In South Carolina. 227 



kind lie instinctively shrunk, and often made it diffi- 

 cult for his friends to offer a satisfactory apology for 

 his declining to see company. He had no confidence 

 in his qualifications to appear as might be expected of 

 him in circles convened principally on his account, and 

 no disposition to spend the brief intervals he was per- 

 mitted to enjoy, amidst his excessive labors, in this 

 way. 'O no,' he used to say; 'excuse me to the com- 

 pany. Poor old man, who has hardly time to be re- 

 ligious — they can't wish it. And then he must be the 

 target for a whole platoon of question-mongers; and 

 his old shattered brains must be put on the rack to 

 answer them. Do excuse me, and leave me to my- 

 self.' I have known him to quit the family circle, 

 and hasten to his room several times in one evening, 

 when it was announced that company was coming. In 

 one case, when I sent a friend to accompany him on a 

 journey of some forty miles, and directed him to a 

 highly respectable family, who would expect him to 

 dine with them, he absolutely refused to call, and fin- 

 ished his journey without refreshment, sus^jecting that 

 he might meet a degree of attention and ceremony 

 that would be burdensome to him. Those who knew 

 him best could trace this kind of conduct to its prop- 

 er source, as many others probably did not. ' Stop,' 

 said the Bishop to me (Rev. John Luckey), when he 

 espied a New England farmer on his horse on the side 

 of the road; ' stop, bub, and let me get out; for I per- 

 ceive that old body is preparing to fire a platoon of 

 questions at me, which I can never answer.' I of 

 course complied with his request, and the Bishop was 

 off at a double-quick step. The farmer was off also, 

 belaboring his old nag's sides with his boot-heels, 

 most unmercifully. The Bishop, looking over his 



