OuTfte THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES y '(*"' '> J Yon will take care of me. father dear ; I dont feel afraid when yon take hold of my hand. (See p. 17.) SABBATH TALKS WITH LITTLE CHILDREN, ON sdms of abfo. BY THE AUTHOR OP "THE MOTHERS OF THE BIBLE " SABBATH TALKS ABOUT JESUS," *c. ' Sow in the morn thy seed ; At eve hold not thy hand ; To doubt and fear give tliou no heed ; Broadcast it round the land." ' Thou shall not toil in vain ; Cold, heat, and moist, and dry, Shall foster and mature the grain For garners in the sky." FIFTH THOUSAND. BOSTON: J. E. TIL TON AND COMPANY. 1860. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by J. E. TILTON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachuseits. PKINTKD BY OEO. c. l:.\.\l) & AVi;,c.. STEREOTYPED AT T II K UObTON STEP.JEOTTPK FOUNDRT BV CONTENTS. PAQI EVEN THE VERY HAIRS OP YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED. - 9 PRESERVE ME, GOD; FOR IN THEE DO I PUT MY TRUST. - 16 THE PRODIGAL SON. 30 MY HEART SHALL REJOICE IN THY SALVATION. ... 42 DO ALL THINGS WITHOUT MURMURINGS AND DISPUTINGS. - 62 I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD AS LONG AS I LIVE. - 59 HOLD UP MY GOINGS IN THY PATHS, THAT MY FOOTSTEPS SLIP NOT. 64 THE LORD IS MY ROCK. 70 THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S, AND THE FULNESS THEREOF ; THE WORLD, AND THEY THAT DWELL THEREIN. - - - 77 DELIGHT THYSELF ALSO IN THE LORD, AND HE SHALL GIVE THEE THE DESIRES OP THINE HEART. REJOICE IN THE LORD, YE RIGHTEOUS. 90 WAIT ON THE LORD, AND KEEP HIS WAY. - - - - 98 WHETHER YE EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATSOEVER YE DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OP GOD. ... - - 113 LOVE SUFFERETU LONG, AND IS KIND. - - 123 (7) 622681 SABBATH TALKS WITH LITTLE CHILDREN. EVEN THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED. Luke xii. 7. ive been counting all the hairs on this little boy's head ? Was it his father? Did he love his little son so much that he even counted all these fine glossy hairs, and can tell just how many there are ? Go and ask your father, Charles." " Father, did you count my hairs ? Do you know how many I have got ? " (9) 10 SABBATH TALKS WITH " No, my son ; I cannot possibly tell." "Perhaps then it was your mother. She has taken care of you ever since you were a tiny baby. She watched over you when you were sick. She loves you bet- ter, and knows more about you than any one on earth. Let us ask her." " Mother, have you ever counted the hairs on my head? Somebody has was it you, mother ? " "No, my dear little boy. I can tell how old you are ; and how many feet and hands you have ; and how many eyes ; and how many teeth; and I know how many aprons and stockings you have. I have combed and brushed your head a great many times, but I cannot possibly tell how many hairs there are upon it." LITTLE CHILDREN. 11 " Who can it be ? Perhaps it was your sister Sarah. Sarah, have you counted the hairs upon Charles's head ? You need not laugh. Somebody has been counting all his hairs, and we wish very much to know who it can be. It was not father nor mother, and there is nobody else who cares enough for him, that we can think of, but you. Did you do it ? " "No, indeed. I love Charlie very much, but I cannot tell how many times 1 kiss him in a day; and I am sure I could not begin to guess how many hairs he has." " It is very strange. Can there be any one who knows more about Charles than his father, and mother, and sister ? Does any one love him better? Would any one take better care of him ? " 12 SABBATH TALKS WITH "Yes, little boy; you have a Friend better and kinder than those who love you most. He is your heavenly Father. He knows all about you, because he made you. He knows just how many bones . you have, and how many veins run under your skin ; and he it is who has num- bered your hairs. He loved you before any one else began to love you, and he gave you kind parents, and a pleasant home, and all the comforts you have. He knows a great deal more about you than your father and mother. He can tell how- many minutes you have lived, and how many more you will live in this world. He knows all you say, and all the thoughts that are in your heart. Your mother does not know what you LITTLE CHILDREN. 13 are thinking of, but your heavenly Father does. He knows where you will be all your life long, and what you will do. He never forgets you. He takes care of you when you are asleep, and when all are asleep around you. He keeps you breath- ing. He enables you to walk, and talk, and be happy. It is his world you live in ; his sun that shines upon you ; his moon that looks so beautiful to you ; and they are his stars that twinkle every night above your head. Do you see it rain ? He sends the rain to water his flowers. Every thing you look upon out of your window belongs to this good heavenly Father. He made all the cattle upon the hills, and the fish that are in the sea. The little birds sing songs to him, because 14 SABBATH TALKS WITH he makes them so happy, and the brook that babbles over the stones murmurs his praise." "Where is my. heavenly Father? " " His home is heaven, but he is in all places." "Can I see him?" " No, but he sees you always." "Can I speak to him? and will he hear ? May I tell him that I love him and thank him ? " " Yes. He loves you, and nothing will please him so much as that you should love him." "Will he always take care of me?" " Yes ; and if you love him and try to please him, he will take you some time to his home in the sky, to live forever there with him." LITTLE CHILDREN. 15 " "Will he take my father, and mother, and sister Sarah? " " Yes, if they try to please him." " How good he is ! What is his name ? " " His name is God ; but when we speak to him, we call him * Our Father.' ' " I will always love him and try to obey him." 16 SABBATH TALKS WITH PRESERVE ME, O GOD; FOR IN THEE DO I PUT MY TRUST. Psalm xvi. 1. " MOTHER, who wrote all these beautiful psalms ? " " Good men, my dear ; children of God, who loved to speak to him, and sing of him, and whom he taught how to feel, and what to say. David wrote many of them. He was one of the best men that ever lived." "What did he mean when he said, 'Preserve me, God; for in thee do I put my trust'?" "Do you remember the little girl we saw walking with her father in the woods last week ? " " 0, yes, mother; wasn't she beautiful? " LITTLE CHILDKEN. 17 " She was a gentle, loving little thing, and her father was very kind to her. Do you remember what she said when they came to the narrow bridge over the brook ? " " I do not like to think of that bridge, mother; it makes me dizzy. Do you believe it is safe just those two timbers laid over, and no railing? If she had stepped a little to one side, she would have fallen into the water." " Do you remember what she said ? " "Yes. She stopped a minute as if she did not like to go over, and then how sweetly she looked up in her father's face, and asked him to take hold of her hand, and said, ' You will take care of me, father dear; I don't feel afraid when 18 SABBATH TALKS WITH you take hold of my hand.' And hei father looked so lovingly upon her, and took tight hold of her hand, as if she was very precious to him. I don't wonder he loved her, and took good care of her when she asked him so prettily, and seemed to feel so safe with him. I wish I could see them again." 11 1 think David felt like that little girl when he wrote the words which you just read." "Was David going over a bridge, mother ? " " Not such a bridge as the one in the woods ; but he had come to some place of difficulty in his life, and whenever he was in any way troubled, he looked up to God, just as the little girl did to her LITTLE CHILDREN. 19 father, and said, 'Preserve me, God.' It is the same as if he had said, ' Please take care of me, my kind heavenly Father I do not feel afraid if you take hold of my hand." " mother, how beautiful ! But God did not really take hold of David's hand and lead him through the trouble ? " " No ; but God loves his children who trust him, just as the father did his little daughter ; and though he does not take hold of their hands, he knows how to make them feel as peaceful and easy as if he did." " You say God loves his children who trust in him. What does it mean to trust in him ? " " It means to feel safe in his care." 20 SABBATH TALKS WITH " Does he like to have them trust him ? " " You just said you did not wonder the father loved the little girl, because she felt so safe with him. God feels always tenderly towards those who look up to him, and commit themselves to his care. He rejoices that he is able to take care of them, and loves them more, the more happy they feel in his protection. He looks down lovingly upon them, and puts happy thoughts into their hearts, and takes away their fear, and is glad that he can so comfort them." "Mother, can I be one of God's chil- dren?" " Yes, my dear. If you love him, and trust him, and try to please him, he will call you his own, and lead you all your life, and make you very happy." LITTLE CHILDREN. 21 " Will there be any bridges in my life ? I mean, shall I have troubles ? Now, I do not have any, do I? I do not have to look up to God and ask him to take care of me." "Every body has some troubles, and comes into times of difficulty and danger. You are a happy little girl, and have a good home, and your father is able to supply your wants. But suppose he should lose his property and grow poor, and could not get you warm clothes and good food, and we should have to leave our pleasant home. Then you would be in trouble ; and you would shed bitter tears; and you would be afraid. Then it would please your heavenly Father very much if you should remember him, 22 SABBATH TALKS WITH and look up to him, and say, * Preserve ine, God ; for in thee do I put my trust. Take care of me now, my kind heavenly Father; I shall not be afraid of starving and suffering if you provide for me. 7 " Perhaps no such trouble will come to you, but others may. Tour father and mother may leave you, and go to heaven. Then you will be in trouble and very lonely ; and you will not have your parents to tell you what is right; and you will be afraid to go on the way lest you should mistake and do what would grieve them, and miss the road to their bright home. If then you look up with tearful eyes and say, 'Preserve me, God ; for in thee do I put my trust LITTLE CHILDREN. 23 take care of me now, my heavenly Father, for I have no other father, no dear mother please take care of me, and help me to do right, and not to be afraid,' then he will look pityingly and lovingly upon you, and he will be glad that you trust in him ; and he will com- fort you, and bless you, and make you happier than you ever expected to be aain.' ; " Dear mother, I hope no such troubles will come to me." " Don't cry, my child. If it is God's will, I hope you will have your pleasant home and kind parents a great many years to come ; but it is right that you should know where to flee for comfort when even the worst trials befall." 24 " I am afraid I should not know how to trust iny heavenly Father as David did, nor feel as safe with him as the little girl did with her father." " You must pray God to teach you this trust. Ask him every day to help you. Bead the promises he has made in the Bible, and how kind he has always been to his children, and so you will learn to love and ' trust him, and a delightful peace will dwell in your heart and keep you from fear. "But you must not think great troubles are the only ones we have to meet with. You will have many small troubles, and will need to look to your heavenly Father to take care of you through them." " What troubles do you think I shall have, mother?" LITTLE CHILDREN. 25 " You liaci one this morning. Sarah was unkind to you, and you were sadly grieved." " Could I go to God with that trouble ? " " Yes, my dear; you can tell him just as you would me all your unhappiness, and ask him to comfort you when earthly friends are unkind." " And will he hear me ? What will he do for me ? " " He will help you not to be angry and unkind to them, and he will fill all your heart with sweet, gentle, loving thoughts, so that you will almost forget your trouble." " Mother, I think the worst troubles I have now, are when I so often do what I ought not to do; I am so often angry 26 SABBATH TALKS WITH and impatient, and so unwilling to do what I am told ; and then I feel so bad and do so wish I could always do right. But I cannot go to God with such troubles, for I know he is displeased with me when I do wrong, and I am afraid to tell him." " Ah, that is a great mistake. You did not fear to tell me the other day that you went to Ellen's after I told you not, though you knew I should be displeased." " mother, dear, that is a very differ- ent thing. I knew you would be dis- pleased ; but then you love me so, and speak so kindly to me, and forgive me when I am sorry, and I love you better than ever, and think I will never do any thing to trouble you again." LITTLE CHILDREN. 27 " Cherish the same feelings towards your Father in heaven, my daughter. He loves you more tenderly than I do, and he is far more ready to forgive than any earthly being. He sees the first thought of sorrow in your heart when you have done wrong, and he pities you, and will listen to your feeblest prayer, and help you not to do wrong again." " Will he let me tell him how bad I feel, as you do, and how much I wish to be good ? " "Yes, and he will forgive you for Christ's sake ; and you will be a great deal happier if you tell him. Whenever you have been angry again, go to your room, and kneel down, and tell him how unhappy you are ; how evil feelings have 28 SABBATH TALKS WITH overcome you ; how weak you are ; and ask him to forgive you, and help you never to be angry again. Say, ' Preserve me, God, for in thee do I put my trust. 0, protect me in the time of temptation, for I am only safe with thee.' You will rise from your knees stronger than ever before, and with such a love in your heart toward your best Friend, that it will keep you from doing any thing that could grieve one so tender and kind." " Mother, I am very glad we read that psalm this morning. I think I love God better already, and I hope I shall always trust him." "I hope you will; and if you begin when you are a little girl, you will learn better and better about him, and be far LITTLE CHILDREN. 29 happier than those who have no such Friend to go to in trouble." "Why, cannot every body go to God with their wants ? " " Certainly, if they will ; but a great many people never tell him their troubles never ask him to forgive them, nor to take care of them. They did not begin in their childhood, and it is difficult to learn this trust when we are old." " 0, I hope I shall learn it now, while you can help me, mother." 30 SABBATH TALKS WITH THE PRODIGAL SON. " WE will read the story of the Prodigal Son this morning, Emily. It will help you to understand what we were talking about yesterday. It is in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. " A certain man had two sons : " And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. " And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there LITTLE CHILDREN. 31 wasted his substance with riotous liv- ing. "And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land ; and he began to be in want. " And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country ; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. "And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat : and no man gave unto him. " And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! " I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 32 SABBATH TALKS WITH " And am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants. " And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. "And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. " But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet : " And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat and be merry : " For this my son was dead, and is alive LITTLE CHILDREN. 33 again ; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." " I like to hear that story, mother. I have heard it before. Father read it at prayers the day you were sick last week. But I do not know exactly what it means." " This story is called sparable. Jesus told it to his disciples to teach them about the love and forgiveness of God. This man who had the two sons is like God. God is our Father. Fathers love their sons, and feel tenderly towards them, and give them clothes and food, and all that they need, and try to make them happy. So God does for us. Eve- 3 34: SABBATH TALKS WITH ry day, every moment, he is bestow- ing some good thing upon us. " This father had two sons, and one of them asked him one day to give him a large sum of money. The father was too kind to refuse ; so he gave it to him. But the son was ungrateful to his good fatKer, and went away from him, and lived in a far country, and wasted all his money, and was very foolish and wicked. When his money was all gone, he did not know what to do. His clothes were all ragged, and he was very hungry, and he had not a cent to buy any food. I do not think he had any friends in that far country, and he suffered sadly. As he was wandering round he found a man who had a great many pigs, and he said he would be his LITTLE CHILDREN. 35 servant. The man sent him to feed the pigs and take care of them, but he did not give him enough to eat, and he was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pigs' food. Poor, foolish boy I Now he began to think about his home, and his kind father, and to be very sorry for what he had done. He wished he was at home. He wished he had never gone away. He felt very wicked too. He had done very, very wrong. At last he thought he would go back. But how could he ? His father, he' thought, would be very angry with him. Perhaps he would not speak to him. Perhaps he would not let him live at home. He looked at his dirty, ragged clothes, and thought how ungrateful he had been, and he knew it would be right 36 SABBATH TALKS WITH if his father did send him away again. Tears rolled down his face, and he was very miserable, and afraid to go back to his home, and yet he could not bear to stay among those pigs. " At last he got up quickly, and said, 1 1 will go back to my father. I will tell him how wicked I have been, and how unhappy and hungry I am, and ask him to let me live in his kitchen, and work for him as his servants do, for I am not fit to be called his son any more.' He walked along the road thinking how glad he should be to see his home once more, but all the time afraid that his father would be so displeased that he would not forgive him. " All this time, while he had been gone, LITTLE CHILDREN. . 37 the poor father had mourned for his un- grateful son. He had heard how wicked he was, and wasteful, and he was very much displeased. But still he loved him dearly, and wished he would come back, and repent, and do right, and he pitied him when he knew how hungry and un- happy he must be. "One day, as this father stood in the door of his house, he saw some one com- ing slowly along the road a great way off. He looked earnestly again and again. He thought it looked like his dear son. Could it be he ? He walked to the road, and as the poor, miserable boy came nearer, with his head hanging down, ashamed of his ragged clothes, and feel- ing wretchedly because he had done so 38 SABBATH TALKS WITH wrong, his father knew him. Do you think he turned round and went into the house, and shut the door ? Do you think he said, 'I don't wish to see the bad boy ; he need not come here ' ? No. He did not even wait till he got to the gate, but ran as fast as his poor old limbs would carry him, and put his arms around his neck, and held him fast to his breast, and kissed him, and loved him as he used to do when he was a little boy, and climbed up to his knee. " Then the son said, ' Father, I have sinned ; ' and he told him all the wrong things he had done, and that he was not worthy to be called his son, and asked him to let him live in his kitchen, and work for some bread, so that he might not starve. LITTLE CHILDEEN. 39 " But the father sent for some nice clothes to put on him, and had a warm supper got, and bade every body be mer- ry and glad because he had his dear child home again, and because he was sorry for what he had done, and would never do so wrong again." " 0, what a beautiful story, mother ! And what a good father that poor boy had!" " The Saviour told this story so that we might know more about the loving heart of our heavenly Father. He feels towards us just as that father felt towards his wandering son. When we forget him, and do not love him, and do not pray to him when we cherish evil feelings and impatient tempers, or are disobedient 40 SABBATH TALKS WITH his heart is grieved. He is afraid we shall never come back to him, and be fit to live in his house. But as soon as we begin to be sorry as soon as we confess our sins, and tell him we mean to do right then he is ready to put his arms around us, and give us all we need, and shield us from harm, and call us his dear children." " Mother, what if the son had been so afraid of his father that he had not gone home to him ? " " Then I suppose he would have wan- dered round and grown worse and worse, and perhaps have starved to death." " And suppose he had not been sorry, or not willing to tell his father he was ? 0, I am very glad he was sorry, for he LITTLE CHILDREN. 41 would never have been at home and hap- py again if he had not felt so." " It is always good to confess our sins. If we have been unkind to our compan- ions or friends, if we have wronged any one, it is always good to confess it. It makes them happier, and relieves our own hearts. It is better than all to con- fess to God the wrong things we have done in his sight. It takes a heavy bur- den from our souls, and he sheds his own love and peace upon us, and we can do far better than ever before." 42 SABBATH TALKS WITH MY HEART SHALL REJOICE IN THY SALVATION. Psalm xiii. 6. " SALVATION ! That is the same word I heard the minister say so often yesterday in his sermon ; and I have read it a great many times in the Bible, and I hear it in Sunday school. I wonder what it means. I will ask mother. " Mother, what is Salvation ? " " Salvation is being saved from some- thing, Emily. But why do you ask the question ? " " Because I hear the word so often, mother, at meeting and at Sabbath school ; and here it is in the Psalm you told me to read before you went out. * Being saved from something ' ! What is LITTLE CHILDREN. 43 i it that people are saved from? What does ' rejoice in thy salvation ' mean ? " " There may be a great many kinds of salvation ; salvation from sickness, and starving, and fire, and from any thing which we are afraid of, or which troubles us. The good man, who says, ' My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation,' means that he takes delight in thinking of God's salvation." " Is it God's salvation that the minis- ter talks about, and the Sabbath school teacher?" "Yes, my dear." "Please, mother, tell me what God saves people from. What is God's sal- vation ? " " Salvation from sin and its conse- quences.'' 44 SABBATH TALKS WITH " mother, what hard words ! Please tell me all about it, and make it easy." " Do you know that all little girls and boys sometimes do wrong, Emily ? Some- times they are disobedient ; sometimes impatient and angry ; sometimes untruth- ful ; sometimes they forget God, and neg- lect to pray to him, and do not love him. Sometimes there is a naughty spirit in their hearts, which makes them wish not to do any thing right. They are full of naughtiness, and do not care to be good. Did you ever see any little children who felt so ? " " Tes, mother ; sometimes I feel so myself. But you look so sorrowful, and speak so kindly and gently to me, and seem to pity me so, that I soon get over it, and begin to grow better." LITTLE CHILDREN. 45 " Suppose you had no one to reprove you kindly, and teach you to overcome such wrong feelings do you think you should grow better ? " " I am afraid not." " No, you would grow worse and worse, and instead of having a naughty spirit once in a while, it would come at last to live all the time in your heart, and you would be very selfish very impatient very unlovely indeed, and very unlike the Saviour. Do you think you should be happy then ? " "0 no, indeed, mother, for I am never so miserable as when I feel naughty. I don't love any body, and I think nobody loves me. I do not like to pray, and I say to myself, * I will not try to do right,' 46 SABBATH TALKS WITH and I want to cry more than at any other time." " This naughtiness is called sin. It is a bitter and an evil thing. When we allow it to grow in our hearts it prevents us from loving God, our heavenly Father; and if we are not saved from it we can never be happy, nor live in heaven, for there is no sin there." " I did not know it was such a bad thing to be naughty." "Naughtiness is the worst thing in the world, and makes the most trouble. To be sick, or hungry, or cold, would not be half so bad. To have no friends, and no home, and no clothes, would not be so bad as to be sinful all the time, and to have it growing in us. I cannot think LITTLE CH1LDKEN. 47 of any thing which I wish so much to be saved from as a sinful spirit. I think I would be willing to be lame, and blind, and hungry, or to suffer any pain, if there was no other way to cure me." " Dear mother, it makes me feel dread- fully to see you cry. The tears are roll- ing off your face. You are not naughty, mother." "Yes, my precious child, the same evil feelings that come up in your little heart are often in mine. When I was a child I felt them, and they are not cured yet. I am often selfish and unloving ; I grieve my Saviour, and do not obey my heavenly Father, and am unhappy be- cause I am sinful. I have shed many, many bitter tears for this, more than I 48 SABBATH TALKS WITH ever did for any thing else. But I know it will not be always so. I know my heart will rejoice in God's salvation by and by. I shall some day be perfectly good, and holy, and pure, just like the blessed Saviour, and never have another wrong feeling forever." " That will be when you are in heaven, mother." "Yes, my child. There we shall see his face, and never, never sin." " Shall I be there, mother ? " " Tes, if you strive constantly against naughtiness, and are sorry for it, and pray every day for God's salvation. He has said he will surely hear such prayers, and that if we confess our sins he will ' forgive us, and cleanse us from all un- LITTLE CHILDKEN. 49 righteousness.' And there is another beautiful promise: 'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteous- ness, for they shall be filled.' " "How will Jesus save us from sin? When I have been naughty, and you have talked with me, and prayed for me, and I feel sorry, then I think I shall never do so or feel so again. But I do. Perhaps the very next day I have the same wicked feelings again, and I am afraid it will be always so, and that they will always keep coming back." "So they, would if we had no heavenly Father, no kind Jesus, to save us from them. It was for this that Jesus left heaven, and suffered so much, and died upon the cross. You cannot understand 4 50 SABBATH TALKS WITH all about it now, but you can understand and remember that nothing is so much to be feared and fought against as sin ; nothing is so precious, and blessed, and delightful, as to be saved from doing and feeling wrong, and that we have no friend who loves us so well, or whom we ought to love so much, as Him who gives us this salvation." " Mother, the next time I feel naughty, what shall I do?" " Kemember that your heavenly Father and Saviour are trying to cure you of all wrong feelings, and make you like the holy little children in heaven, and do all you can to help cure yourself. Go to your room, and on your knees ask the Lord to make you sorry, and help you. LITTLE CHILDREN. 51 Ask him to forgive you, for Jesus' sake, and to put better feelings within you. Then say, ' Begone, bad thoughts ; I am resolved to feel right and do right.' Make a pleasant look come to your face. Make your tongue speak gently and lovingly. Do cheerfully whatever you are bidden, and strive against every evil thought. It will be easier to do this every time you try, and you will find yourself growing stronger and stronger. You will love God better, and all around you, and your happiness will be growing like the hap- piness of heaven." 52 SABBATH TALKS WITH DO ALL THINGS WITHOUT MURMURINGS AND DISPUTINGS. " PUT on your thick sack when you go out this morning, Mary ; it is cold." " 0, dear, I don't like that sack. It is not pretty, and it does not feel com- fortable. Mayn't I put on the yellow one ? " " No, my child ; the yellow one is not warm enough." " Now, mother, please let me put on my red cape ; that is warm." " Do as I bid you, Mary. Put on your thick sack, and do not trouble me any more." LITTLE CHILDREN. 53 " 0, dear ; I wish that thick sack had never been made ! I always have to wear it, and it is an ugly thing." I think Mary has never learned this good Bible verse. Go, Mary, .and learn it now. "Do all things without mur- murings and disputings." If you will learn and obey it you will be a much happier little girl, and I am sure your mother will rejoice. Nothing is more unpleasant than to hear little children fretting and murmuring about what they are directed to do ; and it is sinful too. God has forbidden it. " George, I want you to do an errand for me. Get your hat and boots, and be ready by the time I have this note written." 54 SABBATH TALKS WITH a mother, I'm just in the midst of a beautiful story! Do let me wait till I have finished it." "I cannot wait a moment, my son. Lay down your book, and go and come as soon as you can. Then you may finish the story." " It looks like rain. I shall get wet." " Take an umbrella, and walk quick ; the rain will not hurt you." " I don't like to go alone. May I go and ask Willie to go with me ? " "No, George, I am in haste for this medicine, and cannot wait while you go for Willie. Don't be so slow. Let me see you move as if you wished to please your mother." " I am tired ; I can't move quick, and LITTLE CHILDREN. 55 I don't like to do errands. I wish you would hire a boy to do them." George's mother feels very bad. I see tears in her eyes. The baby is sick, and she wants his medicine, and her heart is grieved at seeing George so unwilling to. please her. If this little boy could learn to "do all things without murmurings and disputings," how much better it would be ! He could almost have gone to the apothecary and back while he was speaking all those fretful words ; and then his errand would have been done, and he could have finished his story, and not have grieved his kind mother. God has given us a great many direc- tions in his word, and we always find that obeying them makes us very happy. 56 SABBATH TALKS WITH This that I have been talking about is one of them. Try it a week, little boys and girls. " Do all things without mur- murings and disputings." Go the mo- ment you are sent, and do exactly what you are bidden, without a word of objec- tion, and see if you are not far happier than when you fret. Have you stood on some beach by the ocean and listened to the unceasing sound of waves P LITTLE CHILDREN. 59 I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD AS LONG AS I LIVE. Psalm civ. 33. HAVE you stood on some beach by the ocean and listened to. the unceasing sound of waves ? The sea is never quiet. Sometimes its waters roll, and dash, and roar upon the sands, and sometimes they come gently in, only whispering along the shore. But they are never quiet. All day, and all night, the ocean sings its solemn hymn of praise to its Creator. Some one has called it "the deep, eternal bass of Nature's anthem." Have you ever risen, in the summer 60 SABBATH TALKS WITH time, with the first morning light, and listened to the countless voices of birds ? The air is filled with music. It seems as if each little throat was trying to titter its loudest, sweetest note. They have just awakened from their night's long sleep, and they are singing their morning hymn to the God who made them. Or have you been out in the still even- ing time? Men have gone to their homes, and all things are hushed to the repose of night all but the thousands of insects, which, before they close their eyes, are chirping their evening song of gratitude to Him who painted the but- terfly's wing, and who supplies the wants of the smallest creature he has made. LITTLE CHILDREN. 61 Have you lifted up your eyes on a frosty night in winter, and seen the bright stars over your head ? They, too, are singing in solemn tones their Maker's praise. Let me read you a beautiful hymn about this. " The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue, ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land The work of an Almighty hand. " Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth ; 62 SABBATH TALKS WITH While all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. " What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark, terrestrial ball, What though no real voice nor sound Among those radiant orbs be found ? In Reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter for.th a glorious voice, Forever singing, as they shine, The hand that made us is divine." What then ? If all things praise the Lord, what shall little children do ? David says, "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live." Do you say this, too, little child? In the morning, when you rise, sing some hymn of praise LITTLE CHILDREN. 63 to your heavenly Father. Sing to him in the day, and before you sleep at night. Sing to him in your heart. Let sweet, and pleasant, and loving thoughts be always going up to Him who loves and cares for you. Say, "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live!" 64: SABBATH TALKS WITH HOLD UP MY GOINGS IN THY PATHS, THAT MY FOOT- STEPS SUP NOT. Psalm xvii. 6. THIS is a prayer, Fanny. If it was winter, and the paths were full of ice, you would find it difficult to walk, and you would be glad to take hold of your father's hand, and would beg him to hold you up. Perhaps in some places you could go alone very well, but every few steps you would fall unless he was with you. Life is a slippery path, in which we are all walking, hoping to reach heaven at last ; and very often we must ask God, " Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not." We are trying to LITTLE CHILDREN. 65 do right to grow like Jesus, and to please God ; but very often we are tempt- ed to do wrong, and if God is not near to help us v/e shall slide into sin. Little George has broken his mother's beautiful blue pitcher. He did not in- tend to do it. It slipped from his fingers while he was looking at it. George stands there very sorrowful. He hears his mother coming. What will he do ? At first he thinks he will go out at the entry door and run away. Then he thinks he will say the pussy broke it. He knows how wicked that would be, but he feels very bad to have his mother know that he did it. George has come to a very slippery place in his path. If God is not near to help him he will slide into 5 66 SABBATH TALKS WITH a great sin. He will speak that which is not true. George must pray in his heart to his heavenly Father, " Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. Help me, help me not to sin!" Tour mother permits you to go and spend an hour with Mary, and tells you then to come directly home. You like to play with Mary, and you run joyfully away to her house and play merrily till the hour is past. Then you get your bonnet to go home, but Mary says, " Don't go yet. I am going to walk. Do go with me a little way. Your mother will not care. I will tell her when we come back that I asked you." LITTLE CHILDREN. 67 You want to go to walk very much, but you know it will be wrong. You stop and think, and wish your mother was not so particular, and wish you were old enough to do as you please, and you begin to feel very bad. A naughty spirit is rising in your heart. You have come to a slippery place in your path. If you are not careful you will fall. If God does not put a better thought within you, you will disobey and grieve your mother, and displease him. Pray earnestly, " Hold up my goings in thy paths." You need not speak a word with your lips, but you can lift up your thoughts to him, and he will take you by the hand, and keep you from sliding into that sin of disobedience, and you will say, "No, Mary, I must mind my 68 SABBATH TALKS WITH mother ; " and you will go happily to your home, and kiss your mother with tearful eyes, and be glad you had a heav- enly Father to keep you from evil. You are taught that it is your duty to read your Bible and pray daily. You go to your little room every morning to do this. But sometimes you think, as you are going, of dolly, and wish you could play with her a while first ; or you want to go out for a run in the garden ; or Emily has come to see you, and is waiting for you in the nursery ; and you think you will not read your Bible this morning. You would rather do something else, and you start to go out of your room. This is a slippery place. No one can be safe or LITTLE CHILDREN. 69 happy without praying and reading God's word daily. He bids us all do this, and we sin when we neglect it. His eye sees you standing by the door. Go back, and kneel down, and pray, " Hold up my go- ings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not." He will hear you, and help you to do right, and will not let you slide into this wrong thing. Every day little children and grown people have need to say this prayer, for only God can keep us from sin. 70 SABBATH TALKS WITH THE LORD IS MY ROCK. Psalm xviii. 2. When we go to Gloucester, we bathe every day in the ocean. It is very re- freshing on a warm day to go into the cool salt water. There are some rocks in the water at our bathing place, and some of the people wish they were away. But we have found them very useful. "When the weather is pleasant the water is very smooth there, but sometimes after a storm the waves come rolling in so furiously that we could not stand on our feet, nor be safe a moment, if it were not for the rocks. We hold fast to them, and the sea dashes upon us, but it cannot carry LITTLE CHILDREN. 71 us away. The rocks are always there. The water comes and goes. Sometimes it is high tide, and sometimes it is low tide. Sometimes they are covered so that we can only see the tops of them, and sometimes they are quite bare and dry. But they never move, and when we want them they are always there. I like those rocks. I think I should have been car- ried away into the sea and been drowned if it had not been for them. David calls God a rock, little children. Do you know why? Because we can cling to him when we are in trouble, and be safe. I have seen a great deal of trouble. Sometimes I have been very sick, and did not know but I should die. 72 SABBATH TALKS WITH I did not know what great pain I might have to suffer. I did not know but I should have to lie years in my bed, and never walk upon the green earth any more. Sickness is a great trouble. It seems like the waves of the sea coming up to carry away all our happiness and comfort. God is our rock when we are sick. We must cling to him. He will save us. We must pray to him, and think of him, and love him, and trust him, and he will perhaps make us well, or if not, he will comfort us and give us patience in our sickness, so that it shall not destroy all our peace. Learn to say, "The Lord is my rock." You will be glad when sickness comes. LITTLE CHILDREN. 73 I have seen sad days when my friends died. They closed their eyes, and went away where I saw them no more. I was glad to have them go to Jesus and be happy, but I was very sad without them. I felt afraid, too. It seemed as if the great waves of the sea were coming up to carry away all I loved, and leave me alone. Bitter thoughts were in my heart. But in that time of trouble God was my rock. I clung to him. God, our heav- enly Father, never dies. His eyes never close. He always looks kindly upon us. He will never leave nor forsake us. He is like a rock. If the waves of trouble roll, and almost hide him from our sight, he is still there. We can hold him fast in our hearts. Sometimes we have 74 SABBATH TALKS WITH friends, and sometimes they leave us ; but we always have God. I have seen times when I felt very un- happy, I hardly knew why. I was tired of my work, and tired of my books, and tired of my companions. The world did not seem a pleasant world. The sun- shine did not look bright, nor the song of the birds sound pleasant. I felt as if the great roaring waves of the sea had swallowed me up, and there was nothing above or around me but the briny ocean. I felt afraid, too. I knew I had done many things which were displeasing to God. I had forgotten him a great many times. I had not loved him as I ought. Sometimes I had neglected to pray to LITTLE CHILDREN. 75 him, and I had not tried every day to please him, but only to please myself. I was afraid he would not take me to heaven afraid I should never be like the holy ones there, and I shed bitter tears, and was in deep, deep trouble. But the Lord was my rock then also. I knelt on my knees and confessed my sinfulness. I told him I knew I had done wrong, and was often doing wrong. I asked him to forgive me for Jesus' sake, and begged him to love me and save me, and teach me to love him. And he heard my prayer. He sent a sweet peace into my soul. I felt as if I should always love him, and live to please him. I clung to him, and the waves did not carry me away Then the sunshine was bright SABBATH TALKS WITH again, and my comforts returned, and I was very happy. Always, as long as I live, I will love the Lord my rock. LITTLE CHILDREN. 77 THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S, AND THE FULNESS THERE- OF ; THE WORLD, AND THEY THAT DWELL THEREIN. " MOTHER, do you know who is the richest man in this town ? " " No, my son." " I do. I heard father telling a gen- tleman the other day that Mr. B owned five hundred acres of land, and was the richest man in all W . Do you know Mr. B , mother ? " "Yes, my dear, I know him very well." " I wish I did." " "Why do you wish to know him, Wil- lie ? Because he is rich ? " "Yes, mother; I am sure it must be 78 SABBATH TALKS WITH a good thing to know rich men, for every body speaks of them with respect. Do you think I shall ever be rich ? " " I cannot tell, my son ; but let me ask you some questions. Who do you suppose owned Mr. B 's land before he did?" " I don't know, mother ; perhaps his father did." " And who owned it before his father ? " " I suppose his grandfather." "And to whom do you think it belonged before Columbus discovered America, when it was all covered with woods ? " " Why, it belonged to nobody then." " Who do you think made that land, Willie ? " LITTLE CHILDREN. 79 " I suppose God made it, mother, when he made the rest of the world." "And if a person makes a thing, to whom does it belong? If you make a kite, whose is it ? " " It is mine, unless I choose to give it away." " Who owns all the land in the world then, Willie, and who is the richest per- son ? " " You mean God, mother ; but I never thought of that before, and I never heard any body call God rich. But if the land is all his, why do men have it, and call it theirs ? " " God allows them to use his land while they live in this world, and to call it their own ; but it does not really belong 80 SABBATH TALKS WITH to them, and they cannot take it away with them when they die." " Then I do not think it is such a good thing to be called rich, if we can only be so a little while. But, mother, some men have plenty of money, and that must be their own.' 7 " ' The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof,' David says; and God says, in another place, 'The silver and the gold are mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.' God made all the pre- cious things that are hidden in the earth, and they are all his. No man has any thing but what God gives him." " Then why do men think so much of their money and their land ? and why do some rich people feel as if they were bet- ter than poor people ? " LITTLE CHILDREN. 81 "Because they forget that all they have belongs to God, and that they must leave it here for somebody else when they go away." "But, mother, if all the land and all the money belongs to God, why does he give more to some men than he does to others ? " " God does not think riches the best thing in this world. If he gives one man money and another a loving heart and holy temper, he thinks the poor man has the best things." "But every body must have some money, or starve." " Yes, and God has promised that not one of his children, who love and trust him, Shall starve. All the food in the 6 82 SABBATH TALKS WITH world is his, and they have only to ask him if they are in need." "If I was hungry, and had no money to get bread, and no friend to get it for me, would God give me some ? " "Yes, if you prayed to him for it." " Would he send it from heaven ? " " No ; but he would send some of his children to bring it to you, for the people in the world belong to him as well as the riches. * The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein.' ' 11 Does God send people where he pleases ? " " Yes ; and when he thinks it best he gives them money, and when he thinks it best he takes it away." LITTLE CHILDREN. 83 " Is a poor man just as good as a rich man, mother?" "If he loves God he is just as good, and he is far better than the rich man who does not love God." " What good is there then in being rich?" " If we are rich we can do a great deal of good. We can aid the poor, and en- courage the industrious, and if we try to please God he will show us a great many ways to be useful, and to make a great many people happy with our riches. But it is a great deal better to be poor than to be rich, unless we do good with our money, and serve God with it." " Why, mother ? " " Because God will be grieved and an 84 SABBATH TALKS WITH gry if we do not love and serve him, and he will be much more displeased with us if we spend all his money, which he al- lows us to use, on ourselves, and only for our own comfort and pleasure." " Will he take it away from us? " " Perhaps he will ; or he may take away our health, and then we cannot enjoy it ; or he may send so many cares and trou- bles with it that it will do us no good. Great riches are no comfort unless the blessing of God comes with them, and he does not give large blessings to those who are selfish." " Are you willing to be poor, mother? " "Yes, if the Lord pleases. He knows best. If he will love me and give me his Spirit, I can do without riches. The best LITTLE CHILDREN. 85 and happiest way is to leave it all to him." " Mother, please ask him to give me his blessing, and I will not wish to be rich." " I earnestly hope the blessing of God may always rest upon my precious child, whether he is rich or poor." " How should I learn to use my money so as to please God if he should let me be rich?" " You must begin when you are a lit- tle boy. If you have a penny, do not spend it for candy, or cake, but put it by and keep it for some useful purpose, or for some good end." " But, mother, a penny will not do much." 86 SABBATH TALKS WITH "A penny will buy bread enough to keep a hungry child from starving, or a book which will tell of Jesus Christ and save a soul." "Must we give away all our money, mother ? " " No, my son. The first thing for a man to do with money is to provide for his own family. God would not be pleased with him if he should let his wife and children suffer from want, even if he gave away a great deal. Neither would he be pleased with a little boy who would not give a penny to his hungry sister, though he spend it to buy a book for some other ignorant child. But when our own families are provided with comforts, then we must do for others. We must not spend all our money for ourselves." LITTLE CHILDREN. 87 "Mother, I have got six bright pen- nies. Do they 'belong to God? " " Yes, my son ; but he allows you to use them."' " What shall I do with them ? I mean so as to please him ? " " You are a happy little boy, and have a great many comforts. You have nice clothes, and a good home, and plenty of food books enough playthings enough. Your little sisters have all they want. You do not need to spend the pennies for yourself or them. I think, if you wish to please God with them, you will spend them for somebody that is not as happy as you are." "There is a pleasant little girl who goes to our school, but she has no spelling 88 SABBATH TALKS WITH. book, and her mother is too poor to buy her one. She has got six pennies that some kind person gave her for doing an errand. If I give her my six, she will have enough to buy the spelling book. I think that will be a right thing to do don't you, mother ? " "Yes, my dear boy. The Lord will surely smile on such a way of spending money." " Let me make haste and go to school, mother, so that I may give them to her before the teacher comes. How bright her eyes will look, and how I shall love to see her reading in the new spelling book ! I will go with her and buy it ; and, mother, will you cover it as you did mine, so that it shall not be soiled ? " LITTLE CHILDREN. 89 " Yes; bring it when you come home." " I think it is a good thing to spend money so as to please God and not our- selves, for I did not feel half so happy when I went last year to Mr. B 's, and bought so much candy with the money grandpa gave me." " Striving to please God always makes us happy ; pleasing ourselves often brings only unhappiness." 90 SABBATH TALKS WITH - DELIGHT THYSELF ALSO IN THE LORD, AND HE SHALL GIVE THEE THE DESIRES OF THINE HEART. Psalm xxxvii. 4. REJOICE IN THE LORD, YE RIGHTEOUS. Psalm xcvii. 12. must we delight and rejoice in the Lord?" " Because there always is a God, and we can always speak to him, and he will always hear us ; we can always trust in him, and he will always take care of us. "We have a great many friends whom we love, and who make us happy when they are with us. But sometimes they are away ; and sometimes they die and leave us ; and sometimes they grow un- kind and forget us, or do not love us as Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give theo the desires of thy heart. LITTLE CHILDREN. 93 well as they once did. Then we are sad instead of glad, and we cannot rejoice in them. " There are a great many things that give us pleasure. We love to see the sunshine, and hear the song of the birds, and our hearts beat with joy we bound along with delight. But dark days come when the sun does not shine, and we see nothing but clouds, and winter hushes the notes of the birds. Then we feel un- happy, and there is a gloom over all things. " Our books and our work sometimes give us pleasure. They occupy our , thoughts, and we are glad when we have been industrious and studious. But sometimes we are sick, and can neither 94 SABBATH TALKS WITH work nor read. There is nothing earthly in which we can always be glad, because all earthly things may leave and disap- point us. "But God, our heavenly Father, never leaves us. We can always rejoice in him. If our friends forsake us, and our hearts are sad, we can still be glad in the Lord. If the sunshine has fled, and dark, gloomy clouds are over our heads, they cannot hide our God from us. He still shines upon our souls, and we can delight ourselves in him. If we are sick, and can do nothing but lie upon the bed, and if we suffer, still we do not lose our best Friend. He can comfort those who are 4 in distress. No sickness can prevent our being glad that we have such a LITTLE CHILDREN. 95 Father. It will only make us love him more." " What good will it do us to delight in the Lord ? " " David says that if we do, he will give us the desires of our hearts." " 0, how delightful it would be to have all our wishes gratified ! But is that a true promise ? " " Yes ; all the promises of God's word are sure." " Do you really believe God ever gave any body all their hearts desired ? " " Certainly I do ; but he does not do this for every body only for those who love him and delight in him. And he can well grant them their desires, for they will ask for nothing wrong. If a little 96 SABBATH TALKS WITH girl loves her mother, she will not wish for any thing which her mother would not think it best to give her, nor wish to do any thing which would displease or grieve her. And if a child loves God, he will only pray for such things as it will please him to bestow." "What shall we ask God for if we love him? What desires will be in our hearts?" "If we delight in the Lord, we shall wish most of all to grow like his Son Jesus Christ, and we shall ask him to teach and help us. Then we shall ear- nestly desire that all our friends may love God, and we shall pray for that. We shall wish to be prepared for heaven, and to do all we can to prepare others for LITTLE CHILDREN. 97 heaven. And all these things God will give us if we love and delight in him. We shall not wish for riches, nor fine clothes, nor for any thing that is only good for this world, if we delight in the Lord. We shall be willing he should give us these or not, as he pleases. But we shall desire to be like him, and to please him, and to live with him in heaven ; and these blessings he will surely bestow on his loving children." 98 SABBATH TALKS WITH WAIT ON THE LORD AND KEEP HIS WAY. " MOTHER, why were you so displeased with Sally this morning ? " " Because she did not conie when I called her, but kept me waiting a long time." " What was she doing ? " " She was about some work of her own, and she did not come till she had finished it." " Why must Sally always leave her own work to do yours, mother, and always come when you call her ? " " Because she is my servant, and lives with me to do my work. When she first came here, she promised to work for me, LITTLE CHILDREN. 99 and do just what I wished, and I prom- ised to pay her so much money every week for waiting upon me." "Must all servants wait upon their masters and mistresses ? " " Yes, as long as they live with them. If they do right they will always come when they are called, and do what they are bidden." " I am glad I am not a servant. I don't like to be called away from what I am doing. I am afraid I should do as Sally does." " That would be showing a very wrong spirit. Whether you are a servant or not, you should always be willing to leave any work or play to do what you are request- ed. Little children especially must al- 100 SABBATH TALKS WITH ways come when called. No matter how pleasantly you are playing, or how busy you may be, you should run as soon as you hear your father speak to you, and be always ready to wait upon him." " But father does not pay me any money for doing all his messages and errands." "No; but he gives you your clothes, and provides for all your wants. He is your father, also, and God has command- ed you to obey him." " When I am grown, shall I have any body to wait upon and leave my work for ? Ladies and gentlemen are not ser- vants to any body, are they, mother?" "Yes, my dear, we are all servants of God, and the Bible says we must all wait LITTLE CHILDREN. 101 upon him. When you are grown, as well as now, you must be ready to leave your work and pleasure to serve him." " What must we do for God, mother ? " "The Bible says whatever we do must be done for his glory. That means, we must do all we do in such a way as to please him. A servant must do all her work so as to please her mistress. That is what she is paid for doing. But that is not all. She must be ready always to leave any work she is doing, at any time, to do whatever the mistress needs more. So we must, every day, and all day, be striving to please God in all we do, and we must also be ready to leave the things we like to do best if he calls us." " Tell me when he does call us, mother, please." 102 SABBATH TALKS WITH " He calls us to read our Bibles and pray every morning. We must dress ourselves neatly we must eat our breakfasts we must learn our lessons we must do our work. But if we do all these, and do them well, and if we have a kind and loving spirit all day, still we cannot please God if we neglect his word, and do not pray to him. If we listen, we can hear him calling us every morning to do this, and we should leave every thing else for it. It is neces- sary to do a great many things, but nothing is so important as to ' wait upon the Lord, and keep his way.' Sally was busy when I called her this morning. She heard me speak several times, but she did not come. She did LITTLE CHILDREN. 103 not do right. So little children and grown people are not doing right if they keep on doing other work when the Lord calls them to prayer. They should leave those things which they think pleasant- est and most important, and obey his voice ; then they can return to their own work with his blessing upon them. "God calls us to keep the Sabbath holy, and when Sabbath comes we should be always ready to do as he has bidden us. No matter how much little girls like to play with their baby houses and toys, they must put them neatly aside on Sat- urday, so as to be ready to keep the Sab- bath, because God has said so. Every body must leave their own work to do his on that day. The icemen must leave 104 SABBATH TALKS WITH getting in their ice, and the haymakers their hay, and nobody must be found pleasing themselves. They must all wait on the Lord when the Sabbath comes. " Sometimes "God calls us to do things very different from those which we plan and wish to do. Little Susan has the promise of going to see Emily on Satur- day, and she is very happy in thinking of it. But when Saturday comes it rains, and she cannot go. God makes it rain, and so he says to Susan, 'You want to go and see Emily, but I wish you to stay at home.' Susan must not grumble and fret, but 'wait' cheerfully 'on the Lord.' " Susan's mother has a large family and a great deal of sewing and other work to do for them. She is a good mother, and LITTLE CHILDREN. 105 provides for all their wants, and teaches them to serve the Lord, and he is pleased that she takes such good care of them. He gave her these children that she might take care of them ; but sometimes he calls her to do something else for him. Once when she had a great deal of work cut out, and was in a great hurry to get it done, and was very anxious not to be hindered, the Lord sent a long sickness upon her, and her work basket had to be put away, and she had to lie in bed, and do no work at all but wait on the Lord, while he taught her to please him, and not herself." " Mother, why must it be so ? " " Because God our heavenly Father is a great deal wiser than we are, and knows 106 SABBATH TALKS WITH better than we can what is good for us. He is trying to prepare us for heaven, and very often we are so interested in our play or our work, that we forget all about heaven. Then he calls us to pray, and to keep the Sabbath, or to be sick, or to give up some pleasure, or in some other way he makes us remember that this world is not our home, and that we shall never be ready to go home, if we take no time and no pains in preparing. It is a very good thing that we have a kind heavenly Father, who will not let us always please ourselves. If little Mary had no father and mother to teach her what is right, she would grow up a dunce, and have a great many bad habits, and never be fit to have a house and family of her LITTLE CHILDREN. 107 own. I have seen little girls pout and fret when their mothers corrected them, and look as if they almost wished they had no mother to please. And not long since I heard a little girl wishing there was no God, because then she should never dis- please him. But if there was no God, we should never reach our heavenly home, nor be fit for its joys. There would be nobody to help us cure our faults nobody to call us to remember the things beyond this world nobody to forgive us and comfort us when we were sorry nobody to put better thoughts in our hearts, and to love us more than all other friends. 0, we should be very lonely if there was no God. It makes the tears come to think such a thought. How 108 SABBATH TALKS WITH could I be happy without my heavenly Father and blessed Redeemer ? I could be neither happy nor good. How sad I should be, if, when the angels carried me up the shining way and through the pearly gate, I should not find him ! ' Were I in heaven without my God, 'Twould be no joy to me.' I am very, very glad there is a God, and that he knows all my faults. I am glad that he hates sin. I am glad I have to wait on him, and cannot please myself; for now I know that he will cure me of sin. He will not leave a single wrong thing in my heart. He will not spare for my crying, but will take from me all hurtful pleasures. He will teach me pa- LITTLE CHILDKEN. 109 tience, and submission, and humility, and meekness. He will pity me, and love me, and encourage me. He will try a great many ways to do me good, and never leave me, if I will only wait on him." "Mother, when you first talked about this, I did not like to think of it ; but now it seems pleasanter to me. I wish I could always be willing to give up my own way ; but sometimes it seems very hard." " Do you remember how bad little John- nie felt, and how he cried when he was weaned ? " "0, yes, and I cried too. It was dreadful to see him so hungry, and noth- ing that he liked to eat.* And then he did not know how to drink, and I think it was too bad for such a little baby." 110 SABBATH TALKS WITH "If he could have spoken, what do you think he would have said ? " "He would have said you were a cruel mother, and that you did not love him." "But Johnnie must learn to eat and drink, or he could never be a man. He could not always take his food from his mother; and when we reach heaven we may find that some of the things which we wanted very much here, and for which we shed a great many tears, would have been as foolish for us, and as unfit, as nursing would be to a grown man." "Mother, I will try to believe that God knows best, and that he loves us when he makes us wait on him, and not please ourselves." LITTLE CHILDREN. Ill "It is the only way of peace, my child." ' In heaven, and earth, and air, and seas, He executes his firm decrees ; And by his saints it stands confessed That what he does is always best.' " 112 SABBATH TALKS WITH WHETHER YE EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATSOEVER YE DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD. " MOTHEK, do you think our heavenly Father cares what we eat and drink ? " " I will answer your question by and by. Did you see Peter Collins when we were walking to aunt Sarah's last week?" " Yes, mother, I saw him, and I was afraid of him, for he went from one side to the other, and seemed as if he would fall down. He was talking to himself all the way, and I don't think he knew what he said, nor where he was going. What was the matter with him ? " " He was intoxicated. He had been LITTLE CHILDREN. 113 drinking brandy or rum, and it made him crazy." " Is it wicked to drink brandy ? " " If you had gone home with Peter that night, you would probably have heard him swear at his wife, and seen him beat the poor little baby because it cried, and make every body around him wretched ; and yet he would not know what he said or did. Do you not think it wicked to drink any thing which will make us crazy or unkind ? " " 0, how dreadful ! I can hardly be- lieve Peter would do so, for I have seen him hold that little baby many a time in his arms, and talk to it, and kiss it, and I believe he loves it dearly ; and he al- ways seems kind to his wife, too." 8 114 SABBATH TALKS WITH " Yes, Peter is very kind when he has not been drinking brandy, or some other kind of liquor ; and he would always be so if he would not taste it. Do you think God is pleased with him when he makes himself so wicked ? " " No, mother. I am sure he must be very much displeased." " Then God does care for what we eat and drink. He wishes us to eat only those things that will nourish us, and drink only those things that refresh with- out harming us." " But, mother, there are not many things that make so much trouble as brandy." " No, not many ; but there is a right and a wrong about a great many things LITTLE CHILDREN. 115 that we eat and drink. Some people eat too much. They grow stupid, and are not active and useful, and happy and kind-hearted. They perhaps do not know what is the cause; but if they would consider, they would find* that they ought to eat less. They destroy their usefulness ; and we can only glorify God when we are useful. " Some people do not eat enough. They do not feel hungry, and they see no need of eating. But people that do not eat cannot work. They soon begin to pine, and grow languid, and sick, and useless. It would more glorify God if they would eat to please him, so that they might gain strength for his service. " Sometimes people eat irregularly. 116 SABBATH TALKS WITH They do not wait till dinner, or tea time, but eat between. This injures them. And often they eat food that is not health- ful ; and when they do, that injures them. We do not know how many bad feelings and ugly tempers are caused by what we eat ; and these tempers are displeasing to God." "How can we know, mother, what we may eat and drink ? " "When we are children, we can obey our fathers and mothers, or other kind friends. When little children fret for candies or sweetmeats, and for things which their parents know are not good for them, they displease God. They should be willing to do just as they are told, and very glad that they are not LITTLE CHILDREN. 117 allowed to eat what will hurt them, and make them unhappy." "But when we grow up, we can eat and drink just what we please can't we, mother ? " " "When you are grown, you will not ask your parents what you may eat, but you will have to think for yourself what is right, and do it, even if you would prefer to do something else." "Mother, when I am a lady, and see a piece of pie that I want very much, must I not eat it ? " "Suppose you had found that every time you ate a piece of pie you had a headache, and could not read, or write, or work with any comfort, and that the headache made you fretful and unhappy, 118 SABBATH TALKS WITH and troubled all who saw you; do you think it would be right to eat it? God made us all to be useful and happy, and to make others happy ; and it is wrong to do any thing which will prevent us from doing his will." "But, mother, can we always know what will hurt us, and what will not? " 11 We can know a great deal if we think about such things, and really try always to do right, and not to please ourselves. "We know that cold water is a refreshing drink, and will not harm us, and we know that brandy may injure us. It is safe and right to- drink the water. We know that simple food is healthful, and it is safe and right to take it. As we grow up, we can generally learn what LITTLE CHILDREN. 119 is best for ourselves, and if we wish to glorify God, we shall always do what we know to be right." "Do persons always grow sick when they eat what is not good for them ? " " No, not always; sometimes they only grow ill-tempered and impatient, or un- happy and restless. Sometimes they are made indolent, and sometimes their rea- son is disturbed. They do not glorify God nor please him then. If they had eaten proper food, they would have been happy, and kind, and useful." "Mrs. M. does not think as you do, mother. She lets Annie eat every thing she pleases, and as often as she wishes." " I know a great many persons do not think it of much consequence, and many 120 SABBATH TALKS WITH more think very little on such subjects at all. But they forget that the Bible bids us glorify God in our eating and drinking. You are too young to under- stand now all I could tell you ; but when you are older, you will read of the laws which govern our natural life, and then you will see that those must always suf- fer who do not obey the rules which our heavenly Father has laid down for us. I hope you will remember what I have told you. We must take care of our health because it is his gift, and we can- not be so useful without it. We must take care of all he has given us. ' Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' " Day after day, and night after night, little Freddy's mother has held him on her lap. LITTLE CHILDREN. 123 LOVE SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND. 1 Cor. xiii. DAY after day, and night after night, eleven days arid nights, little Freddy's mother has held him on her lap. She has not undressed herself and gone to rest in bed. She has not left the room except for a few moments at a time. She looks very, very tired. Little Freddy is sick. Poor baby ! he lies very still on his mother's lap. He does not open his bright eyes and laugh as he used to when Alice comes into the room. He does not creep about the floor, and under the bed, playing hide and seek. He moans and cries, a little, faint cry, and suffers sadly. His mother looks at him, and the tears 124 SABBATH TALKS WITH come in her eyes. She is afraid he will die and leave her alone. She stoops down and kisses his pale cheek. She takes a soft handkerchief, and dips it in cool water, and bathes his forehead. Sometimes she puts a little pillow under his head, and holds him on it until her arm aches. Sometimes she lays him up over her shoulder and rocks him gently. Sometimes she puts him in his cradle a few minutes. Often she walks with him in her arms across the room, back and forth, back and forth, very patiently, singing a low song. She hardly eats any food. She does not go out to ride. She neither sews nor reads. She does nothing but take care of her precious baby. She is very tired almost sick ; LITTLE CHILDREN. 125 but she does not think of that. She loves little Freddy better than she loves herself. " Love suffereth long and is kind" John's father sits at evening by the fire, with a letter in his hand. It is from the school teacher, asking him to take John away from school and keep him at home. The teacher says he is a bad boy. He is disobedient and troublesome. He will not study himself, and he tries to hinder the other boys. He whispers, and laughs, and will not do as he is told. That is a sad letter for a father to read. He is troubled. He hardly knows what to do. John has given his father a great deal of unhappiness. The next morning he calls him to his study and talks with 126 SABBATH TALKS WITH him. He tells him how grieved he is at his bad conduct. He reminds* him how often he has been punished, and how often he has been kindly warned, and all in vain. John sees that his father is unhappy, but he does not care. He is taken away from that school and sent to another, but he does not grow good. Every day he does some naughty thing. Sometimes his father talks to him. Some- times he has to punish him. Often he mourns sadly over him. Often, if you could see him in the dark night, after every body else is in bed, you would see him praying for his son. But he does not get out of patience with him. He does not send him away from home, and tell him never to come back. He buys LITTLE CHILDREN. 127 him books, and birds, and tools, and rab- bits, hoping to win him to better ways. Not long since he gave him a new sled, because for one day he had not been dis- obedient. John's father will never stop trying to make him a good boy, although he does give him so much trouble, for he loves his son. " Love suffereth long and is kind" In a poor-looking cellar, where the pleasant sun never shines no carpet on the floor, no chairs to sit in, hardly any fire in the dismal-looking stove Ellen sits on a stool, sewing very fast, and looking very pale. It is almost night. She hears a step and grows paler still. Some one opens the door and comes reel- 128 SABBATH TALKS WITH ing into the room. It is her father. *She goes to meet him and help him to a seat, for he seems not able to walk. He will not be helped. He speaks very unkind words to her, and when she comes nearer and begs to take hold of his hand, he strikes her, and then he falls flat upon the floor. Ellen's father drinks rum, and it makes him crazy, so that he does not know what he is doing. Once he loved Ellen, when she was a little baby, and used to hold her in his arms as your father does you ; but when men begin to drink rum, it takes away their love to their wives and children, and makes them very cruel and unkind. Ellen does not speak ill words to her father. "When she finds he cannot get up alone, she goes again to LITTLE CHILDREN. 129 and takes hold of his hand, and he pulls himself up on to a stool by the stove. Then she goes quietly to the closet and brings out his supper. It is all she has in the house. A piece of dry bread and a cold potato; no butter, no meat, no tea. Her father spends all his money for drink, and very often poor Ellen is nearly starved. All the food she and her father have she buys with the little mon- ey she earns by sewing, and he would get that away from her if he could. Ellen puts the bread and potato and a mug of water on the table, and says, " Father, your supper is ready." 0, how he talks when he sits down I He uses dreadful lan- guage. He is angry because there is no more to eat, although it is his own fault. 9 130 SABBATH TALKS WITH "When he has eaten his supper, he to bed, and Ellen sits alone again at her work. The tears roll from her face. She remembers better days than these, when she had a kind father and tender, loving mother, and a dear little baby sister, and a cheerful home. Her mother died a year ago, and the sweet baby could not live without her. Jesus pitied it and took it home. Ellen was left with her father, and he does not love her now. But she loves him, and though he treats her un- kindly and frightens her, she never answers him unkindly. She works hard to get food for him and herself. She tries every way to make him happy. She talks pleas- antry to him when he does not come home crazy, and sings little songs ; for Ellen can LITTLE CHILDREN. 131 SHig very sweetly. Every day she prays many times for .him that God will pity and save him. I think her prayers will be answered. The blessed Saviour hears, and he is very pitiful. He knows every thing that occurs. He sees every tear poor Ellen sheds. I think he will give her father a new heart, a kind and loving heart, and make him very sorry for all his sins, and give him strength to resist temptation, and leave off drink- ing the fiery thing that does so much harm. Some kind ladies have tried to persuade Ellen to go away from her miserable home, and told her they would find her a better one. But she says, No. She will never leave her father. She will always 132 SABBATH TALKS WITH stay with him, and always love him, Sid do every thing for his comfort. "Love suffer eth long, and is kind" See Alice drawing her little brother about the floor. "What a bright, happy little boy he is ! Alice looks tired. Well she may. It is no small task to take care of little Johnnie, and she has had him sev- eral hours. He requires constant watching and attention. She must not forget him a moment. Sometimes he creeps to the fender, and is going to reach over and take up a coal from the hearth, and Alice must jump to save him from being burned. Next he has climbed into a chair, and there he stands, rocking back and forth, while his black eyes twinkle, and he LITTLE CHILDREN. 133 crows with delight, not knowing how soon he would get a fall if sister Alice did not sit patiently by, watching every move- ment, and holding her hand behind him. Then he tries to walk across the room. One wee foot totters after the other", and then, down he goes with a buinp, and hurts his head against the table, and Alice must take him in her lap, and tell him what the pussy says, or crow like a rooster, or bark like a dog. It is sup- per time now. Johnnie must have his bread and milk. His mother has not come home, and Alice must feed him. She likes nothing better. It is a dear little "birdie" mouth that is put up ev- ery time she dips in the spoon, and she kisses him almost as often. She puts 134 SABBATH TALKS WITH him in his wagon after supper, and draws him about till bed time, and then she lays him in his crib, and although she is very tired, she says there never was such a precious little brother as hers nobody can think how she loves him. Years come and go. Johnnie is six years old. Alice loves him as well as ever, and now she is teaching him to read and spell. But Johnnie does not love to learn. He likes a great deal better to be driving hoop or trundling his wheelbar- row. He tries his sister's patience sadly. He frets and cries, or he will not sit still, or he is bent on catching a fly just when she thinks he has almost conquered the hard word. Sometimes she talks to him. Sometimes she looks displeased. Some- LITTLE CHILDREN. 135 times she promises him a reward if he will be attentive. She tries all ways, and is gentle and kind. She is often afraid he will grow up a dunce. If she did not love him very much indeed, she would give up trying to teach him. But she looks at his bright face, and curly hair, and dear, roguish eyes, and folds her arms around him, and thinks to herself that she will never, never say it is hard to do any thing for her darling brother. And so she works on, day after day, and does not grow weary. Tears come and go again, and Johnnie is twelve years old. Alice has done a great deal for him. She has been his patient teacher six years. Words can never tell all the tender thoughts, and 136 SABBATH TALKS WITH loving actions, and kind care which she has bestowed upon him. Thanks to her perseverance, he can read, and spell, and write very correctly, and has learned many things besides. He is a tall boy. I see Alice talking to him. He has just come in from school. He has a cigar in his mouth, and Alice has tears in her eyes. You wonder why she feels bad. She hoped her brother would never smoke. It is a dirty habit. But that is not all. She knows what he does not, that it will injure his health, and spoil his temper, perhaps. She knows it will lead him away from home, and very likely into bad company. She has seen other boys, who began by smoking, go on from that to worse habits, and become very different LITTLE CHILDREN. 137 men from those who take to no such ways ; and she looks at her dear brother, and thinks how she has loved him, and prayed for him, and looked forward to his being a good man, and her heart is sor- rowful. She cannot bear to have him form the first bad habit. But all she says does no good. John learns to smoke. Soon he finds the com- pany of other boys who smoke far pleas- anter than the circle at home, and even- ing after evening he wishes to go out. If he is not allowed, he grows peevish and fretful. The roses fade from his cheeks. His eyes are not as bright as they used to be. He is not as happy. His conscience troubles him, and because he is doing contrary to the wishes of 138 SABBATH TALKS WITH those around him, he thinks they are his enemies, and trying to make him un- comfortable. He is out of temper with himself and every body else. He says very hard things to his patient, loving sister. But Alice thinks she loves him better than she ever did before. Such a pity is in her heart for him, when she sees him listless, and languid, and un- happy, that she wishes she could take him in her arms, as she did when he was a little baby, and hush him to sleep, and make him forget all his troubles. Some- times she tells him that if he will only do right he will be as happy as ever ; but that makes him angry. Sometimes she contrives a plan to amuse and inter- est him, and keep him at home ; but he LITTLE CHILDREN. 139 will Dot stay. He has formed many bad habits now, and he heeds not the love that would die to save him. Never does she forget him, that patient sister. Day after day she prays for his good. She lives for his comfort. Her fingers take the stitches in his clothes. She cooks every day the dishes he loves best, and does all in her power to please him. She is afraid he will never love her again. He grows less and less kind to her. But it makes no difference in her heart toward him. "Love suffereth long, and is kind." I know a man who is a farmer. Every year he plants corn, and potatoes, and many other things on his farm. He works hard: He rises early, and does 140 SABBATH TALKS WITH not stop working till the sun goes down. Farmers must work hard. They plant, and sow, and root out weeds, and do all they can to make their seeds spring up and grow. They can do a great deal, but not all. They may have the best seed and the choicest land, and do all their work in the best manner. But corn and potatoes will not grow without rain and sunshine, and the farmers cannot make it rain. Only God can do that. This farmer, of whom I am telling you, has raised good crops a great many years. His barns have been filled with hay, and wheat, and corn, and vegetables. He has made plenty of butter and cheese. He has had all his heart could desire. Yet all these years he has never thanked LITTLE CHILDREN. 141 God for rain and sunshine. He has never been sorry for his sins. He has not had one loving thought toward his almighty Friend. He is not a good man. Yet year after year God blesses him, and is never weary of doing him good. "Love suffer eth long, and is kind." " He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth his rain on the just and on the unjust" I know another man, to save whose soul, the Lord has been doing many things ever since he was a baby. He had a good home and pious parents. His mother often talked with him of the love of Jesus and the blessed heavenly home. But he was not interested. He was early 142 SABBATH TALKS WITH taught to pray and read his Bible, but he soon forgot to do either. He went to Sunday school, and heard many sermons, but he did not obey what he was taught. The Holy Spirit has put good thoughts in his heart, but he has crowded them out, or done something to make himself forget them. Conscience has whispered to him, but he would not listen. It seems as if he did not wish to see heaven. But the Lord will not leave him to go the downward road. He looks upon him ev- ery day. He gives him many blessings, hoping for love in return. Sometimes he sends sickness upon him, to teach him submission and patience, and remind him that he is not to live always in this world. Sometimes he gives him riches, that in LITTLE CHILDREN. 143 his prosperity he may remember the Giver. Sometimes he gives wings to his riches, and they fly away, that he may learn to lay up his treasures in heaven. Some- times he is afflicted, that he may remem- ber Jesus, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief who had not where to lay his head, and who willingly died for him. God will leave nothing undone to persuade him, if possible, to repent and be saved. Why? Because he loves him. "Love suffereth long, and is kind." " The Lord is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-42ro-8,'49(B5573)444 LOS ANGELES UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 001 145323 BV 4870 A82s