Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-11-27
Be Tender to the Little Ones.


beds; and through tho opon door Of
my room, which adjoincd the nursery
L had caught snatches of softly spoken
words between molhor and children
which told mo that tho subject OF
thoir goodnight talk was tho loving
care which their heavenly Father
had over tn ,m, and the duty and priv.
ilegc, which was theirs, of becoming
truly his children by saving faith in
jesus.
The young mother colorcd modest.
ly, but answc cred at once: "Yes, I
want them to feel free always to come
and pour out their littio hearts trust
ingly to mo about every thing, and
especially about tho ono great matter,
which is of tho highest Importance,
and which yet child is naturally shy
Of speaking of. l suffered so much
myself when a child from keeping
my earliest religious feelings hidden
within my own breast, that shall
make every effort to save my littlo
ones from it."
"But why did you keep your feel-
ings thus confined? from shyness on.
ly ?'' l asked.
"From shyness first. from timidity
and shame afterwards" replied my
friend. "I WIS always an over sonsi-
tive child, very much afraid of ridi-
cule, and unfortunately sarcasm and
irony were favorite weapons in our
homo government. My fs::hor was n
grave, stern man, and held in high
esteem because Of his unbending in
tegrity and his jealous adherence to
tho cause Of religion. But his seemed
rather tho religion of tho law than of
the gospel; We learned from his teach.
ings rather TO fear God than tolove
Christ; and 80 strict was he in his
family discipline, that wo children
rather feared than loved him. We
never dared 60 to him with our little
joys or SORROWS, least Of all with trem.
bling, doubling hopes and fears about
our souls salvation. And yct be was
q good man, according to his light,
with single eye TO tho glory Of God,
and sincere desire to see his children
Christians.
'My mother was quite different
She was member Of tho church, but
it was not ber custom to talk with us
at all on tho subject OF religion. She
was brilliant woman in society, with
great powers of wit, keen eye ivr
tho ludicrous, and q detestation OF
anything like affectation.
"Whcn 1 was about ten years old, 1
began to think Of my soul, and to feel
concerned about its future state.
remember we'll the keen dart of con-
viction which t,suddonly pierced my
heart when, as I was studying my
Sabbath school lesson, one Saturday
afternoon, came across tho text,
Tho chaff shall he burn with fire un-
quenchable.' I had often seen it be.
fore, without noticing it specially, but
it seemed now to be sent home to my
heart as an awful warning by God
himself. Isunk upon my knees and
prayed as the doomed criminal prayed
for llfo, fairly wrestling with God for
the salvation of my soul. The ten
bell startled me from my knees, and I
dreaded being discovered by any one
in this posture. 1 went down stairs,
and tried to appear as usaal, and no
one noticed anything peculiar about
me. After supper, l sat alone on tho
door step and almost unconsciously
began to sing. Tho dear old hymn,
:Alas, and did my Saviour blesdP
came unbidden to my lips and foated
off on my childish notes. I was sud
denly shocked by my mother saying,
in the tone which she always used to
rebuke affectation, Emma, if you
can't sing without those absurd qua
vers, you had better be silent. You
know how much I dislike airs and
graces of any kind 1t was not meant
unkindIy, but her words foil like drops
of ice upon my heart, chilling the
impulse I had had 70 60 to her, tell
her of al my fear and sorrow, and
beg her to pray with mo and help me.
"The tremor Of my voice had been
occasioned by the excitement which
shook my childish heart; and to be
accused of affectation just tGen was
more than I could bear. I felt har-
dened and thrown back upon myself;
and after that I fear I closed my heart
against the sweet influences of the
Spirit. At last it ceased, for the time,
to strive with me; and for long , ears
aftcr, 1 was a cold careless sinner, iu
danger Of hardening into confirmed
seeRtio:
"Thank God, I was not left finally