smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1867

No. IL.


The punctual attendance and prompt
entrance into church, insisted upon in my
last number, prepares the way for begin
ming the worship of GOdin proper man
ner. The assembling of the congrega-
ton of necessity occupies some time
Now there is an appropriate demeanor
while waiting for the service to begin
Many spend this time in conversation ;
many others in looking about at the new
comers, perhaps internally criticising the
style, dress, walk of others, and taking
notes in the memory to be used after
ward as a source of great diversion and
merry-making. Even where the men re-
main outside of the door, the women are
by custom and convenience required to
enter the church; and it often happens
that there is so much talking and confu-
sion. that the minister feels constrained to
wait painfully for lull in the converse
ton of ardent friends or eager gossips, so
that he may arise with uplifted hands to
invoke Gods blessing on the cOngrega-
ton; and sometimes the conversation is
hardly arrested by the solemn invocation.
If the present habits of some congrega-
tions in this respect should prevail gen.
orally, it will become necessary to place a
gavel on the pulpit for the use of the
minister, after the fashion of many de-
Lucrative bodies and popular assemblies.


But these things ought not so to be-
For reverent and becoming demeanor
is appropriate to those who sit in the
house of God waiting for service to be-
gin. 1t is a good opportunity for COM
posing the heart to devotion, and for 81
lent unobtrusive personal devotions.-
The profit to be derived from worship de-
pends much upon the temper in which we
come, to say nothing of daring to ap-
proach God in light and trifing spirit.
A few moments spent in personal devo-
tions, before service begins, is like pre-
pairing the fallow land for the seed
While this personal devotion, preparatory
to the public social worship should by
no means be pretermitted, still it should
be strictly personal, private, silent, un'
obtrusive. 1t is rather of the nature oi
closet religion, intended for Gods eye
and ear, and not for mans.


1t is the custom in some branches o.
Year: 1867

A Christian once asked me what |
thought of the custom which especially
prevailed among the laboring classes of
Europe, of using the Sabbath day as
holiday. The gayeties, the festivals and
the dancings in which they INDUCED were
cited, and it was remarked that surely
this could not be in violation of Gods
will, who had given them this day alone
for comfort.


Ireplied that the wholequestion seemed
to me to be involved in what was meant by
the phrase of the commandment, "to keep
at holy" 1t is wise provision that God
has made for his people that they should
enter heartily upon the duties they are
to perform in the world. 1t is duty
and blessing to work with alacrity and
cheerfulness. Yet it ought to be great
privilege to look away from these things
at stated times, and to endeavor to real
ize that there are other things far loftier
and purer. Few in this world absolute
ly employ themselves in contributing
nothing to the advancement of themselves
or others in worldly comfort of some sort
or other. This is great care to some,
and pleasing occupation to others. To
one class the Sabbath ought to be en-
phatically rest; to the other, it should
be none the less a grateful relaxation.
To this extent perhaps it will be univer-
sally acknowledged that the Sabbath is
useful.


Bat there is hidden meaning which
none but those whose hearts are sanctifed
by the pure love of God can ever appre-
ciate. The Christian will understand by
it that God desires his thoughts to be
lifted to Him. 1t is true, his thoug ghts
must always be fixed on God. In the
busiest scenes of every day life he must
have the consciousness that God is over all
things; he must trust at every moment
that God is smiling on his labor. But
the Sabbath brings him to contemplate
God directly as it were, and not indirect
ly. His whole existence ought not only
to be centered upon Him, who is above
all earthly things, but there ought then
to be nothing 6etween him and his God.
He does not indeed become visionary, and
attempt to shut out all cognizance of the
actual existence around him. Man is a
social being. Let him join with others
and with one accord let them glorify God
in accordance with His ordinances. Let
him sit beside his own hearth-stone with
all his household around him, and let
Gods name have holy place there
Gods goodness ought to be pleasant
theme of conversation there. Even the
infant would listen, and it would hardly
fail to fasten upon its memory the name
of Jehovah. Let the young son, as man
hood comes on, occasionally take his
fathers place to read on some subject oi
Gods love, while the others are silent,
and the father perhaps interrupts him q
moment to apply a precept or impress
thought. Let the mother lead the rest
in breaking sacred melodies, that have
been long ago familiar. And while they
all sit together, let there be something
more than the usual morning and even
ing sacrifice. 1t will please God to come
: down and dwell with that family whel
Year: 1867

THE VALUE OF SABBATH Schools
The following record, most honorable in
itself, and worthy to be considered by
all, is made concerning a young clergy
man, in one of our exchanges. "He is
building up the church mainly through
the prosperous Sabbath School connected
with it. Already large additions have
been made to the church from the school. :"
A Sunday School well worked will al
most certainly be associated with work
ing church. For the workers there will
be workers elsewhere, and the life which
makes the Sabbath School prosperous
will find its way into other departments
of Christian effort, and the whole church
will feel the impulse. A wise man is the
minister who takes care of the youth


thew will take care of the church.
Year: 1867

A lady walking on some downs the
morning after terrific thunderstorm,
met shepherd. She asked him what
his sheep had done during the storm.
"Ah!" he replied, II folded them as
usual in the evening; but when the
storm came on 1 thought of the poor
things, and went out to look after them.
When l got little distance from the
fold, I saw them jumping about in the
greatest alarm; but the moment they
heard my voice they wore quite quiet.
Just SO, storm and tempest may break
over the believer; but only let him hear
the Chief Shepherds voice saying, " 1t
is l." and there is great calm.
Year: 1867

The way is dark, my Father! cloud on cloud
Is gathering quickly Ger my head; and loud
The thunders roll above me. See, | stand
Like one bewildered Father, take my hand,


And through the gloom


Lead safely home


Thy child.
The day goes fast, my Father and the night
Is drawing darkly down. Ny faithless sight
Sees ghastly visions. Fears, spectral band,
Encompass me. o, Father! take my hand,


And from the night


Lead up to Light


Thy child.
The way is long, my Father and my soul
Longs for the rest and quiet of the goal;
While vet Journey through this weary land,
Keep me from wandering. Father, take my
hand


Quickly and straight


Lead to Heavens gate


Thy child.
The path is rough, my Father many thorn
Has pierced me- and my weary feet all torn
And bleeding, mark the way Yet Thy command
Bids nae pross sorwsr3 Fssher take my hand.
Then, safe and blest,


Lead up TO rest


Thy child.
The throng is great my Father many doubt,
And fear and danger, compass me about,
And foes oppress me sore. cannot stand,
Or 90 alone o, Father! take my hand,


And through the throng


Lead safe along


Thy child.
The cross is heavy, Father have borne
So long, and still do bear it. Let my worn
And fainting spirit rise to that blessed land
Where crowns are given. Father, take my hand,
And reaching down,


Lead to the crown


Thy child.
The way is dark, Ny child but leads to light;
would not have thee always walk by sight;
My dealings, now, thou canst not understands
meant it so but viii take thy hand,


And through the gloom


Lead safely home


My child.
The day goes fast Ny child but is the night
Darker to me than day? In Me is light;
Keep close to Ne, and every spectral band
Of fears shall vanish 1 will take thy hand
And through the night


Lead up to light


My child.
The way is long, My child but it shall be
hon = haCf for
And thou shalt know, at last, when thou shalt
stand
Close to the gate, how did take thy hand,


And quick and straight


Lead to Heavens gate


My child.
The path is rough, Ny child but, o, how sweet
VIII be the rest for weary pilgrims feet,
When thou shalt reach the borders of that land
To which lead thee, as take thy hand,


And safe and best


With Ne shall rest


Ny child.
The throng is great, Ny child! but at thy side
Thy Father walks! then be not terrified,
For am with thee; will thy foes command
To let thee freely pass; will take thy hand,


And through the throng


Lead safe along


My child.
The cross is heavy child yet there is One
Who bore a heavier far for thee; Ny Son
Ny well beloved; with Him bear thine, and
stand
With Him, at last, and from thy Fathers hand,
Thy cross laid down,


Receive thy crown,


My child.
Year: 1867

=
Part of this large sum has been used in payment OF
the Indebtedness of Government; but much OF It is
massed up in the various repositories of the nation,
reserved as a basis for specie payment. When the
last fiscal year commenced there was III the hans OF
the btreasnrers only sS OOO when the year ended
there was on hand over $l30O00,0OO, much OF 1t III
gold A comparison of the year just ended with its
nredecessor shows the following result.
Year: 1867

Evils OF GossIP Il have known
country society which withered away
all to nothing under the dry rot OF
gossip only. Friendships, once a.
firm as granite, dissolved te jelly
and then run away 10 water, only be
cause of this love, that promised
future ,.s enduring as heaven and a.
stable ss truth, evaporated into
morning mist that turned to days
long tears only because of this Z,
father and son were set foot TO focl
with the fiery breath Of anger that
would never cool again between then
only because of this and husband
and his young wife, each straining at
the hated leash which in the begin
ming had been the golden bondage oi
a God-blessed love, sat mourniully by
the side of the grave where oil their
love and all their joy lay buried, and
only because of this. ] have seen
faith transformed to mean doubt.
hope give place to grim despair, and
charity take on itself the features Of
black malevolence, all because of the
spell of words of sandal and magic
mutterings Of gossip Great crine-
work great wrong, and the deepec
tragedies Of human life spring frou.
the larger passions but woful and
most mournful are the uncatslogued
tragedies that issue from gossip aud
detraction ; most mournful the ship
wreck often made of noble natures
and lovely lives by the bitter winds
and dead salt water of slander. -
easy to say, yet 81 hard to disprove
throwing on the innocent all the bur,
den and the strain of demonstrating
their innocence, and furnishing ;hem
as guilty. If unable to pluck out ih,.
stings they never see, and to silenc,
words they never hear-gossip ans
slander are the dcadliest and crnelrst
weapons man has ever forged for his
brothers. hurt.
Year: 1867

LAYING Up FOR CHILDREN. Parental
affection naturally inquiries what it
can best do for the welfare of its chill
dren in future years, and when the
bosom that now throbs with love to
it's offspring shall be cold in death.
Many plans are laid, and many hours
of anxious solicitude are spent in con-
triving ways and means of rendering
children prosperous AMI happy in fu-
ture life. But parents are not always
wise in the provisions they seek to
make for their children nor do they
always seek direction and counsel
from God in this matter The best
inheritance for children, beg ond all
contradiction, is true piety tswards
God, the salutary truths and pEinci-
Piles of religion laid up in the hearts
of the ,children-a good education
good and virtuous habits-unbending
principles of moral conduct--the fear
of God, and the hope of Heaven
This is the inheritance for children,
duu "HASu Oil pdicuLo cuoulu Uc uLoSG
anxious to lay up for them.


Many an unwise parent works hard
and lives sparingly all his life, for the
purpose of leaving enough to give his
children start in the world, as it is
called. Setting a young man afoat
with money left him by his relatives,
is like tying bladders under the aru.s
of one who cannot swim ten chan
ces to one he will lose the bladders,
or 60 to the bottom. Teach him to
swim, and he will not need the blad-
ders.


Give your children sound educs-
ton. See to it that his morals are
pure, mis- mind cultivated, and his
whole nature made subservent to the
laws which govern man, and you
have given what will be more valu.
able than the wealth of the Indies
You have given him start which nc
misfortune eau deprive him Of The
earlier you teach him to depend upon
his own resources and the blessings
of God the better.
Year: 1867

In charity sermon in behalf of
the Blind Asylum, the preacher gravely re-
marked, 'If all the world we're blind, what
melancholy sight it would be-"


WHILE you are getting rich, try to
get hold of that kind of wealth that brings
content with it, or you will be rich to little
purpose.


Some one says human heads are
like hogsheads-the less they contain, the
louder Che report they give Of themselves.
Year: 1867

on the other hand, the ten townships
that have contributed little or moth
ing in aid of this mission work Of
the county, report few or no conver-
sions or church additions from the
Sunday Schools. OF eleven town.
ships which report no accessions to
the churches, only one is reported as
having made an annual contribution
to the County Sunday School Associ-
alton. Do we not herein discover q
very noticeable proof of the fact,
that there is always correspondence
between what men do for God and
what God does for men. "The liber-
al soul shall be made fat and lie
that watereth shall be watered also
himself"


We earnestly hope that all our
Superintendents will encourage all
the scholars, even the youngest, to
bring an annual offering TO the Sab
bath School cause Of our county,
feeling assured that nineteen of ev.
cry twenty of the children will cheer
fully respond Thus will our youth
enjoy an experimental proof of the
truth of our Savior's words, 1t is
more blessed to give than to receive
n. n BETS, JR.,


1raa surar Rre dTord IN q s.
Year: 1867

The wonderful effects of Moffat's Life Pills in
cases of mental depression or physical weakness,
proceeding from indigestion, costiveness, or bilh-
GUS secretions are certified to by millions of per
sons who have been benefited by them. They are
the most effectic cathartie and purifier before
the public and have ever been in use since 1926
They are cheap, safe and reliable. Sold by all
spectacle dealers everywhere.
Year: 1867

Threescore-and-ten are indeed a good
ly number of years; but take away child
hood and age, take away the nights of
sleep, and the days of stupor, take away
absorbed in merely keeping up
the fire of existence, and we have very
little left. All time is not working time.
A few hours in each day, and few
years in each life, settle the destiny of
.-4n. We rise in the morning, keen and
clear; but, alas! very soon the embers of
We eye grow dull, and the edge of our
- blunted. We betake ourselves,
ye reach our prime, to serious buSi-
fn mind active, will strong, and
pund; but our sun pauses upon
hn only a moment, and then
es the decline. The great bat
sught, when our forces are in their
efficiency, and that which comes
IS little effect upon the issue of
;gn. The most of life is mere
be man powerlesS in himself,
Ter the momentum he has
IDS good, or towards evil.
ne best and brightest hours


will tell you whether


6ined or lost. Tell me


working period of a life
I'D l will know whether to
"a success or failure.


- we should be so weak-that


I'D so soon weary fits lifting


should so soon fade in its


imagination after few


lose its wings, and even


mind itself be paralyzed
ties of the flesh!


not murmur, or charge God


the hour of strength is de-
york, and not to self-indul-
Year: 1867

"Whatsoever thy hand 6ndeth, Of all
the varied forms of kindness and good.
Stand in your lot, and work around you,
in your own home; in your own neighbor-
hood; in your own town or country; and
if God enlarges the ability and opportu-
nifty, break forth upon the right hand
and upon the left; but don't wait for a
large field; cultivate the spot you have,
and help your ncghbors.


Remember that to put sound Gospel
tract into family, is like giving them a
draught of the water of life; to put there
an evangelical volume is like furnishing
them with ga water pot of two or three
frkins; nay, some volumes might rather
be likened to a reservoir; but to supply
them with the Bible is to open fountain
of living waters by the very hearth-stOne.
1t is like planting perennial spring i2
the travellers track across the -


hara. Do any, or all Of tt


blessing shall return unto yd


shall be gloriGed in you.-Oi
Year: 1867

KEEP A LIsT.-Keep list
friends; and let God be the frs
list, however long it may be.


Keep a list of the gifts you
let Christ, who is the unspeak
be first.


Keep list of your mercisl
pardon and life stand at the hea


Keep a list of your joys; and
joy unspeakable and full of glof
first.


Keep a list of your hopes; an
hope of glory be the first.


Keep a list of your sorroacs;
the sorrow of sin be first.


Keep a list of your enem
however many there may be, r
the cold man" and the cold
first.


Keep a list of your sins; and
sin of unbelief be set down as
and worst of all.
Year: 1867

ter had end01Hents o aihd, ana powers
as a preacher surpassed by. none, and
equalled by few of his great cotempora-
ries. Of his piety, exceeding modesty
and great worth, it were superfuous to
say anything. Many can still call to
mind his majestic presence, his kindling
eye, and head moulded so grandly as to
"give the world assurance ~of a man."
His theme too on the occasion of which L
speak, was exactly suited to his cast Of
thought, and his sonorous voice rang
through the grove and along the noun
tain like the sound of a deep-toned trum-
pet. When with all this, you consider
the place, the great congregation, and the
great religious awakening over the coun-
try, it may be understood in some meas
ure how well suited these agencies and
circumstances were to bring on this aw-
full impression, and carry on the work OF
mercy and salvation. Still it was not the
less divine. "There are diversities of
Year: 1867




sudden, surprising turns of the ro 6s
wonderful bendings and inter-lapi
the ridges; suggesting doubt y
way can be found to get throYI
not hesitate to place it before
ever visited. 1t is truly a s,
ness and grandeur which
cannot soon forget. The


present occasion was the 8
nv ride of six miles on hors
these deep, silent shades


during the last hours of Cd
in summer. For as emei
great Valley at Strickler's


turned to catch a side view
familiar Jump close to my left, the
rays of sunlight wereleaying its lofty peak
1t was an admonition Isten on my
journey. But suddenly a re nSee Of
years long gone by, seized a
as if by some magic pow
time entirely banished the
everything else. And well mi
for was not standing on holy
The North river, after so long thrS0
its doubtful way from head-springS
behind interminable mountains, JUS
suddenly breaks through the las
one forming the western BOUNDARY
our wide, and fertile, and beautiful Va
ley of Virginia-in its whole length an
breadth surely one of the very lovelies
upon earth. Now, as if freed from long
oppressive struggles, and "rejoicing a
a strong man to run race" it strikes
course south and obliquely across til
Valley, for about thirty miles, till swelle
by many tributaries its waters are ming
led with the James as it enters its mag
nifcent highway through the Blue Ridge
1t was here, at this spot Immediately o
the right of the road-on this beau
tiful grassy level where it suddenl
touches the mountain, which rises abrupt
ly and so high that it seems almost t
hang over us-it was here that l Wi
messed more than forty years ago seen
which some of the people of Rockbridg
Year: 1867

gaThe Tournament which was to come off on the 9th of next month, at Cotton Plant, has been postponed, on account of its conflicting with pro- tracted meeting which is set for that time. Timely notice will be given of the day next selected, for this interest ing entertainment.
Year: 1867

ssS~ We do sincerely thank Miss Nora Carr for T rich present of flowers vegetable. and fruit, which came to Us j;ist before going to press. IL makes the printers labor light to be thus re. minded that there are those in the outer world who know him inthought. May she whose kindness contributes to our pleasure have all thS joys of life show cred upon her in rich abun- dance is the printers wish. A
Year: 1867

He might furnish volume of certificates, but the public have long since learned to esti- mate such things at their true value. The safest plan is for every one to test for himself the Yirtle Of new medicine.
Year: 1867

A MONTANA REeIMENT.-A regiment of
mounted rifles will soon be organized in Mon
tana under the immediate auspices and en-
couragement of General Meagher, to be known
as the Mountain Mounted Rifles. 1t is the
purpose of General Meagher to turn over to
the Mounted Rifles the fine stand of arms and
the large supply of ammunition delivered to
him last fall by Colonel Sawyer. The regi-
ment will be thoroughly organized and
equipped.
Year: 1867

The returns of the vote for members of the
House of Representatives are quite meagre,
but they will show, without doubt, substantial
Democratic gains, and probably Democratic
majority.
Year: 1867

this subject may as well be left with those
who are not accustomed 10 put their rames
to papers without knowing their purport.


The proper court is authorized by law to
establish such roads and bridges as are CALI
ed for by the necessities and convenience OF
the public" and is it not unjust for any party
to undertake to prejudice the puolic by false
statements, and lorestall the action of the
proper court?


We hope no personal interest influences
the opinions of an" in this matter, and that
no one gigantic grocery shop will ever under
take to supply the towns Of Falmouth and
Cumberland with all the nutmegs they con-
consume. To-. FG.R.