The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-03-21

by MATTE BAK Err.

Bible with expressions like this, plain ant
unmeaning to the thoughtless reader, bu
fraught with weight to those who rea'
with care.
l had always admired the character o
Paul as gentleman, had been filled will
the deepest respect for his noble frmnes
as christian, and with pity for his suf
ferings as martyr. Now. when l reat
this before almost unnoticed and half for
gotten sentence, laid down my Bibl,
with new feeling toward this nobl'
apostle-a sympathy for his trials as ,
tenant.
And so you lived two whole years il
your own hired house, did you, Paul
And came out alive at the end ? Well,
congratulate you. Nay, more, feel tha
there is hope in our case.
l wonder what kind of landlord Pau
had,whether or no he was fat, or pompou'
or lordly; strong in the opinion that he
was letting the house very cheaply, oil
continually assuring poor Paul that Peter
somebody over the way, would have paid
fifty slater more year, but that he (the
landlord), only let it to him (PauD SC
cheaply, because he felt so especially
friendly towards him, etc., etc. And il
Paul took advantage ofthese very friend.
ly expressions, and suggested this and
that necessary repair, if the said landlord
buttoned up his overcoat, or rather, grid.
ed up his lions, which was the proper
thing to do in those days, and muttered
something about hard times, and not a
denarious to spare for repairs, as he took
his way out. Or what is just as bad, il
he were seized with & convenient fit Of
deafness, and answered Paul's suggestions
of repairs by some trivial remarks about
the weather, and fears that the olive crop
would be failure, or the grass would
mildew. Or if Paul said boldly, 81 be-
seech thee, oh Demas, Tor Eubulus, or
Linus, or some other us), that thou do
thy diligence to furnish new staples for
the window blinds, for they are departed. "
| wonder if the said Demas responded
after the manner of modern landlords,
OCt oOllC btOub WIN auu Pub III hSW
ones if you are not satisfied
What ever possessed us to sell our nice,
warm and convenient house, and trust our
selves to the tender mercies of the world,
(see Proverbs II, 10, last clause), is a
profound mystery to me. But We have
been and gone ana done 1t, ami now
where are we? Echo answers, sh;vering.
where"
| suppose the climate of Rome was
such that one could endure oosely built
house if such an one he chanced to occupy.
but our New England winters are ex.
tremely suggestive of snug-built ones
Open doors and windows are charming in
summer, but wide cracks around them
are anything but delightful in winter. A
snow drift is pure graceful object to
contemplate if your standpoint is snu 6
armchair pardon the incongruity) in a
warm room, and the snow-drift is outside /;
but if, instead, the pure graceful object
has insinuated itself, little by little,
through the cracks of your window, over
night, and snow lies audaciously the whole
length of it as well as spread over quite
range Of carpet, your contemplations are
liable to be anything but pleasant, es-
pecially if the thermometer is at zero, the
wood green, and kindlings forgotten last
night.
That saucy scamp, Jack Frost, has a
terrible way of playing the mischief with
tap for tha aalla, Ian.
tend under the main part of the house,
and the walls heavc, plastering falls in an
extremely wholesale fashion, and the wall
paper is adorned with wonderful variety
Of cracks, up and down, sidcwise and
corner-wise, and every other way imagni-
able. Said a gentleman who once lived
in this house, when he heard that we had
hired it, IL know about how you will feel
next spring. certain sense Of insecurity,
as though you might at any time be ar
rested for trespassing on your neighber's
land" Prophetic words Even now in
January,thc northeast corner of the house
is heaved up, and the northwest slants
down with decided inclination towards
neighbor Brow's garden. The front door
won't open, and the side door won't shut,
and every other door in the house has
hitch, or bang, or a twist, peculiar to
itself. Last week the parlor door only
came open after series Of the most ex-
hausting pulls; this week it pops open
every time any one passes by, giving one
the impression that the parlor was sud-
denly inspired with something to say, and
had opened it's mouth for that purpose.
| confess to weakness for good,
warm, light cellar in winter. When the
head Of the family said in the fall "The
cellar must be brickcd," | waxed wroth,
at will make it dark said |.
Light lamp when you 60 down."
said he.
"But it won't freeze if you don't bank
it up" urged.
81 know BETTER" said this wise man,
going off into such statistics of holes in
the wall in this place, and cracks in
that place, and stones heaved out in the
other place, the result of his investiga-
tions, that L, who hadn't investigated,
was iain to hold my peace, aud the cellar
was duly banked, high and WIDE and very
dls6guring
"Sure ma am" said Bridget, coming
up with the onions for dinner,i in the midst
of our last cold snap "and what's afther
ailin the inyans ?"
| exhamined. Spite of the banking,
Jack Frost had entered and our barrel of
onions was spoiled. The potatoes were
nipped and grew sweet and sickish the
eggs iroze into the brine, and the apples,
when thawed out, were soft and worth
less.
Then oh the lack Of cupboards and
closets in hired house "a place for
everything aud everything is surely
there, for ouT one cupboard is forced to
contain everything, from the china tea
set to the grease-kettle, and in our one
diminutive closet, is lovingly clustered
the whole family wardrobe. The head
of the family looks black enough, when,