St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-11-28
For the Caledonian.
"What is All This Worth Pn

For the Caledonian.
"What is All This WorthP"
A neighbor of mine who finds it more
convenient to borrow my CdledOnidn
than to pay for a copy himself, brought
home the paper of Oct 3lst with strong
expressions of disgust. l ventured to
inquire what that genial sheet con-
tanned which failed to meet his views.
"This and this, and this" pointing to
several articles concerning the meetings
of the Woman's Board, and kindred
topics, especially emphasizing with his
disapprOval the announcement of the
departure of certain missionaries from
Vermont. "The idea of those crazy
headed girls tramping off to India and
Africa, to teach the heather, when they
can find plenty of them at home"
suggested that as the Misses Leitch had
already labored among the freedmen
they would not go abroad unless they
felt themselves needed there.
.'Charity," said my neighbor with the
air of an oracle, "begins at home Now
there is the -- neighborhood. You
go over there some Sunday, and you
won't wonder that some people call the
place SOdom Corner. Why they are
worse than heather over there, and in
a Christian land, too. Now why don't
some of your devoted missionaries feel
II call to go there ?" l thought
had him i'll mentioning that the "Rev
Mr.. - who is without charge this
year, had offered to go to that locality
to preach part of the time, but he keeps
no team, and if My worthy neigh
bOr, fearing l might he drifting toward
an appeal to his liberality, suddenly
thought of his unfinished ''chores,n and
left the room very hastily. He flung
behind however, the sneering question
''What does all this missionarying
amount to any way ?"
Well, Mr.. Editor, his question set me
to thinking. When remember young
men whom l have known, and how
many, | feel sad when think, who had
spent years in preparing for active life,
for usefulness with unselfish aims, who
were stricken down by death and mis-
fortune before their work was even be-
gun, the question comes back-"What
is it all worth ?n
L remember Christian woman who
was left Il widow with son and daugh-
ter to maintain and educate from the
proceeds of a small property. 1t would
take long time to tell the sacrifices
she made for them and they made for
themselves, before they completed their
education.
The young man became pastor of IA
Presbyterian church in Ohio, the daugh-
ter married missionary to Africa. Be-
fore she had time to learn the language
of the country she found grave there
and even before that time, her brother
was called away from his work by
death. Their devoted mother, child
less and poor, was left to struggle on to
an old age, dependent on her relatives
for a support, and, apparently, not
made the object of any especial care
even by Providence.
One Is almost tempted to rebel here,
and to say that it was a misapplication
OF physical energy. Overwork in both
these cases, FASTENED, if it did not cause
the end. "To what purpose was this
waste ?"
But aCas it waste 2 Did not Provi-
dence take care of the result? The
moral effect of that self-sacrifice, of
those pure lives and untimely deaths,
has caused the younger members of a
large circle of relatives to look at some
thing higher than mere money getting.
know of certain noble men and wo-
men, inspired by those high examples.
Were not those lives worth living, even
had they no other results than these
There were some very tangible results
of that young mans manly preaching.
He has his monument in Christian
college in Ohio. But that is not what
my neighber's question set me to think