RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD 73 



by the collar. Other mischief makers would fol- 

 low him out and then there might be a scrub horse- 

 race or a foot-race outside; or a string of light 

 sleighs might be driven rapidly around the church 

 as though around a race track. All this was gen- 

 erally the work of a half dozen wild young fel- 

 lows while I with a score of others looked on, and 

 I confess, enjoyed it all. The church leaders must 

 have been sorely tried, for they were good men, 

 or at any rate they led irreproachable lives in the 

 sight of the world. Most heads of families who 

 were church members, held daily family prayers 

 and the preacher, when he made his parochial 

 visits, always prayed with the household. 



At the period of which I am writing, 1840 to 

 1850, converts were given their choice of the mode 

 of baptism, that is, by sprinkling or immersion, and 

 the latter was usually chosen. On some Sunday 

 in early spring a great throng would assemble on 

 the shore of Cayuga Lake to witness the immer- 

 sions. The Methodist Church did not at this time 

 lay great stress on the manner of baptism but it 

 did anathematize jewelry, bright ribbons and even 

 furs when worn by women, and many a new convert 

 discarded all of them. No one was allowed to 



