y at the bar of justice, born and
reared in the mountains, without any of the advantages of churches
and schools, was not to be held in the same degree responsible
as if his lot had been cast in Danville. In his argument he said:

"Here you have your schools, your Centre College, your Theological
Seminary, your churches. Every third man you meet on the streets is
a minister of the Gospel, and the others are all teachers in the
Sunday school. Here you have your great preachers, Young,
Green, Humphreys, Yerkes, Robertson, Breckenridge--in fact,
Presbyterianism to your hearts' content in the very air. But this
poor boy has known nothing of these things. O gentlemen, what
might not this poor boy have been, and what might not poor Jimtown
have been, with all these advantages?"

Throwing up his arms, in tragic tones he exclaimed:

"Oh, Jimtown! Jimtown! Had the mighty things that have been done
in Danville been done in thee, thou wouldst long since have repented
in sackcloth and ashes!"

The incident which I shall now relate was told me by my kinsman,
General S. S. Fry of Danville. He and Colonel Woolford were friends
from boyhood, and comrades in the Mexican and Civil wars. Their
party affiliations, however, were different, General Fry being a
Republican, and Colonel Woolford a Democrat.

During the reconstruction period, soon after the close of the Civil
war, a barbecue was given to the Colonel, then a candidate for
Congress, in one of the mountain counties of his district. As a
matter of course, the Colonel was to be the orator of the occasion.

In order, if possible, to counteract the evil effect of his speech,
the Republican State Committee requested General Fry to attend the
barbecue, and engage Colonel Woolford in public debate. In compliance
with this request, General Fry, after a horseback ride of many
hours, put in an appearance at the appointed time and place.
The attendance was general; the people of the entire county, of
both sexes and of all ages and conditions, were there. The barbecue
was well under way when General Fry arrived. A table of rough
boards and of sufficient length had been constructed, and was
literally covered with savory shote and mutton just from the pit
where barbecued. These viands were abundantly supplemented with
fried chicken, salt-rising bread, beaten biscuit, "corn dodgers," and
cucumber pickles. To this add several representatives of the highly
respectable pie fam