Southern Mountaineers, The . allads, like those of most mountain dwellers,are somewhat weird and are written in the minor native character is a serious one. Nothing inter-ests a mountaineer audience so much as does a de-bate on some question of biblical interpretation ordoctrinal dispute; and where the Spirit of God ismoving on hearts, nothing holds the attention morefixedly than does a discussion of some point of Chris-tian duty. The one book that is read in the Appa-lachians more than all others combined is the Bible,and many readers have an intimate acquaintance withits contents. Th
Southern Mountaineers, The . allads, like those of most mountain dwellers,are somewhat weird and are written in the minor native character is a serious one. Nothing inter-ests a mountaineer audience so much as does a de-bate on some question of biblical interpretation ordoctrinal dispute; and where the Spirit of God ismoving on hearts, nothing holds the attention morefixedly than does a discussion of some point of Chris-tian duty. The one book that is read in the Appa-lachians more than all others combined is the Bible,and many readers have an intimate acquaintance withits contents. The mountaineer, then, has a strong religious na-ture. Too often, as everywhere else, this religiousnature is dwarfed and misshapen by environment andnatural depravity; but, though stunted and deformed,it often, by many a token that is recognized by thequick vision of sympathetic lovers of souls, proclaimsits latent strength and future possibilities. There isalways something responsive to appeal to, in the manof the ffi APPALACHIAN POWER 169 The mountaineer lives the simple life in closetouch with nature in its varied manifestations. Fromnature, but yet more from thep fh^ Scripture, and perhaps principally from strong heredity, he has ac-quired an absolute faith in a personal, omnipotent, om-niscient, and omnipresent God, who has to do with himin all the good and ill that checker life. He be-lieves in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus as theSaviour of the world. He has no doubt that Jesuswill come to judge the quick and the dead; whilethe forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting are unquestioned tenets ofhis creed. Such a simple but powerful faith issuingfrom the mountains will some day remove moun-tains from before the onmarching American peo-ple. The mountaineer has a resolute and dauntless he wishes to do he will do without asking license. His will, in the absence of In Strong Will ,,- i- r ** worthier objects of con
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