Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-02-20

town would refund. A Sabbath School
was formed which fiourishsd very well,
and Benevolent Society among the ladies,
which WAS the means OF doing consider
| able good. A subscription for the erection
| Of a church was started at the expiration
| OF ; few months. and an amount OF twenty
seven hundred dollars easily obtained.
The Lyccum producing as Is thought, q
very favorable influence upon the moral
aud religious As well as intellectual charac-
ter Of a people, one was set In motion.
There was q debate or lecture every
week. 1t was continued without iuterrup-
| ti"n and without assistance from abroad
for period OF four or i've uaonihs, and
with an interest and success hardly to be
expected. Let II be recollected there were
but i've hundred inhabitants In the village.
have little doubt that an aber Senate
might have been formed out Of the acting
members Of the Lyceum than that at Au-
gusta.
Some odd events.-Ooe warm afternoon
10 August when our service was held In the
Baptist Church. which is situated on an
emiDence commanding . view Of the viii
lage and the country beyond, q somewhat
singular event occurred. The windows of
the church were thrown up and the door
spread wide TO admit the fresh airs of
heaven. 1t was lovely season. The winds
were as'eep. The birds were chanting on
the trees. and all was fair and tranquil as
II ''the bridal OF the earth and sky" The
sermon was finished and the las, hymn had
just been given out, when during tina, dead
pause which preccdes the swelling forth OF
the music Of the choir. 4 tall young man.
In his shirt sleeves, entered the church in a
calm aud dlgnced manner, and marched
up the broad aisle. Ipresumed that. who
ever he was. he would take q seat In one OF
the pews. Bot no! his mission seemed to
be onward. | heard his footsteps on the
pulpi: stairs, and In a moment he presented
himself before me. He reached out his
hand-I gave him mine. He shook II and
aSked me how l did. then took a seat on
the cushion close beside me. All eyes were
| turned In amazemcnt towards the pulpit
II was satural | should be a little asionish-
ed. Though unable To comprehend the
purpose Of this unexpected visitor and
| hardly knowing what TO do. was not dis.
concerted. turned toward him and gave
him a sharp look TO read. IL possible, his
Intent In the expression of his couutenance.
lie appeared perfectly AZ home and was
taking lelsurely survey Of the audience
and choir. said 10 him with some FIRM
| ness, implying no great satisfaction with
his presence in the pulpit, 'Hadn'i you bet
ter. sir, take a seat In the pew belowr He
looked At me for a moment-rose-bowed
-jescended the stairs, and went into the
nrst wall pew. lie remained there quiet
through the service and also the exercises
OF the Sabbath School. and then lcft the
house. | was somewhat curious TO find out
who he was aud what he intended by such
! sort OF conduct, aud learned that he was a
stranger-an unfortun ale young man-act-
ua,ed by no evil purpose. nay, much to be
commisera,ed. Some time before this
event. he accidentally ran something Into
his foot. which severed some OF the cords,
and ever since he had been subject 10 peri.
odlcal fits OF arrangement. In one Of these
he had strayed away from home. aud pass.
Ing the church door and very.hing within
Inviting him. he entered without ceremony
and made for the pulpit TO form acquaint-
ance with the preacher and have a fair
view OF the audience.
At another time, while preaching an ex-
temporaneous sermon upon the wisdom
and HooJaess Of God as manifested iu the
laws and arrangements of the Universe,
the door OF our place OF worship as thrown
open. and IN rolled q seaman dressed n the
insignia OF his craft, the tarpaulin hat and
pea-jacket. He came In with nonchaiant
air and curse-me-if-l-care sort OF manner,
threw his tarpaullu upon the seat near the
door. and dropped down himself. As soon
IS he entered perceived that lac was the
worse for something that had found its
way 70 his stomach and thence to his brain,
In the train Of my thoughts. especially rs l
had nothing 10 rely upon but few notes.
The noise he made was considerable, and
paused until he was quietly seated, and
then went on. Whatever relates to the
heavenly bodies-those guiding lights
upon the watery WASTES apt to interest
the way y-farer Of the deep. l noticed that
the seaman's attention was engaged. In "a
short time his elbows dropped upon his
knees, his face upon his hands, and he
fixed upon me pair Of the keenest black
eyes. In the course Of my remarks the sub
ject Of the moons distance, phases. mag
nitude. time Of revolution. aud force OF
gravitation was introduced. There was an
open space in front of the seat where he
sat, making him quite conspicuous. All OF
q sudden he rose up, seized tarpsulin,
clapped 1t upon his head, extended his arms
to their full length and shouted to the top
OF his lungs. "Ship-mates-s lunar obser-
vatiou!" !" Il gave way to him and sat down.
He vas evidently about TO proceed, but the
audience did not seem disposed to bear
him out, and two Of them seized him in the
height Of his celestial enthusiasm. and led
him outside the door.
The incident Of the seaman reminds me
OF another which Occurred 10 neighboring
town. was preaching . sermon the OBJ
ject OF which was to give general view of
our fAith-tO set in rs clear = light IS pos
sible what Liberal Christians believe and
what they do not believe. In the midst Of
my remarks the stiffness of the house was
suddenly broken by . deep and awful
grosn. Ii penetrated to the bottom Of my
heart. Whence il came. BY whom il was
uttered. and for what purpose, II voluntary.
were to me mysterious. 1t occurred to me
shortly thai there might be some hot.
headed partisan present who was shocked
at the simplicity asd beauty Of Liberal
Christianity. aud could not but give vent
TO horrible groan. such as might come up
from the tortured bOsoms Of the lost 1t
aroused my sOirits. The truth. thought 1.