The Tipton advertiser., 1877-05-03
REAL LIFE.
A Temperance Tale.
Br THE AUTHOR OF "HELEN's BABIES"
From the Christian Union.l
CHAPTER Nv.

Among the Barton people who had
actually made any effort for the sake
of temperance no one found greater
comfort in contemplative retrospects
of his own work than Deacon Jones.
True, his contributions to the various
funds which Crupp, Tomple, Wedge
well and Brown devised had not been
rs great as had been expected of him !;
nor had such moneys as he finally
gave been obtained from him without
an amount of effort which Crupp de-
clared sufficient TO effect the extraction
from the soil of the stump ofa centen-
arian oak but when the money had
left his pocket. and was absolutely be-
yond recall, the deacon made the most
he could out of it by the only method
which remained. His contributions
gave him an excuse for talk and exor-
tation, and, next to money-making,
there was no operation which the
deacon enjoyed AS much as that of ex-
horting others to good deeds. Up to
the time when he took an active part
in the temperance movement one of
his favorite injunctions had been,
LAY up your treasures in heaven"
when, however, he found himself sud-
denly and frequently called upon for
contributions he dropped this injunc-
| ton i'm favor of that one which reads,
| ''Give 10 him that asketh Of thee" 1t
had been matter Of considerable sor-
row to the deacon that his first knowl-
edge of this passage had been derived
from st. Luke, instead of st. Mathew,
and that he hal many times been
compelled to say, "Give to ercru man"
etc, which quotation had reacted upon
him in manner which caused him to
quote to himself, MANY are the affiic-
tions of the righteous" and to suffer
some terrible flounderings in the twin
pits oflog;c and casuistry; but when
| he corrected himself according TO
Mathew, his heart was gladdened and
his restraint removed. The old man
talked a great deal out of honest de-
light in righteousness and humanity;
but he was never moved to reticence
by the thought that if his scattered
seed produced fair share of grain the
demands upon his own precious store
would be lessened.
Besides, the deacon could with pro-
priety urge more conspicuous form
of well-doing than mere contributions
of currency ever attained to. Had not
he himself taken upon his shoulders
Tom Adams, driver of the brick-yard
team: lfany one doubted it, or had
never been made acquainted with the
fact, the deacon gave him no excuse
| for farther ignorance. One after an
other Of the well-to-do merchants, pro-
fessional men and farmers were urged
by the deacon to take entire charge of
some unfortunate soul, after the man
ner of the deacon himself with Tom,
and to all of these he insisted that
what he had done for Tom he had
been richly paid for by the approving
smiles Of his own conscience Shrewd
judges of human nature were convinc-
ed that if such payment was made to
the deacon he was doubly paid, for
Tom Adams had been a treasure of
workman ever since he had stopped
drinking; but. with the marvellous
blindness of the man who objects to
seeing, the deacon clearly comprehend
ed both aspects of the situation with
out ever once allowing them to inter-
fere with each other.
He was pushing his favorite line of
argument in his store one afternoon,
before Parson Brown, Lawyer Bottom,
the postmaster, DR.. White, and two
or three others who were not active
customers at that immediate moment,
and, rs all his hearers but the parson
were in good circumstances, the dea-
con felt called upon to make an un-
usual effort.
Tell you what it is, gentlemen"
said he, there's nothin' like putin
your hand in your pocket to show you
what doin' good is. Here I've been
thinkin' all my life that I was doin'
good by subscribin' to Bible Societies,
Missionary Societies, an all such
things, and yet there was the chance
right in my own hands, and was too
blind to see it. done it at last on
risk, as if God didn't know best when
he inspires men to righteous deeds:
an was fearful time an again, that
it mightn't turn out we'll; but I've
been more abundantly blessed at il
than ! ever expected to be- 1t makes
a man feel kind of like Christ must
have felt to be able to. help a fellow
creature out of his troubles and sins.
Look at Tom Adams now he's ALWAYS
sober, his children go to SUNDAY
| school, and he's never around looking
as If you'd rather not meet him. and
1, thank the Lord! feel even better
over it than he does"
The postmaster slyly tipped grave
wink at Lawyer Bottom, and the law
yer sagely laid wise forefinger
athwart his own nose. DIR. White
dropped short bark, intended for a
cough, which somehow provoked a
smile all around. Suddenly a small
boy rushed into the store, exclaiming,
| 20, Deacon Jones! Tom Adams fell
out of the wagon and broke his leg!'
The Deacon's estate expression in
stantly vanished into thin air, and he
asked with face full of misery,
And the horses ran away y?'
| NO. said the boy. "They're all
right"
DIR. White sprang up, seized his cane
and asked,
"Where is he"''
| That's SO" asked the deacon, still
more sorrowful of countenance, as he
continued, 'just as corn's beginnin'
to come in, too, an needin' to be
measured an sacked; that's Just the
way things go in this wicked worldn'
Lawyer Bottom, who did not be-
lieve much in God, and believed less
in the deacon, asked,