The Red Cloud chief., 1880-03-25

The following is an extract from Mr..
Sharon" In the March Scyibnc,:
Incredible, too, as IL may sound. there
were religious services in New Sharon
that admirable forenoon, in an unpl&s-
tered room over . bcwiing-alley, where
we found a congregation Of At least =
hundred persons; and there wrre 4
choir and cottaSe-otgan, and ushers
showed Us TO seats when we entered. II
looked q trif1e out Of form, even in New
Sharon. 10 see q woman At church in q
iow-nected and shorf-sleeved crimson
gown; but she seemed to be
Of il. l diverted nv fancy by likening
her-I scarcely know why-to those
women Of olden, prophetic time, who
"went out with timbrels and Dances"
and that other one who sat near her,
dressed in white, her hair in a braid
down her back, and her fingers nerv-
ously twirling, rs though they held IN
seer castanets-was not she a typical
daughter Of Babylone I dared have
been sworn l saw Desdemona there,
also, and lago daftirg malevolent
glances at her from across the
aisle, the scoundrel, But Othello
was absent. / noticed Rob Roy pres
ent, however-several Rob Roys, | may
say-booted and spurred in authentic
fashion. For special wonder, too,
walked in Werther, and stood with
arms folded. spying p~ensively about for
some random and signing Charlotte.
And we had not been men-at least, not
men Of taste-had we omitted 10 observe
the violet eyed miss with the curls and
the silver-filigree jewelry, who sang
soprano in the choir, and sang 81 charm
ingly well for surely that face of hers.
those lips, those cheeks, compelled
many a sonnet, bankrupted many a
heart, away back yonder in the time Of
Petrarch; only New Sharon was not
hearts break there with facility, 1 am
inclined to think.
The minister read for the morning
lesson, and for his text as well. the para
BILE of the Prodigal Son. Hes going
for EN-" Eastman whispered, and We
sat anticipating an old-fashioned speech
for the prosecution. To our surprise,
not to mention our relief. we heard
nothing of the kind. The sermon, | am
bound to say, was original. good-tem-
pered, and strikingly effective. II the
speaker sketched the riotous part
Of the P~rodigal's career rather
freely and foridly-.'as if he
knew how il was himself" Eastman
suggcsted-and touched the husks aud
swine, the grief and repentance, in a
sparing and subordinate way, he but
chose the method which Debufe pursues,
you remember, in that familiar picture
of the same story; and he did not fail,
As | think Dubufe does, To convey, some
how, a very distinct and serviceable i'm
preston that a life of wickedneSs is bad
policy, at least. Likely he knew such
to be his best way to reach his audience.
Certainly he interested them and held
their attention past a sigh of tagging. l
shall forget how perfectly quiet
they were, and how generally they
leaned forward to listen, as he passed
the strict letter of the parable and, leav-
ing the father busy about the feast,
went on IA speak of the returned wan.
derer's suppositions and waiting mother
1--WE all have mothers, somewhere"
he softly remarked-and TO depict the
hOmely, tender, caressing mood in
which the dear wiBtry-haired and tot
tering old woman must have taken her
boy-her youngest, and hence forever a
baby in her eyes-back to her heart that
had never ceased to love and pray for
him. 1t was a stroke worth more than
the acutest logic, 1 make no doubt.
Then he abruptly reverted to the
gay and ensnaring scenes which
the Prodigal had found so de-
lightful for a time, and afterward
SO empty and so fatiguing; and dwelt
upon them a few minutes earnestly, let
ting the background of shadow move a
little further forward than before, and
yet saying never a word of the grave or
the judgment on the other side of the
grave. And then he paused for an in
slant or So, and when he spoke again
it was in a voice of mellowed and lin
gering sweetness, and his words were
the quantity touching one that good old
George Herbert uses in his "Pulley,''
to tell how the Creator, when he made
man, FASTENED to equip him with bless
ing after blessing-strength, beauty,
wisdom, honor, pleasure-till only rest
remained, and how that one choicest
boon of all was left unbestowed, to the
end,
that at least,
II goodness led him not, yet WEAKNESS
might some day toss the longing and
restless being to its Makers breast. |
could not for my life have told, when
ho bod copol,,NoI uvbat I>co-;oo,:or
Of Christians the minister belonged to;
nor did it really seem to me t o be a
matter of any consequence.
We waited after service to make ac-
q~uaintance with this surprising pastor,
who proved to be a very frank and
agreeable young man, literally edu-
Gated, who respected both his calling
and himself, and who had also a keen
eye for the absurd and homogeneous, no
less than the picturesque. He was able
to tell us q great ,leal about New
Sharon and its people; and it appeared
to amuse him not a little that my idle
psychology had in several eases so near
ly grazed the truth regarding the Ger
tain types of individuality that l picked
out in his congregation: my IagO was a
SptCldDN aCCuI ate SUI Ill>t, Lc ndu Ted-
son, he said, to know, but he doubted if
my Desdemona would wei be smoth-
cred. While he made no pretense of
excusing the common profligacy Of the
population that nightly possessed Grand
Avenue, he must yet admit, he OBJ
served, that in his study of these rude
characters, he had come upon some
unfailiDg and distinctive traits which
should be weighed to their credit. They
were uniformly faithful where duty was
a deciding cause; their obligations of
friendship were never broken or evaded;
their promises were a plighted oaths,
which they redeemed at any cost; they
hated shams and every form of hypoc-
risy; they scorned to take a mean, I'M
derhand advantage, eve of q mortal
enemy; and the sight of misfortune or
suffering made children of them in pity
and gentleness and practical charity.
For himself, personally, he had never
been insulted or interfered with, nor
heard of his work being openly scoffed
at, and we would be astonished, he af-
firmed, to know how much genuine re-
Snoef tho worst of those noonlo ;pclpd-