Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-04-09
BEHIND THE SCENES.
A Not Uncommon and Little Suspected
Cause OF Clerical Annoyance.

n NOT UNCOMMON ana LlLCI0 suspected
Cause OF Clerical Annoyance.
A not uncommon, and perhaps little
suspected cause of clerical worry and
annoyance, sometimes even of peril,
lies in the vagaries of people who are
mentally unsound. Religious mania is
a very frequent form of such unsound-
ness, and this often leads to the clergy
being objects of attentions far more
marked than agreeable. Extravagant
devotion to, or equally extravagant de-
testation of some special clergyman. is
very common. The former once, in
our own experience, gave rise to what,
considering all the accidental circum-
stances and surroundings, was proba-
bly, the most ludcrous scene ever wit
messed in church. In city boastlng
the possession of one of the finest ca
thedrals in England, there lived a spins
ter lady somewhat weak in intellect,
one whose state, however, did not
render further supervision necessary
than the constant attendance of a
trustworthy companion. The rector
of the parish in which she lived was
the object of her most ardent devotion.
To her great despair he resigned his
living and went abroad. Some few
years later, on returning to England,
he happened to be in the neighbor
hood, and having been intimately ac-
quainted with many of the chapter, he
went. one afternoon, to the cathedral,
in order to see some of them. The
service was just over, and he was stand
ing in the nave, to which there were
always many visitors in the afternoon,
waiting to greet his old friends when
they should have disrobed.
Just at the moment when choristers
and clergy were coming in procession
down the nave, this poor little woman
entered at the west door. She instant
" espied her former rector. and before
her companion could interfere, rushed
toward him. She was extremely small:
he a very tall man. Fearing that in
her excitement her greeting would be
rather more noisy than was seemiy I'M
der the circumstances he bent down,
as she drew near, to speak to her in a
whisper. Rash man! In moment she
clasped him round the neck with both
arms, and bestowed upon HIM q pain
fully audible apostolic salutation. The
magnificent cathedral nave echoed to
strange sounds that afternoon. Not
even the pOrtentous solcmnity OF a ca
thedral verger, in the very presence OF
the canOnS in residence, was proof
against the trial; and the white-robbed
procession disappeared from the sacred
precincts with most INDIGENOUS rapid
ity. The victim of this astounding re-
ceptiOn, a man possessed of remarkable
power over the muscles of his face, was
the only person in the cathedral who
preserved an unmoved gravity of de-
pertinent.
A very common form of religious
craze is a desire to argue out privately
with Il clergyman some question he has
touched upon i'll preaching. We once
heard Il clergyman preach on the text:
'All Scripture is gwen by inspiration
of God, and he CHANGED to make some
remarks upon the occasional value of
apparently un important portions OF the
Scriptures. For some time afterward
he was sorely besieged by a nearer
who wished to insist on having proved
to him the Importance of verse 9,
chap. iii, Song of solomon, king
Solomon made himself a chariot of the
wood of Lebanon" Fortunately, the
clergyman in question had only been
officiating for friend. Had he been
vicar of the parish, able to be button
hoed as he walked about the streets.
his fate would have been pitiable.
Worst of all, and often absolutely
dangerous to the clergy, is the craze of
a mission, either to insist upon, or pre-
vent the PRONUNCIATION OF some par
ticular doctrine. We remember, some
years since, seeing the vicar of a large
London parish officiating for several
Sundays under protection of the police.
One of these crazy enthusiasts had
taken it into his head that he was to
prevent some part of the service being
performed, and had chosen that par
ticlllar church as the field for his OPP
erations. His threats against the vicar
were sufficiently vehement to cause it
to be deemed advisable, pending meas
ures for some restraint beng placed
upon the man, that policeman in
PLAIN clothes should be on duty in the
chancel during the services. The pos
sibility that the church might become,
at any moment. the scene OF a sudden
struggle between a stalwart policeman
and an excited lunatic, conld not be
held one likely to aid a calm devo-
tional spirit on the part of either the
vicar or those of the congregation who
were aware of the circumstances
Scottish ReUieU.