Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1881 — Preserving the Balance. [ARTICLE]

Preserving the Balance.

Old Capt. Stanley, who lives down iq the middle of Kentucky, was a good old Hardshell Baptist, who would occasionally tell a story at the expense of some of the brethren. Many years ago they were not so conspicuously orthodox on the temperance question as they are in our time. “On one occasion,” said the Captain, “the brethren down in my region were about to have a grand church gathering, and all the faithful in the neighborhood were expected to exert themselves to entertain suitably and hospitably the visiting brethren. Two of my neighbors mot each other just before the grand gathering, one of whom said: “ ‘ What are j/ou going to do ?’ “ ‘ Well,’ replied the man, ‘l’ve laid in a gallon of first-rate whisky.’ “ ‘A gallon I ’ retorted his neighbor, with a look of contempt; ‘ why. I’ve got a barrel; and you are just as able to support the Gospel as I am.’ ” In those days you could always tell a Hardshell by looking at him from behind; one of the skirts of his coat would hang lower than the other—the one in which ho carried his I Kittle. But the Captain said there was one old brother down there whoso denominational views couldn’t be ascertained in that way; his skirts hung even—a bottle in each pocket. — L'arper's Magazine.