, and their sweat, and blood, and tears declare them such. The voice of our brother's blood crieth. Is it not a reproach to a man to hold articles of liberty and independence in one hand and a bloody whip in the other, while a negro stands and trembles before him with his back cut and bleeding ?
" There is a laudable zeal manifested in our coun- try to form Bible and missionary societies, to send the Scriptures and the Gospel to heathen nations.
LIFE OF eTACOB GRUBEE. 137
Would it not be well for some to be consistent, and instrnct the heathens at home in their kitchens, and let them hear the Gospel likewise ? What would heathen nations at a distance think if they were told that persons who gave liberally to send them the Bi- ble and the Gospel did not read, believe, or obey it themselves, or teach their own families to read that book, or allow them time to hear the Gospel of their salvation preached ? There is some difference even in this country. We Pennsylvanians think it strange, and it seems qnite curious to read in the public prints from some states an advertisement like this : ' For sale, a plantation, a house and lot, horses, cows, sheep, and hogs. Also, a number of negroes, men, women, and children, some very valu- able ones. Also, a pew in such and such a church.' Again : ' For sale, a likely young negro, who is an excellent waiter, sold for no fault, or else for want of employment.' These are sold for cash, for four, live, six, seven, or eight hundred dollars a head ; soul and body together, ranked with horses, hogs, etc. Look further and see, ' Fifty dollars reward, one hundred dollars reward, two hundred dollars reward.' What for ? Has an apprentice run away from his master ? No : perhaps a reward for him would be six cents.
138 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
A man that ran off has probably gone to see his wife, or child, or relations, who have been sold and torn from him, or to enjoy the blessings of a free country and get clear of tyranny. In this inhuman traffic and cruel trade the most tender ties are torn asunder, and the nearest connections broken. That which God has joined together let not man pnt asunder. This solemn injunction is not regarded. Will not God be avenged on such a nation as this?
" But some say, ' We use them well, and even bet- ter than they would use themselves if they were free.' Granted ; but what assurance have they that your children, or those to whom you may bequeath them, will use them as you do. May they not tyran- nize over them after you are dead and gone, and may not the slaves thus abused rise up and kill your children, their oppressors, and be hung for it, and all go to destruction together? The Lord have mercy on their souls! Such alarming and dreadful conse- quences may attend and follow this reproachful sin in our land and nation :
' Is there not some chosen curse, Some secret thunder in the stores of heaven, Eed with uncommon wrath, to blast the wretch That traiRcks in the blood of souls 1' "
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE. 139
Having delivered his message fully and freely to the masters, he then turned to the slaves, who were seated in the rear of the stand, and thus ad- dressed them :
'' Of all people in the world yon ought to have religion ; you have most need of it, in order that you may enjoy some peace and happiness : there is no peace to the wicked. Some of you have good mas- ters. You ought to attend tc^ religious duties. Never be absent from family prayer when it is in your power to attend ; discharge your duty, and it will make your situation more agreeable here, and certainly hereafter. Some of you have cruel masters ; are slaves to them, slaves to sin, and slaves to the devil ; and if you die without religion, you will be slaves in hell, forever ^miserable, wretched, poor, and lost to all eternity. But if you repent and get converted, be made free from sin, serve the Lord faithfully unto death, however hard your situations may be in this world, your sufferings will soon be over, and you may have crowns and kingdoms in glory, where the wicked cease from troubling and every tear is dry, and be happy in heaven forever, while wicked mas- ters are turned into hell, and damned forever."
Some of the slaveholders present were much dia-
140 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
pleased at the sermon, and it was rumored that he would be arrested. He, however, continued to fill his appointments. A few weeks after the camp- meeting a warrant was issued for his arrest. lie received a letter from the Rev. S. G. Eoszel, dated Middletown, Oct. 11, from which we make the fol- lowing extract :
"I rather suppose your enemies in Washington county will try all they can to injure you. I think you need not fear them. The God whose you are, and whom you serve, will, I trust, deliver you, and laugli to scorn the cruel power and machinations of your enemies. It will be a struggle between vice and virtue. I have seen Brother Pigman on the business, , and he has promised to interest on your behalf, should you be arrested. Lawyer Taney, the most influential and eminent barrister in Wash ington and Frederick. Should they sue the warrant on you, if the magistrate before whom you appear believes the prosecution to be malicious, or that there is no cause for action, he can at once dis- charge you ; if not, you must give bail for your appearance at court. A statement Brother Euhart has from Brother Pigman will show you your rights and privileges, of which, were I in your case, I would
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEB. 141
avail myself; and in case of arrest, when I appeared before the court, remove the trial to Frederick connty. It will also show you how much they will be in your power, if on trial a*jury should determine in your favor. May the Lord be with you, and bless you in all things. I design, if I can, to meet you at your quarterly meeting at Washington ; and, if I can, to bring Brother Snethen with me, that in case they should there arrest you, we may be ready to assist you in the business."
About two months after the issuing of the warrant he was arrested at a quarterly meeting in Williams- port. He went before a magistrate and gave the necessary security for his appearance at court. He was obliged to desist from his regular work, and sought the counsel of his lawyers, Messrs. Pigman and Roger B. Taney, now Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of the United States. At the session of the court, which was held in Hagerstown, he pre- sented himself for trial. The case was submitted to the grand jury, who, after two weeks of labor, brought forth an indictment.
112 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
CHAPTER YI.
Bill of Indictment — Opening of the Case — Examination of Witnesses in behalf of the State — Opening Address on behalf of the Defendant by Eoger B. Taney of Washington City — Examination of Witnesses for the Defense — Testimony of Eev. N. Snethen — Eev. J. Mason — Rev. J. Forrest — H. G. O'Neal — Mr. Long — Eev. L. Everhart — Eev. S. L. Davis — Jacob Bowlus — John Bo wins — Messrs. Brazier, Hunt, Bealer, Blake, Middlekauff, White, and Eeynolds — Eev. F. Stier — Eev. Stephen G. Eoszel — Eev. Abner Neal — Closing Argument for the Prosecution — Mr. Martin's Argument for the Defense — Argu- ment of Mr. Pigman, Counselor for the Defense — Mr. Taney concludes the Defense — Verdict of the Jury.
The following is the bill of indictment found by the grand juiy of Washington county :
CHARGE I. " State of Maryland, Washington county, to wit: "The jurors for the State of Maryland, for the body of "Washington county, upon their oath present : That Jacob Gruber, late of said county, clerk, being •I person of an evil, seditious, and turbulent disposi- tion, and maliciously intending and endeavoring to disturb the tranquillity, good order, and government of the State of Maryland, and to endanger the persons
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 143
and property of a great number of the quiet and peaceable citizens of said state, on the IGth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, at the county aforesaid, unlaw- fully, wickedly, and maliciously intended to instigate and incite divers negro slaves, the property of divers citizens of the said state, to mutiny and rebellion, for the disturbance of the peace of said state, and to the great terror and peril of the peaceable citizens thereof. And that the said Jacob Gruber, in prosecution of his said wicked intention and purpose, and for the effecting and accomplishment thereof, on the said sixteenth day of August, with force and arms at the county afore- said, unlaiofully^ wickedly^ maliciously^ and advisedly did endeavor to stir up^ provoke^ instigate^ and incite divers negro slaves^ whose names to the jurors afore- said are as yet unknown, the property of divers citi- zens of the said state, and inhabiting in the county aforesaid, with force and arms, unlawfully, seditiously, and wickedly to commit acts of mutiny and rebellion in the said state, in contempt and in open violation of the laws, good order, and government of this state, to the evil and pernicious example of all others in like case offending, and against the peace, government, and dignity of the state."
144 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
"CHARGE 11.
"And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths, do farther present, tliat the said Jacob Gruber, being such person as aforesaid, and unlawfully, wickedly, and maliciously designing, intending, and endeavor- ing again to disturb the peace, tranquillity, good order and government of the said state ; and further, to endanger the persons and property of the quiet and peaceable citizens of said state, and to incite a great number of other negro slaves, the property of divers citizens of the State of Maryland, to disobedi- ence, insubordination, and rebellion, to and against their masters, and to break the peace of the said state upon their said masters, to the great peril, annoyance, and disturbance of the quiet and peace- able citizens of said state, afterward, to wit : on the day and year aforesaid, with force and arms, at Washington county aforesaid, unlawfully, wickedly, maliciously and advisedly, did endeavor to stir up, ])rovoke, instigate and incite a great number of the last mentioned negro slaves, whose names to the jurors aforesaid are as yet unknown, the property of divers citizens of said state, and inhabiting in the said county aforesaid, with force and arms, unlawfully,
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 145
seditiously, and wickedly, to resist the lawful authority of their said respective masters and lawful owners, whose names to the jurors aforesaid are as yet unknown, and to break the peace of the said state upon their masters and lawful owners to the great damage of the said masters, in contempt and open violation of the laws, good order, and gov- ernment of this state, to the evil and pernicious example of all others in like case offending, and against the peace, government, and dignity of the state/'
The third charge was of the same tenor of the first and second, and need not be repeated. The whole was signed by the district attorney of the Fifth Judicial District, and attested by the clerk.
On this indictment Mr. Gruber was tried in the Frederic county court, March term, 1819, the case having been removed from Washington county at the request of the defendant's counsel.
The Hon. J. Buchanan, Chief Judge, and the Hon.
A. Shriver and the Hon. T. Buchanan, Associate
Judges, composed the court.
10
146 LITE OF JACOB GRUBER.
OPENING ARGUMENT FOR THE PROSECUTION.
In opening the case, the District Attorney, in addressing the jmy, observed that it was well known that slaves were property according to the laws of the state of Maryland, and that masters were entitled to the full protection of said property; that any attempt to incite slaves to insubordination and resistance to the lawful commands of their masters ought to be punished. He suggested, how- ever, that, in the prosecution of the inquiry on that occasion, the jury must not forget that liberty of opinion and speech was the privilege of every citizen, and if it should appear that Mr. Gruber had no criminal intent in his sermon, then he was to be regarded as having committed no offense against the law. It was the duty and province of the jury to judge of the intent from the facts which should be elicited in the testimony, and upon which alone their verdict was to be rendered.
TESTIMONY FOR THE PROSECUTION.
The first witness called on tlie part of the prosecu- tion was Dr. Frederick Dorset, who, upon being sworn, was examined by the attorney general.
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 14?
Question. Did jou hear Mr. Gruber's sermon at the camp-meeting in Washington countj^? If so, please state to the jury what Mr. Gruber said, to the best of your memory.
Answer. I was at the camp-meeting, and heard the sermon. Mr. Gruber spoke on many subjects. He spoke of the tyranny of masters, and gave a dialogue of what was to pass in hell between masters and slaves upon hot gridirons. He drew a com- parison between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and remarked that the people in Pennsylvania were sur- prised to see in the Maryland newspapers advertise- ments of negroes fpr sale, with stock and lands, and that they were sold without fault. He also com- mented upon the cash condition of the payment, the price of the soul, etc., etc. He said, in looking further into these advertisements, he found one run- ning thus : " Two hundred dollars reward ;" another, " Three hundred dollars reward ;" and still another, " One hundred dollars reward" for runaway negroes. A man gone to see his wife, or a wife gone to see her husband, and fear of punishment kept them from home. He said he would not be surprised if the slaves would poison their masters' children, and all go to damnation together. At this there was a
148 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
general response on the camp ground of " Amen ! Amen!" He said it was true that some slaves had good masters ; but what security had fathers that their children, to whom thej left them, would use them well; may not the slaves they leave as property rise against the children, and what security have masters that their children will not tyrannize over the slaves, and the slaves poison them? He said masters had no right to punish, because the negroes were free and born free. He quoted the Declaration of Independence, by which the people in this country had declared all men to be equal, and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He said further that the husband had no right to punish his wife, and on the same principle the master had no right to punish his slave.
Dr. Dorsey was then cross-examined by Mr. Pig- man, one of the attorneys for the defense, in the fol- lowing manner :
Q. What part of the discourse was addressed to the negroes ?
A. A considerable part of it.
Q. What were the number of white people on the ground ?
^ LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 149
A. About tliree thousand whites, and from three to five hundred blacks.
Q. What was the manner of Mr. Gruber ?
A. He preached with energy and zeah
Q. What was the text of Mr. Gruber ?
A. I do not recollect the text, but he preached the necessity of repentance to the blacks as well as the wdiites.
Da.vid G. Yost, Esq., was next called, and the attorney general proposed the following questions: Were you at the camp-meeting in Washington county ? Did you hear Mr. Gruber's sermon ? How many persons were present, and what was the general scope of his sermon ?
Mr. Yost stated in answer that he was at the meeting and heard the sermon. The text was in Proverbs : " Righteousness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people." He said in that part of his discourse relating to slavery, that he was opposed to slavery as a man, and much more so as a Christian. He said it was a reproach to the people of America to boast of their liberty while they held thousands in bondage ; that there was a great incon- sistency in holding the Declaration of Independence in one hand and a bloody whip in the other, and
150 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
the blood streaming from a negro's back literally cut to pieces. He spoke of advertisements in the Ma- ryland papers, mixing negroes for sale with stock, land, etc., and offering a reward for men who, perhaps from inhuman treatment, had gone to see their wives and children. He then addressed the blacks, and exhorted them to emancipate themselves from the service of the devil, and warned them if they and their masters lived and died in sin they would all go to hell together. Then he addressed the whites, and said : ^' You say you use them well ; granted, but how do you know your children, to whom you leave them, will use them well? They may tyrannize over them, and the slaves may rise up and poison or cut the throats of your children." In his address to the negroes he particularly ex- horted them to get religion and seek the pardon of God for their sins, and be ha23py.
Dk. Hammond, as a witness for the state, was next called and examined by the attorney general.
Question. Did you hear tlie sermon in question de- livered by Mr. Gruber?
Answer. I did hear it. He spoke in part of it of advertisements in the Maryland newspapers in which men were offered for sale with the cattle. Kesjroes
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 151
were olfered for sale without any fault. I^one need apply without cash. He said the cruelty of some masters was such that he should not be surprised if the slaves would enter their bed-rooms in the dead of night and poison tliem or cut their throats. He seemed to speak in a great passion. A person could hear him half a mile distinctly. He said negroes were sometimes whipped for trifling faults ; that they could not serve God and man. The part of his sermon addressed to the blacks occupied ten or fifteen minutes.
Cross-examined by Mr. Pigman.
Question. Do you remember that part of Scripture where our Saviour told the Jews and others who heard him, that they could not serve God and mammon?
Answer. I do not remember any such Scripture.
Me. Claggett was next examined on the part of the state. He was requested by the attorney general to state to the court and jury what he knew about the business. He testified as follows : I was at the camp- meeting and heard the sermon, but do not remember the text. Mr. Gruber said it was very inconsistent for people in this boasted land of liberty to hold the Declaration of Independence in one hand and a whip stained with human blood in the other. He said it was a common thing to see human flesh offered for
152 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
sale in Maryland with cattle and other stock. Horrid it was, he said, to the people of Pennsylvania to hear of these things. He said he would not be surprised if these negroes poisoned or cut the throats of the children of their masters, and all go to destruction together. I think there were about four or five thou- sand persons present, and out of that number about four or five hundred blacks. I did not hear the ad- dress to the blacks, as I left the ground before that part of the sermon commenced.
Daniel Schneblt was next examined on the part of the state, and made the following statement : I do not remember the text, but think it was in Proverbs. I got displeased with him early in his sermon and left the ground, but returned again and heard him. In addressing the whites he said he should not be sur- prised if the negroes rose in the night and killed their masters, and entered their bedrooms and poisoned their children. There were from five to six thousand people present, and out of them from three to five hundred negroes.
De. Finlet was then called, and testified as follows : I heard Mr. Gruber preach the sermon for which he stands accused. The general scope of his discourse was to entreat the congregation to obtain religion.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 153
He preached with zeal and vehemence, but not more so on that occasion than usual. I have heard Mr. Gruber often, and he delivered his sermon on that occasion in his usual manner. When speaking on slavery as a national sin, he said, besides the immor- ality of slavery itself, many masters treated their slaves with great cruelty, denying them the comforts of life, and many engaged in the slave-trade would for a tempting price tear asunder the tender ties of husband and wife, parents and children. Under these cruelties he said the slaves might be faithful to one generation, but they might not be so to the descend- ants of the present generation ; that it would not be surprising if the children to whom they were left, treating them with cruelty, should cause rebellion, and end in mutual strife ; the negroes sliould cut their throats, or kill them, be hung for it, and all go to de- struction together. He said some slaves were treated as if they had no souls. Though they were black, he said they still had human feelings, and many of tJiem possessed keen sensibility. He said those who tyran- nized over the negroes might be in hell, while the negro thus used, if faithful, might be in happiness. He said it was degrading to humanity to see human souls mixed with horses, cows, and stock, and offered
154 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
at public sale to the " highest bidder ;" that it was inconsistent with the republican principles of this nation to hold the Declaration of Independence in one hand, while the bloody scourge was brandished over the trembling slave with the other.
Me. Ingram was next called, and gave the following testimony : I remember that Mr. Gruber said he should not be surprised if the slaves of some masters entered their bedrooms and cut their masters' throats. I did not pay much attention to the sermon, and don't recollect the text.
Mr. Hogmire testified as follows: Mr. Gruber, when speaking on the subject of slavery, observed that the Pennsylvanians thought it monstrous to see Maryland newspapers filled with advertisements ofiering for sale negroes with cattle and other goods. He said he would not be surprised if they were to cut their masters' throats and poison their children.
Me. Rench was next called, and testified as fol- lows: I do not remember the text. I got so mad with Mr. Gruber for his severity on other sects of Christians that I do not remember much about the sermon.
At the close of Mr. Kench's testimony, the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 155
attorney general gave notice to the defendant's coun- sel that the proof on the part of the state was closed. Roger B. Tanej having, as above stated, been employed as counsel in the case delivered the open- ing address to the jury.
EOGER B. TA^^Y'S OPENmG ADDRESS.
He remarked that the statement made by the dis- trict attorney had informed the jury of the interesting principles involved in the trial then pending before them. It was, indeed, an important case, in which the community, as well as the accused, had a deep interest. The prosecution is without precedent in the judicial proceedings of Maryland ; as the jury are judges of the law as well as the fact, it becomes my duty not only to state the evidence we are about to offer, but to show you the grounds on which we mean to rest the defense.
I need not tell you, that by the liberal and happy institutions of this state the rights of conscience and the freedom of speech are fully protected. 'No man can be prosecuted for preaching the articles of his religious creed, unless, indeed, his doctrine is im- moral, and calculated* to disturb the peace and order of society ; and subjects of national policy may
156 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
at all times be freely and fully discussed in the pulpit or elsewhere without limitation or restraint. Therefore the reverend gentleman, whose cause I am now advocating, cannot be liable to prosecution in any form of proceeding for the sermon mentioned by the district attorney, unless his doctrines were immoral, and calculated to disturb the peace and order of society. The sermon, in itself, could in no other way be an oifense against the laws. If his doctrines were not immoral, if the principles he maintained were not contrary to the peace and good order of society, he had an undoubted right to preach them, and to clothe them in such language, and to enforce them by such facts and arguments as to him seemed proper. It would be nothing to the purpose to say that he offended, or that he alarmed some, or all of his hearers. Their feelings, or their fears, would not alter the character of his doctrine, or take from him a right secured to him by the constitution and law^s of the state.
But in this case he is not accused of preaching immoral or dangerous doctrine. It is not the charge contained in the indictment. The preaching of such a sermon is not laid as the offense. He is accused of an attempt to excite insubordination and insur-
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 157
rection among our slaves; and the intention of the preacher is the essence of the crime. On this in- dictment, no matter what doctrines lie preaclied, no matter wliat hmgnage he used, yet his doctrines or his hmguage could not amount to the crime now charged against him. They would be evidence, I admit, to show his intention ; but they would be nothing more than evidence, and could not constitute the offense itself.
Mr. Taney then read and explained to the jury the different counts contained in the indictment. You will perceive, he continued, by the explanation I have given you, that the intent of the accused is the great object of your inquiry. The charge is a grave and serious one. It is necessary, in order to support the prosecution, that the wicked intention charged in the indictment should be made out by proof. The guilty design is the crime imputed to him. You must be satisfied, before you can say he is guilty, that such was his intent, such the object he wished to accomplish, and that such were the purposes for which his sermon was preached. For it is upon this sermon alone that this prosecution is founded.
It is true that the words used by him are evi-
158 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
dence of his intentions. But they are not conclusive evidence ; nor are they the only evidence from which the intent is to be gathered. His language is a cir- cumstance from which you may infer his design. It is nothing more. And there are a variety of other circumstances equally entitled to weight, and equally proper for the consideration of the jury. For when it is alleged, on the part of the prosecution, that a clergyman of a Christian society, while professing to be engaged in the high and solemn duties of religion, was in truth seeking to produce insubordination and insurrection among the slaves, and a detached part of his sermon is relied upon as the proof of his guilt, the party accused has a right to refer you, in proof of his innocence, to the general scope and object of his sermon, to the other topics introduced and dis- cussed; to the occasion on which it was preached, to the character of the congregation to whom it was addressed, to the opinions known to be held by the society to which he belongs, and, above all, to the history of his own life, which in this instance would, of itself, be abundantly sufficient to repel such a charge, bottomed on such evidence. Upon all of these circumstances Mr. Gruber relies for his defense, and I now proceed more particularly to
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 159
state them, as you will by and by hear them in proof.
You have already been told that Mr. Gruber is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. And it is not necessary to tell you that the religious soci- ety to which he belongs is nearly as numerous as any other society of Christians in this state, and the equal of any other in the general order and decorum of their behavior, in their moral deportment, and in their habits of obedience to the laws. It was at a very early period of his life that Mr. Gruber became a member of this society, and took upon himself the duties of a minister of the Gospel. In this vocation he has faithfully labored for more than twenty years, and he now fills a post of high rank, and great confi- dence in his Church, the reward of his fervent piety and unwearied zeal. We shall also prove to you by a most respectable witness, a minister of the same Church, whose duty it has often been, according to the Discipline of that society, to examine into the conduct and character of the accused, that during the whole course of his ministry, the reverend gentle- man, who is now on his trial, has sustained a charac- ter of spotless integrity.
It is well known that the gradual and peaceful
160 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEK.
abolition of slavery in these states is one of the ob- jects which the Methodist society have steadily in view. No slaveholder is allowed to be a minister in that Clmrch. Their preachers are accustomed, in their sermons, to speak of the injustice and oppres- sions of slavery. The opinion of Mr. Gruber on this subject nobody could doubt. And if any slavehold- er believed it dangerous to himself, his family, or the community, to suffer his slaves to learn that all slavery is unjust and oppressive, and persuade him- self that they would not of themselves be able to make the discovery, it was in his power to prevent them from attending the assemblies where such doctrines were likely to be preached. Mr. Gruber did not go to the slaves ; they came to him. They could not have come if their masters had chosen to prevent them.
In August, 1818, a camp-meeting of the Method- ist society was held in Washington county. At tliis meeting it was the duty of Mr. Gruber to at- tend. He did attend, and from his official station in the society, the general superintendence and direc- tion of the meeting was in his hands. On one of the days of the meeting, when the usual hour of evening preaching had arrived, the gentleman who had been
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 161
depended upon to fulfill that duty was prevented by indisposition. It was the duty of Mr. Gruber to provide for this unexpected emergency. He applied to several of his brethren, and requested them to ad- dress the congregation. But it so happened, that from different causes, not now material to be stated, he was unsuccessful in all his applications ; and as nobody else could be found to supply the place of the sick brother, Mr. Gruber was compelled to do it himself. He undertook the task without preparation, without time for reflection, and upon the sudden and unexpected call of the moment. I state these facts so much in detail, because this sermon is th6 sole foundation of the charge against him. The language used on that occasion is the only fact relied upon to prove him guilty of the wicked intention of raising an insurrection among the slaves, and converting this peaceful and flom-ishing state into a horrible scene of rapine and murder.
At the time this sermon was preached there were present about three thousand persons, of whom only about four hundred were people of color, as they are now generally called. These were separated from the whites, according to the custom on such occasions, nnd placed together, behind the stand from which
162 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
the preacher addressed the congregation. Many of the most respectable gentlemen of Washington coun- ty, and many of the principal slaveholdei'S were there when the sermon in question was delivered. Yet it is at this meeting, thus constituted, that he is accused of conspiring against the peace of this state. It is in his public address to this assembly that he is said to have developed his profligate designs. If he did mean to stir up the slaves to insurrection, it must at least be admitted that he at the same time put the masters on their guard.
The address of Mr. Gruber occupied rather more than one hour. His subject was national sin; and after enumerating and rebuking some ofi*enses which he supposed the people of this country to be but too prone to commit, he, in the conclusion of his dis- course, spoke about fifteen minutes, and no more, on slavery and the treatment of slaves. It is not al- leged that he said anything in the preceding part of his sermon* calculated, in any degree, to support tlie prosecution. During all that time he made no allusion to the condition of master or slave, jjind in the latter part of his discourse, when he did speak of them, and used the language on which this prosecu- tion is founded, he addressed himself particularly to
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 163
the masters. His appeal to his hearers on this sub- ject was directed exclusively to the whites. The impression was intended to be made on them. And when the language used by him shall be detailed to you by the witnesses, you will find that he could not have designed, in that part of his discourse, to influ- ence the conduct of the slaves, but was obviously and clearly seeking to reform the hearts of the masters.
There may, and probably will be a difference among the witnesses as to the words used on this occasion by the reverend preacher. There will always be this difference where there are many hearers. For some will be negligent, while others are attentive ; some hear only detached parts, others hear the whole ; some are roused to attention only when the angry passions are inflamed by an expected attack on some favorite opinion, and others listen to the whole discourse, in the spirit of soberness and humility, for the purpose of receiving and profiting by the instruction. And in this case a difference is more especially to be looked for because the sermon produced a good deal of excitement, and much warm conversation among different persons even on the ground ; so that the remarks of irritated individuals
164 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
become intimately blended in the mind with the language of the preacher, and make it difficult, after the lapse of some months, for those who list- ened carelessly to separate the one from the other. But we shall be able to fix, beyond doubt, the lan- guage actually used by him ; for we shall produce a most respectable witness w^lio listened attentively to the whole discourse, who was near the preacher during the whole time, and who, on the day afterward, while it was yet fresh in his mind, wrote down the heads of the discourse, and wrote out in full what may be termed the offensive part of it. His statement, too, will be corroborated by the testimony of a multitude of other witnesses concurring with him in all the material parts. We shall therefore confidently rely on it as containing truly and accurately the words delivered. And fronl such a sermon as the witness will detail, preached by such a man, on such an occa- sion, and under such circumstances, without any other act of his life to aid the prosecution, I must be allowed to say that no intelligent mind, free from the influence of passion and prejudice, can infer the guilty design charged in this indictment.
The learned district attorney has said that the lan- guage of Mr. Gruber was injudicious ; that it was not
LIFE OF JA'COB G RUBER. 165
calculated to do good ; that it would necessarily irri- tate and offend the masters, and make the slaves more dissatisfied with their unhappy condition. And it may, in the progress of this trial, be argued, on the part of the prosecution, that his principles on the subject of slavery were wrong ; that the assertion of his opinions to a congregation mixed like the one to which he was speaking, was impolitic and dangerous, and likely to produce insubordination and disturb- ance among the slaves. N'ow, if all this could be truly said of this memorable sermon ; if the reverend preacher merited all these reproaches, yet, if you should believe that his motives were pure, if you think him innocent of any design to produce this mischief, he would still be entitled to a verdict of acquittal ; for he is not now on trial for preaching doctrines calculated to disturb the peace and order of society. That is not the offense charged in this indictment ; and you are well aware that a man indicted for one offense cannot on his trial on that indictment be convicted of another and a different offense. And if the learned attorney for the state shall be able to satisfy you that the opinions of Mr. Gruber on slavery, and the treatment of slaves, are unsound ; that his arguments were injudicious and
166 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
impolitic ; that his language was inflammatory and calculated to produce evil ; still he will not have advanced one step toward the accomplishment of his object, until he can prove to you that these opinions were uttered, these arguments were used, and this language employed, with the criminal intention and for the wicked purpose laid in this indictment. I might, therefore, safely rest the defense on this ground, and yield to the attorney for the state all the advantage he can derive from placing my client, in this respect, in the wrong ; for the circumstances I have before stated will, in my humble judgment, put the integrity of his motives beyond all question. And whatever may be thought or said of the intem- perance of his zeal, nobody who listens to the proof will be able to doubt the sincerity of his heart.
But the reverend gentleman merits a defense on very different principles. The counsel to whom he has confided his cause cannot content themselves with a cold and reluctant acquittal, and abandon Mr. Gruber, without defense, to all the obloquy and reproach which his enemies have industriously and most unjustly heapeS upon him. We cannot consent to buy his safety by yielding to passion, prejudice, and avarice, the control of future discussions on this
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 167
great and important question. He must not sur- render up tlie civil and religious rights secured to him, in common with others, by the constitution of this most favored nation. Mr. Gruber feels that it is due to his own character, to the station he fills, to the respectable society of Christians in which he is a minister of the Gospel, not only to defend himself from this prosecution, but also to avow, and to vindi- cate here, the principles he maintained in his sermon. There is no law that forbids us to speak of slavery as we think of it. Any man has a right to publish his opinions on that subject whenever he pleases. It is a subject of national concern, and may at all times be freely discussed. Mr. Gruber did quote the lan- guage of our great act of national independence, and insisted on the principles contained in that venerated instrument. He did rebuke those masters who, in the exercise of power, are deaf to the calls of human- ity ; and he warned them of the evils they might bring upon themselves. He did speak with abhor- rence of those reptiles who live by trading in human flesh, and enrich themselves by tearing the husband from the wife, the infant from the bosom of the mother ; and this, I am instructed, was the head and front of his oflending. Shall I content myself with
168 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
saying he had a right to say this ? that there is no law to punish him ? So far is he from being the object of punishment in any form of proceeding, that we are prepared to maintain the same principles, and to use, if necessary, the same language here in the temple of justice, and in the presence of those who are the ministers of the law.
A hard necessity, indeed, compels us to endure the evil of slavery for a time. It was imposed upon us by another nation, while we were yet in a state of colonial vassalage. It cannot be easily or suddenly removed. Yet, while it continues, it is a blot on our national character, and every real lover of freedom confidently hopes that it will be efi'ectually, though *t must be gradually, wiped away ; and earnestly looks for the means by which this necessary object may be best attained. And until it shall be accomplished, until the time shall come when we can point without a blush to the language held in the Declaration of In- dependence, every friend of humanity will seek to lighten the galling chain of slavery, and better, to the utmost of his power, the wretched condition of the slave.
Such was Mr. Gruber's object in that part of his sermon of which I am now speaking. Those who
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 169
have complained of him and reproached him will not find it easy to answer him, unless complaints, re- proaches, and persecution shall be considered an answer.
I have now done with stating the testimony we are about to offer, and marking out the grounds on which our defense will be taken. But there is one other topic on which it may be proper to remark before I conclude the opening of the case.
The sermon in question was preached in Washing- ton county, and this indictment was found by the grand jury for that county. The cause has been re- moved to Frederic, upon the application of the ac- cused. This circumstance sometimes creates suspicions unfavorable to the character and standing of the party who applies for the removal. If he has been long an inhabitant of the county in which he is indicted, there may be some ground for these suspicions ; but even then they cannot be allowed, in the least degree, to affect the verdict. In this case, however, Mr. Gruber was as much a stranger in Washington as he is in Frederic. He never resided in tha^t county, and therefore has not shunned the decision of the men who knew him. He has removed his cause from one body of strangers, to be decided, indeed, by aaother
170 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
body of men who are equally unacquainted with him. His motive for doing so I will briefly explain to you. Mr. Gruber, as I have already told you, was a stranger in Washington, and consequently incapable of deciding how far a fair and impartial trial could be there expected. He, of course, submitted himself on this point to the decision of his counsel, and formed his own opinion upon the advice and information de- rived from them. I am by no means prepared to say that if he had gone to trial in Washington his cause would not have been patiently heard, and impartially decided, by a jury of that county. But it was well known that great pains had been taken to inflame the puHlic mind against him. The grand jury of that county had found this indictment to be true ; and on that jury were men of high standing and great influ- ence in the county. Many of the members of that body I know personally, and respect highly. They are incapable, I am sure, of willfully doing wrong. Yet they are, like the rest of us, but men ! frail men ! and liable to be influenced by the impulse of passion or prejudice without being aware of it. Knowing, as I did, all the circumstances of this case, and being firmly convinced that there was no just cause for in- stituting this prosecution, the finding of this indict-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. iTl
ment, by a body of men so respectable as the grand jury, was of itself sufficient evidence to my mind that the liberty and reputation of Mr. Gruber ought not to be hazarded on a trial there. I so advised him, in the strongest terms ; and if blame is to rest upon any one ^or the removal of the cause, I acknowledge that to me, and not to Mr. Gruber, it ought to be im- puted. Yet I cannot think that the exercise of a con- stitutional right can be matter of censure against the client or his counsel ; nor can it be a reproach to any one that he is willing to abide the verdict of a jury of Frederic county.
TESTIMONY FOR THE DEFENSE.
After the opening address of Mr. Taney was con- cluded, Mr. Pigman, one of the defendant's counsel, proceeded to call witnesses in his behalf. Kev. N. Snethen was first called, and testified as follows: Mr. Gruber, in his introductory prayer, devoutly prayed for the safety, conversion, and happiness of the whole assembly. When upon the point of slavery, he gave the good and bad masters their meat in due season ; kept up the distinction between good and bad masters. He admitted, in his argument, that many masters used their slaves well ; but then, he said,
172 LIFE OF JACOB GEIJBEE.
what security have they that their children will use them well? It is possible that their children may be tyrants ; the slaves may rise and kill their children. When he spoke of killing, it exclusively related to the next generation. He endeavored, in his argument, to convince the good master that slaves were danger- ous property to leave to children ; that tyranny in the children might produce rebellion in the slaves, and mutual destruction might ensue. Mr. Gruber preached that day by accident. He did not appoint the meet- ing ; and before he began he labored very much with one of his brethren in the ministry to preach in his place. He possesses a good general character; is very zealous and devout in the ministry. He is next in office to the bishop, and of an unimpeachable moral character. In his address, in conclusion, to the blacks, he enforced on them repentance ; exhorted them to religion, to obedience, and patience in the service of their masters. He told them without religion they were slaves to their own lusts, slaves to their masters, and if they died in their sins they would be damned forever. When he adverted to the Declaration of In- dependence, he spoke of it as a national thing, and not to slaveholders particularly, and said it had been justly thrown upon this nation as a reproach, to hold
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 173
the Declaration of Independence iu one hand, and the bloody whip in the other.
Court. How did you like the sermon ?
A. From prudent considerations I would not have preached in the same way, because from his very frank manner persons might misrepresent him. My taste also differed from his, and should have advised a different manner and composition ; but nothing escaped him that could induce me to believe for a moment that he had a criminal intent. When Mr. Gruber spoke of the danger of mutual destruction between the children and slaves in the next genera- tion he offered up a prayer for them all: "The Lord have mercy on them !" and it was then the general response of Amen took place, alluded to by Dr. Dorsey.
•Kev. Jeremiah Mason was next sworn by the clerk, and examined on the part of the defendant: I was at the camp-meeting and heard the sermon. His text was in Proverbs : " Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Right- eousness was the first head of the discourse. Sin is a reproach to any people, was the next head. He dwelt considerably on the sin of infidelity, and with great labor on the sin of oppression, under which he con-
1Y4 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
sidered, he said, the whole of invohmtary negro slav- ery. He contended that involuntary negro slavery was a violation of the moral and natural law, and a gross abuse of Christianity ; that it was in violation of the sentiments expressed by the American sages in the Declaration of Independence ; that it was reproachful to this nation to hold that sacred instrument in one hand and a rod stained with blood in tlie other. He spoke of the cruelty of advertising and selling human beings, mixed with cattle. He said it was usual to find in the advertisements on this subject the owners stating to the public that they (the negroes) were sold without fault. In that part of his address directed to the negroes he was very severe on them, and told them, unless they repented and obtained conversion, they would be damned forever. He recommended to them obedience, and entire and patient resignation to their condition. I being a justice of the peace, and hearing an accusation was to be stated against Mr. Gruber, I made immediate notes, after the delivery of the sermon, of its prin- cipal heads. When he spoke of the danger of kill ing, he referred to the posterity of the present gen eration of masters. He said, in the mutual strife that might ensue between the negroes and the chil-
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 175
dren of the present masters, there might be mutual death, and all be sent to destruction together. Then he made a pause, and said, " The Lord have mercy on them!" Then the response spoken of by Dr. Dorsey took place of Amen ! Amen ! Mr. Gruber then said :
" Is there not some chosen curse, Some secret thunders in the stores of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the wretch That makes his fortune from the blood of souls ;"
or words to that effect. At this time he was speak- ing of tlie slave-trade.
Cowpt. Have you ever said that you did not ap- prove of the matter and manner of the sermon delivered by Mr. Gruber?
A. I have said, from the temper of the congrega- tion, I was fearful the sermon might give offense to some persons present; but I never intimated or thought there was anything criminal in it.
Rev. Jonathan Forrest was next examined : I was at the camp-meeting; I heard the sermon. lie took his text in Proverbs : " Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." He spoke considerably on the beauty of righteousness, and the horror of sin, in a national point of view. In his prayer previous to preaching he offered a
176 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
fervent petition to the throne of grace for the happi- ness, peace, conversion, and quiet of the whole con gregation. He discussed negro slavery as a national sin, as being contrary to the natural and moral law, contrary to the Christian religion, and expressly against that command of God which directs us to do to all men as we would they should do to us. He said slaves were dangerous property for fathers to leave to their children. Children might tyrannize over them, mutual destruction might ensue, and all go to destruction together. When he spoke of the danger of killing it was in reference to the next generation of men. In that part of the address directed to the negroes he exhorted them with great zeal to get religion, to seek pardon of God, to obey their masters and mistresses, to let their light shine before men, and perhaps it might be a means of their getting their freedom through some kind turn of providence. He told the slaves if they lived and died in their sins they would be damned forever. I was near Mr. Gruber the whole time he was preaching. I am confident he did not in any part of his sermon say the negroes present were free-born. H. G. O'lSiEAL was next examined: I was at the camp-meeting, and heard the sermon. In his
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 177
first prayer he fervently prayed, as usual, for the peace, conversion, and happiness of the whole con- gregation. In the general scope of his sermon he preached repentance toward God and ftiith in a Sav- iour. He said slaves were dangerous property to leave to children ; that present good masters had no security that their children w^ould make good mas- ters; children might become tyrants, slaves might rebel, kill each other, and all go to destruction to- gether. I do not remember his saying anything about poison. When he spoke of killing, he referred to the next generation of men. He said it was mon- strous to see human souls put up at auction, for sale with cattle and stock ; that it was horrid to a repub- lican and a Christian. In his address to the negroes he was severe on them for their own sins. I remem- ber he preached to them the necessity of their own conversion, exhorted them to be obedient and sub- missive to their masters, and begged those who had pious masters to join them in devotion. I think there was about five thousand white persons present, and perhaps from two to three hundred blacks.
Mr. Long was next examined : I was at the camp- meeting, and heard the sermon. I remember Mr.
Gruber said, Pennsylvanians thought it strange that
12
178 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
human beings were sold in Maryland at auction with cattle and beasts. He said negroes were dangerous property for fathers to leave to their children, that children might prove to be tyrants, negroes might rebel, mutual destruction take place, and all go to destruction together.
Court. Did he tell the negroes they were a de- graded people?
A. lS,o. He advised them to be obedient. He preached a mighty good sermon. It was the truth from the Scriptures.
Rev. Lawkence Everhakt was next examined ou the part of the defendant : I heard the sermon. In preaching from his text he spoke of the beauty of righteousness first. Then he spoke of various na- tional sins until he came to the sin of negro slavery. He said the Americans had, in their Declaration oF Independence, proclaimed to the world that they hold it self-evident that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liber- ty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that it was incon- sistent for tliis nation to be holding this scroll of liberty in one hand, and in the other a bloody cow- hide ; that human beings were often mixed with cat-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 1Y9
tie, and sold at public auction for no fault ; that it would be awful to account for this in the day of judgment. He said, Admit some masters use their slaves well, what security have they, when they leave this sort of property to descend to their children, that their children will be equally kind? The children may become tyrants, and slaves rise against them, produce mutual resistance and mutual destruction, and all go to hell together. The Lord have mercy on them ! There was then a general response of Amen ! Amen ! After addressing the whites he particularly addressed the negroes. He exhorted them to obey their masters, and be resigned to their condition. He preached to them the terrors of hell that hung over them while they remained in an un- converted state ; that they were slaves to their lust, slaves to the devil, and if they died in their sins they would be damned forever.
Rev. Samuel L. Davis was next examined : I was at the camp-meeting and heard the sermon. The text he took opened the way to speak of national virtues and national sins. Among other national sins he spoke of negro slavery, as tolerated in this nation. He was very severe upon bad masters, and particularly those engaged in the slave-trade. In
180 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
part of his sermon he made use of a quotation to this effect, I think :
" Is there not some cliosen curse," etc.
When he made this quotation he was speaking of the slave-trade. The address on this sin was principally directed to cruel masters, and traffickers in human flesh. After preaching to the whites he addressed the blacks, warned them faithfully of their own sins, preached to them the terrors of the law,- exhorted them to obedience to their masters, resignation to their state. I considered the address to the slaves a complete antidote for anything that had gone before.
Court. What do you mean by an antidote \ Was there poison to be expelled ?
A. I supposed it probable many masters present would be offended at the plain manner in which the preacher delivered the greatest truths, and I thought their wrath would be turned away when the accused warned the slaves so faithfully of their own sins, and exhorted them to obedience to their masters. That is what I mean by antidote. I never supposed there was anything criminal in his sermon. I remember Mr. Gruber said many j^ersons would contribute their money to support Bible societies, to carry the
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 181
Scriptures to the lieatlien in foreign countries, who neglected to teach religion to the heathens in their own kitchens.
Court. Kemember, jou must state the truth.
A. Sirs, I am on my oath ; that is warning enough for me.^
Me. Yo was next examined : I heard the de- fendant preach the sermon. I remember he en- deavored to prove that slaves were dangerous property to leave to children ; that although fathers might be good, the children might be tyrants, slaves might rise against the children, mutual destruction might ensue, and all go to destruction together. He said slavery was horrid to him as a man and a Christian ; that it was a violation of the moral law, the law of Christianity, and was, in fact, contrary to the sentiments of the American sages, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. He said it was monstrous to see a people holding a scroll
* It is proper to state that the court, withont hesitancy, apologized to Mr. Davis, by observing that nothing was intended against his integrity ; but that the court, supposing he was a stranger to such examinations, considered it their duty to inform him that he was bound to state the whole truth, although the interrogatories put to him might omit some- thing. With this explanation the warning of the court was as beneficial to the accused as it was to the prosecution. The explanation was highly honorable to the court.
182 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
of liberty in one hand, and a bloody whip in the other. After he addressed the whites he turned to the negroes, and warned them faithfully of their own sins ; and exhorted them to repentance, to obedience to. their masters, and patient submission to their condition.
Jacob Bowltjs was next examined : I was at the camp-meeting and heard Mr. Gruber preach the sermon for which he is now indicted. He preached with great animation and zeal, and in the general scope of his sermon endeavored to con- vince the whole congregation of the great necessit}^ of repentance, of piety and love to God. When speaking of the sinS of masters he brought into view the sin of negro slavery in this country, and said the Americans are very inconsistent when they hold the scroll of liberty in one hand, declaring that all men possess equal rights, and the bloody whip in the other over a poor trembling negro, sometimes by cruel masters literally cut to pieces. He said, " Some mas- ters say, 'We use our negroes well.' Granted: but what security have you that your children to whom you leave them will do the same? Your children may be tyrants over them ; mutual strife and mutual destruction may ensue, and all go to hell togetlier.
LIFE OB^ JACOB GRUBEK. 183
The Lord have mercy on them." Then the general response of Amen ! took place which has been men- tioned by Dr. Dorsey. "What he said about the dan- ger of killing or poisoning referred to the next gen eration.
John Bowlus (of Nicholas) was next examined : I heard Mr. Gruber preach the sermon in question. When he came to speak of the national sin of negro slavery, he observed that it was a monstrous incon- sistency for a people to hold our Declaration of Inde- pendence in one hand, and the bloody whip stained with the gore of a fellow-creature in the other. He was very severe upon bad masters, and all persons concerned in that sort of commerce called the slave- trade. He said there w^as an awful responsibility resting on them for the day of judgment. He en- forced Christian duties on the masters and slaves. He applauded the good master and the good slave. He said good masters make good slaves, and good slaves make good masters. He endeavored to show by various arguments that it was impolitic to encour- age it ; that slaves were dangerous property to leave to children ; that though fathers might be good the children might be tyrants, slaves might rebel against the children, might kill them, and all go to destrue-
184 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
tion together. After addressing the whites he turned to the negroes. He warned them to serve their masters truly and faithfully, that it was their great duty to be obedient and resigned to their condition. Me. Braziee, Me. Hunt, Me. Bealee, Me. Blake, Me. Middlekauff, Me. White, and Me. Eeynolds were next examined on the part of the defendant, and severally stated that they were at the camp- meeting, and heard Mr. Gruber deliver the sermon in question. His text was, " Righteousness, exalteth a nation, bat sin is a reproach to any people." In his introductory prayer he prayed for the happiness, conversion, peace, and quiet of the whole congrega- tion : and in the general scope of his sermon he, with great zeal, enforced the necessity of repentance to- ward God and faith in a Saviour. He endeavored to show how impolitic it was to encourage slavery. He said good masters liave no security that their children will be equally good. The children may turn tyrants, slaves may rebel and kill the children, and all go to destruction together. As a nation, the Americans were very inconsistent. The sentiments of our forefathers, contained in the Declaration of Independence, are violated every day. The scroll of liberty was held in one hand, and a whip, stained
LFFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 185
with die gore of a human being, in the other. Wlien- ever he spoke of the danger of killing, it was in reference to the next generation of men. After he addressed the whites he turned to the %egroes, and preached to them, with great zeal and animation, tlie terrors of the law of God hanging over them while they continued unconverted. He told them they had no chance of happiness, but by leading pious lives in all humility to their condition ; exhorted them to be obedient to their masters, and to show them by an upright walk and godly conversa- tion that they deserved their lenity and kindness. He told them by an orderly, good behavior, they might gain the good-will of their masters, and ia time, and in the course of providence, might ob- tain emaiJ^ipation ; exhorted all of them who had pious masters, to join them morning and evening in devotion.
Rev. Fkederick Stier was next examined : Mr. Gruber, when speaking of national sins, brought into view negro slaver}^ in this country. He argued to show it was a national sin of the greatest magni- tude. In reasoning with masters he observed, "Some of you say, ' We use our negroes well.' Granted : but what security have you that your children, to
186 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
whom you leave that sort of property, will use them well. Tour children may turn tyrants, the slaves may rebel, and all go to destruction together." He said it was ^ monstrous inconsistency in the Amer- icans to hold the Declaration of Independence in one hand and the bloody scourge in the other. I do not remember that he said anything about poisoning or killing, except what related to the next generation, as before mentioned. In his address to the negroes, he warned them faithfully of their own sins, and preached to them the necessity of repentance. Ex- horted those who had religious masters to join them in devotion to God. I know Mr. Gruber preached by mere accident. He called on me to preach with very pressing and anxious solicitation several times. I refused. He preached on that occasion frith great reluctance.
Eev. George Koszel was next examined : I have known Mr. Gruber for eight or nine years. He holds an office second in rank to the bishop. He possesses a character unblemished. He is pious, zealous, and very laborious in the ministry. I have been one of a committee in the annual conference for many years for the annual examination of the characters of our preachers, and Mr. Gruber's has
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 187
been before me every year, in that way, for several years past. Nothing that could lead to immorality has ever been imputed to him in his ministerial character.
Eey. Abner ]S[eal was next examined : I have been acquainted with Mr. Gruber for many years, but I was more particularly acquainted with him in the year 1814. In that year he was stationed by the Cliurch in the city of Baltimore, where I reside ; and while the British were at E'orth Point, threatening Baltimore, Mr. Gruber had under his charge from fifteen hundred to two thousand ne- groes, and kept them under the very best dis- cipline. I have lieard him frequently preach to them ; and he warned them faithfully of their duty to their masters, and patient submission to their condition.
Here the counsel for Mr. Gruber gave notice to the attorney general that they had now closed the examination of the witnesses.
CLOSmO ARGUMENT FOR THE PROSECUTION.
Franklin Anderson, district attorney, closed the argument on behalf of the state in a brief speech. He said he felt the peace and good oi'der of the
188 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
state as much at heart as any man, and would be as wiUing as any man to see a person guilty of crimes brought to condign punislnnent, but he said he never could consent, contrary to his conscience, and the best light of his own judgment, to use any effort to convict any man of any offense charged against him, when he thought from the evi- dence there was no crime committed. He said he should address the jury no further on the subject, except to state to them that he did not wish his own convictions or opinions to have any weight with them. He should leave them free to pass their own unbiased judgment on the case before them, which he hoped they would do, with an eye to the public good.
MR. MARTIN'S ARGUMENT FOR THE DEFENSE.
The attorney general having closed the argument on tlie part of the state, Mr. Martin rose and ad- dressed the jury as follows :
I appear before you as one of the counsel for the accused ; and if the subject upon which we delib- erate involved no other interest than that connected with the right of property, I should be well pleased, after the very just and candid prosecution, to spare the time of the court, aud submit the cause of my
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 189
client, without comment or remark, to the delibera- tion and decision of the jury.
But in a trial which wears an aspect different from, and more alarming than any other known in the history of the court ; when a citizen eminent for piety and Christianity is arraigned for doing nothing but what benevolence, piety, and Christianity re- quired ; when the feelings and principles of a vastly numerous Church have been, through the accusation of a member, sensibly wounded ; and when the right of sentiment and of speech is doubted and attacked, silence on our part would be criminal. As for my- self, though young and inexperienced, shrinking from the gaze of public scrutiny, and trembling under consciousness of incapacity, I cannot, under those disadvantages, forbear at least the exertion of defending a client so injured, a cause so just, and principles so important to every American, as to be the very soul of his national independence.
It is, however, a consideration of pleasure to know that much time will be saved, and much trouble in this investigation unexpectedly relieved, and, I am happy to say, relieved by the firm and highly hon- orable part the state's advocate has acted. Highly honorable ! for however meritorious it may be actively
190 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
to pursue and strenuously to prosecute the man who would meditate to unhinge the government, and inundate with blood the land', it is surely equally meritorious fearlessly to avow him innocent whose innocence has been proved. The district attorney stands upon the high ground of protecting, not abusing, the law ; to shield from violation, not per- vert it to oppression ; ready to exert his power against the wretch who willfully profanes it, and ready to shelter, under the mantle of authority, the prisoner who is wrongfully accused, whether such accusation arises from the zeal of the misguided, the prejudice of the misinformed, or the uncontradicted information a grand jury gleans from the examina- tion of ex paiie witnesses.
Gentlemen, you are impanneled to determine a case of no ordinary kind. You are called upon to dis- charge a trust, the highest that can be discharged by enlightened men endowed with the powers of reason, and empowered with right of decision. Patriots who have suffered for the liberties of our country, look to your verdict with an agonizing care; the Methodist Church bleeds at every pore for the fate of a minister transferred from the pulpit to the prison box; posterity to succeed may have reason
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 191
either to bless or curse the result of this day. The busy crowd that throng the court, though disposed to immolate at the shrine of opinion the man who differs, and condemn him because they condemn his sentiments, will learn to affirm your acquittal. When that film which now obscures the vision alike of the humane and the wise shall have fallen ; when those fumes which float from the heated prejudices of the time shall have passed away, they will learn that the blow leveled at the traverser must fall upon themselves ; that the freemen who condemn a man for uttering the dictates of his heart, commit suicide upon their liberties ; and by sacrificing this reverend gentleman they sacrifice those noble attri- butes of their constitution, the right of free sentiment and the right of free discussion.
Who is the accused f What has he spoken ? How were his sentiments dangerous f and with what inten- tion did he sjpeah those sentiments f These, gentle- men, are matters for your consideration ; and while, in pursuing them, I hope duly to regard the duty to my client, I shall not forget that the court, the jury, and the counsel are already much fatigued with the investigation of his subject.
Who is the accused? He is a gentleman of tho
192 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
clerical ministry, and after laboring with zeal and fidelity many years in the cause of religion, has been appointed presiding elder of the district. Nursed in the cradle of the Church, and confirmed in its tenets, he has '^ grown with its growth, and strengthened with its strength." Aloof from those cares which incite the ambition, deprave the passions, and multi- ply the misfortunes of the temporal world, his life has been devoted to the service of his God, and his time to the instruction of his fellows. Unconfined to any particular situation, he has traveled from circuit to circuit, shedding in his course the light of the Gospel, and disseminating the principles of morals, philanthropy, and religion. The duties of his office carried him to the place where the supposed crime, was committed, for which supposed crime he has been called from the altar of grace, to answer charges preferred by his country.
What has he spolcenf At a camp-meeting held last August, in Washington county, the traverser, according to the will of the ministry, and in opposi- tion to his own inclination, preached a sermon from Proverbs : ^' Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to an}^ people." From that text his deductions were many, and after descanting upon the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 193
different divisions, he addressed the congregation upon the subject of slavery. He spoke of it as a " national sin," and condemned the practice as being contrary to natural law, national policy, and the principles of humanity and religion.
Thus, gentlemen, a religious discourse, embracing the principle of slavery, has given rise to this criminal prosecution. The indictment accuses the traverser of an attemj)t to excite " rebellion ;" and is it necessary to ask whether a minister can be thus criminated for advancing to his own congregation sen- timents upon a subject so often the topic of general remark, and so often the theme of public reproba- tion ? The right of slavery is a question of abstract morals, of natural law, and human policy ; a subject upon which the judgment ponders and the intellect suspends; discussed in the councils of the nation, it has called forth the efforts of the benevolent and learned ; and the matter of that memorable sermon which now arraigns this reverend gentleman has been long since proclaimed by elevated statesmen. We will convince you that sentiments upon slavery, stronger in matter and bolder in expression than any portion of the traverser's discourse, have rolled from the lips and flowed from the pen of the most distin-
194 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
guished Americans. Men high in office, eminent in science, fair in character, and exalted in the confidence of their fellow-citizens, have arrayed themselves the champions of emancipation ; and con- demned a system they conceived unwise and un- natural, dangerous to the morals and strength of the people, poisoning the springs of social felicity, and repugnant to the principles of our free constitution.
What says Mr. Jefferson? In his Kotes upon Vir- ginia he thus writes : " There must, doubtless, be an unhappy influence on the manners of our people, produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degraded submission on the other." Again: "With what execration should the statesman be loaded who, permitting one half of the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into despots and these into enemies; destroys the morals of tlie one part and the amor jpatri(2 of the other! For if a slave can have a country in this world, it must be any other in preference to that in which he is born to live and labor for another; in which he must lock up the faculties of his nature, contribute,
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 195
as far as depends on his individual exertions, to the evanishment of the human race, or entail his own miserable condition on the endless generations pro- ceeding from him." Continuing, he asks : " Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only iirm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that their liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? I tremble for the honor of my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleej^ forever; that, considering num- ber, nature, and means only, a revolution in the wlieel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Bupernataral influence! The Almighty has no attri- bute which can take side with us in such a contest.''^
Such, gentlemen, are the remarks of Mr. Jeflferson, and I read them for the purpose of proving that the sul)ject has been, before this sermon, examined with great animation, and without an}' suspicion of crime. That philosopher and statesman called the attention of his state to an evil, corroding, as he thought, ^Yery day the morals, inflaming the passions, weak- ening the energies, and endangering, perhaps, the * liberties of a free and manly people. These senti-
196 LIFE OF JACOB GIIUBER.
ments were free and unconcealed, circulated in Vir- ginia, so numerous in slaves, and open to general observation, private discussion, or public scrutiny.
Yet is Mr. Jefferson infamous? Has he been branded with the epithet of hypocrite and felon ? Has he been subjected to the ceremony of a criminal prosecution, and threatened with the chains and calamities of disgraceful imprisonment ? ^o ! since the publication of his notes he has been elected to the presidential chair, directed for eight years the affairs of the nation, and now reposes, unaccused and unsuspected of anything like treason, in the lap of literature and science.
But, gentlemen, Mr. Jefferson is not the only citizen who has freely spoken upon this subject, and who ranks high in the councils of his country. The remarks of Mr. Talmadge, upon the floor of Congress,* at its last session, on the question of the Missouri bill, were much in substance as those preached by the traverser. Discussing the policy of admitting slavery into Missouri, he says : " You boast of free- dom in your constitution and your laws ; you have proclaimed in your declaration of riglits that all men are created equal; that they are endowed with cer- tain unalienable rights; among these life, liberty,
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 197
and the piirsuit of happiness; and yet you have slaves in your country." In another part he con- tinues: "This is a subject [alhiding to slavery] upon which I have great feeling for the honor of my country. In a former debate upon the Illinois ter- ritory I mentioned that our enemies had drawn a picture of our country, as holding in one hand our declaration of rights and with the other brandishing a whip over our affrighted slaves."
Thus you learn that arguments upon the evils of slavery, not less powerful than those of the traverser, have been rung by a president of the United States and a representative in Congress in the ears of the whole nation. They have been exalted, not dis- graced ; they have received the benedictions, not the curses of their country ; and I ask by what prin- ciple of fairness can you accord honor to the one and infamy to the other? They are argued from the right of free discussion ; the same right is dele- gated to the traverser. The golden rule of dealing alike to all is just, and the same franchise of speech and of conscience that supported Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Talmadge, and others, when bearing their weapons in the cause of freedom, justifies Mr. Gruber.
As an American citizen, he was authorized to dis-
198 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEPw.
CUSS the policy of a system interwoven with tlie well- being of his government; as a man, moved by the feelings of benevolence, and glowing with enthusiasm of philanthropy, he was privileged in condemning a practice he thought inconsistent with both ; as a min- ister of the Gospel, directed by the laws of his Church, and instigated by conscience and belief, he w^as bound to tender his advice. Had he not, the sin of " leaving undone those things he ought to do," would have re- coiled upon him ; he would have broken a much more sacred law than he is said to have violated ; he would have sinned against a much higher tribunal (however exalted by learning and virtue) than I have tlie honor to address; he would have sinned against that God before whom you and he and we must appear.
Gentlemen, before a man can be subject to the sanction of law, law must be proved to exist. He cannot violate that which is not in being. Has any law been, adduced to you to-day? Have the prosecution exhibited any statute of the state as broken and abused ? ISTone has, none can be offered.
It has been remarked that the laws of Maryland allow slavery. Granted. But it does not command it. The distinction is evident. Did the law positively command, then any arguments in opposition might be
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBKU. 199
criminal. Where it merely permits, it becomes a subject of private opinion, policy, and conscience; and any citizen has the privilege, by all the abilities of his mind, to remove that opinion or alter that be- lief. Besides, the traverser addressed his own con- gregation, confined his remarks to the pale of his Church ; and surely if any can be authorized, it is the pastor who teaches the doctrines of his Church to those who compose it. The Quakers are principled against bearing arms, and it is unnecessary for me to tell this well-informed jury that the right of advocat- ing those principles in their houses of worship never was denied them. There the Quaker opposes what in fact is declared by law ; and he draws his right from that freedom of opinion and prerogative of speech every man living under the sun of America has exer- cised since the memorable period of seventy-six.
Gentlemen, having endeavored to establish that the traverser thus far has neither violated law nor reason, let us dissect the sermon, and before we proceed to the intention., inquire how his sentiments were danger- ous ; and whether, upon fair construction, they can be thought calculated to excite either "rebellion, dis- obedience, or insurrection." You learn from the testi- mony that the sermon consisted of two distinct parts :
200 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
one addressed to the white congregation, and the other to the slaves. And so far from attempting to create insubordination, we will prove that the clear and ostensive purpose was, first, by discussing the principles of slavery, (which we have already consid- ered,) to effect universal emancipation ; secondly, by exposing the cruelty of selling and torturing slaves, to ameliorate and soften the discipline of masters ; and thirdly, by instilling the policy and religion of obeying those entitled to govern, to fasten upon the slaves good conduct and obedience.
The internal slave-trade of this country formed the subject of part of his discourse ; and he dis- played in the severest terras, as the witnesses deposed, the sin and wickedness of such atrocious commerce. As to the particular expressions, the testimony differs, but in substance is the same. And where is the crime ? Is there any man on that jury, or in this court, w4io ^ would not respond to such sentiments, who would not raise his voice and power in suppressing a traffic oppo- site to the laws of God, and repugnant to the rights of man? Gentlemen of tlie jury, interest, policy, ne- cessity may compel us to retain an evil which seems to be entailed. It is not for me to say, until the efforts of philanthropy shall establish for these people a suit-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 201
able receptacle, how far emancipation would be pru- dent. But nothing can justify so flagrant and cruel an abuse of it. ^NTo motive can authorize a trade that separates the husband from tl^ie wife, tlie parent from the child, and the relation from the friend ; that tears asunder all the ties of social connection and breaks apart all the ligaments of natural union ; steeping yet deeper in misery this unfortunate population, and forcing from their embrace the last relic of human happiness. It "would draw iron teai^s down Pluto's cheek."
The African slave-trade has eno^aored the attention and attracted the notice of almost every part of Christendom. Your own government have taken laudable and effective measures to suppress it. So proud is England of her exertions that she contends for the right of example ; and Kapoleon of France, amid his mad career of war and carnage, when every call of mercy seemed drowned in the din of battle, and every fiber of humanity eradicated by the power of ambition, forbad the slave-trade. And is that njoi'o to be deprecated than this? The same cruelties are practiced, the same ties are broken, the same agents employed. Traffickers in blood and panderers of ava- rice are engaged in both ; and the vultures who hover
202 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
over the coast of Africa and the vultures that crowd from the sugar farms of America are equally destruct- ive ; alike they feed upon the vitals and fatten upon the miseries of an unfortunate and degraded people.
Gentlemen, I -^brbear to press or continue the sub- ject. IVe have proved, I hope, that the traverser has not in this violated the law. In this country, enlightened as we are by rays of Christianity, and illumined with light of liberty, no law can be pro- duced to credit a practice unwise, inhuman, and unjust.
I will next call your attention to a passage in which he exhibits the inconsistency of our theory and practice. "Is it not a reproach to a man to hold in one hand the Declaration of Independence, and with the other brandish a whip over the bleeding slave?" This description, though hideous, is true. The same was drawn by Mr. Talmadge, and with the same foreigners have reproached us. The picture of Amer- ican independence, though glowing with the tints of liberty and virtue, cannot but be darkened and dis- colored by such cruelty and oppression. The trav- erser did not apply the remark generally, but made it conditional ; he did not say that such practices existed ; yet if they did exist, they were inconsistent.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 203
He threw his sentiments to tlie congregation, " qui capita ille facit f^ and the man who so far misuses power which chance has given, well merits the lash of invective. Does any attempt appear to canse " re- bellion or insurrection." The object was to do no more than expose those cruelties wliich, when prac- ticed, degrade the man and stigmatize the nation.
This concluded his address to tlie whites ; and as the alleged attempt was to infect the slaves with re- bellious principles, observations to them become more interesting, because more important. Several wit- nesses on the part of the prosecution, and all for the accused, testify that the whole tenor of that dis- course went to impress upon their minds the value of religion, " Of all people in the world you ought to have religion," he says, '^ for when converted, you will disregard the hardships of your life." It is said he spoke of poison, and thereby impliedly recom- mended the use of it to the slave. In that sentence, where he remarks, " that althougli you (addressing the masters) use them well, there is no security but what your children will tyrannize over them ;• the slaves, abused, rise up, and kill or poison your chil- dren, and all he Jiung and go to destruotion together.^'' Admitting this, can any man, without perverting
204 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
common sense and common langnage, see an attempt to induce the nse of poison ? Does he not stamp such conduct with the dreadful doom of death and destruction ? With equal propriety you might say, to desci'ibe futurity was to encourage sin ; and to instigate murder, it would only be necessary to relate the appalling ceremony of criminal prosecutions.
In another passage : " Some of you (addressing the slaves) have good masters ; you ought to attend to religion, and discharge your duty to your masters, that it may make your condition better here and here- after. Some of you have cruel masters ; you are slaves to them, slaves to sin, and if you die without religion you will be slaves to the devil.'' What, then, does he declare that religion to consist in ? Re- bellion? Is'o ; for that, he has affirmed, is repugnant to religion. Disobedience ? Mr. Snethen tells you, upon oath, that he fully discharged the doctrines of his Church, and those doctrines command the slave to obedience. Insurrection ? Certainly not, for then he threatens them with the dreadful reversion of future woe. A witness thinks that he said, " If you die slaves to your masters you will be damned." The witness from ineligible situation must be mistaken ; it is too absurd to be believed. Could the traverser
LIFE OF JACOIJ G RUBER. 205
say that a man should be punished for an evil he could not avert, and suffer for that which was his niisfortune, not his fault? It is contradicted b}^ cver}^ witness on the part of the accused, who, we may suppose, from situation and attention, better understood and more correctly remembered the expressions of the sermon.
We have now, gentlemen, examined each passage of the sermon, and contend that it has been viewed through a false and mistaken medium ; that the observations of the traverser were not, in themselves^ calculated to inspire '^ rebellion or disobedience,'' and therefore hope that the intelligent jury to whom he appeals will wipe that charge from the indict- ment. But if I should be too sanguine in this hope, should we fail to convince you that his sentiments were useful, not dangerous ; much more is necessary to be established — the intention is the life and essence of every crime — and before you can convict tlie accused upon the charge of high misdemeanor, an intention to commit the different offenses in the indictment must be proved, wicked, designed, and felonious.
Here let us reflect upon the testimony. In all cases of high capital nature every man is presumed
206 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEH.
innocent nntil prov^ed gniltj. Such is the benignity of onr laws ; such the language of Justice Buller, and such is the voice of all English authorities. The case at bar is an accusation of high criminal char- acter, and it is much stronger to prove by conduct than presume from inference. Where, then, is the evidence to establish such guilt? Can it be found in the testimony of any witness ? Can a single fact or circumstance be adduced which even savors of such intention f
All the gentlemen of the Methodist clergy -state that the traverser strongly objected to preaching on the day named in the indictment ; that he expressed every wish to decline, and used every means to avoid the service, and did not consent until his duty as presiding elder compelled him to perform what others refused. The congregation of whites he ad- dressed was four times more numerous than the slaves. The witness from Baltimore, Mr. Xeal, in- forms you what his conduct was in the year 1814. Stationed by his Church in Baltimore, he presided over his congregation during the memorable battle of North Point, and at that anxious moment, w^hen every eye watched the destiny and every heart beat for the danger of our gallant troops, the traverser held
LIFE OF JACOB GFwUBEE.. 207
in harmless subjection a body of fifteen hundred men. And does this look like an attempt to bring ruin up- on the country; to whet the sword of civil war, or light the fires of desperate rebellion ? Can you sup- pose premeditation to preach on that day, wlien he so often refused the invitation of the ministry? "Would he have, by declaiming before the masters, strong in numbers and power, provoked the very sword of justice ; and would he have failed at a former period in the commotion of Baltimore, when all its nerves were braced against foreign attack, to strike a dreadful and perhaps a fatal blow? ]^o, it is inconsistent with common reason to think it ; and, however the policy of his doctrines may be question- ed, none, unless they have drunk to the dregs the cup of prejudice or folly, can doubt the purity of his heart. His object was to effect universal emancipa- tion ; his intention to teach the law of religion, and to pour into the afflictions of an ill-fated people the comforts and consolations of the Gospel.
Gentlemen of the jury, this trial is new in America: it is novel in the jurisprudence of our country. You must for examples unfold the blood-stained page of the fifteenth century. Go back to that season of re- ligious fury ; recur to that black and disgraceful pe-
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riod of intemperate opinion wlien bigoted belief was supported by the gibbet and the stake, and the very temples of justice "smoked with bloody execution." I pretend not to sa}^ that this prosecution has originated from such influence; the fair characters of the gentlemen who composed the Grand Jury (though personally unknown to me) defy the suspicion ; but it matters not from whom or from what. You view the case with all its lights and solemnly decide upon the principles. Shall this nation, so long gloried in as the home of the oppressed, the retreat of the per- secuted, the asylum of those w^ho, in the dreadful massacre of individual privilege, have flown from their " altars and their gods," be at this day reduced to the disgraceful level of infuriated despotism? I trust not. The streams of jurisprudence, drawn from the fountains of liberty and virtue, w^ill continue to play through the land free and unpolluted. But it is unnecessary to invoke such sentiments in the bosom of this impartial tribunal. The flrmness, the intelligence and integrity of juries must ever prove a safeguard and barrier against the encroachments of prejudice. The traverser has been introduced to you with the imposing name of a Grand Jury; a host of testimonv has rallied round and ventured to sup-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 209
port it. Yet, gentlemen, you have seen that not the ingenious examination of the learned district attor- ney, not all the exertions of professional ability, have been enabled to extract one fact or elicit one circum- stance to uphold an indictment b^iseless and un- founded.
Sir, I have done; not, however, without offering my thanks to the honorable court for the indulgent attention they have been pleased to extend, on my part undeserved and, except in iny gratitude, unre- quited. Considering the stage of this trial, and the gentlemen who follow me, if I have trespassed too long upon their time my apology must be sought in the deep interest and importance of the case.
In defending the honor and liberty of a gentle- man whose life, through a series of twenty years, has passed unspotted and unreproached, I am justified in saying, that it has been not merely beyond censure but irreproachable until this day, and beyond sus- picion. His life has been dedicated to the holiest offices of religion, and employed in relieving those miseries and softening those sorrows which should have awakened the sympathies of a colder heart.
Confiding in your virtue, the traverser awaits the
verdicl with calmness and security. If acquitted,
14
210 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
glorying in the principles of his country, he will re- turn to his duties with zeal and faithfulness ; if con- victed, supported by the consciousness of innocence, he will bear whatever punishment the law may inflict with the resignation of a Christian and the firmness of a man.
MR. PIGMAJs^'S ARGUMENT TO THE JURY.
Mr. Pigman, who, as counsel for the defense, con- ducted the examination, then addressed the jury:
You perceive from the case before you tliat it did not originate in Frederic county, and I trust you also perceive that the accused was bound in duty to his own character, and tlie still greater duty he owed to the sacred cause of religion, to embrace his legal privilege of changing the venue, to shield himself from an overwhelming and dangerous influence, which, from some strange and nnaccountable infatu- ation, seemed to be seeking his destruction. In this prosecution we have new proof, if any was wanting, that none need to look for angels in the form of men, and that men, however respectable they may be, are involved in the same general condition of mortality, and liable to be nrged on to give pain and uneasiness to perfect innocence itself by erroneous judgment,
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and the still greater delusion of prejudice and inflated anger. Folly itself, give it time to cool and review what it has done, will shrink abashed from this pros- ecution, and be constrained by the stings of a disturb- ed sensibility to own with silent anguish, if not pub- lic acknowledgment, that there is no criminal fault in the preacher. The intent with which any act is done, is to give it a criminal or innocent complexion. It is lawful to preach or debate against negro slavery in the pulpit as well as in the senate, if the orators have no criminal intent in their arguments ; and stronger proof of an innocent intent never was pro- duced by any person accused of a crime than that brought into court by the reverend gentleman I now defend.
It is in proof that the camp-meeting where the discourse containing the supposed crime was de- livered, was not appointed by him ; that the sermon preached was wholly accidental and unpremeditated, after he had labored with great solicitude, but with- out success, with one of his brethren to preach in his place. He being presiding elder of the district it was his duty to preach, as no substitute could be procured. His introductory prayer ushering in the discourse possessed no signs, of a treasonable or re-
212 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
bellious disposition. In this close converse with Almighty God he offered up pions j)etitions at a throne of grace for the peace, quiet, happiness, and • conversion of his congregation ; and by the general scope of his whole discourse it is proved he enforced upon his audience tlie divine doctrines of repentance, faith in Christ, love of God and their neighbor. It is in proof, both by the witnesses for the state and the accused, that in this particular address to the negroes he inculcated the necessity of their seeking the pardon of their sins at a throne of grace ; told them that the love of God (which, of course, would carry with it love for their masters) would ameliorate their condition, would procure their happiness in this life and the approbation of the Lord in that day when he would come to judge the quick and the dead. Tiiat those of them who were yet in their sins, unrenewed by divine grace, were not only slaves to their masters, but slaves to their lusts, slaves to the devil, and if they died without repentance toward God they would be sentenced forever by the right- eous Judge to damnation. It is in proof by a great mass of evidence on the part of the accused, from a great many respectable witnesses, that to prevent all misunderstanding of his motives among the whites,
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 213
and to suppress the least rising of a tlionght that would lead to insubordination among the blacks, he preached to the latter obedience to their masters, resignation to their present condition, and urged those who had pious masters to join them in their devotion ; that bj a strict religious and moral de- portment in the order of Providence they might eventually obtain emancipation.
The American sages who formed the constitution of Maryland have, with caution and sagacity highly honorable to their integrity and wisdom, preserved a declaration of rights on record, in which it is declared, " That it is the duty of every man to worsliip God in such a manner as he thinks most acceptable to him ; all persons professing the Christian religion are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty, where- fore no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate on account of his religious per- suasion or profession, or for his religious practice, unless under color of religion any man shall disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the state, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil, or religious rights." These sages were informed by the history of the old world, particularly that of Enofland, that the secular authoritv had often
214 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
assumed unreasonable and unlawful powers against the rights of conscience, and that a dominant and powerful sect, sometimes exercising its power and influence to destroy a sect more w^eak and defense- less, had frequently created strife and dissension in the Christian Church, and greatly annoyed the peace and security of civil society. They had learned in the Book of Martyrs that good men had bled and burnt at the stake for adhering to the testimony of a good conscience, and had skill enough in political economy to know that civil liberty could not long exist in any state where religious liberty was not freely enjoyed. The clause of the bill of rights just quoted was tlierefore made, and is a precious jew^el among the rights of the citizen. The legislature, though possessing more power than any other tri- bunal in the state, has no authority to take this jewel from the citizen ; and however bold and frank a preacher may be in a discourse against the vice of slavery, permitted by law, to a mixed assembly of slaves and masters, yet, as long as he intends to commit no crime, but eradicate the vice, he is inno- cent and inoffensive, and w^orthy of being protected by the laws of God and man. ISTegro slavery, as it exists in this country, is evidently a violation of
LIFE OF JACOli GKUJ3EK. 215
natural 'law, and is contrary to the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. When we speak undisguised truth from an honest heart we pro- nounce it an absolute despotism, at which we should all shrink with horror if it were fixed upon our white population ; and to prevent it from involving the whites and drawing into its vortex our own posterity, even in a much milder form, we would readily con- sent to rise en masse, and pledge the last drop 'of our blood and the last cent of our treasure. Tliis, though known to every man of serious reflection and sound philosophy, is a secret to many of the slaves ; and although the relating this great secret to the whites in their hearing might by some remote possibility start a thought of insubordination, which might by another possibility still more remote lead to some ove7't act of rebellion, yet it is not unlawful to do it so long as it is done with an innocent intent. There is not only no law existing in Maryland to prevent it, but the legislature of the state does Jiot possess power to pass any such law, it being pro- hibited by the bill of rights. Consider, gentlemen, the American is rocked in the very cradle of liberty, and is habituated in thinking and speaking to more freedom and independence, and less restraint, than
216 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
the men of any other country. He is disposed to enjoy his privilege to the fullest extent, and neither fears nor suspects any evil while he moves within the limits of the constitution.
The preacher is commissioned and sent forth by God to declare his counsel and will to a fallen w^orld, with the whole revelation for his instruction and guide. In those instructions he finds the great Head of the Church hath declared in his in- imitable sermon on the mount : " Tlierefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 3"0u, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.*' Matt, vii, 12. And again : " For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James ii, 10. By the quotation from St. Matthew it is manifest that slavery is prohibited by the comprehensive meaning of our Saviour ; and by the declaration of the apostle James it is clear, that however excellent any man may be in all other respects, yet if he offend in this " one essential point he is a transgressor of the whole law." IsTow if a preacher, in perusing his instructions contained in the holy w^ord of truth, believes to the best of his judgment and understanding that it is a vice to hold slaves, and that it is his duty as a faith-
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 21 T
fill messenger to declaim against vice in every shape, in his worship of Almighty God it becomes his right to do so, and it is a privilege of conscience, as com- jDletely secured to him by our bill of rights as the privilege of believing that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. The same rule that would prohibit the one might prohibit the other, until the civil or secular power might be permitted by piecemeal to assume an authority that would greatly vex and disturb every order and sect of the Christian Church.
The Methodist and Quaker ministry both consider slavery as a great vice ; and if it could be said that the act of preaching itself, under circumstances which do not show a criminal intent, would justify the arrest and indictment of a preacher, these two sects of Christians must be silenced, and submit to be deprived of that very liberty of conscience evidently secured to them by the " bill of rights." There are no signs of a treasonable or rebellious disposition to be found in the accused. He did not appoint the meeting. The sermon was delivered with reluctance, without premeditation, and not until after he had solicited another gentleman to preach for him. It is admitted by his accusers that he made no attempt at any other time or place to incite the slaves to
218 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
rebellion. Then they would have you believe that a man in his senses would publicly, in tlie presence of five thousand whites, persuade from three to five hun- dred blacks to rise in instant and open rebellion. All his severity w^as directed to those who used their slaves with cruelty, keeping up the distinction be- tween good and bad masters : and in his arguments he was endeavoring to prove that slaves were dangerous property for fathers to leave to their children ; and that, although fathers might treat their slaves with humanity, they had no security that their posterity might not act the part of tyrants, the slave? rise against the children, kill them, and be liung for their crime, and all go to destruction togetlier. The reference to the next generation is conclusive proof that he had no criminal intent. For he must be a most singular offender indeed to invent a trea- sonable plot to be executed upon the next generation of men when he himself would not live to see it. But tlie peroration of his sermon is still more con- clusive that he contemplated no crime. In the last part of his address he preached the awful terrors of the law of God to the negroes expressly ; w^arned them faithfully of their own sins ; advised them to resignation to their present condition, obedience to
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 219
their masters ; urged them to obtain and keep re- ligion, to se<iure them happiness in this world and peace with God in heaven.
But it is said by some that it was improper to preacli e\pn the truth when the negroes were present, because it might, by some remote possibility, lead to mischief. This surely cannot make it a crime, nor can the plain style in which he spoke. If Mr. Gruber were indicted for an impropriety or an indiscretion in the arrangement and composition of his discourse, or for awkwardness of gesture and unpolished delivery, it might be necessary to reply to such an insinuation. But you are not a jury of critics to try the composition of Mr. Gruber, to con- demn him because his tropes and figures were not braided and festooned with all that polish of eloquence that might be found in a more accomplished orator. But you are trying him for a crime said to have been committed against the laws of his country. But it is said, the allusion of the accused to the declaration of Independence, and the reproach thrown upon our national character by him for the inconsistency of declaring in that instrument, " that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with
220 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life^ liherty^ and the •pursuit of lia])piness f and still encouraging slavery and holding a bloody whip over a ti-embling negro, ought to be received as evidence of a criminal intent. It is evident that the tmverser, in this part of his sermon, was discussing a principle of natural law, which he found in the Declaration of Independence, admitted in all parts of the Union as tlie sound and proper basis of a republican govern- ment. Finding that the colonies in their struggle for liberty had, in the Declaration of Independence, avowed the sentiment without reserve, that all men liave equal rights, he argued as a corollary, that if all men have eqiial riglits^ it was at once desti'oying the very principles of a free government to exclude men from the enjoyment of liberty and the pursuit of happiness on account of the darkness of their skin or fleecy locks ; and that it would no more comport with the principles of republicanism to do so than it would to exclude all ineii from the enjoyment ol liberty who had not attained a certain portion of wealth or stature of body. This was the meaning and object of the accused, and the sermon, among rational men, will admit of no other succedaneiim. Now, wIk) would have supposed that principles so
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 221
fraught with truth, and which cost this nation so many years of blood, carnage, peril, and anxiety to maintain, would, so early in the history of the republic, lay the foundation of a prosecution against a preacher because he maintained them in the pulpit.
In all probability^ this case will make a part of the future history of this nation, both in the civil and ecclesiastical department ; and how astonished will the republican reader be that truths proclaimed to the world and left upon record by Jefferson, Adams, Hancock, and other worthy sages, and whick deserve to be written in letters of gold, should be brought against the preacher as evidence of a crime. The philosopher and statesman is permitted to speak and write ; but the man of God, upon these great and in- controvertible truths, cannot open his mouth without danger of fine and imprisonment. In the sermon sup- posed to be criminal, the accused seemed to be argu- ing the question of slavery as a national thing, ad- dressed to the present audience as a part of the nation. But you can no more infer that he had malice against those who heard, merely from the freedom with which he discussed the subject, than you can infer he had malice against the whole people of the United States.
222 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
You cannot, with propriety, infer the former or the latter, unless you say that malice ought to be presumed in every man, in Church or state that will publicly, in a speech, censure or condemn the practical policy of any nation. This would be absurd, for it would effectually destroy every privilege of inquiry. Wretched indeed would be the liberty of the citizen, if he could not discuss plain, or even doubtful ques- tions in metaphysics, philosophy, natural law, or in theology, without danger of being condemned. It would be introducing, in miniature at least, some of the horrors of the Inquisition. But it has been said that the pulpit is not a proper place to discuss the slave question, because it is usual for slaves to be present, more or less, to hear these discourses, and it might possibly lead to insubordination. If the possi- bility of negroes getting to know what may be written or spoken upon this subject constitutes a crime, no man could write or speak upon it without making himself liable to a prosecution. Many emi- nent tracts have been written against slavery by some of our most distinguished philosophers, and have been perused and fully understood by negroes. Many distinguished statesmen have spoken against it, and Imve been heard by negroes.
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 223
During the late debates in Congress upon the Missouri question, involving the policy of negro slavery, many distinguished members, in opposition to that policy, to maintain their ground, have ad- verted to the Declaration of Independence, and have admitted that it was reproachful to this country to hold the Declaration of Independence in one hand and the lash of despotism in the other, though at the time it was supposed slaves were in the gallery listening to the debate. Yet no one, before this, has attempted to indict and arraign the writers or speakers for their disinterested kindness. The pulpit, surely, more than any other place of public exhi- bition, ought to have a commanding influence on our moral and religious character. When a great moral evil is spreading like a leprosy through the whole body politic, the tocsin of alarm ought to be sounded by holy men with a divine pathos and energy becom- ing a station given to them by Almighty God, who is justly styled in his ow^n word, " the Father of lights," and the " author of truth," and all good morals, " in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning." Through this influence, in a great measure, this nation has already been awakened to the great evil of slavery, and measures are now in
224 LITE OF JACOB GKUBER.
preparation by a colonizing society, aided by the government, to send the free people of color to the land of their fathei*s as fast as they may be set free by a gradual and voluntary system of emancipation. For the purpose of showing you the duties of the accused as a minister in the Church to which -he belongs, I will, with your permission, read some extracts from the canons of his Church, in chapter vii, p. 212 :
'^ Question. What shall be done for the extirpation of the evil of slavery ?
'''"Answer 1. We declare that we are as much as ever convinced of the great evil of slavery ; and do most earnestly recommend to the yearly conferences, quarterly meeting conferences, and to those who have the oversight of the districts, circuits, and sta- tions, to be exceedingly cautious what persons they admit to official stations in our Church ; and in the case of future admissions to official stations, to require such security of those who hold slaves, for the eman- cipation of them immediately or gradually, as the laws of the states respectively and the circumstances of the case w^ill admit ; and we do fully authorize all the yearly conferences to make whatever regulations they judge proper, in the present case, respecting
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 225
the admissions of pei*sons to official stations in our Church.
'' 2. When any traveling preacher becomes an owner of a slave or slaves by any means he shall forfeit his ministerial character in our Church, unless he execute, if it be practicable, a legal emancipation of such slaves conformably to the laws of the state in which he lives.
'^3. 'No slaveholder shall be received into full membership in our society till the preacher who has the oversight of the circuit has spoken to him freely and faithfully on the subject of slavery.
" 4. Every member of the society v\;^ho sells a slave, except at the request of the slave, in cases of mercy and humanity, agreeably to the judgment of a com- mittee of the male members of the society, appointed by the preacher who has the charge of the circuit, shall immediately, after full proof, be expelled the society. And if any member of our society purchase a slave, the ensuing quarterly meeting conference shall determine on the number of years which the slave so purchased shall serve, to work out the price of his purchase. And the person so purchasing shall immediately after such determination execute a legal
instrument for the manumission of such slave at the
16
226 LIFE OF JACOB GEIIBER.
expiration of the term determined by the quarterly meeting conference. And in default of his executing such instrument of manumission, or on his refusal to submit his case to the judgment of the quarterly meeting conference, such member shall be excluded the society. Provided^ That in the case of a female slave, it shall be inserted in the aforesaid instrument of manumission that all her children who shall be born during the yeare of her servitude shall be free at the following times, namely : every female child at the age of twenty-one, and every male child at the age of twenty-five. Provided, cdso, That if a mem- ber of our society shall buy a slave with a certificate of future emancipation, the terms of emancipation shall, notwithstanding, be subject to the decision of the quarterly meeting conference.
" 5. Let our preachers from time to time, as occa- sion serves, admonish and exhort all slaves to render due respect and obedience to the commands and interests of their respective masters."
In this section it is made his duty to admonish the people against the vice of slavery ; and it is also made his duty to exhort and admonish all slaves to render due respect and obedience to the commands and interests of their respective masters; and in dis-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 227
charge of liis duty in making known the doctrine of his sect to the world he is completely protected by the bill of rights ; and we cannot believe that he intended in his address to invite the negroes to dis- obedience to the commands of their masters, when he knew it was a violation of the government and rules of his Church that would lead to disgrace and excommunication. The whole section shows that the influence of the ministry was only to be exerted in promoting voluntary and gradual eman- cipation of slaves, while the latter were to be encouraged in nothing that would lead to hostilities Avith their owners.
AVith your permission I will now examine with some minuteness the charges in the several counts contained in this indictment. In the first count the accused is indicted for endeavoring to stir up, provoke, instigate, and incite the negro slaves in Marjdand to commit acts of mutiny and rebellion in the state, which if true would be a misdemeanor, and would make the trav- erser liable to punishment. Let us see what is neces- sary in point of law to constitute acts of mutiny and rebellion, which it is said the traverser was endeavor- ing to incite the slaves to commit; and when you have correct information on this subject you will
228 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
doubtless, from the facts disclosed, pronounce the charge fraught with too much folly to require a se- rious argument to refute it. The word " mutiny " does not often come under discussion in expounding the civil law of a state; but as it has been mixed with the word "rebellion" in this count it shall receive some notice. It means, then, to rise against authority, to make insurrection. Rebels or rebellion is ex- plained to us by Yattel as follows: "All subjects unjustly taking up arms against the head of a society are termed rebels, whether tlieir view be to deprive him of the supreme authority, or whether they intend to resist his commands in some particular affair, in order to impose conditions on him." From the same authority we learn what constitutes sedition or insur- rection, which would be included in the meaning of the words "mutiny" and "rebellion" in the first count. He says: "If the rage of the malcontents be particularly leveled at the magistrates, or others vested with public authority, and they proceed to a formal disobedience or violent proceedings, it is called a sedition. When the evil spreads, infecting great numbers in tlie city or provinces, and subsists in such a manner that the sovereijru is no longer obeyed, such a disorder custom has more particularly
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE. 229
distinguished by the name of insurrection." (Yattel, Book III, ch. xviii, p. 487.) The accusation is that the traverser, being a man of a wicked and malicious disposition, endeavored, in his sermon delivered at the camp-meeting, to incite the slaves of the state to seize the executive authority, to resist the com- mands thereof in order to impose conditions on it dictated by the slaves. In short, that he was endeavoring in liis sermon to produce a sudden revolution in political affairs in the state, for the benefit of the negroes, on such conditions as they (the negro rebels) might think proper to dictate. 'Need I reason with you to show the man had no such views or design? He was preaching to near five thousand whites and to from three to five hundred blacks. Could any person but a madman endeavor, under such circumstances, to incite the negroes to seize the government of the state ? Such a persuasion would instantly have ended in his own destruction, the destruction of the miserable fugi- tives that would have yielded to the crime, and obtained nothing for the slaves concerned in it but still greater agonies of distress for adding a crime to enhance the misery from which the traverser seemed anxious to relieve them. The whole of
230 LIFE OF JACOB GETJBER.
it is too preposterous for a moment's serious con- sideration.
In the second count of the indictment the traverser is charged with endeavoring to stir up, provoke, instigate, and incite a great number of slaves sedi- tiously and wickedly to resist the lawful authority of their masters, and to break the peace of the state upon their masters. The count shows how difficult the prosecutors have found it to make out an offense against the laws. The word "seditiously" has been put in this count to give the charge some appearance of a crime, which count, it is believed, even with the word "seditiously" in it, if found true, would not in point of law be sufficient to enable the court to pass judgment against the traverser. To constitute sedition the rage of the malcontents must be jpar- ticularly leveled at magistrates or others "vested wdth the jpvhliG authority^'' (Yattel, p. 487.) If we were disposed to use hypercriticism on this count, we would say, as there is no charge against the traverser for endeavoring to provoke the slaves to acts of hostility against "magistrates" or others vested with the " public authority," but only against masters who are not magistrates, and who do not share any part of the "public authority," there is
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 281
no sedition charged, and, perhaps, not even a mis- demeanor of the lowest class.
But we do not wish to screen an honest man by technical distinctions and quibbles ; we therefore ad- mit, if it was true that the traverser did endeavor to incite the slaves to break the peace upon their mas- ters, it was highly reprehensible in him w^hen he was professing to be the harbinger of concord on an errand of mercy, and the bearer of the heavenly news of peace on earth and good-will to men. Here we are brought again to the intent with which he delivered his sermon, and if we take the usual crite- rion of judging of a man's intent from what he says and does, it must be manifest to you that he is inno- cent of the charge against him. In his introductory prayer he displayed Christian charity for the entire assembly. He preached to all the divine doctrines of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Je- sus Christ ; and although pointed in his discourse against the evil of slavery, and sometimes severe upon bad masters, in the peroration of his address, when addressing the negroes, he not only gave them the terrors of hell and the whole law, if they lived and died in sin, but he admonished them, as directed in the canons of his Church, " to render due respect
232 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
and obedience to the commands and interests of their respective masters." This is proved by so many respectable witnesses that no -one will attempt to deny it. ISTow, how can any rational human being who has not his judgment perverted by prejudice, infer from this that the traverser was seditiously en- deavoring to provoke the negroes to break the peace of the state upon their respective masters, and resist their lawful commands.
In the third count of this indictment the prosecu- tion, throwing off all reserve, charges the traverser with endeavoring in the sermon he preached to stir up the negroes " actually to raise insurrection and re- bellion in this state, in contempt and in open violation of the laws." There is rather more turpitude in the charge in this count than there is in the charge in the first one, but in both they are absurd enough to secure their own refutation. And I am satisfied that no gentleman on this jury will believe for one mo- ment, from the facts disclosed, that the traverser was endeavoring in his sermon to incite the slaves to seize the government of the state. Such stuff may be palatable to men, who, from the frailty of human nature, are in truth ^persecuting a man who, they think, deserves punishment ; but to you who are
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 233
faithful and impartial triers of the traverser no argu- ment can be necessary from me to refute it, and I shall therefore offer none.
Let US for a moment examine the origin of negro slavery, and the mighty range of mischief in a moral point of view continually resulting from it, and we shall find much t6 justify and applaud tlie zeal of a philanthropist in his endeavors to remove it from our national character. In the fifteenth century the boldness of enterprise and improving skill in naviga- tion among the Portuguese led by accident to the discovery of the vast continent of Africa, washed by the Atlantic and stretching, apparently to them, with- out limits to the south. Gonzales Zarco and Tristran Yaz, two gentlemen of the houseiiold of Henry lY,, were sent out and instructed by him " to endeavor by all means to double Cape Bojador and advance farther toward the south. They pursued the timid mode of coasting which then prevailed until a sud- den squall of wind drove them by accident to sea, where they discovered an unknown island, and after- ward returned to Portugal witli the news, which seemed to enlarge the field of discovery, and the next year another expedition was fitted out which discov- ered the vast continent of Africa." The improve-
234 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
ment iu navigation, and the polish and blessings it has been the instrument in dispensing by means of commerce with the rest of the world, has carried nothing but trouble and vexation of spirit to Africa. Instead of extending to the people of that continent the blessings of improved politics and the comforta- ble and cheering light of the Christian religion, it has given them a monopoly of all the misery of the world, and it still remains an "indelible reproach on the name of Europeans that for more than three centuries their intercourse with the people has tended only to destroy their happiness and debase their character." Toward the end of the fifteenth century the Spaniards, having taken possession of the West Indies, encouraged Portuguese traders to bring them slaves from Africa. " The same policy was afterward pursued by the English, and here began the accursed slave-trade. The arts of the slave mer- chant inflame the hostility of the various tribes, heighten their ferocity, and increase the frequency of their wars with each other, that he may buy the captives of the victors like oxen in the market. Many of them are stolen and carried into slavery, and otherwise obtained by the most fraudulent and indirect methods ; and when taken to a foreign mar-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 235
ket the buyer seems to think, from habit, without fur- ther inquiry, that their being black and imported from Africa are alone sufficient to fix them in slav- ery for life and to entail the same ruin upon their off- spring." The only credible account extant of the origin of mankind is that which we have in Scrip- ture. And if we acquiesce in it we must believe that God " hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath de- termined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation." Acts xvii, 26. We cannot reject this upon '' rational grounds till we have first proved, either from more authentic records, or from the na- ture of things, that it is not true," It will not be pretended that we have any records more authentic, and we have no table of genealogy " whereby it can be made to appear that negroes are not descended from Adam and Eve," . We must argue, therefore, from the nature of the thing, if we argue at all on the subject ; and I think there is nothing in the nature of the negro, in his soul or in his body, which may not easily be accounted for on the supposition that he and the whites are of the same family, (Elements of Moral Science, p. 222.) The negro then is not indigenous to Africa, for the man of learning and
236 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
observation perceives the affinity of nations in the whole family of men. The negro and the white man have grown from the same stock, have lost tlie same favor of God in paradise by the crime of the first offender, and may be restored to his favor again throna^h the merits of the same common Savionr. Yiewing this subject throngh a Gospel medium, what a scene do we behold ; one part of a family en- slaved by another part, entailing upon innocent chil- dren a thralldom which can only end with life, and at wliich the whites would shrink with horror if it were inflicted upon them or their children, even for a crime.
The traverser, as his Master once w^as, is now humbled in the furnace of affliction, to rise presently in a splendid glory and triumph he little anticipated. In the former part of his life he has been content to labor in the vineyard of Christ in obedience to his call to the ministry. But this proseciition will bring him before the w^orld as* a distinguished philanthro- pist, declaring no other thing on this subject than eminent philosophers have declared before him, whose declarations and sentiments, with your per- mission, I will read to you, beginning first with the sentiments of Dr. Beattie:
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 287
'' Slavery is inconsistent with the dearest and most essential rights of man's nature ; it is detrimental to virtue and industry; it hardens the heart to tliose tender sympathies which form the most lovely part of the human character ; it involves the innocent in hopeless misery in order to procure wealth and pleasure for the authors of that misery ; it seeks to degrade into brutes beings whom the Lord of heaven and earth endowed with rational souls and created for immortality ; in short, it is utterly repugnant to every principle of reason, religion, humanity, and conscience ; and one eminent author hath explicitly declared that he who can seriously argue in vindica- tion of slavery deserves no other answer than the stab of a poniard. To my shame and sorrow, and to the disgrace of human nature^ I must confess that slavery is of ancient date. Among savages it prob- ably took its rise, or among men half civilized. Every man worthy of the honor of being a Briton holds it in utter abomination. The ingenious or the dull, the learned or the ignorant, the clownisli or polite, every innocent man, without exception, has as good a right to liberty as to life." Again the same author: "Every generous mind considers slav- ery as worse than death, and so in fact it is. Death
238 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
affects the person only who dies, and who must soon die at any rate ; but slavery may extend its baleful influence to the innocent children of the enslaved person, and even to their descendants." Again the same author : ^' It is impossible for a considerate and unprejudiced mind to think of slavery without horror ; that a man, a rational and immortal being, should be treated on the same footing with a beast, or piece of wood, and bought and sold and entirely subjected to the will of another man whose equal he is by nature, and whose superior he may be in virtue and under- standing ; and all for no crime, but merely because he differs from us in the shape of his nose, the color of his skin, or the size of his lips. If this be equitable, or excusable, or pardonable, it is in vain to talk any longer of the eternal distinctions of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil." Again the same author: "This [meaning the practice of slavery] therefore is a most infamous business; and though slavery cannot all at once be abolished, it ought to be, and may be, and probably will be discontinued grad- ually." Again the same author : " Who are they who tempt those unhappy people, by every sort of bribery that can be supposed to have influence on them, to plunder and betray every man his neighbor
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 239
in order to get together a multitude of human vic- tims to answer the yearly demand ? Are not Euro- peans and European planters the first movers in this dreadful business ? Does it then become them to charge Africa with the whole guilt of a commerce which, but for their cunning cruelty and avarice, would not now exist, and would never have existed ? This sort of casuistry may justly be termed diabolical; for it is thus that the most malevolent of all beings is said first to tempt and corrupt and then to accuse." Again the same author : " He who buys a human being with a view to reduce him to the condition of a wretched negro slave, does everything in his power to destroy the soul and body of that human being in order to get money for himself." Again the same author : " What then shall we say of the condition of a negro slave ? Let us make his case our own, and "ask ourselves whether death or it be the more desirable. To be stolen, or decoyed, or forced from our native country for no crime of ours, and by those we have never injured ; to be stowed, like lumber, amid darkness and death perhaps, and putrefaction, in the lower decks of a ship, sailing we know not whither, to be stripped naked and sold like beasts in a market; to be driven away by the scourge
240 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
of the overseer into hopeless slavery in a strange land, where we find thousands of our countrymen in the same circumstances ; to be compelled to labor, with little or no intermission or shelter, under the burning sun of a tropical climate ; to be ourselves punished, and see our friends and innocent children punished, with unrelenting severity, for a slight offense, or merely to gratify the unmeaning rage of a merciless oppressor ; to be subjected to laws by which we are declared to be brutish slaves ; to know that the same destiny^ awaits our posterity, and that death alone will deliver us and them from the horrors of this condition ; to see our companions dying round us every day in consequence of the miseries thej un- dergo, and, what is worst of all, to be obliged to spend our lives in the service of our tyrants; are these desirable circumstances? are they likely to make any rational being happy? are they not worse than a thousand deaths ?" Again the same author : "It is well observed by Homer, whose knowledge of the human heart no person who understands him will ever call in question, that ' when a man is made a slave he loses from that day the half of his virtue.' And Longinus, quoting the same passage, affirms that 'slavery, however mild, may still be
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 241
called the prison of the soul and a public dungeon.' And Tacitus remarks that 'even wild animals lose their spirit when deprived of their freedom.' 'Slav- ery,' says Montcscpiieu, ' niakes the master insensi- bly neglect every moral virtue, and become proud, passionate, hard hearted, violent, and cruel.'" Again the same author : " With all the advantages we have derived from philosophy, religion, and the manners of civilized life, if we were to suppose our country invaded, and our rights violated by African negroes, as cruelly as their rights are violated by some Euro- pean slave merchants and planters, we should say of them with truth that they were such barbarians as to deserve at our hands no other return than final exterm- ination. And if our power were equal to our wishes and privileges, and if our deliverance could be effected by no other means, we should arm our- selves with the rights of nature, and sweep our de- stroyers from the face of the earth. And if we did so who would blame us ?"
■I will next introduce the opinions of Mr. Paley. "Writing on the African slave-trade he observes : " But defect of right in the first purchase is the least crime with which the trafiic is cluirgeable. The
natives are excited to war and mutual depredation
16
242 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
for the sake of supplying tlieir contracts, or furnish- inor the market with slaves. With this the wicked- ness begins. The slaves, torn away from parents, wives, cliildren ; from their friends and companions, their fields and flocks, their home and country ; are transported to the European settlements in America, with no other accommodation on ship-board than what is provided for brutes."
I will now, gentlemen, introduce to you the senti- ments of Judge Tucker, of Virginia, upon the subject of slavery, in which you will find this distinguished judge, mourning over his native land for this national sin, still more pathetic, and with a point more severe, tlian can be found in the discourse of the traverser. The judge begins : " Among the blessings which the Almighty hath showered down on these states, there is a large portion of the bitterest draught that ever flowed from the cup of aflliction. While America hath been the land of promise to Europeans and their descendants, it hath been the vale of death to millions of the wretched sons of Africa. The genial light of liberty, which hath here shone with un- rivaled Insteron the former, liath yielded no comfort to the latter; but to them hath proved a pillar of darkness, while it hath conducted the former to the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 243
most enviable state of human existence. While we were offering up vows at the shrine of liberty, and sacrificing hecatombs upon her altars; w^hile we swore irreconcilable hostility to her enemies, and hurled defiance in their faces ; while we adjured the God of hosts to witness our resolution to live free or die, and imprecated curses on their heads who refused to unite with us in establishing the empire of free- dom, we were imposing upon our fellow-men, who differ in complexion from us, a slavery ten thousand times more cruel than the utmost extremity of those grievances and oppressions of which we complained. Had we turned our eyes inwardly when we suppli- cated the Father of mercies to aid the injured and oppressed ; when w^e invoked the Author of right- eousness to attest the purity of our motives and the justice of our cause, and implored the God of battles to aid our exertions in its defense, should we not have stood more self-convicted than the contrite pub- lican? Should we not have left our gift upon the altar, that we might be first reconciled to our l)retli- ren whom we held in bondage ? Should we not have loosed their chains and broken their fetters, or, if the difficulties and dangers of such an experiment pro- hibited the attempt during the convulsions of a revo-
244 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
lutioii, is it not our duty to embrace the first moment of constitutional health and vigor to effectuate so desirable an object, and to remove from us a stigma with which our enemies will never fail to upbraid us, nor our consciences to reproach us? Our forefathers have sown the seeds of an evil which, like a leprosy, hath descended upon their posterity with accumu- lated rancor, visiting the sins of the fathers upon succeeding generations. It is a tyrannical and iniq- uitous policy which holds so many human creatures in a state of grievous bondage." And again the same judge : " But if the voice of reason, justice, and humanity be not stifled by sordid avarice or unfeeling tyranny, it would be easy to convince even those who have entertained erroneous notions, that the right of one man over another is neither founded in nature nor sound policy. Will not our posterity curse the days of their nativity with all the anguish of Job ? Will they not execrate the memory of those ancestors who, having it in their power to avert evil, have, like their first parents, entailed a curse upon all fu- ture generations ? What a blood-stained code must that be, which is calculated for the restraint of mill- ions held in bondage ! Such must our unhappy country exhibit within a century, unless we are both
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 245
wise and just enough to avert from posterity the cahiinitj and reproach which are otherwise un- avoidable.
Before I close with the opinions of eminent men, I will give you those of Mr. Jefferson on the subject of slavery. For correct sentiments and opinions in political philosophy, it is believed the witnesses for the prosecution consider this distinguished American unrivaled ; and when you are informed of the free- dom with which he discussed the subject of negro slavery, you will at least be surprised that an exam- ple so high could not afford excuse enough for the preacher to save liim from the ignominy of a felon. This distinguished patriot observes : " It is a problem which I give to the master to solve, whether the religious precepts against the violation of property were not framed for him as well as his slave ? and whether the slave may not as justifiably take a little from one who has taken all from him, as he may slay one who would slay him ?" The above observation, with a little transposition of words, gives you tlie following sentiment : '• That a negro slave has as much right, according to the law of nature, to steal a little from his master, as his master has to take all his liberty from him." Again the same author, re-
246 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
marking on the liberty of the negroes, observes : " That they are not to be violated but with the wrath of God. Indeed," he says, " I tremble for my coun- try when I reflect that God is just ; that his justice cannot sleep forever; that, considering numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune and exchange of situation is among possible events ; that it may become probable by supernatural interference ! The Almighty has no attribute that takes side with us in such a contest."
Jefferson and Tucker reside in the state of Yir- ginia, one of the principal negro states ; and although they have declared their sentiments on the subject with more freedom than the traverser, and these sentiments may, by reading, be made known to the negroes of that state, and may, in some remote possible degree, possess seeds of mischief, yet as they were written with innocent views, to maintain an argument, they have lost no popularitj^ by it, but on the contrary they have, with the good-will of their fellow-citizens, filled some very high posts of honor and profit. Suppose a speaker in a political or religious harangue against slavery should, to effect his purpose of convincing his audience, read the extracts just quoted and comment on them in the
LIFE OP JACOB GRUBER. 247
hearing of slaves, ought the bare circumstance of the slaves listening to him, though he knew it, to be received as evidence of a criminal intent? You will doubtless, gentlemen, at once say, it ought not. Good men might differ in opinion as to the propriety of discussing such a subject in plain language in the presence of slaves; but no good and wise man could hesitate in declaring that any attempt to arraign the speaker as a criminal for such an exercise of the liberty of speech, to punish him as for a crime because his prosecutors did not like his matter or his manner, would be unauthorized by law, and if sanctioned by judicial authority, would introduce among us a despotism greatly to be deplored.
The prosecutors seem to think that the criminal intent is to be found because the preacher was vehe- ment in his manner. Dr. Finley, one of the witness- es for the state, informs you that he has heard the traverser preach often ; that he is usually animated, and was not more so than common when the sermon in question was delivered. I confess to you, sirs, that my sensibility is greatly awakened on this occasion. The traverser holds a rank in his Church second to the bishop. He is my pastor and friend, with whom I have had an acquaintance for several years.
248 ' LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
He is a, blunt, plain, honest-hearted man, in whom there is no disposition to use guile enough to evade the intrigues of his enemies. In his accusation Zion is wounded and the whole Church in tears, and he waits with his surrounding friends to be delivered by you from the furnace of affliction.
After Mr. Pigman concluded, Mr. Taney, in a speech of about an hour's continuance, with his usual eloquence and zeal, made a most effectual and conclusive argument to the jury on the part of Mr. Gruber. After Mr. Taney concluded, the jury, wish- ing to have som^e conversation on the subject in private, retired from the box, but immediately returned again, and answering to the usual call of the clerk, pronounced, through their foreman, a verdict of IsTot Guilty.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 249
CHAPTEE YII.
Rev, David Martin — Testimony of the Bible — Traffic in Slaves — Gru- ber's Sermon at Camp-meeting — Different kinds of Hearers — Republi- can Slaveholders — History of An-est and Trial — Reflections — Eeview of the Trial — Lawyers — Inefficiency and Uncertainty of Law — Love of Money — Conference — Bishop Roberts — Exercise of Episcopal Functions — Bishop's Cabinet — The Way Appointments are now made — Right of Choice — Frederic Circuit — Rest Week — Incident illustrating the Power of Bigotry.
Having learned that the Hev. David Martin intended publishing the trial, Gruber wrote him as follows : "As you are about to publish my trial, which has been considered a new thing under the sun, I think it my duty to state a few things, which you may pub- lish if you deem proper, for the information of those who are anxious to see and hear old as well as new things :
"I am a native of Pennsylvania. My father and mother were both born in that state. I received my education there. I experienced religion there, etc. I learned to read the Holy Scriptures when I was a little boy. It was then a custom to read them in schools, which is not now the fashion in some parts.
250 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
I will put down a few passages whicli I read, and tliey are still in the Bible; but )'ou and the public may determine how far many of our great and little people conform unto them.
"The law of God says, Exodus xxi, 16: 'He that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.' Again, Deut. xxiv, 7 : * If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh mer- chandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die.' 'Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal.' This law, in the comprehension of the Israelites, solely prohibits man-theft — detaining j^ersons in perpetual bondage. ' Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.' No man can claim and possess a slave as propert}^ until he has virtually sworn that men, women, and children are brutes. 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife,' etc. Exodus xx, 13. Again it is written, 'Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, nor rob him.' Leviticus xix, 13. 'Thou shalt not oppress him who is poor and needy, lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be a sin unto thee.' Deut. xxiv, 14, 15.
"I will give you a few more passages out of the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 251
New Testament ; some may read your publication wlio do not read the Scripture with much attention : 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' Matt, v, 7. ' Therefore, all things whatso- ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets.' Matt, vii, 12. 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor [that is, all men] as thyself.' Matt, xxii, 39. 'Seeing he [God] giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,' etc. Acts xvii, 25, 26. 'Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love.' Rom. xii, 10. 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbor ; therefore love is tlie fulfilling of the law.' Rom. xiii, 10. 'Ye are bought witli a price.' 1 Cor. vii, 23. ' And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven ; neither is there re- spect of persons with him.' Eph. vi, 9. ' Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal ; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.' Col. iv, 1. ' Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth ; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sa-
252 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
Daotli.' James v, 4. 'The merchants [of beasts and sheep, and horses and chariots, and slaves and souls of men] shall stand afar off, weeping and wailing.' Rev. xviii, 15, etc., etc.
" These passages need little or no comment to any who wish to see what is right, and that traffic in slaves is totally irreconcilable with the principles of justice and humanity, not to say Christianity.
"As a believer in the Holy Scriptures, and a minis- ter of the Gospel, I attended the camp-meeting in Washington county in August last, and on the Sab- bath, after two sermons were preached, and a short intermission, (not succeeding in getting a preacher to preach the third,) I preached the sermon of which you have the substance, or the leading ideas ; in which I strove to give a portion to every one, either in season or out of season ; so I drew the Gospel bow at a venture, quite willing that every shot that missed should go for nothing. I desired to do good, to gather up the fragments that nothing should be lost ; but to my grief, I found some did not like the man- ner in which I served out the different portions; some went away grumbling and talking; others, when they found their portion so honestly allowed them even by their neighbors, looked rather cross ;
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 253
not well pleased ; resolved not to hear or pay any more attention. Some heard or recollected nothing of the sermon except some words which I never said. Many who intended to prove all, and hold fast what was good, heard me out, and have not forgotten the text, nor a considerable part of the sermon ; yet I labored rather nnder a disadvantage, being a stranger in the place. I knew that I w^as in a free country, (free to all that were not slaves,) but I did not know that 1 was in the very county wdiere liberty and independence were in bloom, so that even the state was to be blessed with a governor that grew in it. As for politics, you know, I never meddle with them in my administrations or discourses ; for, to be can- did, I don't understand some of their phrases. I have heard of republican slaveholders, but I under- stand no more what it means than sober drunkards.
" It happened so that I dropped a few hints about slavery or oppression ; some of the great men went and got a state warrant for me, a copy of which you have to publish. About two months after the war- rant was issued I was arrested at a quarterly meeting in Williamsport. I gave securit}- for my appearance at court, to be held in jSTovember, as the recog- nizance will show. I was arrested for felony, and
254 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
had to give security for one hundred dollars. With serious inconvenience, trouble, and expense, I had to leave or give up my regular course of appoint- ments and attend the court in Hagerstown. I appeared the first day, heard the charge given to the grand jury, which was short but full of meaning ; I suppose much better understood by the jurors than by me, who was not accustomed to hear such charges. I waited from day to day, and you may be surprised to hear that I had to wait more than two weeks before tliey found a bill against me. In this time they surely had time to get slaveholders, overseers. Churchmen, Methodists, free-thinkers, half- thinkers, and no-thinkers to bear witness against me about the rebellion and insurrection. So abundant and so clear was the evidence in this dark business before the grand jury, that after two wrecks' sitting twelve or thirteen could find a true bill without suf- fering any statement to be made by some of their body ; for you must know there was near a half dozen of men on the grand jury who liad heard my sermon, but they were not allowed to say what they saw and heard themselves. The indictment came out for tnisderneanor^ 7nutiny^ inciting rebellion^ diso- hedietice^ etc., as you will find in the copy of the
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 255
indictment which you liave. I think it rather a for- tunate circumstance that the indictment did not include or mention an intention to effect or bring about a resurrection among the slaves who had been dead for years, for tliis might have been put in with as much truth as either of the other counts.
"As soon as thej brought in the true bill I resolved to remove it out of the county, for which I had a sufficient reason. In removing my trial I had the privilege granted to take it to Frederic county. I gave security of four hundred dollars for my appearance on the first Monday of March. I ap- peared, and on the second day had about twenty witnesses ready; but the state's evidences did not get ready, at least the trial did not come on till the tenth day, from which time you have all the pro- ceedings, which you may publish as full and as clear as you can, so that my friends and enemies may see this new thing under the sun and under the moon, and learn to understand a matter before they pass sentence ; for I am sorry to say I have heard of some in your county who were very free in speaking and liberal in their way of blessing me : some wished me hung, some sent to the penitentiary, others would have been almost satisfied if I had got thirty-nine
256 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
lashes, perhaps altogether, if they liad had the honor of laying them on. What a pity that such don't move to Washington county to get into office.
" I have only one remark more to make and I am done. Some have been in hopes that I had learned a useful lesson in my trial. But whatever I have learned, I can assure you I have not yet learned to call good evil^ or evil good. I hope while I keep my senses I shall consider involvMtary perpetual sla/oery miserable injustice, a system of robbery and theft. I hope I never shall rank men, v/omen, and children with horses, and cows, and property, and counte- nance or justify such sales and merchandise. May our merciful God save us from this sin and reproach, and let every honest man say amen !"
Having passed through the fiery ordeal of tlie law for what he considered preaching the Gospel, it was natural that he should indulge in some reflections. We find the following amusing account of his trial and the attendant circumstances in his journal:
" I had four lawyers ; most of tliem politely pleaded my cause without fee or reward. There was a great crowd, curiosity, and excitement at the court ; many wanted to see the criminal a candidate for the penitentiary ; some to hear witnesses ; many
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 25?
to hear the lawyers plead, and the charge of the judge ; and finally, the verdict of the jury, how long the prisoner should remain in the penitentiary, as the crime was said to be an attempt to raise an insurrection among the slaves to rise against their masters, etc. My lawyers spoke well; but it was thought b}^ many that after the witnesses were all heard the jury could have decided without leaving the box. But all must be done in form and order ; there was no hurry, time was taken, long speeches made, the charge delivered, the jury retired, (not very long,) and returned soon. The foreman spoke the verdict : JN'ot guilty. So I got clear of my ene- mies, but not of some of my friends; they had promised my chief lawyer, whom they employed without my knowledge or request, two hundred dollars. Tliey kept close to me till I was pronounced not guilty ; so I was clear, and they quickly cleared themselves, and left me to pay what they had prom- ised. Several right-hand friends and true thought it hard that I should give all my allowance for two years' hard labor to try a case in court more for their benefit than my own ; so they gave me a little assist- ance, a few dollars. But what was a mistake for
certain, after all was done it was reported, and per-
17
258 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
haps believed by some, tluit my chief lawyer had pleaded my cause gratis; but I know better; I know who paid him two hundred dollars, and I know too out of whose pocket by far the most of it came.
" Solomon said, ' He that increasetli knowledge increaseth sorrow\' I am not the happier or richer for some knowledge I have. Let me write a little more about this lawsuit. Some advised me to sue for damages ; others said, that would look like seek- ing revenge. I was cleared, and should love and pray for my enemies. One of the lawyers advised me to bring a suit ; that heavy damages could be recovered ; to engage Lawyer Pinckney, one of the greatest lawyers in the state, and take it to the Su- preme Court. I requested liim to speak to Lawyer Pinckney, and asked him wdiat he would charge or take to carry this case through court. Law^yer Pinckney's answer was, he would give his services without fee or reward; that he took nothing from minister.
" My lawyer stated this to me, and said, now we could make these fellows smart who wanted to send you to the penitentiary; this will do for them. ]N'ow I thought was a time to try the lawyer, so I told him ray business was with the Gospel. But he
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. '259
might try the law ; he might bring the suit for dam- ages, get Lawyer Pinckney, and whoever he thought proper, as he was acquainted with the wliole matter ; and I would agree that he should have half the dam- ages they would recover ; the other half should be applied to meeting-houses for the benefit of the district ; I did not want one dollar of it. The lawyer scratched his head, and said heavy damages could be recovered, and I had best agree to pay a certain sum to the lawyers to bring and carry on the suit. I said, Now I see ; though some say ten thousand dol- lars or more can be recovered, yet you w^ould have me pay out of my own pocket I know not how much, rather than trust for half the damages to be recov- ered, though I want or would take nothing for my benefit. The court had no more trouble about me.
"If I should get into any difficulty, and had to apply to a lawyer, and he should advise me to take it to court, I would ask him how much I must give him to gain my cause. When he names the sum I will agree to give it. But he must agree to have nothing if he does not gain it, but loses it. If he objects to this agreement, I object to taking it to court ; so here is an end of that trial."
It will be seen from the above that he became
260 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
fully satisfied that whatever the law might do for a man's character it was not very well calculated to benefit his finances ; and although a man's money is "trash" when compared with his "good name," yet the want of it m.ay sometimes prove almost as great an evil as the love of it, and lead to equally disastrous results. Up to this time he was an unmarried man ; his wants were few, and as he practiced the most rigid economy he was enabled from his salary, small as it was, to lay up something in store for bad weather. It was perhaps the fact of his ability to pay the lawj^er's fee, rather than any want of benevolence on the part of his friends, that caused them to withhold assistance. Good advice and well- wishing cost but little, and friends are not w^anting to volunteer both in the time of trial; and it often happens that those who are the most benevolent in this line are found most sadly wanting when material aid is necessary.
At the conclusion of his trial he hastened on to conference, which was held at Alexandria on the 10th day of March, 1819. Having completed his quadrennial term on the Carlisle district, he did not feel anxious to take another district. Bishop M'Ken- dree had spoken to him previously about taking a
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 261
transfer to the Missouri Conference. Bishop Roberts, who presided at this conference, informed him that there was an appointment left for him in the Missouri Conference, but he dissuaded him from going, as he had seen quite hard times in traveling over the roughest portions of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences, and thought some other preacher whose service had not been so hard should be sent in his place. Gruber felt perfectly willing to submit to the judgment of his superiors in the ministry, and rarely, if ever, entered into any negotiations in reference to his appointment. In those days the bishops were permitted, without let or hinderance, to exercise their constitutional episcopal prerogative in sending preachers wherever their judgment might dictate, and it seldom happened that any "son in the Gospel" called in question the appointments of the bishops, or sought in any way to interfere with or influence them in the eKcrcise of their power. The constitution of the Church gives to the bishops the sole power to appoint the preachers to their respective fields of labor. In the days of Asbury and M'Kendree the appointments emanated mostly from the episcopacy. As the Church increased, and the ministry became more numerous, so much so that the bishops could
262 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
not become personall}^ acquainted with " the gifts, grace, and usefulness" of the preachers, it became necessarj^ to depend for information upon the presid- ing elders, and they became their advisers, forming what has been denominated the bishop's cabinet. But latterly so effectually has the episcopacy been shorn of its appointing power, that many appoint- ments are rarely made by it through the cabinet, they having been arranged months beforehand by the preacher and a few influential members of the charge. The appointment, however, passes through the forms, the presiding elder nominating and the bishops con- firming. Though this new custom relieves the epis- copacy and the presiding eldership of a vast amount of I'esponsibility, yet we doubt very much its policy, and believe that a return to the old landmarks and the practice of the fathers would prove more con- ducive to the real welfare and progress of the Church. But to return to our subject. Bishop ^ Roberts told Gruber he might have his choice of a district or a circuit, remarking that he had traveled longer than he himself had done, and it was right and proper Jie should have a choice. At this he was surprised, and remarked that "no bishop had ever treated liim tliat way before." He replied to the bishop's kind offer,
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 263
that he " would take a circuit among the mountains only for one reason, and that was, some might sav they had cleared him out of Maryland." He sug- gested that it would he more in accordance with his wishes to have a circuit somewliere in the neighbor- hood of the place wliere he had his trial. Accord- ingly at the close of the conference his name was announced in connection with Frederic circuit, a large field embracing Westminster, Pipe Creek, Sam's Creek, Emmetshurgh, Linganore, Liberty, Israel's Creek, ISTew Market, Frederic, Middletown, and other places. During his labors on this circuit there were many refreshing seasons at the different appointments, and considerable additions were made to the Church. He spent his rest week in w^orking at the preacher's house, which was built that year, doing the painting, glazing, etc. His extra labor did not, however, seem to meet with a due reward from some of his parishioners, as the following paragraph from one of his letters will show :
" But a strange return was made to me. When try- ing to collect m/)ney subscribed for the house, I was called a busybody in other men's matters, and w^orse than that. After I was gone charges were sent after me, as though I had dealt as a speculator in several
264 LIFE OF JxVCOB GRUBER.
things with several persons. The fact was, much of the money that was then passing was below par, and I had to get par money to pay for books in New York, having dealt largely in books ; so I had to change money where I could, and some could not get off the money they got from me after keeping it too long. Some of the preachers got par money from me to send to New York ; so I was a money changer, and paid some in money below par that answered them as well as any other. But when complaint was made abont it some put the worst construction upon it, though I had for many years paid in more book- money yearly than any one I knew ; but now at last I lost my credit, and on that account my zeal foi bookselling and building the parsonage."
With all his economy he was truly benevolent, and avarice was far from his heart. He loaned as well as gave his money freely. Borrowers often took the advantage of him. He once remarked to Dr. Bond, in relation to one who had borrowed his money and had taken the benefit of the insolvent act: "He has taken the penefit, and that is no penefit to me."
The following incidents illustrative of the power of bigotry we take from his journal :
I
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 265
"There lived near the river S., in Maryland, a very rigid Calvinist, wliose son went to the Methodist meetings, believed their doctrine, and read their books, to the great grief of his fatlier, who frequently spoke to him and nrged him to read one of his favorite books, which he left in tlie shop where they Avorked at a trade. The father was much pleased to see the son frequently read in the book. So one day, w^hile the son was attentively looking in the book, and the father present in another part of the shop, the son said, 'Father, do you believe all that is in this book V ' Yes, every word of it, and I have often wished you to read.' ' Well,' said the son, ' I did not think you believed such doctrine; let me read you some.' He read a choice piece and stopped, saying: ' Do you believe that V ' Why to be sure ; it is all true.' ' Let me read you another part.' He read again and stopped to inquire, ' Do you believe all that V ' Yes, it is God's eternal truth, and I liave been sorry that you did not read more in that book, one of the best in the world!' 'Well,' said the son, ' this is the doctrine I believe, and you may read it too ;' and taking a pamphlet which he had slipped into the book out of which he read to his father, which had a Methodist doctrinal sermon in it, lie
266 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
gave it to his fatlier, who took it, looked at it, and then, in a bad humor, said, 'Why this is Methodist stuff — damnable doctrine.' ' O father,' said the son, 'how prejudice blinds persons. Where is your un- derstanding and judgment? When you heard nie read what you thought was printed in your book, it was all true ; yes, God's eternal truth ; but when you found it was a Methodist sermon, it was all false and damnable doctrine.'
" Another case in another place. A member of a Church renounced Calvinism and joined the Meth- odist Ej)iscopal Church. His brethren did not want him to leave them. They appointed a committee to visit him, to labor with him, and convince him of his error. One of the committee was his brother, who it was thought would have most influence over him. They went to his house ; he was friendly, they were serious. The brother began by saying they had come on a serious business. ' What is that V ' Why, to convince him of his error in leaving his Church and joining the Methodists. ' Well,' said he, " did you ever hear a Methodist preach V They said, ' No, it is dan- gerous, because they are the false prophets who should deceive the very elect if it were possible.' ' Did you ever read any Methodist books?' They said, 'No.'
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. SGT
' Well, let me read a little to yon.' He took a book from a shelf and read some, stopped and asked how they liked it; they said, 'E"ot at all.' ^ Well, let me read yon more.' He did so, and asked, ' How will that do ?' ' O worse still,' etc. ' Now let me read in another place.' Done. He inquired, ' How do you like that V ' O worse than all ! We are astonished that a man of your sense and understanding should believe such doctrine or read such books.' ' Stop, now,' said he ; ' did I make a mistake ? this don't sound or read like a Methodist book ; look at it and read. It is your Confession of Faith.' They were blunderstruck ; they thought he was reading in a Methodist book, and rejected and reprobated all he read, though they were among the sweetest morsels of their peculiar creed. So much for sectarian par- tiality and blind bigotry."
268 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
CHAPTEE Yin.
Conference at Georgetown — " Haltering the Condition'' — Marriage — Housekeeping — Dauphin Circuit — Preacher's Allowance — Traveling Expenses — Bishop Asbury's Opinion of City Stations — Frolicking Christians — Harvest Sermon — Conference in Philadelphia — Bishop Soule — Questions — Appointments — Something strange.
At the Conference held in Georgetown in the spring of 1820, Grnber was desirous of being trans- ferred to the Philadelphia Conference, which was to hold its session the succeeding month. The presiding bishop granted his request. That no time might be lost in the interval, he took one round on the Carlisle circuit. There was a reason for the change in the field of his labor, which was known only to himself and another person. He had been in the traveling connection now^ twenty years, and believ- ing that he had served a good apprenticeship he concluded to take a partner for life. To use his own words, he " tliought he would halter his condition, as some call it." Circumstances were much more favorable for such a change in his relation than they had been ; the circuits were much smaller, and
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 269
instead of a few rest days in a month, the preachers had a week or more. This made it necessary for them to have a home somewhere, and he thought, very wisely, that he had better have one of his own. He says in his Journal: "I never liked to hear of a young preacher having his home at some places and staying a whole week, as there would be reflections and reports, unless it was with some good brother who kept batchelor's hall. Some would ask me, ' Where is your home V and my reply would be, 'Nowhere ; the Discipline prohibits me from spending more time in one place than is strictly necessary, and we are strangers and sojourners as all our fathers were.' " He describes his manner of spending his first rest week on Dauphin circuit, the appointment he received from the Philadelphia Conference : '' I went to Harrisburgh and rented a house for a particular friend of mine. After this was done I went in a carriage for some things I had left in Maryland. The distance was about thirty miles. I preached in the evening. The next day I traveled about the same distance and got married in the evening. The day following was spent in packing up, and the day after I started out on my return trip, arrived safe at Harrisburgh, and put my particular
270 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
friend in the rented house, went to housekeeping, received a number of my acquaintances, preached on Sunday, and was off on Monday to fill my regular appointments on the circuit."
Many of the good people were displeased at their preacher for marrying. He had carried out the advice of Wesley so strictly " in conversing sparingly and conducting himself prudently with women" that they imagined he was utterly averse to marrying, and would remain in a state of single blessedness, having the Church only to care for. They were not aware of the fact, that as a general thing those who pay court to the ladies the least have a higher appreciation of them, and are most likely the sooner to enter the marriage state. But he had taken all by surprise, and, to use his own language, " a tre- mendous hue and cry was raised against" him. In giving a reason why he deferred the matter so long, he says : " I never thought it expedient or proper for a young preacher to get married as soon as he found a girl silly enough to have him." The heaviest charge brought against him was that he had married into a family where there were slaves, and this was grossly inconsistent with his whole course as a preacher. This charge was answered
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 271
by him as follows : " The fact is, my wife never had but one slave, and that one got free two days after we were married by getting into Pennsylvania ; so, instead of getting any slaves in marriage, I got two slaves free in that family, namely, Sally Howard, who worked more than any slave in the house, and her girl Susey, who was about twenty years of age."
As he has left a record of his labors in the Dauphin circuit for the two years he traveled the same, and as this will serve more fully to give our readers an idea of the man, we will let him speak for himself. He says :
*' We had peace and prosperity in the circuit ; the Lord was with us in mercy and in powder, and we had some powerful conversions. One of the professors in the Wesleyan University was among them. My col- league, H. G. King, was an excellent, zealous young man, well received, and successful. I had some appointments among the Germans ; tried to preach in German where they could not understand English. In this year they built the first Methodist meeting- house in Harrisburgh, and it was the first year of my keeping house. I got one hundred dollars on the circuit, paid fifty dollars for house-rent, twenty- five dollars for a stove, and gave them twenty
272 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
dollars toward their meetiiig-Iiouse, so I bad five dollars left to live on, except what I had saved by economy. Some would not come to hear me preach because I took money ; but they did not ask how much or how little I got.
" I will now state what few know. Sixteen years of my first traveling the allowance was eighty dol- lars a year for quarterage. At the General Con- ference in 1816 the quarterage was raised to one hundred dollars. That body passed what some called the One Hundred Dollar Bill I did not vote for it. The more some get the more they want, and are always complaining. After conference some asked me, ' Will you not take the one hundred dollar quar- terage?' I said, 'Yes; but I keep no account of expenses.' And from that conference to this time I have taken no traveling expenses, except in a very few circuits where they had a surplus of money, and urged me to bring in my account of traveling ex- ])enses. I told them they might give me ten dollars for a year, but that has seldom happened ; and since I began to keep house I never got a dollar from any circuit for house-rent or table expenses. Hitherto the Lord has helped and kept me alive, and I hope to live forever. I often feel sorry for preachers and
LIFE OF JACOB GFJJBEK. 2Y3
people. There is too iniich begging and too little economy. I had some acquaintance with a preacher who in ten years saved eight hundred dollars, and had only received eighty dollars a year. Another, who got one hundred dollars a year, in eight years spent the eight hundred dollars and four hundred dollars besides out of his own funds, and he had received many more presents than the former. Some will take fifty or sixty dollars' traveling ex- penses when the most is for resting at home. Bishop Asbury used to say, 'The cities spoil our preachers.' In the country in many circuits they cannot or do not raise three hundred dollars for table expenses and house-rent. Sometimes when one of the poor preachers gets into the city, into a parsonage, he must have six hundred, or eight or nine hundred, and at the end of the year he complains he is out of pocket. I rather think there is no bottom in his pocket. And for the second they go up to a thousand dollars for fear of getting a bad name letting their parson go away in debt. Now this is wrong. If they would teach economy, give at least one hund- red dollars less the second year than the first, and there would be fewer parties and less vanity, preach- ers would learn self-denial as well as preach it, get
• 18
2T4 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
cloth according to the means, and then cut the coat according to the cloth. When I had traveled ten years, three years of which were on a large district, the whole amount of my traveling expenses was one hundred and twelve dollars and some cents. I had fast-days; never stopped at a tavern to buy my dinner. When I had to get my horse fed I paid for the oats, stood by and kept the chickens from eating them, then went on my way."
In the above we have a specimen of economy rather verging to parsimony. It is a remarkable fact that nearly all the preachers of that day were of the same economic school. The most of them were severe in denouncing hireling preachers, and we have heard some thank God that they did not preach for money. In this respect they carried their views a little too far, and the effect was disastrous to the financial interests of the Church in general. The majority of the people were glad to be relieved of the responsibility of paying, and with the preacliers they would thank God too that they could belong to the Church and enjoy religion without paying a cent for it, thus literally having the Gospel " with- out money or price." But we shall not further in- terrupt the narrative.
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 275
"I was sent a second year to Dauphin circuit. [Nothing extraordinary took place, only some fellows of the baser sort made an attempt to blow up our meeting-house in Harrisburgh. On a Sunday night after preaching they got in at a window, put some- thing under the pulpit with powder in it and a match. It made a report like a cannon, tore up the pulpit, and broke the glass out of some of the windows. "VVe soon, however, had all repaired, and pursued our course. My colleague this year w^as no King, but only a poor thing hunting a fortune. He found out who was rich ; but the girls found out that he was lazy, as they called it, so he had little success in win- ning souls, and none in getting a wife. He spoke, to me about what he had better do ; my advice was, if he meant to locate, to get married ; if to travel a circuit, to keep single. It seems as though some young men think if they can only get married (the sooner the better) they will be at once in paradise ; and some young women have an idea if they can only get a preacher they will have an angel for cer- tain ; but more than one has been disappointed very much. This is a world of trouble ; man is born into it, and full of it all of his few days. But many of the greatest troubles and misery are brought ou by
276 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
Master Self; that self is a great disturber of peace, a great tliief, destroyer,, and murderer; happy indeed are the}^ who deny self, mortifj^ the deeds, and cru- cify the flesh with the lusts and aiFections, escape for life, and live forever. I finished my w^ork in the capital of the state and moved to Germantown, more in the center of the conference.
"While traveling in a German settlement near a town I met a farmer ; in talking with him I asked him if the people were religious about there. He said if I would see them on Sunday at church I might think so. Most of the young people w^ere baptized, confirmed, and had taken the sacrament; but if I should see them at a frolic, playing and dancing ; at a vendue, drinking, and quarreling, and fighting; and at a muster or parade, men and women, (what ! do women muster? No, but they go to see and be seen,) would think there was no religion at all about here. I found they had an old custom. On Sunday after harvest their parson preached a harvest sermon, as it was called ; but this year there were very few to hear it ; most of the congregation were o-one to the mountain to gather whortleberries. It would be hard if the poor parson should have to preach another thanksgiving sermon when the ber-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 277
ries are all gathered ; then when all is safe take a week-day for it. That would hinder any from vis- iting on Sunday, and having their play and amuse- ments."
At the conference held in Philadelphia in 1820, at which Bishop Soule presided, Gruber took occasion to propose a question during the examination of the character of the presiding elders. After the name of the first elder w^as called, and he had given a glowing description of his district and the zeal, fidelity, talents, and eloquence of his preachers, the honest German rose and, addressing the bishop, asked if he might be permitted to make an inquiry.
" Yes, brother, you may propose any proper ques- tion," said the dignified bishop.
" Well, then," said Gruber, " I wish to know if the appointments of the preachers have been made." The bishop expressed surprise at the question, and answered, " Of course not."
" I know," replied Gruber, " how and when ap- pointments were made formerly ; but I confess I don't know w4io makes them now, or how long be- fore conference they are made. There are some of the preachers who could tell three months before the conference where they were going, and some were
278 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
told that there would be no room for them in the dis- trict. It would be well for all of ns to know who makes the appointments, and how long before the conference they are made." At the close of his re- marks a member of the conference rose and objected to the statements made, and said he regarded them as a reflection upon the presiding elder, which should not be made in his absence. The elder was accord- ingly called in and informed that it had been inti- mated that he had made appointments for his preach- ers three months before conference. The elder re- plied that such was not the case. " He had asked preachers how they would like to go to such and such circuits, and had received various replies. In doing this he meant no harm, but intended good, as he thought the preachers would like him better for taking an interest in their welfare."
Such a course would hardly be thought strange at the present day, as we sometimes hear of appoint- ments being made a year beforehand. This arrange- ment, however, is not chargeable to the elders.
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 279
CHAPTER IX.
Bristol Circuit — Germans and Quakers — Early Field of Labor — Strange Texts — A "Wonderful Preacher — Pointless Sermon — Lancaster Cir- cuit—Pride, Whisky, and Tobacco — Camp-meeting— Sutlers — A Sheep and a Goat — Burlington Circuit — A good Beggar — A Singular Druggist — Chester Circuit — J. B. Finley and his Indian Chiefs — Presbyterians and Anxious Seats — A Baptist Experience — Philadel- phia — St. Geoi^ge's Church — Colleagues — Great Reform in Baltimore
— Mutual Rights — A fine House — Withdrawal of a Reformer from the Church — Singular Certificate — Salem Circuit — Benjamin Abbott
— Rum Drinking — Tobacco Cliewing — Prosperity — Sermon at St. George's in 1830.
Preferring where we can to let the itinerant speak for himself, we shall give the reader his own account of subsequent labors :
"In 1822 I was sent from conference to Bristol circuit. It included a large district of country. Bristol was twenty miles above Philadelphia, on the river, and forty-two miles toward Bethlehem. It embraced all the country between Korristown and the river Delaware; the different towns, German- town, Chestnut Hill, Doylestown, Kewtown, Attle- borough, Bustleton, Holmsburgh, Frankford, etc. Some of the inhabitants were Germans, and man}^
280 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
Quakers, not very friendly to the Methodists. We had good and profitable meetings, some snccess, and additions to the Church. I was among my old first friends, where I started for life and for heaven. My friends were almost all in onr Church : my father and mother, my two brothers, their wives and chil- dren, my brother-in-law and his family. We had times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and were in heavenly places in Christ. How de- lightful to hear of heaven and learn the way; to have a foretaste and an earnest of the inheritance reserved for us !
'*I had an opportunity here to reflect upon the time when I joined the first class when but a boy, and a few years after, ,when a mere stripling, was leader, and of the mysterious manner in which I was thrust out or pressed into the traveling ranks.
"I was sincere, had some zeal, got along tolerably, tried to suit my texts and sermons to my hearers. Let me give a sample as a curiosity : When I was in Jerusalem I found a suitable text, as I thought, in the words: 'And I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.' We had a great sermon, as some said ; but the best of it was the Lord blessed us, and we tried to turn
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 281
things right side up. In another place my text was : 'And behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.' T/e had a good and giiicious time; we got honey without being stung by the bees. It was a wonder; but I had made some little progress, and was not so hard run to find a text now. I think our preachers have made a great im- provement since they have so much time to study their sermons. Only think of the variety we used to have. One had for his text : ' And the Lord showed me four carpenters.' Another text: 'Kine and twenty knives.' Another: 'One sea and twelve oxen.' Another great text : ' I saw by night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom, and behind him were three red horses, speckled and white.' This was wonderful ; and to think we had such sermons before we had so many colleges and so much learning, no wonder some had to be very long. But we had some exceptions. A young man in Greenbrier could preach more in a quarter of an hour than some old preachers in two hours. Take a sample. He left a friend's house one morning to go to his appointment, and after he got back in the afternoon he said: 'I preached, sung, and prayed,
282 LIFE OF JACOB GP^TTBEP..
baptized several children, and^iiiarried a couple, and how long do you think it took me to do it V They eaid they did not know. 'Well,' said lie, 'just thirty minutes.' That was quick work ; but they used t j say he was the greatest and most useless preacher they ever had on their circuit. Another one, too high learned for Greenbrier, they said, began his sermon thus: 'Through the imbecility of my body I can give you but a short confabulation, which I hope will come down with preponderosity upon all your minds.'
"I thought it might not be amiss to drop these hints, that some may know that we were not at a loss for variety and wonderful preaching a long time ago. There was some plain, honest dealing aniong the preachers even then. In Pendleton, among the mountains, a local preacher who heard one of his itinerant brethren preach beyond his depth, thought it his privilege to write to him, and among other things stated : ' I heard you preach in such a place. You took a good text ; you introduced it without an introduction, you explained it without an explanation, applied it without an application, and concluded by saying much more might be said, but you studied brevity, and did not wish to weary the congregation.'
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 283
" I was two years on Bristol circuit. We got along as well as we could expect, considering the workmen and the materials to work on. I often thought if tliere were not fifty and upward added to our Church, and some revival in the circuit in a year, I might stop and rest ; the Lord did not require me to labor or else he would bless my laboi*. And I have not got clear of all those thoughts yet. Why should we labor and toil all the night, and all the day too, and catch nothing, or next to nothing, only a few little fishes, or only leeches, if not snakes? Still we may not despise the day of small things; souls are precious— they cost precious blood. An old preacher (now in heaven) told me once if he was instrumental in the conversion of one soul on a circuit it would be a good year's work. I will give thanks, therefore, and take courage. Lord, increase my faith !
" In 1824 I was sent to Lancaster circuit with Brothers T. Miller and L Moore; a six weeks' circuit, large and full of appointments, with only one rest week. It included Heading, the Forest, Coventry, Springfield, Morgan town, Churchtown, Waynesburgh, Hew Holland, Sandersburgh, Strasburgh, Little Brit- ain, Marti ck, Boehm's Meeting-house, the Manor, Lan-
284 LIFE OF JACOB GEIJBER.
caster, Columbia, Wasliiiigton, Marietta, Bainbridge, etc., and tlie whole country between tliese places. We labored together witli one accord, united against the world, the flesh, and the devil, against pride, whisky, and tobacco. We had godspeed almost in every place. We had three camp-meetings; the Lord our God was with us, and the shout of a king in every camp, and the shout of many new-born souls; a good work all round the circuit. Our last camp- meeting was late in tlie season ; it was near the Lan- caster and Philadelphia turnpike. At the beginning some sutlers wanted to help us. Being out in the woods a cart came along, a boy was driving, and a plain woman sitting in it; when they came to where I w^as she began : ' Can thee tell me if this road leads to the camp.' I said ' Yes.' ' Can thee tell me if there would be any objections to a person selling cakes and beer, and the like at the meeting?' I asked, ^ Do you belong to the Methodists?' She said ' ISTo.' ' Did they send for you V ' Xo.' ' Why then did you come ?' ' I thought some might need re- freshment.' ' And did you think we would let them suffer? My advice is that you drive back where you came from, and when we want you we will send for you, then come on.' The cart went back.
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" One evening, while a good work was going on in the altar, a young man was leaning against the railing talking, and very angry, with a crowd around him. I was coming from a tent, and stepping up to him asked, * What is the matter?' He said, pointing to a man in the altar, 'That fellow frightened a young lady who came with me, and has got her down there — to the mourner's bench — and he also came to n:ie to talk to me, but I made him walk off like a sheep.' I found it useless to speak to him, so I said, ' When you walk away from here you will go like a goat.' At this he got in a rage, and said, ' Don't call me a goat.' I said, ' Then don't call that man a sheep.' His company then turned on him and called him a goat.
" At one of the other camp-meetings a near neighbor boasted how he meant to serve the meet- ings by boarding and keeping all sorts of folks, and making money by it. He carried out his purpose and did what he could; but the night after the meet- ing closed one of liis boarders stole a horse from his stable, which had cost him one hundred dollars just before the meeting. So he said he had not made anything by the camp-meeting. The devil is a cheat and a bad paymaster.
286 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
""We concluded our year's labor delightfully on the circuit, and added to the Church between live and six hundred. Had meetings almost day and night. Being unwell, I told Bishop George I must have easier work or rest at the conference. He had pity on me, did not send me back, but let them divide the circuit. I know not how many stations and cir- cuits there are now in that one Lancaster circuit.
" At the conference in 1825 Bishop George gave me an easy circuit, Burlington in Jersey ; but told me he understood it was too small, and requested me to enlarge it. But when I went round it I found the Delaw^are Biver on one side, at the upper end the Trenton circuit, on the other side New Mills, and at the lower end Gloucester circuit, all close by ; so there was no room to enlarge, unless to make stations and divide, w^hich I had not learned. In the midst of the circuit there w^erc many Quakers not very friendly to the Methodists; for some W'Ould rather their children should go to frolics than to Methodist meetings. I soon found difficult work.
"Our friends in Burlington had got a fine lot, and built a large brick meeting-house on it, which was in debt. They wanted to sink the debt. Two old preachers, who had encouraged them to buy, and
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. ' 287
build, and run in debt, would have, and ought to have helped and relieved them ; for they had re- ceived many favors, presents, and lai'ge fees. But they sent them to me, told them that I was a good beggar, that I could beg for them. This they soon told me. I got a subscription paper, and put my name down for five dollars. Next I spoke to one of these old preachers to put down his name, but he would not. I told him it was wrong that he and the other brother should help to get their friends in debt, and not help them out after receiving many benefits from them ; and at last send them to me, a stranger, to beg for them. 'JS'ow,' said I, 'I beg of you to help.' He said he would give as much as Brother S., the other old preacher, would give ; so I went to Brother S., told him to put down liis name for a liberal sum, to get the other to be liberal, as he had received presents, etc. He would not put down his name, but told me he would give a marriage fee out of what he got in Burlington if Brother C. would give only one that he had got there out of many. So I went back to Brotlier C, told liim that Brother S. said he would give a marriage fee if he would give one he got in the same family. He said, ']^o.' I said, ' O do, do give ; and then Brother S. must
288 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
give, and we will sink the debt.' He would not. I told him never to call me a good beggar again if I could not get anything from him, for I was trying my very best. But all I could say or do I could not get one dollar out of either of them. Pity, O pity on them ! One of them became poor, and lived misera- ble ; the other lived a poor, solitary life, and died rich. We got along better than could be expected. "We paid our debts, and the work of the Lord pros- pered in the circuit. Souls were converted.
'' There was a singular, good old man in Mount Holly who kept a drug and paint store. A fine butterfly-looking lady, laced up tight, came into the store and asked him, ' Have you any snuff?' The old man said, ' Yes; what kind do you want?' She said, 'Rubbing snuff.' 'What! rubbing snuff? What is that for?' She said, ' For the teeth.' He said, ' O ho ! I have snuff for the nose, but not for the mouth. I don't sell poison to those who don't know how to use it.' A little confused, the fine thing said, ' Have you any paint?' ' Yes, miss. What kind do you want ?' She said, ' Some for the cheeks.' The old man said, 'I don't know what kind that is, but I have different kinds of paint. If you leave your head here I will have your face painted any color
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 289
you direct.' She looked queer, went away with- out any snuff or paint, and I think he lost a Hue customer. We had a variety of good, bad, indiffer- ent, and curious things in this circuit; but the best of all was, the Lord was witli us in mercy, and fre- quently in his Spirit's power, to revive his work and convert souls. Thanks, all thanks to the Lord !
"In 1826 and 1827 I was on Chester circuit. It was a tolerable four wrecks' circuit; had Derby, Radnor, and a number of other towns in it, and the country round about, and the first year Westchester. In 1827 Westchester became a station. The circuit was then easier, less work, more rest, more begging; wonderful accounts of great and glorious meetings, revivals, etc. We calculated on a large increase ; but when conference came on we w^ere disappoint- ed. Removals, deaths, expulsions, backslidings, etc., were to be subtracted. After all the great revivals tliere w^as a decrease in numbers. * Yet there was an increase in circuits and stations, in preachers, and preachers' wives and children ; truly an increase of expenses almost everywhere, and a cry of hard times. Some sung, 'Shout, shout, were gaining ground;' but it was by going down. But all is not lost that is
in danger. At one of our camp-meetings we had
11)
290 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
Brother J. B. Finley, the missionary, and two of the Indian chiefs, with us, and a number of our great and good men ; above all, the Master of assemblies was with us, the shout of a king was in the camp. A number of souls were blessed and powerfully con- verted. The number which joined on probation at each camp-meeting, or on each circuit, I have among my papers or memorandums, but have not time to look them up, and it would not be necessary to write them. All I have written is from memory, and I could write much more; but fear most of what I write will be of little real use or lasting benefit to many.
" In Chester county I saw a very friendly Baptist preacher, who, in conversation with me about the experience of some persons, said they were not deep, sound, or Scriptural. I thought so too. He then told me a fact. A man wanted to join the Church, and got another man to write him an experience. When the time came for him to tell his experience he told the meeting that he was not in the habit of speaking, and was afraid of getting confused, so he liad his experience Avritten down, and he would read it to them. They approved of it, and gave him the right hand of fellowship. All was well till the man got sick; then he was afraid, and told some one to
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 291
get that experience and read it. It was done, and the man got comfort, wliich lasted till he got sick again ; then he was much alarmed, and not ready to die. He thought of the experience, and told them to get it. They searched for it; but it had got among waste paper, and the mice had got it and destroyed it, so the poor man had to die miserable, without an experience. 'N'ow,' said the preacher, 'you may tell that to the congregation.' I said I should be afraid it would be taken as a reflection on the Baptists.' He said: 'Tell them that a Baptist preacher told you the fact, and told you to publish it as a warning to others not to depend on an experi- ence that the mice can eat.'
" The Presbyterians in this country had sacrament meetings, anxious meetings, and anxious seats. Some who have been at them say they carry on their meet- ings just like the Methodists. I asked in what respect? Why, they preach Methodist doctrine; then they invite anxious persons to come and sit down on the anxious seats ; then some one speaks to them ; then some sing ; then one stands up and prays, while the anxious persons sit on the anxious seats. So this is just like the Methodist plan as much as an ape is just like a man. I do not like
292 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
nicknames ; everything should be called by its proper name.
" I will relate a little conversation that took place in a friendly family. Several of them had been at one of our camp-meetings. Some time after, while talking about it, some one said they thought there were not many anxious persons at it. I asked, 'Where did you sitf They said, 'Before the stand.' I told them they could not see well, being so low; but I sat on the stand, and could see all over the congre- gation, and saw many anxious persons. Many in time of preaching sat, and were anxious to under- stand what they heard. In time of exhortation there was a noise, and crying in the altar before the stand. Then some who had been walking about crowded forward, and stood on the seats ; these were very anx- ious to see a noise. Some were anxious to get their children to the mourners' bench to get them con- verted. Some were anxious to get their children away for fear the Methodists would pray w^ith them and get them converted. Upon the whole, every boat was occupied by some anxious person ; and every man, woman, and cliild at that meeting was anxious about something ; and even some dogs were anxious to get a bone or something to eat, for some
LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER. 293
got into tents and stole the people's provision. So all were anxious. I heard no more about anxious meetings or seats in that place. I am in favor of nfhourncTS^ benches.
" In the year 1828 I was stationed in Philadel- phia. The station embraced St. George's, Ebene- zer, Salem, and Nazareth Churches. There were four of us : Brothers Doughty, Scott, Thompson, and myself. Brother S. Doughty had the charge, having been there the year before. He boarded near St. George's ; my boarding house was near Ebenezer. Brother Doughty died after harvest. Three of us had to do the work of four the most part of the year. The labor was hard ; preaching, classes to meet, and other meetings to attend, the sick to visit day and night. Some said I attended more funerals than any preacher in the city — almost at every one's beck and call ; but the Lord helped me, and I got along, with fear and trembling, better than I expected. Having charge after the death of Brother Doughty, knowing something about the station, and how critical and contrary some were, wo got along tolerably peaceable and quiet, had good meetings, and some success. In a quarterly confer- ence I unfortunately appealed from the decision of
294: LIFE OF JACOB GPwUBEE.
the presiding elder, a good little maD. He took it as a great offense, and remembered me at another time, in some other way.
" In this year the great reform took place in Balti- more, which was ' the match to set fire to the train laid from Georgia to Maine to blow up the Method- ist Episcopal Church.' Word came to Philadelphia that many local preachers were expelled, and many private members had left the Chmxh, and that the Methodist Episcopal Church was ruined by tyrannical preachers, etc. Some came to me inquiring whether we had not better call an official meeting to express Dur views about the Baltimore excitement and doings, and guard our own rights. Some spoke and wrote much about 'mutual rights,' and were doing mutual wrong all the time. I told them we would mind our own business. I was acquainted in Baltimore with the head men among the reformers ; let them reform what they can ; but, said I, if we were to hear that a fire had broken out in Baltimore, should we ring the fire-bells in this city and get the fire companies out ? No, let us wait till the fire breaks out here, then ring the fire-bells and go to work to put out the fire, and take care and add no fuel. After a while a local preacher told me he would leave the Methodist Epis-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 295
copal Church. I said, We are in a free country. After a while another local preacher went to the pre- siding elder and got a certificate, and went away from us ; and some of the members went too, but altogether not more than twenty while I was in the station. At a distance it was reported that a great many had left the Methodist Episcopal Church in the city, preachers and members. When some inquired of me how many preachers had gone from us, I told exactly. It was ' Crammer and Cropper, and then it was Dunn,' that is, altogether, three. I understood they did not harmonize together long, neither preach- ers nor members. The preachers wanted to be bishops or something else, and the members did not like to be Crammed, or Cropped, or Dunned, so their meeting-house was shut up, or sold, or — it is none of my business what.
"I finished my work as well as I could in the charge ; but when conference came my presiding elder had not much to say for me. However, Dr. S., and some who were intimate with Bishop R., told me that wTong statements had been made to the bishops, and before they knew better they had committed themselves ; so my appointment came out for Glou- cester circuit in 1829. Some said it was the hardest
296 LIFE 01'^ JACOB GIUIBEI^
circuit in die Jersey district, a lai'ge four weeks' cir- cuit ; but I had an excellent colleague, brother Green- bank, in his first year. We labored harmoniously and successfully together. ^Ye had a good work pretty generally through the circuit. We labored hard, but not in vain. We had a good reward in hand, in heart, and yet to come, when all is done.
" One time, on my way to see my family, riding along the street through the city, one of iny left- handed friends spoke to me, and said, among other things, that I "svas riding a very fine horse. I answered, ' There is no knowing Avhat a poor fellow may come to. There has been a great change ; last year I was here in the city, had to walk every day, labor harder than a slave, was kicked away like a dog, and now I ride like a gentleman. Farewell.'
"The reformers, as they were called, came along and took two of our men. One of them had told some he would go, and have a certificate too. When I got there, after preaching and meeting the class, he spoke out and said he wished to leave this Church. I inquired, ' Are 3'ou going to move away V Ho said, IS^o, he wanted to withdraw from the Church. I said, ' When you joined us you gave a reason for it ; you had a desire " to flee from the wrath to come." '
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He said, ' Yes.' ' Xow,' said I, ' it would be fair to £:ive a reason for leavinsr us. Are vou dissatisfied with our doctrine?' He said, 'No.' 'Are jou dis- satisfied witli our Cliurcli government?' He said, 'Yes, and had been for fifteen years.' I said, 'That will do ; not many would stay so long where they were dissatisfied.' Then I spoke to the class: 'You have heard his reason ; now all of you who have any objection to his withdrawing rise up.' Not one got up, though it was a large class. I said, ' You see they are all willing you should go; will you want a certificate?' He said, 'Yes.' 'Will it do in the morning?' 'Yes.' 'You shall have it.' In the morning I handed him a certificate in the following words :
" 'This is to certify that the bearer, J. D., has been a dissatisfied member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has withdrawn on the day of such a month, in the year 1829. J. G.'
" He said lie had been dissatisfied with the govern- ment of the Church for fifteen years. It was said, when he gave in his certificate they told him it was not good ; but I could not help that ; it w^as true according to his own statement. The other man
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wanted license to exhort, but before I could bring his case before the class the reformers told him they would give him license to preach and a circuit— that our bishops and presiding elders got very large sala- ries, etc. So, when I called to see him he was a re- former. I asked him how much they had made him pay in a year to support the bishops, etc. He said they had not made him pay anything. I said, ' How much did you pay in last year?' He said he had only paid a quarter of a dollar. ' Why did you pay less last year than the year before last?' He said he did not, for he paid nothing tliat year. I asked, ' Why did you pay nothing?' He said the preacher had finer clothes than he had. . 'So,' said I, 'you paid one quarter of a dollar for the support of the Gospel and Church privileges for yourself and family in two years. That was not dear.' He went to the reform- ers' conference, but when he came back, and was asked where his circuit was, he said he might form one where he pleased. He never got one.
"In 1830 my appointment was on Salem circuit. It included a tolerably large space of country, Salem and some other towns. Here I found my old friend, Father T. Ware, who gave me my first license to preach, and took my recommendation to the Phila-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 299
delpliia Conference. Sister Ware's first liusband took me into society. Here I saw Fatlier B, Abbott's grave, wlio was one of tlie greatest preachers in his day ; most successful in getting souls converted and sanctified ; a m.an of great faith, deep humility, and of holy life.
" When in Salem one evening the president of a temperance society requested me to go with him to a meeting. A young Baptist preacher read a piece very severe against rum-drinking, stating how it ru- ined families, men of talents, doctors, law^yers, and even ministers ; how it defiled courts, and even churches and pulpits. He read hard words, and when he was done the president said if any stranger had anything to say there was time. I took the hint, and as a stranger made a few remarks, stating that severe things were said against drinking, and it would be a kindness to point out a course to prevent thirst, and to give advice to such as were almost con- tinually under a salivation, Churclies were polluted by rum-drinkers, and so they wore by some who use a stimulus called tobacco. Look on the floor of a church on the men's side if you have a strong stomach ! See, see! spatteration, slaveration! fie, fie! Where did all that come from ? From the drainings
300 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
of a dungliill ? Ko, no ; be decent, don't tell. Look in some pulpits and see self-denial, or can jou only hear it ? Well, faith comes by hearing ; but the best sermon a preacher can preach would have no relish to some if it was not seasoned with tobacco. As soon as the preacher takes his text some take a chew to brighten their ideas and spice what they hear. Why not allow another poor fellow to take out of his pocket a flask, and take a dram to brighten his ideas and stimulate his devotion? While I was dropping my hiiits there was a wonderful wiping^ not of the eyes but of the mouths. I was not invited to speak again in that place about either rum or tobacco.
"We had a prosperous year in the classes, and revivals, a great and good camp-meeting, and many souls converted. Lord keep them ! They can only be kept by .the power of God through faith ; but they must keep the faith, or the power of God will not keep them. On this circuit I finished my work in the state of New Jersey. I highly esteem many of our members there, and some Jersey custouis; but one thing I am sorry for: some are cruel to their poor horses, drive them to the landing, stop at a store, not to get oats or corn for the poor hungry horse, but rum and good tobacco for the hard-hearted driver
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and tippler. O what a pity ! So says an old friend to man and beast."
While in attendance at conference in Philadelphia in 1830, he was appointed to preach in his old charge, St. George's. He took for his text Psalm Ixxxiv, 4: '' Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they w^ill be still praising thee." Ketaining a keen sense of the manner in which he was treated by some of the members of that charge, which resulted in his removal at the end of the first year, he felt doubtless disposed to let his hearers know it by some witty and cutting allusions. The sermon delivered on that occasion is thus reported by the Kev. J. L. Lenhart : " It was well arranged, and the matter was in general very instructive. Under the head of 'The Character of those who dwell in the House of the Lord,' I distinctly recollect three characteristics :
" 1. They are a humble people^ willing to occupy a humble place in the Church, indeed, any place, so tiiat they might be permitted to abide in the Church ; but there w^ere some people who were so proud and ambitious that, unless they could be like the first king of Israel, from the shoulders up higher than everybody else, they w^ouldn't come into the house at all, but hang about the doors.
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"2 Tliey were a contented people. If everything did not exactly suit them they made the best of it, and tried to get along as well as they could; but there are many who are so uneasy and fidgety that they can't dwell in the Church, but are continually running in and out, disturbing themselves and everybody else.
" 3. They were a satisfied people^ always finding something good, and thankful for it. Let w4io would be their preacher or preachers, they could always get something that would give them instruction and encouragement. But there are some people who are never satisfied, but are always finding fault WMth their preacher ; some preach too loud, and some too long, and some say so many hard and queer things, and some are so prosy and dull that they can't be fed at all and are never satisfied. If the multitude that were fed by the Saviour were like these people they never would have been fed. If one had cried out, ' John, you shan't feed me, Peter shall ;' and an- other had said, 'Andrew shall feed me, but James shan't ;' and another, ' I want all bread and no fish ;' and others, ' I want all fish and no hread^ how could they have been fed? Such dissatisfied people can- not dwell in the house of the Lord. If they are not turned out they will soon die out : they can't live."
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 303
CHAPTEK X.
WayneFburgli Circuit — Dr. Sargent — Bishop M'Keudree — Removal to Balti nore — Opposition to Transfer — Port Deposit Circuit — William Hunter — Baltimore, Sharp-street and Asbury — Death of Mrs. Gru- ber — Colored People — Ebenezer, Washington City — A Hollander and a Priest — Questions — Title to Heaven — Extravagance in Wash- ington— Chaplain to Congress — Singular Sermon at a Camp-meet- ing— Carlisle Circuit — Opposition Lines — Feet Washing — Chris- tians— Miracle Workers — Camp-meeting on Huntingdon Circuit^ Amusing Discourse — The Crow's Nest stirred up — Card Playing — "A Particular and Confidential Friend" — Sharp-street and Asbury, Baltimore — "Old Wesley" — Colored Preachers — Spurious Reviv- als — Profession and Practice — Visit to Rachel Martin.
" In the years 1831 and 1832 I traveled Waynesburgh circuit, which, like some others, was formed of parts of the Chester and Lancaster circuits. Some wanted a new circuit, in order that they might get more Sun- day preaching. They wished a married and a single, preacher, but instead thereof they got two married men, a burden on the circuit and a mortification to the preachers. We got along tolerably well, had good prosperous meetings, times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, souls converted, and addi- tions to the Church. Each of us received a little
o04 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
more than a single preacher's allowance. We had little work and little pay, just right and honest.
'• jBefore my time was up on this circuit, Dr. Sar- gent, of Philadelphia, told me that I must move my wife to Maryland, to be near her friends, or she could not live, she was so afflicted. He was well acquaint- ed with her father's family, and felt a serious concern about her. I told him I did not like to ask for a transfer to the Baltimore Conference, and it would be a loss to me, as I had a comfortable home for her in Germantown. He said that was little compared with health and life. He said he would speak to Bishop M'Kendree, which he did, and the bishop made no objection. I disposed of my property, etc., at a considerable sacrifice, and took my wife to Bal- timore to her friends. The conference just com- menced, I stated my situation to the bishop ; not Mr. M'Kendree, however, as he was not present. I then went back to finish my work on the circuit, expecting a transfer, when the Philadelphia Confer- ence came on. But my case was brought into the Baltimore Conference, and a vote was taken on it to the effect that it was not expedient to transfer me. Some inquired whether I was efiective, etc. ; some had fears that I wanted aid, as they had got up a
LIFE OF JACOB GPwUBER. 305
preacher's aid society while I was gone. It would liave been kind if some one had said, 'We had fifteen years of his best time and strength as a single man in the Baltimore Conference ; if he needs assistance we ought to give it.' But a majority, some of whom had not been in full connection one year, voted against my being transferred. I had told the bishop and others that while I could do the work they gave me I wanted no more than my bare quarterage, and when I quit working I did not w^ant that; I wanted no benefit from conference or aid society ; and if I were to die m}^ wife would want nothing from confer- ence. But all would not do ; there was no transfer unless the conference voted it, which had never been required in this conference before, so I was treated differently from all or any one else.
"When the Philadelphia Conference was over I got a letter from a presiding elder, stating that my appointment was on Port Deposit circuit. So they let me go to the border and look over. We had some revivals, seasons of mercy and power from on high, and some increase. In this year our old brother, William Hunter, died. He had been afflicted with the palsy for several years; he was an old acquaint- ance and friend ; he had been at ray father's. The
20
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last time I saw liim as we parted he said to me, 'If you are in reach when I die I want you to preach my funerah' He told me he had calculated that Dr. Sargent should do that for him, but that he had gone to the western country, and I was the oldest friend he had liere. Our friendship and confidence has not been interrupted or broken for forty years. We parted in tears, to meet no more here on earth.
" His death was rather sudden, and they did not know where to find me, so I could not fulfill his last request. Some of his friends wrote to me from Phila- delphia some time after his death to come and preach his funeral, but I could not do it. There were preach- ers in the city that could do it far better than I could. If I could have been at his burial I would have made an effort to preach, but could not have done justice to him. He was a great man, a good man, a patient man, sound in the faith. Some time after the first stroke, when I called to see him, he said : ' O how happy I was a few nights ago ! I thought I was going home to heaven ; there I shall see Abra- ham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets and apostles, Wesley and Fletcher.' He named some of our friends that had gone home. His heart got too full for utterance. He broke out in a shout : ' But above
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 307
all, I shall see Jesus m}^ Saviour as he is, and be with
[liin forever.
'' Before my year was quite up the Baltimore Con- ference came on. Some of my friends spoke for me, and a transfer was promised. From the Philadelphia Conference I was sent to Baltimore, Sharp-street and Asbury charge. The stewards soon gave me to understand that they were not able to give me more than a single preacher's allowance, as they were in debt and had been pressed and drained the last year. I told them I did not fall out about money, so we had no difficulty. A good work went on ; we had great and good times, as they generally have among the colored people. But before a year was half out my wife died, and I was left solitary and alone.
" Having charge of about two thousand colored people, who must have access to me by day and by night, having to visit the sick and attend to their business, and some meeting to attend every night ex- cept Saturday night, I did not see my way clear to break up housekeeping, so I kept bachelor's hall, as some call it. And for one year and about nine months I lodged alone in my house, had quiet times, plenty of work day and night. The Lord was with us. In the two years there w^ere near a thousand
308 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
added to the Church. There were some trials, some difficult cases ; but we got through as well as could be expected. I found it easier tryiug to preach to the colored people than to the whites. It was not easy to get some to forgive one another, as God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven them, to bear with the weak, and not make one an ofJFender for a word. Some would have every difficulty brought to trial in the Church, make no distinction between offenses or crimes, im- prudent conduct, indulging sinful tempers or words. Some seemed to have a vindictive spirit, would seek revenge, and not be satisfied unless they had their own way. It is not easy to learn the lesson of self- denial completely and practice it daily. I thought I could do more good among the colored than the white people, though I frequently had to take up my cross. I might write of particular meetings and cases, pleasant and painful, happy conversions, and triumph- ant deaths. We did not speak of being hopefully converted ; we preferred the word powerfully sound- ly, or happily, to the word hopefully. Still we do not speak some words right. When we speak for God in his house w^e should speak as the oracle of God, not gentlemen and ladies; this may do at parties; but old men and old women, young men and
i
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 309
\oung women, boys and girls, is the Scriptural manner.
''When my time was up in Baltimore, at the Con- ference in 1836 I was sent to Ebenezer, Washington city. Brother S. Ellis was my colleague. We had two meeting-houses, the white and the colored con- gregation ; we had good meetings, some increase, some good work, no very hard work ; Brother S. Ellis was a great, good man, plain, solid, and faithful ; we boarded together ; our host was a Hollander, who was intimate witli a priest who had him to do repairs for him frequently. One time a lock was out of order, and while the priest w^as saying mass some of his members drank his brandy. When he com- plained about it, our man asked him whether his members confessed all their sins to him ? He said, ' O yes !' ' Then,' said he, ' you'll find out who drank your brandy;' but though our man asked the priest several times afterward who drank his brandy, he said he could not tell. The priest requested our man frequently to come to his church and get the true religion. I told him to ask the priest the following question : ' If I worship and serve the Lord while I live, and die a Methodist, can I go to heaven V To this question the priest gave an affirmative an-
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swer. ' That will do,' said oiir man ; ' why should I join your Church to go to purgatory, when I can go to heaven a Methodist.'
'* Brother Ellis wrote to his friends in England, and among other things he said that we had different kinds of religion and sorts of people ; some were on their way to heaven with a clear title and a bright prospect, others were on their wa}^ to hell, with little doubt of getting there ; and others on their way to purgatory, very thankful for the privilege of going there.
"This is an extravagant and dangerous place to live in ; a good man with a family, not very large, said he could not pay two dollars in advance for the Ad- vocate ; had not the money ; got only one thousand dollars a year ; if they did n^t raise his salary he did not know what to do ; he looked serious at me, and said : ' If you got my salary you would save money.' I said, ' Yes, sir, at least half Truly economy is not fashionable in Washington city. Some wanted me to beg money to build a house for Sunday school and class-meetings, I told them, as Congress would meet soon, they should propose mc for a chap- lain, and every dollar I got there the}' sliould have to build them a house. And they might promise
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 311
that I would preach them the truth as plain and honest as any one would do it ; and what my ser- mons lacked in quality, should be made up in quan- tity. They never had such a generous offer before; but still they did not accept of my proposal, or bring me forward to honor and glory ; our people were afraid my time would be too much taken up with those great folks in the great house. But my fears were, that they would not want me there. I would have tried to make them think themselves not as great and as good as they ought to be ; they talk too much and too long, and say and do little ; get high wages, and set bad examples ; have horse-races, gam- ble, have dancing parties, employ and pay mounte- banks, play-actors, and dancing-masters. Have men of talents no better way to improve time and their minds? There might be an apology made for In- dians that have not learned better, and for slaves that want some pleasure and a holiday. Some go out and shoot at each other, professing to be men of honor. O fie ! fie !
While in Washington he attended a camp-meeting on old Frederic circuit, about twelve miles from the city. He took occasion, at a particular time when there was a large number of the clergy present, of
312 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
showing up fashionable preachers and their modes of conduct in certain cases. He chose for his subject the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Ananias, who resided at Damascus, was made to represent the velvet-lipped modern preacher. He thus introduced the subject: "A great many years ago a bold blas- phemer was smitten by conviction when he was on his w^ay to Damascus to persecute the Christians. He was taken to Damascus in great distress. Ana- nias, after hearing of the concern of mind under wdiich Saul was laboring, started out to find him. It seems that he was stopping at the house of a gentle- man by the name of Judas, not Judas Iscariot, for that person had been dead several years. The resi- dence of this gentleman was in the street which was called Strait. I suppose it was the main street, or Broadway of the city, and hence it w^as not difficult to find. Arriving at the mansion he rang the bell, and soon a servant made her appearance. He addressed her thus : ' Is the gentleman of the house, Mr. Judas, within?' 'Yes, sir,' responded the serv- ant, ' he is at home.' Taking out a glazed, gilt-edged card, on which was printed, Kev. Mr. Ananias, he handed it to the servant and said : ' Take this card to him quickly.' Taking a seat, with his hat, cane, and
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER. 313
gloves in Lis left hand, his right being employed in arranging his classical curls so as to present as much of an intellectual air as possible, he awaited an answer. Presently Mr. Judas makes his appearance, w^hereupon Mr. Ananias rises, and making a graceful bow, says : ' Have I the honor to address Mr. Judas, the gentleman of the house V ' That is my name, sir; please be seated.' 'I have called, Mr. Judas, to inquire if a gentleman by the name of Mr. Saul, a legate of the high priest at Jerusalem, is a guest at your house.' 'Yes, sir; Mr. Saul is in his chamber, in very great distress and trouble of mind. He was brought here yesterday, having fiillen from his horse a few miles from the city on the Jerusalem road.' 'O I am very sorry to hear of so painful an accident. I hope he is not dangerously wounded.' 'JSTo, sir, I think not, tliough the fiill has affected his sight very much, and he complains considerable and prays a good deal.' ' Well, I am very sorry ; but that is not very strange, as I believe he belongs to that sect of the Jews called Pharisees, who make much of ]iray- ing. How long since he received this fall, Mr. Judas?' 'About three days since, and all the time he has not taken any refreshment or rest,' ' Indeed ! you don't say so ! he must be seriously hurt. May I
314 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
be permitted to see Mr. Saul?' 'I will ascertain his pleasure, Mr. Ananias, and let you know if jou can have an interview.' After beincr gone a short time Mr. Judas returns, and says : ' Mr. Saul will be much pleased to see you.' When he is ushered into his presence Saul is reclining on his couch in a room partially darkened. Approaching him, Ana- nias says : ' How do you do, Mr. Saul ? I under- stood you had done our city the honor of a visit. Hope you had a pleasant journey. How did you leave all the friends at Jerusalem? How did you leave the high priest ? We have very fine weather, Mr. Saul. I thought I w^ould call and pay my respects to you, as I was anxious to have some con- versation with you on theological subjects. I am extremely sorry to hear of the accident that hap- pened to you in visiting our city, and hope you will soon recover from your indisposition.' "
Gruber delivered this in his true German style, acting it all out, as he only could, and the whole thing was so ludicrous that it w^as impossible for the audience to repress their feelings, and some of the clergy laughed outriglit.
" In 1837 my appointment was on Carlisle circuit. 1 found it a small patch instead of a, field of labor,
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 315
as it was formerly. But small as it was there were opposition lines running. Four camp-meetings: the United Brethren had one, the Kadicals had one, we had one, and a new sort of Baptists had one. this new sect are rigid Baptists, and practice dipping backward. In their view no other mode is right. In washing feet they were rigid Dunkers. I was at their camp-meeting part of a day and night. Their chief preacher spoke on the ev^ening of their feet- w^ashing. Among other things, he told his congrega- tion it was as much our duty to wash each other's feet as to take the sacrament; that they might as well neglect one as the other. I w^as a spectator, and they invited me into the stand. While looking at the strange work of washing feet in a large con- gregation, the preacher came to me and asked me what I thought of that? I told him I was at a loss to know what to say ; I had been at more than one hundred camp-meetings in forty years past, had seen hundreds who professed to be converted and took the sacrament, but never saw any wash feet in that way. He said it was a command. I said : ' You told your congregation so, but I did not believe it. If it was a command why did not the apostles do it ? there is no account of their ever doinoj it.' He said :
816 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
' If tliey neglected their dntj that is no reason we should.' I asked whether he understood Christ bet- ter than the apostles did ? Not one of them said we must obey this command ; none that we read of ever directed or exhorted their converts to do it. Pie went down and had his feet washed, after taking off his boots and stockinets. I thoufi^ht it was not quite like old times, when they wore sandals or w^ent without shoes, and feet were dusty. I was a night and a part of two days at the United Brethren camp-meeting. A remark that a sharp-looking man made in my hearing in a company around a fire took my attention. They were saying what a fine thing it was for preachers and members of difi'erent Churches to preach, pray, and work together as at this meeting they are doing. This man said : ' O yes ! you are like persons fishing together, all harmony ; but when it comes to stringing up the fish, then we shall see how you agree together.'
" I think the Albrights had a camp-meeting too, all in the bounds of the circuit. O what camp-meetings we had more than twenty years ago in this circuit! But now they are small, being so many, and the people divided, scarce the shadow of what they have been. What shall we do better than outpreach, out-
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 317
pray, and outlive each other, till all finish their work and rest. Here are curious names and sects ; some call themselves Christians, and some the Church of God ; jou cannot speak of them as a Church, or of a person belonging to them, without taking the name of God in vain. This is very contracted. Some ask, Are there any of the Church of God among the Christians, or any Christians in the Church of God? Some say, No. ' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we,' was said of old. But is wis- dom and religion to die with these ?
"Two strange men came along, w^alking. As they passed they said they had been in New York, and were on their way home in the West. They held sev- eral meetings, called themselves ' Latter Day Saints.' In conversation, they intimated that they could work miracles ; but spoke very cautiously, now and then saying, ' Our meat is too strong for you !' If I had seen them I would have said, ' Yes, it is very strong, it is tainted ; go and bury it that it may not poison any person.' And as to the name they gave their sect, I w^ould have requested them not to come with their name and sect about here, for we have more names and sects now than is good; have pity on us ; bring us no more. But if you will have
318 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
a name cliange two words ; instead of day, say night ; and instead of saints, say owls ; then they would not abuse the light, nor be a reproach to saints. I wonder if there are any 'Christians,' or any of the ' Church of God,' among tliese self-styled saints. "Who can tell? Truly the days are dark and evil; iniquity is abounding, and infidels multiplying, and gaining sand and mire, not ground, or a rock, to stand on for a sure foundation. Lord, revive thy work ! "
This year he attended a camp-meeting on Hunting- ton circuit, which he had traveled in former years. The people were delighted to see him, and his old friends gathered round him with many demonstra- tions of joy at his arrival. A Universalist preacher by the name of Crow, who had formerly been a zealous Methodist, and possessed considerable talents and aptitude for discussion, w^as on the ground, and was exerting a pernicious influence on the minds of the young people, whom he gathered together in dif- ferent places and harangued on the subject of uni- versal salvation. The Methodists and Presbyterians manifested a good deal of anxiety, and w^ere fearful of his making inroads upon their flocks. Before Gruber arrived ho had challenged a number of preachers to a public discussion, and had become
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 319
quite boastful. Among other of his statements he had said tliat St. Paul was converted in the third heavens, and all who should happen not to be re- formed in this world would certainly be converted in the next. On Sabbath morning there was an im- mense congregation on the ground. Two very able discourses were preached by visiting ministers, both of whom leveled their artillery at Universalism. It was arranged that Gruber should preach at three o'clock, but at the conclusion of the last sermon he rose in the stand and stated that he would change the appointment to two o'clock, adding that he "ex- pected to have the largest and most respectable con- gregation that had been convened;:- — The young ladies and gentlemen who have been strolling about will be tired by that time and want to rest; the drunkards and gluttons will be dry and hungry, and will have gone for their fodder." When the trumpet sounded for preaching there w^as a general rush from all quarters for seats. After the preliminary exer- cises he took his text and launched off in his happiest style. All kinds of sin were exposed and denounced. After giving to saint and sinner their portion he made a pass at Universalism, and showed up some of its pecuHar features. Pausing, and looking unusually
320 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
grave, he said: "I understand that a gentleman who is on the ground has made a wonderful discov- ery, and has been proclaiming an extraordinary doc- trine. I understand that he says St. Paul was con- verted in the third heavens, and that if a man can't be converted here in this life he can be converted there in the next. 'Novi any man who could con- ceive of such a thing must have been born in a crow's nest, and he must have been brought up in a crow's nest, as lie never could get any higher. He must have been fed on dry bones, without any meat on them or marrow in them. Lord, stir up this crow's nest ! Lord, the crow is a very ugly bird ; it is all black; make it white. It has a harsh croaking noise ; Lord, put a new song in its mouth, even praise to our God. Lord, give it wings, that it may fly away to the third heavens and get converted."
Poor Crow was completely demolished, and very soon left the camp-ground, which gave great relief to members of the Church who had been so much annoyed by his teachings.
" On my way to camp-meeting one night in the Packet," Gruber says, ^' two respectable looking men were playing cards for some time, very attentive to their spotted paper. As I walked past them I stopped
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 321
and looked on a little. Tliey stopped playing. I said : ' Now vou know who can beat, or play best ; I wonder which of you can pray best ; I w^ould like to hear you at it.' After a pause, they inquired after Messrs. Bascom, Maffitt, and Durbin; these great preachers they admired very much; and they es- teemed great talents, and loved and played cards. What good had preaching done them ? One said his wife was a Methodist.
" On Carlisle circuit we had a comfortable year, considering oppositions and trials ; w^e had some in- crease, though many had moved away. The moving spirit is a serious injury to many; some who are doing ^vell want to do better and live easier ; they give up a certainty for an uncertainty, lose their privileges, their zeal, and their love, and by the time they get to what was to be a paradise, they find it a purgatory. Some courageously move back to where they came from ; others are not able, or ashamed, so they write, and tell their friends all the good about their new home, to get them with them. Manj^ lose their religious enjoyment. "Why so? Because they desire or ' will be rich, and fall into temp- tation and a snare, and into many hurtful lusts, whioh drown men in perdition and destruction.'
322 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
Troubled and careful about many things, they for- get and neglect the one thing needful ; barter the pearl of great price for toys ; a kingdom for dust and ashes ; their Saviour for money ; their birthright for a mess of pottage; their religion for rum, whisky, brandy, and gin.
" I finished my work in Carlisle circuit in one year. In a small circuit a single man ought not to be two years ; he becomes a burden to some families, in some places gets the name of being lazy, or has to go fishing, hunting, etc. In concluding my year on the circuit, I did as I had done once before; I took one of my rest weeks and went and got married, but did not miss or lose one appointment. After being alone for more than three years and six months I thought it my privilege and duty to get a particular and con- fidential friend, a bosom friend, and a home to rest when work is done and traveling ended. Some appear to be very kind and friendly, but expect to be well paid for it. And some would be glad if their friends would die soon, to get their pay for friendship, and they would dress over head and ears in mourn- ing; such friends are not to be trusted much.
"In 1838 I was agahi stationed in Baltimore, at Sharp-street and Asbury, having been away only
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 323
two years ; there were reasons for it not necessary to state. I did not consider it a very great favor. I knew what was expected, and thought I could do more good there than in some other places. There was not a station in the conference that had more work, or required more attention. We got along in our usual course, had a good work ; but I could not finish it, so I had to stay another year. Then we repaired and enlarged ' Old Wesley Meeting-house,' and built a new meeting-house on Orchard -street, which made four houses for worship, and about one dozen and a half of colored preachers, besides exhort- ers and leaders, to carry on the good work. We had to conclude our meetings loj ten o'clock at night, so that all might keep good hours, according to law. We had some good revivals in all our congregations ; not like a revival some years ago, of which a good brother preacher said, 'Another such revival would ruin the Methodist Episcopal Church .in the city.' A number of gay and fashionable persons professed to get converted, and joined the Church with all their gayety and fripper}^ — lace, ruffles, curls, rings, lockets — hanging about them, like Jacob's flock, spotted, speckled, ring-streaked, and grizzled. How- ever, there was no religion in their appearance or
324 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
dress ; it was in their souls, and could not be seen, no. I never found as large a number of members as plain as Sharp-street and Asbury Methodists. I preferred trying to preach to them above any other congregation in Baltimore. When we had the Orchard-street church built we found it necessary to have a school-house for Sunday-school and class-meet- ings. I engaged a man to build one, and found a friend to go half with me in paying for it. So I paid out about as much as I received that year, and they have the benefit. So let it be, and the Lord bless them abundantly. When they had an extra meeting and revival in the white congregations I went in as I passed coming from my meeting. Sometimes I saw many mourners at the altar, and the preacher would still invite more forward, telling them they would labor with them and pray for them till the Lord would bless them. Tlien sing,
'Come, 0 thou traveler unknown,' * * * * *
' With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.'
But soon look at the watch and say it is time to con- clude ; it is near ten o'clock. There was no law requiring white people to be so exact. I pitied
LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE. 325
mourners sent away soon after they came. I whis- pered to the preacher to sing,
' With thee till ten I mean to stay, And sing until I go away.'
He said that was not in the book. I said it was in the practice. Let them know we are in earnest, and mean what we say and sing."
During the session of the conference, which was held in Baltimore, a brother minister, who had known Hachel Martin before her marriage, and had fre- quently enjoyed the hospitalities of her house in Lewistown, thought it right and proper to pay her a visit, and took the earliest opportunity for doing so. He called at the house where they were staying, and inquired for Mr. Gruber. Soon Mr. Gruber made his appearance at the door, and the ministerial brother addressed him in the old familiar way : " Good morning, Brother Gruber ; how do you do, sir ; I hope you are very well ; I understand you have been getting married again, Brother Gruber."
" Well," said Gruber, bluntly, " what is that of your business ?"
" l^othing ; only I thought I would call and con- gratulate you on so happy an event."
326 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
"I don't want to be congratulated, sir."
" I had the pleasure of knowing your lady, and of frequently stopping at her house when I traveled the Lewistown circuit." I
" I haven't got any lady."
" Well, I should like to pay my respects to Mrs. J
Gruber." '
" She is respectable enough."
"But may I not be permitted to see her?"
" I don't keep her for a show,"
LIFE OF JACOB GliUBEK. 327
CHAPTER XL
Lewisto-wn — Kemoval — Kachel Martin's House — Gniber outdone — An Irish Family — Wesley's Bed — An Episcopal Parson — Undeserved Compliment — A liberal Circuit — A new Thing under the Moon — Mifain Circuit— "A better Day coming "— Animal Excitement — Church Building — Methodist Preachers' Salaries — A Bargain pro- posed— Meaning of the Word all — Trough Creek Circuit — A bad State of Things — Eeformers — Camp-meetings — A Slip — Tobacco Chewing and Feet Washing — The " holy Kiss" — A Church sold.
"We shall continue the personal narrative: "At the conference in 1840 I was sent to Lewistown circuit. I moved from Baltimore to Lewistown, on the Juniata River, the county town of Mifflin county. Here my wife had a house left her by her first husband during her life; in this she has lived since, while I have traveled different circuits. Some have asked me, Where do you live ? I answer, In Ra- chel Martin's house. This is correct, for when she dies the family of Mr. Martin's brother are to have the house. Lewistown circuit was an easy four weeks' circuit ; little or no room for enlarging ; burdened with meeting-house debts, etc. We dragged heavily, worked hard, had some success at camp -meeting
328 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
and other meetings ; revivals in difierent places the first year. In the second year on this circuit we had a greater work, considerable additions to the Church. We built a new meeting-house, and had money enough subscribed at the dedication to pay, and have it clear and all complete."
While he was living in " Rachel Martin's house," as he called it, he was much annoyed by the boys in the town, who enjoyed themselves in the winter sport of sliding down a hill near the house on their sleds. Having no children himself, he did not wish to be disturbed by other people's. After bearing the noise as long as his nerves and patience would al- low, he sallied forth to stop them. He remonstrated with them, and urged them to desist ; but the urchins with their sleds were too much attached to their sport to yield w^hat they regarded as their right for " any slight or transient cause." After respecting him enough to listen to his entreaty and demands, one of the Young Americas drew np his sled for a facilis decensus of the hill. Gruber determined to stop him, and for this purpose planted himself firmly on the sled. The young rogues seeing this, and taking a hint from their leader, simultaneously made a push for the parson, and before he had time to dismount
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 329
away went the sled down the slippery track with a momentum that could not be arrested. Away went G ruber, and, John Gilpin like, away went his hat, amid the shouts of the boys. Never had he a swifter nor yet a safer passage in the dow^n-hill of life, and when he reached the bottom and returned for the covering of his caput, he was a wiser if not a better man. ISTot a word did he say to the boys, but delib- erately walked home. For once in his life his wit and judgment both failed him ; he was completely outdone.
Gruber at one time visited a family in Pennsylva- nia who were from Ireland. They were staunch Methodists of the old school, and husband and wife both prided themselves on being acquainted wuth Wesley and his coadjutors. Their house was a com- fortable and quiet home for the itinerants of those days. This good mother in Israel was a subscriber to Dr. Clarke's Commentary, which was at that time being published in parts. Every number that came she read with the most wonderful interest. In this respect she was in advance of some of the preachers, and being shrewd and intelligent she frequently puzzled them with questions in theology. Gruber found not only rest but enjoyment in this preachers'
330 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
home. The first morning after lodging in the house he was approached by the good woman, who said : *' E"ow5 Brother Gruber, you can say what you never could before."
" What is that?" he replied.
" Why," said she, *' you slept last night in the bed that Mr. Wesley slept in."
"How is that?" said Gruber.
"Why, the last time he was in Ireland he lodged with us in that very bed, and I have always kept it for the preachers to sleep in."
She told him about a Church parson in this coun- try who had been one of Mr. Wesley's preachers in Ireland, but who, in consequence of yielding to a besetment, was expelled from the connection. After coming to this country he entered the Episcopal Church. Being in that neighborhood, he called at this house and was kindly entertained. On leaving he was requested to call again whenever he came that way, as he would be made perfectly welcome on the consideration that he had once been one of Wesley's preachers. The good lady remarked that David respected Saul because he was the Lord's anointed, and she would respect him because he was once a preacher in the Wesleyan connection, but
I
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 331
not because he was a parson and became frisky sometimes. ISTot regarding this as a very great com- pliment, he left rather hastily, and it is not known that he ever called again.
Of this year's labors Gruber says : " Upon the whole we had a considerable increase, and the circuit was in a good condition; but for several years after it suffered much through neglect in visiting members and families by preachers and leaders, dropping some appointments, and opening a door for an opposition to run up to us and over us. In one place a meet- ing-house was built against us, where, if our preach- ers and members had attended to their duty, there would have been rTo success against us. So we lost what we had in possession — first claim, by survey and improvement ; must we lose our labor and members ?
" In this circuit was a hard case, A good brother, though weak and complaining, not able to do his work, labored hard to get his claim or demand, and begged more than a hundred and thirty dollars one year for the Missionary Society, and got credit for hav- ing done better than any other in the district. But a secret was not told ; he left the rent of the house in which he lived the whole year unpaid, above seventy dollars; the stewards had to pay it after he was gone.
332 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK,
The circuit stood high for liberality; had two mar- ried preacliers sent on it together. The missionary money has been some less ever since.
A word about claims. We spoke and read about allowance formerly; then the preacher's work and duty was stated in the Discipline ; now, whether there is work for a preacher on a circuit half his time, or if he does but half his duty, still we hear about his claims ; his salary must be made up. This is rather a new thing under the moon. After some preachers have planned and cut up a circuit, without consulting stew- ards or quarterly conference, made a four weeks' cir- cuit out of ten or twelve appointments, then comes the complaint ; the circuit don't pay their preachers, and the preachers seldom meet a class. Little work, little pay. Some ask, What shall we do ? Why get work and do it, or rest. Let such as are not able or willing, old or young, to fill ten or twelve appoint- ments in four weeks, and meet the classes, be super numerary or locate ; then there will be room foi young men, able and willing to work.
'' In 1842 I was sent to Mifflin circuit, a small two weeks' circuit. Some said it was hard, and they had had many disappointments in time past. I found no difficulty in filling all the appointments in eight or
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. 333
nine days. "We labored, prayed, and looked for good days and prosperity, and some sung :
' There's a better day a coming.'
We were not disappointed. The Lord began to revive his work among the members generally around the circuit.
" In 1843 I was sent back to finish my work ; got a few new places to preach at, and a considerable revi- val in several places. We had a good work at our camp-meeting, a powerful work at two quarterly meetings, and at some other meetings. Some count- ed about twenty converts at each ; we had a large increase for a small circuit. Some promising young men were among the converts. We had a great meeting in the court-house, crowded full, and the bar filled with mourners ; a new thing here. There was a great excitement; some were disturbed by the noise ; some preachers called it an animal ex- citement. Some time before there was a great show of wild and tame animals in the town, and large crowds of people, from town and country, went to see them, and paid for the sight. I took the liberty to tell my congregation (after there was such an opposition to our noisy meeting) that the animal
384 ' LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
excitement was not in our meeting, but at the show, where men, women, and children, preachers and hearers, all flocked together to see monkeys and apes,* and other animals; there was a great animal excitement that cost much more, and was much less profit to the people, than our meeting, except to the showman and tavern-keepers.
"We built a meeting-house, and had it nearly clear of debt; it was dedicated to the Lord, and the Lord answered prayer and blessed souls in it. He filled it with glory and we gave him glory.
"In my last week on the circuit I appointed a board of trustees for another meeting-house, and promised to give as much as any one among them would give in money, which they remembered and sent and got it. This year I got a little more than single preach- er's allowance. A certain preacher told his congre- gation the Methodist preachers got more or higher salaries than they got in their Church. I saw him and asked him how he found out what we got; he said, ' In the Discipline.' I said : ' That tells the allowance ; but if only half is given us we can sue no one for more or demand it as a debt. I will make a bargain with you; the stewards shall give you every dollar I get in these two years for what you get in one year.'
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 335
He said I did not know how little he got. I said I never inquired how much he got, for it was none of my business, but I would risk it. He said he only got about three hundred and sixty or seventy dollars that year. I said, 'I get about two hundred and twenty or thirty for the two years. IsTow make your speculation.'
" Another preacher told me Christ did not die for all. All did not mean all, as in the decree that went out that ' all the world should be taxed.' I said that decree went forth from Cesar, so the Lord did not decree everything. But did Christ only die for all the Roman empire? Ko, he died for every man. I told him a priest could help him to another proof that all did not mean all ; for when Christ said, 'Drink ye all of this,' the priest says that does not mean all, only the priest. Sometimes it means all, that is, ye priests, drink ye all, namely, drink all the wine.
"In 1844 I was appointed to Trough Creek circuit, which had been a four weeks' circuit, with two preachers on it. I could fill all the appointments in two weeks, but had to have three Sundays, so I filled all the appointments, and as many more as I could get, in two weeks and one da}^ Then I had time to
336 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
be with my family three days in three weeks. There had been disappointments, class-meetings neglected, our members discouraged. Our preachers had got a name of being lazy, and afraid of bad weather and the work, etc. Other preachers came along, very zealous, professing to preach the same doctrine. Our people wanted more meetings, went to hear and help, and were silly enough to think it w^as all one. So, through neglect and carelessness, we lost the ground we had long cultivated. Confusion and discord came into classes, families, and congregations, some pull- ing down what others built up, forming new churches. Still it was to be all one, all united. Some made an improvement on our class-meetings and love-feasts by keeping open doors, and not being contracted or bigoted, but still called them by our names. Others made an improvement on our gov- ernment in the Church. The bishops were danger- ous, tyrannical monsters, with large, strong horns and long tails, ilfraid of being horned or switched, they went and made for themselves a president, gov- ernors, etc. As republicans they may need sheriffs and constables to support the government. Others came and found a set of unbaptized heathens, who had only been sprinkled; they raised a dust and fished
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 337
in muddy water; would have persons burled in a liquid ^i*ave. Others want even sncli to be ducked forward three times to get right and lit for their table or communion. Alas for Babel!
"In the midst of this variety, anxiet}^, and con- fusion we had good meetings, some conversions, and a very good camp- meeting. A number professed to find peace and salvation. What a pity that the enemy still sows tares among the wheat, and discord among brethren, xin old man who had been a Methodist some years made a slip, got out, and under the water. His faith was only as large as a grain of tobacco seed. He was a great chewer of the weed ; believed greatly in washing feet and saluting, and*had been ducked three times. He asked me, 'How do you get over the command, "Salute one another with a holy kiss ?" ' I told him, ' Some of our members do kiss each other. But how can persons salute with a holy kiss who are not holy, and do not believe in the doctrine of holiness? And how can a person give a clean kiss with a plug of tobacco in his mouth V
"In my first round on the circuit I was told that one of our best meeting-houses was to be sold by the sheriff the next week, and they could not save it.
338 LITE OF JACOB GRUBER.
I told our members they must buy it in, we could not do without it. They bought it, and when the sheriff's deed had to be made I advanced tlie money. Some subscribed to raise money, and gave me orders on a storekeeper; he gave me his note, and next I heard he failed. But we have the meeting-house safe and secure. I got about as much quarterage on the circuit as I paid for their meeting-house. I missed no appointment, finished my work on Trough Creek circuit in one year, and left many kind friends behind, wlio pity me, and, I hope, pray for me.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 339
CHAPTEK XII.
WaiTior's Mark Circuit — Witches — An Ugly old Woman — Consist- ency— A Witch tried — Shirleysburgh Circuit — A Friendly Family — Education of Daughters in Catholic Seminary — Anxiety of the Mother — Eeflections — Personal Interview — Admission — Purgatory — Location^— Heaven — ^Priestcraft — Short Way witli the Catholics — Conversation with a Priest — "Old Mother Church" — The True Church — St. Peter a sorry Foundation — Invincible Ignorance — A Mass Meeting — High Mass — Low Mass — The Original Languages — Horse and Mass in Latin.
In 1845 he was stationed on Warrior's Mark cir- cuit. In his journal he relates the following stoiy about witches :
" At one of my appointments in a private house the man and his wife were very kind to me. They let me know that they had heen much troubled with witches. Sometimes saw strange things flying in the air, lost some of their cattle, and some of their cows gave bloody milk. There was an ugly old woman in the neighborhood who, they thought, was a witch. They had to go a distance to a witch doctor, who took pity on them, and did not let them come often; but let them know what the means and ingredients were, and where and how tq. get them, that they
340 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
might master the witch. Thej told me, as I was a young man, I might get troubled, so they kindly in- formed me how to conquer the witches. I have never been troubled by them, but I am very sorry that many persons are bewitched; that we have to say as St. Paul wrote to the Galatians: 'Who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth?' Among the works of the flesh is witchcraft, and I fear priestcraft is worse. I do not think that all the witches in our country could blindfold, humbug, and make as many and as great fools as the priests do. The ignorance, superstition, profaneness, and intemperance of many of their adherents is alarming. True, they eat no meat on Friday, but fish flesh. But many will get drunk on the holy Sabbath ; go to the tavern rather than a house of worship, unless it is a mass-house or a confession box.
"I heard of a squire who had to summon an old woman to answer for the disturbance she caused the neighborhood. It was said she was a witch. The complaints against her were various and serious. Some had seen her come out of the top of a chimney and fly in the air; others said she had rode their horses, at least they saw her stirrups in the horses' manes; others had seen her ride a broomstick, etc.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 341
The sqnire, after hearing their complaints and testi- mony, told them he would always be ready to give them law and justice; but at that time he could not do anything for them. There was no law against anything they brought against the old woman ; any of them might do what they said the old woman had done — go out of the top of a chimney, fly in the air, or ride a broomstick if they could, and there was no law to punish them for it. So he dismissed them. They went away disappointed, but a little wiser in this free and happy country, where even old and homely women, though said to be witches, are allowed to live without being weighed, drowned, or hung. To come to the knowledge of the truth, and obey the truth, is the most eflectual way to guard against the works of the flesh, the works of darkness, ghosts, and goblins. Walking after the Spirit, walk- ing in the light, is the safe and certain way to heaven and endless light."
The year following he was sent to Shirleysburgh circuit, and met with his usual success in preach- ing the Gospel. The following incident, as re- lated by him, occurred while he was traveling this circuit :
" I was in a village, and lodged at the house of a
342 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
friendly man whose wife had died the year before. She was a member of our Church, and a very pions woman. He informed me that he was not a member of any Church, but had been raised in the Eoman Catholic faith. Since he became a man, however, he had changed his views somewhat, and did not go to confession, or conform to any of the rites and cere- monies of that Church. He had sent two daughters to a Roman Catholic school to be educated. The priests succeeded in getting them into the Church, and when they came home their mother found that they were full of a bigoted, contracted spirit, regard- ing her as a heretic. The evils of a false education had entirely overcome all her religious instruction and counsel, and they had become thoroughly perverted. All the mother could do was to pray for them, which she continued to do till the hour of her death. I waked up in the night, and could not sleep for several hours. My thoughts and reflections were of an exceedingly solemn nature. I thought of the father and his responsibilities, of the mother in heaven, and the children in the meshes of superstition and idol- atry. In the morning I took some time to speak to them, to the family and friends that were present. I began with one of the daughters, who was the most
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 343
rigid in her attachment to the priests and the Church. I inquired if her mother liad not been a strict Meth- odist, and asked her if she had not confidence in her sincerity and reh'gion ? She said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Do you believe your mother went to heaven when she died V She said, 'Yes.' I said, 'While I lay awake last night I thought of your mother going to heaven out of this house, and my mother gone to heaven out of her house. Tliey both lived and died Methodists, and I have no doubt are now happy in heaven to- gether. E'ow, if you had taken your mother's ad- vice, sought the Lord, and joined the Methodists, you might go to her even without going to piirgatorj^ I have not heard any of your Church say they ex- pect to go to heaven when they die, but they expect to go to purgatory. Please to tell me where that is.' She said she could .not tell ; but some camo to her help and said I could not tell where heaven is. I said, ' Yes, I can ; it is where God is. on his throne of glory ; and I can tell you where hell is. It is where the devil and his angels are ; and there is where the wicked will have to be forever. And now I will tell you where I think purgatory is.' * Where is it V ' In the pope's brains.' They said, ' No, it is not there.' ' Then tell me where it is ?'
344 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
They did not tell, they cannot telh O pity ! awfnl delusion ! priestcraft truly."
Gruber had a short way with the Catholics, especially with the " holy fathers " of that denom- ination. "While preaching a sermon on the subject, of justification near Hagerstown, he took occasion to refer to the Koman Catholic doctrine on that subject, and endeavored to show that it was contrary to the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Any exposition of Roman Catholic doctrine is construed by the Church into persecution, and in this respect they con- sider themselves the most persecuted people in the world. A short time after the sermon in question he was met by the priest of that parish, who ad- dressed him as follows :
''I hear, Mr. Gruber, that you have been saying hard things against your mother. I am very sorry to hear it indeed."
" Abuse my mother! not I, never. She was too good a woman and too kind to her son to be abused or slandered by him."
"O no," said the priest, "I don't mean your mother: it is your old mother."
" M}^ old mother! Do you rpean my grand- mother?"
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. '^4^)
"Is'o, no! I mean the Old Mother Cluirch,"
"Oho! that is it. Old Mother Church! Well she deserv^es that name, for she is very old indeed ; so old that she is blind and toothless, and so crippled that she hobbles about on a crutch. Poor old mother ! how I pity her."
While traveling Lewistown circuit in the latter part of his ministry he had an interview with a priest w^iich he relates as follows :
" I had several friendly conversations with a priest in a county town. We exchanged books. He said he would read mine if I would read his. After some time we met. • I inquired if he had read my book, Ouseley's ' Old Christianity against Papal iSTovelties.' He said he had seen some of it before. He then asked me how I liked his book. I said I had read something like it before. It was too con- tracted and bigoted. I thought they had got more liberal than to say there was no salvation out of the pale of their Church. He said there was but one Church, which Christ established through St. Peter at Pome. I told him they were mistaken about the foundation and the place. After the resurrection and ascension of Christ the Christian Church com- menced at Jerusalem. The number of the names of
346 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
the disciples was about one hundred and twenty, and on the day of Pentecost there were added about three thousand, so there were three thousand one hundred and twenty at Jerusalem before we have an account of any at Rome. And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. And there is no proof that St. Peter ever was at Rome, and he was no more infallible than his wife. He denied his Master, and cursed and swore that he did not know him. What a rock to build a Church on ! And after he was restored to his discipleship and apostleship, St. Paul on one occasion withstood him to tlie face because he was to be blamed. His views were not so con- tracted. He said, ' In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.' How different from the pope and the priests ! I asked the priest if he thought there was a possibility of my getting to heaven without joining his Church ? He said I might get there on the score of ignorance ; but it must be invincible ignorance, and he did not think I could plead that. I had lived long enough to learn and know better. I told him my case was very serious ; there was no prospect of my ever getting into his Church, and he would not even allow me to go to purgatory 5 so nothing but a
LITE OF JACOB GRUBER. 34T
heretic's hell remained for me. He said he pitied me ; but I think if the Lord did not pity me more than he did, it would be worse with me than it has ever been or ever will be.
" I did not see the priest again for some time, not till after the election. He was zealous to get his members to vote according to his politics, or else they need not look for his blessing, and it would be a dreadful thing to get a little Irish- man's curse in Pennsylvania. When I met him, I told him I had not seen him since our last conversa- tion, except one day at the post-office just before the election ; then there was a crowd of men in the street. I inquired what was to be done, or why so many people. I was told there was to be a great mass meeting. I told the priest I thought he could tell me what a mass was, for I heard he had one in a shantee at the railroad some time ago. 'Now I want information. I read nothing about mass in the Scripture of truth, but in newspapers. Some years ago your bishop died in Baltimore. Some time after his burial, notice was given in the papers that higli mass should be performed or said on a certain day in the catliedral for the repose of the bishop's soul. Now please to tell me the difference between a
348 LIFE OF JACOB G RUBER.
great mass, a high mass, or a low one. I suppose jovv mass in the shantee was a low or small one.' The priest told me it v^s owing to my ignorance. I did not understand the original language ; could not tell the name of a horse in Latin. I told him I acknowledged my ignorance, and asked for informa- tion. Wished to know whether horse and mass were near alike in Latin. He said a set of ignorant feiiows were riding about with their saddle-bags, pretending to instruct the people, and they had no learning. I told him he did not ride with saddle-bags for he rode in a carriage, xind we poor ignorant fellows some- times met a learned man, and we might ask for in- formation, as I was then doing ; and those wise and learned men ought to pity us and to give us a little instruction, that we may know the difference between a horse and a mass. However, we have the privilege of asking wisdom of Him who giveth liberally and upbraideth none. The priest was cross and short; he said he had to write, and go on his journey. I told him not to lose any time on my account; I only wanted a little information, and very seldom had such an opportunity to get it. He turned liis back to go away, calling me an impostor. I spoke after him: 'You don't know what they say
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE. 349
about yon. Many would not be in your shoes for all the boots in the country.' So ended the last interview between us.
''In traveling among the mountains, namely, Broad Top, Eound Top, Ray's Hill, and Sideling- Hill, I found four or five different sorts or denomina- tions of traveling or circuit preachers, all professing to preach Methodist doctrines. Some tried to make some improvements on them, but they were the worse for being mended. Truly the poor have the Gospel preached to them, for many are poor, both preachers and people. How so many are support- ed as preachers I cannot see or tell; it must be a burden to the people and a mortification to the preachers. I felt clear, as I had surveyed and had possession of this country on my first circuit more than forty years ago. Others have come and formed circuits, and run their opposition lines up to us and over us wherever they could.
350 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
CHAPTEK XIII.
Bints to young Preachers — Treatment of — A Union Meeting-house — Prayer for a young Preacher— Clerical Vanity — Bombast — Eolation of an Incident — Preaching at Conference — A smart young Preaclier — Improving the Style — "Going to Heaven by way of the Moon to see the Angels " — A Wonderful Man.
The following " hints to young preachers ^' we found among the papers which came into our hands, and as we do not recollect of ever having seen them in print, we think they are of sufficient importance to give to the reader :
" 1. Let your eye be single ; seek nothing but God; let your schemes, plans, and views begin and end in him.
" 2. Make not this man or that man your model ; be yourself, and aim and reach toward the true model of all excellence, that is, Christ Jesus.
"3. Avoid, as much as may be consistent with your duty, all conversation and unnecessary inter- course with the young, gay, volatile, and vain.
" 4. Fly from idleness, lounging, gossiping, etc. ; your Bible and other valuable books, prayer and
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 351
meditation, and your duty as a preacher, will leave no time to run to waste. "Weeds, briers, and tliorns take possession of uncultivated fields.
" 5. Remember, it is a great mercy that although you may be greatly useful in the Church and in- strumental in doing much good, yet all this is hid from your eyes, or at least you see no more than barely sufiices as an encouragement to proceed in your work. It is a mercy, because if you saw much fruit it might prove a temptation of a most danger- ous kind. Again, if you saw none you would doubt your call, be discouraged, and your spirit sink. Therefore it is good for us to aim high, strive to convert the world, and put out all our strength to pull down the pillars of Dagon's temple. Yet be contented ; indeed, rather pray to God that you may see but little in this world, but much in the day of eternity.
"6. Do not forget a Methodist traveling preacher has every year, in every new circuit, a character to establish. The eyes of all are upon him.. Do not say, nay, do not even think, I don't care what people say of me. This is not the language of humility. They will indeed, it may be, think and say too much evil of you ; but certainly you must be careful to give
352 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
them no cause. Kemember, they that have great objects in view can sacrifice little tilings. Abraham could give up his son, and Jepthah his daughter ; you are therefore to give up all little things. Your dress, your food, your company, your very looks and whole deportment must all say to all men, I am crucified with Christ. Therefore, for a man who has thus solemnly devoted himself to God to make a fuss about his food, be nice and particular in his dress, to show a fondness for a fine horse and gaudy trappings about his horse, furniture, etc., to sleep and doze away his mornings and evenings when in health, or to be surly, tart, crusty, and hasty in his conversa- tion, all show a little, vain mind, and want of grace or want of understanding, or both.
" 7. Feed your horse, clean your boots, (you may have this do*ne by others in some families ; when and where, you may easily see,) help tlie family make the fire, be courteous, humble, condescending; let love sparkle in your eyes, expand your heart, give agility to your feet, tune and oil the organs of your speech, and let all your words and w^orks show that your heart and conversation are in heaven.
"8. Call no man master, yet reverence, respect, and greatly venerate men of holy lives, especially
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 353
the old prophets of the Lord ; yet no nian'ri i2)se dixit is to be 3^our creed. Think for yourself; speak modestl}^ ; yet sometimes you must do this firmly in matters of great moment ; and a man may maintain a firm, unshaken mind, when at the same time his words and manners may be all meekness, humility, and condescension ; and this, in fact, is the very spirit and temper of a Methodist preacher if he has the spirit of his station."
Though he was sometimes severe in his criticisms on young preachers, he always entertained for them a fatherly affection, and sought only to correct their errors. At a certain place he preached in a house which was occupied part of the day by ministers of another denomination. The parties had an under- standing that they were not to preach on any dis- puted points of doctrine, or to interfere with each other's sentiments or usages. One morning a young preacher held forth, and, forgetful or regardless of the mutual agreement, made an onslaught on Method- ism, and was very bitter in his denunciations as well as false in his representations. His sermon was. a caricature of Methodist doctrines and usages. Gruber was present and heard him, and was invited at the
close of the sermon to offer the concluding prayer.
23
354 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEE.
He accepted the invitation, and addressed the throne of grace in liis usual manner, praying for the people and the various objects of Christian effort, as well as for a blessing upon the various Christian Churches in the land. As was customary he also prayed for the minister, saying: " O Lord, bless the young preacher who has discoursed to us this morning, and grant in mercy to make his heart as soft as his head, and then he will do some good."
He especially, as we have seen in the preceding pages, detested clerical pride and vanity, and was particularly severe on young preachers whom he thought indulged in either. At a camp-meeting held on Chester circuit, which* was attended by a large number of ministers, a young and talented preacher, somewhat bombastic in his styl6, delivered two ser- mons, which were received with considerable enthu- siasm. Gruber thought he was a little too much in- flated both in his style and feelings, and concluded to lessen his dimensions. He took for the occasion a time wlien there were a number of ministers in the preachers' tent, and among them the young divine. He remarked that he would give them an incident which occurred at a camp-meeting near Baltimore. "A young minister was there and preached, and no
LIFE OF JACOB GllUBEK. 355
one said anything about the sermon, either criticising, commending, or condemning. So the young man went into the preacher's tent and introduced the matter by saying: 'Brethren, I never preached from that text before, and never heard it preached from, and I do not know what you think of my arrange- ment?' Then that shrewd old man, who was a dis- cerner of spirits. Rev. Joshua Wells, replied : ' If you had said nothing about it I should not; but since you inquire, Til give you my opinion ; it is this : it was like a mess of tadpoles, all heads and no tails.' Thus the young preacher stood reproved in the pres- ence of his brethren; and anxious to have something said about his discourse, something was said exceed- ingly mortifying to ministerial pride."
As soon as he had related this, and the young man was making the application, a local preacher well acquainted with Gruber said to him : "Father Gruber, how came you to be so much like the young man YOU have described in your preaching yesterday ?" Gruber, not at all disconcerted, replied : " Why, I knew the people here did not like flesh nor fish, so I thought I would give them a mess of tadpoles." He had the day before taken a strong stand against de- pending on the " internal light," on which the Quak-
356 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
ers lay so much sti'ess. His text was : '' Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness."
A young preacher, desirous of improving his style as a pulpit orator, and having great confidence in Father Gruber, who, we believe, at the time was his presiding elder, wrote to him for advice. The young man had contracted the habit of prolonging his words, especially w^hen under the influence of great excitement. Deeming this the most important defect in his elocution, Gruber sent him the following laconic reply :
" Dear Ah ! Brother Ah ! — When-ah you-ah go-ah to-ah preach-ah, take-ah care-ah you-ah don't-ah say-ah Ah-ah ! Yours-ah,
Jacob- AH Grubek-ah."
A young preacher who traveled the same circuit with him being desirous of following his colleague's example in the way of getting married, would, on finishing his round, turn his course in the direction of a certain locality where some interesting young ladies lived. Oji one of these visits he unexpect- edly met his colleague, who expressed great surprise at the direction he was taking. " Why " said Gru-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 357
ber, " how is this? you are on the back track. Where on earth can you be going?"
" Going ! why I am going to heaven by way of the moon to see the angels."
" That is wonderful. Will you be back in time to commence your next round ?"
*' O certainly! never fear; I'll be on hand at the appointed time."
" Yery well ; don't let the angels detain you from your work."
Glad to be rid of so querulous a customer, he rode on with a light heart. His destination was a place called " Sky Yalley," to reach which he had to pass through "Moon Yalley," and the angels were the young ladies.
At the ensuing conference, during the examination of the young preacher's character, in which many good things were said of him by his presiding elder, reference was made to his colleague. The bishop asked Brother Gruber what he had to say in favor of his colleague. Rising slowly from his seat he said, in a quizzical manner, " Brother B. is a wonderful man," and then sat down. Not understanding this remark, some of the preachers asked for an explana- tion. Rising again, he replied, "I simply said.
358 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
bishop, that Brother B. was a wonderful man," and again resumed his seat. The matter now as- sumed a somewhat serious aspect, and the presiding elder, regarding it as a fling at the character of his preacher, demanded an explanation, " Yery well," said Gruber ; " if I must explain I will say that a man w^ho can travel a circuit, go to the sky by way of the moon to see the angels, and then come back again, must be a wonderful man."
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEK. 359
ClIAPTEK XIY.
Personal Eecollections — Peculiar Characteristics — Uncompromising — Education — Gruber's Style as a Preacher — The Door of Heaven shut and the Key lost — Dietetic Scruples — Theological Attainments — Deep Piety — Cider and Beer — Augmentura ad Mulierera — Fall- ing from Grace — Fire in the Head — Preaching to the Fishes — The Borrowed Shirt — Indian Squaws — Misquotations — Odd Reproof.
"W"e have been kindly furnished the following recol- lections of Gruber by the Kev. Dr. Holdich, Corres- ponding Secretary of the American Bible Society :
I knew Jacob Gruber well. He was preacher in charge in 1820 on the Dauphin circuit, in which I lived at the time of my conversion and my union with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He, without asking my consent and without my knowledge, gave me my first license to exhort. I saw a good deal of him during these two years, and was frequently in his company afterward.
He was a remarkable man, and one not to be judged by common standards. Like many others of his day, he seemed raised up for a special purpose, and to that purpose he was peculiarly adapted. He w^as not fasliioned after tlie pattern of any other char-
860 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
acter. A Pennsylvania German, he had the peculiar characteristics of that people, which clung to him with wondrous tenacity. He was candid to abrupt- ness, firm even to obstinacy, conscientious to a scru- ple, and faithful in reproof almost if not quite to dis- courtesy. In these things he carried virtue to excess, and his "good" was sometimes "evil spoken of." But on the other hand he was a man of great faith, of a devout spirit, of diligent, fervent, constant prayer, and of untiring labor in his Master's w^ork.
He was a man not given to comj)romise. He was particularly fearful of conformity to the world, and dreaded anything like worldly compliances. It may be that his notion of conformity to the world was not on a very broad scale ; but then it was after the standard of the day, a standard that we are per- haps too much departing from. Possibly the people of that day attached too much importance to small things and too little to larger. We are in danger, not indeed of attaching too much weight to the greater duties of Christianity, but too little to the less. It would have shocked Jacob Gruber beyond expres- sion to have seen our modern churches filled with professing Christians quite undistinguishable in man- ners and costume from the fashionable world. And
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER. 361
he never would have endured our modern ecclesias- tical music. Passing a house of worship in which he heard the organ, affecting simplicity, he said 'What is dat?' 'It is the organ,' said his companion. "And what is de organ for ?" " O they are worship- ing God in singing." " O ! and do they have a machine to say their prayers too?" He was gifted with a keenly sarcastic wit, which, however, he never used but to rebuke what he believed to be sin. Sometimes he employed it with terrible effect, which made him anything but popular with the object of it. Though he had a fair English education he could not be called a man of liberal culture, and he never overcame either the prejudices or the Germanized pronunciation of his early life. He carried the German intonation very perceptibly on his tongue, as perceived in the instances above given. But though he was not a man of general and enlarged reading, yet he had read considerably in theology, especially in Wesleyan literature, and in such books as supply useful thoughts for the pulpit. He was much at home in doctrinal as well as practical and experi- mental theology, and dwelling exclusively in this sphere of thought, his preaching was instructive and useful to the masses in no common degree. I often
362 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBEE.
heard able ministers say that few persons put so much theology in their sermons as Jacob Gruber. Then he was a man of much thought. He did not merely reproduce the thoughts of others. What he learned from others was so mingled up with the pro- duct of his own mind that it seemed to come from its native mint. He studied his sermons thoroughly, but he studied them mostly on his knees, and the thoughts and emotions that he had when in com- merce with his God were the burning thoughts that he brought out before the people. Hence we do not wonder that he kindled a similar fire in many a soul that heard him. I have seen him, when preparing to preach at a camp-meeting, on his knees behind the cur- tain in a tent, pouring out his heart in prayer, and seek- ing a baptism of the Spirit before going to the pulpit. On such occasions, at camp-meetings I mean, he was generally very powerful, sometimes overwhelm- ing. Even those who did not like him were compelled to acknov/ledge the wisdom and power with which he spoke. He would make the heart of the wicked tremble and quail before him by his delineations of the sinner's character, and his terrific descriptions of his doom. Sometimes the spirit of 'sarcastic wit broke out in his sermons, and not unfrequently in a
LIFE OF JACOB GRtJBER. 363
way not a little stinging. Preaching on one occa- sion when it was the fashion for ladies to lace very tightly, he fell upon the corsets, and, somewhat tritely in this case, compared the fashionable ladies to '' wasps cut in two in the middle." In the same sermon, warning believers of the danger of apostasy, he fell upon the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, urging them not to rely on their conver- sion, however clear and satisfactory, to give them an assm-ance of heaven, but to aim at a daily growth. He suddenly exclaimed : " Some people believe if you are once converted you are just as safe as if you was already in heaven and de door shut, and de key lost !" His public addresses were full of odd and crank sayings which, hovrever they might almost provoke a smile, had very often much point and force in them.
He was very particular in his diet, and seemed conscientiously so. His food was substantial, and he liked what was good ; but he liked it simple and natural. Perhaps ho was not sufficiently carefnl to avoid giving trouble in families in the matter of his eating, which is of no small importance in an itinerant and missionary putting up in so many dif- ferent families, and often where the entertainment of
364 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEE.
the minister, tliongh conscientiously and even joyfully clone, is sometimes with no little inconvenience. It was often a trouble and perplexity to the excellent Marthas that Brother Gruber was so hard to please. Yet not so hard either, if they would have let him alone. One day the following conversation took place at a breakfast table :
" Brother Gruber, will you take some coffee ?"
" I drinks no coffee."
"Will you take tea?"
" I drinks no tea."
"But, Brother Gruber, does not the Bible say, *Eat what is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake?' "
" Yes, it does ; but it doesn't say. Drink what's set before you; and, anyhow, I does not like spoilt water; I likes de water as God made it."
He had no objection, however, to a little cider or beer, for the temperance reformation had not com- menced then ; but he never, I believe, drank ardent spirits, at a time when almost everybody used them, at least occasionally.
Jacob Gruber was quick and acute in mind rather than deep or comprehensive, and he dealt more in statement and exposition than in argumentation.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 365
He was very apt to be right, but it was rather by intuitive perception than by logical deduction. This gave hiui an advantage ovei an opponent, whom he often foiled if he did not convince. I remember him one day in an argument with a Presbyterian lady on the doctrine of Christian per- fection. After meeting her objections, and failing to obtain her assent to his views, he turned upon her with the argumentum ad kominem, or ad muU- erem in this case.
" But I know some Presbyterians that hold a higher degree of perfection than we Methodists believe in."
" Do you, indeed ? I never knew any such. I do not know how it can be."
'' O yes, they certainly do ; for they believe Chris- tians may be so perfect that they never can fall."
Now this might not be a fair and conclusive argu- ment, but it was somewhat of a poser.
I have mentioned his firmness in reproof, accom- panied sometimes by abruptness in manner. This was particularly observable in those things to which he had a special aversion. He had a great abhor- rence of tobacco, and he waged incessant war against the cigar and the snuff-box. On one occasion, com-
366 LIFE OF JACOB aRUBER.
ing up to a young gentleman who was smoking lus- tily, Gruber shouted in a loud voice: "Fire! fire!" "Where?" said the young man. "I guess it is in your head," catching hold of his cigar and throwing it away, " because I see de smoke coming out."
He could not bear to see a minister, as he thous-ht. triflingly employed. He thought that every servant of Christ should give all his faculties to his work, and make his tastes and pleasures yield to his duties • or, in other words, that his duties should be his pleas- ures. On one occasion he called to see a young preacher, and was told that he had gone down to the river to amuse himself with fishing for a little while. " Fishing !" said Jacob. " Has he gone to preach to de fish? I didn't know dat he had a commission to preach to de fishes." The young man, who was not given to such things, was not a little mortified when he heard of it, and said : " Jacob shall not catch me napping again." I believe he never did.
In that day it was often very difiicult to control a certain class of persons at a camp-meeting. It was particularly so in certain parts of Pennsylvania, where the ruder class not unfrequently gave no little annoyance by their violation of the rules of decorum. On such occasions Jacob Gruber's ready and biting
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 367
wit often served a good purpose, and frequently suc- ceeded in securing an end when all other means failed. A young gentleman once told me that a friend of his went to a certain camp-meeting, and it so chanced that he borrowed a shirt for the occasion, which shirt had a very liberal supply of ruffle. Like several others, contrary to the rules of the meeting, he mounted one of the seats to overlook the congre- gation. Some of the ministers from the stand re- quested him very politely to descend. But he paid no attention. After seeing their failure Mr. Gruber took him in hand. In quite a distinct and loud voice he cried : " O brethren, let the young man alone ; let him enjoy himself. Don't you see he wants to show his fine ruffled shirt; and after all I dare say it's borrowed." The young man instantly jumped down and made off, saying, \fith an oath, to a friend, " How did he know I had a borrowed shirt on ?"
I never knew him fail in his attempts of this sort, though sometimes he had to make repeated efforts. At a meeting in a certain place some young women gave great trouble by their persistence in the prac- tice which was very offensive. It was not only an offense against neatness to stand on the seats, but unpleasant to have persons gazing about on the con-
368 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK.
gregation, and making remarks on the exercises. Several attempts had been made to get them down ; but they were obstinate in their resistance. Every- thing else failing, Gruber undertook them :
" Will dose young ladies please to get off de penches?" There was no compliance. "Young wo- men, will you get off de penches ? You make dem too dirty to sit on." It was to no purpose. After a pause: "I say, gals, will you get down dere? I say you spoil de penches." They did not move. " You ne- groes, do you hear me ? I say, get down." But they stood still. It was a desperate case. One more effort. " I say, you Indian squaws, will you get down from de penches ?" Instantly they dropped, when Gruber ex- claimed : "Ah, see how well dey knows dare names."
"We do not hold these things up for imitation. They are of questionable propriety. But we must remember that Gruber was a peculiar man, endowed with singular powers, and he felt at libert}^ to use them to rebuke sin and impropriety and secure atten- tion to the rules of good behavior. We should be far from saying to any other, "Go thou and do likewise."
To reprove Jacob Gruber or to criticise his doings was rather perilous. On one occasion, on rising in the pulpit to give out his text, he found the leaf of
LIFE OF JACOB GKUJ3EK. 369
the Bible containing tlie cliapter torn out. He therefore quoted from memory, and quoted it incor- rectly : '* Beloved, now are we the children of God," etc. 1 Jolm iii, 2. A young preacher, not lacking in self-esteem and confidence, said, loud enough to be heard : *' ' Sons,' Brother Gruber ; ' Now are we the sons of God.' " Instantly he replied : '^ Yes, I know that very well, but I didn't want to leave the sisErs outy The conoTco^ation was delio-hted, and the young minister somewhat crestfallen.
But one of the oddest reproofs I ever knew him to administer was on a larger scale, and proved not less eflTectual. In a certain church the cons-reo'ation had an unseemly practice of turning their backs on the pulpit during a certain portion of the singing. One Sabbath Mr. Gruber conducted the service, and, as usual, the whole congregation simultaneously turned round, presenting their backs to the preacher. In- stantly tlie preacher, to be even with them, turned round also, presenting his back to the congregation. When the time for prayer came, at the close of the hymn, the congregation were astonished to find the preacher turned from them and gazing at the wall. The hint was enough ; they did not repeat the objec- tionable practice.
ii4
370 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
CHAPTER XV.
Tribute to the Memory of Gruber — Last Eound — Last Sermon — Dr. Bond — Kiglit to a Jubilee — Letter to tlie Conference — Unintermitted Labor of Fifty Years — Work done — Great Sufferings — Attachment no the Sanctuary — Last Sabbath in the Church — Discourse — Eelig- ious Enjoyment — Adjustment of Temporal Affairs — Bequests to Chartered Fund, Missionary Society, etc. — Kev. S. V. Blake — Clos- ing Scene — Last Sabbath on Earth, first Sabbath in Heaven — Por- traiture of his Character — In Memoriam.
In an exceedingly appropriate and interesting tribnte to the memory of Gruber, from the pen of the Rev. T. H. W. Monroe, we learn that he was unable to attend the conference of March, 1850, by reason of affliction. He had finished his work on the Lewis- town circuit and started with his wife for Baltimore, hoping to reach the conference, which sat in Alexan- dria, Ya, Passing through Carlisle he stopped over Sabbath, and preached in the evening what proved to be his last sermon. He Avas attacked with a violent inflammation of his right foot, which pained him very much, and increased in violence till he reached Baltimore As soon as he arrived he sent for Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Jr., who found him suffer-
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEK. SYl
ing much from a gangrenous foot. The doctor informed him that it would prove fatal, and advised him to desist from his journey and hasten home. "When informed by the doctor of the nature of his affliction, he said in a cheerful manner: "Well, I have been preaching for fifty years, and have as much right to a jubilee as any Jew." He went liome accordingly, and addressed a letter to the Eev. S. Y. Blake, in which he took an affectionate leave of the conference, and asked that a superannuated relation might be given him. The conference com- plied with his request, and directed the secretary to address him a letter expressive of their affection and sympathy. During the whole of his half century of itinerant labor there was not an intermission' of four consecutive weeks for any cause whatever. He spent thirty-two years on circuits, seven in stations, and eleven as presiding elder on different districts ; but his work was done, and his end rapidly approaching.
The best medical advice within reach was imme- diately procured, and all was done that skill, medi- cine, and attention could do to arrest the progress of his terrible disease, but in vain. Though his vigor- ous constitution, the skill of his physicians, and the
372 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEE.
constant attentions of his wife and friends did much, to delay the crisis and lengthen out his days, yet, after his sufferings had been protracted for nearly three months, disease gained the mastery, his strength gave way, and he sunk to rally no more. Unaccus- tomed to affliction for more than threescore years, it was a most painful trial to him to be confined to a couch and tortured in body. He often said it was a new, strange, and mysterious lesson he had to learn. At first, with painful days and restless nights, his patience and fortitude were taxed to their utmost capacity. It was difficult for him to reconcile his present suffering with his past long life of labor, activity, and health. But as grace was needed it was kindly bestowed ; and sweetly was he mellowed down into true Christian resignation. I^ow he began to perceive that having finished his work, and through a long life having, to the best of his ability, done the will of God, all that remained was to suffer his will. His affliction had a most happy influence upon his heart and feelings; they became so tender, humble, simple, pure, and holy, as to indicate clearly that his heavenly Father was just finishing the work pre- paratory to his reception to glory. He punctually attended to his religious duties and devotions during
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEPw. 873
the whole period of his confinement nntil within two days of his death, and, being generally able to kneel, officiated in tnrn with his w^ife at fiimily w^orship. So fixed were his habits of devotion, so great his love for the privileges of the sanctuary, and the public as well as private means of grace, that he would not consent to remain at home on the Sabbath, but was carried to the church by his brother in a chair or on a bench, that he might liear the word of God and be comforted if he could no longer preach it himself. This he continued to do up to the Sabbath before his death. The last Sabbath he spent on earth he was in the house of the Lord morning and evening, and listened to a discourse delivered by the preacher of the station from a text whicli he himself had selected, namely, 1 Pet. v, 10, 11 : " But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have sufifered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." This day lie seemed to enjoy himself more than usual during the public worship, having less pain to dis- tress him. It was very gratifying to see how God was graciously answering prayer in his behalf, and was gradually softening the violence of his disease,
374 LIFE OF JACOB GUUBER.
and kindly and gently smoothing his pillow as the eventful moment approached.
]^ot allowing himself to indulge any certain hope that his disease could be removed, he hastened to adjust his temporal affairs. In the disposition of his property by will, the aged and worn-out preachers, the widows and orphans of those who have died in the work, and the missionary cause, are beneficiaries. A real and genuine friend to all that was good, he showed himself true to the last.
He bequeathed to the Chartered Fund fourteen hundred dollars ; to Dickinson College, scholarships to the amount of five hundred dollars ; to the pay- ment of a mortgage on the church in Lewistown, five hundred dollars ; to the Missionary Society, on the death of his w^ife, two thousand five hundred dol- lars, and an additional six hundred and twenty dollars in bank stock of the Carlisle Bank.
Mr. Martin thus describes the closing scene : He was taken suddenlv worse on the evenino- of the
t/ o
twenty-third of May, having several attacks of Mint- ing or swooning, and no doubt the worlc of death began at that time, as he gradually grew weaker and weaker, until forty-eight hours afterward the scene closed. It was matter of reg-ret to me that mv
LIFE OF JACOB GIIUBKK. 375
appointments required me to leave on tlie morning of the twenty-fourth, and I was thereby deprived of tlie privilege of being with him in his last hours. His attentive neighbor, Rev. S. Y. Blake, however, had the mournful satisfaction of ministering to him even to the last, and his unw^earied devotion to the bedside of the venerable man is worthy of all com- mendation. From him I have learned the particu- lars connected with the closing scene. Brother Gru- ber was perfectly conscious that his end was rapidly approaching, and sighed for the happy release. He requested Brother Blake, if it could be ascertained when he was about to die, to collect a few brethren and sisters around him, that they might (to use his own w^ords) " See me safe off ; and as I am going all join in full chorus and sing:
" ' On Jordan's stormy banks I stand.* "
A few hours before he died he asked Brother Blake whether he could stand it another night, and was answ^ered that in his judgment he could not. " Then " said he " to-morrow I shall spend my first Sabbath in heaven ! Last Sabbath in the Church on earth, next Sabbath in the Church above !" and with evident emotion ad(^ec| ;
376 LIFE OF JACOB GEUBER.
"Where congregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths never end.''
Brother Blake, perceiving that he was fast sinking, and could only survive a few moments, asked him if lie felt that he was even then on the banks of Jordan ; to which he replied, with great effort, and tliese were his last w^ords, " I feel I am." He was exhort- ed to trust in Jesus, and not to be afraid, but to look out for the light of heaven, his happy home ; and then, in accordance with his request, the hymn he had selected was sung ; but ere it was concluded his consciousness w^as gone. The singing ceased, a deathlike stillness reigned, only broken by his occa- sional respiration, and an overwhelming sense of the presence of God melted every heart. A minute more and his happy spirit w^inged its way to its long sought rest, in the seventy-second year of his age.
So calmly, so peacefully did he fall asleep in the arms of Jesus. O it w^as a privilege to be there. To see so aged a servant of God linish his course with such confidence, such composure, such firm- ness, such blessed hope of glory beaming from his countenance, was a privilege indeed, the grandeur of which we will not attempt to describe.
LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 377
Tlie following portraiture of his character is from the same pen :
He shared tlie sympatliy of the whole community during his affliction, and marked respect was paid to him and his family at tlie interment. Brother Blake conducted the funeral services, and delivered a discourse in the Methodist Episcopal Church, founded on Matt, xxv, 21, to a large concourse of all denominations and citizens in general, after which his body was committed to the earth, to sleep there till the resurrection morning. Subsequently the asso- ciation of preachers for' Huntingdon district passed resolutions expressive of their high regard for his character, and similar proceedings were had in the preachers' meeting at Baltimore City, in the conven- tion of stewards for this district, and in the Quarterly Conference of Lewistown and Mifflin circuits.
Brother Gruber was, in many respects, an extra- ordinar}^ man. In his character there was a rare combination of traits. Some of the harsher and more unpleasant of these were frequently most prominent, and to the superficial observer they were made the standard by which his whole character was judged. By such a rule, however, great injustice has been done him, for in this wav should no man's character
378 ' LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
be measured. All the different traits should be taken together, all the features sliould be viewed at the same time, and a just and righteous balance struck, or the decision will be partial, the judgment inaccurate, and the portrait will fail to be an exact resemblance of the original.
There existed in him a very unusual combina- tion of severity and lenity. Faults in professors of religion he never spared, but felt himself bound, as a faithful watchman, to reprove ; and this he did, sometimes with withering sarcasm, and always with great severity and sharpness. Apparently lie seemed to select such opportunities and such lan- guage as would make the deepest impression and inflict the greatest torture. But under this apparent harshness (which is attributable, in a great measure, to the rigid disciphne under which he received his early training) there was an inexhaustible vein of lenity and kindly feelings. Though he always used a sharp instrument in probing the wound, and did not always use it with a steady and tender hand, yet so soon as the true signs of contrition, conva- lescence, and amendment were discovered, he had always a healing balsam to apply. And if some might suppose that his harshness and severity were
r.IFE OF JACOB GRUBER. 379
excessive, others, having an equal opportunity of judging, miglit decide that his lenity and kindness were equally excessive. In all cases, however, whether of severity or lenity, it cannot be doubted that his motives were always pure.
Tn him rigid economy and great liherality were strangely blended. This was another of his peculiar- ities ; but the combination was often overlooked, from the fact that while his economy was always visible and notorious, his liberality was generally silent, modest, and unostentatious. He never al- lowed himself to indulge in luxury, nor gave any countenance to superfluity. He permitted nothing to be wasted, no needless expense to be incurred, and saved everything that could be turned to good account. In dress, in diet, in the transaction of busi- ness, in the management of his circuit or station, the same rules governed him. His rigid adherence thereto has, in the estimation of some, fixed upon him the reputation of being parsimonious. But they did not know him. His benefactions may be said to have been munificent, for he gave away to needy individuals, toward the erection of churches, and to literary institutions; and by his last will he be- queathed, for the benefit of worn-out traveling
380 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBEPw.
preachers, widows, and orphans, and nltiraatelj to the missionary cause, sums making in the aggregate a larger amount than is often contributed by men of his means. The excellence of his course, as he himself has often remarked, is seen in this : the great objects which he kept steadily in view by the rigid economy of his life v/ere, first, to set a good example before his brethren and the younger preach- ers, who, he feared, were becoming too extravagant and prodigal ; and, secondly, that thereby he might be able to give the more to all benevolent objects. Thus his economy became the means of his liber- ality, and fully acquits him from the charge of par- si moniousness. If he carried his economy to an ex- treme, as some supposed, (which, however, is very doubtful,) yet the fault was not only fully covered, but overbalanced, by the good use he made of it. If any benevolent enterprise was started by the Church in the place of his residence or its vicinity, the first application was generally made to Brother and Sister Gruber, that they might head the list, and by their liberality stimulate others. And this they but seldom failed to do, and never when the neces- sity and propriety of the measure were beyond doubt.
LIFE OV JACOB GKUBEK. 381
He was a man of untiring energy and industry. His zeal was kindled, liis principles monlded, and liis habits formed in the school of early Methodism in this country, and after the model of some of the most nsefnl and efficient Methodist preachers. Nay, like St. Paul, he could say that he was '' in labors more abundant." He performed more work, preach- ed more sermons, endured more fatigue and hard- ship, with less abatement of mental and physical energy than perhaps any other minister of his times. Indeed, the steady and glowing flame of his zeal- and industry was nev^er quenched until ex- tinguished by death. He knew no cessation, nor even abridgement of labor, until just three months before his departure, and only then when arrested by disease. Truly he *' ceased at once to work and live."
He possessed a strong and vigorous mind, which generally exhibited itself as well in conversation as in his sermons. Had he been favored with a thor- ough education, there is reason to believe that he would have been surpassed by few. He displayed an originality of thought, a sharpness and readiness of wit, an aptness of illustration, together with a flow of cheerfulness, which made him an interesting and
382 LIFE OF JACOB GKUBER.
instructive companion. The vigor of liis mind, which seemed to ripen and mature with his years, evinced none of that infirmity which was stealing upon his body, and displayed no dimi- nution of strength up the last hour of his earthly existence.
He was a sound theologian. IS^one will charge him with a want of orthodoxy. Thoroughly posted up in the doctrines of Methodism from the works of "Wesley, and catching the living inspiration from the lips of Asbury, "Whatcoat, M'Kendree, and others, these doctrines became to him that system of divinity most in accordance with the Holy Scrip- tures. Nor was he unacquainted with the doctrines and usages of other denominations as laid down in their books. His sermons gave unmistakable evi- dence of this when he felt it to be his duty to come in contact with them. As a preacher his pulpit discourses were always good, and sometimes almost overwhelming. Generally lie took a sound and cor- rect view of Scripture, pursued his own course in its exposition, and preached with great zeal and energy, and often with considerable effect. In ex- posing false doctrine and unmasking false religion he was quite caustic, and frequently successful.
LIFE OF JACOB GKUBEll. 383
But Jacob Gruber is gone, and his voice is silent in death. Yet his name and his deeds still live. Thousands now living on earth will remem- ber him with gratitude, while thousands more have already welcomed him to the mansions of rest ; and, beyond all doubt, many will rise up in the judgment and call him blessed.
The following lines, in memory of the veteran itinerant, were written by Miss Harriet J. Meek, of Warrior's Mark, Pennsylvania, and with this beautiful tribute we close our sketch of the life and labors of this wonderful man :
Kest from thy labors, rest '
Warrior, resign thy trust ! The memory of thy name is blest.
The memory of the just. A star is lost below,
An orb is found above, To spread anew the burning glow
Of everlasting love.
For threescore years and ten
He walked the earth till even ; For fifty years he offered men
Salvation, life, and heaven. Then to his promised rest
He turned with faltering tread, And found on the Redeemer's breast
A place to lay his head.
384 LIFE OF JACOB GRUBER.
Fallen — at close of day ;
Fallen — beside his post; At sunset came the bright array,
The chariots and the host. With triumph on his tongue,
"With radiance on his brow. He passed with tliat exulting throng,
And shares their glory now.
Warrior, thy work is done !
Victor, the crown is given ! The jubike at last begun,
The jubilee of heaven. Rest from thy labors, rest !
Rise to thy triumph, rise ! And join the anthems of the blest,
The Sabbath of the skies.
THE END.
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