The record-union., 1891-04-20
PULPIT CONDOLENCES.
The Rector and Curate Came to an
Understanding.

The Rector and Curate Came to an
Understanding.
If there is anything which pleases the
average intelligent reader in the present
day better than the detection OF a piece of
manifest and unblushing plagiarism, it is
an allegation of plagiarism which is not
quite manifest, and for which the author
would undoubtedly blush if he were
proved to be nothing but jackdaw in
borrowed plumes. Perhaps it is sad that
men and women should be SO readily
pleased at the castigation of the detected
plagiary; but If any one entertains doubt
as to the existence Of a keen relish for lit
erary exposure of this kind, he either
does not look at the journals which have
ii VIGOROUSLY keen scent for curious par
allels of phrase and idea, or studies them
to little purpose. For some time past
there has been what l should call, If l
were addicted to slang, "a boom in plagiar
ism; and connected with one incident in
this boom we have had run upon the IA
miliar anecdotes Of sermons which have
been made to do double and treble duty.
These anecdotes are nearly all amusing,
and every person could reel off a dozen
of them at one sitting. But, my ingenu-
Gus reader, we do not call this sort of
thing plagiarism; it is no moro than an
ordinary coincidence OF the pulpit. The
greater divineS of every communion have
been rehearSed at least as often as the
Greek dramatists have been re-cdited;
and the wisest bishops and elders have
often recommended young preachers to
practice this very pious fraud. "a SER
mon Of South III a curat's mouth will
scarcely raise the eyebrows of an expert
enced or case-hardened country clergy
man.
may be permitted to add another to
the large stock of sermon-stories-on
HI,
print, and which has the merit of being
absolutely true. A young curate, fresh
from Cambridge and the hands of the
bishop, found himself very comfortably
settled in Il midland parish, under rector
whose chief fault was an excess of haugh-
ty selt-intlatiOn. For some time he was
not allowed to preach, being expected to
fetch and carry in the parish for the rec
tors wife, to exercise authority over the
village boys, and occasionally take
hand at lawn-tenniS with the rector'S
daughters and their governess. In an
unguarded mOment-in various unguard
ed moments-he and one of the daughters
fell III love with each other; and by in
stinct this curate knew that if an inllling
of the truth should reach the rector's ears
he would never be able to enter the house
again. But, luckily, the mother saw
through the transparent couple, resolved
that the match would do" and waited
iOG opportunity Oh DfOiliGIlHS IL.
A day came when the curate was asked
to preach in the rector's absence; and be-
ing nervous, with only few hours to
prepare for the ordeal, he took down
volume of Barrow, selected text and
strung together a few sparkling beads on
a slender thread of commonplace. The
sermon was success in more senses than
one. The old people and the children
went to sleep under it, but it riveted the
attention Of the intelligent adults, and es-
pecially of the rector's family. There is
matter for novel in all that took place
as j result Of the curatG's lucky stroke Of
plagiarism; bat ii must be disposed of
III a sentence or TWO. No one at the rec
tory complimented him on his sermon,
bat outside he received q great deal more
praise than he cared for, because it was
evidently sarcastic and insincere. Next
morning he met his Lucy on the village
green, and, as she was a downright
young person, the vail Of mystery was
torn away. He was supposed to have
filched an old sermon OF the rector's, to
to have covered it with thin disguise,
and passed it off as his owni The result
may be imagined. Lucy told her mother
all that there was to tell; the mother Sc
cured that volume of Barrow and turned
it to good account. Suffice it to say, that
the rector and his curate understood each
other better from that time forward, and
that Miss Lucy, after fairly long en-
gagement, was eventually married to the
man of her choice.-ILlustrdted London
Np7DS