St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-06-21
treatment, repeated twice day, has
a wonderful effect on nervous wom-
en- II Exchange.
SOME OIL NEW ENGLAND CLERGY
MEN,

When a boy, l had many oppor-
tunities to become acquainted with
clergvmen of the old school. Tradi-
tionally, they are represented as
puritanical, awe-aspiring, and re-
pulsive to children; but this was not
my experience. I enjoyed nothing
better than to listen to their quaint
and funny stories.
SHADY Side" gives a gloomy pic
ture of ministerial home life, strug-
giles with sickness and poverty; but
to my mind, Sunny Side describes
more accurately the average New
England parson at that time. Min
listers salaries were small but living
was cheap. House warnings, spin
ming bees, donation and quilting par
ties contributed to keep the wolf
from the door. An annual stipend
of $500 was considered a generous
one Some able men, who could
have commanded larger salaries II
they had been disposed to leave their
posts, were content with meagre al
lowances. DR.. Samuel Mott OF
Franklin, Conn, said: My salary
is $3.50, and twelve cords Of wood
are kindly added" Ordinarily, min
listers expected a supply of wood
without pay, and it was understood
that it must be Of good quality.
We are told that as q certain farmer
was unloading his yearly contrlbu-
ton, the parson observing that it
was not up to the mark. said: Ism t
that pretty soft wood -
And don't we sometimes have
pretty soft preaching - was the
reply.
As a rule, mutual love, not large
salaries, bound pastor and people
together Separations were rarely
contemplated, for clergymen were
''settled for life" DR.. Marsh of
Wethersheld, Conn, expressed the
feelings of the ministers generally
when he said, after his own pastor
ate of nearly four score years: Il
should as soon think OF leaving my
wife as my people" There were eX-
ceptiOns, however.
The "Sabbath III Puritan New
England tells as of young clergy
man who, finding it rather onerous
to prepare written discourses, year
after year, consulted With an older
one in regard TO taking new parish,
saying: ut will help my stock of
sermons The reply he received
must have put him to shame:
Brother, will it keep your stock Of
grace? -
The length of the sermons in the
days of our fOrefathers would as
tonish the young people of today.
How our grandparents could sit in
church during the depth of winter
and listen to discOurses an hour and
a halt long on total depravity, cleo
ton, divine DEGREES, is to US mex
plicable.
Pulpit prayers were sometimes
longer than the sermons, having
/ the tendency, as one observed, to
/ pray people into a good frame, and
/ then pray them out of it, Take,
! tor instance, the case of Rev. Samnel
Weymouth, Mass, who is said to
have prayed two hours without
stopping, upon public fast day,
and his audience wished that the
prayer had been much longer"
\ common expression in prayer
WAS iOi lHC WSlIcIS Vi nv COVE
nant people the Jews" A lad, un,
usually restless, one Sabbath morn
ing, during the long prayer, was told
by his mother IN a whisper: The
minister will soon be through"
The incredulous boy replied, loud
enough to be heard throughout the
church, no, ma, he hasn't got to
the Jews yet"
Notwithstanding prolixity in
preaching ana praying, ministers
were ordinarily listened to with pa
thence. Nor was there a craving for
something new, as is the case now
\ repetition of old sermons excited
no surprise or objection, unless car
RED to an extreme. Oneis reported
as having preached the same sermon
three successive Sabbaths, and a
deacon who was sent to him to sug-
gest a change, received the reply
81 do not perceive that this one has
produced any effect as YETI
Early New England times allowed
alarm modern Christians. Imagine
long shelves in parsonages filled with
peach brandy. cider and something
stronger. 1t would hardly be suita-
bic for a minister of today to pray
as one is said to have done sixty
years ago, 1--WE thank thee, 0, Lord,
for the many barrels of cider vouch-
sated to US this year" That the
good parsons were not above the
fralities of other men, having like
passions, is evident from their his
tory.
When a boy l was impressed with
the inexhaustible fund of humor pos
sessed by my fathers ministerial
friends. At associa tions, and other
meetings, when they related anec-
dotes, it seemed as if they would ac-
i