George Leatrim
Moodie, Susanna, 1803-1885
English
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GEORGE LEATRIM;
OR,
THE MOTHER'S TEST
BY
SUSANNA MOODIE
CHAPTER I.
'One of the most terrible instances of dishonesty I ever knew,' said a
lady friend to me, 'happened in my own family, or, I should say, in one
of its relative branches. You were staying last summer at Westcliff;
did you hear Dr. Leatrim preach?'
'Yes; my friends resided about a mile from the parsonage, and were
constant in their attendance at his church. The Doctor was one of the
principal attractions of the place--one of the most eloquent men I ever
heard in the pulpit.'
'Did you ever meet him in company?'
'Never. I was told that he seldom went into society, and lived quite a
solitary life; that some great domestic calamity had weaned him
entirely from the world; that his visits were confined to the poor of
his parish, or to those who stood in need of his spiritual advice; that
since the death of his wife and only son, he had never been seen with a
smile upon his face. To tell you the truth, I was surprised to hear
sermons so full of heavenly benevolence and love breathed from the lips
of such an austere and melancholy-looking man.'
'Ah, my poor uncle!' sighed my friend; 'he has had sorrows and trials
enough to sour his temper and break his heart. He was not always the
gentle, earnest Christian you now see him, but a severe, uncompromising
theologian of the old school, and looked upon all other sects who
opposed his particular dogmas as enemies to the true faith. A strict
disciplinarian, he suffered nothing to interfere with his religious
duties, and exercised a despotic sway in the church and in his family.
He married, early in life, my father's only sister, and made her an
excellent husband; and if a certain degree of fear mingled with her
love, it originated in the deep reverence she felt for his character.
'He was forty years of age when the Earl of B----, who was a near
relation, conferred upon him the living of Westcliff. The last incumbent
had been a kind, easy-going old man, who loved his rubber of whist and a
social chat with his neighbours over a glass of punch, and left them to
take care of their souls in the best manner they could, considering that
he well earned his 700 pounds per annum by preaching a dull, plethoric
sermon once a week, christening all the infants, marrying the adults,
and burying the dead. It was no wonder that Dr. Leatrim found the
parish, as far as religion was concerned, in a very heathenish state.
'His zealous endeavours to arouse them from this careless indifference
gave great offence. The people did not believe that they were sinners,
and were very indignant with the Doctor for insisting upon the fact.
But he spared neither age nor sex in his battle for truth, and fought
it with most uncompromising earnestness. Rich or poor, it was all the
same to him; he spoke as decidedly to the man of rank as to the
humblest peasant in his employ.
'His eloquence was a vital power; the energy with which he enforced it
compelled people to listen to him; and as he lived up to his
professions, and was ever foremost in every good word and work, they
were forced to respect his character, though he did assail all their
public and private vices from the pulpit, and enforced their strict
attendance at church on the Sabbath day. This state of antagonism
between the Doctor and his parishioners did not last long. Prejudice
yielded to his eloquent preaching, numbers came from a distance to hear
him, and many careless souls awoke from a state of worldly apathy to
seek the bread of life.
'Just to give you a correct idea of what manner of man George Leatrim
was in these days, contrasted with what he is now, I will relate an
anecdote of him that I had from an eye-witness of the scene.
'A wealthy miller in the parish, a great drunkard and atheist, and a
very hard, unfeeling, immoral character, dropped down dead in a state
of intoxication, and, being a nominal member of the Church, was brought
there for burial. When the Doctor came to that portion of the service,
"We therefore commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to
eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ," he paused, and looking
round on the numerous band of relations and friends that surrounded the
grave, said in the most solemn and emphatic manner, "My friends, the
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