New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-06-23
0BED'S SUBSCRIPTION.

Let MIN That thlnketl he Standeth
take heed lest he fall That was the
parsons text this morning, and it re-
called a circumstance in our early mar
| ,ried life about which I sat thinking all
through the service, and which, had l
been moved by the spirit to arise and
relate, would have been novel illus
tration for the text -s = = a,sess 81
Relate it to me-" urged. &c 1t will
! do for suppleme ntary DISCOURSE
My friend, at whose house I was
staying, led the way out on the back
piazza, and after placing me in shaker
| rocker, seated herself in another, and
began: fn :. ..s.*s''@ .s's @s< i.
"'.Obed and l have been married ten
Years, you know. He, at the time of
our marriage, had been at the bar but
| a year, and in great city like B. it
is no easy matter for young man to
make his way among the best lawyers
! in the country. II has been only with
in the: last year or two that the receipts
of his practice have allowed a deposit
in the bank over and above our living
expenses. But had little income,
with which and my Yankee capacity ;
/. managed to make both ends of the
year meet. Obed had plenty of money
| in prospect, but none in pocket; so, up
on the whole, we were extremely poor,
pinchcd for money at, every turn, but
nobody suspected it. I had a hand
some outfit when l was married. and it
lastedme for five years without the actu-
al purchase OF a new article. I was my
own child's nurse, seamstress, cham
ber-maid and house maid, as we could
only afford one domestic. It tires me
now when l look back and live over
those years of self-sacrifce, of most
dresome ECONOMY, in order that we
might keep out of debt. But we were
FyOung anf hopeful, land We often had
= little laugh at oursownZ expense, rs
when dressed for church or a visit,
Obed would say, Nell, you're dressed
like Princess, and haven't a dollar
in the world; one would think to- SEQ
YOU that we rolled in wealth. while
would gayly remind him that all that
glitters is not gold I remember had
one costume Of unusual beauty and
richness which he never liked me to
wear because it seemed to him like
making false impression, and so it Law
folded in my trunk Until half ruined, i'm
order, as Obed said, to avoid the dr.
peara'ace of evil He is always quot
ing St. Paul, you know.
"One secret of my checrfulncss dur
ing those trying years was that my
faith in Obed was as deep as the sea
and firm as the everlasting hills. Ino
more believed it possible for him to do
what he thought to be wrong than it
was for him to fly. He is not a brilliant
fellow, as you know, but for solid quail
ties, as honesty, integrity, pureness of
heart, earnestncss, charitableness of
judgment, accuracy of knowledge and
high and keen sense of justice. L have
never known his equal. Inever thought
OF his yielding to temptation, or aban-
doning any good cause because it was
weak. In my estimation he was as a
bulwark of strength. suppose that
endowed him, in way, with my own
decision and tirmness, which have al
ways made it as easy for me to say no as
yes in regard to anything about which
my convictions were clear.
The greatest trial we had to con.
tend with was our inability to be liberal
and thoroughly hospitable. This subur-
ban town where we; now live is much
wealthier now than then, but even then
it was aristO enough to tell what
its future would be. Every denomina-
ton must have its own church, and there
were always fairs and festivals and sub
scriptions for this and for that; and Obed
was church member, and very much
looked up to because of his abilities,
fine social position and high character,
and you can imagine how, with our
miserly income, it was utterly impos-
sible. for us to. buy tickets for every
thing, subscribe toward the preachers
salary, or contribute generously toward
the church expenses in any way. Tho
very .best:that we }could do was to cast
in our widows mite,' and whenever
help was needed that entailed no ex-
pense, to render that. But when it
5eame to money, mind. you, we could 60
no further. We held it to be crime
to let our honest debts go unpaid for
the sake of feeding the contribution
box. We knew men who did that way,
but they were always in financial
trouble, and don't think they enjoyed
| their religion much, especially when
they were sold Out by the sheriff, their
families reduced to PERJURY, and various
other families suffering loss because of
their iberality in various. ways. Now,
don't misapprehend me! Nobody in
the world loves to; give better than I
do; but had rather be branded a
monster of RIGHTEOUSNESS than to be
guilty of being liberal with money that
properly belongs 70 somebody else. No
doubt but that we We're criticised, but
we had the courage of our convictions.
We knew Better than anybody else
what we could afford to do, although,
as you know, there are persons in every
| neighborhood who think they know
more about your ability TO give than
you do yourself.
"Well in the second or third year OF
onr marriage the church building mania
seized upon the ambitious part of the
congregation of the church of which
Obed is member The old church was
old-fashioncd, it is true, ivy-grown, but
| in most ways very comfortable, and
to capacious as to hold a congregation
shree our four times as large as that
which worship in it. But the town,
! 1t was argued, was growing rapidly in
another direction, and in order for. 'our
church to hold. its own, and to gather
within its precincts the saints in cost
| ly array, there must be.sa new fold
with all modern improvements for the
accommodation of these fine-Wooled
sheep to pasture in, so subscriptions
for the new church began. We had
no sympathy with the move.
ment, which was entirely fol
the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the demon.
nation, and not at all for ), the salvation
of sinners. The church was in no sense
needed, and Obed declared that if he
were millionaire he would not donate
4 sou toward its erection; for it would
be but a useless and heavy burden upon
the people-asort.o of ecclesiastical white
elephant >:..<.c. , . ..,4..f
f ."But the eggrandizers carried the
day, and the building of the church be-
&u,+1 1,o1f tho ~,