" Great and small alike were under his
control, as this notice from the "Columbian Centinel" of December, 1789,
abundantly proves. It is entitled "The President and the Tything man:"--
"The President, on his return to New York from his late tour through
Connecticut, having missed his way on Saturday, was obliged to ride a
few miles on Sunday morning in order to gain the town at which he had
previously proposed to have attended divine service. Before he arrived
however he was met by a Tything man, who commanding him to stop,
demanded the occasion of his riding; and it was not until the President
had informed him of every circumstance and promised to go no further
than the town intended that the Tything man would permit him to proceed
on his journey."
Various were the subterfuges to outwit the tithingman and elude his
vigilance on the Sabbath. We all remember the amusing incident in "Oldtown
Folks." A similar one really happened. Two gay young sparks driving through
the town on the Sabbath were stopped by the tithingman; one offender said
mournfully in excuse of his Sabbath travel, "My grandmother is lying dead
in the next town." Being allowed to drive on, he stood up in his wagon when
at a safe distance and impudently shouted back, "And she's been lying dead
in the graveyard there for thirty years.
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