ood, each of which had its own
buildings and conveniences, and was properly enough dignified with the
name of a farm. To be sure, neither of these farms was very large, their
acres united amounting to but little more than two hundred; but, owing to
their condition, the native richness of the soil, and the mode of turning
them to account, they had made Deacon Pratt a warm man, for Suffolk.

There are two great species of deacons; for we suppose they must all be
referred to the same _genera_. One species belong to the priesthood, and
become priests and bishops; passing away, as priests and bishops are apt
to do, with more or less of the savour of godliness. The other species are
purely laymen, and are _sui generis_. They are, _ex officio,_ the most
pious men in a neighbourhood, as they sometimes are, as it would seem to
us, _ex officio_, also the most grasping and mercenary. As we are not in
the secrets of the sects to which these lay deacons belong, we shall not
presume to pronounce whether the individual is elevated to the deaconate
because he is prosperous, in a worldly sense, or whether the prosperity is
a consequence of the deaconate; but, that the two usually go together is
quite certain: which being the cause, and which the effect, we leave to
wiser heads to determine.

Deacon Pratt was no exception to the rule. A tighter fisted sinner did not
exist in the county than this pious soul, who certainly not only wore, but
wore out the "form of godliness," while he was devoted, heart and hand, to
the daily increase of worldly gear. No one spoke disparagingly of the
deacon, notwithstanding. So completely had he got to be interwoven with
the church--'meeting,' we ought to say--in that vicinity, that speaking
disparagingly of him would have appeared like assailing Christianity. It
is true, that many an unfortunate fellow-citizen in Suffolk had been made
to feel how close was the gripe of his hand, when he found himself in its
grasp; but there is a way of practising the most ruthless extortion, that
serves not only to deceive the world, but which would really seem to
mislead the extortioner himself. Phrases take the place of deeds,
sentiments those of facts, and grimaces those of benevolent looks, so
ingeniously and so impudently, that the wronged often fancy that they are
the victims of a severe dispensation of Providence, when the truth would
have shown that they were simply robbed.

We do not mean, however, that Deacon P