Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1867-11-16

The following story from the pen of Mrs.
Harriet BccCher Stowe is rcpubllshed by re-
quest We are sure it will be persucd With
pleasure by all our readers.
More Blessed to Give Than to Receive
Make to yourselves friends of the malnmon of uE-
righteousness that Wien fail they may receive you III
to everlasting habitations.
1t was four o'clock i'll the afternoon of
a dull winter day, that John sat in his
counting room. The sun had lcarly
gone down, and in fact it was already
twilight beneath the shadows of the tail,
dasky stores, and the close, crooked
streets of that quarter of Boston. Hard
ly light enough struggled through the
dusky pancs OF the counting-houSe for
John TO read the entries III 4 much
thumbed memorandum bt Ok, which he
held i'll his hand.
A small, thin boy, with pale face and
anxions expression, significant Of dellcacy
of constitution, and too carly acquaint-
ance with want and SORROW, WAS stand
ing by him earnestly watching his mo-
tions.
sAh, yes, my boy" said John, as he at
last shut up the memorandum book
"Yes, I've got the place row; I'm apt to
be torgcttul about these things; come
now, let's go. How is it-havcll't you
brought the basket"
40, sir" said the boy timidly. 'The
grocer said he'd let mother have Il quart
cr for it, and she thought she'd sell it,"
e.That's bad" said John, as he went
on, tying his throat with a long comfor-
ter Of some yards in extent; and as he
continued this operation he abstractcdly
repeated "'rha,'s lad, that's bad," till
the poor little hoy looked quite dismay-
ed, and began TO think that somehow his
mother had been drcadfnlly out Of the
way.
''Shc didn't want to send for help so
long rs she had anything to sell" SAID
the little boy III dcprecating tone.
'Oh, yes, quite right" said John, tax
ing from a pigcon-hole i'll the desk Il large
pocket-book, and beginning to turn 1t
over, and as before abstrac'edly repeat
ING, "Quite right quite right" till the
little boy became rr-assurcd, and began
to think, although he didn't know why,
that his mother had done something
quite meritorious.
s'lVcll," said John after c had taken
several bills from the bockct-Eook, and
transferred them to 4 wallet which he
put into his pocket, ''now we're ready,
my boy" But first lie stopped to lock
I'D his desk, and then he said abstractcd-
" to himself, 81 wonder if hadn't bet
ter take few tracts"
Now it is to be confessed that this
John whom We have introduced to our
reader, was i'll his way quite and oddlty.
lie had number of singular little pe's-
ct0ntS quite his own-such as Il passion
for poking about among dark alleys, ut
all sorts Of seasonablc and unreasonable
hours. fishing out troops Of dirty, neg
lectcd children, and fussing about gener-
ally i'll the community till he could get
ehcm into schools er otherwise provided
for. He always had in his pocket-book a
note of some dozen poor widows, who
wanted tea, sugar or candles, or other
things such as poor widows always will
be wanting. And then he had 4 most
extraordinary talent f3r finding out all
the sick strangers that lay i'll out-ot-the-
way upper rooms in hotels, who, every
body knows, have no business to get sick
in such places, unless they have money
enough to pay their expenses which they
never do.
Besides this, all Johns kinsmcn and
cousins, to the third, fourth, and tortieth
remove, were always writing him letters,
which, among other pleasing items, gen
orally contained the intelligence that a
few Eundrcd dollars was just then eX-
ceedingly necessary to save them from
utter ruin, and they knew Of nobody else
to whom to look for it.
And then John was up to his throat In
subscriptions to every charitable society
that ever was made or imagined-had a
hand in building all the churches within
a hundred miles; occasionally gave four
or five thousand dollars to college; of
fered to. be one of six to raise ten thous-
and dollars for some benevolent purpose;
and when four of the six backed out,
quietly paid the balance himself and: SAID
no more about it. Another OF his lnno-
cent fancics was, to keep always about
him any quantity of tracts and good
books, little and big, for children and