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Untitled Article
the present party * ' although / added he in a whisper to Mrs . Humphreys , ' I shall be obliged to « it up half the night in consequence . ' , _ ' . ^' Mrs . Humphreys immediately repeated his whisper aloud to Miss Parker ; adding , that she hoped Miss Parker was sensible of the favour done her { j arty bf Mr . Burton ' s present appearance among thein . And then , without waiting for the young lady ' s answer , she proceeded gravely to caution the young clergyman against over exertion in the way of duty , telling him how many persons had ruined their health in order to embrace a larger field of usefulness , and beseeching him particularly not to deprive himself of his rest at night .
" She spoke so largely on these subjects , that Anna , who had been kept in a state of amazement all the day , could not help looking up again to the young gentleman ' s face , to see if she could observe there any symptoms of fatigue or lassitude , but the placid and blooming appearance of the supposed sufferer , and the liveliness of his eye , induced her to suppose , that his labours and trials , like her own , had only existed in Mrs . Humphreys' imagination , and
that the young man had not more to do than what conduced to his health and the promotion of his robust appearance . She was soon , however , disturbed from her quiet reflections on this subject , by Mrs . Humphreys' requesting that she might have the pleasure of introducing their dear minister to Miss Williams , adding * that Mr . Burton was fully acquainted with her piety , her filial affection , and all the trials to which she had been called , as well as the
wonderful manner in which she had been supported through them . " Anna had no time to recover from the confusion into which she was thrown by this sudden address , before she found it necessary to answer the bows and fine speeches of the young clergyman , who , upon being thus called upon by Mrs . Humphreys , thought it incumbent on him to say something civil to the young stranger , particularly as her appearance was agreeable , modest and unaffected , and such as is generally looked on with respect , if not with admiration .
" The tea-table being arranged , and Miss Parker placed at it , with several of her young friends to assist her , Mr . Burton was making his escape towards it , when Mrs . Humphreys , addressing him again , said , * that she had another subject of complaint against him , and that she must call upon him , in the name of all the company present , to defend himself . This heavy charge , ' said Mrs . Humphreys , * is , that you left us last Sunday and placed a stranger in your pulpit . Now / added she , * we all protest against a repetition of this offence . ' " ' Indeed we do , ' repeated many voices .
" ' We shall be very angry if you make such an arrangement again , without having just cause , ' said Mrs . Humphreys . " ' But , ' said Mr . Burton , ' the gentleman who took my place is one of the first preachers in the county !' " ' First or last / said Mrs . Humphreys , ' we will decidedly not allow of any exchanges of the kind ; so beware of a second offence . ' " ' But / said a young lady who had risen from her chair at the other end
of the room on the first opening of this cause , and walked up quite close to Mr . Burton , ' I am come to enter my protest against all monopolies . Are not we poor starving creatures , who live at the other end of the town , and go to a church where the old curate preaches us all to sleep—are we quite to be shut out from all that is good and animating ? Mind not what they say , Mr . Burton / added she , putting her hand upon his arm , ' but come to us whenever you can get any one to fill your pulpit . '" —III . 140 .
Of the danger of self-deception and hypocrisy among young people who have been familiarized to religious sentiments and examples , Mrs . S . is well aware , and in her story of Jenetta Mannering ( Vol . II . ) she has drawn a striking picture of the bad effect of injudicious parental observation and praise of early appearances of religious or devotional tastes or habits in a
Untitled Article
200 : > Reviem- ^ Mni ' Sherwwd ' s Lady of the Manor .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1827, page 200, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1794/page/40/
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