The Lay Preacher
Whether the Rev. Andrew Adkin had or had not a call to preach, ismore than we can say. Enough, that he considered it his duty to"hold forth" occasionally on the Sabbath; and when "Brother Adkin"saw, in any possible line of action, his duty, he never took counselof Jonah.Brother Adkin kept a store in the town of Mayberry, and being a manof some force of character, and not, by any means, indifferent tothis world's goods, devoted himself to business during the six daysof the week with commendable assiduity. It is not the easiest thingin the world to banish, on the Sabbath, all concern in regard tobusiness. Most persons engaged in trade, no matter how religiouslyinclined, have experienced this difficulty. Brother Adkin's casedid, not prove an exception; and so intrusive, often, were theseworldly thoughts and cares, that they desecrated, at times, thepulpit, making the good man's voice falter and his hands tremble, ashe endeavoured, "in his feeble way," to break the bread of life.He had his own trials and temptations--his own stern "exercises ofmind," going to the extent, not unfrequently, of startling doubts asto the reality of his call to preach."I don't see much fruit of my labour," he would sometimes say tohimself, "and I often think I do more harm than good."Such thoughts, however, were usually disposed of, as suggestions ofthe "adversary."A week in the life of Brother Adkin will show the peculiarinfluences that acted upon him, and how far his secular pursuitsinterfered with and marred his usefulness as a preacher.Monday morning had come round again. He had preached twice on theSabbath--once to a strange congregation, and with apparent goodeffect, and once to a congregation in Mayberry. In the latter case,he was favoured with little freedom of utterance. The beginning ofthe secular week brought back to the mind of Mr. Adkin the oldcurrent of thought, and the old earnest desire to get gain inbusiness. On the Sabbath he had taught the people that love was thefulfilment of the law,--now, he had regard only to his owninterests; and, although he did not adopt the broad, unscrupulousmaxim, that all is fair in trade, yet, in every act of buying andselling, the thought uppermost in his mind was, the amount of gainto be received in the transaction."What are you paying for corn to-day?" asked a man, a stranger toMr. Adkin."Forty-eight cents," was answered."Is this the highest market rate?" said the man."I bought fifty bushels at that price on Saturday," replied Mr.Adkin.Now, since Saturday, the price of corn had advanced four cents, andMr. Adkin knew it. But he thought he would just try his new customerwith the old price, and if he chose to sell at that, why there wouldbe so much gained."I have forty bushels," said the man."Very well, I'll take it at forty-eight cents. Where is it?""My wagon is at the tavern.""You may bring it over at once. My man is now at leisure to attendto the delivery."The corn was delivered and paid for, and both parties, for the timebeing, were well satisfied with the transaction.The day had nearly run to a close, and Mr. Adkin was in the act ofestimating his gains, when the man from whom he had purchased thecorn entered his store."Look here, my friend," said the latter speaking rather sharply,"you paid me too little for that corn.""How so?" returned Mr. Adkin, in well-affected surprise."You was to pay the highest market price," said the man."I offered you forty-eight cents.""And I asked you if that was the highest rate, didn't I?""I told you that I had bought fifty bushels at that price onSaturday.""Oh, ho! Now I comprehend you," said the man, with a sarcastic curlof his lip. "I was recommended to you as a preacher, and one whowould deal fairly with me. I asked you a plain question, and youpurposely misled me in your answer, to the end that you might get mycorn at less than the market value. You have cheated me out ofnearly two dollars. Much good may it do you!"And saying this, he turned on his heel and left the store. Mr. Adkinwas, of course, no little disturbed. The charge of dishonesty indealing at first aroused his indignation; but as he grew calmer andthought over the affair, his conscience troubled him. As a Christianman, and especially as a Christian minister, he could not reconcilehis dealing with strict gospel requirements. The more he reflected,the more closely he brought his conduct to the standard of Christianprinciples, the less was he satisfied with himself. The final resultwas, a determination to go to the man on the next morning, and payhim the balance due him on the market price of his corn. But, whenhe sought for him, he was not to be found, having gone back to hishome, a few miles from the village.On the next day he sent for a bill, which had been standing a goodwhile. His clerk brought back some impertinent and altogetherunsatisfactory answer."Did Mr. Giles say that?" he asked, his eyes flashing indignantly."His exact words," replied the clerk."Very well. I'll not send to him again," said Mr. Adkin. "He thinks,because I am a preacher, that he can treat me as he pleases, butI'll let him know that being a preacher doesn't make me any the lessa man, nor any the less inclined to protect myself."So Mr. Giles was served with a summons, to answer for debt, beforethe week was out.On the day following, a certain lady, a member of the congregationin Mayberry to which he preached, whenever, from sickness or othercauses, the regular minister was absent, came into Mr. Adkin'sstore. Her manner was considerably excited."There's a mistake in your bill, Mr. Adkin," said she, in rather asharp tone of voice."If so, Mrs. Smith, the remedy is a very simple one," replied Mr.Adkin. Her manner had disturbed him, yet he concealed thedisturbance under a forced suavity of manner. "Where does themistake lie?""Why, see here. You've got me charged with six yards of muslin andfive pounds of butter that I never got!""Are you certain of this, Mrs. Smith?""Certain! Be sure I'm certain! D'ye think I'd say I hadn't thethings, if I had them? I'm not quite so bad as that, Mr. Adkin!""Don't get excited about the matter, Mrs. Smith. We are all liableto mistakes. There's an error here, either on your side or mine, ifit is my error, I will promptly correct it.""Of course it's your error. I never had either the muslin or thebutter," said Mrs. Smith, positively.Mr. Adkin turned to his ledger, where Mrs. Smith's account wasposted."The muslin is charged on the 10th of June."Mrs. Smith looked at the bill and answered affirmatively."You bought a pound of yarn and a straw hat on the same day.""Yes; I remember them. But I didn't get the muslin.""Think again, Mrs. Smith. Don't you remember the beautiful piece ofMerrimac that I showed you, and how cheap you thought it?""I never had six yards of muslin, Mr. Adkin.""But, Mrs. Smith, I have distinct recollection of measuring it off,and the charge is here in my own handwriting.""I never had it, Mr. Adkin!" said the lady much excited."You certainly had, Mrs. Smith.""I'll never pay for it!""Don't say that, Mrs. Smith. You certainly wouldn't want my goodswithout paying for them!""I never had the muslin, I tell you!"Argument in the case Mr. Adkin found to be useless. The sale of thefive pounds of butter was as distinctly remembered by him; and as hewas not the man to yield a right when he had no doubt as to itsexistence, he would not erase the articles from Mrs Smith bill,which was paid under protest."It's the last cent you'll ever get of my money!" said Mrs. Smith,as she handed over, the amount of the bill. "I never had thosearticles; and I shall always say that I was wronged out of so muchmoney.""I'm sure, madam, I don't want your custom, if I'm expected to letyou have my goods for nothing," retorted Mr. Adkin, the natural manin him growing strong under an allegation that implied dishonesty.So the two parted, neither feeling good-will toward the other, andneither being in a very composed state of mind.Each day in that week brought something to disturb the mind of Mr.Adkin; and each day brought him into unpleasant business contactwith someone in the town of Mayberry. To avoid, these things wasalmost impossible, particularly for a man of Mr. Adkin'stemperament.Saturday night came, always a busy night for the storekeeper. It wasten o'clock, and customers were still coming in, when a lad handedMr. Adkin a note, it was from the regularly stationed minister ofthe church in Mayberry to which Mr. Adkin belonged. The note stated,briefly, that the writer was so much indisposed, that he would notbe able to preach on the next day, and conveyed the request that"Brother Adkin" would "fill the pulpit for him in the morning."Brother Adkin almost groaned in spirit at this unwelcome andnot-to-be-denied invitation to perform ministerial duties on theSabbath. Of theological subjects, scarcely a thought had entered hismind since Monday morning; and, certainly, the states through whichhe had passed were little calculated to elevate his affections, ormake clear his spiritual intuitions.It was twelve o'clock before Mr. Adkin was able to retire on thatnight. As he rested his weary and now aching head on his pillow, heendeavoured to turn his mind from worldly things, and fix it uponthings heavenly and eternal. But, the current of thought andaffection had too long been flowing in another channel. The veryeffort to check its onward course, caused disturbance and obscurity.There was a brief but fruitless struggle, when overtaxed naturevindicated her claims, and as the lay preacher found relief fromperplexing thoughts and a troubled conscience, in refreshingslumber.In the half-dreaming, half-waking state that comes with the dawningof day, Mr. Adkin's thoughts flowed on again in the old channel, andwhen full consciousness came, he found himself busy with questionsof profit and loss. Self-accusation and humiliation followed. He"wrote bitter things against himself," for this involuntarydesecration of the Sabbath.Rising early, he took his Bible, and after turning over book afterbook and scanning chapter after chapter, finally chose a verse asthe text from which he would preach. Hurriedly and imperfectly ourlay preacher conned his subject. Clearness of discrimination, graspof thought, orderly arrangement, were out of the question. Thatwould have been too much for a master mind, under similarcircumstances.Eleven o'clock came around quickly, and painfully conscious of anobscure and confused state of mind, Mr. Adkin entered the house ofGod and ascended the pulpit. A little while he sat, endeavouring tocollect his thoughts; then he arose and commenced giving out a hymn.Lifting his eyes from the book, as he finished reading the firstverse, he saw, directly in front of him, the man from whom he hadpurchased the forty bushels of corn. He was looking at him fixedly,and there was on his countenance an expression of surprise andcontempt, that, bringing back, as the man's presence did, a vividrecollection of the events of Monday, almost deprived Mr. Adkin, fora moment or two, of utterance. He faltered, caught his breath, andwent on again with the reading. On raising his eyes at theconclusion of the second verse, Mr. Adkin saw his corn customerslowly moving down the aisle toward the door of entrance. How keenlyhe felt the rebuke! How sadly conscious was he of being out of placein the pulpit!After the singing of the hymn, the preacher made a prayer; but itwas cold and disjointed. He had no freedom of utterance. A chapterwas read, an anthem sung, and then Mr. Adkin arose in the pulpit,took his text, and, ere giving utterance to the first words of hisdiscourse, let his eyes wander over the congregation. A little tothe right sat Mr. Giles, wearing a very sober aspect of countenance,and looking at him with knit brows and compressed lips. The sightcaused the words "brother going to law with brother" to pass almostelectrically through his mind. As his glance rebounded from Mr.Giles quickly, it next rested upon Mrs. Smith, who, with perked headand a most malicious curling of the lip, said, as plain as mannercould say it--"You're a nice man for a preacher, a'n't you?"How Mr. Adkin beat about the bushes and wrought in obscurity,darkening counsel by words without knowledge, during the half hourthat followed the enunciation of his text, need not here be told.None was more fully conscious than himself of his utter failure togive spiritual instruction to the waiting congregation. The climax,so far as he was concerned, was yet to come. As he descended thepulpit stairs, at the close of the service, some one slipped a pieceof paper into his hand. Glancing at the pencilled writing thereon,he read the rebuking words:"The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed."How could he feed them? Are holy and divine things of such easycomprehension, that a man may devote the whole energies of his mindto worldly business during six days, and then become a lucidexpounder of heavenly, mysteries on the Sabbath? The influx ofintelligence into the mind of a speaker, is in exact ratio with theknowledge he has acquired. He may have, without this previouspreparation, "free utterance," as it is called; but this utterancebrings no rational convictions; it sways only by the power ofcontagious enthusiasm. Moreover, as in the case of Mr. Adkin, everylay preacher takes with him into the pulpit a taint from worldly andbusiness contact, and his presence there must turn the thoughts ofmany hearers from his clerical to his personal character--from thetruth he enunciates, to his practical observance thereof in dailylife. He may be judged falsely; but the fact of his blending the twoseparate characters of clergyman and layman, forms an occasion forfalse judgment, and detracts from the usefulness of the sacredoffice.Whether Mr. Adkin "held forth" again, we cannot apprize the reader.New light, and new perceptions of duty certainly came into his mind;and we may hope that, as he was a well-meaning and conscientiousman, he was led to act wisely in the future.Having given a true picture of a week in the life of the laypreacher, our business with him is done. It is for those whom it mayconcern to study the sketch, and see if it does not contain somepoints worthy their especial consideration.
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