ROMANCE OF THE PULPIT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 976, 8 September 1868, Page 3

ROMANCE OF THE PULPIT.

'The Birminghcwn^ Post publishes the abstract of a curious sermon recently preached by the Rev. C. H. Crawford, of Old Swinford, on the occasion of, his own marriage with his own housekeeper, in which the rev. gentleman, taking as his text Ist Corinthians, 4th chapter, 3rd verse, " With me it is a very small thing, that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment," descanted on the illustrious lineage of the Crawfords, admitting that the alliance he had contracted was very like that which King Cophetua contracted with the beggar girl. He had told them fully what were his birth, family, and connections, in no very boastful spirit, as he might fairly ask them to believe ; for during the thirty-two years he had occupied that pulpit he had never before spoken of himself. He was no more able to appreciate the little social distinctions which existed in that parish, and which were chiefly founded on money, than to compare the height of mole hills from a mountain's top. His wife was of plebeian birth, and as such was by the providence of God, it was no disgrace. Where was he, who had not mixed in the great world of London since he was a young man, and among whose ancestry the great families of the neighborhood would have deemed it an honour to have obtained a place — where was he to find a woman to take charge of a gouty old gentleman like him? (Laughter.) .From any one who presumed to reproach him with his wife's lowly parentage, he could endure the taunt, and his only retort would be to enquire, " Who was your grandfather ?" Having, then, no choice to him appreciable in rank, and utterly despising money, he had chosen one whose goodness, whose kindness of heart, whose love so disinterested, whose simple piety, were incomparably more to him than her birth. But she was not only not of high birth, she was not highly educated. Putting aside Stael and Somerville, andsome others, whatwere the average accomplishments and learning of ladies ? They could make drawings, which to pass muster their masters must retouch ; they could play a little, sing a little, and dance considerably. They were deeply read in novels, and superficially, perhaps, in some other things. They could write, and perhaps speak a little French, and less German or Italian. That his wife was deficient in these respects was not their loss, and therefore concerned them not. As for himself, he cared little for drawing or music, except the finest ; and the finest was always to be had for money. And as to languages — to express himself in a familiar parlance — one tongue was sufficient. If they heard any inaccuracies in his wife's language, he would ask if their language was always strictly accurate P Those who thought proper to ridicule his wife for inaccuracies, he would remind that their tenements were constructed of a material largely manufactured in that neighbourhood — certainly notiron — and to such persons the throwing of stones was dangerous. Mr. Crawford tersely illustrated this by a list of expressions used in the district, exposing particularly the abuse of the letter " h." But, further, his wife might possibly be something at a loss with regard to the little conventionalities of society. He could not, however, suppose his neighbours were so brutally deficient in good breeding, and so utterly unchristian in such a trivial matter, as to expose her to ridicule ; and, secondly, by reason of his infirmities, his studious habits, and his numerous avocations, and her quiet, domestic nature, they had resolved to lead a life of almost' complete seclusion, devoting themselves to their improvement, to the duties of their station, and the preparation of their souls for heaven.