Lizzie Bates

“ Kirby, I doubt if I should have had courage to commence anew in the morning. But life is something more than sleeping and eating. It is the maturing into noble deeds, the consciousness of mental power, the exercise of that power in heroic self-conquest, and in doing good to others. I thought of this as I arose and looked up to the mountain we had once climbed. ”

“ Religion is not a [145] thing of gloom and clouds. It is a lamp, a light, a sun; the very thing to cheer a desolate heart, and to brighten still more a cheerful, happy spirit.
“That was what made Mr. Kirby so good and happy, wasn’t it?” said Jennie as we went home.
“And Mr. Brisbane,” I continued. “I often wondered how he could be so happy when he was always suffering.”
It had always been a habit since we had been with Miss Grimshaw to repeat as much of the sermon as we could to grandma, as we called Miss Grimshaw’s mother. ”

“ I never pass a lad in the street, dirty, ragged, and homeless, but I think of my own early lot; never look upon the pale face and blue eyes of a little girl, that I do not think of Jennie, kept by his goodness and shielded by his love. And I would say to all the climbers—to all those boys and girls who are striving to help themselves, to work, and study—first make the Saviour your friend, give him your hearts, then go on courageously in the path he will be sure to open before you. ”

“ Do you not think it equally good to sway men as clergymen do? It is the lawyer’s business to help men out of temporary difficulties. It is the clergyman’s business [48] to show men a better way: first to show them their condition as sinners, then to tell them of the precious Saviour who died to redeem them, and who will not only save them from temporary difficulties, but raise them to an eternity of happiness. Is there any thing more glorious than this, Marston? ”

“ Robert Lovell did not board in the academy. He was the only son of a widowed mother, who lived in Terryville, and he paid his tuition by teaching a class of the smallest boys. Hence he was looked upon as both teacher and pupil; and his good sense and judicious bearing won the entire regard of those with whom he had to do. Of Scotch descent, large and overgrown, he looked much older than he really was. As a scholar, he was deep rather than brilliant, with a powerful memory, and fine appreciation of the beautiful. ”

“ As you say, if I have the right spirit, I can spend the Sabbath here as well as in Claverton. I [161] can think of Jennie as she sits in her little room; and when we do meet, we can compare our lessons and note our advancement just as we do in our other studies.”
“Certainly; and remember that God knows us, and approves not so much what we have accomplished, as the effort that we make. It is not what we give that makes our offering acceptable, but the spirit in which it is given; not what we do, but the spirit in which it is done.” ”

“ When the heart drinks in the beauty of his words, when the light of his countenance shines upon the repentant soul, what a flood of rapture thrills the entire being! Christ is to us what the sun is to the material world, the dispenser of light, life, and joy. ”

“ Kirby had taught us.
“If we could only have such a person with us all the time,” said Jennie. “And still my Sabbath-school teacher says that we can all have a Friend better and wiser than any earthly friend can be. All that is necessary is to ask him; the precious Saviour is always ready to be a friend to any who heartily desire him. You do, don’t you, Marston?” ”

“ Overhearing one of the professors saying that he could not find a suitable gardener for his grounds, and having learned a good deal of gardening from Mr. Harlan, I offered myself, and was accepted. I needed exercise. This was just as good as boating, ball-playing, or the gymnasium.
One Saturday, as I returned from the river with a wheelbarrow of pebbles for the flooring of a new arbor I had just planned, I met several of my class-mates at the gate. Conquering my first impulse of false shame, I advanced as though it was the most pleasant exercise imaginable. ”

“ I crossed the room and leaned my head on the mantel; school life was so different from what I had expected. I had supposed that everybody appreciated study, that everybody longed for an education, and that only opportunity was wanted to make good scholars. I had learned differently. Nominal students were not actual learners; neither were those who [182] applied themselves the most diligently, in all cases the most appreciated. Then I remembered again Mr. Kirby’s words: “Doing right is the only safe course, and although slow and wearisome at first, is sure to succeed. ”

“ Jennie too had remembered his words, and studied the little Bible he gave her, first because he had given it, and afterwards because its teachings responded to her spirit’s need. It is hardly possible for one to be a constant reader of that blessed book without a marked effect on heart and life. The diligent student of the Bible will have his tastes refined, his affections made more pure, his aspirations elevated, and his whole moral and mental tone immeasurably exalted. ”

“ Again had I reached the gravelled shore, and was shovelling away smartly, when Harry Gilmore leaped down the bank with his merry laugh and cheerful voice.
“If I was to envy anybody at Rockdale, it would be you,” he said, after a few words about the fishing party.
[201] “Me!” and I pointed to my bare arms and my face dripping with perspiration.
“Yes, I believe you have more real comfort than any one of us who have rich fathers. You prize every hour in school, because it costs you self-denial; while we have never learned to value privileges that cost us nothing. ”

“ Returning home, I had just reached the point where the narrow white line of a brook became visible, when Jennie bounded up the pathway, her round cheeks all aglow, her blue sun-bonnet thrown back, and the sunshine playing with the loose meshes of her hair. She could hardly steady her voice, so eager was she to know of the day.
“Tell me all about it, brother. Miss Grimshaw said Rockdale was such a lovely place. Oh, I am sure it cannot be more beautiful there than it is here. Are there any little girls that go to the school? ”

“ How proud I was of that little sister; and never did we go to church or Sabbath-school, but I wondered if mother could know it.
[85] When the summer heats were on us there was less to do, and sometimes I got a walk with Jennie among the hills. A year had made a great difference with both of us, while the mountain was just the same; and we often thought of our last walk there, and of dear Mr. Kirby.
“If he could only know how kind Miss Grimshaw is to us,” said Jennie. “It is God that puts it into her heart, isn’t it? and not for our sakes, but for Christ’s sake. ”

“ Under the exhilarating influence of the day, and our unexpected freedom, we ran, laughed, shouted—appearing, as we really were, a [248] company of grown-up school-boys. I remember Harry Gilmore’s mirthful tone as we pelted him with chestnuts, and how Wright forgot his dignity when we covered his hat and shoulders with red and yellow leaves.
After visiting a gallery of paintings, which was the ostensible object of the excursion, and which we all expressed ourselves as sorry to leave, Stevens invited us to step into a restaurant for refreshment. ”

“ Of my early life I cannot remember much before we went to the mountains, and still I have always had a vague remembrance of a pleasant home surrounded with tall trees, a fountain bubbling up and catching the sun’s rays in a thousand bewildering forms, sweet flowers, and singing birds ”

“ Compared with this, the fields of worldly ambition seemed a vast waste, without flowers or fruit.
“I am glad that you feel like this, Marston;” and grandma tottered across the room and laid her withered hand upon my head. “I have prayed earnestly for this. Young, earnest, persevering, you have the power of doing much good. I am thankful, Oh how thankful, that you see it in this light.”
The tears streamed over the cheeks of this aged saint. Jennie was weeping too, and I could not speak. ”

“ And still, with all my resolves, I was [193] conscious I failed in the most important, point. Did I love the Saviour as he did? Did I as closely follow Him?
Winter passed, and spring blossomed into beauty. Robert Lovell was again with us. There was more study; examination was coming, and all were anxious to make a good appearance. My room-mate was more studious, and Harry Gilmore was trying to redeem time. Out of school my time was taken up with gardening; and much pleasanter it was than making paths in the ice and snow. ”

“ Could I only live the vacation over again, I would be more watchful, more patient in trial.
It is thus we ever feel, when we look back. Yet do we always gain wisdom from the retrospect? The future instead [152] of the past calls for our resolves, and the wail of memory blending with the whispers of conscience, should be our incentive to a more useful life.
But when Mrs. Wyman came in with some nice new shirts that were once Willie’s, and a handsome blue cloth jacket, that “looked so like the dear boy,” she said, I broke down entirely. ”

“ Still, with constant effort, untiring self-denial, and inflexible purpose, the height might be won. The germs of the future harvest must be planted before it can be gathered in. Slow and difficult might be the ascent, and many a time the feet might falter in the way, and the heart well-nigh break, while weakness, prejudice, and passion hinder the progress of the eager soul.
[14] One look to God, however, and obstacles vanish, doubts dissolve. His strength is never denied those that ask him. Marston Howe’s mother was a Christian. ”

“ Jeffries,” said I, turning my gaze from the mountain towering above us to the face of my host. “Hope is the grand incentive to the American boy, the hope of knowing more, and doing better for himself and others, than his father and grandfather did before him. Look around you and see who are the men of the present; ten to one they are poor men’s sons. ”

“ Harlan were very kind and patient teachers, and I was so fresh and new in my studies, that I trembled in view of the blunders I felt sure I should make before strangers and critics.
“All Terryville will be here,” said Henry Alden; “but then you need not mind: you are the best one we have in arithmetic, and history too; and as for your Latin, why you are only a beginner; they wont expect much; and in declamation you know you will take the lead.” ”

“ Such a chance you don’t get every day. Come on.”
I longed to avail myself of the privilege. I had not had a ride, save on horseback, for a long time. And then it was to see Frank; and perhaps I could stop for a moment at Miss Grimshaw’s, and see Jennie. Still I had no time. Mrs. Harlan was expecting me back, and there stood the wheelbarrow half-full of gravel. “No,” I answered, “I cannot go. I have not the time; drive on;” and I took my shovel, not daring to look up till the handsome turnout was out of sight. ”

“ It has always seemed to me I should like to be a lawyer. Yet it must be pleasant, as you say, to make people better.”
“I hope you will always think so, Marston,” and Mr. Kirby gathered some wild flowers. “They will remind us of the walk. Flowers have the happy power of always calling our best thoughts to the surface.” ”

“ Patience when we commence is quite as needful in intellectual as in physical effort. The end of the race tells who wins.”
“There is a good deal of consolation [43] in that,” I ventured to remark. “Climbing hills I can easily do; but I am sometimes afraid that is the only climbing that will be allowed me.”
“Not if you wish another. Obstacles vanish before a strong and resolute will.”
“But circumstances, Mr. Kirby.”
“Look behind you, Marston, and you will see that while walking and talking at our leisure, we have been advancing all the time, and have in reality made a very perceptible ascent. ”

“ It is so to every one, Marston; you are no exception. The more you read and study the Bible, the more you will learn that life is a continued warfare. Good and great as St. Paul was, he felt this more keenly than you do. The natural heart is deceitful, depraved, and desperately wicked ”

“ Robert Lovell came into my room, and seeing my sorrowful face, asked the cause. I told him of my little sister, my mother’s charge concerning her, and that I could not be happy if obliged to remain from her over the Sabbath.
“It is a great self-denial, I can see; but if you have the right spirit, you do not need to go to Claverton to spend Sunday properly. God looks at the heart; he sees all your love and devotion, and he is not one to forget. You want an education; through the kindness of friends, [160] you are put in a position to help yourself. ”

“ Since the vacation commenced, he had visited the grocery almost every day, and very fond he seemed of all sports and amusements.
This boy has a home, I said to myself sadly, and parents to watch over him; he does not have to look after himself; and his little sister is no better than Jennie; and again I dared to question why Frank Clavers had so much, and we were so destitute. ”

“ The next day was Saturday; and as I sat in Miss Grimshaw’s back room, petted a little more than usual by Jennie and grandma, I thought of Mr. Harlan’s words, “No right effort is ever lost.” And it seemed that I could hear again Mr. Kirby’s voice, “Whatever you do, [120] do well, and God will open a path to something better.” Since then they have come to me often in characters of light, to brighten my darkest hours. They have helped me labor on. When my heart was sore with heaviness, they have aided me in adhering to the right in despite of ridicule and temptation. ”