TO WHOM WAS THE SERMON PREACHED.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 91, 16 April 1908, Page 6

TO WHOM WAS THE SERMON PREACHED.

The minister said, last night, says he, "Don't' be afraid of givin'; If your life ain't nothin' to other folks, Whyijy what's the use of livin'?" And that's what I say to my wife, says I, . . . "There's Brown, that mis'rable sinner, He'd sooner • a beggar would starve, than give A cent towards buyin' a dinner." I tell you our minister's prime, he is, i But I couldn't quite determine, When I heard him givin' it right and left,. : Just who was hit by the sermon. Of bourse there couldn't be no mistake, j When he talked of long-winded. praying For Peters and Johnson they sat and scowled. At every word he was say in 3. And the minister, he went on to say, "There's various kinds of cheating | And religion's as good for everyday As it is to bring to meetin'. I don't think much of a man that gives The loud Amens at my preachin' And spends his time the following ..', week , In cheatin' and overreachin'. " I guess that dose was bitter for A man.like Jones to swaller; But I nouced he didn't open iris mouth, Not once, after that, to holler. Hurrah, says I, for the minister— _0f course I said it quiet— / Give us some more of this open talk; It's very refreshin' diet. The minister hits 'em every time; And when he spoke of, fashion. And a-riggin' out in bows and things, As woman's rulin' passion, And a-comin' to church to see the styles, I couldn!t help a-winkin' Au' ,^ nu<i, gin' mv wife >and says I, That s you." \ And I guess it set her thinkin'. Says I to myself, that sermon's pat • But man is a queer creation; ' And I'm much afraid that most o' the folks Wouldn't take the application. -Now, if he had said a word about My personal mode of sinnin' Id have gone to work to right myself, J And not sat there a-grinnin'. Just then the minister says, saye he "And now I've come to the fellers Who ye lost this shower by usin' their friends As a sort of moral umbrellers. Go home," says he, "and find your faults, J . Instead of huntin' your brothersGo home," he says, " and wear Jae coats You've tried to fit on the others." My wife she nudged, and Brown, he winked, ' And there was lots o' smilin' And lots o' lookin' at our pew'It set my blood a-bilin'. Says I to myself, our minister Is getting a little bitter; 111 tell him when meetin's out I ami ' At all that kind of a critter.

One of the richest clergymen in England died at Guildford recently in the person of the Rev. Francis Paynter who had been rector of Stoke-next-Guildford for thirty-four years He owned much property in the neighbourhood of Regent Street and Piccadilly, and his income was reputed to be between £70,000 and £80,000 a year. Mr' Paynter was a great benefactor to Guildford. He had travelled all over the world in the cause of mission work. He established a college in India, and supported a number of missionaries at his own expense.