Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1842-03-17

each one trying to crown her neighbor !;
and before they closed the discussion Mr..
Brush'S character was annihilaed.
The tca-parIy at Mrs. Meeks' btoke up
at late hour; and each one went home
with visible marks Of wonder and sur
prise (as o the folly Of sinners !)depic'ed
on her countenance.
When Mrs. Meeks' parlor was entirely
cleared, and all was quiet, she sat down bee
fore the fire with her respectable husband,
| Mr.. john Meeks. She was unusually ta-
citurn for her, and Mr.. Meeks seeing it, liz
quired the cause.
'Oh nothing-no,hing,' said Mrs. Meeks
starting up suddenly that is. nothing Of
importance. I was only thinking
| so I perceived said Mr.. Meeks; 'you
seemed to be quite lost in thought
ITS very strange, aint it? said Mrs.
Meeks, elancing round to her husband.
Very strangeP inquired Mr.. Meeks,
looking up in Amusement whats very
stranger
why Mr.. Brush
'What Of Mr.. Brush 2
Why, he drinks! exclaimed Mrs.
Meeks.
mr.. Brush drinks = exclaimed Mr..
Meeks, with astonishmentj mir. Brush
drinks who has been circulating tina, SLAM
der
Must mt tell said Mrs. Meeks; but
I believe it, and great many Others be-
Iieve it and some have observed his in-
toxication while in the pulpit; and Tom
Noakes see him get liquor at Mr.. Tapes
store and he has been seen in the tavern
and other places! ANY thing but drum
ken clergyman"
"A base slander!' said Mr.. Meeks
raising up and walking the floor; "a base
tea table Islander. Fine business for pack
of women TO be engaged in Could not
your company fluid any better employ
ment =
well, we'll y replied Mrs. Meeks, with
an ironical smile, don't believe il keep n
drunken clergyman! I've cleared my con-
cience, and that's enough. | shan't say
any thing more about it. You amt CONF
PEELED to believe me. Go on your own
way
when Mrs. Meeks closed the last sem
tencc, she rose up and threw herself out
of the room as If the ten Furies impeIled
her; and thus put an end to the CONVERSE
ton.
Mrs. Mary Brown, Mrs. Lucinda Dow,
and the other ladies who were present
when Miss Polly Sly made her Develop
ment, hurried h?%s.!s and told their hus-
bands and when the sun rose next NOR
ming, Stokeville was ringing from one end
to the other with the awful tale that Par
son Brush was drunknrd And not on
" that, but he had been drunkard from
the time he first came to Stokeville. And
some said they had heard OF his intemper-
ance even before that he had always been
intoxicated in the pulpit; and that his best
discourses were delivered when under the
influence Of liquor, there was now no doubt.
There were more than an hundred per-
sons to be found who recollected to have
seen him in state of unnatural excite
ment; though as they said, they did
not suspect any thing at the time Every
little fit Of sickness with which the Parson
had been visited during his sojourn at the
village was attributed to drink; and there
was determination with man, woman, and
child, TO dismiss him forthwith, even with
out the formali.y Of a trial.
Parsom Brush, as may be anticipated,
could not get a hearing in this small macl-
strom Of excitement. He was condemned
BY all Stokeville; and what could he do
single-handed with the multitude against
him : He demanded a trial before an
ecclesiastical tribunal, that he might ex-
culpa,e himself; but his church refused
him the privilege; its members declaring
that his usefulness was destroyed, guilty or
innocent; and that 'clergymen ought to
be above suspicion He protected him
self against such arbitrary proceedings, but
his circumstances we're Of no avail. lie
was dismissed and thus ended the labors
Of Parson Brush in Stokeville, after resi-
dencc Of eight months and fourteen days;
and he departed with as many courses Oh
his head, as there had heed blessings show
ered upon him at his arrival.
When the public mind had settled down,
the people began to reflect upon what they
had done. They inquired into the chargs
es which had been alledged against Mr..
Brush, and found them totally without
foundation in truth. The gin which Tom
Noakes declared he saw Mr.. Brush pnr-
chase at Mr.. Tapes store was found to
have been used for house medicine, and all
the other sights and cOnjectures we're in
like manner accounted for. Not solita-
nv charge was substantia,ed, and not an in-
diyiduaI in Stokeville could be found who
was not convinced that ParsOn Brush had
been dismissed for crimes Of which he was
mover guilty.
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