It does require a great deal to live in such a world—but the way to prepare for the worst is not to be constantly expecting it, but to be constantly sensible of the superabundance of beauty and good in the universe, a thought which is never for an instant out of my mind, and in view of which I cannot conceive of being overcome by anything.In this courageous frame of mind, Mr. Higginson was ordained September 15. His friends Johnson and Hurlbut wrote hymns for the occasion. His cousin, Rev. William Henry Channing, preached the sermon, and Dr. James Freeman Clarke gave the charge. While the latter exhorted his young brother to reform by construction, not destruction, he urged him to speak scathing words of rebuke against the sin of slavery. Thus was the path marked out in which the new minister was not reluctant to walk and which finally made his position too hot to hold him. His marriage to Miss Channing took place September 30, 1847, he having previously convinced the young woman that two healthy persons could keep house perfectly well without servants, and that housework would never destroy real romance; and they began housekeeping on this plan. The economy practised by the newly married pair was amazing, and the following year Mr. Higginson summed up their financial status in this wise:—
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Books for libraries press. Freeport, New York. 1914.
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