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Meanwhile Miss Flush and her ladies made up and forwarded the missionary things -- a very large, complete assortment of clothing, and of other articles that would be wanted somewhere, and they sent it off with many tears and prayers. Mr. Rodman himself wrote a letter, besides the one which Miss Flush penned, forwarding it unsealed, along with the articles sent, hoping it would meet the eye of the fortunate yet afflicted family to whom the goods might come in the far "West, as soon as they opened the box!

There was great rejoicing over this long enterprise completed. Indeed, it was a work that required much devotion, labor, patience, and calculation to bring through successfully -- and these were not wanting in the elements of Miss Flush's constitution. She was great on boxes of this sort, and the parish of Crampton knew her importance and worth, although we are of the opinion that it did not but about half know and appreciate her after all!

When this was all done, which it took five weeks instead of three to do, and Mrs. Smith said she must have made a wrong calculation in putting it at three, the society was ready to do a day's work for Mrs. Phillips' poor neighbors. In the meantime, one of the children had been carried off by a sudden cold and lung fever, and the necessities of the family had been relieved by the charities of the neighbors. But Mrs. Phillips had calls for help from other sources, and the society's offer was accepted.

As for the paupers, it was the general opinion that Captain Bunce would resent any interference to relieve them, and it was left with Mrs. Haddock to do as she thought best in that respect.

The ladies were now at work for the merchant, Mr. Longwell.

They entered on this work with a great stock of enthusiasm, and made by calculation out of it and a public fair that they intended to advertise about strawberry time, at least five hundred dollars. With this money they were going to remodel the church pulpit, new cushion and carpet the house, and put a new row of posts with iron chains in front of it along by the side-walk.

In the course of a few weeks, Miss Flush received the following letter from a distant missionary, to whom it seems their box of clothing, bedding, etc., etc., had been forwarded: --

"M-----, Ill., May 25, 184-.

Miss E. Flush: --

Your favor and that of the Rev. Mr. Rodman, accompanying a large box of clothing, and other domestic work, came safely to hand on the 20th inst. We live in a retired part of the world, and have but small opportunity of seeing the faces of our benefactors. Your generosity and that of the ladies of Crampton, is very generally regarded in our small family as a favor worthy of the highest regard. We shall hope to appropriate the articles by and bye to the use contemplated by the kind and generous donors, but are at present making up our supply from a similar presentation sent on by my wife's friends in New York.

Accept, dear friend, for yourself and your associates, my kindest Christian regards, and in these my wife begs heartily to unite. The pressure of public business must be my apology for brevity.

Truly, &c., &c,,
Moses Diamond."

Now, Miss E. Flush had often received letters of acknowledgment for similar favors before. But she had never received one quite as cool and business-like as this. She and her friends expected to receive a letter of at least four pages, giving an account of the particular adaptedness of every article of goods in the box to the peculiar situation of some one in the family that received it, containing over and over again the great sense of obligation awakened, abounding in ejaculatory thanksgivings, and making a general confession of "unworthiness to receive the like of it," &c. &c. It was expected also to be a document, extracts from which the pastor would read from the pulpit, and in the social meetings; especially giving a summary of the religious condition of the West, its educational wants, and so forth; also setting forth the state of the temperance enterprise, and that of the Sabbath-school -- happy if the document did not cover eight instead of four pages!

But this was decidedly cool -- too cool -- it did not pay. Some of the ladies said they should know it when they gave anything for another missionary box. Others said he was a rich man, and had a rich wife -- still others that he didn't know any better -- and others still, that he was proud, and ought not to be a missionary. Some even went so far as to affirm that they had rather given the box to the town paupers! or scattered the articles about to the poor in the various neighborhoods of the town.

Expecting too much in one case, and doing too little in another, they were at the end visited by a natural punishment from both. They forgot the great rule of the Gospel: "This ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone." They had no idea that any needy, seedy missionary family at the West, could receive a gift-box of clothing from them without writing a most melting letter of thanks for it -- a letter that would stir up the emotional feeling of all the parish -- a letter that would go into the religious newspapers, and stir up to emulation a great many other religious sewing societies throughout the country. They expected more would be said and done about that box of clothing altogether than the real value of twenty such boxes. And they seemed to forget that a poor and self-denying missionary could have the independence of mind to write a modest acknowledgment of their generosity, and even harbor the wish to cover up from the eyes of the world his necessity of charity! They would publish it broad-cast over the land; he would wish it a transaction between himself and them.