dent, it was blinding, sickening, confounding. He started at
the sound of his own voice, and when he tried to speak, he somehow said
just what he didn't intend, and made more mistakes than he had either
time or sense to rectify; then, whenever he moved his feet, his clogs
clamped on the floor in such a way as he had never heard them anywhere
else; he was in a fever of excitement and fear. However, he had to
preach; so having announced his text, he commenced his sermon, but it
was evidently hard for him to say anything; he tried and tried, rolled
his eyes up and all around, clasped his hands, uttered a few sentences,
scratched his head, and exclaimed, "Friends, I'm plogged" (meaning he
could not go on), "she weant goa; if this is preaching trial sermon,
I'll niver try another; we'll be like to swap texts" (try another
text). Now while he was finding another text, the congregation sang a
hymn, and by the time this was done, Abe was ready with his text, which
he announced and again started to speak, but with no greater success,
for it seemed as if all his ideas were gone wool-gathering. He
coughed, stammered, and sweat at every pore, but brought forth nothing
else; an encouraging word or two from one of the brethren was very
welcome at that moment, for looking towards him, Abe said, "She weant
goa, but we'll try another."

Twice breaking down in one service would have satisfied any ordinary
man in his circumstances, and so daunted many as that they would never
have been heard of again; but Abe was no ordinary man, and was not soon
killed; he had come there to try to preach, and it was evident to
everyone that he was trying; he knew that if he made another attempt he
could not do worse than he had done, and he might do better, and if he
did break down there would not be anything very unusual in it, seeing
it would make the third time, so he found another text and announced
it. Everybody was wide awake and ready for another stop, but Abe
smiled, brightened up, and went on; "She's baan to goa this time, I do
believe," said he, and so it proved, for when he got into his subject
he spoke very fluently, sensibly, and naturally, and all present felt
that Abe could preach when he got started, and how could he or any one
else preach without starting?

A short time after this eventful service Abe had to pass through
another trying ordeal. His case had to come before the Circuit
quarterly meeting, the tribunal which has made m