is quaintly cut
coat, with the ample side pocket, and his long, white necktie, presented
a picture so full of truth and simplicity as to be worthy of being
preserved on canvas. He was, in truth, a figure belonging to an order of
things that was fast passing way--at least along the banks of the
Hudson.

Children clapped their hands and ran to meet him; girls greeted him with
offerings of flowers; and when he had dismounted, both old and young
gathered about him, lisping him a welcome and shaking him by the hand.
There was nobody like Dominie Payson, and the love these people bore
him, and now gave him so many expressions of, was true and heartfelt.
And when he had kissed the children, and exchanged greetings and kind
words with their parents, he proceeded into the church, followed by his
flock. His sermon was, perhaps, one of the oddest ever listened to, for
after returning thanks for the bountiful harvest, and extending on the
goodness of God, and advising his flock to stick firmly to their farms
and their religion, that being the only true way of getting to Heaven,
he turned his guns against Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, though he never once
mentioned their names. He urged his flock to keep in mind always how
much better off they were, how much more happy they were than those men
who came to town with the devil and a number of strange religions in
their heads. Such people, he added, always had the devil for a friend;
and it was the devil who assisted them to get poor people's money. And
with this money they dressed their wives in silks and satins, built big
houses, and lived like people who were very proud and never paid their
debts, nor did a day's work on the roads. It was all well enough for
these men to talk of Heaven and put on pious faces, but Heaven would
take no notice of them while they gave themselves up to the temptations
of the devil and built steamboats and founded railroads, to kill honest
people with, and ruin the country.

"My friends," said the Dominie, resting for a moment, and then charging
his guns for another fire at Chapman, "you have seen a man ready to sell
his soul for money enough to build a steamboat. Now he wants to build a
railroad to get you out of the world quicker." The Dominie shook his
head, wiped his brow, and again paused for a few seconds. "Let them
dress their wives in satins and silks, let them ruin their country with
their steamboats and railroads, let them build their big houses, go to