Chapter 14 The Supply Committee Hold Their First Formal Meeti

PLACE: James Wheaton's library.--Hour: seven and a half o'clock in the evening.--Present: James Wheaton, Thomas Gear, James Goodsole, Solomon Hardcap, and John Laicus.--John Laicus in the chair.

Laicus.:

--Gentlemen the first business in order is to appoint a secretary.

Deacon Goodsole.:

--Oh, you can keep the minutes. We don't want much of a record.

Laicus.:

--Very good, if that is agreed to. My minutes will be very simple.

James Wheaton.:

--That's all right. What do you hear from Mr. Mapleson? Anything?

Laicus.:

--Yes I have his letter in my pocket.

James Wheaton.:

--When will he come?

Laicus.:

--He declines to come.

James Wheaton,: [(astonished).]

--Declines to come. Why a church mouse would starve on the pittance¹ they pay him at Koniwasset Corners. What's his reason?

Laicus.:

--His letter is a rather singular and striking one, gentlemen. Perhaps I had better read it.

Which he thereupon proceeds to do, slowly and distinctly, till he reaches the closing paragraphs, which he omits as being of a purely² personal character.

James Wheaton.:

--That fellow's got stuff in him and no mistake. By Jove I believe if I was running this church I would take him on trust.

Solomon Hardcap.:

--I think it a very presumptuous³ letter. The idea. What does he expect? Does he think we're goin' to take a preacher without ever havin' heard him preach?

Deacon Goodsole.:

--We have heard him preach, Mr. Hardcap. He preached here two Sundays last summer. Don't you recollect⁴?

Solomon Hardcap.:

--Yes. I remember. But I didn't take no notice of his sermons; he wan't preachin' as a candidate.

Mr. Gear.:

--Gentlemen I am not very much acquainted with church affairs and I don't think I understand this business very well. What do you mean by preaching as a candidate? I thought a candidate was a man who applied⁵ for an office. Am I to understand that whenever a pulpit is vacant the church expects different ministers to apply for it, and puts them on trial, and picks out the one it likes the best?

Mr. Hardcap.:

--That's it exactly.

Mr. Gear.:

--You don't really mean to say that any decent ministers apply for the place on those terms.

Deacon Goodsole,: [(warmly).]

--Indeed they do Mr. Gear. There is never any lack of candidates for a favorable parish. I have got half a dozen letters in my pocket now. One man writes and sends me copies of two or three letters of recommendation. Another gives me a glowing account of the revival⁶ that has followed his labors⁷ in other fields. Then there's a letter from a daughter that really moved me a good deal. She pleads hard for her father who is poor and is getting old, and needs the salary sadly-poor man.

Mr. Gear.:

--Well, all I have got to say, is that when any of those candidates come to preach I hope you'll notify me, and I'll stay away.

Mr. Hardcap.:

--I have no patience with these new fangled notions of these young up-start preachers. I reckon the ways our fathers got their preachers are good enough for us.

Mr. Gear.:

--And what do you say as to that point he makes about Paul's preaching as a candidate, Mr. Hardcap?

Mr. Hardcap.:

--Oh! that's different, altogether-very different. The apostle was inspired, Mr. Gear.

I notice that this is a very popular style of argument with Mr. Hardcap. Whenever he is posed in argument his never failing rejoinder is "Oh! that's different, altogether different." And I think I have observed that the Hardcap logic⁸ is not confined to Mr. Hardcap, but is in high regard in other quarters, where I should least look for it.

Mr. Gear.:

--Well I don't think much of apostolic authority myself. But I supposed the rest of you thought you were bound by any precedents⁹ Paul had set.

Mr. Hardcap.:

--It's mighty¹⁰ high seems to me for a young man to be making of himself out as good as the apostle Paul.

Mr. Wheaton.:

--I like that young Mapleson, and I like his letter. I wish we could get him. Is there any chance of persuading him to come, Mr. Laicus? not as a candidate you know, but just to preach, in good faith like any other man.

Mr. Gear shrugs¹¹ his shoulders.

Laicus,: [(decidedly).]

--No! and I should not want to be the one to try.

Mr. Wheaton.:

--Well then who stands next on our list?

Mr. Gear.:

--Excuse me gentlemen, but if he can't come to us why shouldn't we go to him. Why not try him as we would try any other man.

Deacon Goodsole.:

--How do you mean Mr. Gear?

Mr. Gear.:

--If I want a workman at my factory I don't invite one to come from my neighbor and try his hand for a day while I stand over and watch him. We try our apprentices¹² that way, but never a good workman. I go to his shop, inquire as to his character, and examine the work that he has done. If he has done good work in another man's shop he will do it well in mine. At least that's the way we reason in our factory.

Mr. Hardcap.:

--That's a very different case Mr. Gear, altogether different.

Mr. Gear.:

--Suppose this Mr. Whats-his-name comes, what more will you know about him than you know now?

Deacon Goodsole.:

--We shall hear him preach and can judge for ourselves.

Mr. Gear.:

--One good sermon does not make a good preacher.

Mr. Wheaton.:

--No! But you don't need to drive a horse more than five miles to know what are his paces.

Mr. Gear.:

--I don't know much about church management but I like the tone of that man's letter, and I should like to know more about him. I believe if we were to appoint a committee to go out to Koniwasset Corners, hear him preach, look in on his Sabbath-school, find out what kind of a pastor¹³ he is, and in a word see what sort of work he's doing where he is now, we would get his measure a great deal better than we should get it by having him come here, and give us one of his crack sermons-even if he would do it, I honor him because he won't.

Deacon Goodsole.:

--I am afraid it wouldn't do Mr. Gear-not with our people. I wouldn't mind it myself.

Mr. Wheaton,: [(blandly).]

--You see Mr. Gear you don't understand church matters altogether. It would not be ecclesiastical-not at all.

Mr. Gear,: [(sarcastically and sotto voce).]

--I hope I may never learn.

Laicus,: [(desiring to prevent controversy).]

--Gentlemen, I for one agree with Mr. Gear. But we are evidently in the minority; so there is nothing more to be said about it. We both believe in government by the majority, and shall submit. What next, Deacon? Are there any of your letters you want to read to us?

Deacon Goodsole.:

--Oh no! It isn't worth while to read any of them. Though I am sorry for that poor old man and his pleading daughter.

Mr. Wheaton.:

--The Deacon's list are all too anxious.

Deacon Goodsole.:

--I suppose there is nothing to do but to pursue the usual course. I move that Mr. Laicus and Mr. Wheaton be appointed to open a correspondence with candidates.

Laicus,: [(decidedly).]

You must excuse me gentlemen. I don't believe in candidating, and I can't be accessory to it. I will substitute Deacon Goodsole's name for my own. And as so amended¹⁴ will put the motion.

As so amended the motion was put, and carried, and the committee on supply adjourned¹⁵ to meet at the call of Deacon Goodsole and Mr. Wheaton. But as we walked along toward my home, M. Gear remarked to me that he wished I would let him know when we got a parson so that he could come to church again; for said he, "I have no inclination¹⁶ to serve as a parson tester." And I confess I am quite of mind with him.

1 pittance   

n.微薄的薪水，少量

参考例句：

• Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。
• The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

2 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

3 presumptuous   

adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的

参考例句：

• It would be presumptuous for anybody to offer such a view.任何人提出这种观点都是太放肆了。
• It was presumptuous of him to take charge.他自拿主张，太放肆了。

4 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

8 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

9 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

10 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

11 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网

12 apprentices   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were mere apprentices to piracy. 他们干海盗仅仅是嫩角儿。
• He has two good apprentices working with him. 他身边有两个好徒弟。

13 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

14 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

15 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

16 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。