New-York tribune., 1886-06-06
A QUEER STORY.
COMMERCIAL CHARITY.

inCIcaHed,
ruin of his rivals, he quickly acquired roaring
business. aud his balance at the bank became
larger than those of all the other traders wltnlm
hal n mile Of him combined. 1hls extiaorulhuIy
success he attributed exclusively TO tie iaVor oi
Providence and the ready money system. .,.
He was has been said. rs pious rs ne was ShI
cessful When he first began business, he and MS
newly married wife Joined the nearest anu wentIl-
est Dissenting congregation the rev Mt oweety :.
For several years they both continued memners
of IT, winning the good W i'll of the clergyinen ana
his lock by their activity in good works nus'
after "A time il was rumored that Mrs. btcwalt IN
tended to secede, and the report turned OUT 10 no
true for she broke her connection win MI
Swcctly's congregation and Joined the Anghcah
Church in the neighborhood fter husband ex- OK.
plaincd to Mr.. Sweetly aud his ieow-deacons MS
| position. The lady for Il long time past bad sho"n
q marked liking for moderate Ritualisln. lie nad
attempted to reason her out of it, but it vain anu
when at length she resolved to 0ratlly ~ ana JON
the Anglican Church much as he deplored her ms
taken cOurse. he felt he bad no right to oppose it
What. was he 10 interfere between her and her CON
science He. properly he thought contented nm
self with praying that she mght yet 3e Drougnt 10
see the of her ways Mr.. Litewat statement
was s touching that il quite removed the bad I'M
preston his wife's conduct calculated to excte
among Mr.. Sweetly's people. In fact. henceiorth
| they were if anything more friendly toward him
| and moro constant customers at his establishment.
| Meanwhile Mrs. Litewat behaved herself at the
| had displayed ut Mr.. Sweetly's. There was no
movement connected with the church for the mu-
tgal benefit of its members or the good tins OF the
spirit Her energy won golden opinions from from
vicar. cnratc, and people, and obtained their
patronage and good will for her husbands
bnsiness; that if he. spiritually. had reason
to regret his wio's backslidrg, he had no cause to
lament 1t from worldly point of view.
| As their only son grew up there much spccu-
laton both at the Parish Church and at Mr.
Sweetlys as to whether he would follow IN his
fathers or mothers footsteps During boyhood ms
parents had taken him alternately to their dlIer.
ent places of worship. and both had declared that
when he arrived at years of discretion he should pc
allowed to choose freely which of them he would
! o1o of
| ama2ement of everybody, he chose neither lie
| joined. indeed a dissenting congregation, Dnt ~
| was not of his fathers denomination, tnou9n III
| would be hard to say why 1t was not. Inc elIrr
NicodcnIIs was for time much pertmrbed ny MS
| sons peverSty but gradually the lads good con
duct as he told Mr. Sweetly reconclled him to It,
| Indeed young Nicodemus soon became as remark
able in his congregation as his father and mother
were III theirs TOR activity and earneSt1es'; 80 re-
| markable in fact. that its minister and members
felt 1t their duty TO encourage snch youthful plety
by giving their support 10 the business WHICH, on
| his fathers death retirement, would he MS.
Then all the Litewaits were as DeneVoent as
they were pious. Besides contributing literally
| 10 the funds of their several churches, they were
quite extravagant i'll their donations to al manner
of societies and associations for beneitlng people
in different ways and usually against their WILL
OF all the associations with which Mr. Litewat
| was connected there was name whose operations
| were of SO extensive a character. or III when ne
| took deep an interest, as that Tor giving / rec
Breakfasts to IIabitual Thieves and DrunkaIds.
| This really benevolent undertaking " hen
times were bad VITA thieves, when the carciulhes
| nOuScnOllcrS
vented any chance OF burglary, but Tor this most
| useful association one could tell what might
have become of the poor burglar. llis me- haru @
| enough at the best, it is clear, would have been
uneLdurablc and il Is fearful to thlnk OF tho
dreadful exped.snts 10 which his dcstltutlon ana
| misery might have forced him To resort. In the
! last extremity he might even have had to work
From snch a fate this noble institution saved hiin
, And in the same way. through It's eXcrtionS, thc
habtnal drunkard was enabled to devote WITHOUT
| fear of starvation. his whole cash to purposes OF
mtoxIcaton. What became of his wife ana emu
dren the Association cared as lltte as he dii II y
| no wonder thcr. that this noble ana useIui ihsui-
tuition attracted the goodwill and contributions OF
many k;nJ-hearted ladies and gentlemen
Mr.. Litewat, as has been said, took deep inter-
est in IT, and therefore, when he saw an 0ppor-
tunity at of It's annual meetings OF DONG IL an
immense service. he at once ayaci himself OF II,
| The way il arose thus. he Associatlon toI
| Giving Free breakfasts to Habitual Thieves Sc.
like other charitable associations, never Thought
of limiting its expenditure to It's income during
the previous year u hau spent a t@m9usanu @ Poua n
and more which it did not possess relying; IKE any
other spendthrft on the hope that when its friends
| found il was in debt they would help 1t out OF 1t.
| And 1t was not disappointed
AZ the annual meeting the Hon Secretary and
Treasurer that we'll known philanthropist aud
amablc man. Mr.. Kimberley, alter he had taken
care to cXpatate eloqucntly on the thousands or
| breakfasts the Association had gwen during the
mast year the number of affecting addresses he and
| other members of il had delivered to the break
| fastcrs, and the immense amount OF unpercelvcd
| good which the breakfasts and addresses must nave
done, came at length to the state ol the finances,
| and having announced the deficit OF nearly twelve
hundred pounds appealed IN affecting terms 10 the
| meeting to know whether 1t wohld tor the sake OF
| such a paltry sum- permit much necessary and
| benevolent work to he mpedcl, If not stopped
| Altogether His speech produced cOnsldeIaDle
lie had scarcel, sat down when Mr., Litewait
| rosr lie said that impressed by the honorable
| treasurcr's statement he had consulted with his
| wife and son. vino present. rs to what, IN face
of the facts it disclosed, their duty and thcy a
come to the conclusion that. since Providence had
| blessed them with an ample share of the good
things of this world. they were bound to devote
part Of their sap@runy To- relieve esS to ave
that he intended to give the funds of the Assocla-
tion a donation of five hundred pounds, and that
his wife and son would give, IN addition donations
This noble declaration evoked immense enthusi-
asm. Speaker after speaker sprang 10 MS ieet 10
thank the Titewaits for their generous gifts an
to congratulate the Association on possessing sucn
splendid benelactors. so great was the excitement
that it for time preYenteI the transaction 9I any
further business, and fired several gchtlehen
present TO subscribe among them the remainder of
After the consideration of the Hon. Treasurer and
Secretary's report the meeting proceeded to the
question of contracts Several OF these were
disposed OF when the most important one was
reached. II so happened that the articles ~
referred TO were such as Mr.. Iitewait sold, and
before the tenders sent IN were examined Mr'
Kimberley asked the meeting if. when IL remem-
bcred that Mr. Litewait was present, ana what he
| had tEat day done. II was necessary ID examine
them. Would it not be better to asslgn, without ~
formatics the contract for the next three years TO
| Mr. Iitcwait, and leave the prices to his own
| generosity and ustnessY 7 The proposal was carried
| by acclamatOn.
| 'As soon as the applause had subsdel Mr. Late
| , AIT rose His emotion was such that for little
| time il prevented him from speaking. When,
| no weyer he had sufficiently recovered himself
| he told the meeting how touched he was by the
| confidence they had placed in him. and how
| onxious he wonld be to show them it was not mis-
| nlaced He had not desired the contract but since
| tLey so generously offered 1t to him he could not
decline it, but, in accepting it. he wonld endeavor
by every in his power TO spare the funds and
| advance the objects of the Association.
| Perhaps the proposal TO give Mr. Litewait an
! Omen contract would not have been carried so easily
If If had emanated from any other person than Mr.
! Kimberley but that gentlemans high character
| gave any proposition he made immense weight