I^v South Carolina. 491 



on the Dorchester road, some twelve miles from Charleston, asked 

 us to preach at his house, and told us of hundreds of negroes in the 

 neighborhood who had never heard preaching, who would come to 

 hear. And though he was a rum-seller, and I suspected his object 

 — and hateful as it seemed to be associated with one whose business 

 was a nuisance to the neighborhood — the man of rum — to Riddle- 

 spurger's I went, and preached to the negroes at the risk of the 

 duck-pond, where it was threatened to bate my zeal, till, finding 

 that the preaching sold no more grog, or possibly being scared, the 

 poor man begged us to desist from coming to preach — when my 

 venerable colleague on this floor (Mr. Dunwody) left the city in the 

 afternoon to go a distance in another direction to meet an assembly 

 of negroes late at night by the light of the moon on the side of a 

 swamp, to preach and administer the sacraments in the wild woods 

 as if it had been a thing the daylight might not look upon, or 

 Christian people countenance at their dwellings. Yes, sir, and I 

 think lie was at it all night there in the woods, in the season and 

 region of pestilence, and baptized and administered the holy eu- 

 charist to some three hundred persons. 



Am I not correct (turning to Mr. Dunwody) — did you not bap- 

 tize three hundred? 



(Mr. Dunwody: "I don't remember how many, but there were a 

 great many.") 



I said, sir, that we ask for no concessions. We ask nothing for 

 ourselves. We fear nothing for ourselves. But we ask, and we de- 

 mand, that you embarrass not the gospel by the measure now pro- 

 posed. Throw us back, if you will, to those evil times. But we 

 demand that when you shall have caused us to be esteemed a sort 

 of land pirates, and we have to preach again at such places as Rid- 

 dlespurger's and Bantoule Swamp, you see to it that we find there 

 the souls who are now confided to our care as pastors of the flock of 

 Christ. Yes, throw us back again to those evil times, but see that 

 you make them evil to none but ourselves. Throw us back, but 

 make it possible for us to fulfill our calling, and by the grace of God 

 we will endure and overcome, and still ask no concessions of you. . 

 But if you cannot do this, if you cannot vex us without scattering 

 the sheep and making them a prey to the wolf of hell, then do we 

 sternly forbid the deed. You may not, and you dare not do it. I 

 say again, if by this measure the evil to be done were only to in- 

 volve the ministry, without harm or peril to the souls we serve, we 

 might bow to the stroke without despair, if not in submissive 



