BROTHER BRAMLEY'S CLOSE SHAVE.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 167, 23 January 1883, Page 2

BROTHER BRAMLEY'S CLOSE SHAVE.

Before the closeof Sunday's service a good brother walked forward to the pulpit, handed the minister an." or- | dinary announcement, as he thought and as^edliiih to =readit to the con- . gregationbefore he dismissed them. "Brother Bramley has handed ia the'^lolvmg,'-; said the mmisViv arid m a clear voice he read the not**, which ran as7;foUosws..:-T—" My pet jßram.-— -Are you never coming to see me again f. Il am dying to see my darling once more and gaze into his beloved eyes. -The old- mamm/ that calls herself yours will never find it out. How cau you endure her? Come, darling,, to one who

"truly loves you. Your own and only Mary." The "good brother" had handed m a wrong document. At the close of thje reading the minister -looked horror-struck, the congregation stared at Bramley with cold, hard BtaroH, and his wife rose tip m her seat and glared at him like a tigress. He was equal to the ■ occasion, however, and rising calmly . • and with a look of resignation on hio : face, he *aid :— "'Brothers and Bisters,r— lt may appear strange t«» you that I should ask onr beloved pat r to read such a terrible thing as that from the pulpit, but the best 7 i-frajrTto fight the devil is to fight him boldly face to face. The writer of that vile note is unknown to- me, but it is evidently some depraved, child v of sin who is endeavoring to he-: smirch my Christi in. character and ruin my, I trust, spotless reputation. I shall u*-e every endeavor to ferret . out the writer, and, if disco vered/ will fearlessly, /proclaim her name, and hold her up to the contempt of all good Christian people/ He eat ! down amid a murmur of approbation and sympathy, and his wife wanted to hug him right before the congregation.^ That eyeningvhe told; the writer of the note what had occurred, and remarked, with a grin, that it was the closest share he ever had m his life.