of the capacious building, known formerly as the brick hotel, but latterly called "the old castle." This he positively declined; and, as there was no other alternative, measures were taken to build a house, and the installation postponed. The business was committed to three trustees, who hired a carpenter to do it by the job. These men had their own private

interests to look after, and could give only a general supervision to the undertaking. The pastor elect kept his eye upon it, and secured attention to many little things that would have been otherwise neglected. Yet, his interference was considered rather troublesome, and any great improvement in plan or execution he was not able to effect.

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To those familiar with the prevalent mode of parish building for the minister, description here is not needed. When the frame was up, it looked too slender to stand against a reg'lar nor'easter." The clapboards were added without lining; and when Mr. Vernon remonstrated with one of the trustees, the truth-telling farmer replied, "I s'pose, if one of us were building it for ourselves, we should have it lined; but it's a parsonage, you know, and we must get it up at the least expense."

"There is a fine place for a basement-kitchen," said Mr. Vernon to another trustee.

"Yes,” replied Mr. Tuthill; "if it were for myself I would have one by all means."

Ah! it is only a parsonage; and what does a minister's family want of a room in the basement? The kitchen is nine feet by twelve, with a small fire-place, and a narrow oven, and a little pantry. It's only a parsonage! Half the timber is ill-seasoned—the fixtures are of the cheapest kind—the second coat of paint laid on before the first is dry-the plaster coarse and incohesive-the floors constructed as if for ventilation, and of planks differing in thickness, presenting a varied surface of

hill and dale—the windows without blinds, loose and shaking in every breeze, as if with the ague. It was only a parsonage ! Then, the exterior was finished without ornament of pillar, cornice, or moulding—much more discarding such luxurious appendages as a corridor, veranda, or portico. They would add to the expense, and might foment pride within the parsonage, and jealousies without,

“Do tell us,” says some fair reader, “what kind of people these were in Olney.”

“O!” says another, "excuse us from any more familiar introductions to the all sorts of people' that a minister must be acquainted with. Our memory is burdened already." Well, you shall be spared the infliction. Human nature, we allow, is the same the world over; yet, there are some phases of it in Olney which, methinks, we have not met elsewhere since we 'gan travel together. However, you shall not be bored with any more full-length portraits, framed and labelled. You may have the materials, and draw them for yourself. To avoid confusion, we may give a name here and there, as it is rather more convenient, than to say, "Mr. So-and-So," or "a certain woman."

To return from this awkward episode to the question of our fair reader. We intend you shall learn what kinds of character make up the parish of Olney, as their minister did, from the intercourse of years, when the history of that intercourse shall be laid before you. As a clue to correct results, we will give you some hints that may be of service.

The parish consisted of a hundred families, among whom there was no such thing as caste, although there was some diversity of intellectual and social culture. They were a sensible, thrifty, frugal people-accumulating property by small gains, of which they were very tenacious. They were under the

shadow of a large town a few miles southward, which opened a market for their produce. The habit of running thither, with a brace of fowls, or a dozen eggs, or a bushel of early apples and potatoes, made them unconsciously parsimonious and contracted respecting many things in which the farmers of the larger inland towns are free as the milch kine of their meadows. There was, moreover, in this little community, an intense individualism. With few exceptions, everybody lived for himself, and took care of number one.

Again; there was no person, of superior wisdom and reputation, looked up to as guide and leader. Deacon Hyde was a man who thought and read more than many of the people; but he held his opinions rigidly, and was not generally popular -besides seeking his own interest too exclusively for a public servant. Deacon White was a well-meaning, self-complacent man, who carried his sentiments, like his money, in a deep, out-of-the-way place, so that it took an age to fish either of them up. Esquire Eaton, the richest church member, took some lead in political matters; but, in the department of religion and morals, he was careful not to step out of the line, unless in the rear. Captain Brown, whose heart was always in the right place, was too little cultivated, and too easy, to take the helm; while, of a minister's leadership, there was, throughout the parish, a pervading jealousy.

In regard to preaching, they were not a very discriminating people. If a man was sound in doctrine, fluent in speech, pleasant in address, he was, in their estimation, “a smart preacher." Their estimate of Mr. Vernon's talents was derived more from his reputation abroad than from their own judgment of his performances. Hence, though many said, at first, “We cannot hope to settle a man of such gifts;” yet, from the moment he consented to stay, he depreciated in their

eyes. “He cannot, after all, be anything great, or he would not stay in Olney." Millville people magnified and exalted him because he was their minister. Olney, lacking in selfrespect, for the same reason held him in less repute.

THAT first winter in the new parsonage was one of many discomforts. It was a new beginning at house-keeping-always a time of unusual cares. The girl, Mabel, was Mrs. Vernon's only help, and though invaluable in the nursery, was yet to be trained in the kitchen. The children suffered much from

frequent colds. The house was damp, and bare of such conveniences as accumulate with the occupancy of a dwelling. The builder's work, too, was left very incomplete. He found he had been screwed too close in the contract, and so revenged himself on the house. To supply the deficiency, took all Mr. Vernon's odd moments, and many a pound of nails, and more pine stuff than the refuse afforded. The fences were still unbuilt; and, when the spring opened, the garden patch was not only uninclosed, it was an unbroken turf; while, on all the place, there was, as Trinculo said of his desert island, "neither bush, nor shrub, to bear off any weather at all.”

For this naked half-acre, with a house and barn, the people charged the annual rent of seventy-five dollars, nearly six per cent. on the cost. The minister did not conceal his surprise at this disproportion between the house-rent and salary.; but there was no appeal from the decision.

At New-Year's the annual sale of pews occurred. Captain Brown accosted Mr. Vernon with the air of one conferring a favour, and bade him welcome, with his family, to the "minister's pew;" adding, "I suppose, if I should come in when my own slip is crowded, Mrs. Vernon will not turn me out?" The new pastor did not understand. He turned to Deacon Hyde for explanation; and was told, with some embarrassment, that the minister here had always been in the habit of paying for his pew in church; that Captain Brown had just bid it off, for seven dollars, as a present to Mr. Vernon. Mr. Vernon's spirit rose against this exaction. He had not lost all the old fire. He told the deacon he would resign the pulpit before he would pay a tax of this kind toward his own support. There was no Deacon Ely in the parish to cry shame on such an illiberal policy. Indeed, the present incumbents of the deaconship had no proper conception of the nature of their office.

To attend upon the sacramental table; to keep the alms of the church; to read a sermon in the minister's absence; to examine candidates for church-membership; to pray at the stated social meeting ;-this seemed the amount of their official obligations. It appeared not to enter their thoughts that the office had its origin in the commendable purpose to relieve the pastor from solicitude and labour, respecting secular and collateral objects, that he might give himself with more freedom to the ministry of the word.

To watch against annoyances in his pathway; to shield him from burdens not properly his own; to stand between him and the pecuniary requisitions which, thrown back by many a defaulter, must rest somewhere, and are so apt to fall on the minister; to make all the surroundings of his professional work as comfortable and pleasant as possible; to help him in his attendance upon the sick and suffering; to proffer aid and