The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-01-15
OBED'S SUBSCRIPTION.

".Let him that thinketh he -standeth
take heed Lest he fall, That was the
parsons text this morning, and it re-
called q circumstance in our early mar
ried life about which sat thinking all
through the service, and which, had I
been moved by the spirit 10 arise and
relate, would have been q novel Illus
tration for the text"
"a" Relate it to me,'' I urged. eft
win do for . supplementary discourse. -
My friend. ct whose house ! was stay
ing. led the way out on the back piazza,
and after placing me in shaker
rocker, seated herself in anether, and
"Obed and have been married ten
years. you know. He, 1t the time of
our marriage, had bean at the bar but
. year, snd in . great city like B = it
b no easy matter for atyousg man to
make his way among the best lawyers
in the country. 1t has been only with
in the last year or two that the receipts
Of his practice have allowed q 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; 90. up.
on the whole, we were extremely poor.
pinched for money at every turn, but
nobody suspected it I had hand
some outfit when was married, and it
lasted me for five years without the &C
tual purchase of new article. was
my own child nurse, seamstress, cham
ber-maid and house-maid, as we could
only afford one domestic. It tires me
now when / look back and live over
those years Of self-sacrifice, of . most
tiresome economy, in order that we
might keep out Of debt. But we were
young and hopeful, and we often had q
little laugh atour own expense. as when
dressed for church or q visit, Obed
would say, Nell, you're dressed like q
Princess, and haven't q dollar in the
world; one would think to see you that
we rolled in wealth. while / would
gayly remind him that all that glitters
Ii not gold remember had one
costume Of unusual beauty and fich-
ness which he never liked me to wear
because it seemed to him like making q
false impression, and SO it lay folded in
my trunk until half ruined, in order, as
Obed said, to avoid the appearance of
evil He is always quoting s. Faul,
you mOW. = EsFES ssSH
/" One secret OF my chseriulnsss dur
ing those trying years was that my
faith N Obed was as deep as the sea
and firm as the everlasting hills. no
more believed it possible for him to do
what he thought to be wrong than it
was for him to ny. He isnot q brilliant
fellow, as you know, but for solid quail.
ties, as honesty, integrity, pureness of
heart, eafnestneSs. oharitshlenesg Of
judgment, accuracy of, knoyledsa and
q high and keen sense Of justice, 1 hAye
never known his equal. 1neYer thought
Of his yielding to temptation, or aban-
doning any good cause because it. was
weak. In my estimation he was IS
bulwsrk Of strength. suppose that 1
endowed him, in q way, with my own
decision and frmness, which have al
ways made 1t as easy for me to say no
as yes in regard to anything shout
which my convictions were clear. Il
1.-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
is was aristocratic enough to tell what
its future would be. Every denominar
ton must have its own church and there
were always fairs andfestivals and sub
scriptions for this and for that; and
Obed was Q church member, and very
much looked up to because of his abili-
ties, fine social position and high char
acter. and you can imagine how, with our
miserly income, it was utterly impos-
sible for us to buy tickets for everything,
toward the preachers salary,
or contribute generously toward the
church expenses In any way. The
very best that we could do was to cast
in our widows mite,' and whenever
help was needed that entailed no ex-
penoe. To render that But Nhsu it