We shall therefore confine our duty to a relation of such
portions of the ceremonies, if that which sedulously avoided every
appearance of form can thus be termed, as have an immediate connexion with
the incidents.
The divine had gone through the short opening prayer, had read the passage
of holy writ, had given out the verses of the psalm, and had joined in the
strange nasal melody with which his flock endeavored to render it doubly
acceptable, and had ended his long and fervent wrestling of the spirit in
a colloquial petition of some forty minutes' duration; in which direct
allusion had been made not only to the subject of his recent examination,
but to divers other familiar interests of his parishioners; and all
without any departure from the usual zeal on his own part, or of the
customary attention and grave decorum on that of his people. But when, for
the second time, he arose to read another song of worship and
thanksgiving, a form was seen in the centre or principal aisle, that, as
well by its attire and aspect, as by the unusual and irreverent tardiness
of its appearance, attracted general observation.
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