128 Life and Times of " The Druid." 



be safely trusted to rest on this noble struc. 

 ture, beinor the architect. The Rev. Dr. 



o 



Sharpe, who had been Curate and then 

 Vicar of Doncaster for the whole of his 

 adult life, was also a very successful school- 

 master. He was a dignitary of singularly 

 stately manner, a fact which lends additional 

 point to the following story. When her first- 

 born son came into the world in 1848, Mrs. 

 Dixon went, on her recovery, to be churched 

 at St. George's, and was accompanied by 

 her husband, who insisted upon kneelmg 

 beside her at the altar. After performing 

 that part of the ceremony which related to 

 the mother, the Vicar leant forward, and, 

 with a grave smile, whispered into " The 

 Druid's" ear, "Do you desire to be churched, 

 also, Mr. Dixon?" "No!" he answered, 

 with something of impatience, if not indig- 

 nation, in his tone, "but nothing shall prevent 

 my returning thanks with my wife." One 

 other little incident connected with the same 

 church was the cause of much amusement 

 at the time of its occurrence. Shortly after 

 his marriage "The Druid" suffered from 

 several inflammatory attacks of the eye 



