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¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 2 THE SPOILED CHILD. [290

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 3 hand of the tasteful and diligent cultivator. He was one of those men who retained the rural simplicity of the first settlers of our country. He had received the usual substantial English education of his day; his mind was one of a high order; his judgment was discriminating; his memory retained, with unusual tenacity, what he had read. In his whole deportment there was just such a dignity and air of pleasantness as one might expect to find in a Christian who had long walked with God; who had daily studied his Bible; who had a warm and benevolent heart; who had, next to the pastor, been the leading man in the parish; who had been in the magistracy, was honored in his county, and had always been accustomed to be consulted in matters of delicacy and public interest. The exterior was worthy of such a mind: he was a tall, venerable man, the patriarch of the valley.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 His house was five miles from the village church: and yet no man was more punctual in his attendance. It was never recollected, even by an enemy, that he was in any instance late. The secret of it was this: he rose as early on a Sabbath morning as on days of business; and it was a part of his religion not to give any offence, or disturb others, during the worship of God, by coming in late. Beside, he loved God’s sanctuary: his heart was early there: and it was natural that he should wish to join in the first ascriptions of praise to God. No ordinary storm would prevent him from being, summer and winter, in his place. If it rained, he put on a great-coat; for he always rode on horseback: and if it stormed severely, he would put on two. And when he reached the church, usually among the foremost, he would gravely observe that it seemed greatly to be desired that the rain should cease, that those who dwelt close by might venture into the house of God; adding, that if, like himself, they had five long miles to come, they would probably prize in a higher degree the privilege of the sanctuary.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 1 The domestic arrangements of his family seemed also, in all respects, befitting his Christian character and profession. And his wife, endowed with singular prudence and the other Christian graces, seemed a true helpmeet. Every morning and evening the whole family was assembled around the domestic altar, and the worship of the Most