Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1868-11-14

this sermon was repc.itioh Of poor plati-
tudes; end trucking to public opinion;
which showed q weak and little mind.
After service the President stopped mo-
ment until the preacher came forward, and
when the greetings were over he said, kindly:
my sister wrote me that Richard Forbes
was preaching here, but did not connect
the name with the memory of my former
pupil"
"Your sister !" said the embarrassed young
man. 81 was not aware that l had ever had
the honor of preaching before such a hearer.
You do not mean to say that The woman
with whom you entered is your sister 2"
"And why not ?" 1t is now Prof. C.'s turn
to look surprised.
Sure enough, why not What did he
know against the woman of whom all had
n"speaking evil"for the last three months.
He had taken these cruel surmises for grant
ed, and had been so far Influenced by the
scandal that he had failed to call upon the
stranger. A sense of the improperly and
guilt of his conduct rushed across his mind
suppose the woman was really the dis.
graced and gHity being that public opinion
the public opinion of the village claimed,
was it not his duty to save sinners Christ
came, mot to call the righteous, but sinnerS
to repentance ~ How had he fulfilled his
missions And yet he stood in his pulpit
and claimed to he follower of the meek
and lowly Savior.
"There is something about this matter that
I cannot understand" said Prof c., as he
scanned the changing coGntenance of the
young preacher. You do not mean to say
that my sister has been o resident of your
place and listener to your preaching for
three months, without your calling upon herI
The duties of preacher are surely better
defined"
but cid not dare and here the poor
man stammered and stopped; for he could
not excuse hiwself without exposing the
gossip of the congregation.
"Did not dare to call on my sister, the
widow of General Finch ?'-and the tinge
of contempt mingled with the look Of sur.
prise aud indignation with which he con.
templated the abashed and crest fallen Young
preacher.
After reaching his sisters residence, lac
questioned her in regard to the matter but
here he was again batiled. She could only
tell him that, since her residence in the
place, she had been "let Glone," in the full
! acceptance of the term. Determined to un.
derstand .he wherefore of such proceeding
he again demanded an explanation of the
minister, who was finally compelled to admit
that he had supposed, frem the gossip Of
his church members, that the woman was
very outcast from society, and that there
had been talk of driving her from the place
"She will not care to remain" said the
! Professor "but before she goes, shall sif
this matter thoroughly :" and so he did
/ gathering up link by link, the whole chain
| of scandal until he came to Mrs Lawrence
! 10 In 70 II iprl pl
/ Thomas was at last obliged to confess that
Mrs. Lawrence had merely shrugged hel
| shoulders and curled her lip, when asked
her opinion of her new neighbor.
"Ah, indeed :" was Mrs. Lawrencc's re
! joiuder. II remember of thinking she could
not be much Of lady, as she wore faded
delaine and did her own washing!"
| And there the matter rested Mrs Law
renee, with a look and shrug OF the shoul
ders, and Mrs. Thomas by jealous surmises
had caused sorrow and pain TO an innocen
person-they had, in fact, stolen the g,ot
name of one who had never injured them
and but for the timely appearance of he
brother, the consequences might have still
been more serious.
The Professor preached the following Sun
day, and at the conclusion of the discours
he repeated the tale of wrong, adding, "HaC
this woman really been poor and friendless
as supposed, what would the end have been
Deprived of her good name, and in conse
quence, of all means of earning livelihood
she would doubtless have been discourage,
and respondent, and sunk down to the gray
q victim of the scandal of those falsely call
ing themselves Christians; and you, in tn
sight of God, would not only have beel
classed among liars, but murderers."