davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
Seven Ways of Doing Good.

l. Teaching Sunday School. In this way
you may be continually training ministers,
Christian legislators, lawyers, merchants,
mechanics, &c., the religious instruction Of
whose congregations and families will be, al
least partly, owing to your labOrs.
2. Visiting, relieving, and exhorting the
poor, who may become "rich in faith
through your instrumentality.
3. Visiting prisons, hospitals, and aims
houses, and persuading the inmates to accept
of the "great salvation"
l. Persuading the Incorporate and others
to pledge themselves to total abstinence, thus
expelling the demon who destroys the peace
of so many miserable families.
5. Personal appeals, by conversation, and
by letters, to the unconverted, to seek re-
pentance and faith before the "door" is for
ever "shut.
6. Distributing TestamentS (sold for 10
cents eaeb) and other religious books and
tracts, in families, factories, taVerns, and by
the way side, &c. 1t is said that one Tract
o. The Great Question Answered. was the
means of placing 100000 children under re.
ligious instruction.
Z. Per8uading idle Christians to engage
in all these and other Ways Of Doing
Good" for blessing on which let your fer
vent prayers ascend to Him who alone can
give q the increase"
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
A Telegram from Heaven.

Sometime ago a young man was employed
as a clerk in a telegraph Office, in town in
England In some way or other God had
led him to see that he was a sinner, and this
caused him great distress of mind. Like the
poor lamb in the Swiss mountains he felt
that he had wandered from Gods fold, and
was lost sheep. But be could not tell where
TO ind the shepherd, or how to get back to
his fold. But Jesus "the good Shepherd
took singular way to find him and bring
him back.
The young man went to the office one
morning in great distress of mind, from the
burden of his sins. He was lifting up his
heart in secret, aud saying, "GOd be merci-
full to me sinner" when the click of the
telegraph machine before him told that a
message was coming He looked and saw
that it came from Windermere, up among
the beautiful lakes of England. There was
first the name and residence of the person
for whom the telegram was sent. And then
followed these words from the Bible: "Be-
hold the Lamb Of God, which taketh away
the sins Of the world In whom we have re-
demption through his blood, the forgiveness
Of sins according to the riches of his grace.
And then followed the name of the person
sending it. This was strange message to
send by telegraph The explanation of it
was this: the telegram was sent to a servant
girl living in that town. She was in distress
about her sins, and trying TO find Jesus. She
had brother who was Christian. He was
a servant in the family of a gentleman who
was spending the sumner at the lakes. This
poor girl had written to her brother telling
him about the trouble she was in, and asking
him the great question, What must do to
be saved?' Her brother had no time to
write to her just then, 50 he sent her this
telegram. The poor girl found her way TO
Jesus through those sweet words from her
brother. And so did that young man in the
telegraph office. This was telegram from
hsqUea to him. Those precious words-"the
Lamb of God, Z" sin put awsy, "redemp-
ton through his blood, brought him to
Jesus, and he found peace in Him. Here
We see "the good Shepherd making use of
the telegraph wire to bring one Of his lost
sheep back to Himself
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
AumsEhuld atprds.
The Training of Children.

"WhO knows" asks Bishop Beveridge,
"but that the salvation of ten thousand i'm
mortal souls may depend upon the education
Of one child?" Let no one be discouraged
BY the difficulty or magnitude of the work.
Fruit does not always Immediately appear.
Cases have been known in which a mothers
coansels, example, and prayers produced
their effect many years after she was laid In
the silent grave. 1--WE cannot give our
children grace" it is often said; but they
who thus speak must know there is One who
can, One with whom all things are posi-
biz" The God of all grace has said,
Il viii pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thine offspring" What
are difficulties before OmnipOtence? What
stiff neck can not he bend ? What hard
heart cannot he soften What refractory
spirit cannot he subdue? What hayward
prOdigal can not he reclaim
1t must be admitted, indeed, that in some
instances faithful mothers have been com
paratively unsuccessful. A son may wander
from the true path which has been marked
out for him. But these are the rare excep-
tions. The general rule is, "Train up a
child in the way be should 80, and when ne
is old be viii not depart from it, DR..
Clarke, commenting upon this passage says,
" The Hebrew of this clause is curious; In
itiate the child at the opening (the mouth of
his path. When he comes to the opening Of
the cay Of life, being able to walk alone and
to choose, stop at this entrance and begin a
series of instructions, how he is to conduct
himself in every step he takes Show him
the duties, the dangers, and the blessings Of
the path; give him directions how to perform
the duties, how to escape the dangers, and
how to secure the blessings which all lie be-
fore him. Fix these on his mind by daily
incubation, till their impression has become
indelible; then lead him to practice by slow
and iuperceptible degrees, till each indeible
impression becomes a strongly-eradicated
habit Begging necessarily the blessing Of
God on al this teaching and discipline; and
then you have Obeyed the injunction of the
wisest Of men. Nor is there any likelihood
that such impressions shall ever be efacedi
OF that such habits shall ever be destroyed.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
Let Them Fly!

"My days are swifter than courier, they
fly away. They are as the swift ships, as
the eagle" So said Job-he who had sat
in quiet contemplation beneath his palm-tree
in the long summers of Edom, while four
score years passed by, and who had still a
hundred and forty years of happy and rest
full life ahead of him. And yet his days
we're swift as the flying courier, as the ship
careering before the wind, as the eagle
swoOping down upon its quarry, as the dry
leaf in the storm, as the hurrying cloud
Job looked abroad for similitudes of evan
escence, of unreality, of celebrity with which
to compare his days. But his days, hour for
hour, were longer than our own. Of the
tremendous rush with which we pass the
miestones of life, he knew nothing. At the
period when our heads grow frosty, our browS
show the burrows of care and sorrow and
toll, his was smooth with the flush of youth.
But We do not envy Job. Into our days,
short as they are, are compressed more of
knowledge, experience, and perhaps of pleas
ure than Job could see in all his years Even
if it were otherwise, we do not look regret
fully at the days as they speed backward
from us. Let them fly. There is whole
eternity of them ahead ofus, and all that are
gone do not diminish the store. The eagle
8wooping from the cliff will quickly reach
the valley. The courier will deliver his
message. The ship will CRATE upon the
sands of the far.off shore. But the line of
the souls flight reaches through etern-
ity. 1t will be speeding on in increasing
strength when the visible heavens are rolled
together as a scroll, folded and laid aside.
We hear much of misspent years. They are
not wasted unless they are given to the SER
vice of Satan and to the neglect of self and
God. Every hour of innocent joy with fam
lily or friends, books or travel is well spent.
Let them fly We are homesick to see
that sweet sister who has been upon the 9th
er shore these twenty years, and the face of
that dear father who is with her, and above
all that Elder Brother whose bright, majestic
brow will beam upon US. Let them trebly
outstrip the steed, the leaf, the ship, the
cloud. Freight them with love, with charity,
with achievement, if we can, for they rush
in curve like planets, and will round in
upon us, bearing their freight with them when
we strike on the other side. If they are
bright, they are bright because they fly. If
they are gloomy, they were better gone than
staying. We shall lift up no sad requiem
over the disappearance of the days and
years as they speed past us.-InteriOr.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
The Sunset Hour.
BY REV. E. A. RAND.


Heaven seems nearer at the sunset hour
than at any other time. A hush is coming
over the earth. Its activities are ceaSlng'
Mems thoughts are getting off from their
work. They are unstrapping their cares as
soldier will his knapsack at the close Of the
days march. There is leisure for spiritual
occupations, time for the evening prayer,
time to fold the children's hands together at
the feet of Jesus, time to think of things
that are unworldly and spiritual. And God
seems to suggest this as he hints of another
and better world in the glOries of the sky.
How the colors and details shift There
are rivers of crystal flowing gates, each
"of one pearl" opening; foundations
garnished with all manner of precious
stones 1t may all change and there come
food of glory SO suggestive of the city
that "hath no need of the SUM- We don't
wonder that men think of spiritual things at
such time. A traveller in Algiers speaks
of seeing some Arabs on promOntory watch
ing the setting sun. The light about them
fades, but "the sun still shines through some
unseen valley, and lights up the figures as
they kneel in prayer" 1t lis scene no one
wonders at. Mems thoughts at sunset nat
urally fly heavenward, like birds to theil
nests.
Old age is a kind of a sunset hour. The
activities of life are over. The burdens un
strapped will never be lifted to the shoulder
again. There is leisure for prayer. 1t il
ths aged fathers or mothers Bible that il
found lying SO often on the table. You tall
with them, and find that spiritual things ar
engaging their attention more fully. The.
know they are not far from home. Their
are lights in the sky reckoning them, glorie
drawing and winning them. For these rea
sons, the aged members of the Church ar
dear to me. Some of the light to come get
into their prayers and testimonies. Thei
applications for the Church are very pre-
cious. Many revivals can be traced back t
prayers their trembling hands have put int
the golden censor. remember an aged wo
man who felt that she could not die until Sh
had seen one more revival. God answere
her earnest prayers.
Aged people are blessings to the com
i
munity as well as to the Church. | recal
an old, infrm man, who, in his wakeful hour
at night, would go in his thoughts fror
, house to house in the village, rememberin
them in prayer Happy is the village nest
ling under the wings of the prayers of a
aged disciple.
How we long to hold on to these father
and mothers in Israel when we see that tn
end has come, and their faces are as thong
they would go to Jerusalem! In the mids
of light, they pass away "frOm glory t
: glory" Blessed is the Church that ha
many aged Simeons and Annas in its fellow
ship-Ne Working Church.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
Leaving this World.

In the blessed hope of meeting again with
my beloved children, and those who were and
are dear to me on earth, | think of death
with composure and perfect confidence in
the mercy of God. Yet to me, who am
afraid to sleep alone on a stormy night, or
even to sleep comfortably any night unless
some one is near, it is fearful thought that
my spirit must enter that new state of exist
ence quite alone. We are told of the infinite
glories of that state, and believe in them,
though it is incomprehenSible to US; but as
[ do comprehend in some degree, at least,
the exquisite loneliness of the visible world,
| confess l shall be sorry to leave it. l shall
regret the sky, the sea, with all the changes
of their beautiful coloring; the earth, with
its verdure and flowers; but far more shall
greve to leave animals who have followed
our steps affectionately for years, without
knowing for certainty their ultimate fate
though firmly believe that the living prin
ciple is never extinguished. Hilary SOmer
nile.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
How to Find Profit in Bible Study.

Any Sunday School lesson is fullest of in
terest to that teacher who commences its
study with the wish and the expectation of
finding good in it. "Seek and ye shall
find" According to your faith be it unto
you" are the injunction and assurance
which God gives to all his children in their
pursuit of spiritual blessings. If teacher
does not want to find good in a Bible lesson,
it is not likely to be thrust on him. If he
begins Bible study as dry duty, he will
probably finish it in the same. way. If he
enters on it as a pleasant and paying work,
he will find it all that he expected. "Yea,
if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up
thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest
her as silver, and searchest for her as for
hid treasures then shalt thou understand
the fear of the L ord, and find the knowledge
of God" 1t is into the open mouths of the
longing ones that the mother bird drops the
food she has gathered. 1t is to those who
want good and look for it, that God gives
good abundantly. BLESSED are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness {:
for they shall be filled. IS. s. World.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
A Sunday School Novelty.

A graceful thing was recently done for a
Sunday School in q village on the Clyde,
which was calculated to strengthen the bonds
between the rich and the poor. 1t was the
New Years festival of the school, and many
of the wealthy people living in the surround
ing villas, who had subscribed for the prizes,
were present. Mrs. Craik, the authoresS of
"John Halifax" was among them. The
feature of the festival lay in the circumstance
that each prize given to boy was accom-
panied with a card entitled "Safety Signals,
under which heading were arranged quota
tons from Joseph, Joshua, Nehemiah, Sir
Edward Parry, Prof. George Wilson, and
Kitto; and the words, "Till January, 1881, y
followed each scholars name. 1t was ex-
planned to the boys, that if at any time before
the expiration of the above term they re-
quired assistance or advice in the matter Of
choosing trade, or of being assisted in any
way, they were to call upon any of the ladies
or gentlemen there, and present their card,
and those on whom they called would do all
in their power to further their interests. II
may be easily imagined that those cards will
be carefully kept and presented in due time,
and the generous donors of the prizes will
faithfully keep their word in the matter.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
Facts for Parents.

Anumber of physicians, practicing in New
York and Brooklyn, having compared
notes, have come to the conclusion that one
leading cause of mortality among children
arises from their being left too much to the
care Of servants. It has been observed that
children who are taken care of by their pa
rents, undressed aud put to bed by them,
and by them dressed in the morning, and
kept under loving mothers eye during the
dsy, are, as a general thing, far more healthy,
good tempered, and intelligent than such as
are lefs almost exclusively to the care of SER
wants. In addition to this, it must be re-
membered that most of the accidents which
happen to children, whereby they are seri-
Ously injured, and sometimes crippled,
manned, and rendered idiotic, occur through
the negligence of those in whose care they
are left by unthinking or unloving parents,
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
An Answer to Prayer.

The Second German church in N. Orleans
is small in membership and possessed of but
little financial strength. A note of $500
fell due on April 18th, and the holder of the
obligation gave the church to understand
that the money must be forthcoming. No
extra time would be allowed. In sore dis.
tress, the good pastor, Rev. j. L. j. Barth,
and his faithful official board met to consider
what could be done. By casting in their
all" they provided for 5000, but no way
opened for the balance. In their extremity
the pastor said
Brethren, have afriend who has prom
ised me that if l should get into trouble il
my work, He would help me out if would
ask Him; and now l am going to that friend
and l want you to go with me.
1t was suggested that the hour was late
and they had better wait until morning.
"No, we had better 60 now" said thu
pastor.
1t was agreed to go at once.
"Now," said the pastor, "that friend il
my Heavenly Father; and if you are il
earnest let US kneel around this altar ant
with one accord ask His aid.
The prayer which followed was an "effec
tual, fervent prayer" offered "with one &C
cord" and in faith. Afterward all wen
home, feeling confident that the difficulty
would be met.
The next morning, while Brother Throe
sher, one of the stewards, was busy in hi
stall in the market, supplying his customer
with meat, gentleman came to him, witt
whom he had only slight acquaintance, anC
who was no professor of religion, and knew
nothing of the church matters in question
and asked if he knew any one who wanted
to borrow $500, as he had that much tt
loan.
Brother Throesher said, eyes; our church
wants it.
And the arrangement was made, and the
church kept out of the sherif's hands
"The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much. "-SouthweStern AdUO
cate, New Orleans.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
Seventy Pairs of Hands.

The variety and number of needles made
in these days are wonderful the surgeon,
harness. maker, book binder, felt worker, sad
dler, glover, embroiderer and housewife,
each wanting needles of all shapes, and sizes,
and lengths. And when you think that each
needle has to pass through seventy pairs Of
hands before it is finished and ready for use,
you see what pains is taken to reach excel
lence in very small thing.
Seventy pairs of hands to make needle e!
and each pair necessary to make the needle
perfect. If only one pair refused to do their
part, the whole would be failure-not a
needle would be right.
You see it is painstaking in little things
and in small parts which leads to excellence
and success We are apt to slight bits of
work, thinking it is no matter and of no &C.
count. But it is not so. The details of a
plan must be faithfully carried out in order
to make the plan success. If the parts of
the work are all well done, the whole will be
complete, and only then.
And it is just so in making and moulding
character. 1t must be we'll done in parts,
faithfully finished in bits, in order to make
a complete and beautiful whole.
Always be sure that all the small and
common work which you have to do is thor
oughly done. 1t is faithfulness in little
things which makes you reliable in great
things.-PreSb9terian.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01

A WORD TO TEACHERS. Sit is not little
thing, it is not slight honor, to be teacher
in the Sabbath School, to be instrumental in
bringing young souls to Christ, to be workers
together with God and the Holy Ghost. Sure
ly this is honor enough, is reward enough for
any one. Let US think more of this. 1t
will keep us from light and frivolous spirit.
It will help us to be more earnest in our
preparation, more reverent in all our work.
We shall all have much to humble US, much
to discourage; but for every glance down.
ward at our own weakness and failure, let
US take two upward to the source of strength.
Why should not the strength that is there
be our strength {? Do We 6sheue that we are
workers together with God Rev. G. r..
Phillips.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
SWarming Bees.

A bee keeper gives the following plan to
prevent swarm of bees from getting away
from the hive, with the statement that after
ten years experience he has never known it
to fail but once: AS soon as they show the
first symptoms of swarming, stop up some of
the outlets to the hives so as to force them
to be considerable time coming out. The
swarm being made up in part of young bees,
many of whom can not fly well, and as moth
ing can be done by the swarm until all are
out, and fly about in the air, by prolongng
their exit the feeble ones become tired, and
finding their plans frustrated, they alight to
arrange their journey. If they can leave
the old hive all at once, they care very little
about alighting.
The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1874-07-01
4Msb aM Il ~.
The Hay Crop.

/
Only those farmers who have pet theory
on the subject now hold that it is best to
postpone haymaking until the grass is thor
oughly ripe. This idea, no doubt, arose from
the notion, that the taller the grass, the more
bulk and the more nutriment it will afford
for stock. To this was added a belief that
after cutting, the hay should be allowed to
remain in the field until thoroughly dry, the
danger being that if any dampness remained,
heat or mould would surely ruin the crop
after it was housed. The most advanced
farmers now hold modified views in regard to
both those points, and the practices of our
ancestors in this respect are fast going out
of fashion.
1t is fixed law of all vegetable life that
when plant has reached maturity it begins
to deteriorate by returning to the ground,
or throwing off into the surrounding air, a
percentage of its nutritious properties. This
many be good for the land, but it is not good
for the stock. The requisite return can be
made with better advantage to the land after
the animals have extracted from the stalks
all that is good for them. The object of the
haymaker should be to cut his crops just
when it is at its fullest vigor. When the
stalks are tender and juicy, and before they
have begun to stifen for natural death
If taken at this time and properly cut the
action of the sun will seal up the exposed
ends of the grass, bottling up, as it were, the
major part of the sap inside the stalk. A
few hours of summer sunshine is enough for
the rest, and sweeter, more nutritious hay
was never made than results from such early
cutting and such storing of the crop.
The same is true with regard to other
crops, such as corn and grain. If corn be
not cut before the ears are perfectly ripened,
there is loss of substance through the re-