CHAPTER 31 THE GERMAN'S EXPERIENCE
CHAPTER 31 THE GERMAN’S EXPERIENCE When we were traveling the Cross Creek circuit, in 1815, in a region of country which was mostly settled by German Lutherans, and not much regard paid to the Sabbath, or any kind of religion, there lived a German by the name of Gost. He was one of the principal men of the neighborhood, and had great influence among his German friends. At one of our love-feasts we heard him relate his experience, and though it was in very broken English, yet it was told with an unction and a power which melted all hearts, and which thrilled and interested us so much that we have not forgotten it to this day.
There is something peculiar in the German mind and character which shows itself, perhaps, more strikingly in regard to the subject of religion than any thing else. It seems that in whatever enterprise a German embarks, it engrosses his entire energies, and when once fully committed on any subject, he adheres to it with an energy, zeal, and perseverance worthy of all praise. Staid and somber as he may appear, he nevertheless has the excitability of a Frenchman without his mercurial nature. Luther was a noble type of the Teutonic mind, and exhibited the different characteristics of which we have spoken, when he said he would go to the Diet of Worms if there were as many devils in his way as there were tiles on the roofs of the houses; and when, in his excited imagination, he saw the devil before him in his study, and threw his inkstand at him; and, also, when on another occasion, he was arraigned before an ecclesiastical council for heresy, and threatened with punishment if he did not retract, he said, "Here I stand, God help!"
One has said, "Get a German once converted, and there is little danger of his refusing to take up his cross, or turning back to the beggarly elements of the world." They seem to carry out more fully Mr. Wesley’s idea of Methodism than even the English brethren themselves. When they sing, "they sing lustily;" when they pray, they pray with all their might; when they speak in class meeting or love-feast, they come right to the point of Christian experience without any circumlocution. Such was the case with our good German brother whose experience we are going to relate.
Shortly after the speaking exercises commenced, he arose and said: "Mine dear bruders, ven I comes to dis blace dare vas nobody here. Den after, mine freins dey comes too, and ve did comes along very goot, as ve dot. Ve did drink viskey, and frolic, and dance, and ve all dot it vas wery nice; but binebys der comes along into de neighborhoot a Metodis breacher by de name of Jo. Shackelford, and he breaches and breaches, and brays and brays, as you never see de like in all your lives.
"He says, ’You beeples all goes to hell unless you git conwerted, and be saved from your zins.’ Now, vell den, de beeples begins to dink zeriously on dis matter, and dey say ve must do better, or, sure enough, de devil vill git us shust as he says. Den dey gits Christen, and begins to bray; and dey valls down, and brays, and croans, and hollers, and I says to my beeples, ’Dis is de devil;’ and it goes on till it comes to my neighbor Honnes.
"Vell, I does not go, and my vife and gals does not go, because I said it vas de devil. Vell, however, it gomes so near by mine house, I says I vill go and see vat is dis ting vat makes de beeples so crazy. So von night I goes to Honnes’ to see de brayer meeting, and I sets down and sees de beeples come in, and dey all looks shust like dey used to do, and I dot it vas all vell; but dey soon begins to zing and bray, and I dot dis is all right.
"Den some pegins to croan, and valls down; and I says, ’Dis is de devil, and I vill shust go home;’ but ven I vent to rise up I could not, vor I vas fast to de bench. Den I vas skeered, and I said, ’Dis is de devil sure enough.’ I looked round, and I dot de door vas growed up, and I vas fast enough. Vell, vell, den I say, ’Mine Got, de devil vill git me now, by sure!’
"I looked more for de door, and bresently I sees him, and I makes von spring, and out I goes headforemost. Den I gits up, and runs mit all my might till I comes to mine fence; and ven I goes to git over I comes down smack upon my pack, and now I says, ’De devil vill git me, py sure!’
"I lays dare for some time; den I gits up, and climes de fence, and goes to mine house, and dot I would shust go to bed mitout making any noise; but shust as I vas gittin in ped, smack down I comes on mine pack upon de floor; and Madalana, mine vife, did shump out of de ped, and did schream; and Petts and Kate — dat ish my two gals — dey did shump up and schream and holler, and dare I lays, and I says, ’O, mine Got, dis ish de devil!’
"Madalana says, ’No matter for you; it shust serves you right; you vould go, and now you prings de devil home mit you to your own house.’ Petts and Kate dey both cries, and mine vife she scolds, and de devil he shakes me over de hells, and all my sins shust comes up to mine eyes, and I says, ’O, mine Got, save me!’
"After a vile I goes to ped, but I not sleeps. I says, ’O mine Got, mine Got, vat vill become of me!’ Shust at daylight I gits up and goes down to my parn, and gits under de hoss-trough, and smack I comes on mine pack again. Den I cries, mit all my might, ’O, mine Got, mine Got, have mercy upon me!’ I dot I vas goin to de hells.
"Shust den someting say to me, ’Di sins pe all vorgifen.’ Den someting comes down all over me at my head, shust like honey, and I opens mine mout shust so vide ash I can; but it filled so full it run over, and den O, I vas so happy as never I vas before in all my life!
"I did shump like a deer, and I hollered, ’Glory, glory to mine Got!’ mit all my might. Mine hosses dey did veel round and shnorted, and I did veel round too, and hollered glory, and I did not know dem, and dey did not know me.
"Bresently I saw my gray hoss, Pob, and I snatched him round de neck, and he did veel round, and I hollered, ’Glory, glory, and bless de Lort!’ I love dish hoss unto dis day so petter than any.
"I now ish on mine vay to de himmels, and dare I vill bless Got for his pringing me down on mine pack, and for mine vife and mine gals; for dey now goes mit me to glory; so, mine bruders, ve vill all bineby meet in dat goot vorld, to braise de Lort forever and ever."