davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20

BUSINESS FOR CHRIsT.-Many years
ago, happening to be in South Wales, I
made the acquaintance of Welsh gen.
tleman. He was then landed proprie-
tor, living in his own mansion. He had
been, before, carrying on an extensive
business in large town. By the death
of relative, he had Unexpectedly come
into possession of this property. After
considering whether he should retire from
business, he made up his mind he should
still continue to carry it on, though not
for himself, but for Christ. I could not
help being struck with the gleesomeness
of holy mind which lighted up his
countenance when he said: 81 never
knew before what real happiness was
Formerly I wrought as a master to earn
livelihood for myself, but now l am car
rying on the same work as diligently as
if for myself, and even more SO; but it
is now for Christ, and every half-penny
of profits is handed over to the treasury
of the Lord, and l feel that the smile of
Saviour rests upon me. 1 think that is
an example worthy of being inflated
DR.. Duff.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
A Mothers Influence.
BY REV. DR.. GUTHRIE.

There is one short sentence in Reho-
boam's history which supplies the key,
more perhaps than anything else, to his
sin and folly-"his mothers name was
Naamah, an Ammonitess. She was by
blood an alien, and by religion hea-
then. Unhappy in many things, but un-
happiest most in such a mother, he begins
to be regarded more with pity than as
tonishment. The letters written on water
are hardly formed when they are filled
up; on the other hand the finger that
traces them on stone leaves no visible i'm
preston on its ipdurated surface; but
plastic clay, midway between what is hard
and soft, offers to the gentlest finger
substance which both receives and attains
an impression. Such heart is it that
youth and childhood offer to mothers S
influences. Hence her power to mould,
for good or evil, the character of her
children; and hence the gratitude they
owe to God who have had mother that
taught their little feet to walk in the
ways of his commandments and encour-
aged their feeble efforts to rise to heaven
on the wings of prayer, at the piety of
whose bosom their own was kindled. 81
had a bad MOTHER" explains many a
wreck. 81 had good MOTHER" is the
way many account under God, for their
success in life, and their salvation in the
next. Let mothers, therefore, feel and
tremble, and pray under sense of their
power and responsibility. How much
depends on them,-like the mothers of
old,-on their bringing their little ones
to Jesus for his hands and blessing?
Hear how Cowper sings of the boy by
mothers knee:
His heart, how passive, yields to thy command,
Secure it thine, its key is in thine hand.
If thou desert thy charge, and throw it wide,
Nor heed what guests there enter and abide,
Complain not if attachments lewd and base
Supplant them in it, and usurp thy place.
But, if thou guard its secret chambers sure,
From vicious inmates, and delights impure,
Either his gratitude shall hold him fast,
And keep him warm and filial to the last;
Or, if he prove unkind las who can say
But, being man, and therefore frail he may?)
One comfort yet shall cheer thine aged heart,
Howe'er he slight thee, thou hast done thy
part.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
Doctrine and Morally Inseparable.

"To attempt to distinguish morality
from dogma, is to attempt to distinguish
a river from its source" "This
dogma is good for all, everywhere, al
ways; it never grows old. The religion
of the cross appears nowhere in arrear
of civilization; on the contrary, far as
civilization may progress, it ever finds
Christianity in advance. Suppose not
that complaisant Christianity will ever
cancel any article, or expunge any idea
to accommodate itself to the age; no, it
derives its strength from its infexibility,
and needs not make any surrender to be
in harmony with what is beautiful, legiti-
mate, true; for it is in itself the type Of
them all. Still, it is not religion which
fatters man; and the worldly, by keep
ing aloof show plainly enough that
Christianity is a strange doctrine. Those
who dare not reject it strive to render it
palatable. They strip it of what ofends
them-of its myths, as they are pleased
to style them;-they almost make out of
Christ's doctrine a rationalism. But,
singular to say, once a rationalism, it has
no longer any force, and in this respect
it resembles one of the most marvellous
creatures in the animate world, that it is
death to it to lose its sting. The strange
dogmas disappear, but with them all real
fervour, sanctity, charity, disappear also;
the salt of the earth has lost its SAVIOR,
and we know not by what means to re-
store it. But, on the other hand, do you
learn that somewhere or other there is
an awakening of Christians, that Christi.
anity is resuscitating, that faith shows
signs of life, that zeal abounds. Ask
not in what soil these precious plants are
springing; you may pronounce, of your
self: it is in the rude and rugged soil
of orthodoxy, in the shade of the mys-
teries which confound human reason, and
of which human reason would like so
much to be rid" ."-Alerandre Vinet, ON
the Manifestation Of Religious Convic-
taons. Premiers Discours.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
Sund ay.

If Sunday had not been observed as a
day of rest during the last three centu-
ries, l have not the smallest doubt that
we should have been at this moment a
poorer and less civilized people than we
are.-Lord Macaulay.
There is no religion without worship,
and no worship without the Sabbath
Count Montalembert.
The more faithfully he applied himself
to the duties of the Lords day, the more
happy and successful was his business
during the week.-,Sr Matthew Hale
A corruption of morals usually follows
the proclamation of the Sabbath.-Black-
stone.
The Sabbath, as political institution,
is of inestimable value, independently of
its claims to divine authority.-Adam
Smith.
Sunday is a day of account, and
candid account every seventh day is the
best preparation for the great day of &C.
count.-Lord Kames.
I can truly declare that to me the
Sabbath has been invaluable. - William
Wsl6erforce.
Give to the world one.half of the Sun
day, and you will find that religion has
no strong hold of the other. Pass the
morning at church, and the evening, &C.
cording to your taste or rank, in the
cricket field or the opera, and you will
soon find thoughts Of the evening haz-
ards and bets intrude themselves on the
sermon, and the recollections of the pop
ular melody interfere with the Psalms.
Sir Walter Scott.
I feel as if God had, by giving the
Sabbath. given fifty-two springs in the
years. z. Coleridge.
A Sunday given to the soul is the best
of all means of refreshment to the mere
intellect.-Isaac Taylor.
Where there is no Christian Sabbath
there is no Christian morality; and with
out this free institutions cannot long be
sustained. Mclean.
The religious character of an institu-
ton so ancient, go sacred, so lawful and
so necessary to the peace, the comfort
and the responsibility of society, ought
alone to be sufficient for its protection;
but, that failing, surely the laws of the
land, made for its account, ought to be
as strictly enforced as the laws for the
protection of person and property. If
the Sunday laws be neglected or des-
pissed, ?he laws of person and property
will soon share their fate, and be equally
disregarded.-Attormey General Bates.
AS day of rest, view the Sabbath
as day of compensation for the made
quate restorative power of the body un-
der continued labor and excitement
One day in seven, by the bounty of
Providence, is thrown in as a day of
compensation, to perfect by its repose the
animal system.-Johm Richard Fare,
III. d.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
Believe and Live.

desire to bow myself before the will
and wisdom of Co.; but 1 find that,
without hold of Christ, there is no hold
of God at all. l fear that / have not
adverted enough to the reception of the
gospel as the great initiatory step of our
return to God. Let us work as We may
before this, we may widen our distance,
but certainly not shorten it; and not till
the tidings of great joy be simply taken
in-not till credit is given to the plain
word of the testimony-not till we be-
lieve the Word-not till we are persuaded
by the promises, and so embrace them
are we translated into the vantage-ground
of reconciliation with God; and this en-
trance into peace is also the entrance
into holiness. DR.. Chalmers.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
The Hour I First Believed.

Oft do our thoughts recur to this
hour, memorable above all that time has
left upon our score. The angels on high
marked its passage with joy, for another
sinner had repented. Saints on earth,
in whose hearts and prayers God had
given us place, rejoiced. But more
memorable than either was it to our own
soul, till then wretched and miserable.
Oh the bitterness of that experience
which was ended there. The dark and
portentous clouds of retribution, the
fearful accusations of an awakened con-
science, the fruitless struggles of the
spirit in bondage, had well nigh sunk the
soul into despair. But the love of God
our Saviour appeared at length. The
rays of hope and mercy, shining through
the glorious gospel of the blessed God,
gladdened our benighted and captive
soul. The clouds dispersed, the dark
ness was dispelled, and songs of alteration
and praise ushered in the morning Of
spiritual life and Immortality. And
ooh what tongue can express
The sweet comfort and peace,
OF soul in its earliest love. ="
God, hitherto arrayed in vengeance, is
reconciled, and with the spirit of adcp-
ton we are enabled to cry, Abba, Father.
The love of Jesus, that passeth know
ledge, We then begin to some extent to
understand and feel. And He, no longer
without form and comliness, appears in.
deed wonderful and glorious. The songs
of the sanctuary thrill the heart, and
with eagles wings it mounts upward to
the skies. The word of God opens new
and heavenly fields of contemplation.
The works of nature join in sweet ac-
cord, and in their beauty and grandeur
show forth the praises of God.
Blessed be the hour that heralded
these heavenly joys to the soul; blessed,
thrice blessed, the name of our God that
heard our supplications and did shine
into our hearts with the knowledge of
his glory in the face of Jesus Christ
NJ.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
A Death-be Scene.

81 have nothing to expect, sir, but
condemnation; nothing to expect but
condemnation
The speaker articulated with difficulty.
He was large man, massive of features
and muscular of limb. The awful pallor
of the face was increased by the masses
of thick black hair that lay in confusion
about the pillow, set off by the dead
whiteness of the forehead. Struck down
suddenly from full, hearty life to the bed
of death, he made there and then an
agonizing confession, such as reaches the
ear of the listener at unhappy death
beds.
A meek woman sat near the nurse,
who was striving quietly to alleviate the
suffering he endured.
"Oh, don't talk to me of pain !" he
cried bitterly, 1T is the mind, woman
the mind;" and agony overclouded his
face.
He continued slowly and deliberately :
"There is demon whispering in my ear
for ever" "You knew it at the time,
and at every time; you know it. -
"Knew what ?" "Why, that penalty
must follow broken law. Mark me-
1 have not opened Bible for years.
have not entered church; yet the very
recollection that my mother taught me
to pray, (and she died when I was only
six, has passed judgment upon all my
sins. have done wrong, knowing that
it was wrong; first with few qualms,
then brushing aside conscience, and at
last with the GOODNESS of fend. Sir, in
one minute of all my life | have not
lived for Heaven; no, not one minute. "
''But Christ died for sinners, even the
unconverted chief"
ooh, yes; Christ died for sinners; but
my intellect is clear, sir; clearer than
ever before. l tell you''-his voice
sharpened, almost whistled. 1t was SO
shrill and concentrated-"I can see al
most into eternity. can feel that un-
less Christ is desired, sought after, longed
for-that unless guilt is repented of, His
death can do no good"
"Do 1 not repent? | am only savage
at myself to think-to think, SIR he
lifted his right hand impressively, "that
have so cursed myself. Is that repen-
tance? Do not try to console me; save
your sympathy for those who will bear
it, for l cannot" >"
"Thank you, nurse" this as she wiped
his brow, and moistened his parched lips.
81 am not dead to kindness, if ] am
to hope. Ithank you, sir, for your Chris
tian offices, though they do me no good.
If we SOW thorns, you know, we cannot
reap flowers; and corn will not grow
from the seed of thistles. Heaven was
made for the holy; without, are dogs,
whoremongers, and adulterers.' There s
distinction; it's all right.
After all that, till eleven o'clock, his
mind wandered; then he slept few mo-
ments. Presently, reused by the strik-
ing of the clock, he looking around
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
The Little Things of Life.

Nothing will more surprise us at the
last day than the long catalogue of those
acts that have passed from our memory.
We shall then learn, what we ought to
bear in mind from day to day, that life
is made up for the most part of little
things. 1t is not that one does few
things that attract the notice of other
men, but that in his everyday life he does
his duty, which make known his charac-
ter. A man does not show his love for
his wife by a splendid present once a
year, and marked attention when in COM
pany, and running for physician when
she is sick, but by all the little acts of
courtesy and kindness that may cheer
their daily intercourse. You visit pic
ture gallery, and at first a few features
of the various paintings attract your no.
tice. But as you study then, carefully,
you find it was not the bold dash of the
brush, that made here mountain and
there rock, which created the beauty
of the landscape, but the thousand touch
es of the pencil, that have clothed the
whole scene and made it true to nature.
1t is not the main outlines which form
the charm of the potrait, but the delicate
lines and shadows which distinguish the
face.
You 60 to concert room and listen to
grand piece of music. 1t is not the
high note of the trumpet, nor the bass
of the trombone, or the emphatic strains
of any instrument, that hold you en-
trapced, but the blending of multitude
of tones; the sublime harmony of the
high and the low, by the falling in of all
the parts, themselves subordinate, yet
making together all that you admire.
So there is no life of prominent parts
alone. Life is the flling,up between
these. Yet how few conduct themselves
as if this were true. The way through
which God will lead us, if we submit to
His guidance, is one which we must
pass step by step. Every moment has
its duty, every day its bearing on our
life. Air castles rise before us in full
form and beauty, in moment, but real
castles must be built, as stone after
stone is laid in its place-the product
of labor and expense for years. The
Christian character is no air castle; it
does not attain perfection at the Wills
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20

dreamily, and caught :he eye OF the
nurse, and of his friend. 70
cts awfully dark here, ne whisper
ed; "My feet stand on the slippery edge
of a great gulf. Oh, for some fOunda-
tion!" He stretched his hand out as if
feeling for a way.
"Christ is the only help am the
Way the Truth, and the Life, whis-
pered the man of God.
"Not for me!,' and pen cannot de-
scribe the immeasurable woe in that an
swer.
81 shall fall am falling!' he half
shrieked in an instant after; he shudder-
ed and all was over. The wilfully blind,
deaf and MANNED had gone before his
Judge. The despairing soul had taken
that last plunge into eternity.
Dsarreadeg=Sias il ~ sDd Gin not:
Make sure work fof eternity. Through
grace do it now.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
WINTER EVENINGS.

"When l was child, spoke as child,
understood as child, thought as child bu
when | became a man, put away childish
things. III Cor. xiii: II.
If we trace man through the differ
ent periods of his life, from the cradle to
the grave, he appears in such variety OF
shapes, that we can scarcely believe him
to be the same creature. At first he is
an helpless infant in his nurses arms,
without speech, understanding, or
thought; then he is child, speaking as
child, understanding as child, think
ing as a child. He is next rude, un-
formed, impetuous school boy; and then
transformed into youth, graceful, amia-
bic, or wayward. At length arrived at
complete manhood, he puts away childish
ethings, and fills some position in the COM
munity with usefulness and honor, be-
coming lawyer. or divine, or war
rier, or learned professor in some liter
ary institution. We then find him mea
suring the heavens, investigating the
laws that govern this and other worlds,
or buried in the higher occupations of
this. We see him commanding fleets or
armies, or haranguing at the bar, in the
pulpit, or the Senate, or seated on the
bench dispensing justice and at last re-
turning back to his primitive state of
childhood and imbecilty. Yet, under
all these characters, he is but the same
individual
In what this identity consists, or where
it resides, it is byno means easy to ascer-
tain. 1t cannot be in the body, because
every Psychologist knows that the COM
ponent parts of the body are in perpetual
motion, are continually passing off by
various means and in various ways, and
replaced by the particles of our daily
food; so that, in the course of few
years-some say seven-not single
atom of our original form can possibly
remain. If man loses leg or an arm,
or even both legs and arms, he is not less
the same person; and therefore we have
reason to conclude, that his identity
would not be affected by the loss of his
whole body-and therefore in that it can
not reside.
1t cannot be in the mind, because
changes of the mind are as great and as
frequent as those of the body, throughout
the different stages of human life. The
ideas of a man and those Of a child are
as unlike as his features and his stature.
At different ages we put away all our for
mer modes of thinking and acting, and
adopt new opinions, pursuits, inclinations,
and attachments. Many diseases des-
troy all our mental faculties, derange
our reason, extinguish our consciousness,
and obliterate our memories; and yet
our identity remains unimpaired. If,
therefore, it is not to be found either in
the body or the mind, there must be
some permanent principle in the human
composition, in which it does reside, to-
tally unaffected by the continual altera-
tions of them both; and this, 1 think, is
an unanswerable proof of the existence
and duration of the soul. L.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
Whole No. 1873.
OUR BELOVED BABE DEPARTED.
FROM THE GERMAN OF J. LANCE.

Our beloved have departed,
While we tarry broksn-hearted
In the dreary, empty house;
They have ended hfe's brief story,
They have reached the home of glory,
Over death victoriousl
Hush that sobbing, weep more lightly;
On we travel, daily, nightly,
To the rest that they have found:
Are we not upon the river,
Sailing fast, to meet for ever
On more holy, happy ground?
On we haste, to home invited,
There with friends to be united
In a surer bond than here;
Meeting soon, and met for ever!--
Glorious hope, forsake us never,
For thy ghmmering light is dear.
All the way is shining clearer,
As We journey ever nearer
To the everlasting home.
Comrades, who await our landing,
Friends, who round the throne are standing
We salute you, and we come.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20

I WANT forgiveness of one sin, and
strength against it; but God wants to do
more for me, and will forgive and deliver
rue from none, till [ make further search
into myself, and bring my sins before
Him all together.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
COP NEVER PARDoNs ONE SIN, but H,

GoD NEVER PARDoNs ONE SIN, but He
pardons all; and we dishonor Him more
by not trusting in Him for complete
forgiveness than We did by SHINING against
Him. Christ took up all our sins and
bore them in His own body on the cross; /;
and God cannot punish ta0ice, or demand
second satisfaction to His Justice
Nothing can pacify an offended conscience
but that which satisfied an offended God; !;
and well may that which satisfied an
offended God pacify an offended con-
science.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20

If THOU woULDsT be informed what
God has written concerning thee in
heaven, look into thine own bosom, and
see what graces he has there wrought in
thee.-FWller.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-01-20
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
The Last Poem of Anne Bronte.

The name of Charlotte Bronte is dis
tinguished in the literary world. Moth
ing can now be said, that would add Il
her fame. She and her sisters, Anne ant
Emily, were women of genius and O
highly cultivated minds. They were de
votedly attached to each other, but were
consigned, one after the other, to an early
grave. They were not, however, as emi
nent for their piety as for their attain
ments in literature. Charlotte Bronte
her biographer says, had times of earnest
desire and effort for spiritual life; but
the treasure sought does not appear tc
have been ever found. 81 know the
treasures of the Bible" she once said
81 love and adore. then - n>ths
well of life in all its clearness and bright,
ness; but when stoop down to drink Of
the pure waters, they fly from my lips,
as if I were Tantalus. So also she
writes soon after: "My eyes fill with
tears, when I contrast the bliss of such a
state, frightened by hopes of the future,
with the melancholy state now live in,
uncertain that I ever felt true godly sor,
row on account of sin, wandering in
thought and deed, longing for holiness
which / shall never, never obtain. She
seems to have been in that state of earn
est desire for holiness, in which Luther
endured so much misery and disappoint-
ment, before the doctrine of free grace
burst on his soul. So far as we can see,
this revelation of free, pardoning grace,
which was just what Charlotte Bronte
needed, did not come to her with thepeace
and comfort experienced by her sisters.
So she groped on in the dark, depressed
especially when her health was bad.
Her sister, Anne Bronte, seems to
have been sincerely and truly pious. She
had happy faith in the Mediator. Her
death came sooner than was anticipated,
but found her calm and happy, express.
ing the joyful hope-"Soon all will be
well through the merits of our Redeem
er." The last poem written by her is
extremely beautiful. Her sister Emily
had Just been taken, and she herself had
received warning to follow.
| RESIGNATION TO COPS HOLY WILL.
II thought that with the brave and strong,
My portioned task might lie,
To toll atlid the busy tlrong
With purpose pure and high.
But God has fixed another part
And he has fixed it well;
said so with my bleeding heart,
When first the anguish fell.
Thou, God, hast taken our delight,
Our treasured hope away,
Thou bid'st US now weep through the night,
And sorrow through the day.
The weary hours will not be lost
These days of misery,
These nights of darkness, anguish-tost,
Can / but turn to thee,
With secret labor to sustain
In patience every blow,
To gather fortitude from pain,
And holiness from woe.
Thus let me serve Thee from my heart,
What eer may be my fate;
Whether thus early to depart,
Or yet awhile to wait.
If thou shouldst bring me back to life,
More humbled 1 would be,
More wise, more strengthened for the strife,
More apt to lean on thee.
Sbonld death he standinu at the Gate