138 The Country Parson. 



employed every village urchin bird keeping, or as odd boys, 

 and parsons were unheard and unheeded almost as regarded 

 education, and could only fight against ignorance in the 

 Sunday schools. 



I wonder how many sectarian sermons of all kinds I 

 have heard by " popular preachers " (that odious expression) 

 since those days, and how many I remember, or which I 

 cared twopence for ; possibly none ; but I bear in mind 

 many of those village sermons now, when men stood up, 

 and in their natural tone told a short story under twenty 

 minutes, and represented the dramatis personoi of sacred 

 history, walking and talking as they probably did in life ; 

 though one parson made the deadest failure I ever knew in 

 trying to say a few words about the late village cobbler and 

 parish clerk (who had been clerk for half a century) on the 

 Sunday after his funeral. He started as brave as a lion, but 

 he came to utter grief in a very short time ; for were not 

 the old clerk and the parson sworn friends ? and didn't those 

 two and your humble servant once dig an old woman's grave ? 

 This occurred in October, when the ground fortunately 

 was soft, and it occurred thus : A very old woman, Sukey 



, was dying, and the parson used to see her every day- 



"We were going out shooting, and on the way the parson 

 called to see how the old woman was, and heard, without 

 surprise, that "she had just passed off like a lamb." This 

 was on a Monday, and the people asked if she could be 

 buried at four o'clock on Saturday ; so to save them the 

 trouble of sending to the clerk, the vicar said he would let 

 him know about the funeral. On the Saturday we were 

 out shooting again some way from home, and the parson 



said, " We must go back; I have to bury old Sukey 



at four. By-the-bye," he added, " did you tell the old clerk 

 about her grave ? " The terrible fact came before us that 

 no grave had been dug. Back we posted, and found the 



