Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' The Abbeville Press and Banner.! "BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1889. VOLUME XXXHI. NO. 39., 31 Tae Uubolted Door. An aged widow sat alone Beside her narrow hearth; The silent cottage never heard The ringing laugh of mirth. Six children once bad sported there; but now the churchyard snow Fell softly on Ave little graves, all filled so 1 long ago. I She mourned them all with patient love, But since her eyes had shea Far bitterer tears than those which dewed, The faces of the dead. The child which had been spared to her, her darling and her pride, The woetul mother lived to wish that she had [also died. Those little ones beneath the snow, Not lost, but gone before; ' Faith taught her all was welt with them, Ana ineu me punt; whs u ei; But when she thought where Katie was, she saw the city's glare, Thepalntedma.sk of bitter Joy which need gives Bin to wear. Without, the snow was thick and white, No 6tep had fallen there: > Within she sat beside her fire. Each thought a silent prayer, i When suddenly, behind her seat, unwonted noise she heitrd, As though a hesitating band the rustic latch had stirred. She turned, and there the wanderer stood With snow-flakes on her hair, A faded woman, wild and worn, The ghost of something fair. And then upon the mother's neck the withered brow was laid. "Can God and you forgive me all ? for I have sinned, she said. The widow dropped upon her knees Before the lading Are, And thanked the Lord whose loving band f Had granted her desire. The daughter kneeled beside her, too, tears dropping from her eyes, Andrrayed, "God help me to be good to mother ere she dies!" 1 They did not talk about the sin, The shame, the bitter woe; They spoke about those little graves, And things of long ago. And then the daughter raised her eyes, and said in tender tone, "Why did you keep your door unbarred when you were quite alone?" "My child," the widow said, and smiled, A smile of love and pain; "T knnt l? oa laof wnn ohnnlil mmO Ariel turn away again ; I've waited for you all the while?a mother's love is true; k Yet It Is but the shadowy type of His who F died for you." J. F. Example and Testimony of Early ! Christians. I "It is as easy," says a learned writer j of the seventeenth century, "to ob- ' scure the sun at mid-day, as to deny < that the primitive Christians renounc- < ed all revenge and war." Christ and his apostles delivered general precepts for the regulation and of our conduct. And to what did their immediate successors apply the pacific precepts which had been delivered? They applied ' them to war: they were assured that I the precepts absolutely forbade it. r This belief they derived from those < very precepts on which we have in- 1 ? sisted : they referred expressly to the same passages in the New Testament, and from the authority and obligation ' of those passages, they refused to bear arms. ; "I say unto you, that ye resist not evil." "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and < hate thine enemy : but I say unto you, i Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you."?Matt. v. 39, 43, 44. 1 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for ' they shall be called the children of < Clod."?Matt. v. 9. "Have peace with one another."? Mark ix. 50. "See that none render ' ?vil for evil unto any man."?1 Thess. 1 v. 15. "God hath called us to peace." 1 Cor. vii. 15. "Follow after love, patience, meekness."?"Be gentle, showing all meek- ! ness unto all men."?"Live in peace." i "Let all bitterness and wrath, and : anger and clamor, aud evil speaking, : be put away from you with all mal- . ioe." "Avenge not yourselves."?"If thine i enemy uuugei, jeeu lulu ; 11 ue iuhsi, give him drink."?"Recompense to no man evil for evil."?"Overcome evil with good." A few examples from their history will show with what undoubting confidence they believed in the unlawfulness of war, and how much they were willing to suffer in the cause of peace. Maximilian, as it is related to the Acts of Ruinart, was brought before the tribunal to be enrolled as a soldier. On the proconsul's asking his name, Maximilian replied: "I am a Christian, and cannot fight." It was, howA ever, ordered that he should be enroll& ed, but he refused to serve, still alleg' ing that he was a Christian. He was immediately told that there was no al? ternative between bearing arms and being put to death. But his fidelity was not to be shaken. "I cannot fight," said he, "if I die." He continv tied steadfast to his principles, and was consigned to the executioner. The primitive Christians not only refused to be enlisted in the army, but when they embraced Christianity while enlisted, they abandoned the profession at whatever cost. MarcelJus was a centurian in the legion called Trajana. While holding this commission, he became a Christian ; and believing, in common with his fellow Christians, that war was no longer perimitted to him, he threw down his belt : at the head of the legion, declaring tthat he had become a Christian, and that he would serve no longer. He was committed to prison ; but he was ;still faithful to Christianity. "It is not lawful," said he, "for a Christian :to bear arms for any earthly consideration ;" and he was, in consequence, put to death. Almost immediately afterward, Cassian, who was notary to tthe same legion, gave up his oflice. He steadfastly maintained the sentiments of Mareellus, and, like him, was consigned to the executioner. Martin, of whom so much is said by Sulpicius. 43everus, was bred to the profession of' arms, which on his acceptance of k'SvA. Christianity, he abandoned. To Julian the Apostate, the only reason that we find he gave for his conduct was this:?"lam a Christian, and therefore I cannot fight." These were not the sentiments, and this was not the conduct of isolated individuals who might be actuated by individual opinion or by their private interpretatious of the duties of Christianity. Their principles were the principles of the body. They were recoguized and defended by the Christian writers, their contemporaries. Justin Martyr and Tatian talk of soldiers and Christians as distinct characters ; and Tatian says that the Chris tians declined even military commands. Clemens of Alexandria calls bis Christian contemporaries the "followers of peace," and expressly tells us "that the followers of peace used none of the implements of war." Lactantius, another early Christian, says expressly, "It can never be lawful 1 for a righteous man to go to war." About the end of the second century, Celsus, one of the opponents of Christianity, charged the Christians with 1 refusing to bear arms even in case of i necessity. Origen, the defender of the 1 Christians, does not think ?f denying ' the fact; he admits the refusal, and ' justifies it, because war was unlawful. i Eveu after Christianity had spread over ' almost the whole of the known world, I Tertullian, in speaking of a part of the * Roman armies, including more than i one-third of the standing legions of Rome, distinctly informs us that "not ' a Christian could be found among 1 them." i All this is explicit. The evidence of * the following fact is, however, yet J more determinate and satisfactory. 1 Some of the arguments which at the ' present day are U9ed against the advo- t eates of peace, were then urged against these early Christians; and these arguments are examined and repelled. 4 This indicates investigation and in- 1 CjUiry. and manifests that their belief ? of the unlawfulness of war was not a 1 vague opinion hastily admitted and s loosely floating among them, but that | a minority in attendane who did not 1 it was the result of deliberate exami- < nation, and a consequent lirm conviction that Christ had forbidden it. The very Bame arguments which were brought in defence of war at the present day, were brought against the Christians sixteen hundred years ago; aud, sixteen hundred years ago, they were repelled by these faithful contenders for the purity of our religion. ? It is remarkable, too, that Tertullian 1 appeals to the precepts from the t Mount, in proof of these principles on i which wc insist;?thai. the. 1 which the precepts inculcate are not 1 compatible with war, and that war, c therefore, is irreconcilable with Christ- s ianity. c If it be possible, a still stronger evi- a ilence of the primitive belief is con- I tained in the circumstances, that some \ of the Christian authors declared the refusal of the Christians to bear arms was a fulfillment of ancient prophecy. 1 The peculiar strength of this evidence c consists in this,?that the fact of a re- c fusal to bear arms is assumed as noto- c rious and unquestioned. Irenseus, s who lived about the year 180, affirms ^ that the prophecy of Isaiah, which de- 1 clared that men should turn their * swords into plough-shares, and their ? spears into pruning-hooks had been f fulfilled in his time; "for the Chris- 1 tians," says he, "have changed their I swords and their lances into instruments of peace, and they know not how to fight." Justin Martyr, his contemporary, writes,?"That the prophecy is ] fulfilled, you have good reason to be- 1 lieve, for we, who in times past killed c one another, do not now fight with our * enemiesTertullian, who lived later, 1 ?ays: "You must confess that the 5 prophecy has bee"n accomplished, as ? far as the practice of every individual ' is concerned to whom it is applicable." 1 It is therefore indisputable, that the Christians who lived nearest to the time of our Saviour believed, with un- , doubting confidence, that he had unequivocally forbidden war; and they ( openly avowed this belief; and that, | in support of it. they were willing to sacrifice, and did sacrifice, their fortunes and their lives. < Let it always be borne in mind by < Christians who are now advocating or I in their minds permitting war, that fhev arA rnnfr.nrtinrt fnr ftina whinli their forefathers abhorred; and that | they are making Jesus Christ the sane- ] tioner of crimes, which his primitive followers offered up their lives because they would not commit. The example of the Jews affords no justification of the wars of Christians. We are under another and a better dispensation, even that of Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose object was to promote peace on earth ; and the practice of the Jews will no more justify war than it would polygamy, sacrifices, or circumcision. Christ is our master; Christ is our example. "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." Some men tell all their secrets to every stranger. They annoy their neighbors, display their ignorance, expose their follies, and betray their friends merely to gratify their inordinate desire to talk. The tongue is a mighty agent of good and evil. To guard it well is a test of perfection. 'Be swift to hear; alow to speak." Then and Now.?During the first year of my ministry our quarterly meetings lasted two days, and we held a number of two-days' meetings, and we had conversions at every two-days' meeting and at the quarterly meetings. But how is it now ? Not unfrequently it takes one week to get the members warmed tip, and then another week to get the people of the world to believe in conversion ; then comes a revival, either through the agency of the Holy Ghost or through a certain process of management by wily workers. In the early days of my ministry I had a net increase of one hundred members annually. I did nearly all the preaching that was done on the circuit, except at the quarterly meetings. Give one iueuiuuist preucuer a circuit 10 nimself, with a few exhorters and a good class-leader for every class, and he can do more good than five can now, each belonging to a different Church, and no class-meetings. It is pleasant to note in this connection that the gallant Gordon, down in Georgia, was inaugurated without an inaugural ball. At last accounts the Commonwealth was doing quite as well as when the inaugural "breakdowns" ushered in new administrations. Alabama's excellent Governor 3eay utterly discountenanced the inaujural ball. He is none the less influjntial, but more so, for asserting his religious convictions in the matter. Let all such worthy examples of dignity aud propriety be applauded. The aobbing-up-and-down "society folk" ire not the sort of people to staud sponsors for a new administration. Let them handle the trifles with which :hey are familiar, and keep away from iffairs of State, which they never ouch without belittling. The Times-Democrat, speaking of 'counting out" the prohibition vote ..K.'aU U J- iL. Cl *1 rti.*. Allien wusuast iu me ooumern oiaies n the last election, asks this question : 'Is there any man, pretending to sanity, who can assign any reason or pretext for throwing out the few prolibition votes of Louisiana or South Carolina?" We don't know the jmaD ;hat can do that; but we know quite a lumber of men who voted that ticket n this city, and they know their votes vere not counted! Can the TimesDemocrat explain why their votes vere not counted ? Most wise men modify their opinions ts they grow older. They find that a arger knowledge* suggests cousideraions which demand some chaDge of riew. It was an apostle who said, 'When I wasa child I spake as achild, [ understood as a child, I thought as a :hild; but wheu I became a man I put iway childish things." In our foolish md sinful pride we may hesitate to icknowledge our change of opinion, jutthisis to assume that we are the jeople and wisdom shall die with us. Declined to Serve as a Bulletin Board.?A level-headed minister >f Cincinnati, who had been a good leal bored by requests to read all sorts >f announcements from his pulpit, istounded his c ngregation on a recent Sunday morning by saying: "And low I ask your special attention to this ast notice. Will the church and congregation please remember that I was jrdained to be a preacher of the everastinggospel, and not to be a bulletin joard for advertising purposes." Meekness is one of the graces that leeds to be cultivated. It is not patronized by the world, but is regarded as nconsistent with the high spirit and lignity of a gentleman. Where are ;hose who when reviled do not revile igain ? How few there be who when smitten on one cheek turn the other i ilso? To learn this lesson of Christ is ;o be despised by the world. Yet we ire to follow Him is his humiliation. Law and Gospel.?There are some ministers who manifest a pleasure in seeing others give (especially if they ire the recipient), but fail largely themselves in practicing and teaching the Bible requirement of giving. Anarchism is not indigenous to this country, but theloaferism and drunkenness on which this poisonous fungus fixes itself is. The poor man's penny, unjustly detained, is a coal of fire in a rich man's purse. If people were as kind to live men a3 they sometimes are to dead men there would be more happy homes and fewer costly funerals. Beefsteak and potatoes before death do more good than silver-mounted easkcts and floral tributes afterward. Read the Bible when you are fresh and wide awake; when the brain is clear and you are not pressed for time. Read it as the only book on earth that has dropped down from heaven, as your directory for life and your guide t /n nn/1 if *l'l11 O lli IIUUIUI IttlllJ , U11U iv nil* k/uwuiv ?, new book to you altogether. When we would convinca men of any error by the strength of truth, let us withal pour the sweet balm of love upon their heads. Truth and love are two of the most powerful things in the world ; and when they both go together, they cannot easily be withstood. The golden beams of truth, and the silken cords of love, twisted together, will draw men on with a sweet violence, whether they will do or no. He is lucky who forgets what cannot be mended. That is not ours which is got by unlawful means. Be a friend to thyself, and others will be so too. The way to avoid great faults is to beware of less. As fast as laws are devised, their evasion is contrived. A smile through tears is the bouI's rainbow of peace. The time to come is no more ours than the time past. You will not be loved if you care for none but yourself. He that picks up all sorts of wood, soon gets an armful. We punish little thieves, and take off our hats to great ones. The defects of a true man's character are seen only by those who know him intimately and watch him critically in his fierce struggle for the victory over the wrong. He whose temper is naturally fiery and violent is far more worthy of credit when he preserves a calmness and serenity of manner under strong incentives to resentment than the man who is by nature obtuse in his emotions, and is seldom aroused to any show of anger or petulance under the most exasperating provocation. Training Parents. There is a great deal of talk about the training of children by parents. Not much is said about the training of parents by children, and a great deal might be said about it. While the parent is forming, or trying to form, habits of self-control in the child, what habits of self-control the child is forming in the parent. While the mother is teaching her little one to talk correctly, how carefully is her little one teaching her to avoid all inonrrupf inplocrnnt imnrnnor ulancr wv"v? I , ? ? "O expressions. Every effort she puts forth for her child, by a certain retroactive force comes right back upon herself. Her child, by the very necessities of its being, trains her in self-forgetfulness, lovingness, obedience to law. She must know in order that she may teach her child, guard it from harm, lead it in right ways, foresee and prevent evil from happening to it. The joy and responsibility of maternity transforms mauy a gayjand careless woman into a thoughtful, earnest, painstakiug student of child-nature. "What lessons of faith and trust do our little children teach us. We love to lavish on them every possible evidence of our love, and the word comes home to us: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that'ask Him ?" By and by our children grow up and go away from us. They have homes and lives of their own in which their parents have comparatively small part. They have their own business and social circles; perhaps their own religions circle. Caught in currents running at right angles to those they were in when in the parent home, they : may drift far away in their faith and practice from that they showed allegiance to when under the parental roof Here comes for the parent a training in tolerance, in waiting, in trust. We cannot believe or suffer or experience joy or vicissitude for our children. We cannot live their lives for them. J They must learn for themselves the lessons of life. As we see them pursuing courses which must end in'sorrow, we cau only wait and'pray that out of evil God will still bring good, As the years bear us on, and we retire more and more from the labors and responsibilities of active life, our children become to us increasingly what we were to them in early maturity, in youth, in childhood. It seems strange to look for support and protection to the children that were once, and so short a time ago, utterly dependent on us;.to let burdeus fall from our shoulders onto theirs, and to feel that their hands and hearts and brains are stronger than ours, and more capable than ours now are of meeting the demands of life. Happy the parent who so trains his children that their training of him is agreeable and beneficent. To-Day. Tired fathers, weary mothers, when is your happy day coming? Long since you expected it to dawn. It is not here yet, nor will it ever be so long as you do not determine that it shall be to-day. This failure to take comfort as you pass along life's pathway, but ever looking forward for all enjoyment of good, is throwing away the real sweets of life. You may as well attempt to store up summer sun shine to warm iu winter, or bottle moonshine for cloudy nights. The real and only true way is to find in the present alljthe good Clod gives us. Our whole lives may be filled with joy if we are only willing to learn that in all good work there is profit, in all sorrow are some rays of sunshine, and in all care some compensation. Make the most of to-day, and your future will grow brighter and brighter as you step into it. Let the old saying that "Man never is, but always to be, blessed" be proven false by your finding in the present all the fullness of blessing it really possesses. "Study to be Quiet.'' "Better is a handful with quietness, than both hands full with labor and vexation of spirit." If Solomon had written that sentence this week, sitting in a New York office or parlor, he could not have been better suited to these times than he was three thousand years ago; and this is proof that he spoke with more than human wisdom. He wrote for humanity in all ages, especially for the hurrying, rushing, out-of-breath humanity which is not satisfied even with ''both hauds full" in these days. Come, friends, let us consider the wise man's affirmation. The whole family will feel relieved if the father's brow can be cleared up, and how delightful it will be to have the mother sit down and enjoy herself with the children without having somebody start up with the^thonght of something that "must be done immediately." It is true we are dealing with a difficult question. The spirit of the age is cyclonic in its movement. We seem to be pushed into a run whether we will or not; but certainly, we can regulate affairs somewhat and avoid some of the rush if we will accept, practically, the wisdom of the Preacher. We undertake too much, we want to accomplish too much, and we want to possess too much, and so we are overtaxed in brain and nerve and muscle. "How can 1 help it if I keep up with other men in my business?" .Probably you cannot help it if you "keep up." But suppose somebody does outstrip you for the time, and get two bands full while you get but one?perhaps you will live the longer to enjoy your one handful, and so in the end have more than he. And if you can take a little "quietness," in which to enjoy what you have, it is certain you will be a winner in the race for true riches. And as for the worn out housekeepers and the busy women fretting over "so much sewing"?dear friends, one change of garments and a simpler mode [of living, "with quietness," would be a thousand times better for you and for all your friends than all these elegancies you have "with labor and vexation of spirit." Cheerful activity is good for both soul and body. But the "fever and fret and aimless stir" which, before we are aware, carry us down the current of this restless age, is destructive to both. Let us try, as Christians, to take our handful with quietness, and leave to the rest of the world that knows no better both hands full, with its uncomfortable accompaniments. Sabbath Rest. People break down through continuous strain. Intervals of rest restore health aud elasticity, and lengthen out life. The Railroad, Record furnishes this illustration : "How on earth do you manage to stand up under the tremendous physical as well as mental strain which you continually endure?" a gentleman in our presence;asked young Joe Brown, the general freight.'Iand passenger agent of the Western & Atlantic railroad. "You seem to be close.' at your business all day, and I am told you scarcely ever quit before midnight. Vnn Innk slpnHfir nnH lifco nno nf fan * VV? -WW J V* iW ble constitution, yet you do more work than any man in your position or any other that I know, of. How do you stand it?" "By never doing any work on Sunday," was the reply. "When twelve o'clock Saturday night comes I drop any business that I may have in hand and I don't touch it again before Monday morning. I never open a .tele* gram on Sunday ; so if any one wires me a message which he knows will reach me on that day, he may just as well wait till Monday. "I think every business man ought to scrupulously abstain from all business matters on the Sabbath, first because it is required by the Bible, and secondly, because if he does his duty on week days he needs the rest on that day. The first is my principal reason ; but the other^is an important one; and I always find that although Ijnay close the week very tired, yet I kbegin it as fresh as a rose." Men spend about half the year in work and dissipation, and take the i.-1r c ? 1 uiiier mwi iur vuuuuuii uiiu reuuperution. It works badly. Take your vacation one day each week, and be sure you (jc.t it, and you will not need so mauy trips and tours to restore damaged health. Exercising one's right is not always a rightful exercise. Many persons suppose that, so long as they are acting legally, they are sure to be acting fairly and rightly. But an act which is not illegal may be an evil and an unjustifiable act, even though the law to which that act conforms be a righteous and a commendable law. Some of the most cruel and detestable deeds, the most far-reaching sources of harm and evil, are those which are done within the pale and even under the specific protection of the civil law. A man may be legally entitled to a copy rich t upon a book which is calculated to degrade more lives, to ruin more hopes, to break more hearts, to destroy more souls, than the most flagrant act in the catalogue of punishable crimes. It is for every one to watch lest in his anxiety to exercise his rights he fall into the eri ->r of perpetrating wrongs. The Sun. R. K. MDNKITTRICK. It rises over yonder hill? A flaming golden cup; It kisses light the crystal rill And wakes the flowers up. It makes the murky shadows fly, It makes the apples glow, And in the peaceful muid mer sky It sets the bright ralubow. It gilds the cloudlet's fleecy wing, It drHws the purple sea, Spills roses in the lap of spring And wakes the belted bee. I see it now its tresses shake 'Way down the West, and know It flies to China-land to make The sweet tea-roses blow. A Shabby Trick. a /unp ^1,1 rx. uciii uiu iiian, ?cuiiug nuuuuj clothes and riding in a market wagon, was slowly toiling up a long hill with a load of potatoes, drawn by a poor, bony horse. Near the foot of the hill stood the school-house, around which the boys were playing. As the old man passed, one of them said : "Let's go and raise the end-board of that old man's wagon and let the potatoes drop out. Won't it be jolly to see him stare when he gets to the top of the hill and finds them gone?" "All right," says one and another; "let's go." These boys soon caught up with the wagon, quietly raised the end-board and the potatoes dropped rapidly out and were scattered along the dusty road. The last bell rang, and in a minute the scholars were sitting quietly in their seats. Delaying the opening exercise, the teacher said: "As I came into the school-house I saw an old man picking up potatoes from the dusty road. I want to tell you something about him. At the beginning of the civil war he and his only son, a young man of twenty-three, enlisted in the army and fought in many battles, until at Gettysburg he was dangerously wounded and his son killed. It was six months before he could leave the hospital to come home, and what he suffered in trying to live and get well cannot be told. Since that time he has had many aches and pains, and it has been very hard for him to earn enough to support his wife and himself. He is very lame, and has to move slowly; it will take him a long time to pick up his potatoes. People say that he never did a mean thing in his life, and he is the kindest man I know." At this point one of the three boys raised his hand and said he would like to go out and help the old man pick up his potatoes. The two other boys quickly raised their hands, too and offered to go. The teacher looked pleased, and gave them permission, then the school went on quietly with it's afternoon work. Tt. was a hnf Hjivpnrlv in SAnt.emhpr " " V very dry aud dusty, and the sun poured down upon the three boys as they hurried up the hill to the old man, who was leaning with one hand upon the wagon-box to rest. "Mister," said one of the boy9, as he stepped bravely up, "we have done a 1 mean thing, and we are willing to say so. We lifted the end-board of your wagon to let the potatoes drop out. Now, if you will sit down in the shade of that tree, we will pick up all your potatoes for you." The old man laid 1 his trembling hand upon the head of the boy, and looking from one to the other, said: "Well! well! my dear boys, you have done a brave thing. Never be ashamed to tell the truth or confess a fault. I will gladly sit down and rest, for I am very tired." The boys then took the horse and wagon and spent a good hour of hard work in undoing u mischief that took them only a few minutes to plan and carry out. When the boys returned to the school the teacher said nothing to them; everything went on as usual, only there seemed to be an uncommon thougbtfulness and attention. The pupils had learned a life-long lesson. Its value consisted in the object lesson of the three boys willingly doing what they could do to repair the evil effect of a mean action. Doing and Being. A young girl had been trying to do anmofhinc vprv e-onrl. find had notsuc ceeded very well. Her friend, hearing her complaint, said : "God gives lis many things to do; but don't you thiuk he gives us something to be, just as well ?" "O dear ! tell me about being," said Mariou, looking up. "I will think about being, if you will help me." Her friend answered : "God says: "Be kindly affectioned one to another. "Be ye also patient. "Be ye thankful. "Be ye not conformed to this world. "Be ye therefore perfect. "Be courteous. "Be not wise in your own conceit. "Be not overcome of evil." Marion listened, but made no reply. Twilight grew into darkness. The tea-bell sounded, bringing Marion to her feet. In the firelight Eliza betli could see tliat she was very serious. "I'll have a better day to-morrow. I see that doing grows out of being." "We cannot be what God loves without doing what he commands. It is easier to do with a rush, than to be patient or unselfish, or humble, or just, or watchful." "I think it Is," returned Marion. I A Long Account. "Mother," said a black-eyed boy of six years, "when you get old, and want some one to read to you, I "will C'/>J pay you off." Little Alexander's mother had been in the habit of reading to him a good deal, and on thla ' 'A Sabbath day she had read to him a long time out of the Bible and a Sabbath-school book. The child was just able to read a little himself, and the progress he was making doubtless suggested to him how he might at some future time return in kind all ;'H his mother's care. "I will pay you off, mother." said he, looking up into her face with childish satisfaction, as' if a "vn kuuu^ub liUUl UCIIVCli IJIMX UVUU sent down to light up the little world ? . of bis soul. His mother pressed him v to her heart with a delight that seemed ^ to say. "I am more than paid offalready." But, children, you can never pay off v your mother. Her thoughts of love and acts of affection are more in num- ': ? ber than the days of life. How often ^ bas she nourished you, kissed you, rocked you on her knee and in the era- ' die, carried you in her tender arms, ? watched over you in sleep, guided ifM your infant steps, corrected at times :'/M your misdemeanors, thought of you in ^ absence, and guarded your life in the ty unvarying rememberance of a moth- % er's solicitude, and the free-will offer- :'jj ings of a mother's devotion. Ah, dear - -J child ! you can never "pay off your ;|| mother." Mother has taught you to read and to pray. She has patiently. Mi sat by you aud taught you the letters of the alphabet; and then she helped you to put them together and spell ?f| words of thought. She taught you to spell "God." "Refnrft vnn rv\nM '?wS 9he taught you to say, "Our Father which art in heaven." Mother has ^ trained you with lessons and hymns /' and prayers to come to Christ She : has prayed for you when none but God ' knew it, and has prayed with you when your wandering eyes understood ^ not the meaning of her grave and im- ]j ploring looks. She has pointed you to ! heaven and "led the way." Dear child, you can never "pay off your - ; mother." "Take a Sheep." >^11 A farmer once employed a yodng man to labor upon his farm without ' inquiring as to his habits, and upon ivjjjj learning tbat he was addicted somewhat to drinking, the farmer offered him as a reward a choice sheep if he would refrain from drinking during h the season. A grown son of the form- 3f| er, on hearing this, said: "Pa, will you give me a sheep, toof ; .':Jk if I will not drink this season?" "Yes," replied the father, "you may . j have a shppn ? Tben a little son spoke up and said: % "Pa, will you give me a sheep, too, |Sj if I'll not drink?" "Yes, son, you shall have a sheep, j|| also." After a moment's pause the little boy turned to his father and said: "Pa, hadn't you better take a she3p, . too?" There are a good many fathers who should "take a sheep." Children, in their unconscious frankness, sometimes say things that are a revelation to their elders. A little boy was sent to his room to pray for pardou for a display of temper, and to ask God ^ to give him a good temper. As he was $ leaving he whispered, "And make mother's temper good, too." . *' Whiting with a Quill.?Nearly everybody in England writes with a quill. You find them put for public use in courts, in banks, in telegraph offices and postoffices?in fact, everywhere where neoDle must write. It a man prefers to use a pen or a pencil he must carry it with him. ? To be educated above the common things of life is not to be educated at all. Take the Latin words out of our language and we can still live, love, sleep, eat and do with the rest. , The Boston Transcript recalls an anecdote of a merchant who died lately, which will bear repeating for its amiable lessou, whatever general opinion may be held as to the policy of encouraging begging in the streets: For many years the lower front office of the China Mutual Insurance Company was the daily rendezvous for business and social chat of merohants and many of our solid men. One cold, wintry day a young, poorly clad girl entered in quest of alms. She received nothing but frowns and repulses until she came to Mr. Inches, the last one, who gave her a kind look and a quarter of a dollar. With grateful looks and thanbs, she weut out Then some of the group began to criticise Mr. Inches. "What good will it do, and who will be any better off for your giving monin that way?" asked one. "It will do a good deal of good," rejoined Mr. Inches. "I feel a great deal better for so doing already." No more said on that subject, A disapproving smile ia sometimes as effectual as a frown. m Who comes undldden, departs uuthauked. . VI I .'V*