New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-05

sl1. Macmillan " -
The parish clerk of long ago as described by "A
Country Parson a character worthy OF "su'-
inc IN literature He was always old ana alert
never shy and modest. The author OF these gehdi
annals notes the last fact with surprise "hch mas
survived his boyhood. There were reasons WHY ''e
parish clerk should have been OF feur'"s uiSpo''
ton He was always either shoemaker or a tdI'o''
and mich, be expected to show some traces Of the
,ned,,atIve habit induced by his daily task HIS
sedentary occupation did not shorten his NE Inc
cold mis,s OF the daes IN the English Lake country
NAV shorten the lives Of the weaKhhgs' put '"~'
only stimulate and strengthen those more ROBUST
Parish clerks were always Of the latter class lheF
had weathered all varieties of storms that nature
had at disposal IN their number of days these
worthless seemed to treat the Orthodox thiee'Oo'
years and ten with a lofty contempt, ana some Oh
the people openly expressed themselves TO the eleN'
that this was a mlsranslaton. In the oaieS even
now they are occasionally met with and seem 10 DE
carved out of the tree Of life In their long HNeS
they gathered up all the traditions OF the pace
and apt also to absorb all inc o'i'
cal duties. The original trade must have oc"n us
tant memory Of the shoemaker who. besides oeing
parish clerk. became postmaster register anu ci'i
constable In church he occupied the lowest tier
in the ancient three-deCker pulpit, gave OUT the
rsalms and started the tunes with a ptchplpe'
Often he was himself the composer OF the music
which he adapted from profane lyrics without hls-
giyngs The author remembers church wherein
the Nunc D!mit;is was sung 10 an arrangement
Of "Ny Lady Fair One may be sure that PARISH
clerks were too much in love with Their Occupation
and the consideration which II brought theh' 10
forego the services except when forced by dire
necessity Such a Is recorded here as WITH
out precedent, when the clerk ruefully announced
''There'n be nae service in this church for m appon
a matter of fower weeks, as parsons men Is sitting
in L pulpit" He not the one who. in his char
acter of chief constable serving writ OF heri facas
described it in thunder tones the Act Of Fiery
he bo hal a
derng somewhat AZ random through the Com
munon with the warning cry. we've missed
.pistle'; nor even he who caught the priest giving
out the day OF the month incorrectly before the
morning Psalms. "ParsOn, yere wrorg, ne
shouted Its { day after.
The parsons themselves not over-carctuI OF
the proprieties in the old days. one. deeply inter
ested in his farm and fiocks leaned ove7 MS pupt
Just before beginning service and sara IN a Iouu
whisper a parishioner Have We seen oWt TWO
hill sheep O mine? They're smitten in I ear IKE
yours but deeper smit." At church deep In the
hills and hard to oh in winter time there would
sometimes be few present at the administration OF
the Holy Communion and the sympathetic clergy
man used whisper TO those kneeling at the rams
Drink gayly deep; there's not many o US lhis
morning" 80 ye wicked Of W, exclaimed the
clergyman Of parish where too many violated
the leisure Of Sunday with their sports, If you
90 a-hun;ing any more on the sabbath Day Z"
go with you" And he went. cxemplifying the
adage Like people like priest, with a vengeance
The authors grandfather and father were parsons
before him. The days Of the latter were those Of
the beginnings of modern science. but on certain
points there was practical scepcism OF the daies
in the times OF the former once only he refused
10 obey the command Of his bishop. 1t was a time
of drouth, and in the midst Of the general misery
when the whole region seemed TO he turning to
desert the bishop last resource. requested the
clergy of the diocese to offer up the prayer for rain
This my grandfather adds the author. after
looking in what quarter the wind was. refused 10
door rather he simply omitted it, Some time sub
seouent 10 this the bishop happened 10 be IN our
mountain parish and mentioned the matter TO the
clergyman, though quite in loving spirit My
grandfather replied that the Hard-Kno't winds were
not the rain-bringng ones: that IL use offer
ing I'D the prayer for rain so long as the "lnis
blew from that quarter, and that ne mad no DeIel III
fying In the face of Providence. The drouth ne
continued was intended to teach US those lessons
OF dependence which were far too apt 10 forget
and that the rain would in its good season Ana
as the parlshioners strongly upheld this vie" OF the
question the matter was allowed 10 crop. mat
the bishop cherished ill-will was SHOWN later ny
his earnest but unavailing efforts 10 persuade the
obstinate clergyman to accept vacant see There
were in those days, however both clergymen ana
parishioners OF truly sinister character One may
smile at the eccentricties mentioned above, ou'
what will say TO ;hs account Of Northern
coast village:
Here upon the beach there stood quaint OLD
church which often served morgue, for the
drifting sandbanks Of those seas We're Dharyp S
to the coast s M ana a as many i5e c f az
time During service there rushed in one SUNDAY
m xssse Rad beeS dVn
members Of the congregation were Immediately on
pastor appealed to them in solemn tones: ,Breth-
FEN said he lets start fair. and with that ne
that this parson and his flock almost lived on
wreckage. and were by no means particular as TO
how they caused it.
OF course. all these things arc long past Modern
<ccentricities are OF a different color, though they
will doubtless seem no less strange to coming men
In this pleasant little book not merely the clergy
men and the clerks celebrated but the da!esmen
IN general the poets and men OF science who were
born or who made their home in the quiet Northern
wales The author also gratifes his lifelong affection
for nature BY a chapter two on the birds and
beasts and trees and plants that are native 70 tie
region The Illustrations tell their own story Of life
as we'll the text
II is sometimes tempting to talk OF the ephemeral
character of magazine literature; but the TWO port
" volumes of "IIarper's" We have just received.
carryins that good old periodical from December
1893 to November 1894, make 1t embarrassing to
hold such a creed tenaciously. In the first
Mace there Is "Trilby.' novel Of which II IS I'M
necessary 10 say anything at length just now, but
which must be recognized as work sufficient in
,,self 10 give permanonce to even more miscei-
,apeous volumes than these. After "Trlby'
comes Mr. Warmers interesting novel The
Golden House" and after that comes any quantity
90 .xcellent fiction which It is pleasant to greet
again sketches by Mr. owen Wister and MIR Ju-
liam Ralph and stories from Miss wilkins Mi.
Davis Mr. James Lane Allen and Miss Grace
King In fact these volumes are little library
OF fictitious narrative. There Is much else OIL
course much of a descriptive Sort like the clever
nan.rs on the East by Mr. Weeks. Mr.. Burrs ac-
count of his Javan pilgrimage and the glances at
Russian and German topics by Mr.. Poultney Bge-
low Mr. Smalley's essay on the House or
Lords and Mr.. O'Connors on the Commons inquire
conspicuously among the articles OF timely inter
o.. ard naners such as "A Battleship in Action, "