Li  those  days  of  New  England,  the  minister  and  his  wife  were
considered  the  temporal  and  spiritual  superiors  of  everybody  in
the  parish.  The  idea  which  has  since  gained  ground,  of  regard-
ing the  minister  and  his  family  as  a  sort  of  stipendiary  attach*
ment  and  hired  officials  of  the  parish,  to  be  overlooked,  schooled*
■dvised,  rebuked,  and  chastened  by  ev^ry  deacon  and  deacon^s
nife  or  rich  and  influential  parishioner,  had  not  then  ariseiL


8  OLDTOWN  FOLKS.
Parson  Lothrop  was  so  calmly  awfal  in  his  sense  of  his  own
positiou  and  authority,  that  it  would  have  been  a  si^ht  worth
seeing  to  witness  any  of  his  parish  coming  to  him,  as  deacons
and  influential  parishioners  now-a-days  feel  at  liberty  to  come
to  their  minister,  with  suggestions  and  admonitions.  His  man-
ner was  ever  gracious  and  affable,  as  of  a  man  who  habitually
surveys  every  one  from  above,  and  is  disposed  to  listen  with  iu  •
dulgent  courtesy,  and  has  advice  in  reserve  for  all  seekers ;  but
there  was  not  the  slightest  shadow  of  anything  which  encouraged
the  most  presuming  to  offer  counsel  in  return.  And  so  the  mar-
riage with  the  rich  Episcopal  widow,  her  processional  entry
into  Oldtown,  the  coach  and  outriders,  the  brocade  and  satin  slip-
pers, were  all  submitted  to  on  the  part  of  the  Oldtown  people
without  a  murmur.
