His Majesty Baby and Some Common PeopleMaclaren, Ian
General
His Majesty Baby and Some Common People
Maclaren, Ian
Fiction; Short stories
The Presbytery then sent down a minister of another kind, fairly
equipped in law and with no bowels of mercy; a civil, courteous,
determined, fighting man, and there was a royal evening. This minister
explained that they had held many meetings, most of which were
unnecessary, and that they had proposed fifty motions, all of which he
believed were illegal. It was his own conviction he freely stated that
they knew perfectly well that they had been wrong, and that they had
simply been amusing themselves, and he concluded by intimating that they
had met for business on this occasion, that a minister must be elected
before departing, and it was his business to see that he was elected
unanimously. He stood facing the congregation, who were now in a high
state of delight, feeling that there was going to be a real battle, and
that there would be some glory in contending with an able-bodied man,
who would not speak about charity, and say “dear brethren”--words which
always excite a secret feeling of disgust in a Scot. The minister stood
up opposite the congregation, tall, square and alert. “Will you pay
attention and I'll lay down the law; if any one breaks the law he must
sit down at once, and if he does not, I shall not allow him to vote. You
can propose any candidate who is legally qualified, and I will allow one
man to propose him and another to second him, and I will give each five
minutes in which to speak to the excellence of his candidate, and the
moment any person refers to another candidate he must stop. When the
candidates have been proposed we shall take the vote, and we shall go on
voting until we settle upon the candidate who has the majority, and we
will do all this in an hour, and then we will sing a Psalm and go home.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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