ae 
1826.] Cheerfulness of Sextons. 4) 
ehronicles old) Robert, L—=?), Thou who.art, mingled withthe purest 
recollections-of my) childhood,, and who returnest, often, and/often, to, my 
memory;> but! oftenest- when I.walk across,a fair, well-garnished church: 
yands Ifancy Lisee thee now, in the) little, distant, churchyard, of 
W-=—-with thy. coat of faded sky-blue, and thy long silver, locks, bendr 
ingias; thou wert -amidst the weight of years.. I never remember thee 
otherwise than I now describe thee :—that self-same coat—almost.a part 
_ofi thee :-but,/thy cheerful, face, thy cheerful heart, thy cheerful, voice 
and spirits, and that warm, mild eye—how do I remember these! .How 
often have I followed, thee to, thy domestic haunts, and) teased.thee 
amidst; thine: unsextonlike occupation of making wooden, rakes for, the 
hay-harvesters—played with thy tools in mock labour, and then, hid 
them from thee +;/and; how often have I seen thee with thy, notable 
dame chirping: thy joyous thoughts beside thy chimney-hearth, beneath 
that roof which my benevolent father gave thee for thy life, In these-- 
in) all thy occupations, thou-wert the same: thou hadst a benison,and,a 
smile for-all;.and Iwas happy to have thy hard hand stroking down|my 
flaxen locks,'gently chucking me under the chin, and. filling my pockets 
with fine swan-egg pears, from the high tree opposite the door of, thy 
quiet dwelling. al pan eric 
/ dchave. frequently, observed. that. sextons generally possess, good 
memories, not only of persons, but also of things and-cireumstances...1 
do-not-meam: to insist) that’ their occupation confers. this | quality—but 
that:it affords: inducement towards it there can be no doubt, and this, in 
their-situation is an ample-source of cheerfulness.,.,To the sexton, death 
is soifamiliar—he frequently overleaps its physical, effects in, /his,.con- 
templations. He goes with you from this grave to that—for every 
grave he hath an anecdote :—and if its tenant ever uttered a jest, the 
rogue remembers it, and repeats it, with as much glee as if it had been 
the child. of hisown, fancy, when in truth it has been only.a, foundling 
and. nurse-child..,,He .is a great relater of incidents,,and_ therefore 
generally, prattles—and your prattle isa glorious provocative to one 
kind of cheerfulness. In his mind, the dead and the living may, be, said 
to be both living: he is the master of the ceremonies—the major-domo, 
and intreduces them to social intercourse; and, what is more, he equalizes 
all. Your living peer and your dead peasant have a sympathy through 
his-gossip: and the proud peer listens with real interest to the histor 
of the departed peasant, whom in life he would have passed by A 
Can there be a kindlier office, or a more cheering and cheerful one,.than 
that of such a go-between?, How importantly he conducts, you through 
the labyrinths of his,territory ; he is the repository of the secrets of the 
dead, .as. to where they have hid themselves, except when the. ostenta- 
tious: tomb-stone blabs the secret. He attends you with as much cere; 
mony. asa, connoisseur would assume in conducting you through the 
rarities, of his gallery or museum. No one knows half so much as,he 
does: he smiles at his conscious knowledge of the information, you wish 
to,obtain—he smiles more (at your ignorance or his triumph), when_he 
has satisfied your interrogations—but oh, what a smile is the Jast,.when 
your half-crown tickles his hard palm; for then the dreams of the warm 
chirhney-corner;| and the foaming cup, and anon, drinks five fathom 
deeps:in his ‘chosen \potation, to the health of curious, strangers. and 
inquisitive stragglers. aylia 
bobs Your humble servant, Sir,” said.a sexton to me, as/I passed 
3G 
G 
