Litchfield enquirer., 1875-05-20

I his muscular inheritance, but Mhp had been thrust into profession he was who'll ly unftted for by the ambition of dot gsnl saa of S s ssslassr sHa
 His physique. though not intellectual, 1 was not unpieasing. He had full, fresh- complexioned face, a broad low forehead, i, with loose brown hair brushed of from 1t with sedulous care and precision; heavy 1 lidded, prominent eyes, of no particular | color or expression: wide mouth, with very full lips and good teeth; large, soft. white hands. with short, stocky fingers jal- ways moist and warm; good voice, and q ready smile, which, though it had it's rise in satisfied self-loye, passed current for sympathy and cordially. 4 What more was needed to make him
 the pet and idol of all the young ladies of
 his parish? They followed him round and lowered about him like bees about their queen, and, like her insect majesty, he took all their devotion as matter of course; 1t was but his due. 1t was only what they might be excepted to render. And so, though the elders of the parish. the paying part of the congregation. were by no means so demonstrative, these in- nocent young things petted and ioniZed him to his hearts content | They showered their innocent favors upon him without stint; they worked him no end of slippers-slippers with mono grams. slippers with notices, slippers with St. Andrews crosses, and St. Peter's keys, and St. Catherine's lilies; with shep- herds crooks, and Holy Bibles, and palm branches, and passion-fowers, and doves, and lambs. and all sorts of holy devices; I slippers in Berlin wool, slippers in silk and satin. slippers in beads and golden 1 braids. If the man had been a quadrup- ed, instead of man of very limited un-, derstanding, he might have been shod all round anew the first day of every month
 As to pen-wipers., ms wife might have tackled them together for foot-mats,' had her gentle heart not whispered to | disrespectful to the fair senders; and look marks-why, he had enough of them to make nearly every important pass age in the Bible, and that is 8 book | which has more important passages than any other, certainly! Then they took him out to ride and to walk: they got up read. ing clubs, and his classes, and sewing cir cles, and botanizing expeditions; and as he was found to be musical, there were evening rehearsals at the church; or, if not practicing sacred music there, he was. l sure to be practicing music less sacred at the pianos of his young admirers; his voice was so rich and sweet, and so sus-l taining to theirs. .7-ss- S s-ts5 E . ssss All this necessitated frequent calls at the parsons house, ofcourse; but the par. sons quiet little wife was wholly left out. scarcely recognition beyond, s.Oh, good morning, Mrs. Holland! Baby we'll? Mr. Holland in the study, I suppose2" And the long chatty call would end in an in- vitation to dine or take tea, to ride, or walk, or sing. d
 All this was well enough; it was not very remunerative, certainly, but was pleas-f ant and cheering to the minister. Of course he liked it, and the parsons wife made no objections; possibly she might have had her little Jeetings on the subjecE but if she did. what of that? Who minds feelings that are neyerputin into expression2 And, besides, this woman loved this man this man whose superior she was ils every way-loyed him, honored him, wor.a shiped him with her whole heart How could it be? If you had known them both, you would have said, ''The thing is utterely impossible;" but we meet with such cases every day.
 The fact is, women, Gs c class, find positive pleasure in self-abnegation; they must have something to worship. The female heart craves an idol, be 1t of gold or silver, brass or clay, the man or the monkey. the baby or the lap-dog!
 The French proverb tells us that the first step is the most difficult one, and ex- perience proves it true; and it is thing.to wonder at how this blind idolatry has it's first beginning. Is it of spontaneous ger mlnation, as In earlier days we were told were mosquitoes and mushrooms? After the first start we can imagine the rest. for. the impetus once given, the velocity may be accelerated by its own momentum. As it is usual to say talliaag ia tove, the in ference IS it is on the descendiaq grade. All that We can understand; but-how does it begin? a=---
 When on e the idol has been elevated upon it's pedstal, when the votive wreath crowns the ghttering brow. when the bow, the Tyre. or the thunder-bolt has been placed In the hand, ''what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music" 1t is easy to fall down and wor- ship, for idol worship is e-eminently emotional and contagious; kow for those whose own hands have helped, with rope and pulley, with lever and derrick, to hoist the inert mass to it's position in the temple? how can they who have walked with unsteady. careful feet on the rude scaffolding about it, adjusting it with level, and plumb-line to its right poise on the pedestal here! To, the.et it tips, it wavers. it leans!'-how can they come down. and, kneeling lowly before the idol heads to the earth in reverence, and say Hum-m-m!I I don't know just what they do say. No matter; that was Aggression: we will return to our subject. @
 How, you will ask, did this shallow man keep his situation? how did he man. age to write his sermons? He did not write them; he manufactured them. The thing was easy enough. He hadn't 80 1 much genius or talent as you could put in- ! to lady's thimble, but he had some tact, and that is of more daily use in the world than either. He had received good col legiate and theological education; he could write grammatically, of course; he had sight acquaintance with the classics, and was gifted with retentive and ready memory. Having chosen his text, he | would collect several sermons on the same subject by different authors, and picking out just one or two leading ideas from each, much as Jacky Homer picked out the plums from his Christmas pie, he would then (according to school exercise which certainly has 9 pernicious tendency likely to inculcate literary piracy1 trans fer them into his own language, and care fully interweave them into sort of mosa- ic, only each borrowed portion was in such new dress that the real owner would not have dared to lay claim to it had he met with 1t. His own language, the string | upon which he strung these borrowed pearls, had iowery gush and greenness about it-too ornate and verbose, perhaps, to have suited persons of refined and cul- tivated taste, but there were few, such among his hearers: they were not in any, way critical. He might, if he had dared,
 have preached the borrowed sermons en- tire, and no one in his congregation would have been likely to question his right to them; but he did not, for that would have been immoral, and was he not A nninisker2