The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1871-06-28
How to Make our Friends. Happy.

We sometimes md our frlepdS I'M
happy, and We begin to wish that the,
would not be 80, and to no something t
make them happy. Sometimes we ear
nestly exbort them to be happy, ant
even at times scold them for not being
so. And I suppose that the most Of III
have observed that We have seldom go
them happy by the use Of such means
but that it has frequently happened
that the more we have exhorted then
and scolded them the moro unhappy
they have become. And yet we have
sometimes, after such efforts and fail
ures, put on an air ofsancti6cation with
ourselves, and said to ourselves, if not te
others, Glow unreasonable they are !
We have done all ne could, oil that rea
son or conscience required of US, tc
render them happy, but in vain. They
and not We must bear the responsibility
of their unhappiness."
Sometimes when we profess to desire
to render them happy, We actually put
ourselves to great pains to render them
miserable. If we would put ourselves
to little pains to find out the true way
OF making people happy, and then try
to put into practice what we have learn
ed, it would save our friends and US a
great deal of trouble. How often have
all the members Of family been thrown
into state of peevishness and general
i'll humor by the want of knowledge
or the way to make our friends happy
How ofteu, on the other hand, has a
threatened trouble been prevented, and
cheerful happiness been diffused
throughout a large household by the
possession ard use of this knowledge.
We all profess to desire, and l be-
lieve that the most Of us do desire, to
see all with whom we associate happy
and cheerful. And l doubt not chat the
most people are ready to say that they
earnestly desire to learn the art of max
ing their frieD' happy. I wish [ were
able to have H.. The readers Of the COL
den Hours together so that could talk
with them. | would ask them If it was
their wish to learn how to make their
parents, their brothers aud sisters, their
school.mates, and all others with whom
they are acquainted, happy. Not being
able to have them before me and to ask
them this question in person, I shall
have to assume that they would like to
come into the possession Of this most
valuable piece of knowledge, and pro-
ceed to impart it to them just as if they
had asked me for it.
Sometimes men who have made dis
covery of some valuable truth, or have
prepared a remedy for some disease
from which many people haze sickened
and died, have been unwilling to i'm
part knowledge Of their discovery or
Of their preparation without first requir-
ing those to whom they impart it to
pledge themselves to secrecy. I shall
not exact promise Of secrecy from you,
children, when l tell you the way to
make ones friends happy. So far from
desiring it to be kept secret, l shall
not be offended ifyou tell it to all your
kindred, your friends, and acquaiu-
tauces. You may call it, if you wish, a
prescription for making ones friends
happy at a very little cost. Now, chill
dren, chat prescription is this: Use q
Gttlc kMd,.eSs.
"Ab, is that all?" fancy l hear some
one say.
Yes, that ie all; but it is a great deal.
l have seen IL tried with success so Of
ten that 1 am perfectly certain there is
nothing like it for rendering people
happy. am sure that exhortiug and
scoIiiug people do not begin to compare
with it, and as for laughing at them
that has never succceded.-people are
always made worse by it. l have seen
kindness tried with old and young. with
rich and poor, with white and black,
with wise aud foolish l have seen it
tried at home and abroad, in the
school-room and on the play ground, 10
the church aud in the stores and shops,
in the town aud in the country; and |
have seen it tried on Sundays and on
Mondays, on holidays and on work.
days, aud at morning, and at noon, and
at night, and l have known it to fail to
have good effect.
remember case in which its good
effects were so marked that I must re
late it. A certain little boy named Jes-
Sc lad begin to exhibit marked sylnp
toms Of unhappiuess, and was suddenly
cured of it, and was made as bright and
cheerful as if he had been translated
from world of boyish trouble into an
Eden of pleasure, BY little aet Of kind
ness which was done for him by his
eldest brother. The facts are these -
Jesse had been to a carpeuter-shop,
and had there seen the carpenter at
work, and had returned home filled with
the idea that if he could only have
little carpenter shop Of his own, in
which he could keep his tools and do
work like carpenter, such as saving
planks and driving nails, he would not
need any thing more to make his life
as blissful as the life OF q little boy
ought to be. He conceived the idea of
building him carpenter shop, and ac-
cordingly he brought out his hammer,
and his saw, snd his nails, and all the
pieces Of plank that he had collected to-
gether, and placed them on the ground in
the back yard where be expected to build
his shop. The yard fence, which was