The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1827-11-21
From the Devices Eng Gazette.
SINGULAR CURATE.

From the Devices Eng Gazette.
SINGULAR CURATE.
The economy and parsimony of the Rev.
Morgan Jones, late curate of Blewberry, In
! Berkshire, Eng. were almost beyond cred
/ Utility, he having outdone, in many lnstan-
ces, the celebrated Elves, of Marcham.-
For many of the last years of his Ministe-
rial labors he had no servant to attend any
of his domestic concerns and he never
had even the assistance of female within
bis doors for the last twelve years the Of
fees ofhousemaid, chambermaid, cook, and
scullion, and even most part OF bis washing
and mendi1g, were performed by himself ::
he has seen frequently known to beg
needles and thread at some of the farm
houses, to tack together his tattercd gar
ments, at which, from practice he had be-
come. very expert. He was curate OF Blew
berry upwards of forty-threa years and, It
will scarcely be credited, that the same
lat and coat served him for his everyday
dress, during the whole of that period
The hrim of the hat had on one side (by so
much handling) been worn quite off to the
crown, but on coming one day from the
hamlet of Upton across the fields, he lucki-
ly met with left-of hat, stuck up for a
searecrow. He Immediately secured the
prize, and with some tar Irvine, subtitutcd
as thread, and piece Of the brim, quite re-
paired the deficiencies of his beloved old
one, and ever after wore it in common, al
though the oil one was of russell brown,
and the new brim nearly as black as jet.
Ills coat, when he first came from Ashton
Keys, in l 81, was a surtout coat much the
worse for wear; after some time he had it
turned inside out, and made up into a com
mon, one. -Mbe4GEGsrrr ji it tAeGaeeHaA r6egtneF
with MS own hands at length pieces fell
out and were lost, and as fast as be found
1T necessary, he cut pieces off the tail to
make good the upper part, until the coat
was reduced to a Jacket, stuck about with
patches of his own applying. In this hat,
and coat, when at home on working days,
he was constantly decorated, but he never
wore it abroad, or before strangers, except
he forgot himself, as he several times had
been much vexed at the ridicuie his gro
tesdue appearance had excited when seen
by those with whom he was not much ac-
quainted. This extraordinary coat Cor
more properly Jacket is now in the posses
sion OF one of the parishloners, and priced
as great curiosity. His stockings we're
washed and mended by himself, and some
OF them had scarcely vestige of the orig
mai worsted. lie had great store of new
shirts which had never been worn; but for
many years his stock became reduced to
one IN use; his parsimony would not PER
mt him to have this washed more than
once IN Two or three months, for which he
reluctantly paid poor woman 4d He al
ways slept without his shirt, that it might
not want washing too often, and by that
means be worn out and he always went
without one while it was washed, and very
at other times. This solitary
shirt he mended himself, and as fast as It I
required to be patched in the body, he in
genlously supplied it by cutting offthe tail
but as nothing will last for ever, by this !
constant clipping it unfortunately became
too short to reach down to his small clothes. |
This OF course was a sad disaster, and /
there was some fear lest some of the new
ones must be brought in use; but after I
iIllgent search, he fortunately found in one /
d his drawers the top pant of shirt with |
irlll on, which had probably lain by ever
since his youthful and more gay DAYS.
This piece was, with his usual saracitv. 7
tackled by him on the tail of the old one.
with the frlll downwards, and was thus
worn by him until the day before he left
Blewberry. Latterly, his memory became
impaired, and he several times foroot TO
change his dress, and has more than once
been seen at the burial of corpse, dressed
n this ludierous and curious manner, with
a button on any part of his clothes,
'nt tied together in various parts with /.
trngs; and III this state he has. by stran-
yers, been mistaken for a beggar and
rarely escaped being offered their charity.
His diet was as singular as his dress. for
e cooked his pot only once n week, which
yas always on Sunday. For his subsistence
e purchased but three articles (which he
ways denominated as "two necessares
nd luxury'); the necessaries, bread and
aeon the luxury, tea. For many wears
is weekly allowance of bread was half a
allon per week and in the fruit season,
hen his garden produced, or when he
nee or twice week procured meal at
is neighbors, his half gallon lasted him
ny or two of the following week; SO that
tive weeks he often had no more than
ur half-gallon loaves. He was equally
Dstemlous in his other two articles. He !
equently ate with his pensioners vet ?
r the last ten years there was hut 4 SOL
ar instance of person eating with him
return, and that particular friend. who Z
ltained only bit Of bread with much DIFF
guilty and Importantly. For the last IF
ZEN years, there was never within his doors {