The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1906-01-31

still other employment. Those who
filled the pews below were generally
elderly The day was warm, but
damp and even rainy. Under The
pulpit, on the left, sat n gentleman
with patch on one eye. Behind
him, two paues of glass we're out. To
keep the wind from his neck, his hat
was thrust through one of the apera-
lures, and his coat which the general
temperature of his body enabled him
to dispense with was taken off and
applied to the other. Thus he sat
in his shirt sleeves; but, to prevent
a cold in his head, that part was
covered with a large colored hand
kerchief. In corner sat neighbor
with his coat hung over his arm; and
those that were near the windows
had in most instances guarded their
heads with handkerchiefs.
After hymns and long prayer, in
which, as is usual in extemporaneous
prayer, there was a sermon to the
deity, informing him of all his at
tributes and of some of the latest news
on earth, the preacher announced his
text, which was no other than that
very celebrated one in the book of
Genesis: 1.-the sceptre shall not de-
part from Judah, nor lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh come.
1 regretted for a moment the choice
[ supposed, that in a sermon drawn
from this text, the preacher would
take the ordinary route, and employ
biblical learning in making it appear
that this Shiloh of prophecy is the
Messiah of the New Testament, and
that in the Messiah the prophecy was
fulfilled; and, on points of biblical
learning, 1 suspected that the divine
to whom l was to listen would but
repeat what other divines had said
before, and had said much better than
he was likely to say them. 1 was
mistaken. The preacher took path
of his own, and one that believe had
some originality; making no other
use of his text than to infer from it
the acknowledge of the deity. The
prophecy, as the reader will remem-
Der, is one of a series delivered by
Jacob to his sons; and, this point
being explained, the preacher proceed
ed: "You see, the way the old man
come to know this was, that God
tell d him all what all his sons would
come to. You see the old man knew
that he was come to die-he felt,
somehow, that be was come to die
(perhaps God tell'd him--I don t
know in particular-it does not seem
to be set down; but, somehow, the
old man, he knew that the time was
come for him to die)-so, You see, he
sent for all his sons-for all his SOUS
all of 'em-some we're out in the
fields, some in the barn-no matter,
they all had to come; and then he
tell'd 'em everything-tell'd 'em ev-
erything-all what they'd dc! You
see God knows'every thing, SO he tell d
the old man everything, all what
they'd do, in their lives, and all what
their children would do; for God
knows everything, aud he tell'd the
old man everything-every one thing
Simeon and Levi are brethren, but
they had instruments of cruelty in
their habitations; the old man did
not like 'em. o my soul, says he,
come not thou into their secret THAT
is, don't have anything to do with
'em, for they are cruel men, you see
in their anger they slew a man, and
in their self-will they digged down a
wall. Well, then, the old man, he
comes next to Judah, and Judah seems
to be great favorite! "Thy hand
shall be in the neck of thine enemies !;
thy fathers children shall bow down
before thee Well, and so it hap
pened, all that the old man tell'd 'em,
he did not tell 'em no lies, for God
tell'd him everything, and God did
not tell the old man any lies-not
any lies at all, it all happened as
you II see-in-in-in-well it's no
matter, l can't find the places just
now Il could look 'em up. THE
sceptre shall not depart from Judah
that is, you see, the old man tell'd
Judah how he should be king, and
how all his children should be kings.
You see sceptre's "a thing that a
king always carries with him Il
never saw a king)- sceptre is a
kind of a staff, you see-it's made
with several things Il could look
'em up), kiepred all over with silver
and gold I never saw sceptre you
see, your great people, they carry
different sorts of things, to show what
they are--so, you see, a king he
carries q scepter, like, as I am told,
a president of a college, Il never
saw a president of a college, he
carries great staff, so, you see, they
all carry, some one thing, some an
other, I don't know what they are,
I could look 'em up.
Judah s lions whelp, he stopped
down, he couched as lion, and as an
old lion," you see, that means how
Judah should be very great, you see,
lions called the king of beasts, a
lion, I never saw lion) it's great
beast, don't know in what particu-
lar, I could look it up-great teeth
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven
of the sea. You see, Zebulun, he
would be fond of navigation. The
old man tell'd him he woodland
he knew. God tell'd him everything
You see, different children take a
different turn, one likes one thing,
and another likes another. So, you
see, the old man, he tell'd Zebulun
how he'd live near the sea, and how
he'd have great many ships and he
tell ID no lies.''
Coming at length to the close of the
pronhooioc tho oroo obor 1xuolt n 1i%tlo