Aunt Fanny

“ George's birthday would come on the 8th of March, when he would be of age, and they hoped that a box containing these mittens and a loving gift from each and every member of his family, would reach him in time.
"Twenty-one years old!" cried Harry. "Why, George can vote! I think that is the very best of being a man." ”

“ As I sat here thinking how to begin my story of the "Orphan's Home," our Saviour's beautiful parable of "the grain of mustard seed" came into my mind; and that you may see how well it applies to what I am about to relate, I will copy it here.
"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying:
"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field:
"Which, indeed, is the least of all seeds; [15] but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs; and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." ”

“ You know all about your Saviour, who died for you and me. We take care of you, because we love you. I love you all dearly, and you don't know what a happy and proud woman I shall be if I live a few years longer, and hear of you boys as good, perhaps great men. There is nothing to prevent it. I am sure you would rather be good than bad. I am quite certain, when you have been bad, that your conscience makes you miserable. Is it not so?"
The tears were trembling in some of the boys' eyes; and one or two answered in a loud voice, "Yes, ma'am." ”

“ Just like a grain of mustard seed did this great charity begin.
More than ten years ago, a poor man lay in a miserable bed, dying. His little children were weeping at his bedside, for their mother had gone to heaven long before; and they did not know who to look to for food and shelter, when they should be orphans. ”

“ I want nothing for myself! but I would get on my knees to you for my children. I cannot die peacefully, thinking of the poverty and dreadful temptations to which they will be exposed. Left alone, orphans and penniless, who is to teach them the way to heaven?"
"Take comfort, my poor friend," said the kind lady, "your children shall not suffer want."
"But will they be taught to know and love their Saviour?" ”

“ As they were borne to the rear, they would pass us with a smile on their ghastly faces; or would utter a faint, trembling cheer, and the words, 'Never give up, boys, Victory or death!' and then a grand heroic fire would blaze up in their eyes.
"On we marched, till we heard cheers and screams of fury mingling with the thundering of the guns. Thick smoke, through which came flashes with a gleam like tiger's eyes, enveloped us, and the whistle of the bullets rushed close past our ears. ”

“ When we had covered the tree in every direction, we stopped, and stared at each other; and then I said, "Dear me! what shall we do with all that is left!"
"I think we shall have to spread them out on a large table," said our kind and lovely first directress, who had been with the orphans from the very beginning, when the charity was only the little grain of mustard seed; and who loved them like her own children.
Just at that moment, the matron came in and said that the congregation of the Bishop Wainwright Memorial Church in Hammond street, had sent us a large tree and some lanterns. ”

“ You see, boys, that the noble-hearted little child was even more happy in giving than the poor boy was in receiving; and I want you every day of your lives to love one another, and be generous and kind one to another—to do as you would wish to be done by, for this is what little Lucy did. ”

“ They almost seem to catch the gold
Of the sky's wild glory light.
'See! There is the red, mamma,
And there is the beautiful blue;
Did God make the blue and red?
Did He make the white clouds too?
"'And away up in the sky,
[104] Oh! see the little bright star!
Why! God is for the Union?
Isn't He, mamma?'"
"What a dear little fellow he was," cried Johnny. "Yes, God is for the Union. Why can't everybody see it?"
"All in good time—His good time," said his brother; "come, Johnny, let's us go back to mother." And so they separated; and our boys, Harry and Johnny, walked quickly home. ”

“ You are further from being generous and true and persevering, in short from possessing Christian character, than you were this time a year ago. By your carelessness and idleness, you came out of your field without a grain of gold. Besides, by making resolves and breaking them continually, you are losing all moral power and all confidence in yourself. It were better to make no promises than to be guilty of breaking so many."
Joel's convictions were fast overcoming his feelings, and the tears were starting when he asked, "What shall I do, then, if I mustn't make any more resolutions, father?" ”

“ You would have thought that two large houses would have been room enough; but our grain of mustard seed was now a great tree, in the branches of which many more [21] little orphan birds must have a warm nest, and be lodged and fed; and, above all, taught the Way of Life. But there was no room. The ladies who composed the Board of Managers put their wise heads together, and concluded to ask all good Christian people to help them. ”

“ A joyful light beamed from the little fellow's eyes; his whole countenance became irradiated with happiness, and in accents of grateful delight he exclaimed, "Oh, the bishop has blessed me!" In a few hours afterward his Saviour called him, and his gentle spirit passed away from earth, to love and serve God forever in heaven.
All the rest of our children kept in excellent health, and most of them were good and obedient. The ladies worked very hard, and, with God's blessing, all things went on well. ”

“ I am cheerful during the day, but in my dreams at night, I still hear the deadly whiz of bullets, and feel the horrible breath of the great balls and shells on my cheek. You can form no idea of the peculiar sensation it causes. Then poor Walter's dying form and words rise up in my brain ”

“ The grain of mustard seed had sprung up, and its leaves unfolding more and more, made it necessary to find a larger space for it to grow. So a three-story house in Hammond street was taken, and before long, twenty happy children were living there.
Oh, how hard the ladies worked in [19] those few first years! The money came slowly in; but they never grew fainthearted. More and more poor little orphans came to their door, begging for a home, and the living care which their own mothers, dead and gone, could never more bestow. ”

“ So I cut ten little squares of paper, while they gathered round me and looked on with the greatest interest, and on each bit of paper I put a boy's name.
"Now, boys, you will all have a chance. [89] See—I will roll up each bit, and tumble them all together in this saucer; and then who shall take them out one by one?"
"All of us," they cried.
"No, that won't do. Let Joseph, as he is the smallest boy; and mind, the last one wins."
"Yes, ma'am," they said; and now it was funny to see the intense importance with which little Joseph put in his thumb and finger among the papers. ”

“ The battle was won!
"Roanoke Island was ours! with all the enemy's guns, and three thousand men with their arms, ammunition, and stores. The victory was complete.
"There was one young fellow, dear mother, who deserved to be made a general. Oh, mother! he was only seventeen years old—three years younger than I. He was ordered to plant a battery of six twelve-pounder boat howitzers from the vessels in the advance of the centre. He dragged these through the swamp and placed them in position. ”

“ What was her surprise and delight, when she peeped in, to find a light, delicate biscuit, a nice cake, a beautiful ripe peach, and a little cherry tart.
"Lucy (for that was her name) placed all these things on the bench, and clapping her hands with delight, exclaimed: 'Oh! how nice they all look! What a fine [82] party dolly and I will have with them!' Then she put the biscuit in dolly's white kid hand, who smiled sweetly all the time, and taking the cake in her own, began to eat it. ”

“ On the afternoon of the 14th February, Harry and Johnny went out together. They felt so distressed about their beloved brother, they could not sit still in the [98] house. Near Union Park they met Gus Averill, one of Harry's friends, and some other lads. Of course the boys immediately began talking of the battle of Roanoke Island; as Gus had an elder brother in the same company with George.
"Oh, Harry!" cried Gus, "have you had any news from your brother? Is he safe?"
"We don't know yet," answered Harry sorrowfully. "Have you heard from your brother Walter?" ”

“ Lincoln's HONESTY OF HEART keeps his head clear, and so he does his duty; while his enemies snap and snarl; but they never 'catch a gudgeon.' Do you know Aunt Fanny?" he asked.
"Oh yes," cried all the boys.
"Well, her daughter wrote such a nice piece about the President, that I have learned it. If you like, I will tell it to you."
"That we should!" cried the boys; so Johnny in a clear voice began:
"Fling out the broad banner! ”

“ Oh, what glances of affection came from those orphans' eyes! and one little bit of a boy, who had been made to sit on the floor close by the teacher's desk, because the boy next him had tickled him and made him laugh out loud at prayers—this little fellow put up his hand and smoothed my [54] dress. I took his little fat fingers in mine, and went on:
"Yes, I love you dearly. I don't expect you to be perfect children, because no one is always good; but I want you to think, how kind your Father in Heaven has been to you, to place you here ”

“ I could not help laughing; but at last I said, "Now, boys, it's my turn to speak, so be quiet." Then I told them of poor children wandering in the streets that very day, without shoes or stockings, dirty, starving, taught to lie and steal, and sure, if they grew up, to do worse and worse, till they ended their days in [59] prison, or were perhaps hung for murder. "My dear boys," I continued, "use your reason, and see how much better you are off. You are clothed, fed, and above all, taught how to lead pure lives. ”

“ I don't know as you will like it as much as I did; but I've got a little brother, who says just such things the whole time." [103] "Why, so have we," cried Johnny, "lots of them! so come let's hear it."
The little fellow put his finger on his lip, to think for a moment, and then began in a low voice; all the boys crowding round so as not to lose a word. ”

“ We took three children belonging to volunteers who had no one to leave them with, and we had one poor little fellow from Fort Sumter. He was born in the fort, and soon after abandoned by his mother, who became a very wicked woman. Then his father—who was a good soldier—was sent to Florida to help fight against the Indians, and was killed: and poor little Richard was left alone in the world, with no one to take care of him but an old woman, who washed the soldiers' clothes and worked in the fort. ”

“ He says, he that would have wisdom must search for her as for silver, and seek her as a man seeks hid treasure. You seek wisdom when you set before you such resolutions as these. Now if a man believes there is gold in a certain place, he keeps digging and digging for weeks, till he strikes the vein. ”

“ The third parcel contained a china head and neck, very pretty, and quite perfect.
"Oh," cried Alice, "what a pretty doll's head! only she has no seam to her hair. It must be because she is a secession doll." ”

“ You must not break any more resolutions. One great secret of failure is, that you get discouraged because you are not perfect. Now, if you fail one day, you should not give up, but make haste to reach your old ground to-morrow. In regard to these resolutions, probably you were not sufficiently in earnest in the first place ”

“ Everybody in the Home got presents, and the greatest quantity of candies; and everything went off successfully. The [47] children were to have holiday from school, that is, more play than usual between Christmas and New Year; and I am sure they had a happy time with their new toys.
Some weeks before this, I had been put on the school committee. This is composed of three of the managers, who are specially appointed to visit the school, every day if they like, see what is wanted in the way of books, &c., hear the report of the teacher about the conduct of the children, and give plenty of advice. ”

“ I know that I should break them many times; but if you ask God to help you, you may in time be able to overcome the continual temptation to break them."
Then we had a long friendly talk together; and I saw, here and there, a beautiful trait, or noble impulse, in these poor orphan boys. They were rude to each other, but they were not mean; and I felt sure that, rightly trained, they would become, in time, good boys and good men.
"Suppose, my dear boys," I said, "I get pen, ink, and paper, and write out these resolutions, for each of you to keep a copy in your pockets ”

“ I went to the committee room, and there the first directress began to talk to me; and I staid much longer than I at first intended. When I went back with my writing materials, I listened an instant at the door. It was perfectly still.
"We have not moved or spoken," said all the boys at once.
[75]
"I believe you," I answered. "You are first rate fellows! not so bad, after all. I think there must have been some mistake about that bad conduct. You can behave so well when you try. I hope it is a mistake that will never happen again. ”

“ And, my darlings, it will do more, I hope, and believe. It will show you that children can do a great deal of good, if they only try. If I have proved this to your satisfaction, and if you should ever form [129] or join a children's society to work for the soldiers, or help the poor, I really think you must let me know it, so that I can write you a letter, or come and give you a good, loving kiss.
And now, as my book is already getting too long, I can only tell you that George remained in his beloved General Burnside's division during the spring and summer of this year, 1862 ”