ld, and physical fatigue he had daily been familiar; and
where no vehicle could penetrate the miry depths of the forest, where it
was impracticable even to guide a horse, he had walked miles and miles,
through mud and rain, to preach. With a wife in delicate health, and a
young and growing family, he had more than once seen the year when fifty
dollars was the whole amount of money that had passed through his hands;
and the whole of the rest of his support had come in disconnected
contributions from one and another of his people. He had lived without
books, without newspapers, except as he had found them by chance
snatches here and there,[1] and felt, as one so circumstanced only can
feel, the difficulty of maintaining intellectual vigor and energy in
default of all those stimulants to which cultivated minds in more
favorable circumstances are so much indebted. At the time that he is now
introduced to the reader, he had been recently made pastor in one of the
most important settlements in the state, and among those who, so far as
worldly circumstances were concerned, were able to afford him a
competent support. But among communities like those at the west, settled
for expressly money-making purposes, and by those who have for years
been taught the lesson to save, and have scarcely begun to feel the duty
to give, a minister, however laborious, however eloquent and successful,
may often feel the most serious embarrassments of poverty. Too often is
his salary regarded as a charity which may be given or retrenched to
suit every emergency of the times, and his family expenditures watched
with a jealous and censorious eye.

[Footnote 1: Those particulars the writer heard stated personally as a
part of the experience of one of the most devoted ministers of Ohio.]

On the other hand, George Lennox, the lawyer, had by his talents and
efficiency placed himself at the head of his profession, and was
realizing an income which brought all the comforts and elegances of life
within his reach. He was a member of the Christian church in the place
where he lived, irreproachable in life and conduct. From natural
generosity of disposition, seconded by principle, he was a liberal
contributor to all religious and benevolent enterprises, and was often
quoted and referred to as an example in good works. Surrounded by an
affectionate and growing family, with ample means for providing in the
best manner both for their physical and mental developm