New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-18

the lever: aud theTe u one TGaSOTl WHY, III
in INV bed. A small shelf of books-Bunyan. Cru,
soc. Goldsmth's England. the half of Sanford and
Young Mans Best Companion. the Pleasing In
struc;or. and Feetwoods Life Of Christ.
Do you want 70 know how ma ana to tax .a 10
| Bunyan, Crusoe and Goldsmith when was a BOY
| the Bible, and with Shakespeare when at last the
mighty master came within our doors. Ihe rest
| were as SIENNA to me. These were like well OF
pure water and this is the first step seem to have
| taken of my own free will toward the pulpit.
| must 90 to Sunday school. but could pick my
books weekdays from that little shelf. ! took to
these rs took TO milk and. without the least ldea
what was doing got the taste for simple words
into the fibre of my nature Tbers was day day
| | had to turn i'll and work thirteen hours day.
| Sunday-school until l was fourteen, and night
blue-eyed mother could pour through the home, and
"A careful training in clean ways-no lying no shlrk
ing and no dishonesty did steal two plums once
| from a tree, and they were So good that cannot
| repent OF it now when plums are plenty. =,
That is the story of our breeding, and this Is the
second moral II the days arc not long enough. SIT
| M nights 10 thank God for giving you good
mother; and now that you are away from her SIDE
| think of her watching Won tendery, and believe
me when say that if You greye her heart ana GiI
never forgive yourself until she makes 1t up Win
you III Heaven.
AT THE BLACKsMlTfs FORGE.
III. There another article III our h~'ne creed
Ii was this that the boys. OF which there were four
| of US, must learn trade. 1t would cost money,
bu that must be found, and if we went right in
the factory we could earn instead OF spending. but
then we should lose our rank, and this was not to
| be thought of for instant. The father was
| mechanic We must be mechanics, and then, though
| we might never rise any higher IN the world we
should not fall. And that Is how came to the
anvil, the utmost limit, in those days of my am6i-
ton. There an old blacksmith away over the
| .. had faith md In
ing TO teach me- was rising fourteen then and 1t
| was time 10 begin. ln my fathers time this man
was line sob Fellow and "a superb workman. but
the yeats had made havoc OF him wlthoutour KNOW
ing, and boy rs was found III less than week
! had gone 10 live in the home OF q confirmed
| drunkard Still this was not the horror TO me It
would be to YOU. The proverb says fox smells
| nothing amiss III hls own den, and while our home
was what have told vOa, we thought OF beer very
much as we thought of bread, the stan OF life.
and never imagined that body could condemn
its use, though they might he sorry Tor ls abuse.
And so was as familiar with beer, almost, rs was
with bread, and quite rs familiar as was win
beef, while We thought no more of IFS hurting us
than you do OF yellow bread and dySpeptic pes
| hurting YOU.
found again that not only the poor old man
drunkard. but the boys were led to drlnk great
deal more than we had ever Thought of In tic old
home. We had each one of us ab0dt a quart Of ale
a day, and the farmers who came TO the ShOp were
forever standing treat. Ii is a painful story,
stretching over eight years very happy years III
went to old shopmate III the pooIhouse Just
| two years ago; splendid workman. but ruined by
| drink. The poor fellow had heard that L was
about and had crept YEARLY over the TO find
me but we had missed each other, and so | went 10
find him. Yes, it Is sad story. / was III some sort
manager at last, and came home one day irol
another shop we had. after an absence OF week,
to find that the old man, VINO wasa tower of strength
III my fathers time, had taken 10 hls bed. lie had
been on fearful drunk. and it was the last went
III to see him. He looked up sadly, and said III our
native speech: I" Pse vaIra badly, lad Use boon TO
dee and want thee to read me sunlmat cot o Z
II 10 IN QrptI I'M
that had slain him, nor did but saw to him
three months and then one morning as was hitting
him. great gOuts OF blood came yelling out of his
chest and he was dead. Why do tell you this Was
] sill partaker III the sin IL had been think
poor Jack woud not have had to hunt for me over
the moOrs; We might have been III the same work
house.
The good blood began to tell now, and the clean
breeding and that help of God without which
mans life Is rope Of sand. 1t was not hard work.
The thing very simple. l saw 1t was growing
on me to love drink, aud said: This will never
do II | keep oil shall be IN the gutter with the
old man. will never touch glass of beer again.
or anything of the sort, until am sure OF myself,
and forever sure, because IN any fight between
man and beer-barrel the man ought to win"
kept my word made to myself, and that was the
second step from the anvil to the pulpit and this
story needs no moral
A PASSION FOR READING.
Still it is poss this had never been done but for
another grand force which had come i'll to help
From he days when we used to spell out Crusoe and
hunger TO read books. 1t made small matter what
they were. they were books. IL If volume OF
| an old encyclopedia came along-the hrst mad ever
| seem How many times went through that can
not even guess. | remember that j read some old
reports Of the Missionary Society with the greatest
| delight. There were chapters i'll them about China
and Labrador. Yet think IT Is in reading as 1t rs
in eating when the first hunger is over, you begin
| TO be a little critical, aud Will by no means take to
garbage If you are OF Wholesome 4 na.nIe ana
! ley. could go home for the Christmas OF o39
| aud was feeling very sad about 1t ALL for was
| only boy, and sitting by tho fire, an old farmer
| came in and said " notice thous fond O reading.
so brought thee summat to read" 1t was Irving >
Sketch Book" had never heard OF the work.
| went at il, and was as them that dream" No
such delight had touched Inc since the Old days OF
Crusoe saw the Hudson and the Catskills, took
poor Rip at once INTO my he3rt, as every DoIy pas
plied Ichabod while laughed ut him, thought the
old Dutch feasts most admirable thing, and long be-
fore was through all regret at my lost Christmas
had gone down the wind, and had found out there
| are books and books That vast hunger to read
never left me. If there was no candle, p0ked my
head down TO the fire, read while was eating, blow
| ing the bellows or walking from one place to an
| other | could read and walk four miles an hour
| The world centred IN books.
There was no thought in my mind of any good TO
come of liz the good lay III the reading. liad
no more idea of beng munster than YOU elder
men who were boys then i'll tins town had that |
should be here tonight to tell this story. Now, give
a boy Il passion like this for anything, books or
business, painting or farming mechanism or music
and you give him thereby lever 10 lift his world
and a patent of nobility if the thing he does is
| noble. There two OF three of my mind about
books. We became companions, and gave the roushs
a vide berth. The books did their work, 100,
about chat drink and fought the devil with finer
fire | remember while was yet a. lad reading
Macaulay's great essay on Bacon. and could grasp
its wonderful beauty There ha. been no time when
/ have felt sad that there should have been no
chauce FOR me at a good education and training.
miss every day. but such chances as were lett lay
in that everlasting hunger TO still be reading. was
tough as leather and could do the double stint, aud
so ii was that all unknown 10 myself l was one
TIA. soweth good seed III his field.
SPEAKING Is THE METHODIST MEETING.
Another thing | remember. IL fell out in the
course of time that as would walk over the moors
reading, something read would set me thinking
on my own account. and then at last would talk it
out to myself and to the sheep, who were, by the