Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1882-01-14
The Moral of a Pair of Stockings.

The following letter was written by a
distinguished literary lady to a learned
Judge on the eve Of his marriage:
DEAR COUSIN:
Herewith you will receive present of
pair of stockings knit by my own
hands, and be assured, dear coz, that my
friendship for you is as warm as the ma
terial, active as the fnger-wOrk and gen.
erOus as the donation.
But | consider the present as peculiar
ly appropriate on the occasion of your
marriage.
You will remark, in the first place, that
there are two individuals united in one
pair, who are to walk side by side,
guarding against GOODNESS, and giving
comfort as long as they last. The
thread of their texture is mixed and so
alasl is the thread of life.
In these, however, the white is made
to predominant, expressing my desire
and confidence that thus it will be with
the color of your existence. No black
is used, for believe you will be wholly
free from the black passions of wrath
and jealousy. The darkest color here is
blue, which is excellent when we do not
make it blue. s.f
Other appropriate thoughts rise in my
mind regarding these stockings. The
most Indifferent subjects, when viewed
by the mind in suitable frame, may
furnish instructive influences, as saith
the poet:
'The iron dogs the fuel and tongs,
The bellows thai have leathern lungs,
The firewoOd, ashes and smoke,
Do all to righteousness provoke"
But to the subject. YouwiIl perceive
that the top of these things 10y which
suppose cOprtship to be represented are
scanned and by no means of scanning are
drawn into snarl, but after comes a
time when the whole is made plain, and
continues so till the final toeing off. BY
this wish to take occasion to cOngratu-
late you that you are now through with
seeming and have come to plain reality.
Again, as the whole of these comedy
stockings was not made at once, but by
the addition of one little stitch after an
other, put in with skill and discretion,
until the whole presents the fair and
equal piece Of work which you see. so
life does not consist of one great action,
but millions of little ones combined and
so itmay be with our lives-nO stitch drop
ped when duties are to be performed, no
WiuOhiuS hduc WHou udu pllHClpltS arc
to be reprOved or economy Is to be pre-
served, neither scanning or narrowing
where truth and generosity are in ques-
ton.
Thus every stitch of life made right
and set in the right pIace-nOne either
too large or too small, 100 light or too
lOOse-may you keep Oh your smooth and
even course, making existence one fair
and consistent piece, until together hav-
ing passed the heel, you may come to
the very toe of life, and here in the final
narrowing off, and dropping off the coil
of this emblematic pair of companions
and comforting associates, nothing ap-
pears but white, the token Of innocence
and peace, of purity and light. May
you. like these stOckings-the final
stitch being dropped, and the work COM
pleted-gO together from the place
where you were formed. to a happier
state of existence, present from earth
to heaven.
Hoping that these stockings and adj
, mOnitiOns may meet civil reception, /
remain in the true-blue friendship,
seemingly without scanning, yours from
top to tOe.-SeI.