St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-10-15
How the Minister Was Unsettled.

About the time of the May house.
cleaning in small New England town,
when the overturning proclivity spread
like a contagion from room to room and
from house to house, it was discovered
that the old church was sadly out of re-
pair. Whether it would ever have been
discovered remains matter of doubt, if
Squire Risley's daughter Amy had not
suffered from its neglected condition.
Miss Amy was home from neighbour
ing city to spend her school vacation of
two weeks. She was standing in the
vestibule talking with young friend,
when large piece of the plastering fell
down upon her new bonnet. 1t wanted
only few minutes of service time, and
the last corners were thronging in at the
door, and of course were witnesses of
the disaster.
Miss Amy did not pass in with the
crowd, but she went out of the church
and took by-way to her home, there
to bemoan the ruin of the new hat, and
to call down maledictions upon the
tumble-down old church, as she was
pleased TO call it, while the sisters who
had passed in had just time enough to
give synopsis of the affair before the
sermon commenced.
The good minister, who for twenty
five years had broken the bread of life
to the people, was somewhat annoyed
by the lack of attention to his sermon.
1t was sermon upon giving, one that
he had been contemplating for weeks,
and one that had been consecrated by
his most careful study and earnest
prayers. But when he closed his SER
mon, and shut the manuscript between
the worn sermon covers, he felt that it
might just as we'll not have been
preached for the good it had done.
That week was a season of cOmmo-
ton in the little old town. The story
of the accident had spread far and near,
and the phases of it were almost as
many as the tongues that told it. And
the result of it was that paper was
given to the minister the next Sunday
morning that read about like this:
"a meeting will be held in the lee
ture room of the church on Tuesday
evening of this week, to consider the
propriety of repairing this house of
Worship
Squire Highbury shook his head at
Lawyer Jones, and Mrs. Drowner raised
her eyes at Mrs. Newser. And the
Highf1yer girls, who sat in the gallery,
gave cOndescending look over to the
Benton girls who sat opposite, and they
answered with look half patronizing,
half questioning the minister, mean
time, announcing his text and begin
ming his discourse. This time the SER
mon was upon "Self- Conservation and
his soul glowed with the divine fervor
as he proceeded. And when he closed,
the widow White thought, "Surely our
minister. is not long for this wOrld.n
The service closed with the hymn, cam
Soldier of the Cross, follower of
the Lamb z" But the congregation,
generally, were too full of the coming
meeting and the expected repairs to
give the service much thought.
When the evening came for the bust
ness meeting, the lecture room was
crowded, and the subject of repairs was
brought before the house.
1t was plainly to be seen that the
meeting, though ostensibly to consider
the slight thing of plastering repairs,
was for the discussion of regular over
turning.
The good minister sat at home in his
study thinking; his wife sat by his
side mending and thinking at the same
time. At last the minister broke the
silence: Margaret, feel that my work
here is practically nearly ended.n The
wife raised her eyes to his, and in them
he read that his words did not surprise
her but she answered evasively: 'IYou
are doing good and great work here
believe, James. Are you not interest
ed and bound up in your work here ~
Eyes, God knows how my heart
yearns for the well-being of this PEG.
pie. 1t seems part of myself would
he taken from me if were obliged t.
leave them. 1 know their separate his
tories; know their trials, their joys
and their hopes, too, and had believed