The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-02-01
What Peter Said.

living in the west Of Ireland, and had his
residence in the village of Crossmolina
at the foot of Mount Nephon, in the
county of Maye. He was very poor.
though rcputed one Of the best preachers in
that rude section of the country. With
an accomplished lady for his wife and a
numerous family of small children to
maintain in a style bcfitting clergyman
of the established church, his income was
only seyenty-fve pounds a year. No
wonder, then, that the good man was al
ways in difficult circumstances, and al
most never out Of debt. At the time Of
which I write, he owed considerable
sums of money to his tailor, butcher
and baker, who almost every day might
have been seen dunning the poor priest,
even at the very door Of his little church.
TO all Of this class the poor curate made
the same apology, when he had not the
money to meet the demand, wait
few days, have patience with me, and III
soon pay you all" One Sabbath morning,
about 10 o'clock, two proud and fash
ionably attired gentlemen called at the
parsonage to wait over Sunday, and hear
one Of his sermons on Salvation by Grace,
which had been announced some time
before in the weekly newspapers. One
Of these gentlemen was Squire Balder,
a wealthy landlord of Mayo the other
a Scotch merchant, from the town Of
Glasgow, then on visit TO his friend
Poor Parson Milroy was ill-prepared to
entertain guests so distinguished, with so
little time to provide. Hastily calling
his man of all works, Jack Mulroony,
astalwart, thick witted ignoramus, he
bade him hasten to the house of Peter
Purcell the butcher, and beg of him to
send shoulder of mutton and q joint of
good roasting beef for the occasion,
stating the necessity, and assuring him
that his master would certainly pay all
in a few days.
The church was that day unusually
crowded; the two strangers in the minis
ter's pew, near the reading desk and the
whole congregation profoundly interested
in the discourse.
The Parson had his own peculiar style
of oratory; he put questions, as if it were
W tllC dItICuNC. anu tlNCl t GulldDlC
pause; answered them from some clear,
convincing text of Scripture. He was
dealing with his subject in this way
when the clown Jack Mulroony entered
the church door, advanced a few steps up
the aisle, and there stood, hare-skin cap
and basket in hand, with mouth wide
open, and eyes fairly starting out of their
sockets The preacher was so, COM
pletoly filed with his subject, that he
did not observe his servant, though
every eye in the congregation had been
turned to him. The preacher went on
thus: " What did David say" and he
paused before quoting from the Psalmist.
What did Paul say in his epistle to the
Galatians? 2" pause the second, and the
passage from Galatians was recited. But
as if to cap the climax in the way Of
proof he asked with grave emphasis,
looking towards the door, "What did
Peter say ?" " BY jabors, Grips, your
reverence, he said that you would not
get another mouthful until you paid him
all you owed-fve pounds ten and six
pencc,-over the nail" and swinging his
basket aloft to let the man OF God see
that it was empty, the clown straddled
out Of the church, with the satisfaction
no doubt, that he had done his duty
The effect was amazing-some Uttered,
others laughed right out; the two gen
tlemen stood up in their pew, to get a
better look at the servant as he was re-
tiring, while the poor ParsOn, perpleXod
and dumfounded, lost the thread Of his
discourse and actually had to sit down in
his pulpit. After going home the
strangers begged Of the minister to give
an explanation Of this ludicrous inter
ruption. He did so--with such simplicity
and grace, thatthe kind-hearted Scotch
man gave him fifty guineas to pay his
small debts of honor, while the wealthy
Mr.. Balder presented him with check
on the Bank Of Ireland for one hundred
pounds,
The clown Jack Mulroony, still re-
tanned his place at the parsonage, but was
ever after known in the parish by the
nickname of . Fiye-pound-ten."