The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1846-03-07
Miscellaneous.
r U G RIA F F L e s
BY FANNY FORESTER.

testers; lne sovereign people on TINS side the
water have revived the fashion, with several
other useful things dug up from the rubbish
ofthe past. Every circle constituting court,
every individual of which is king, has its
queer genius" and every little village has
its privileged quizzer, its regular installed
ester. 1t is this important parsonage who
goes about at night changing signs, leaving
the BARRIERS pole at the door of the merchant
most renowned for shaving, putting "turning"
on the county SuTogates office, and "fancy
goods on the young ladies' seminary. The
same enterprising gentleman pastes little
slip ofwhite paper overthe M when the hand
bills announce that there is to be mass
meeting sews up the top of his bed-fellow's
hose, rings door bells on his way home from
pleasant spree at midnight, and initiates
most successfully the inarticuate language of
every animal, from the TREMENDOUSLY vain
crow of the novice rooster up to the roar of
the infurlated bull oh what a terror the hui
NOR loving wight is to adventurous chill
dren and housemads in search of recreation!
We are not without our Jester at Alder
brook ofcourse-as well dispense with hot
coffee and muffin at breakfast Ruggles
Rallies, n gentleman who ofiiciates in the ca
paclyOt mirth maker general to their majes-
ties the sovereign people ofAlderbrook, is
fat jolly parsonage, with n peculiar funny
ms peculiar and quite funny of putting up
his feet or hands when he sits. There is a
laugh nestled i'll every curve of his big ugly
fingers whether they exercise their muscles
in expressive gestures, or lay themselves a
way to rest on his llnee &theknoe itselfcrooks
Il little differently from any other mortal knee,
so that you mechanically pinch your lips to-
gether when you look at it to prevent an I'M
scemly explosion Some say Rug Rallies
never does any harm with his mischief while
others as decidedly declare that such doings
never come to any good. If our Jester really
occupies the innocent state of betweenity as
cribed to him, he is better off than most of
us. do not known whether the sin of neg
Letting to do good finds fair offset in the vir-
tue of neglecting to do evil, but | fancy that
it is rather difficult to find n nearer balancing
of accounts. So Rug Rallies, after all, is not
q man to be despised, though his calling be
not of the highest order If our Jester would
but continue his pranks to undignified people
and to six days, he would be rather more pop
ular with the respectables, but proprety Tor
rather tact,)is one ofthe things,he lacks the &c
mus for. SO he sometimes exposes himself
to the severity of deacon Pnlmer's love-pats
which he receives with all due humility. |
have in my memory now an occasion of this
kind. There was n time when some of us
wearied of our good old pastor Brown, and
desired something more modern than his pi-
Gus, homely simplicity. Parson Brown eXer-
csed the law oflove entirely, and this was
made to appear a crime by some uneasy,splr-
its who thought the go ahead system might
be made to operate in the church at Alder
brook as in the church and world elsewhere.
So our wisely gentle pastor was pushed out
of the place that he had occupied since AL
derbrool was Il forest, to make room for
successor. A more suitable man was the
first cry but any thing for change soon be-
came the rule ofaction, though it was not
exactly bodied in words; so in reality the new
pastor owed his entire popularity TO being, as
deacon Palmer ventured to whisper n "new
broom" A tall, stiff, formal man, with a loud
monotonous voice, and n manner of tnged
pomposity and severity came among us,to ed
ity our elders with abstruse theories and
throw shadow on the hearts of us little chill
dren, who had been fed by lessons of love
from his predecessor. do not know how
the congregation at large looked upon the
new pastor, but the children and Rug Raj
Hes chung with all their hearts, to the old
regime, and hated most cordially "sour pastor
Lawsley." Besides, the Browns were al
most broken-hearted at the indignity done
them; to say nothing of the respectable living
which thew had lost, thus throwing them I'M
eXpectedly upon the slender resources of I'M
initiated money makers And who should pity
them pray,if we did not? And how should we
ever expect pardon for our ingratitude if we
could find il in our hearts to take kindly to
one we believed their enemy? We could not,
and we would not, and so there was nothing
left us but to wage an uncompromising war
with parson Lawsley. To be sure it was lit
tie that we children could do, but get tired
and rustic our dresses and rattle our feet in
church; but Rug Rallies was a man of means.
Many were the lettered strips of board which
came to label the parsonage in the night time
now proclaming there was ''pig iron" within
and now embarrassing done" by the mas
ter ofthe mansion;but still the Rev. Mr. Laws
ley walked with the same air of consequence
up and down the village sidewalk, till Rug
Rallies wished himself fy,and thought ver-
highly ofnose tickling. Sometimes he
managed to pin strips of paper to the Rev.
gentleman coat with rather gay scraps of
songs upon them; but these were soon re-
moved, and strange to say, without any abate-
ment of dignity.
Our church is an old fashioned one, with
good fat weathercock THAT wheezes when
the wind blows as though il had the asthma)
upon the beliy, and big plain glass windows
gulltess of shutters, commanding q view of
the whole village and the farm houses upon
us skirts. There is large gallery extending
all around the inside, the front of which is oc-
cupled by n very fine toned organ,( purchased
III honor ofthe new pastor,) and a half-score
OF vocalists and the back Just behind the pull
PIT by the "boys and loafers." Among this
m notified company Rug Raffles regns king
!, that he exactly classes himself with Ell
IInner, but other people do it for him.
Inc respectable call him loafer, and the
boys are very sure he belongs to them. One
morning parson Lawsley walked into the pull
pit as usual, read portion of scripture and