CHAP. XXXVL] BLACK PREACHER. 285 



the congregation, such as must have precluded them 

 from napping for some time, if their skulls are not 

 harder than those of their white brethren. There 

 was a general stir, and two fat negro women, between 

 whom my wife was wedged in (for the two sexes sat 

 on separate sides), looked to see if she was awake. 

 &quot; There is a storm brewing,&quot; said the preacher, 

 &quot; owing to some late doings in Ohio, and I hope that 

 none of the membership will get themselves into a 

 scrape.&quot; The exciting topic on which he then en 

 larged w r as the late seizure, or kidnapping, as it was 

 termed, of Jerry Phinney, who, after residing some 

 years in Ohio, bad been reclaimed by the heirs of his 

 owners, in consequence of some flaw in his letters of 

 freedom, and brought back to Kentucky. An attempt 

 at a rescue was for a time apprehended, but 500 

 dollars were soon raised and paid to secure his release. 

 &quot;When I commended the action of the black 

 preacher as graceful, I was assured that he had suc 

 cessfully imitated an eminent American player who 

 had lately performed at Louisville. &quot; These blacks,&quot; 

 said my informant, &quot; are such inimitable mimics, that 

 they will sometimes go through a whole sermon in 

 the same style as they have heard it delivered by 

 a white man, only appearing somewhat to caricature 

 it, because they are more pompous and declamatory ; 

 which in them is quite natural, for they are a more de 

 monstrative race than we are. If he addressed them 

 in a plain, colloquial manner, his sermon would seem 

 tame, and make no impression. They cannot talk 

 about the price of a pair of shoes, or quid of tobacco, 

 without such gesticulations that you would fancy it 



