Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1862-08-07
DIsAGREEABI,E PEOPLE

1t is disagreeable when vulgar fellow, whom
you hardly know, addresses you by your sur
name with great familiarity of manner. And
such person will take no hint that he is dis
greeabe-however stiff, and however formally
polite you may take pains to be to him. # is
disagreeable when persons with whom YOU have
no desire to be on terms of intimacy persist in
putting many questions to you as to your pri-
vate concerns, such as your annual income and
your expenditure, and the like. No doubt il is
both pleasant and profitable for people who are
not rich to compare notes on these matters
with some frank and hearty friend whose means
and outgolngs are much tile their own.
do not think of such a case-but of the pry-
ing curiosity of persons who have no right to
pry, and who, very generally, while diligently
prylng into your affairs, take special care not
20 take you into their confidence. Such people,
too, while making a pretence of revealing to
you all their secrets, will often tell very small
portion OF them, and make various statements
which you at the time are quite aware are not
true There are not many things more disa-
greeable than very stupid and i'll set old wo-
nan, who quite unaware what her opinion is
worth, expresses it with entire confidence upon
many subjects of which she knows nothing
whatever, and as to which she is wholly incap-
able of Judging. And the self-satisfed and
confident air with which she settles the most
iiificult questions, and pronounces unfavorable
Judgment upon people ten thousand times wiser
ale better than herself, is an insufferably iri-
tating phenomenon. 1t is singular fact, that
the people | have in view invariably combine
extreme ugliness with spitefulness and sef-con-
ceit. Such a person will make particular in
quiries OF you as to some near relative of your
own-and will add, with malicious and horri-
bly, ugly expression of face, that she is glad to
hpar how worry nnunh innnrOvpd vour ralativa
now is. She will repeat tn, sentence several
times, laying great emphasis and significance
upon the very much improved. Of course, the
notion conveyed to any stranger who may be
present is that your relative must be in former
days have been an extremely bad fellow The
fact probably is, that he has always, man and
boy, been particularly wel-behaved, and that
really you were not aware that he needed any
special mprovement-save, indeed in the
sense that every human being might be and
ought to be great deal better than he is.
THE DIsAGREEABLE RELIGIOUS MAN.
1t must be admitted, with great regret, that
people who make considerable profession of
religion have succeeded in making themselves
more thoroughly disagreeable than almost any
other human beings have ever made themselves.
You will find people who claim not merely to
be pious and Christian people, but to be very
much more pious and Christian than others,
who are extremely uncharitable, unamable, re-
pusive, stupid and narrow minded, and Intense
ly opinionated and selt-satisfed. We know,
from very high authority, that Christian
ought to Oe On eP;..la IN recommendation, Of tho
blessed faith he holds. But it is beyond ques-
tion that many people who profess to be Chris
tians are like grim gorgons' heads, warning
people off from having anything to do with
Christianity. Why should a middle-aged
clergyman walk abont the streets with sullen
and malignant scowl always on his face, which
at the best would be very ugly one? Why
should another walk with his nose in the air,
and his eyes rolled up till they seem likely to
roll out? And why should third be always
dabbled over with clammy perspiration, and
prolong all his vowels to twice the usual length
It is, indeed, most woful thing, that people
who evince spirit in every respect ihe direct
contrary of that of our Blessed Redeemer
should fancy that they are Christians of singu-
lar attainments; and it is more woful still, that
many young people should be scared away into
irreligion or unbelief by the wretched delusion
that these creatures, wickedly caricaturing
Christianity, are fairly representing it. have
beheld more deliberate malice, more lying and
cheating more back-biting and sandering, dem
ser stupidity, and greater selfsutficency, among
bad hearted and wrong-headed religionists
than among any other order OF human beings.
have known more malignity and SANDER con-
veyed in the form of prayer than should have
consigned any ordinary lbeller to the pillory.
l have known person who made evening pray
er means of infuriating and stabbing the SER
wants, under the pretext of confessng their sins.
Thou knowest, Lord how my servants have
been occupied this day :" with these words did
the blasphemous mockery of prayer begin one
Sunday evening in a house l could easily indi-
cate; and then the man under the pretext Of
addressing the Almighty, raked up all the
misdoings of the servants 0hey being present,
of course,) in fashion which, if he had ven-
tured on at any other time, would probably
have led some of them to assault him.-COun-
fru p0rsoo