Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-03-26

When party of clergymen get together
with not too many laymen within hearing,
they sometimes become as merry party as
many members of any other profession.
The clergymen of New York, rs a rule are
not to be beaten in the telling of good sto-
ry. A number Of them were gathered to-
gether one evening last week. when one men,
ber Of the party told an anecdote of a minis
ter in search Of charge that is certainly
worth presenting as good story, and per
haps, as an example of how such things are
sometimes done. This minister had been in
yited to preach as n candidate in little
raj church in Northern Pennsylvania where
the members, although only on par with
most distant country churches. liked to flat
ter themselves that they were pretty well
posted" Before starting for the place. the
minister met an old clerical friend, who had
had some experience il the same neighbOr-
hood, and who advised him to Give them
some Latin and Greek il will tickle their
vanity, and they will set you down for very
smart man
There was little difficulty in the way of
the minister's giving his hearers a dose of
Latin and Greek, for he knew no more of
either language than the people he was to
preach to. But be was equal to the emergen-
cy. He was q native Of Wales and spoke
Welsh as we'll as he did English. though these
two were the only languages he knew any
thing about. When he had got nicely into
his sermon, he introduced a little passage of
Scripture, and said This passage, breth-
ren, has been slightly altered in the transla-
ton. 1t is only in the original Hebrewsthat
you can grasp its full meaning. | will read
it to you in Hebrew, so that you may COM
prehcnd it more exactly :" and he gave them
the passage in very good Welsh The old
Deacons looked at each other and nodded APP
a. H..
the stuff that's the kind Of thing we want"
Presently the minister, who saw by the
faces of his hearers that he had made hit,
came upon another Scripture passage that
could not be correctly rendered in English
This passage" said he, has to be read in
the original to be appreciated. In all the
languages, there is none know in which the
meaning can be so well expressed as in Greek
| will read you the verse in Greek - and
again he gave them long Welsh sentence.
Again the Deacons nodded approvingly, and
before long the minister found it necessary
to read verse in Latin, so that his hearers
might understand it thoroughly" and gave
them a little more Welsh.
Everything was going along smoothly, and
the minister, as he approached the end of his
sermon, thought he would give them just one
more taste Of the dead languages Il am
about to read you" said he, another pas
sage on this subject. But it is another of
those passages that have been altered in the
translation, and will read it to you in the
Chaldaic, in which it was written" He was
just about to give them some more Welsh,
when, casting his eye over the congregation,
he saw seated near the door, n jolly-looking
man, who was holding his sides tight to keep
from bursting with laughter, The minister
took in the situation in an instant. Here
was man in the church who understood
Welsh, and who was laughing at the trick
that had been played upon the congregation.
But not feature of the minister's face
changed Fixing his eyes straight upon the
laughing man, just as the congregation
thought he was about to give them the Chal-
dalc version, he said again in Welsh
For Gods sake, my friend don't say a
word about this till have chance to talk
with you"
The congregation went home satisfied that
they had listened TO one of the most learned
of sermons the laughing man never told the
story, and the minister was soon settled over
the church, the people believing that the
clergyman who could read the scriptures in
five languages was just the man for them
zen York Times.