He was an earnest and energetic man, and,
although he could neither read nor write, he had for many years
expounded the Scriptures to the satisfaction of his hearers. His memory
was good, and those portions of the Bible, which from time to time he
had heard read, were used by him, and frequently with powerful effect,
in his sermons. His interpretations of the Scriptures were generally
entirely original, and were made to suit the needs, or what he supposed
to be the needs, of his congregation.
Whether as "Uncle Pete" in the garden and corn-field, or "Brudder Pete"
in the church, he enjoyed the good opinion of everybody excepting one
person, and that was his wife. She was a high-tempered and somewhat
dissatisfied person, who had conceived the idea that her husband was in
the habit of giving too much time to the church, and too little to the
acquisition of corn-bread and pork. On a certain Saturday she gave him a
most tremendous scolding, which so affected the spirits of the good man
that it influenced his decision in regard to the selection of the
subject for his sermon the next day.
His congregation was accustomed to being astonished, and rather liked
it, but never before had their minds received such a shock as when the
preacher announced the subject of his discourse.
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