Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1869-12-02
Miscellaneous.
Prom ihv watehman ani Eefcytor
Payson Ireland and his Righthand Man

Rev. Daniel Ireland was pastor Of
church of >iN hunlrci members. and
nec,lri riSithasl sI2n. He had four
deacon> to help him. good. reliable
mea in their place. hut no one ofihem,
or All of them together. had the gift
of hppciuinrs- - won lrrfnlly develop
Ell a. had Capt. Isaiah Phillips.
Ih> man Was an original Grcat-hear:
nataS nan rar'9s. God had evidently
forc-ordalned him 10 be minister ;
right hand man-as he himself would
have said. 10 be the right-hand man Of
Rev Daniel Ireland. a, 10 the last. il
must be owned that at any rate be had
the qualifications which warranted some
such special view of his mission.
First. Capt. Phillips was Christian :;
secondly, lie WAS a member of the
church thirdly. he was a man of wealth
and influence in the community where
he lived fourthlv. he was man OF
great size aud strength filthy, he had
mind which. though very little cult
waited. was a. strong as his body sixth
his mind when necessary and seventh
Is, >tylc OF saying things that was 50
unlike anybody elsr's as 10 be beyond
all laws OF classification.
Enthusiastically, Capt. Phillips new
er stood in the line OF promotlon-not
because he could not, but because he
would not doubtless knowing py in
spiration that he might work better
outside the incumbrance OF church IT,
ties.
In short, Isaiah Phillips was like the
prophets among the chief priests and
Leyites under the Old law. anointed ,
but not ordained and acted for the
church militant under no regular orders.
but a sort of privileged sharp-shoot-
er. left TO choose his own point of adj
vantage. according % the emergencies
Of the service.
One of the '.emergeneies" intro luces
him 10 our story in the fulness
Of his locks.
The church was rent by a violent
dissension on the matter of.'iree seats.
that threatened to disrupt the boiy en-
tirely. and expel good larson Ireland
from the settlement. An aristocratic
from the privileges Of the sanctuary,
or on carrying through certain favor
ite measures of theirs which would IN
cvitably produce that result, whether
they intended it or not. The democratic
remainder opposed them with zea
that had better plea of right, 10 be
sure. but which was equally fuastful N
/ hard words and unchristianlike demon
! strations.
For a long time the captain kept out
of the thick Of the tight. His time had
not come. He lived six miles away,
but that was not the reason why ht
kept aloof. The road was good and
tolerably straight. and there was bu
one hill to 90 over and every Sunda.
with all his household by him, he ''ros'
in the east" four hours behind the sur
aid quite as punctual.
During all the perioi of that unhal,
py dispute, Parson Ireland counted
the inevitable appearing Of brothe
Phillips stout span of horses and grea
family wagon over the brow OF the hil
at half-past ten o'clock on Sunday morn
ing by far the most cheering sight u
the week.
The distance from the meeting hous
was Of little ace unit to the captain, 81
often had he travelled it over. His tai
dy participation in the parish quarre
for such it was-was chiefly becaus
he saw no chance at present to say
do anything to any body's advantage
Ills position was understood, and b
hal given his advice at the outset. bu
it had not b en- taken, and he felt II
clned to let the difficulty alone. unit
like Jephthah. he was sent for or sa
some prospect Of doing good BY inteI
, fering.
Meantime, his visits to the minister
were frequen.-had always been,
\ \ fact-and no one had any business
say (if any one did say it) that
/ made his calls now from any party ID
tive,