Voices: “Dat’s what I say, too!” “Yas, dat’s it!” “You done sed it.”
“Dat’s de law, Sistah Viney.”
Tilly Mink: “I’s got salbation mehsef.”
“Uncle Eph, will you pleas’ pars de barsket ’roun’? An’ I hope dis
congation will stop dis shirk ’citement an’ not be fogitful boutin de
collection. I exhort sistus an’ all heah present to gib lib’ly, an’ not
be like dem fogitful ole Petracks.
“We will include by singin’ de three fus’ vusses ub him seventy-fo’.”
Zion is de place fuh me,
Oh, I want to git da;
Zaccheus clum uh sycamo’ tree,
Oh, I want to git da.
In de heb’nly hom’ we’ll all be free,
Oh, I want to git da;
De Angel Gabriel den we’ll see,
Oh, I want to git da.
Mary an’ Marfa’s gone befo’;
Oh, I want to git da;
Baptized an’ shoutin’ on de golden sho’;
Oh, I want to git da.
Pawson Demby requested Uncle Stephen to “Please led us in prayer,”
whereupon Uncle Stephen prayed as follows:
“Sistus, brers an’ little chillun, recommember! Dat’s de qualificashun,
an’ don’ fogit it. Po’ Lot’s wife, she fogot, looked back, an wuz turnt
inter uh pillow ub salt.
“Fogitfulness is wuss’n playin’ de fiddle, dancin’, an’ uh cuss’n one
nerr. Hits almos’ ez bad ez fishin’ on de Sabbuth day. Y-a-s, Lawd,
fogitfulness is bin uh ’stressin’ people ev’y sense Adam clum de apple
tree an’ eat dem apples. Ab-so-lum fogot his Pa’s ’structions, er he
wudn’ er rid un’er dat oak tree an’ let dat lim’ twiss his neck ef’n he
hadn’ bin frolikin’, I specks, wid dat ornry King Fario. Y-a-s, Lawd,
tech us ter recommember. De prodigal son fogot he Pa’s ways, an’ you
know de consequation. Sted ub fogittin’, meck us ter recommember; y-a-s,
Lawd, meck us ter recommember dat de debbil is uh rovin’ lion, seekin’
who he may eat up.[5] Don’ let us be like Jacob, de Petrack, who fogot
hissef an’ tried ter rassel wid uh angel, an’ de fus’ fall he got his
leg wuz flung outin jint.
“But da is one thing dat you kin fogit; hits dem shirks [sharks] in
Miles Ribber. Some ub our sistus is got de shirk fright so bad dey is
persidderin jinin’ de Presbyters. Sweet sistus, don’ yer do hit. Ev’y
man’s mouf ain’ uh prayerbook, an’ uh case orntried is hyard ter
justify. Persidder us, deah Lawd, burhol us, be wid us, cum down right
now in de spirit ub de lam’; cum right th’oo de roof, Ole Mars will pay
fuh de shingles. Dese moners is uh waitin’ fuh you. Y-a-s, indeed, cum
down dis minit an’ _cur-tail_ de work ub de debbil.”
By this time old Harrison, Colonel Lloyd’s faithful and credulous
servant from “Wye,” became so much excited that he jumped up and
shouted, “Yas, Lawd, cum down an _cut_ he tail clean orf,” whereupon
Uncle Stephen arose, patting his hands, and singing:
DIDN’T MY LORD DELIVER DANIEL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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