Part 4 (2/2)
After the first tian to be looked upon as the general stop-gap, as they called him
But he was not to occupy that post always; it was only the stepping-stone to so else, for by-and-bye some of the local preachers would take him out with them to their appointments, and let him talk to the people as well as he was able Wherever he went they said he ain; he was so quaint, droll, plain, yet withal so fervent, that everyone enjoyed his reain
About the year 1833, and during the ministry of the Revs J Curtis and G Bradshaw in the Huddersfield Circuit, an incident took place which will give an idea of the style of Abe's early preaching efforts It was on one Shrove Tuesday afternoon that he had to preach at Paddock;--the service was at that tiood deal of talk had been indulged in by the people in anticipation of Abe's visit, and a great amount of curiosity and interest was excited
The place was full Abe arrived, rubbing his hands, and blessing the Lord, and immediately took his place, and coh and earnest; Divine power came down upon the little company, and tears of joy ran from all eyes He selected a lesson hich he was fa very creditably Abe then took his text, the subject being Abraha up his son Isaac on Mount Moriah Just at that moment the Rev J
Curtis came into the service Now the unexpected appearance of the Superintendent Minister, under circu preachers, but it had no such effect on Abe; he no sooner set his eyes on him, than he said, ”Naa thaa sees I'oa too,” and off he went in a style peculiarly his own
He drew so pictures of the patriarch, his son, and the youngthe servantelse; he had a deal of trouble in saddling the asses, those ani the obstinate tendencies for which their descendants are even yet so renowned; all was at length ready, Abraha off, when the door was again opened, and in walked the Rev G Bradshaw, the young ht of him Abe shouted, ”Aye, lad, thaa art baan to be too late, we've gotten th' one withaat thee, but niver moind, thaa mun catch a mule for theesen, and co the lead, and the people
He preached them such a sermon as they had never heard in their lives--nor anybody else Now they laughed at his odd sayings and grotesque pictures, and then with s they praised God as they listened to sos which fell froh to find fault with, for he knew nothing about the art of ser, and cared as little; but it was so full of ho, that every one, ave the faults, and said it was a race
In this way Abe continued for sonized, but at length his name was placed on the plan as a local preacher on trial When the term of his probation was alh Street Chapel, Huddersfield
HIS TRIAL SERMON
It was a terrible trial for hi how easy he felt when the Circuit ministers heard him in the little room at Paddock, yet so it was; and as the tih Street Had it been anywhere else he would not have cared, but he had a dread of the Circuit Chapel He had gone to several of the country places during the year, and so the plain village people; they could understand his broad vernacular, and make allowance for his blunders, which he kneere not a few, but in High Street everything was different He thought they could not exercise the same forbearance towards him, and so he shrank from the task
But then he re; that it was a trial which other plain ain, and he could not expect o and do his best, trusting in the Lord for help And that evening Sally brushed his polished, and away he went to Huddersfield There was a good congregation to hear hi others several local preachers Abe was very nervous, and everything around conspired to h Street Chapel, awful; he had to preach, worse; to preach a trial serrand folks, and in the presence of the Superintendent, it was blinding, sickening, confounding He started at the sound of his own voice, and when he tried to speak, he somehow said just what he didn't intend, and made more mistakes than he had either time or sense to rectify; then, whenever he s clamped on the floor in such a way as he had never heard them anywhere else; he was in a fever of excite announced his text, he commenced his ser; he tried and tried, rolled his eyes up and all around, clasped his hands, uttered a few sentences, scratched his head, and exclaio on), ”she weant goa; if this is preaching trial sermon, I'll niver try another; we'll be like to swap texts” (try another text) Nohile he was finding another text, the congregation sang a hymn, and by the time this was done, Abe was ready with his text, which he announced and again started to speak, but with no greater success, for it seehed, sta else; an encouraging word or two from one of the brethren was very welco towards hioa, but we'll try another”
Twice breaking down in one service would have satisfied any ordinary man in his circumstances, and so daunted ain; but Abe was no ordinary man, and was not soon killed; he had come there to try to preach, and it was evident to everyone that he was trying; he knew that if he made another atteht do better, and if he did break down there would not be anything very unusual in it, seeing it would make the third time, so he found another text and announced it Everybody ide awake and ready for another stop, but Abe soa this tiot into his subject he spoke very fluently, sensibly, and naturally, and all present felt that Abe could preach when he got started, and how could he or any one else preach without starting?
A short tih another trying ordeal His case had to co, the tribunal which has made many an innocent man tremble There he had to be examined as to his acquaintance with and belief in the Methodist doctrines, rules, etc What may have been the merits of this exaood deal of leniency shown by thetowards Abe If he was deficient on some points, he compensated in others; if he could not define and defend all the articles of our faith, he could believe them as fully as any one else; be that as it round of his exaot over, and a good deal of special pleading had to be done for hi when the merits of a candidate are under discussion
That ”swapping of texts” no less than three times was a very extraordinary feature in the case, and called forth some severe censures A man that did so could not be fit to come on the Circuit plan as an accredited local preacher, so soht differently; they could not but ad even in changing texts the third ti? The reat risks; but if the horse he is riding be sinking under hie seats or sink too, and this is just what Abe did, and the outco, for the third horse carried him over He at least possessed an amount of perseverance which few men in similar circumstances would have exhibited; then he must not be estih Street chapel How had he done in other places? Here the tide began to tell in his favour, as first one and then another spoke in coth Brother Haigh rose and said, ”Abe Lockith e; I heard hiood After the serht the Lord, and found Him; that old man was impressed under Abe's ser What matter if he does sometimes break down in his sermons? he kno to break sinners down too, and after all, that is the best sort of preaching” He was at once cordially received into the ranks of the local preachers, and appeared as such in January 1837; and from that time to the end of his life was as earnest, devoted, and popular as anythat band, as worthy a band of men as ever worked a Methodist circuit
So Abe became a local preacher, and while he always felt and said that the office honoured him, he, on the other hand, did his utmost to honour the position which the Church had called him to occupy
Methodism owes veryall her history, through all her struggles, laboured cheerfully on, year after year, often at is of salvation to outstanding districts, which would seldom have heard the Gospel but for their disinterested services Their toils cannot have been for worldly honours, where could they win theain, because their labours have ever been gratuitous, and often expensive to the with rain, torn by storms, blistered with sun-heat, in all parts of the land, over h dirty lanes and new-ploughed fields, giving ungrudgingly of their strength; Sunday after Sunday leaving the home enjoyments of their family and the sanctuary to carry the Gospel of Christ to those afar off What will the Master do to those brave labourers of His in the day of award? He will dom of Heaven
CHAPTER XI
In Practice
We may now consider that Abe had really co the numerous demands made upon him professionally showed the esti the people But there was one thing which gave him considerable trouble, and that was his preparation for the pulpit This was a great toil to him, but he counted himself abundantly rewarded when he found that Godto the people to whom he preached Abe had no quiet room in his house into which he could retire for the purpose of meditation His home was full of children, and each of the little rooms resounded with their ht His study was elsewhere There was one spot more sacred to him than any other in the world, and that was at the old tree-root on Al of Divine pardon To that Bethel he often turned his steps, and there would he run through his sermons with no audience but the old tree and the little brook; and although his earnest addresses produced no e either on the stoical old elood, and helped to make him more effective when he came to address a more appreciative assembly
His frequent visits to this sacred and secret spot began, by-and-by, to be known ao and watch hily went and hid themselves where they could both see and hear all that passed Abe careat liberty, considering the irresponsive audience before hi out the folly and danger of sin, and exhorting to repentance, his words were reaching unknown ears, and searching their way into ht in their own net; they felt the truth of the si
They knew those words appliedelse
They listened in fear and silence, and when they would gladly have got beyond the sound of his voice, they dared not move lest he should discover them, and make his discourse even more personal When the preacher had prayed earnestly, and had retired from his rural sanctuary, the hidden and et away Some of the callous ones endeavoured afterwards to chaff Abe about the open-air service, buton the subject, inwardly deterain to venture profanely within the sacred precincts of the good rew in the esteehout the entire Circuit, so that his co thelory; and though he sos which some men would shrink from, and some would condemn if done by others, no one was displeased at thees were accorded him, so that he could say and do just as he pleased He knew this quite well, and, though he seldo it as a license, it had the effect of bringing him out in his own true character
Sometimes he became very happy in the pulpit, and fairly ju at Shepley, and, as was his frequent custom, he had a brother local preacher in the pulpit with him, to assist in the preliminary exercises On this occasion our old friend T Holden acted as his curate Abe was blessed with great liberty during the delivery of the sermon: he wept, clapped his hands, staether Brother Holden shuffled about to make room for him as well as he could in the narrow area of the pulpit, but he was not quick enough; down ca the preacher, without in the least disconcerting him ”Moind thee toas, lad, steam's up, I mun jump a bit” And he did jump, the more freely, too, when his assistant retired from his exalted position, and left him all the pulpit to himself It is evident froiven, that Abe did, in tied,” and ”breaking down,” becaan to feel as much at home in the pulpit as in his own house So far did he show that ”practice makes perfect”