The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1850-09-09
LEBRRTY, RqUALETY, PRoeREssIoNs
My Wife's Gold Ising:
Or, John aaspard Lavater and the Poor
Widow.

| ~ was tue pracllce Win LaVhter tan eml
nent clergyman, born in Zurich, Switzerland
! lHl, to read every morning one or more
Icbaptes of the Bible, and to select from then
\ one particular passage for fteqaentand spe.
tcial meditation during the day. One morn.
I ing after reading the fifth and sixth chapters
LOT the Gospel Of Matthew, he exclaimed
I"What treasure Of morality. how difficult
! to make choice Of any particular portion Of
'Iitp After a few moments consideration he
4 threw himself upon his knees, and prayed
for Divine guidance. ss- (
4 When he joined bis wife at dinner, she
asked him what passage of scripture be had
ichosen for the day. ass 1864 sss. 4 .lr
"'Giye unto him that asketht thee and from
him that would borrow of thee, turn not
taway," wasthe reply. And how is this
ltobe understood n said bis wife. sGive to
him that asketh thee; and from him that
would borrow of thee, turn not away
These, "rejoined Layater, "are the words OF
Him 10 whom alland everything belong that
! possess. am the steward, not the proprie-
tor. The proprietor desires me to give to
him who asks of me; and not to refuse
him who would borrow of me; or, in other
words, if Ifhaye two coats, j must give one
to him who has none, and if have food, |
must share with him who is an hungered
and in want; this / must do without
being asked how much more, then, when
asked.n
| "This," continues Lavater in his diary,
"appeared to me SO evidently and incontro-
yertibly to be the meaning of the verses in
question. that spoke with more than usual
warmth; my wife made no further reply
than that she would well consider these
things + ''.s a>.
! "Ihad scarcely left the dining room a few
minutes, when an aged widow desired to
speak to me, and she was shown into my
btudy. Forgive me, dear sir, she said, 'ex-
cuse the liberty am about to take; am
truly ashamed, but my rent is due to-monowj
and | am short six dollars; have been con-
| fined to my bed with sickness, and my poor
| girl is nearly starving; every penny that l
could save ] have laid aside 10 meet this de-
mand, but six dolarsare yetwanting, and to-
moHowis term day. Here she opened a
parcel, which she held in her hand, and said
This is book with silver clasp, which my
late husband gave me the day we were mar
ried. It is all | can spare Of the few articles
4 possess, and sore it is to part with it. ]
am aware that is not enough, nor do ] see
how could ever repay-but, dear sir, if you
can, do assist me-
"I am very sorry, my good woman, that /
cannot help you,' said; and putting my
hand into my pocket, accidentally felt my
purse, which contained about two dollars;
i:hese, ! said to myself, cannot extricate her
from her difficulty she requires six; besides,
| il even they could, / have need Of this mo-
ney for some other purpose, Tuning TO the
widow, said. Have you no friend, no rela-
ton, who could give you this trife p"
"No, there is no onel am ashamed to
60 from house to house. ] would rather
work day and night. MY excuse for being
here is, that people speak SO much of your
goodness. If. however, you cannot assist me,
you will at least forgive my intrusion; and
God, who has never yet forsaken me, will
not surely turn away from me in my sixtieth
year"
"At this moment the door of my apart.
ment opened and my wife entered. was
ashamed and vexed. Gladly would have
sent her away for conscience whispered,
Give to him that asketh thee; and from him
that would borrow Of thee, turn not thou
away She came upto me and said, with
much sweetness, This is good old woman
she has certainly been i'll Of late; assist her
If you can"
"Shame and compassion struggled in my
darkened soul. 4 have but two dollars II
said in whisper, and she requires six,
I'll give her trife in the hand and Let her
co.
"Laying her head on my arm and smiling, !
my wife said aloud, what conscience had
whispered before: 'Give to him that asketh
thee; and from him that would borrow Of
thee, turn not thou away /
81 blushed, and replied, with some little
vexation; Would you giue your ring for
the purpose ?"
"With pleasure = answered my wife, pull.
ing off her ring. aa g&
THE good old widow was either too sim
pie or too modest 10 notice what was going
on, and was preparing to retire, when my
wife called to her to wait in the lobby.
When we were left alone, / asked my wife,
sAre you in earnest about the ringT
"Certainly, how can you doubt it?" she |
said do you think that would trife with
charity? Remember what you said TO me
but half a year ago. Oh, my dear friend, |
let Us not make show Of the gospel; you are |
in general so kind, sosympathising, how is it |
thatyou find it SO difficult to assist this poor
woman? why did you not without hesitation
give her what was in your pocket? and did
you not know that the quarter will be paid
Jus in less than eight days.? She then
added with much feeling: Take no thought
for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye
shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put OIL, Behold the fowls Of the air;
they sownot, neither do they reap nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them.' tl1 tsS9" saa} AaEu 1t,-
IL kissed my wife, while tears ran down
my cheeks: Thanks, thousand thanks, for
this humiliationp turned to the desk, took
from it the six dollars, and opened the door
10 call the poorwidow- darkened around
me at the Thought that had been SO forget
full Of the omiscience Of God,as to say to|
her, i cannot help you.' Oh, thou false
tongue thou false hearth II thou, Lord,
shoulist mark iniquities, oh Lord, who shall
stand! Here is what you need l said, ad-
dressing the widow.
!" AT first she seemed not to be understood
what meant, and thought l was Offering
small contribution, for which she thanked
me, and pressed my hand but when she
perceived that ! had given her the whole
sum, she could scarcely find words to express
herteelings. She cried Dear sir, ] cannot