DEAR PARENTS: I have something to say to you, and if our good editor will give a young girl a place in his paper, I trust that it may not be wasted. Not that I think I can say anything new to parents, but I wish to have you remember what many seem to forget, and that is, you can never win the love and confidence of your children by the sweat of the brow.
Some appear to think, if they work and care well for their children it is enough; but children look for loving words, smiles and caresses, and when these are wanting, although the parents may work far beyond their strength, love and confidence are returned only in a small proportion, and the hearts of the parents and children are forever strangers; and oh! what parents can do the whole work God has given them to do when this is the case? I wonder that there are those who are model parents in every other respect, but refuse what is so dear to the child—love, that speaks in looks, words, and little acts of affection. Little do they think, when they rise above such trifles, that they have soared above the reach of their children; and life is full of bitterness to the child, who has no bosom friend to trust, no ear that will kindly listen and enter into its joys and sorrows. I know it is hard, for I have felt it.
For a little while in the morning of my life I had a dear, gentle mother. Oh! what a priceless treasure was that! but it was not mine long, for one morning I woke to learn that death had been in our household and left me motherless. From that night there was a great blank in the world to me. Through childhood I passed with no loving “good night” whispered in my ear; no bruise, or ache, or pain of mine was ever cured by that healing balm—a mother’s kiss. God had given me a warm, loving heart, and oh! how I longed for love and sympathy, but it came not.
My father was a good man, one that feared God, and walked uprightly; and I believe now he loved his children, but I saw nothing then that spoke to my young heart of love. He trained us carefully, but never entered into our joys and sorrows as though he had once been a child. Long before I can remember, I grew too old for a seat upon his knee. He never sought my confidence, and why should I give it? I looked up to him with reverence as a father, but would as soon have thought of making a confidant of the cold moon so high above me, as of the man that never stooped to such a foolish thing as to kiss his children, or say a sweet, loving word to them.
I had a step-mother, one that cared well for me, and would deny self for my sake; and I grew into long dresses under her care. For years I had called her mother, but the years brought no tenderness, no sympathy for me. All my life I had hungered more and more, and now that I had come to years, I was starving for home-love. Every one told me I had a good mother; and from my heart there ever went up a “God bless her!” But when they said my own mother could not have done better, I could not but think how many times I had felt that something was wanting. There were several children, and not until we had grown up and one was passing away, did we know that all had hungered for love alike, so utterly had our hearts been strangers. While we were taught to be kind, had love also been instilled in our young minds we might have been all the world to each other; but now, oh! how little we knew of each other’s hearts.
Oh! I wonder not so many boys leave the parental roof to seek happiness in the highways and byways of earth, when no cord of love exists to bind them there; and that so many girls, in their eager grasp for love, are to-day feeding upon husks. Alas! they might have been saved had there existed full confidence between parent and child. God only knows what I might have done had I not found Jesus a loving friend, and learned to tell him everything. Dear Jesus, he could stoop so low as to sympathize with even me, and whisper words of cheer. But my heart was long burdened before I found this friend. CARRIE.
Oh! parents, be entreated of one who, in her sad, longing hours, dare not go to father nor mother for comfort, because their sympathy seemed lacking, and their love chilly, and let your sympathy gush forth in your daily life, and your love be warm and ardent. Do not soar among the stars, where your child’s heart can never reach you, but live in its affections as parent and bosom friend. Let the sweetening of your life be what some may term “sickish,” rather than let your children grow up longing for love; and at last go forth in the world to seek what you have refused—go forth and meet Satan as he walks abroad, clothed as an angel of light, to allure their loving hearts, and cast them among breakers, and bring your gray hairs down in sorrow to the grave.
REMARKS.—There is a profound lesson in the testimony and plea of this young girl, which ought to thrill the heart of every parent who reads it. There are few students of life, as it is seen in our homes, our streets, thoroughfares, and public haunts, who cannot attest the truth of every word so simply, sincerely, and touchingly recorded above. We have seen a mother, with a care-worn expression, half turn her face to meet the kiss of the little one at night, and coldly tell it to “hurry to bed, and do n’t make a noise.” Such must find a cheerless home in their old age; and the children will gladly escape from its influence. Parents, let these things sink with weight into your hearts.
A True Story.
ONE beautiful evening in summer, a carriage drove up to a village inn. A stranger stepped out, and directed the landlord to prepare him a dinner. The last rays of the setting sun were visible on the fleecy clouds and on the vane of an antiquated church, which stood on the opposite side of the way. The stranger looked about him for a few moments, and then directed his steps to the church.
He entered the gate which opened into the grave-yard, and walked around; he viewed the grassy beds, beneath which the sons of other years lay silently resting from want, and toil, and pain. While he was reading the various inscriptions on the tombstones, his attention was drawn to a corner of the yard by the sobs of a child. He went immediately to the spot where two ragged children sat weeping upon a newly-made grave. A piece of hard bread lay between them. The stranger, being sensible to the sorrows of others, sat down upon the grave, and inquired into the cause of their distress. The little boy, whose name was William, began to tell him that his sister Mary was a naughty girl, and would not eat the piece of bread which he had begged for her. She interrupted her brother here, and told the man that she had some bread yesterday, but that her brother had eaten none since the day before, and she wanted him to eat this.
The boy then proceeded to tell the stranger that about a year ago his father left the village, and went to sea, and that in a storm he had been drowned. “And poor mother cried so hard, and said she must soon die, too; but that we must love each other, and that God would be our father. She called us to her bedside, kissed us both, and then died.”
The stranger listened to the tale of sorrow until his eyes were filled with tears, and he was moved with compassion for the wanderers. He exclaimed as he rose from the grave: “Come with me, poor children. God will be your father. He has, no doubt, sent me here this night to befriend you.”
He took them to the inn, and had them provided for until he returned home. Then they were received into the bosom of his family, where they were fed, clothed, and instructed; and the stranger, in his declining years, witnessed them useful and honorable members of society. His hospitality was rewarded a hundred fold.—World.
THOU GOD SEEST ME
Among the deepest shades of night,
Can there be one who sees my way?
Yes: God is as a shining light,
That turns the darkness into day.
When every eye around me sleeps,
May I not sin without control?
No: for a constant watch he keeps,
On every thought of every soul.
If I could find some cave unknown,
Where human feet have never trod,
Yet there I could not be alone;—
On every side there would be God.
But I must flee; he tells me where;
To Jesus Christ he bids me fly;
And while I seek for pardon there,
There's only mercy in his eye.
Waiting for God.
ONE morning while that terrible disease, the yellow fever, was raging in New Orleans, and many orphans and poor people were left houseless and alone, to the care of the benevolent and faithful, the Delta relates that “a boy was discovered lying in the grass of Claiborne Street, evidently bright and intelligent, but sick. A kind gentleman went to him, shook him by the shoulder, and asked him what he was doing there.
“Waiting for God to come for me,” said he.
“What do you mean?” said the gentleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the answer and the condition of the boy, in whose eye and flushed face he saw the evidence of the fever.
“‘God sent for mother, and father, and little brother,’ said he, ‘and took them away, and mother told me, when she was sick, that God would take care of me. I have no home, nobody to give me any thing, and so I came out here, and have been looking so long up in the sky for God to come and take care of me, as mother said he would. He will come, won’t he? Mother never told me a lie.’”
“‘Yes, my lad,’ said the man, overcome with emotion, ‘he has sent me to take care of you.’”
“‘You should have seen his eyes flash, and the smile of triumph break over his face, as he said:
“‘Mother never told me a lie, sir; but you’ve been so long on the way.’”
How simple and touching is such a boyish faith. And how true it is that God cares for us. Oh, if the children, and older folks too, would only trust in God to take care of them, how often would they be delivered from trouble.
And if the Lord takes care of the poor, he has some one whom he can send to help about it. Let us try to be workers with God. And when the Lord sends us, let us go quick. How many a poor, sick, sad one, may be to-day waiting for us to bring them help and comfort, either in word or deed, and yet “we are so long on the way,” that they get almost discouraged. Let us run in the way of God’s commandments.
The Right Way to Begin.
A LITTLE girl once said, “O Mother, How very hard it is to do right! I don’t believe I shall ever be able.”
“Have you really tried, my dear?”
“Oh! yes; I try every day. When I awake, before I get up, I say to myself, ‘I will be good all the day; I will be gentle and kind; I will obey my parents and teachers; I will not quarrel; I will always tell the truth.’ But then, mother, I don’t know how it is, I do so often forget. Then, when evening comes, I have to say, ‘There now! what is the use of trying? I have been in a passion; I have been disobedient;’ and once or twice, mother, you know, I have said what was not true.”
The dear child seemed very much ashamed while saying this, so her mother looked kindly at her, and only said,
“My dear, I do not think you have begun right.”
The little girl looked up wonderingly, and her parent went on:
“The first thing is to have a new heart; have you asked for this?”
“No, mother, I am afraid not.”
“Then, my child, do so at once. Good fruit, you know can only come from a good tree. If your heart is wrong, your conduct will be wrong. You cannot make it right yourself, with all your good resolutions; but ask God, for Christ’s sake, to help you. He will give you his Holy Spirit, and you will not find it any longer impossible to do right.”
My dear young reader, are you, in all things, trying to do right? And have you begun in the right way?
Some Good Comparisons.
A LITTLE boy who had plenty of cents, dropped one into the missionary box, laughing as he did so. He had no thought in his heart about Jesus, the heathen, or the missionary. His was a tin penny. It was as light as a scrap of tin.
Another boy put a penny in, and as he did so, looked around with a self-applauding gaze, as if he had done some great thing. His was a brass penny. It was not the gift of a “lovely heart,” but of a proud spirit.
A third gave a penny, saying to himself, “I suppose I must because all the others do.” That was an iron penny. It was the gift of a cold, hard heart.
As a fourth boy dropped his penny in the box, he shed a tear, and in his heart said, “Poor heathens! I’m sorry they are so poor, so ignorant, and so miserable.” That was a silver penny. It was the gift of a heart full of pity.
But there was one scholar who gave his cent with a throbbing heart, saying to himself, “For thy sake, O loving Jesus, I give this penny, hoping that the poor heathen whom thou lovest, will believe in thee, and become thy disciples.” That was a golden penny, because it was the gift of love.
All our actions may be compared in this way. Children, did you ever stop to consider the motives for your conduct, and the spirit in which you act? It is not obedience to do in a pettish manner what you are told to do. “God knoweth the heart.”
A HINT.
THE Advent cause in 1844, was carried forward with a degree of success unequaled by any other religious movement. From the means and methods then adopted in the prosecution of the work, we may draw useful lessons relative to the best means of advancing the present truth. The third message is to go with power equal to that of the first. A writer in the Advent Herald, of March 13, 1844, states, as follows, his method of procedure to spread the light, from which some of our brethren may, perhaps, derive a useful hint. He says:—
“I have thought of the importance of those of our brethren who live in the vicinity of railroad depots, to go to the cars and distribute some of the little tracts to the passengers. In this manner much good may be done.
“There are some brethren probably living near all our depots. If they are not able to buy and distribute, let some who have the means, send them the tracts to distribute. Let no one say, It will do no good.
“Those brethren who travel, should always be supplied, to offer to each passenger. I have practised this manner of distributing tracts for more than a year, and I think they have never been rejected but twice—one minister and one professed infidel refused to take a tract; but the infidel afterwards requested it of me, and I gave it to him. My manner has been, as soon as the cars start, to pass through them, and ask each gentleman and lady if they will accept of a tract. When a way passenger gets in, I go and offer him one. Go thou and do likewise.”
PRAYER IN SICKNESS.
God! whom I as Love have known,
Thou hast sickness laid on me,
And these pains are sent of thee
Under which I burn and moan;
Let them burn away the sin
That too oft hath checked the love
Wherewith my heart would move
When the Spirit works within!
I commend to thee my life,
And my body to the cross;
Never let me think it loss
That I thus am freed from strife,
Wholly thine, my faith is sure,
Whether life or death be mine,
I am safe if I am thine,
For 'tis Love that makes me pure.
OUR DUTY TOWARD GOD.
By Jos. Clarke
It should be the object and aim of every rational being, to please, and honor, and glorify God in all things, as the Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthians in the 1st epistle vi. 20. “For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The subject embraces the whole duty of man toward God, which has been defined, briefly, “to glorify God, and enjoy him forever.” To glorify God; why? Because he is worthy of our glorying; he is our creator; he is our constant support. Yes, he is worthy. Suppose we were commanded to glorify a hateful being, whom we knew to be unjust and tyrannical, and had no recourse, no appeal! Ah, my dear brother, that would be hard indeed. Suppose Satan could have succeeded in his rebellion, and we were to live out our existence under his sway; to glorify one whom we hated from the bottom of our hearts, ah! this would be too dreadful to think of. But rejoice; our God reigns; he is good and true; and more worthy than we can describe or imagine. Shall we not glorify Him whom we love? Who else shall we glorify? Self! Is not self too weak to support itself? Shall we glorify a worm? Shall we glorify a fellow-man? If so, whom shall we glorify? It is absurd; there is no object worthy of our worship between God and ourselves; there is no God, save the Lord. He is worthy—the architect of the universe, the Father of our Saviour Jesus Christ, whom we worship as his adorable Son, the framer of our earth, and the former of man, and all that exists upon the earth.
God is every way worthy of our worship; not a blot or stain rests upon him in the administration of the government of the universe. Angels gladly confess him as their king, and worship him in rapture and praise, and only live to glorify him.
Let us also glorify God by every means in our power; by swift obedience and intelligent service and devotion; by self-denial, and a consistent, holy life.
How shall the poor and the rich glorify God? By such a spirit of liberality as is proportional to their ability. An officer of the American Bible Society gives his attention to the secular affairs of that society without remuneration, a task of no ordinary magnitude; and gives ten thousand dollars per year to its treasury, besides. That is his way of glorifying God. The rich can glorify God in a style of liberality commensurate with their ability; then can their prayers and alms come up for a memorial before God, and not till then. The poor are generally more ready to give, but not always. Sometimes they fret; ah, this does not glorify God. A man may not shut up his heart because he is poor; but let him cherish a warm-hearted, liberal disposition, and then his mite is as acceptable to God as the splendid offerings of the rich.
We hope that no call from the Lord will wait for a response; but rather, let those who have the means pledge sufficient to create a fund to be ready for any sudden call.
JOS. CLARKE.
Information Wanted.
If any know anything of Rev. Minor Owen, late of South Haven, Van Buren Co., Mich., they will confer a favor by giving information to John W. Sawyer, Sunderlandville, Potter Co., Pa.
PRESERVING YOUTH.
Cardinal de Salis, who died 1785, aged 110 years, said:—“By being old when I was young, I find myself young now I am old. I led a sober and studious, but not a lazy or sedentary life. My diet was sparing, though delicate; I rode or walked every day, except in rainy weather, when I exercised within doors for a couple of hours. So far I took care of the body; and as to the mind, I endeavored to preserve it in due temper by a scrupulous obedience to divine commands. By these means I have arrived at the age of a patriarch, with less injury to my health and constitution than many experience at forty.”
Appointments.
By David Malins; N. B. Morton
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
The next Monthly Meeting of the churches in Tuscola Co. will be at Vassar, Aug. 1, 2. We expect a messenger present, and hope the brethren will come prepared to stay till the close of the meeting.
DAVID MALINS.
The next Monthly Meeting of the churches of Anamosa, Marion, and Lisbon, will be held at Fairview, the first Sabbath and first-day of August.
N. B. MORTON.
A full Catalogue of Important Publications on Prophecy and other Bible subjects issued at this Office, sent free on application.
Business Notes.
P. O. ADDRESS of Eld. I. Sanborn is now Cassville, Grant Co. Wis.
H. L. Hull: We have no Bibles of the kind you name.
RECEIPTS.
For Review and Herald.
Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the REVIEW & HERALD to which the money receipted pays,—which should correspond with the Numbers on the Pasters. If money for the paper is not in due time acknowledged immediate notice of the omission should then be given.
$1.00 each. A Card 33-4, J Sullivan 33-4, A Gardner 33-4, E Eaton 33-9, Mrs A Bartlett 33-4, W R Clark 33-6, C W Woodworth 33-5, J Benton 33-5, B B Warren 33-5, Mrs P Humiston 33-5, Mrs M Campbell 32-20, L Bullock 32-6, B Crandall 32-1, L M Davis 33-1, S M Ives 32-15, E Tucker 32-17, R P Stewart 31-1, H Waltzer 32-17, J Cogswell 33-5, S C Conrey 31-11.
$1.50 each. H P Wakefield 33-1, W Thompson 35-1, C Butler 34-1, A Prescott 33-1, I N Smith 33-1, J R Deering 33-5, J Hansen 33-1, M L Phelps 32-7, E Muntz 33-1, John Truesdell Jr 34-5, D P Rood 34-5, A B Castle 33-1, N Green 33-4.
$2.00 each. C McAllister 33-9, D A Parker 32-1, Mrs M Small 34-5, Henry Hall 34-5, M W Porter 33-1, J Gainard 34-5, A S Gillet 34-5, C K Farnsworth 33-1.
$3.00 each. R Atkinson 33-13, L M Freetoe 34-5, C C Ghering 37-13, J S Hight 33-18, T J Tann 34-5, F Lamonday 34-5, O McKean 33-4, H Grant 33-1, Peter Erb 34-1, A Hurlburt 34-1, E B Saunders 33-1, Wm B Prentiss 34-4, C J Benton 34-5, S Bliven 35-1, J P Kellogg 34-5, C N Russell 33-10, L Russell 33-1, P Holcomb 35-1, D Holcomb 34-5, G H Truesdell 34-1, E Cobb 34-1, W Kerr 34-1, C C Gregory 33-1, M A White 33-1, M J Kay 34-1, L Drake 34-1, S Martin 33-1.
Miscellaneous. H K Pike $2.25 33-1, H A Weston 6.00 34-1, J West Jr 6.00 34-1, J A Gifford 30c 32-1, S E Travis 6.00 34-5, T Curtis 5.00 34-5, Wm Weaver 6.00 34-5, J Dudley 3.75 34-1.
For Review to the Poor.
A O Toby s. B. $5.00.
Cash Received on Account.
Eld R F Andrews $4.85, Eld R F Andrews 50.00, S T Chamberlain 1.00, D M Canright 3.50.
General Conference Missionary Fund.
Minnesota Conference $26.00.
Books Sent by Mail.
S B Gowell $6.53, J Atkinson 15c, C R Rice 1.00, J Deuland 58c, A Woodruff 1.50, E Hemenway 40c, I N Pike 1.00, N Emans 32c, Mrs N Woodruff 7.00, R Wells 30c, A W Chaffee 60c, Rev J Todd 50c, Mrs N W Marden 50c, John Hansen 5.75, Mrs S Ferrin 75c, Wm B Prentiss 50c, W H Colcord 75c, B Griffith 50c, J A Hamilton 35c, Geo W Burnham 1.00, Wm H Wild 20c, E P Butler 1.00, J W Curry 50c, H Gates 50c, H Meyer 50c, D Foster 50c, P Lippincott 15c, R Curtis 30c, B A Bronson 20c, F D Gilman 95c, A S Cowdry 30c, Mrs F Emerson 5c, Wm Weaver 70c, C K Farnsworth 2.25, F Carlin 30c, A B Castle 30c, D M Wilcox 15c, L Drake 1.00, A S Hutchins 15c, Ellen L Dean 15c.
Books Sent by Express.
Eld I Sanborn, Cassville, Grant Co., Wis., $15.00, R F Andrews, Kilbourn City, Col. Co., Wis., 83.03, D M Canright, South Lancaster, Mass., 25.81.
Received on Book and Tract Fund.
I N Pike $5.00, L J Hall 5.00, L Cram 1.00, Mary A Gould 3.00.
Receipts for Benevolent Fund.
H Pierce $5.00, L J Hall 5.00, J B Irish 10.00, M F Dibble 10.00, Sarah Bliven 1.00, D T Shireman 10.00, M E Goodwin 5.00, Mrs L Drake 5.00, M A Gould 10.00, Ann W Gould 10.00.
For California Mission.
James Sawyer $10.00, Eld A C Bourdeau 10.00, L J Hall 5.00, L Morris 10.00, R Everts 5.00. Church at Riceland, Minn., 10.00, S Bliven 1.00, M E Goodwin 5.00, Mrs L Drake 5.00, M A Gould 1.00, A W Gould 1.00.
MR. FLETCHER'S TESTIMONY.
The good of past times, whom the churches of the present day are proud to place in the calendar of their saints, and whose memory they revere as that of men of sound minds and devoted hearts—these men were the Adventists of their day. Such were the Wesleys, Mr. Fletcher, Whitefield, &c. Were they living at the present time, and holding the same views which they have left on record, they would be among those who are now looking and waiting for the blessed hope. In 1755, Mr. Fletcher thus wrote:
“If we are mistaken in forming conjectures—the phenomena we hear of everywhere are but common providences—if these things happen not to us, but to our children (as they most certainly will, before the third generation is swept away), is it not our business to prepare ourselves for them, to meditate on them, and to warn as many people as we can prudently, lest their blood should be required at our hand, were they to fall because of a surprise. Let us pray to God more frequently, that, for the elect’s sake, he would still more shorten the days of the tribulation, and add daily to the true church such as will be saved. What a glorious prospect is this! Let us often think of these glorious words of our Lord, ‘Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that mindeth the sayings of this prophecy.’ Let us join the Spirit and Bride who say, Come. Oh! let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come; for he that testifieth these things says, ‘Surely, I come quickly.’ Amen! Even so come Lord Jesus.”
Service Offered.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
I WOULD say to our ministers, and others whom it may interest, that I am frequently at Boston and have an excellent opportunity to obtain books of any kind. I can get good second-hand books very cheap. Very rare books which can seldom be found anywhere I can often get here for a very small price. Rollin's Ancient History, Josephus, History of the Reformation, Bower's History of the Popes, Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, Neander, Eusebius, any of the early fathers, Apocryphal New Testament, Horn's Introduction, Kitto's Encyclopedia, &c., &c.
If any of our brethren wish for any of these, or any other books, I shall be happy to get them for them without charging them anything for my trouble. My address will be South Lancaster, Mass.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
Seeking and Finding God
God is the great God, and therefore he will be sought; he is a good God, and therefore he will be found.