Deacons . e preacher who preached before Deacon Sharpface,especially if he was a young man! He listened to everysermon, from beginning to end, only to discover unusual form of expression was instantly noteddown. If a text was misquoted, he was in ecstasy, andthe hard lines of his face absolutely, for once, relaxed asif, somewhere in its cadaverous recesses, there yetremained the corpse of an unburied smile. A sermonwas an intellectual refreshment, and prayers he enjoyedpencil in hand. I have said that the deacon was unfor-tunate, — unfortunate in his nature, his education, andhis te
Deacons . e preacher who preached before Deacon Sharpface,especially if he was a young man! He listened to everysermon, from beginning to end, only to discover unusual form of expression was instantly noteddown. If a text was misquoted, he was in ecstasy, andthe hard lines of his face absolutely, for once, relaxed asif, somewhere in its cadaverous recesses, there yetremained the corpse of an unburied smile. A sermonwas an intellectual refreshment, and prayers he enjoyedpencil in hand. I have said that the deacon was unfor-tunate, — unfortunate in his nature, his education, andhis temper; but his greatest misfortune was the time ofhis birth. He was born nineteen hundred years toolate. He should have been a Pharisee, and a memberof the Sanhedrim, at the time of Christ. 46 DEACONS. Now, you think that is harsh. Well, I will hang thetwo faces side by side for a moment, and you shalllook into their eyes. Like a Pharisee, this New-Eng-land deacon was bigoted. It was the joke of the HE LISTENED TO EVERY SERMON. Like a Pharisee, he was spiritually proud. Like a Phar-isee, he was fond of traditions. What had not themould and mildew of age upon it must be an error:whatever had, from that fact became the hio^hest wisdom. POOE MRS. SHARPFACE. 47 Like a Pharisee, he was sharp in his judgments, andbitter in his speech. His wife knew that best. Like aPharisee, he loved to have liis goodness loved to have it known in the great gatherings of
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