The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-05-08
UNOBTRUSIVE HPRntsM

We saw an article in the Baptist Bea- /
con few days ago with the somewhat
startling head, "a Wife Wanted" A
lady OF Boise had written stating the |
need of a Minister'S single man, as the I.
parish was poor and could not support
t,0o. The editor wisely calculated that
employing a single man was poor econ
omy, as his usefulness could not be more
than half that Of a man with a capable,
loving, self-sacrificing wife at his side,
whose interest in his labor made the
labor hers as well. The article closed
with the following earnest exhOTtation
May Cod give US pastors wives on our field.
Thank God, We have many noble and devoted
ones now. But We need more. Young men,
coming from the East, bring a wife; only don't
delay on that account The Lord has them
here, as attractive, intelligent, devoted and de-
sirable as in the East This. only 10 show that
I'm coming 10 the North Pacific slope, you are
neither going out OF the world nor ont OF good
society.
Reading the above, there come before
our mind visions Of self sacrificing
women, pinched by poverty, worn with
care, and harassed by fault finding
members of their husbands fiocks
women who sbrank from no duty, how
ever severe, and who bore constant i'm
press on their faces of yearning for
rest that could never be theirs until the
gates Of Paradise unclosed for the en-
trance of their tired feet; women who
stayed through Summers heat and
Winters SHOWS in comfortless and lone
ly homes, caring for the numerous olive
branches that flourished around their
meager boards, while the minister was
riding the circuit ;" regarded by the
parish in the unenviable light Of almon-
ers; the minister pitied because Of the
wife's presumption in adding frequently
to the family. The records of every
neighborhood are thickly written with
| incidents in these lives; but who cares
to read them? Buffeted all their days
/ by adversity, they went uncomplaining
70 their final rest long before their time.
Those who have read Edward Eggles-
toms "Circuit Rider" will recognize in
the following closing paragraph his
/ touching tribute to one Of these women,
/ the PATTY" Of his story, and will read
! lily find its counterpart in more than one
nook Of their own memories: "There
rise before me, as write thest last lines,
visions of circuits and stations Of which
Morton was afterward preacher in
charge, and Of districts of which he
came to be presiding elder. Are not all
these written in the Book of the Min
utes Of the Conferences? ? But the silent,
unobtrusive heroism OF Patty and her
brave and lifelong sacrifices are written
only in the Book of Gods Remem-
brance."
"wIth mean subicc,ions and small recon-
pense,"
The frontier circuits Of a quarter or half
century ago
"Entertained these angels, unaware"
Perhaps to no other class Of women
does the following verse Of Elizabeth
Akers Allen more truthfully apply than
TO these lonely, self-sacrificing wives OF
ministers who rode the long, backwoods
circuit in the years now gone:
..Hedged In by alien hearts, unloved, alone,
With slender shoulders bowed beneath their
load,
They trod the path that fate had made their
own,
Nor met one kindred spirit on the road"