hymn. At the auspicious
moment the book opened at the accustomed place, and the old preacher,
after properly adjusting his glasses, slowly began: 'Old Grimes
is dead, that good old man.' Amazed beyond description, the preacher
instantly suspended the reading, carefully wiped off his glasses, looked
appealingly to the congregation, and again solemnly and slowly
began: 'Old Grimes is dead, that good old man.' The congregation
now equally astonished with himself, the aged pastor suspended the
reading, carefully removed his glasses, and laying down the
book, solemnly observed: 'My beloved friends, I have been a-readin'
and a-singin' outen this blessed book for nigh onto forty year,
and I never seed this hymn in thar before; but it's _in thar,_
brethren, and we'll sing it through if it smashes up this meetin!'

"Now," continued Vance, "my beloved brethren, I have been a-readin'
and a-votin' of the Democrat ticket nigh onto forty year, and I
never seed the name of old Horace Greeley on a Democrat ticket
before; but it's _on thar,_ brethren, and we'll vote it through if
it kills us--_and it does come devilish near killing the most of
us!"_

XXVII
NOT GUILTY OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL

THE "DRAKE CONSTITUTION" IN MISSOURI--THE CRIME OF PREACHING THE
GOSPEL--A PROVISION OF THIS CONSTITUTION FOUND TO BE A VIOLATION
OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES--MINISTERS OF VARIOUS
SECTS TRIED FOR PREACHING WITHOUT FIRST TAKING AN OATH TO SUPPORT
THE "DRAKE CONSTITUTION"--THE JUDGE FINDS THAT NOT ONE OF THEM HAS
PREACHED THE GOSPEL.

The "holding" of a _nisi prius_ judge upon one of the western
circuits of Missouri, near the close of the Civil War, is without a
precedent, and it is quite probable that no occasion will ever
arise for citing it as an authority. It will remain, however, a
case in point of how a "horse-sense" judge can protect the innocent
against unusual and unjust prosecution.

What is known in Missouri history as the "Drake Constitution"
had then but recently supplanted the organic law under which the
State had for a long time had its being. No counterpart of the
Constitution mentioned has ever been framed in any of the American
States. It could have been only the product of the evil days when
"judgment had fled to brutish beasts, and men had lost their reason."
Possibly at no time or place in our history has there been more
emphatic verification of the axiom, "In the midst of arms, the laws
are sil