The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1880-01-31

cry denomination must nave It's own cnurcn
and there were always fairs and festivals ant
subscriptions for this and for that; and ObeC
was a church member, and very much looked
up to because of his abilities, fine social po
sition and high character, and you can imag
lie how, with our miserly income, it wa
utterly impossible for us to buy tickets fo
everything, subscribe toward the preacher
salary, or contribute generously toward thu
church expenses in any way. The very bes
we could do was to cast in Oh. widow
mite, and whenever help was needed thai
entailed no expense, to render that. Blu
when it came to money, mind you, we couic
go no further We held it to be crime
to let our honest debts go unpaid fol
the sake of feeding the contribution
box. We knew men who did that way
but they were Away in financial trouble and
l 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 liber-
atty in various ways. Now, don't
misapprehend me! Nobody in the world
loves to give better than l do; but had
rather be branded monster of penurious-
ness than to be guilty of being liberal with
money that properly belongs to somebody
else. No doubt but that we were criticised,
but We had the courage of our convictions.
We knew better than any body else what We
could afford to do, although rs 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 our
marriage the church-building mania seized
upon the ambitious part of the congregation
of ba oh Of nod &c bar
The old church was old fashioned, it is true
lvy-grown, but in most ways very comfort
able, and so capacious as to hold a cOngrega-
ton three or four times as large as that which
wOrshiped in it. But the town, it 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 costly array, there must be new fold
with all modern improvements for the ac-
commodatiOn of these ne-wooled sheep to
pasture in; so subscriptions for the new chuch
began. We had no sympathy with the mcve-
ment, which was entirely for the aggrandize-
ment of the denomination, 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 a
sou toward its erection, for it would be but
useless and heavy burden upon the people
sort of ecclesiastical white elephant
But the aggrandizers carried the day, and
the building of the church began with half of
the required money pledged. Obed was
elected one of the trustees, for the eclat of his
name l suppose. He attended one or two of
the business meetings, when he lifted up his
voice in opposition to the scheme, and that
was all of his participation il the matter.
FINALLY dedication day came 1t wasap-
pointed for Sunday in September, and ev-
erybOdy far and near who was at all likely
to donate anything toward the lifting of the
debt on the enterprise, which amounted to
$4,000, was especially invited to attend the
dedicatory services. The bishop was to of
fciate, and other noted men in the church
were to be present. The Sunday morning
came, and awoke with headache which
quite untitled me for service. Obed announced
and added laughingly, ito see the fun
"'What fun?' l asked, in surprise.
"'The fun of seeing $4,000 squeezed out of
the people. If they are all as dry an orange
as / am they'll raise about 10 cents and he
thrust his hands into his trousers empty
pockets. Then, kissing me, he walked away
1 watched him far as the gate, taking
pride in his tall, manly figure and distingu-
ished air. that asserted itself in spite of his
somewhat seedy church suit.
"Dinner hour came, but. Obed had not re-
turned. | remember l was sitting on the
back porch of our cottage waiting for him
when, like flash, came the thought in my
mind What if Obed should be induced to
subscriber The thought actually made me
faint for moment, but quickly dismissed
it as being unworthy of him. He knew our
struggle with poverty, and especially appreci-
ated the sacrifices that l was constantly
called upon to make, and, as you know,
had been reared in aff1uence. No. Obed was
not of that Class of men who send money to
the 'heathen' while wife and children actual
ly suffer for the necessaries of existence.
THAT ignoble thought quite passed away,
and half an hour later heard Obed's step on
the walk, a little less eager than usual, it
seemed to me, and the moment he reached
tie porch knew something was wrong, for
/ can always tell from Obed's face the state of
his feelings.
"'Well, back again, are you, Obed?' 1 said,
by way of greeting, as he threw his hat down
with boyish fling.
ayes; and what do you think I've done,
Nell?' he asked, vehemently.
az couldn't say, Obed,' l replied, quietly.
Subscribed 800 to that pesky churchl
I'm ashamed of myself despise myself
never felt so mean in all my lifel hundred
dollarsl and you here Shaving your fingers
ends Off / deserve to be shot for my ig-
nominyl
"'A hundred dollars l echoed, family,
feeling the blood rushing to my heart. 1t
may seem silly to you that for that paltry sum
of money we should have been made so mis-
cradle; but to us at that time, it was like
million.
"Obed," cried, after some moments of ST.
lence, mot for ten thousand, one hundred
dollars would have lost my faith in your
strength to do right"
'Oh, Nell, tits just that which cuts me to
the quick" he quickly retorted. "Nobody
could have made me believe that 1 would do
such thing. / am rs surprised and panied
as you can possibly be- for had no idea
that / had such streak Of weakness
within mel st. Paul must have foreseen me,
for sure when he warned men to take heed
lest they fall, while thinking that they
stand"
"Poor Obed ! had never seen him so
mortified and Inundated, and all on account
of what he so fifty termed that 'pesky
church,"
eThen / asked him to tell me how it hap
pened, and he described the method employ
ed by the bishop and his officials to raise the
$4,000. The officials each went among
the congregation, soliciting subscriptions
from the occupants of each pew; then, as
the amount subscribed failed to reach the de-
sired sum, new appeal was made and per-
sons who had refused to subscribe at the first
round, were again besieged There
was much iokinp nv the various per-