Year: 1876

/ Here is the erecord of au obscure life which


may be worth the attention Of that intelli-


gent, wellto-do. majority, which is made


up, after all, of obscure people. Ii is a story


which suits all classes or any time, yet per-
haps his especial time best, when men and


women in tie cities, who have Anxiously


tried 10 be Of service TO God aud their fell
lowmen, are apt TO be daunted and depressed


oy the contrast between the great work ac-


eomPllshed by Others and their own quiet


labor. The story is OF a poor ssamstress in


mill town in Indiana, who was left


widow some fifteen years ago, dependent on


her needle for her dally bread. she lived


near one of the factories where hundreds of


both sexes were employed, and night and


morning large gangs of girls and men passed


ner oooe miserably hungry and gloomy, or
more mlserably b0isterous. Ii was mill
Nnere the hands are driven Ike cattle and
regarded as cattle in every other sense.


Inc woman saw the young glrls pass SO often


tnat she learned to know their faces and
pitied them as a mother might have done.


indeed, We question If she had any excep-


uonai quailty or means of influence in the


"orid other than her motherly nature. She


was an uneducated, homely little body, but


with patience and tenderness enough in the


heart to serve all the children in the world.


u wanted, she sand, ITO give these eirls


chance like other women; they had no


chance as it was to be anything better than


the mules Which drew away the siufT they


spun."


Our poor reformer took one-iust one girl


into her kitchen. She half starved herself


to do that. She made the girl clean, and


taught her to remain; taught her to scrub,


wash, cook and tell truth. 1t took years To
accomplish so much; years of patience and
self-sacrifce. When she had finished, in
stead OF coarse dirty animal, she had nodded
for use and service in the world clean
minded honest woman, witt, skilllui hands
and intelligent brain. She took one after
another of these wretched girls and trained
them as seamstressSs, cooks, chambermaids,
at her own cost of time and money. Situa-
tions were readily found for them; the
houseket pers OF the town soon discovered
how different the women were whom she
had trained from any other; but she never
parted with them unless she was confident
that the work she had begun would be car
ried on In the same hearty spirit. In two
cases the girls whom she thus adopted were
deformed and sickly. These both remained
with her until her death, supporting them
selves by some light handiwork. In other
cases they were rescued from worse places
than the mill. few Of the girls became
sincere Christians but all Except one) led
vIrtuous, honest, useful lives. One peculiar
effect OF her training was that her pupils
caught from her her own genial, helpful
sprit; they were missionaries Of Kindness in
their humble world; and cheerful face in
cook, or gentle, tender manner in nurse
maid, are not merits SO common as to be de-
spised. nag


I'd The widow and her work was never known
to fame, even in the town where she lived.
People supposed, when she took a larger
house so as to accommodate more inmates,
that she kept kind Of intelligence office,
or cheap boarding house, and there were
not wanting many in her own rank OF life
to hint that she paid herself somehow from
the labor OF these poor; that she ''feathered
her nest we'll" None of the women whom
she had helped ever wronged her by a sus-
picion. Next TO God, whom she faithfully
tried to teach them to serve, they believed
In her. II she had proven humbug, the
faith OF many poor soul in His goodness
would have been shaken, for all they knew
OF the goodness or beauty or pleasure He
had sent into the world they knew through
this poor woman. There were other women
who could preach of Christ by words more
effectually than she; some Of them, quite as
uncultured, had "gift of prayer" (" or real
native eloquence which moved their hearers
in class meeting or the church. Aunt Han
nah, as she was called, never spoke in class
or meeting; she was slow and dull of speech
anywhere. She often no doubt felt her de-
tciencies bitterly, and wished that she could
serve her Master in some great and striking
way, 1t seemed u poor commonplace thing
to her, as it may to our readers, to teach
girls how to make or wear clothes neatly,
or to cook, a savory dinner; to watch and
labor necessarily day after day. year after
year, to wipe out this or that little fault. to
strengthen weak virtue. She would have
been glad, no doubt, as we all would, to
Convert the great masses of vice and un-
cleanliness in the world into purity and
goodness, in an hour--to play Divine Proyi-
dence, in word: Instead, she had SMALL
coarse work set before her, and did it. OF
another woman 1t was said, rShe.hath done
What she could" when she anoi ntod her
Sayior's head with precious ointment.