Litchfield enquirer., 1872-02-01
VIRGINIA CLERGY lM THE oLDEM
 TIME.

The clerUmen of Virginia were in Q position 50 false and demoralizing, thatas q body they could not but become indo- lent and dissolute. The law gave them sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco per annum. which might be worth two hun slred pounds year, if the quality were high, and the incumbent lucky and. skill fal Tn selling it, or it might be worth sixty pounds a year if the quality were low and the crop sapeEabundant. They were fur ther allowed by law four hundred pounds of tobacco. or forty shiIlings, for preach Ing . funeral sermon; two hundred Po1nds Of tobacco for a marriage license, fifty for . marriage by banns. and a fee for baptism, which custom appears to have hxsd at a guinea for the rich, and hve shlLEngs for the others. To these reEenaes was added glebe sufficient for good farm, which a liberal vestry, we are sold. were sometimes kind enough to stock with one or two families of slaves The clergy, appointed without much re- gzEd to thelr fitness. were subjected to Hftie supervision The parishes were of great extenks stretching sometimes as much ss thirty miles along a river, and yst so thinly inhabited that they could sS=2rcsly furnish congregation and such was the scarcity of candidates. that a eomE1issaEy heslkated to suspend clergy man. even for notorious vice. because the F1xlzh might remain vacant for two or three yezrR
 Lhns c1rc1mstanced, each clergyman eesaxed aeeording to his disposition. A tss ot them. men of learning and yirtue. dAa tae1r dnty, and eked out their slender and changing incomes by taking pupils and if was these few who saved ciysliza- tann an the Colony Others. men of rude energy and executire force pushed the ealklvatsOn of their globes. bought more slaves missed more tobacco. sDeculafet3 sometimes in both, grew rich. reduced their paKlxh duty to the minimum. and performed that minimum with haste and foxmality. But the greater number lived as idle hangers-on of the vealthier houses s=sl<elng their EallOw idlers. the planters. to kill tune and run through their estates. not always dissnlutes but easy going, self tnanlgenk good men of the world.
 f wa@ not very uncommon for the clergy man of parish to be president of it's !oeSey club, and personally assist in the defa1s of the horse race, such as weighing the men aza timing the horses. It was eo1no1 for elergymen to ride after the hounds m fox hunting, and they were as @-~A-A t0 their stable door as any other men. The names of clergymen figured among the patrons of balls, and they were rather Egeea for their sAin at cards. All of wAseA was just as proper for clergymen as fur planters. and more necessary. But m those days the bottle was the vitiating aeco@paminent of every innocent delighE The race mnS* end in a dinner. and the diner must end under inc table. The dzyis hnnk 2nzs be followed by c nights szeh@1eA The christening of Child @zz4 ee the prekext for a day's revel. 1es slngta e1emna1k of mischief convertei3 sA ssze1A dnyn. all honest xafrfh. all ;ovnns sS.ssEsse.sanns sss into injury, shame and Thin
 AasA1ng caa mako any hea1wav e<,a;,,st tne poeeney If wfnn. for ik snsIa,,.Ss tl.s apeEzk1n@ gf thmt within us which .-,.,,I..s JL.. ua to rrzlzas and finally destrOrs it nj vfksz1Hs the texture of the brair. xfself tle snak of Gfes and the cifidal of all the @ sn- peEssR farcs& And the wine which flowed ss fEselv at kke planters' tables was Ma dslEa. s1zuaEsnt of wines. 50 enriched by kzme an4 k90 lDng vuyages. that the un- eaEkfng Of unn bottle flIsd large house wskh fkaEnnre ;.
 1Ae anlmms rsna of tae clergy of old