Sketcher. A DEACON'S EXPERIENCE. FROM "CHARACTER SKETCHES," BY ROBERT OVERTON.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1926, 8 November 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

Sketcher. A DEACON 'S EXPERIENCE. FROM "CHARACTER SKETCHES," BY ROBERT OVERTON.

"Which I don't belong to the 'Stablished Church, myself, sn, as am a Independent, a-beggm' your pai don, as I know for to be a Church parson. But yi'r see what I says is this : you take a lot omen like us fisherfollc, as works 'ard all tho week and mostly under command, a-doin" what the skipper tells us — 'auhn in ropes, settin' sail, draggin' nets, and one thing and iuiother as you naterally don't know nothing about — with nobody for to fed authority o vc* like, 'ceptin' rmi} bo a boy 01 two what anybody can knock about ; "well* now, if so bo as we chaps go in for the 'SUbhshed Church, we am't nobody no more at Church than aboard the boats ; wo ain't got no woiee in what's to be done, and we ain't got no soil of power 01 command like. But if we goes in foi the Methodica 01 the Baptists (which is .1 lot, howsoradevei, as I don't 'old with, at all, as 1 knowed one old man who almost got 'is death tlnough a being kep' under too long, conseqens of tho minister a-lettui' 'irn slip and 'is legs gettin' entangled m the sheet), but if, I say, we join any of the seetiscs, why we get made a lot of— somo being stooardb, some deacons, and some a-takin' lonnd the 'at You should see me and old Cockles fuller our minister out o' the westry o' Sundays, oi a-makm' the collection arteiwards, and our names called out sometimes fiorn the pulpit: "Biother Cockles and Brother Coleman." Then again, if we don't 'old with what our minister pieaehes, or if wo seem to want a chango, we can tell 'im to look out for a call to some othei place : and afoie we engages a hand, wo have a lot down on trial. We pays our money aad we take 1 ! our choice. Now, gen'rally speaking, when we're on the look-out for a minister, we have one chap down one Sunday, another on the folleiin' Sunday, and so on till we'ie satisfied — one done, t'other come on. But it so happened, one time we wanted a ministei, we all seemed most dreadful particular— we couldn't satisfy ourselves. "We had six down lumun', but none of 'em didn't suit. At last, by some little misunderstandm', we had tlnee come down to pi each their trial seimons on the same Sunday ; and we ananged it that the liev. Paul Dustei should preach m the morning', the Rev. llalgcrnon Sydney Crackles in the afternoon, and the laCv. John Brown in the ovenin'. "When the Sunday came when we was to try 'em, w e was all a-gog like. " You mark my words, mate," says Cockles to me in tho westiy, " theie'll be some close sailin'. I'm rather inclined," he continners wery thoughtful, " to bet on the old gentl'm'n wot's got the lunnin' this morning, as is stiict orthodox, and appeals to me to cany a deal of canvas." " 'Ere he comes," I says, and sure enough he wi\3 iubt tacking across the road under convoy of Bill Tubbs, the butterman, as was understood to luv\e took 'im in hand. A dieadtul seveie-looking man weie Mr. Duster, with a lnminense head and face, both on 'em bald and binning, and 'is head all over bumps, lie ceitamly were awful hirnpiessive to look at. Tho seimon he pleached weie severe oithodoa., and the language quite as uncommon as you could ha' got m a 'Stabhshed Church— Greek and Latin, and all sorts. '' 'Eie's words," I says to Cockles. " Woids, and sound doctime too, mate," says Cockles — as was weiy particular about doctrine And sureho we got enough about doctrine that moimn', foi all the seimon was a-up'oldin' of all as our sec' believes, and a-showin' 'ow all other , sectises is wrong. The Latin quotations went down himmense, and I see several ladies overcome by the Gieck. The sermon, in fact, caused a tiemenjious sensation, and Tubbs trotted 'is man an ay in high spents, and lookin' proud andtiiumpliant, as though the whole thing was finished and 'is man engoge. In the artemoon we meets for to hear the second preacher, as turned out so wery poetical and 'eaitbi eakin' that lie seemed fanly like takin' the wind out of the othei's sails. His woicehad a beautiful shivery- shakery in it, and he wep' that copious I thought sometimes we should have to bale the pulpit out, and ask 'im to weep over the side. , Lor I how he shot about that blessed pulpit ! first one tide, then t'other, 'is eyes a-rolhn' and 'is faco purple, a-gurglin' and a-jelhn', and a-whisperin' and a-shoutin'. He weie a lean, pale man, regular poetical-looking, with long hair, and a nose a trifle red at the knob At hulf-arter six, wo meets for to hear tho last preacher. Only a few on us saw 'im before ho got into the pulpit ; but we quite agreed that let alone 'is name, which were dead agin 'im, he wasn't the man for oiu money, and I see at once as he didn't go down hke with the congregation. He wore only about twenty-five, and a trifle undei -sized, and at flist sight didn't look anything at all out o' tho common ; but somehow I fancied there was a something in 'is eye and hangin' about 'is mouth that shewed he'd got good stuff in 'im. Howsomdevei, I didn't think he'd do for us, whatever he'd got stowed away. Well, he preached his sermon — a short straightaway sermon, what everybody could understand. It wasn't doctrinal, nor it weio not poetical, but just practical, a-tellin' us as how everybody in the world had dooties to perform, fiom queen to pauper, and then a-going on about our dooties, and how we should stick to 'em and " never say die " like — sort o' standin' by the ship, however 'the winds might roar and the sea rage. Artei the meeting we had a little gatherin' in the westry — just a few on us to talk matters over, don't yer know — and the only question seemed to be, should wo go in for doctrine and elect tho doctrinal chap, or wote for the poetical bloke ? Wo seemed about equally diwided on the point, nobody sayin' nothin' about the young chap what had just preached. Words got rather 'igh at last ; and Tubbs (as though considered conwerted by some, were in my opinion not quite done yet) got so excited about Cockles backm' the other man, that 1 believe if Tubbs hadn't been small and unilateral fat, he would ha' struck Cockles. On the Wednesday night there was to be a Church Meeting to settle about electin 1 one on 'em; but none of us knowed.when we separated j that Sunday night how wery soon our choice was to be made. I reckon that Sunday night will never be forgotten, mister, so long as this 'ere place has got a boat on the water, or a house on the shore ; the night of the great storm we call it, when the Spanish " San Pedro " went to pieces. I 'ad a look out to sea accordin' to custom afore I turned in, and I see a wessel in the offing, which I made out to be a London-bound ship. I didn't much like the look of things, and I said a bit of a prayer for all poor chaps afloat and in danger that night. Well, sir, an old sailor like me always sleeps with one eye open, so when the winds began to gather strong, and the waves to tumble and roll, and dash against the jetty there, I woke up. By-and-byo the wind got higher and higher, rattlin' the winder-panes, shriekin' and 'owlin', and the sound of the risin' waves got louder and louder. All of a sudden I thought of that ship I had seen passing, and out I jumped from my bunk into my clothes, .clapped on a sou- wester, and made for the beach. Lord save us, what a night it was ! You seethe black rock out there, sir? Well, you've never seen that covered since you've been 'ere, I know, and you might stop for years _and never see it covered; Taut that night the great black •waves were beatin' right over, the top, and bang across the jetty. The sky was just as black as ink, and

the wind blowin' at last fit to wake the dead. By-and-bye, crack, blaze, crack went the lightnin', and boom, boom, boom, followed tlio thunder, the awful sound pealin' above our heads, and seemin' to roll away over the dreadful sea. Almost all the men and women in the place were on the beach, and even little chil'leu 'ad crept away from home, and were clingin' to their mothers' gowns. The fust flash had showed us an awful sight — a ship, part of 'or liggin' all entangled on 'er deck, drittm' straight on for the rocks. Nqught on earth could help 'cr — there she was — a noble, handsome craft, drivin' right ashore, drivin' fast and sure into the jaws of death ! Only the Hand of God Itself put out fiom Heaven could keep 'er off. The women and chil'len were weepni'— weepin' for brave men to die, for sailors' wives lo be made widows, and sailors' little ones made orphans that night; and many a man's true heart, as we stood thero grimly silent, was wild with soriow at its own helplessness. Just as another flash of lightnin' lit up tho scene, she struck with a great shiverin' shock ; wild ciies from the wieck weie borne to the shore, and the women shuddered and fell on their knees, while from man to man went the question : " Can we do "nothing— notlanq— to help them now?" But what could we do ? We hadn't got no lifeboat then, sir, or no rockets or such-like appaiatus, and we knowed that none of our boats could live in a sea like that ; while as to swimming off to tho wieek — no wonder that even biave hearts quailed a bit, though a rope 'ad been fetched and was lying handy. All at once I heard a noise behind and turns lound. ' A lot of lanterns had been lit, and I could see everything pretty plainly. Clingin' together in the background was still the women and clnl'len, between lliein-*nd us was two of the parsons — tho poetical one on 'is knees, and t'other one, 'is hnt blown clean away, and 'is bumps all wisiblc, was 'oldin' on tight to a jetty post, and giving went to tho doctrine that it was God Almighty's Will the poor fellows in the wreck should perish. As 1 said afoie, every hale man in the place seemed on the beach : but I didn't sco the young preacher chap of that evenin', as I found artorwards had gone to a faim a little way up country. But just as I was thinkin' of 'im I see 'im comm', makm' with quick, hasty etudes towaidt. the With a light spung ho jumps down on to the boach and stiaight on, 'is mouth set Jinn and steady, and all 'is face glowm' with a light which wasn't on it in the pulpit — straight on, lookin' neither to poit nor starboard, but straight for'ard. " Stand aside, women? " Calm and cool he oiders them, and to light and left they scatter. Stiaight on he comes — past the poetical parson on 'is knees, and the doctrinal one u-'anging to the jetty-post — on to where wo men was standin' — and then off he flings 'is hat and coat and boots, and takes 'old of the rope ; as though in a moment ho undeistands all. " Lads, bear a hand ! " But now we crowd round 'im, crying, " Sir, you shall not go ! " With 'is o»n hands he fixes on the iojk; to 'is body, wavin' us oil' as wo press round 'im, and then giving one look towards the wieck, and one 100k — bright and quick — up to heaven, ho takes a step back, and then : " Stand aside, lads ! " With a great rush everybody piesses for'ard to the water's edge, and with bated breath and strainin' eyes we watch tho stiugglin' swimmer. Beaten,' buffeted, bruised, tossed hither and thither — can he ever leach the ship ? To us on shore it seems impossible. But God Himself, sir, must have filled that bravo young man with strength for 'is daring deed— for see ! strugglm' hard, though not so stiongly as at fust, for 'is limbs must be all numb and weary now, and per'aps even 'is heart is giving way — see, he is getting a little nearer. Nearer still— o God support 'im ! Still neaier, still a little nearer ; and the poor foieign fellows on the " San Pedro " are crowdin' over the side, cheerm' 'iui on with wild and thankful cues. But wo on shore are silent still, for our hearts are too full for woid or shout. But at last we bieak that silence — bieak it with a shout I can almost hear yet — such a "Hurrah!" as I never heard afore or sinee — for at last the swimmer has readied the ship, and a great wave flings 'im almost on board ; and we make out many hands stretched forth to help 'im over tho ship's side. The vomen were ciym' for joy now — aye, and many a rough fisher-chap drawee! 'is sleeve across 'is eyes to brush away tears he need never ha' been ashamed of. Well, sir, every man on that wessel, which turned out to be a London-bound Spaniard — was saved. One arter another they come ashore, and such a set-out I never did see, for blest if they didn't want to kiss and 'ug as though we 'ad all been a parcel of women together. Bruised and pale, with blood still a-tnckling from a great gash m 'is head, where he must ha' struck the rocks, at last there came ashore young Paison Biown, and men, women and chil'len, all eagei to see 'is face or touch 'is hand crowded round 'im. "Lads," says old Cockles, "I can't say much, but what I do say is" — and he takes 'old tight o' young Brown's hand — " God bless our Minister ! " " Hooroar ! God bless Our Minister ! " " Hooroar ! " T yells, and then, dreadful excited, I walks up to the Esverend Halgernon Sydney Ciackles, and I says : " Poetry be blowed ! Hooroar ! " Just then I caught sight o' that there unconwerted Tubbs. He also weio labonn' under dreadful emotion, 'is little fat body a heavin', and puffin' aud tiemblin'. All of a sudden ho staits for'ard; pantin', and inakin' straight for poor Duster, he shakes 'is little fist in the gentl'man's face, and holleis — " Doctiine be blowed ! " " God bless Our Minister, Ilooroar ! " That was the way we elected a parson that time, sir.