Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-12-27

| social pleasure alone. | remember form
| ing one of such group meeting at the
| farmer boarding house of the teacher.
| The lady of the house, woman OF warm
| heart and original mental qualities, sat
! with US az we read each evening. One
night we had partly finished "Ihe Mer-
| chant of Venice" About 2 in the morn
! ing the teacher had occasion to leave his
room, and was as surprised as the fine old
lady was chagrined, TO find, on entering
| the sitting-room his hostess, with two
pair of spectacles to aid her weakening
vision, earnestly perusing the play. She
could not wait for the next night of
meeting, and her duties were too arduous
| through the day to permit Of much read
| ing. There are scores of such women in
the country districts of Hancock county.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE.
Speaking more nearly of Hancock in
the time when / was most acquainted
with it, dozen years ago although
know enough OF it now to know that for
all practical purposes, what | say OF it is
true to-day, the people rs whole, and
comparatively, were very sincere. 1t was
and is a marked characteristic OF the
town; it is largely true OF all country
towns. There was no smile to cover
resentment. You knew it il they did not
like you, not the least effort to conceal
real feeling unless it WAS Of regard. /
| think this especially true Of this town,
and it Is equally apparent in their ex-
pressions upon any subject or deed
But in another sense there seemed to
| be strange paradox, true now as then of
many neig hborhoods. 1t was strong
| tendency to suspect, to accuse, to ques-
| ton one another, while they were very
credulous OF strangers; prone to accept
them at their own estimate, with no
thought of what their real character
might be. This lead directly and indirectly
! int evjlS chief among them being
! lifelong feuds among two or more
families in every school district, and is
partly accountable for the empty
churches all around US.
Now | wish to approach this subject
/ without any suggestions as to remedy,
although confess to strong convictions
bout it, and only so far as it influences
or applies to social life, and it surely is
very strongly entrenched within it. The
| whole life of these neig hborhoods, the
solution of he whole thing rests here. 1t
/ needs to be probed to the bottom. 1t
should be approached with the utmost
/ frankness and honesty. No fear OF offense
should persuade one from stating the
| exact condition as he understands it. 1t
/ is he opinion of he writer that
t THE CHURCH SHOULD BE THE CENTRE,
/ could be the centre, around which all
/ that is best in intellectual and social
/ life should revolve. 1t should be the
/ stimulant, the nursery of the schools,
/ the temperance societies, the social
/ measures that obtain inthese small COM
munities 1t should create, where they
/ do not exist, and father the love of
/ literature and art, of public spirit, of clean
and wholesome pleasure should be the
/ power behind these and against their
enemies. No one is stupid as to
/ imagine that this is so. Most that Is
+ best and healthy in these communities,
that is fullest of robust manliness, that
/ tends to healthy and strong nature, lies
far to one side of the church. More often
+ il is the schools; every family in town Is
+ interested here; every parent is more or
less watchful and JEALOUS of this institu-
f ton, not sufficiently so, of course. The
father may think that the advantage OF
+ a school of six months in The year against
+ his few weeks of thirty or fifty years ago,
is sufficient, especially if supplemented,
as it is in many towns, with the free high
school of a dozen weeks. 1t seems
wonder to him, no doubt, this being able
/ to draw an accurate map of all the states
and of the entire world as we'll, the phil
osophy and algebra, the geometry and
physiology of he high school. But he IS
+ glad and he knows the debating club
and writing school of the evening are all
on the right side
Then in many towns the temperance
society, nominal only, is centre for
+ social and intellectual meeting. 1t Is
/ looked forward to by he better element all
/ the week, and when it comes what an
arena! One or two young ladies recite
! from Browning or Trow bridge; there Is
paper or two, then after recess the
debate opens. How well | remember
sea captain OF splendid physique, who
nearly always on those winter nights led
one side or the other of those questions,
against the school master or any one who
| dared to tackle" him. A halfdozen
weeks of school covered the time he had
devoted in his youth to the requirement
Of learning, but both books and life had
been open to him. 1t did not seem pos.
| sibe that this WAS only scholar OF
nature, Who, standing there in fine clear
words, made his strong thoughts so con-
/ vineing.
For some fifteen years, to my know
| ledge, in this neighborhood this lodge
WAS the strong public influence there.
! At others it is the grange: in name, an
order for the promotion of agriculture,
in real purpose centre for the stimula-
ton of the best social life. Exceptions
there are, but think not only the fore
most but the average country towns have
some such centre, lyceum, or lodge, or
grange, and always the school, with its
teacher at the head. And what noble
work have some of these men and women
/ donei
THE GUIDING POWER LACKING
But the one power that should absorb
or rat her directly or indirectly guide all
these things, where is it? If it is true
that 1t should be the privilege of the
church TO ministrate to the best that
exists in these communities, why does
she not do it? If she ought to be at the
front in all that is strong and helpful, and
is not, " here lies the blame?
| should say that the chief reason, the
most deplorable, is the number of char
latans that have imposed upon these COM
munities. The amount of harm fraud
ulent man can do in medicine is alarm
ing, yet it does not approach the evil of
quackery in the pulpit. There has been
a notable lack of care in looking up the
credentials of the clergymen who have
ministered to these people. They have
been wofully imposed upon. One bad
man can upset and render useless the
work of hall dozen good ones. No one
is more aware than l that the foregoing
is serious and responsible charge
make it advisedy-judged by the
canons of morality, judged by the re-
quirements of decent living, the people