“There was another preacher of the pioneer class so intent upon his work that hunger and nakedness did not affright him. He was more scholarly than most of the preachers around him, and often sat up half the night, at the cabins of the hunters where he stopped, to study. These cabins were about twelve by fourteen feet, and furnished accommodations for the family, sometimes numbering ten or twelve children; and, as the forests abounded in ‘varmints,’ the hens and chickens were taken in for safe keeping. Here, after the family had retired, he would light a pine knot, ‘stick it up in one corner of the huge fireplace, lay himself down on the flat of his stomach in the ashes,’ and study till far into the night.

“Many a time was the bare, bleak mountain-side his bed, the wolves yelling a horrid chorus in his ears. Sometimes he was fortunate enough to find a hollow log, within whose cavity he inserted his body, and found it a good protection from the rain or frost.

“Once, seated at the puncheon dinner-table with a hunter’s family, the party is startled by affrighted screams from the door-yard. Rushing out, they behold a great wild cat bearing off the youngest child. Seizing a rifle from the pegs over the door, the preacher raises it to his shoulder, casts a rapid glance along the barrel, and delivers his fire. The aim has been unerring, but too late,—the child is dead, already destroyed by the fierce animal.

“That same year he had a hand-to-hand fight with a bear, from which conflict he came forth victor, his knife entering the vitals of the creature just as he was about to be enfolded in the fatal hug.

“Often he emerged from the wintry stream, his garments glittering in the clear, cold sunlight, as if they had been of burnished steel armour, chill as the touch of death. During that twelvemonth, in the midst of such scenes, he travelled on foot and horseback four thousand miles, preached four hundred times, and found, on casting up the receipts,—yarn socks, woolen vests, cotton shirts, and a little silver change,—that his salary amounted to twelve dollars and ten cents.

“Yet he persevered, grew in knowledge and influence, became a doctor of divinity, and finally was made president of a university. He is known on the page of history as Henry Bidleman Bascom.”

Such were the pioneer preachers of the West; of simple-hearted piety, lofty faith, a fiery zeal, unwavering fortitude, and a practical turn of mind, through which they did a great work for God.

We have made this digression from the thread of our story to show what influences of the ministry were thrown around Abraham’s early life. It is true the preachers to whom he listened were not “circuit-riders,” as travelling preachers were called. They were Baptist ministers, who lived within twenty miles, and who occasionally preached in that neighbourhood. During the first few years of Abraham’s residence in Indiana, there was one Jeremiah Cash, who sometimes preached in the vicinity, and the young listener became much interested in him. A few years later, two others came to that section of the country to live. Their names were John Richardson and Young Lamar. One of them dwelt seven or eight miles from Abraham’s home on the north, and the other eight or ten miles to the south; and both of them were wont to preach at Mr. Lincoln’s cabin, and at other cabins, as they had opportunity. Sometimes they preached in the open air, as Mr. Elkins did the funeral sermon. This was always the case when more people attended than could crowd into a log-house.

Such was all the pulpit influence that reached the boyhood and youth of Abraham. Yet it left indelible impressions upon his mind. Though it was small and inconstant, apparently, in comparison with the pulpit advantages that boys enjoy at the present day, it imbued his soul with sentiments that were never obliterated. He was much indebted to the unpolished eloquence of those pioneer preachers, whose sterling piety caused them to proclaim the truth with fidelity and earnestness. This was one of the few influences that contributed to make him a remarkable man.