The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-08-31
The Two Ways,

Detained by every charlatan
And solid with all gnOble u e."
The Two Ways.
The story nf Margaret, the mother of
criminals which Dr. Elisha Harris told at
a meeting of the New York State Chari-
ties Aid Association on the 10th of Decem-
ber 1874. was a terrible tale. From this
abandoned child, fed by charitable" per-
sons eighty-tye years ago in Il village on
the upper Hudson, treated as panpaI,
and lett unGduCated, there descended six
hundred and seventy three children grand
children and great grandchildren, of whom
two hundred We're criminals Of the dan
gerous class sentenced to long terms to
State Prison, most of the others being
idiots or paupers. This case was some
what OF an exceptional one perhaps, but
its moral is not the less striking A story
directly opposed to this one is told by Dr..
+. &. Vines, but 1T pointed as 1t was in
tended to do. exactly the same moral rs
Dr. Harriss tale. In one of the capitals
OF the Continents of Europe some thirty
live or forty years ago, child was born
who had the misfortune to have n prOtes-
siOnal thief for his father. Thus he grew
up with thieving for his trade More than
once he had been sentenced to the pen-
tentiary iur short terms terms too short
to do him any good, but quite long enough
to do him Il great deal of harm At length
going from bad to worse, he committed Il
graver larceny, and was condemned to IL
term OF several years At the head Of the
penltentary was a gentleman who, in the
administration of his trust, has but one
thought, one wish, one aim It that OF
changing, by the blessing and the help of
God, bad men into good ones lie at once
commenced to work on the youthful crimi-
nal. No day passed during all these long
years of hope and fear, of prayer and
watching, of anxiety and toll in which he
did not visit the cell of the Young prisoner
with words of tenderness and encourage
ment. with counsels OF wisdom and with
pcrsuaSiOns eloquent from their sincerity
and fearful earnestne-s. Drop by drop
water works through the granite rock So
looks and tones and words and acts Of
kindness persisted in for years, despite in
gratitude and opposition cannot fail never
do fail, to make in the end an impression
upon the hardest of human hearts. THIS
youth, though stepped in crime from his
infancy, formed no exception to the rule.
The medicine at length took effect the
cure was radical and complete. He lett
the prison Il changed man; changed
through and through, changed in heart,
purpose and lte,
For some time--a year on m0re-hc
worked al the trade he had learned at
prison and ate honest bread But there
was something in him higher, nobler, di-
yiner than bodily toll, honorable as that is,
and it burned to come out lie felt Am
irrepressible longing to dc something for
Christ for humanity He offered himself
stating honestly his antccedents--tO An
association organized for Christian work,
first to be suitably educated and then to
do missionary work wherever field might
open to him He was accepted and placed
at school. For several years he toiIed at
lea! ming with the energy Of man strug
Cling tor his life. He developed genius
for language, and took in Latin, Greek
Hebrew and other more modern tongues
as Il sponge absOrbs water. At The semi
nary he made the acquaintance Of . kind
red spirit, between both friendship was
knit like that OF David and Jonathan. They
determined to work together on some
heather field They plunged into the
heart of heathendom, diyneiy led to II
tribe whose soil had never been pressed
by foot of missionary.
The tribe selected was the Santhals in
the interior of India in the mountains
They threw themselves right in among
the people, and became, AS it were, part
and parcel of them, They accompanied
them ON their hunting excursions, to their
funerals, their marriage festivities, their
religious ceremonies, and also to the field
or the forest when they went to cut or
fetch fuel. They studied their institutions,
mythology. traditions, habits and charac-
ter, thinking 1t necessary to know the peo-
pile thoroughly before they could accom-
plsh much for their benefit They sat
with them on the floor, ate as they did
with their hands, and slept in their cow
houscs-rough sheds in which they hud-
died together cows sheep, goats and even
pigs But as hunger is the best sauce, So
fatigue is the best opiatc; and they slept
there very soundly. Sometimes, at their
public gatherings, and particularly when
on the chase, they would not have less
| than ten thousand Santhals to speak to.
On these occasions they would 90 into the
midst OF them and sing Il hymn, which
they had been able to translate into the
Santhal language to their own tunes. for
the European tunes had no me tning to
! them. They did not know what u blessed
| spirit there was in those hymns. The
young men would carry them to their
sweethearts, who taught them to the other
| girls, and SO the word of God ran round
all the villages.
| AS Il result OF the labors OF these two
men in eight years, a Christian population
of more than six thousand persons We're
gathered together, and numbered POO
commandments. Thirty churches were es-
tablished, and the people We're provided
with native teachers and preachers and
the mission made self-supporting. More
than forty schools We're established, and
the whole placed on a permanent basis
likely to endure.
All this remarkable work may be traced
back to the work of one man, and he
criminal youth, born thief, who was
only saved by the persistent efforts Of IL
good man who was placed over him as
ialor. Certainly. those who are laboring
to reform, and save the wayward should
take courage. Even if lifelong effort
should save but one, witness what Il glori-
GUS work even that one may accomplish !!
Compare the story of the young thief
reformed. with that of Margaret the way
ward and unreformed. neglected little
girl who became the mother of criminals,
and let the lesson sink deeply into your
heart, and arouse you to the need of try
ing to save those little waits of humanity
which are floating about every village in
our land.
All the walters at the Profile House, save
three, are students from Harvard, Dartmouth,
Williams or Amherst colleges, while in the
kitchen there are girls from various normal
schools and seminares.