"MY PEOPLE OF THE PLAINS."

Otago Witness, Issue 2784, 24 July 1907, Page 81

"MY PEOPLE OF THE PLAINS."

AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY BISHOP.

! In May, 1887, Dr Talbot was consecrated "Missionary Bishop" of Wyoming , and Idaho, a diocese covering an area more | than half as big again as that of Great i Britain and far more difficult to traverse, the railway, accommodation being of tbe smallest, such as that of our island would . be if it consisted of one main line with a single branch. The first problem to be solved was the choice of a residence. Laramie, in Wyoming, was fixed upon, not because it was geographically central, for 'it is nearly as remote as possible from the ' northern border of Idaho, but because it was on the railway and near the populous I region. Other places competed for the i honour, one offering the attraction that if ' the meat supply fell short the bishop had only to step out with his rifle and bring down an. elk. Tlie country when Dr Tal- > bot arrived was trndfT a cloud. The past j winter had destroyed not 1-eee than a half of the cattle which constituted its- wealth, though Idaho had suffered leei% than Wyoming. Besides the herdsmen and the shepherds, there -were those who grew grain where irrigation was pcssible, and i th-ere was an Indiin reservation, occupied jby Shoshones and Arapahoes. This had J been ha.nded over to tbe care of the EpisI copal Church, a breach of religious liberty { in theory, but probably the best thing I that could have been done. (Other religiouß bodies, it should be explained, had allotments, of their own.) The bishop's first journey was characteristic of many. After 34 hours' travel on the stage, he arrived at bis destination covered with alkali-dust,' and looking as unlike "a bishop as possible." A friendly stranger greeted him, gave him information about tbe friend after whom he inquired, and offered to take him- out to the ranch -where the friend lived. "It is a pitT not to give a^bisbop a carrjage, but there are no carriages here: it is a new town." But be could have his cb»ice of two bronchos, — "one bucks pretty hard, ■ and the other bucks kind o' mild." The bishop chose the latter, and they started. The guide, Billy Bartlett by name, who kept a saloon, "explained on ttie way.-that he was a "Bob Ingersoll man.."- The bishop thought that if he did not care abotS,- his sonl and kept a saloon, he might be a" "Bob Ingersoll man" baineelf, Tins was evidently the Tight thing to My, for tbfe guide volunteered to "round irp' every galoot in tbe country"- and pack the schoolhouse for the meeting that was to be held in tbe evening. (Dr Talbot had sent printed inytioes oi the mee&rn^ t«* i&e postj master, but he, described as "the meanest j Bob Ingersoll man in the wnole 1 business," | had suppressed them.) As the nian was departing tbe bishop remembered the music, and asked his conductor whether h=» could 6ing. "You have caught me right on to my racket,'^ said he. "It just happens that I am a Jo-dandy at singing, and I also play the fiddle and the organ." t He agreed to take charge of the music. ; The schoolhouss • was crowded, and i "never," writes Dr Talbot, "did I preach • a sermon where I was given a more I reverent and attentive hearing." At the ' close, Billy Bartlett came up. with tears in ' his ev€6. "Bishop," he said, "that talk 1 will do us boys a world of cood. . ... i Ef you will send us a preacher, all of us | chaps will pitch in and support him and ■ stand by him." The bishop did 6end a I preacher, and a church was built for Mm. I A yenr airerwards Dr Talbot went again. ! In his friend the rancher's 'sitting room j he saw a newspaper cutting with an ever- ! preen wreath round it. It 'was beaded : "A Hustling Bishop from, the W9d West,** and was the report of speech which he had made, describing the visit, at a'Mi§- T sionary Congress. "Bishog," said his host, "you save us a great secd r> onT; .V '. Billy Bartlefct has had Ws'pttt in ''a nobby frame, and saya he wouldn't " take," '& thousand dollars for Sfe M Mr-Barftett, W

f are glad *q. heary has given up- his saloon, and is ranching in Washington State. It is clear~tbjß% tke^|i6igpodg.material here^ — tEel bishop says 'so 5 again 'aW" again "in n^ist- emphatic terms. But it is ' iflso- cleajj that there must be the right u man to deal with it. This is;, what happened in; a ttiiifing camp* in Idaho*.-. "Dr t fatbot found everyone very shy -of him. ,Ho triei ac.costi.ng -paeaers-by in the ."'street; b|ey slipped away. He stuck up jac-tices ; no one-see«»&d-to read theni. ;So' ho' took jthe 'Jouß by the horns. There were &aven saloons in a row. - Be ' went into- the^rst, and introduced^ himself as Bkhop o? Idaho ; ' he wanted to have a; ' wbrd with tihe guests. The keeper was all' jxjlitei|egs, put his arm in the bishop's, ' and, led mfn. to* the pool roam. "Boys," ' fte saidj^JfStts* up the eJdps jrtst a minute. •TlflS is ths bishop right among us, and te' "wants to be introduced." Everybody and 1 welcomed; .him* and. then he "toTd'them of the^iie3ft Ci a#*s £ BerV!6e. "He - was" assured that, all would .come. The psanie thing was dope in a}J $he seven. *Bu£ tHfe'' mining cam^ was ifd^ : ' wiffioufc'- tti lhill"ister, a certJ^ "BrotabefiSSiyy'-' Wiho* nad been sent tlfere three • wsßekszJbeforei. • ■ But ' Brother Maj| was very r ,j f'Tlre piost. God-foreaken hole mr th^jWorki". , be thought it, an«,whent be saw the bishop v f conijng out of a t saloon the cuu was^lap. He .hoped that it| was 'sifii^Sk ''inteiiifion, but hp thou%6fci^tA * %terriMe -scandal. The bishop had a most successful meietihg, and toolt the opportunity of^^u^'V "tr'cducing Brothel May, who, howejftf^;; c&ula do little more.thsn etammer out-feUr., "'formula of "the most? GU^d^forsaken hole." When he gave a regular^@couree he was ; not more happy. 'V?BW^i^t|rtly after a deputation waited on nfm. "Will you • leave us," said the spokesman, "if we give - you 75dol?" And he took them and went. To the bishop the * handsome offer of 2000dol was made if he *ould stay. He ■ explained that he had other , duties, but'j could send them a good man. ' "Bishop," I said the spokesman,- "if you can't come I we will bave to make a new deal." And'j they ' made the new deal. "If you will ; send a first-rate man, & good talker and ' a good miser, we will guarantee him at s least a thousand dollars a year." "A good j mixer" means one who possesses tbe qoali- I ties of good fellowship, sympathy, arid | fraternity. The best of the men with ( whom a "minister has to deal is not on tbe , surface. There be will find not a little i that will surprise, if it does. not shock him. j The dialect, for instance, is picturesque ; and something more. But a wise man will , take it for what it really means. For in- ,| 6tance, be will not think that his people d> not set value on the ordinance >f Baptism if they express it by saving that they have "some kids to be branded." j. | It must not be inferred from tbe story j about Brother May that- Bishop Talbot- expresses contempt or dislike for non-episco- ! pal workers in the field. Hs recognises a \ true man wherever he finds him ; doubtless, of all mission fields, that in which he t worked is the best suited to develop this power. „It is in keeping with thjs gift ! that we have such, an excellent chapter J «s that in which out author describes tbe . organisation of Mormonism. Here, t-co, ■ he can see below the surface. He, has found that the Mormon is bette> than Moirinonism. Tbe religion is a- perverted .and corrupted Christianity j its followers are sober, truthful, and honest, kjnd to each other, courteous to strangers, unhesitatingly . obedient to authority and fuH of reverence . for their departed heroes, not much j thought of, it may well be, outside Utah. but honoured there. And if tbe Christian world will do its duty,thinksßishopTal-bot^-the Mormons will some day be found a force on the rigbt side. Another chapter is given to the Bed - Indian and his position ivt the body politic of the States. The bishop is emphatic in hie condemnation of the reservation system. To educate Indian boys and girls and to expect them to go back to the habits of the wigwam is-preposterou*. The problem is not without difficulty, but for various reasons it admits of a readier solution than that of which the negro is a factor. We feel that we cannot too warmly j recommend "Mv People of the Plains" to j

our readers.— Tbe Spectator.