At the end of the day, the gentlemen present
had been called upon for speeches--the Rev. Frederic Ingham first, as
it happened; upon which Dennis had risen, and had said, "There has
been so much said, and, on the whole, so well said, that I will not
occupy the time." The girls were delighted, because Dr. Dabney, the
year before, had given them at this occasion a scolding on impropriety
of behavior at lyceum lectures. They all declared Mr. Ingham was a
love--and _so_ handsome! (Dennis is good-looking.) Three of them, with
arms behind the others' waists, followed him up to the wagon he rode
home in; and a little girl with a blue sash had been sent to give him
a rosebud. After this debut in speaking, he went to the exhibition for
two days more, to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. Indeed,
Polly reported that he had pronounced the trustees' dinners of a
higher grade than those of the parsonage. When the next term began, I
found six of the Academy girls had obtained permission to come across
the river and attend our church. But this arrangement did not long
continue.
After this he went to several Commencements for me, and ate the
dinners provided; he sat through three of our Quarterly Conventions
for me--always voting judiciously, by the simple rule mentioned above,
of siding with the minority.
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