I have seldom known a sermon attended apparently with more immediate
effects; for on leaving the church the congregation seemed one and all
possessed with the gayety of spirit so earnestly enjoined by their
pastor. The elder folks gathered in knots in the church-yard, greeting
and shaking hands; and the children ran about crying Ule! Ule! and
repeating some uncouth rhymes,* which the parson, who had joined us,
informed me had been handed down from days of yore. The villagers
doffed their hats to the squire as he passed, giving him the good
wishes of the season with every appearance of heartfelt sincerity, and
were invited by him to the hall, to take something to keep out the
cold of the weather; and I heard blessings uttered by several of the
poor, which convinced me that, in the midst of his enjoyments, the
worthy old cavalier had not forgotten the true Christmas virtue of
charity.
* "Ule! Ule!
Three puddings in a pule;
Crack nuts and cry ule!"
On our way homeward his heart seemed overflowed with generous and
happy feelings. As we passed over a rising ground which commanded
something of a prospect, the sounds of rustic merriment now and then
reached our ears: the squire paused for a few moments, and looked
around with an air of inexpressible benignity.
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