C. O'Brien

“ Frank, open-hearted, and affectionate was Albert; and Henry loved him.
Albert's father was in business, and he was deemed to be a prosperous man; but there had been one drawback to his prosperity—a worm in the bud; and, at length, after many years of downward progress, his business was closed, his family scattered, and himself an imprisoned debtor.
The prisoner was moodily pacing the narrow yard of the debtor's court, over the high spiked walls of which gleamed some doubtful rays of autumnal sunshine, when Henry and his father approached him. ”

“ All will come right, Walter, in God's own time; rest assured of that. Meanwhile do your duty strictly to your master; bear no ill-will towards any one; seek for no revenge, even if you come to be certain of the justice of your suspicions; remember that Jesus Christ prayed for His enemies, and that, in every action of His most sinless life, He left us an example that we should follow in His steps."
"Mother, it always does me good to talk to you; and, indeed, I bear no ill-will towards Frank."
"Would you go out of your way to do him a kindness, Walter?" ”

“ That sigh haunted Walter all the evening, even while sitting at his mother's cheerful fireside, and listening to her expressions of pleasure at the sight of her son's bank-book.
Was Frank right? And was it REALLY too late for him to do better? Too late for him to retrace his steps? Certainly not.
"While the lamp holds on to burn,
The vilest sinner may return;—"
And as long as God spares our lives, so long is it in our power to pray God for His grace to enable us to break the chains of our sins, and to lead better lives. ”

“ Walter laughed at Gracie's serious tone. "Being laughed at breaks no bones, as mother says, Gracie, and, somehow, it always makes me feel stronger; that is, when my conscience tells me I am only doing what is right. That's the true test, Gracie; doing wrong is the only thing one need really feel ashamed of." ”

“ There, in the summer time, the blind child would pass hours together, listening to the song of the birds, the hum of the insects, the rustling of the leaves stirred by the passing breeze, and the pleasant rushing sound of the mill-stream. At such times the child's thoughts would wander far away into the distant future—to that blessed day when, as her Bible told her, "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. ”

“ I am just what I have made myself; and know where it is said, 'He which is filthy, let him be filthy still.'"
It seemed useless to urge with one who, while he knew what the consequences of his sins had been—what the eternal consequences would be, yet loved them too well to relinquish them; and at length Mr. Ekworth gave up the contest.
"I cannot say more to you, Hallet," he said, "but I must pray for you and with you."
And kneeling down, he poured out earnest supplications for the unhappy slave of sin, and then he rose to depart. ”

“ Walter saw that he was not believed; and when Mr. King came to the yard, in the course of the day, he felt sure that the foreman had told him about the tools being left out, as his master's manner to him was not so cordial as usual.
"You be sure and see that all is straight before you leave this evening," said Mr. King to Walter. "Your evening studies must not interfere with your duty to me, remember."
Walter coloured deeply, knowing to what his master alluded.
"I never yet failed in my duty, sir, and I hope I never shall." ”

“ How many there are who love their parents with a selfish love! And how comparatively few there are who imitate Walter's unselfish example. As Walter resumed his work after thanking his master, he caught, Frank's eyes fixed upon him with a look of jealous dislike. Working together at the same bench, as the two lads had now done for some years, there was a degree of intimacy between them which, from the difference in their respective characters, might not otherwise have arisen. ”

“ It is God's will that men should follow different pursuits, according to the position of life in which He has placed them. It may be that we are called to very humble duties—duties very far down in the social scale. Are we, then, to think such duties insignificant? Far from it. Low as they are, they are still held from God, for it is He who hath appointed them, and they constitute a stewardship for which we shall hereafter have to give an account. Our wisdom and happiness, then, will consist in endeavouring, through God's grace, to do, as far as in us lies, the work which He has set us to do. ”

“ The memory of blind persons is generally more retentive than that of other people; God in His great mercy seeming to make up to them in this way for the loss of sight.
No one could look at Little Gracie and fail to see that her blindness was to her a great mercy. Living in a little world of her own, shut out from seeing the unkind looks, the angry gestures, which so embittered the lives of all the other members of her family, she was the only happy inmate of the mill cottage. ”

“ Is it not to let all men see that we believe in Christ, serve Christ, love Christ, and care more for His praise than for all the praise of men?
This is the duty of every Christian. It is not for martyrs only, but for members of Christ's Church in every rank of life,—the rich man among the rich, the labourer among labourers, the young among the young. ”

“ King, who had entered the yard unobserved by the lads, and had overheard Frank's last remark. "Time is a precious gift, lad, and one for the use or misuse of which God will call us all one day to give an account. Don't think I wish to stop young people from enjoying themselves at proper times; I know full well that all work and no play would be good for no one. We all want some sort of relaxation from our daily labours; but what young people call enjoyment is not always innocent; and a lad of your age, with much spare time on his hands, is exposed to much temptation. ”

“ I reminded you this morning, I tell you again, that there is One who can subdue your iniquities, and can cast all your sins into the depths of the sea. Go to Him."
"It is of no use," said Hallet, impatiently. "There is nothing you can say, sir, that I do not already know; but you do not know how hard my heart is. I know as well as you can tell me, that I have brought ruin on myself and my poor wife and family, and am killing myself by inches; and you know well how it began, Mr. Ekworth, for you warned me twenty years ago, when you first knew of my goings on at the Eight Bells ”

“ I was always a sad dunce, Walter; and, between ourselves, the chief reason why I told father I should like to be a carpenter was because I thought there wasn't much learning wanted to hammer in nails and plane wood. And as to being master, I'll leave that for you, and shall content myself with being one of your workmen, should you ever arrive at the high position to which you aspire. ”

“ It was shortly after her husband's death, and she had not yet been set up in her little shop. Always kind-hearted, and clever at nursing, she had assisted Mrs. Hardy in her care of poor Gracie, and the child became much attached both to her and to Walter, who would sit for the hour together, endeavouring to amuse the blind child.
Gracie's affliction had proved a blessing to her. Our greatest trials are often blessings in disguise. In Gracie's case, God had sent His Holy Spirit to soften the little girl's naturally self-willed and passionate nature ”

“ Suppose we should ever come to be like Tom, Willy!"
"We need not, unless we like, Walter."
"But we can never tell how soon we may fall into temptation; I think mother is right, after all."
"What about?" asked Willy.
"She says it would be better for the world if there were no such places as 'The Plough.'"
"Oh, Walter!"
"It's quite true, Willy; and she says also that beer and spirits are really necessary to no one, and that at least a fourth part of the earnings of every working man who drinks beer are spent in the public-house." ”

“ He was greatly changed, and he found great changes in his native village. His father was dead, and his mother had removed to a distant part of the county. Walter alone seemed unchanged. He received his former companion with real kindness, and shielded him, so far as lay in his power, from any unkindness on the part of his fellow-workmen. He gave him constant employment, and, by degrees, Frank's health improved considerably; but he never was himself again; and the want of a little more education when he was a lad prevented his ever rising above the rank of a common workman. ”

“ What need, then, for us to pray that God would, of His tender mercy, make His Word to be indeed a lamp unto our feet, shining through the darkest earthly day, and guiding our steps towards that heavenly country where there will be no more need of sun or candle, "for the Lord God giveth them light?" ”

“ Idle people do not like to see others more industrious than themselves; and it was the fact of Walter's joining the evening school which had first excited the ill-feeling of Frank Hardy.
His master's open commendation of Walter's conduct that morning, and the present to him of the drawing instruments, had put the finishing stroke to Frank's ill-humour, and from that hour, he became Walter's enemy.
What is true in mere worldly matters is still more the case in religion. Our Saviour says—"Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God ”

“ That's right, Walter; there is no one but what has opportunities, at some time or another, of influencing a companion, either by his advice or example. Take advantage of every such occasion; and remember that, as in the old fable, the efforts of a tiny mouse were of service in setting free a great lion, so even young people have it in their power to help forward great and important results. ”

“ A stream runs through some rich pasture meadows on its way to the sea; and in its course works a large flour-mill, belonging to the proprietor of one of the large farms in the neighbourhood, who thus combines the trade of farmer and miller. In the mill cottage, close to the stream, lived Frank Hardy's parents and their numerous family. On the other side of the stream, steep wooded hills rise almost perpendicularly from the water's edge; and from the summit of the hills the eye wanders far away over a richly-wooded country, a great proportion of which is the property of Squire Forbes, Oak Glen. ”

“ No one can pray for his enemies and not feel kindly towards them. The very act of praying for another is unselfish in itself; and it is impossible to feel anger and bitterness towards one for whom we are asking God's grace and favour. So that the praying for our enemies brings down a blessing for ourselves by subduing in us the uncharitable feelings which we might have previously entertained towards the subject of our prayers.
When Walter met Frank the following morning, he looked confused and uneasy ”

“ Half-naked children, many of them bare-foot and bare-headed, with dishevelled hair, and coated with filth, were playing, screaming, quarrelling, and fighting in the road-way and on the pavements; and men and women, some fierce in aspect, some moody, some dejected, but all dirty and miserably clad, were moving to and fro, or lounging at the open doors and windows of the houses. ”

“ I have read a great many more books in my life than you are likely to do, and I think that if I take a number of great and interesting facts out of some of those books, and tell them to you in simple language, such as even the youngest amongst you will be able to understand, it may give you a little stock of useful general knowledge, which will be of service to you in life, and which it would take more time than you have at command to acquire from books. ”

“ The lads separated—Frank to keep his appointment, whatever it might be, with Tom Haines, and Walter to go to the Rectory, to enter down his name as one who would wish to attend the evening school, then about to be formed, for the first time, in Springcliffe.
And here let us say a few words about the benefit of evening classes. It is a fact that there are very, very many men and women, even at the present day, who scarcely know how to read and write. There are, indeed, few who do not, as children, go to school for some portion of time ”