Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-10-25
MY DONATION PARTY.

had donation once. was somewhat
disappointed. [ had read Of donations as
painted in fancy colors by graceful recipi-
ents of overwhelming bounty. The. turk
eys, the chickens, the hams, the barrels of
flour, the suits of clothes, the purses of
money, and all the other articles that glad
dened the pastors heart, as tokens Of es-
TEEN, the affection, the kind thnughtful-
ness of his parishioners, haunted me with
tantalizing day dreams when waking, and
gave me the nightmare when sleeping l
went to the arder and found it empty;
examined my wardrobe and found it be-
coming threadbare; examined my purse
and found it light-very light. My last
three months income had been just five
dollars, owing to the forgetfulness of my
treasurer to collect any funds for me. g l
felt l needed donation. AS my people
seemed to take no thought of such things,
1 ventured to gently remind them of their
duty. I preached from the TEXTILE that
giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord
AS an illustration, I read an extract from
an account of a dona ion that had been
given to a brother minister, and gave point
to the Illustration by remarking that his
people had laid up treasure in heaven by
their generosity. 1 contrasted their
thoughtfulness with the thoughtlessness of
others who never gave donations, and
mentioned the loss the latter sustained by
never lending to the Lord. My hint was
taken. [ saw that the sermon produced
the desired effect. 1t was touching. l re-
ceived notice formally drawn up and sign
ed by my Sabbath-School superintendent,
class leader, exhorter in the board Of stew
ards, President of the Ladies' Home and
Foreign Mission Society, the members of
the Ladies' Sewing Circle, and a few 9th.
ers, that on "wednesday of the present
week, at six O'Clock, my friends Of the par
ish would manifest their esteem for their
pastor by giving him a donation"
1t was no use to try to study till that
was over. threw down my pen and rushed
down stairs to my tired little wife. found
her trying to make my oldest little boy a
boy of twelve, pair of pants out OF an old
pair of mine. | snatched them from her
hand, took her in my arms, and danced
around like one possessed. She wanted
to know if I was crazy. told her-'''No.
Our people were going to give us a oona-
ton. / expected new suit for myself, a
new dress for her, a lot of cloth for the
boys suits, and round sum Of money. My
people did appreciate mel knew they
did," .-4- @'
l was little hurt that she seemed to
take it so very coolly. She said ''she
would wait till it was over before she ex-
pressed her opinion.' ,-.s
I told her we must make great prepare
tons. examined my purse, and found
just nineteen dollars and seventy-five
cents. went down to market and spen-
nineteen dollars in chickens. flour, eggs,
butter, raisins, nuts. etc. My wife worked
late and early getting everything ready.
hausted, but showed me with considerable
pride the result of her labors-chickens
roasted, ham boiled, pies and cakes without
number almost. | sighed as | thought
that these good things represented all the
available funds OF the firm, and my winter
coal was not laid in yet. resolutely drove
away the feeling Of anxiety, and cheered
my wife with the hope that it was well in
vested. i3 "
About half-past five committee OF
ladies came in, and said that they were in
structed to take charge Of the house; we
were to do nothing; we were to be enter
At the hour appointed our people came
trooping in, and the young people we're a
little noisy; but l thought donations did
not come very often, and 1 must put up
with the little drawbacks. A royal feast
cot my wife's good things) was spread in
the dining room, and we were seated at
the head OF the table. | was pleased to
see what an appetite our friends had-hOw
the chickens, pies aud cakes disappeared.
After supper, Brother -, our Sabbath
school superintendent, called me into the
parlor, and I found everybody waiting.
After an eloquent speech he gave me an
envelope containing some money and asked
me to accept that as mark of their es-
TEEN.
replied very feelinglY, and thanked him.
In a short time we were alone. My wife
WAS fatigued, and desired to 60 to bed.
told her we must see what we had before
going to bed. We went to the dining
room and found the table covered with
dirty dishes, the bones, the crumbs, the
remnants of ''the royal feast" My wife
sighed as she saw the. ''debris,' and said
it would require considerable labor to
strengthen things. We went into the pan
try and found our chickens, pies, cakes
and all the good things my wife had pre-
pared had disappeared, and in their place
we found one pumpkin, plate OF dough
nuts, and mouldy mince pie. we went
up to my study, and found on the back OF
| my study chair calico dressing gown; or
my desk a pair of slippers and one penwi
per (my gold pen was gomez My wife
found in her room one little cotton han
kerchief, four rollingpins (old ones), and
three potato Washers told ones). was {
little discouraged. We went into the par
lor, and found one lamp broken, and thu
oil all over our best carpet; one miro
cracked; choice chrome marked with dir
ty ingermarks; three choice books lying
on the floor, one with the back half tori
off, the other two soiled and tom. thel