The doctor, too, who
attended the wounded, and whom we saw at breakfast at Grafton, was also
most devoted to them. It was quite touching to hear the tender-hearted
way in which Mr. Tyson spoke of the poor sufferers, for he was
constantly there, and often saw them go in to almost certain death. He
mentioned one poor widow to whom he had just sent three hundred dollars
as a gift from the railway.
Before leaving the subject of Mr. Tyson, I must tell you one or two of
his good stories. I had been telling him of the negro meeting, which I
described to you in my last. In it I told you how the negroes had cried
out "glory! glory!" from which it appears it is almost impossible that
they can refrain. In corroboration of this he told us of a nigger woman
who was sold from a Baptist to a Presbyterian family. In general slaves
adopt, at once, the habits and doctrines of their new owners; but this
poor woman could not restrain herself, and greatly disturbed the
Presbyterian congregation, by shouting out "glory! glory!" in the
middle of the service. Next morning the minister sent for her and
rebuked her for this unseemly interruption of his sermon; but she said
doggedly, "Can't help it, sir; I'm all full of glory; must shout it
out." Many of his amusing stories were about Irish labourers employed on
the road.
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