The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-02-01
THE QUIETUs OF MISS jERUsHY.

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Miss Jerushy had been the direct
or indirect cause of the dissolution
of every pastoral relationship in the
Wallingford Presbyterian Church
during a quarter of a century. Why
j. those twelve or fifteen able ministers
of the gospel and that congregation
of pious and sensible people had let
this meddlesome old maid upset all
their plans and destroy all their
prospects, nobody could tell. Per-
haps the reason lay in the essential
goodness of Miss Jerushys heart, for
her devotion to the church was never
called in question. 1t was this very
zeal, no doubt, which made it i'm
possible for her to put up with
mediocre success. When, therefore, a
new minister began to fall short Of
perfection, her righteous soul would
swell with indignation. At first, she
would berate the minister himself,
and then, if he did not make good,
begin to stir up the membership. The
symptoms Of Miss Jerushy's going on
the warpath were unmistakable-the
war paint, feathers, tomahawks and
ghost dances of Indians finding a
counterpart in her plain, black Sun
day bonnet; shiny, brocaded dress;
faded green parasol, and wild dashes
into stores, residences and church
sociables.
Whenever the congregation OBJ
thncn !,
within short time there would be
another preachers scalp suspended at
Miss Jerushy's belt. Educated in an
Eastern school and reared upon the
Shorter Catechism, the Westminster
Confession of Faith, Calvins Insti-
tutes, and above all, the English
Bible, Miss Jerushy was formidable
critic, and more than one of the most
cultivated of all this series of clergy
men had confessed that when he felt
her little black eyes riveted upon his
face his ideas would vanish like a
covey of quail. By these persistent
assaults upon its peace the church
had been gradually divided into war
ring factions. Good neighbors and
faithful friends were separated by
suspicious and misunderstanding
Occasionally, some deacon or elder
had taken it upon himself to remon-
strate with Miss Jerushy; but with
out success. Once or twice, a preach
er, more belligerent than the rest, |
had tried to organize a rebellion
against the tyrant; but had met his |
Waterloo.
Living entirely at home in a taste /
full cottage upon a generous income,
Miss Jerushy was rigid in her self |
denials, generous in her benefactions
and scrupulous in her dealings, and
had acquired both influence and
power. Had it not been for the facts
that her wig was never quite straight
upon her head nor her spectacles
upon her nose, and that her gold
plate was loose in the roof of her
mouth, she would have presented an
attractive,as she did an imposing ap-
ipearance.
For the first six months the last
minister in this long procession which
had filed so rapidly through the
church, succeeded in avoiding all the
ordinary pitfalls into which his pre-
sdecessors had stumbled. At the ma
ture age of fifty years he was pleasing
in person, tactful in methods, re-
sonrceful in emergencies, and Miss
Jerushy had actually begun to think |
that the ideal man had arrived: but |
one Sunday morning single SEN
ltence Of his sermon not only contain
ed grammatical error but theolo- |
gical heresy, and Miss Jerushy once
more went upon the warpath.
To the establishment of the congre-i