Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1851-12-31

70 illuminate It's margins with gratultou
portraiture.
The clergyman is entitled to our frs
;; attention. This is the first year of hi
r ministry. Heis a stray slip of Virgin
e aristocracy, who has found scope for hi
r enthusiasm of religious sentiment, ant
!, opportunity for his generosity Of fself-denial
in circuit preaching through mountain
range of three hundred miles compass
; which he must traverse once every month
e preaching, on an average, "once every day
, and twice on Sundays" He is marked by
r better education, better manners, and more
refinement than the men among whom be
ministered but he subdues his tastes,
and conforms his general demeanor, to
the coarse conditions of his work, with all
the devotion, but, happily, none of the
pretcnce, of martyr. In good truth, he
is very much out of place in this rude
region, except for The rare spirits, one in
hundred or thousand, who, perchancc,
may apprehend him. But he came among
us in such singleness of heart and cordial
devotedness of spirit, that he is as much
disguised, to selfish and superficial people,
as prince in temporary banishment. And
he would have it so, for he wants the dis
cipline of such duty; and the concealinent
of his accustomed style of life is necessary
to the free working of the experiment.
The congregation felt that indefnablc
something in him which distinguishes the
gcntlemanbred, but missing all the pretencc
and mannerism which, in their idea,
marked it, they generally accepted him at
his own modest estimate, and the secret Of
his family and fortune escaped the gossips.
He accepted his hundred dollars a year,
made up by some thirty little congrega-
tions, as composcdly as if he needed such
a pittance, and he took the hospitalities of
the circuit as contcntedly as if their best
was something quite agreeable to him.
Not unfrequently the position Of the
preacher, in this rugged region, is matter
of ambitious aspiration, Notwithstanding
the rudeness of the people and the hard
ness Of the work for some of our noun
tain clergy are the coarsest men within
the boundaries of the brotherhood but
oft,-, 80, ofteI; The e sci, ssccfig,iee is sacrifice
Of rich sensibilities and dedication of fine
talents to the most repugnant forms of
duty. Such was the person, and such the
aptitude to his work, of our friend, the
Rev. George Ashleigh. It were well for
our new world if the ministerial office we're
generally filed by such men as he
Among the women belonging to this So
ciety, there were two girls, whose charac-
ters were brought well enough to the sur
face by the events of my story to allow the
hope of adequate presentment.
Nancy Barton's general character was
strength and style. Her religious impul-
scs were very active, her social sentiments
free and strong, and her selfish feelings,
also, sharp and importunate. She was
defective in imagination proper, but the
life Of passion warmed and strengthened 5
her thoughts into grandeur, and her verbal
'loquence was of the highest tone cen I
'eivable in a woman destitute of literature s
md the culture of refined companionship $
The custom of the church admitted of &c. Il
male participation in the public deyotions, c
md Nancy found scope in stormy elo- t
iuence Of prayer and exhortation, for tai '
,nts that had no match in such use within =
he circuit Of hundred miles. I
She was strongly rather than hand f
omely made. There was firmness, t
Eeight, and force, with such elegance as s.
'elong to them, in her make and manner, +
bat kindled admiration, unmi1ed, howev- g
r, with tenderness and affection. Her fl
ace, well fitted for the elocution of her J
trong thoughts and burning words, was u
trikingly brilliant, and even handsome a,
nough, without being quite agreeable, or o.
4 any fashion fascinating. 1t turned, it b
lay be, too fully and boldly to ones gaze; q,
confessed, perhaps, too much conscious IL.
ess, ,and too much of the purpose of its own az
crking, even in the rapture of its excite is
ent; for there was little of that system :,
its passion which eorresponded to the &C
III elaborateness Of her robust oratory. cl
he trouble was, that, while her rhapsodies "
ere in the vein Of inspiration, the deliv- B
~ latruded the feeling Of much study th
nd large practice with an aim. o,
Nancy was an orphan, and dependent Ell
" her support upon her industry OF the be
o'p'tallty of her church friends, as she I'll
leased to choose between those two sorts is
reliances. She compromised and mix ae
them as her tastes and purposes re- ia
nred. She made long visit the year lie
fore, to distant town in one or other of wi
ese characters, and had returned with no di
'ght advantage of travel and observation st,
ON the trip. A few weeks in the family BIZ
lawyer, who had lately Joined the tn
IL