St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-01-16
It is Curious Who Give.

''It's Gurus who give. There's Squire
Wood, he's put down 50; his farms
worth $4,000, and he's money at in
terest. And there's Mss Brown, she's
put down 80; don't believe she's had
a new gown in two years, and her bon
net amt none of the newest, and she's
them three grandchildren to support
since her son was killed in the army /;
and she's nothing but her pension to
live on. Well, she'll have to scrimp on
butter and tea for a while, but she'll
pay it. She just LOUes the cause; that's
why she gives"
These were the utterances of Dea.
Daniel after we got home from church
the day pledges were taken Tor contri-
buttons to foreign missions. He was
reading them off, and L was taking
down the items, to find the aggregate
the Deacon said he had SO much more
confidence in my knowledge of arith'
metic than he had in his own. He
went on, 'sThere's Maria Hill, she's put
down So; she teaches in the North
District, and don't have but $50 a
month, and pays her board and she
has to help support her mother. But
when she told her experience the time
she lined the church, knew the Lord
had done a work in her soul; and
where he works, you'll generally see
the fruit in giving. And there's John
Baker. He's put down one dollar, and
he'll chew mOre'n that worth of tOback-
er in fOrtnit. Cyrus Dunning, "a.
Well, he'll have to do some extra
painting with that crippled hand, but
he'll do it, and sing the Lords songs
while he is at work. G. Williams, $40.
Good for him. He said the other night
to prayer meeting that he had been
reading his Bible more than usual late
ly. Maybe he read about the rich
young man who went away sOIrowful,
and didn't want to be in his company"
So the Deacon went Oh making his
comments to the end of the list. Now,
l wouldn't have you think for mo-
ment that the good Deacon was finding
fault with his neighbOrs, or was too
critical in his remarks, for | can assure
you he had the most Christlike spirit
of any one ] ever knew. But he was
jealous for the Lords cause in every
department of it, and very shrewd in
noting Inconsistencies in giving. He
wouldn't have spoken so freely to every
one, but was in the family, and l am
not sure but he intended to give me a
lesson.
Lest some of my readers, after all
have said, should get wrong impress
sion of the Deacon, | will tell you more
of him and his acts. He was not only
interested in the BoO-roo-gahs of Afri-
ca, or the ChoO-hing-F of China,
but his heart went out toward every
cause that had for its object the adj
vancement of Christ's kingdom. He
delighted having those give who pos
sessed very small means, and he had a
peculiar way of helping them without
making them feel as if under ebliga
ton to him. Mrs. Brown was known
to be an excellent bread maker, and he
occasionally sent her sack of flour to
test its quality, before he felt sure that
he could ship the product OF his mill as
the best grade. He suddenly discov
cred, too, that some of his buildings
needed new paint, and it was curious
that this always occurred just as Mr..
Dunning was out of work.
The Deacon, as you have discovered,
was not an educated man. He knew
nothing of grammar, "tO speak of" he
used to say, and when he conducted
the prayer meeting, as he sometimes
did in the absence of the pastor, lie
mis-pronOunced words in the reading
of the hymn and one evening when he
said, at the beginning of the meeting,
awe will read for our instruction the
25th chapter of Psalms," smile passed
over some faces bnt when he prayed,
every one was awed, for he prayed as
one who talked face to face with God,
and we knew blessing would come to
the meeting.
But | forgot to tell you about the ag-
gregate OF that list of pledges. 1t was
sos, but the printed statement of re-
ceipts gave it 800. know where the
rest came from, and the Deacon was
not Il rich man either.-AdcdRce.