The Story of Seven Devils
The negro church which stood in the pine woods near the little villageof Oxford Cross Roads, in one of the lower counties of Virginia, waspresided over by an elderly individual, known to the community ingeneral as Uncle Pete; but on Sundays the members of his congregationaddressed him as Brudder Pete. He was an earnest and energetic man,and, although he could neither read nor write, he had for many yearsexpounded the Scriptures to the satisfaction of his hearers. Hismemory was good, and those portions of the Bible, which from time totime he had heard read, were used by him, and frequently with powerfuleffect, in his sermons. His interpretations of the Scriptures weregenerally entirely original, and were made to suit the needs, or whathe supposed to be the needs, of his congregation.
Whether as "Uncle Pete" in the garden and corn-field, or "BrudderPete" in the church, he enjoyed the good opinion of everybodyexcepting one person, and that was his wife. She was a high-temperedand somewhat dissatisfied person, who had conceived the idea that herhusband was in the habit of giving too much time to the church, andtoo little to the acquisition of corn-bread and pork. On a certainSaturday she gave him a most tremendous scolding, which so affectedthe spirits of the good man that it influenced his decision in regardto the selection of the subject for his sermon the next day.
His congregation was accustomed to being astonished, and rather likedit, but never before had their minds received such a shock as when thepreacher announced the subject of his discourse. He did not take anyparticular text, for this was not his custom, but he boldly statedthat the Bible declared that every woman in this world was possessedby seven devils; and the evils which this state of things had broughtupon the world, he showed forth with much warmth and feeling.Subject-matter, principally from his own experience, crowded in uponhis mind, and he served it out to his audience hot and strong. Ifhis deductions could have been proved to be correct, all women werecreatures who, by reason of their sevenfold diabolic possession, werenot capable of independent thought or action, and who should in tearsand humility place themselves absolutely under the direction andauthority of the other sex.
When he approached the conclusion of his sermon, Brother Peter closedwith a bang the Bible, which, although he could not read a word ofit, always lay open before him while he preached, and delivered theconcluding exhortation of his sermon.
"Now, my dear brev'ren ob dis congregation," he said, "I want you tounderstan' dat dar's nuffin in dis yer sarmon wot you've jus' heerdter make you think yousefs angels. By no means, brev'ren; you was allbrung up by women, an' you've got ter lib wid' em, an ef anythin' indis yer worl' is ketchin', my dear brev'ren, it's habin debbils, an'from wot I've seen ob some ob de men ob dis worl' I 'spect dey ispersest ob 'bout all de debbils dey got room fur. But de Bible don'say nuffin p'intedly on de subjec' ob de number ob debbils in man, an'I 'spec' dose dat's got 'em--an' we ought ter feel pow'ful thankful,my dear brev'ren, dat de Bible don' say we all's got 'em--has 'em'cordin to sarcumstances. But wid de women it's dif'rent; dey's gotjus' sebin, an' bless my soul, brev'ren, I think dat's 'nuff.
"While I was a-turnin' ober in my min' de subjec' ob dis sarmon, derecome ter me a bit ob Scripter wot I heerd at a big preachin' an'baptizin' at Kyarter's Mills, 'bout ten year' ago. One ob de preacherswas a-tellin' about ole mudder Ebe a-eatin' de apple, and says he: Desarpint fus' come along wid a red apple, an' says he: 'You gib dis yerto your husban', an' he think it so mighty good dat when he done eatit he gib you anything you ax him fur, ef you tell him whar de treeis.' Ebe, she took one bite, an' den she frew dat apple away. 'Wot youmean, you triflin' sarpint,' says she, 'a fotchin' me dat apple wotain't good fur nuffin but ter make cider wid?' Den de sarpint he gofotch her a yaller apple, an' she took one bite, an' den says she: 'Go'long wid ye, you fool sarpint, wot you fotch me dat June apple wotain't got no taste to it?' Den de sarpint he think she like sumpin'sharp, an' he fotch her a green apple. She takes one bite ob it, an'den she frows it at his head, an' sings out: 'Is you 'spectin' me togib dat apple to yer Uncle Adam an' gib him de colic?' Den de debbilhe fotch her a lady-apple, but she say she won't take no sich triflin'nubbins as dat to her husban', an' she took one bite ob it, an' frewit away. Den he go fotch her two udder kin' ob apples, one yallerwid red stripes, an' de udder one red on one side an' green on deudder--mighty good-lookin' apples, too--de kin' you git two dollars abar'l fur at the store. But Ebe, she wouldn't hab neider ob 'em, an'when she done took one bite out ob each one, she frew it away. Den deole debbil-sarpint, he scratch he head, an' he say to hese'f: 'Dis yerEbe, she pow'ful 'ticklar 'bout her apples. Reckin I'll have ter waittill after fros', an' fotch her a real good one,' An' he done waittill after fros', and then he fotch her a' Albemarle pippin, an' whenshe took one bite ob dat, she jus' go 'long an' eat it all up, core,seeds, an' all. 'Look h'yar, sarpint,' says she, 'hab you got anudderob dem apples in your pocket?' An' den he tuk one out, an' gib it toher. ''Cuse me,' says she, 'I's gwine ter look up Adam, an' ef he don'want ter know war de tree is wot dese apples grow on, you can hab himfur a corn-field han'.'
"An' now, my dear brev'ren," said Brother Peter, "while I wasa-turnin' dis subjec' ober in my min', an' wonderin' how de womencome ter hab jus' seben debbils apiece, I done reckerleck dat bit obScripter wot I heerd at Kyarter's Mills, an' I reckon dat 'splains howde debbils got inter woman. De sarpint he done fotch mudder Ebe sebenapples, an' ebery one she take a bite out of gib her a debbil."
As might have been expected, this sermon produced a great sensation,and made a deep impression on the congregation. As a rule, the menwere tolerably well satisfied with it; and when the services were overmany of them made it the occasion of shy but very plainly pointedremarks to their female friends and relatives.
But the women did not like it at all. Some of them became angry, andtalked very forcibly, and feelings of indignation soon spread amongall the sisters of the church. If their minister had seen fit to stayat home and preach a sermon like this to his own wife (who, it may beremarked, was not present on this occasion), it would have been wellenough, provided he had made no allusions to outsiders; but to comethere and preach such things to them was entirely too much for theirendurance. Each one of the women knew she had not seven devils, andonly a few of them would admit of the possibility of any of the othersbeing possessed by quite so many.
Their preacher's explanation of the manner in which every woman cameto be possessed of just so many devils appeared to them of littleimportance. What they objected to was the fundamental doctrine of hissermon, which was based on his assertion that the Bible declared everywoman had seven devils. They were not willing to believe that theBible said any such thing. Some of them went so far as to state it wastheir opinion that Uncle Pete had got this fool notion from some ofthe lawyers at the court-house when he was on a jury a month or sobefore. It was quite noticeable that, although Sunday afternoon hadscarcely begun, the majority of the women of the congregation calledtheir minister Uncle Pete. This was very strong evidence of a suddendecline in his popularity.
Some of the more vigorous-minded women, not seeing their ministeramong the other people in the clearing in front of the log church,went to look for him, but he was not to be found. His wife had orderedhim to be home early, and soon after the congregation had beendismissed he departed by a short cut through the woods. That afternoonan irate committee, composed principally of women, but including alsoa few men who had expressed disbelief in the new doctrine, arrivedat the cabin of their preacher, but found there only his wife,cross-grained old Aunt Rebecca. She informed them that her husband wasnot at home.
"He's done 'gaged hisse'f," she said, "ter cut an' haul wood furKunnel Martin ober on Little Mount'n fur de whole ob nex' week. It'sfourteen or thirteen mile' from h'yar, an' ef he'd started ter-morrermawnm', he'd los' a'mos' a whole day. 'Sides dat, I done tole him datef he git dar ter-night he'd have his supper frowed in. Wot you allwant wid him? Gwine to pay him fur preachin'?"
Any such intention as this was instantaneously denied, and AuntRebecca was informed of the subject upon which her visitors had cometo have a very plain talk with her husband.
Strange to say, the announcement of the new and startling dogma hadapparently no disturbing effect upon Aunt Rebecca. On the contrary,the old woman seemed rather to enjoy the news.
"Reckin he oughter know all 'bout dat," she said. "He's done had threewives, an' he ain't got rid o' dis one yit."
Judging from her chuckles and waggings of the head when she made thisremark, it might be imagined that Aunt Rebecca was rather proud of thefact that her husband thought her capable of exhibiting a differentkind of diabolism every day in the week.
The leader of the indignant church-members was Susan Henry; a mulattowoman of a very independent turn of mind. She prided herself that shenever worked in anybody's house but her own, and this immunity fromoutside service gave her a certain pre-eminence among her sisters. Notonly did Susan share the general resentment with which the startlingstatement of old Peter had been received, but she felt that itspromulgation had affected her position in the community. If everywoman was possessed by seven devils, then, in this respect, she was nobetter nor worse than any of the others; and at this her proud heartrebelled. If the preacher had said some women had eight devils andothers six, it would have been better. She might then have made amental arrangement in regard to her relative position which would havesomewhat consoled her. But now there was no chance for that. The wordsof the preacher had equally debased all women.
A meeting of the disaffected church-members was held the next night atSusan Henry's cabin, or rather in the little yard about it, for thehouse was not large enough to hold the people who attended it. Themeeting was not regularly organized, but everybody said what he or shehad to say, and the result was a great deal of clamor, and a generalincrease of indignation against Uncle Pete.
"Look h'yar!" cried Susan, at the end of some energetic remarks, "isdar enny pusson h'yar who kin count up figgers?"
Inquiries on the subject ran through the crowd, and in a few momentsa black boy, about fourteen, was pushed forward as an expert inarithmetic.
"Now, you Jim," said Susan, "you's been, to school, an' you kin countup figgers. 'Cordin' ter de chu'ch books dar's forty-seben womenb'longin' to our meetin', an' ef each one ob dem dar has got sebendebbils in her, I jus' wants you ter tell me how many debbils come tochu'ch ebery clear Sunday ter hear dat ole Uncle Pete preach."
This view of the case created a sensation, and much interest was shownin the result of Jim's calculations, which were made by the aid of aback of an old letter and a piece of pencil furnished by Susan. Theresult was at last announced as three hundred and nineteen, which,although not precisely correct, was near enough to satisfy thecompany.
"Now, you jus' turn dat ober in you all's minds," said Susan. "More'nfree hundred debbils in chu'ch ebery Sunday, an' we women fotchin 'em.Does anybody s'pose I's gwine ter b'lieve dat fool talk?"
A middle-aged man now lifted up his voice and said: "I's been thinkin'ober dis h'yar matter and I's 'cluded dat p'r'aps de words ob depreacher was used in a figgeratous form o' sense. P'r'aps de sebendebbils meant chillun."
These remarks were received with no favor by the assemblage.
"Oh, you git out!" cried Susan. "Your ole woman's got seben chillun,shore 'nuf, an' I s'pec' dey's all debbils. But dem sent'ments don'tapply ter all de udder women h'yar, 'tic'larly ter dem dar young unswot ain't married yit."
This was good logic, but the feeling on the subject proved to be evenstronger, for the mothers in the company became so angry at theirchildren being considered devils that for a time there seemed to bedanger of an Amazonian attack on the unfortunate speaker. This wasaverted, but a great deal of uproar now ensued, and it was the generalfeeling that something ought to be done to show the deep-seatedresentment with which the horrible charge against the mothers andsisters of the congregation had been met. Many violent propositionswere made, some of the younger men going so far as to offer to burndown the church. It was finally agreed, quite unanimously, that oldPeter should be unceremoniously ousted from his place in the pulpitwhich he had filled so many years.
As the week passed on, some of the older men of the congregation whohad friendly feelings toward their old companion and preacher talkedthe matter over among themselves, and afterward, with many of theirfellow-members, succeeded at last in gaining the general consent thatUncle Pete should be allowed a chance to explain himself, and givehis grounds and reasons for his astounding statement in regard towomankind. If he could show biblical authority for this, of coursenothing more could be said. But if he could not, then he must get downfrom the pulpit, and sit for the rest of his life on a back seat ofthe church. This proposition met with the more favor, because eventhose who were most indignant had an earnest curiosity to know whatthe old man would say for himself.
During all this time of angry discussion, good old Peter was quietlyand calmly cutting and hauling wood on the Little Mountain. His mindwas in a condition of great comfort and peace, for not only had hebeen able to rid himself, in his last sermon, of many of the hardthoughts concerning women that had been gathering themselves togetherfor years, but his absence from home had given him a holiday fromthe harassments of Aunt Rebecca's tongue, so that no new notions ofwoman's culpability had risen within him. He had dismissed the subjectaltogether, and had been thinking over a sermon regarding baptism,which he thought he could make convincing to certain of the youngermembers of his congregation.
He arrived at home very late on Saturday night, and retired to hissimple couch without knowing anything of the terrible storm which hadbeen gathering through the week, and which was to burst upon him onthe morrow. But the next morning, long before church time, hereceived warning enough of what was going to happen. Individuals anddeputations gathered in and about his cabin--some to tell him all thathad been said and done; some to inform him what was expected of him;some to stand about and look at him; some to scold; some to denounce;but, alas! not one to encourage; nor one to call him "Brudder Pete,"that Sunday appellation dear to his ears. But the old man possessed astubborn soul, not easily to be frightened.
"Wot I says in de pulpit," he remarked, "I'll 'splain in de pulpit,an' you all ud better git 'long to de chu'ch, an' when de time fur desarvice come, I'll be dar."
This advice was not promptly acted upon, but in the course of half anhour nearly all the villagers and loungers had gone off to the churchin the woods; and when Uncle Peter had put on his high black hat,somewhat battered, but still sufficiently clerical looking for thatcongregation, and had given something of a polish to his cowhideshoes, he betook himself by the accustomed path to the log buildingwhere he had so often held forth to his people. As soon as he enteredthe church he was formally instructed by a committee of the leadingmembers that before he began to open the services, he must make itplain to the congregation that what he had said on the precedingSunday about every woman being possessed by seven devils was Scripturetruth, and not mere wicked nonsense out of his own brain. If he couldnot do that, they wanted no more praying or preaching from him.
Uncle Peter made no answer, but, ascending the little pulpit, he puthis hat on the bench behind him where it was used to repose, took outhis red cotton handkerchief and blew his nose in his accustomed way,and looked about him. The house was crowded. Even Aunt Rebecca wasthere.
After a deliberate survey of his audience, the preacher spoke:"Brev'eren an' sisters, I see afore me Brudder Bill Hines, who kinread de Bible, an' has got one. Ain't dat so, Brudder?"
Bill Hines having nodded and modestly grunted assent, the preachercontinued. "An' dars' Ann' Priscilla's boy, Jake, who ain't a brudderyit, though he's plenty old 'nuf, min', I tell ye; an' he kin read deBible, fus' rate, an' has read it ter me ober an' ober ag'in. Ain'tdat so, Jake?"
Jake grinned, nodded, and hung his head, very uncomfortable at beingthus publicly pointed out.
"An' dar's good ole Aun' Patty, who knows more Scripter dan ennybuddyh'yar, havin' been teached by de little gals from Kunnel Jasper's an'by dere mudders afore 'em. I reckin she know' de hull Bible straightfroo, from de Garden of Eden to de New Jerus'lum. An' dar are uddersh'yar who knows de Scripters, some one part an' some anudder. Now Iaxes ebery one ob you all wot know de Scripters ef he don' 'memberhow de Bible tells how our Lor' when he was on dis yearth cas' sebendebbils out o' Mary Magdalum?"
A murmur of assent came from the congregation, Most of them rememberedthat.
"But did enny ob you ebber read, or hab read to you, dat he ebber cas''em out o' enny udder woman?"
Negative grunts and shakes of the head signified that nobody had everheard of this.
"Well, den," said the preacher, gazing blandly around, "all de udderwomen got 'em yit."
A deep silence fell upon the assembly, and in a few moments an elderlymember arose. "Brudder Pete," he said, "I reckin you mought as wellgib out de hyme."
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