THE SOUTH CilURCII. 187 



boon when the monotony was broken by the annoimcemcnt, ' Such a 

 man and such a woman intend matrimony.' Ali! there was something 

 human at hxst. We understood what that meant, and it woke us up 

 for the rest of the day. Tlie Fast-Day proclamsition, sent by tlie Gov- 

 ernor was always another joyous break, and as for the Thanksgiving 

 announcement, nothing would have kept us home on the day we 

 knew that was coming. Don't I remember tliat grand peroration to 

 this day! What a roll it had under the tongue: 'Given under my 

 hand and the seal of the State, this 20th day of November,' and signed 

 by his mysterious highness, the Secretary of State. 



" We worried through the sermon at last, diverted now and then by 

 the palsied old lady in the front pew, who looked up at the preaclier 

 and shook her head as if denying every word he said; or, again watcli- 

 ing the nodding gray heads adown the middle aisle, or counting the 

 rosette-like ornaments which ran around the front of the long white 

 gallery. Then came Sunday-school, when we crept down tlie narrow 

 little staircase which led to the basement, and sat on bare settees, with 

 our feet dangling in the air. To this basement we sometimes came on 

 Saturday afternoons for a singing school, and later on to evening 

 meetings, where in the dim lamplight we heard prayers and exhorta- 

 tions, or sat in long silences, broken at last "by the good deacon with 

 the unvarying resource, ' Sing Balerma.' The church you celebrate, 

 my dear friend, is rich and warm, and full of color and comfort. 

 Mine is the old white edifice, cold and square and barn-like. This is 

 the picture stamped indelibly upon my childhood. In the new church 

 I have only been a visitor. 



" But though I see it now, I did not think it cold or empty then. 

 The young people of those days were full of their own pleasures, 

 while the older heads ran over with wisdom and kindly counsel. 



' * The men and women who made New Britain sat in those straight- 

 backed pews. The Norths, and Stanleys, the Browns, the Smiths, the 

 Pecks, the Corbins, and their heirs to-day enjoy the heritage they won. 

 Of the w^omen of the old South Church, let me mention but two out of 

 many, and these because they left an impress upon my own life. 

 These were Miss Clara North and Miss Harriet Stanley. Both were 

 Sunday-school teachers of mine, the earliest I remember, and happily 

 I was for quite a series of years under their instruction; and the best 

 I know of Bible lore and religious doctrine, I owe to them. Though 

 very different types of character, each had gracious, charming manners 

 with little folks, and inspired personal admiration in their young 

 pupils. May I also mention by name one man, who was the her6 of 

 my childish soul, and chiefly, as I suppose, because he always bowed 

 to me on the steps of the old church on Sunday mornings, and lifted 

 his hat with the same deference he would have shown to an older per- 



