Litchfield enquirer., 1873-03-13

or other pulpit overcloths of white oi black Some were trimmed in 8 truly sti-
 perb style, even to real gold chain and diamond ring, and did very great credit to the enterprise and decorative taieni of 1 the concern. -4
 We remained only little while in the tailoring department, and passed on to | tho proving room. Upon opening the | thick and well-secured double door of l this room, the scene within, and the sud-
 den and terrific hubbub of voices that burst out. again startled me. | was re-
 minded of those old magic halls wherein heroes of romance find enchanted armed
 statues shouting and striking furiously l about to guard the entrance, or exclude l the curious from the secrets of their pris-
 on. Upon entering the room, I beheld ! nearly two dozen of finished tor, as one
 might figuratively say, graduated) minis ters, in complete clerical costumes of va
 rious kinds, and in full blast, delivering each his sermon in heterogeneous and chaotic confusion of matter and manner | altogether indescribable. The scene was l wholly without parallel either in my expe-
 rience or my conception, unless in the
 study rooms of the great conservatorio or
 music school at Naples, where, as l have 1 read, a hall full of students practice each his own instrument, without regard to time or tune of the rest; or in the bedlam- itish Yociferations of crew of maniacs
 confined in one place. gazed at this extraordinary exhibition I in utter extremity of astonishment Not 1 only was the human quality of tho voices ! and the thoroughly natural articulation,
 perfectly astounding, but the forms and attitudes of the speakers, such was the artistic skill of the manufacturers, were l also entirely and unaffectedly human | some, as in life, being easy and graceful, l in one or two instances almost statuesque l in beauty; while others were grotesquely stiff, angular, and awkward. The eyes, l moreover, and the motions of the whole cOuntenance and head, as wel as those of
 the hands, arms, and figure were govern l cd by similar adoption. Close to me stood large and pompous man, declaim- ing in a full and even tone discourse in | which l thought recognized a sentence;
 and indeed upon listening more closely, I
 discovered that it was one of Bishop South's best sermons. At the farther end of the apartment, tall, gaunt spectre, 1 with large frame, harsh features, and rath-
 CT coarse garments, was swinging his fists, and yoclferatlng an exhOrtatiOn which 1 seemed suitable fora camp-meeting Near him stood the apparition of snug, fat young divine, of comfortable appearance and oleaginous smile, enunciating in Q silvery voice, and the style of Praed's
 ''Gentlo Johnian,
 Whose hand is white whose voice is clear,
 Whose rhetoric is Ciceronian,"
 series of well-balanced and correctly
 worded sentences. Another, I should
 have said in secular rather than clerical
 costume, dry visaged, dogmatic looking
 creature, was reciting in a Iifeless way a
 string of phrases which I could not de-
 fine, until I caught the words, 'egoism,"
 ''altruism," " ''altruistic, ''egoistic," all
 in one single sentence. He was Pos
 itivist, of course. ..-
 The remainder of this assembly were,
 each in his own proper style, performing
 the duties of their office, with an honest
 zeal. and even in. aasno=eases, inpas- sloned ardOr which could not be sufficient ly commended. After listening and look ing for a considerable time, I signified that l was satiated with the whirlwind of ministerial eloquence. Hereupon we left the exercitants in charge of certain work men who were experimenting the proving process, and passed on to the exhibition room.
 This was large and convenient hall, somewhat obscurely lighted, and fitted up with small desks, or pulpits, for the better display of the wares on sale. We entered the room at one end; and, the windows being darkened with heavy cur {. .,lns, the various clerical forms, standing cah>li.y and silently in two rows along the sides of the long room, each in his place of as1thC rity, called to my remembrance that tremendous and impressive represen- tation in the Hebrew prophecy, of the long and stern array of departed kings sitting still in the depths of Hades, ready to welcome the great Babylonish tyrant to his throne at their head. I also rec some uncomfortable and fam tastic association of ideas, and to my at tue absurd and unseason- able uggestion-Jarley's Wax-Work.
 My guide hastened to admit more light into the room, so that the deep gloom was lifted away, and the various aspects of tae patent ministers became distinguish able; although the room was yet, with tact, left dim enough mate rially to enhance their very remarkably to exhibit for my benefit the operation of NoAAOuo 6AAAkSAO OA CACChSAOns <siA1 OAO working of those adjunct mechanisms which he had mentioned in the machine shop. For this purpose he selected an automaton which he called a first I art1cle of the grand improved combined action patent minister" and which he as superblY finished, and, indeed, as very favorable specimen of the manufacture. UnceremOniOusly fum- bling about various portions of the minis I terial uniform, he seemed to adjust springs or machinery in sr1ndry places, wound up the handspring with crank, and, turning to me, observed,-
 There, the machine Is wound up and ready to go; I have, however, disconnect- | ed all the actions except the bellows and You will therefore observe, that, upon being put ill motion, he will l only blow"
 Such was accordingly the result. The l workmanship and careful ad- | iustment of the machinery rendered it's l operation as entirely noiseless as the nor nal functions of the human body; and a | sort of whew or puff was the only evidence | that the minister was at work.
 Budlong then proceeded to gear on the | vocalizing apparatus; whereupon the | squall or shrieking monotone of "Ah P Whlch meHnoned before, again came | from the lips of the autOmaton. He next l put into operation the gesture and ex- l pression attachment, which caused also, IS before, the stretching out of the arms, the contortions of the yfsage, &c.
 ''His sermons in him, presume" said l Budlong, inspecting recess in the figure. ''Yes; about half delivered. He'll begin in the middle; for we don't | wind them up until they are entirely run down, to avoid uneven wear of the works"
 Then he touched another spring; and | the automaton preacher, ceasing to ''blaat l Dut"-if we may use an expressive rustic verb-his 'Ah P slid from it into the midst of passage in the first part of | Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Discourse of and Zeal" somewhat on this wise: '.A-a-a-a-and to make it possible for us s"-and here the image sub- sided into a graceful, impressive, and pow erful delivery of the strong old-fashioned