GIFT OF 
 
HERE AND THERE 
 A LEAF 
 
 BY 
 LOUISE HEYWOOD 
 
 li 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 
 1913 
 

 , ' - . - 
 
 , ' 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1912 
 SHEBMAX, FRENCH 6 COMPANY 
 
i- 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I No THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW . 1 
 
 II BEARING THE CROSS .... 12 
 
 III HE Is COMING 21 
 
 IV ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE POOR . 28 
 
 V THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED . 35 
 
 VI BE PATIENT Now 40 
 
 VII OUR GIRLS AND BOYS .... 43 
 
 VIII COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION . . 55 
 
 IX OUR RESPONSIBILITY .... 66 
 
 X SETTLE IT WITH JESUS .... 74 
 
 XI FAITH AND WORKS 79 
 
 XII NOT BELIEVING BECAUSE NOT UN- 
 DERSTANDING 87 
 
 XIII No MIDDLE WAY 91 
 
 XIV ARE WE GROWING OLD? ... 98 
 XV THE RISEN CHRIST 106 
 
 XVI THE PARTING OF THE WAY . . .111 
 
 XVII WORDS OF CHEER FOR THE AGED . 115 
 
 XVIII FAR FROM HOME 123 
 
 XIX THE GOOD FIGHT . 127 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XX WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE . . . 138 
 
 XXI TIRED MOTHERS 149 
 
 XXII DEAR BABY RALPH .... 164 
 
 XXIII HOME, SWEET HOME . 172 
 
TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW 
 
 We know not one moment of the future. We 
 may be sitting quietly in our homes, and a flash 
 of lightning, or the sudden development of a 
 hidden disease may send us without warning into 
 eternity. An accident on a railroad train or on 
 an ocean steamer, a misstep, a fire at the dead of 
 night, a hundred calamities which are sending 
 others suddenly to their final home, are as likely 
 to happen to us as to them. 
 
 To-day we may have all our loved ones about 
 us, to-morrow they may leave us never to re- 
 turn. To-day we may be rich, to-morrow poor. 
 To-day we may be in the exuberance of health 
 and strength, and to-morrow be laid upon a bed 
 of pain and weakness. To-day we may be strong 
 in the use of all our reasoning faculties, an asylum 
 may be our home to-morrow. Under the care of 
 our Heavenly Father, and in ourselves helpless 
 as regards our future, why take anxious thought 
 concerning it? Whatever we can do to make our 
 lives successful in all things honorable, we are to 
 do. We cannot sit down in idleness and expect 
 God to take care of us without any effort on our 
 part. He has given us our faculties and our 
 

 2 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 energies, and we are accountable for the manner 
 in which we use his gifts ; but we cannot use them 
 independently of him. We must have his ap- 
 proval, and his blessing, and after we have done 
 our utmost, leave the result of our efforts quietly 
 and patiently with him. 
 
 There is much happiness for us if we will only 
 take it day by day, as God means we should, and 
 not get so bewildered in the fogs and mists of 
 life as not to see the beautiful sunlight beaming 
 all along our path. Trials and disappointments 
 must come, but the more patient we are, the 
 lighter these will be; and the longer we live 
 the more will they seem like the insect which 
 lights upon us, and which we brush aside, an in- 
 significant and but momentary annoyance. 
 
 Life is short. Why then not make the best 
 use of it to-day? When shall we be content? 
 When, if not now, live truly and earnestly, trust- 
 ing God implicitly, and holding sweet and restful 
 communion with him? 
 
 Much that might be sweet and helpful in 
 our lives is overlooked, because we are constantly 
 anticipating some fancied greater blessing than 
 we now possess, and in our anxious care for the 
 morrow, we fail to enjoy the blessings of to-day. 
 In this manner all our days are full of unrest, 
 and we spend our whole life anticipating, but not 
 realizing; for, as soon as we have reached a de- 
 sired point, we see beyond us still something to 
 reach after, which we believe to be necessary to 
 
NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW S 
 
 our comfort or happiness. The truth is, that if 
 we have not the spirit of contentment to-day, we 
 are not likely to have it to-morrow. If we do 
 not exhaust the resources of to-day, but pass 
 them by unused, we are likely to do the same to- 
 morrow, thus making all our days barren of joy 
 and of the satisfaction which comes from the as- 
 surance in our hearts that we have made the 
 most of the day's gifts to us. The feeling of un- 
 rest and dissatisfaction which takes possession 
 of so many persons, whatever their circumstances 
 and surroundings, and follows them all through 
 life, is something startling. Now and then we 
 find one who is comparatively at rest, but the ma- 
 jority, even of those who profess to trust God 
 implicitly, are restless and dissatisfied. 
 
 What is the reason for this contradictory con- 
 dition? Many Christians have a sort of in- 
 definite belief that God is their Father, and that 
 he loves them, and will take care of them in a 
 general way. That he has an especial and daily 
 supervision of their lives does not enter their 
 thoughts, even when they pray, "Give us this 
 day our daily bread." With this indistinct idea 
 of God's relation to them, and their relation to 
 him, their faith is weak and wavering, and as 
 no one can be satisfied with anything short of 
 complete faith in a personal Savior, they are not 
 satisfied, neither do they appropriate to them- 
 selves the promised daily grace for daily needs. 
 The promises of the Bible are not only for na- 
 
4 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 tions, but for the individual. God does not mock 
 us in reaching out his hand to lead us. Neither 
 does he stand ready to give us an occasional lift 
 over difficult places, but hourly is his loving and 
 helping hand extended, and if we would only 
 grasp it and never let go, how many mistakes we 
 might avoid ! He is our God to-day. All that 
 we need for to-day comes from his bountiful hand, 
 according to the measure of our faith. 
 
 Perfect faith in God would so transform our 
 lives that we would hardly know ourselves. To 
 feel each morning that we are held in the hollow 
 of his hand who controls all the gold and silver, 
 the food and raiment, the good and the evil, to 
 realize that God goes behind us to correct our 
 mistakes, that he is all about us, that nothing 
 can touch us without his permission, and that he 
 permits nothing which is not for our highest good, 
 would bring peace into our hearts and radiance 
 into our faces which could not be mistaken. 
 Every day would bring its own compensations, 
 its own completeness, and we would not need to 
 anticipate or look forward. 
 
 How can any one doubt that God means that 
 we should live in this way, taking no anxious 
 thought for the morrow, appreciating and making 
 the most of the blessings of to-day, and endur- 
 ing its annoyances with sweet submission to his 
 will who knows how much trial we need, who is 
 molding us daily into the image of his Son. How 
 happy are we if we can say sincerely every morn- 
 
NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW 5 
 
 ing, "O, Lord, I am thine to-day; use me as thou 
 wilt, and make my will in harmony with thy will, 
 that Jesus may be glorified in me to-day !" 
 
 What have we to do with the morrow? The 
 present moment is all that we can, with certainty, 
 call our own. If we do not instantly grasp this 
 moment, and use it, it is ours no longer. It will 
 never come back to us. How wise, therefore, it 
 is to take no thought for the future, in order 
 that we may give our whole thought and effort 
 to the present, that we may take all the good, 
 all the strength, all the power from to-day, and 
 pass it by a well-used day, with no desire to re- 
 call it. One day at a time is all that we can 
 master. 
 
 It is said that in to-day already walks to- 
 morrow. That is man's perversion. God has 
 separated to-day from to-morrow by the darkness 
 of the night, that we may not be overtaxed. He 
 has made circles of the days and nights, each one 
 complete, and round and full; one half for work 
 and happiness, the other for repose. He holds 
 us in the hollow of his hand from morning until 
 night, and from night until morning, and all we 
 have to take thought about is the work he 
 gives us to do, and the blessings he gives us to 
 enjoy. If we do well each day's work, the fu- 
 ture will be provided for. He takes care of that, 
 and our eternal future, he provides for at the 
 beginning. "Seek first the kingdom of God." 
 Then how secure we are. How completely we 
 
6 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 can rest in him as we perform our tasks. How 
 full we can fill the moments with love and its out- 
 growth. How patient we can be under neces- 
 sary ills. What a warm light we may shed all 
 through our homes, in society, in business circles, 
 everywhere. 
 
 It is true that much of the work of the present 
 must have reference to the future. The farmer 
 must prepare the ground and sow the seed; but 
 while sowing the seed, he needs not take upon 
 himself the burden of the harvest. There are a 
 thousand possibilities thrusting themselves in the 
 face of all to give them anxious care for the 
 future. Sow the seed and trust. Do the day's 
 work, whether it be for present need or for the 
 winter of life, in hope. 
 
 Our blessed Lord knew what was in man; that 
 he would take upon himself burdens hard to 
 bear, which would imperil his manhood. He 
 knew the race for all time, and that in the deter- 
 mination to lay up treasures on earth, men would 
 become more and more absorbed in the present, 
 or become possessed by the evil spirit of accu- 
 mulation. He knew the greed, the selfishness, the 
 littleness of men, if left to themselves, and to put 
 a check upon them, and to reveal a better way, 
 he said, "Take no thought for to-morrow." 
 
 How thankful we should be that we have only 
 to-day's work to do, its trials to endure. Thank- 
 ful, too, that we may have all the pleasant things 
 of to-day, all the joys, all the love, the com- 
 
NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW 7 
 
 panionship, the tenderness and sympathy at our 
 command, knowing that to-morrow will bring its 
 own good as well as evil. 
 
 .How many, as if not satisfied with the real 
 troubles of the present, anticipate future trials. 
 How senseless, when the future is as blank to us 
 as possible, and things rarely happen just as we 
 expect. They wear themselves out fretting about 
 the future. They lose to-day's joys in looking 
 for the future greater joy. They throw away 
 good opportunities, in looking for better ones. 
 They withhold from their friends the small roses 
 it is in their power to give, in the hope, some 
 day, of scattering roses everywhere. They with- 
 hold the dollar from charity, looking forward 
 to the time when they shall be able to give a hun- 
 dred instead. They fail to enjoy their small 
 houses and modest, but real comforts, in think- 
 ing of future mansions. They make to-day some- 
 thing to be endured and gotten through with in 
 some way, while all the really good things are in 
 the future. 
 
 Oh, cast out from your life this haunting phan- 
 tom of to-morrow. It is unworthy of you to let 
 it follow you so closely, making your life a 
 troubled, perhaps a wretched, anxious existence. 
 There are pearls dropping all around you to-day. 
 Will you trample them under foot while looking 
 for diamonds? There are fragrant lilies and 
 roses blooming for you now. Will you pass them 
 by unheeded, while seeking for rarer flowers which 
 
8 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 bloom not oftener than once in a century? Be 
 not so unwise. Live in to-day. Enjoy present 
 good. You will thus find a satisfaction in living, 
 thus be able to make wise use of your powers, 
 thus with your present resources be able to fill the 
 day to completeness. Your life will become tran- 
 quil. The sharp and anxious lines will disappear 
 from your face. Your nerves will be stronger, 
 and restfulness will mark all your movements. You 
 will be less avaricious. And you will be brave; 
 for who cannot be brave for to-day? And fear- 
 less; who cannot trust God for to-day? And 
 loving; who cannot be magnanimous for one day? 
 And tender; who cannot be tender to the little 
 ones, to the weak ones, to the less favored ones 
 for one day? And pure; who cannot be washed 
 at the fountain in the morning, and remain pure 
 all day? 
 
 Oh, glorious life to live, leaving all the un- 
 known future with God, and living one day at a 
 time, doing the work given us cheerfully and 
 well, even though it be of the humblest, and al- 
 ways trusting God. What more do we need than 
 daily bread? If we perform each day our duty 
 to God, to our fellow-men, and to ourselves, what 
 better preparation can we ever make for the long 
 to-morrow of the soul, which in heaven will be as 
 one eternal to-day? 
 
 To-morrow is like the rainbow, which, in our 
 childhood, we thought we could reach by running 
 a short distance, but which, to our dismay, we 
 
NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW 9 
 
 found to recede as rapidly as we advanced; or 
 like the horizon, which we imagined not far dis- 
 tant, and that we should be able to touch the 
 golden glory gilding it. To-morrow we never 
 see. To-day we hold in a strong grasp. Use it 
 ere it pass away. Time whirls rapidly on. All 
 the to-morrows will be to-days, then yesterdays, 
 and pass quickly far away into the past until cen- 
 turies hide them from all the living. Time is for 
 us to use. If we waste it while anticipating fu- 
 ture good or future ill, we lose to-day, and all 
 the days as they go on, until our last day will 
 find us barren and unlovely. 
 
 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Suf- 
 ficient also unto the day is the good thereof, if 
 we will open our eyes to see it. How many go 
 through this world as blind as bats, and call it a 
 vale of tears ! There is reason for tears, surely ; 
 but there is reason, also, for rejoicing. Open 
 your eyes to present opportunities. Think not 
 of what will come to you in the future, but what 
 is yours now. Think not of what you can do in 
 the future, but what you can do now. Think of 
 your present blessings, and appreciate them the 
 more. They are daily bread. Does it rain to- 
 day ? Is it dark and gloomy ? That is all right ; 
 there must be some stormy days. To-morrow the 
 cloud will have a silver lining, or disappear en- 
 tirely. Does the sun shine to-day? To-morrow 
 may be bright also, or you may pass into eternal 
 brightness. 
 
10 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Are you well? Enjoy your health and use it 
 to the best advantage. Are you ill? Then to- 
 day is a day in which to be patient and endure 
 cheerfully. Are you free from trouble? Then it 
 is a thanksgiving day. Are you carrying heavy 
 burdens for yourself or others? Then it is a day 
 for especial looking to God, and the rolling off 
 your burdens at the foot of the cross. What- 
 ever the day brings to you, God comes with all 
 its gifts in the person of his Son, and in the of- 
 fice of the Holy Spirit. In the presence of Jesus, 
 the darkest day will be made light; by the in- 
 dwelling of the Holy Spirit, all toil and trouble 
 will be sanctified. Using each day well, improv- 
 ing every moment to some good end, how rich 
 we may become as the days go on ; and what fruit 
 we may bear to the glory and honor of our 
 Heavenly Father, who fills the measure of our 
 days to completeness so that we need not tres- 
 pass upon to-morrow. 
 
 God wishes us to live on daily bread, with no 
 questioning as to whether to-morrow's food will 
 be more or less palatable than that which we have 
 to-day. To-day's blessings are ours ; the rest 
 are God's to give or to withhold, as seems good 
 in his sight. To-day's waiting and loss are ours, 
 and we are to wait patiently, and to lose bravely. 
 To-morrow's trials may be quite unlike those of 
 to-day, and there are some days that are all joy. 
 Who cannot be patient and cheerful for one day? 
 Who cannot rest so firmly on the Rock, our sure 
 
NO THOUGHT FOR TO-MORROW 11 
 
 foundation, for one day, as not to be moved, 
 whatever may happen to vex or annoy? It is 
 only one by one, day by day. Give us, Oh, Lord, 
 this day, our daily bread! 
 
n 
 
 BEARING THE CROSS 
 
 Who can imagine for one moment what our 
 Lord endured for us? The cross he bore on Cal- 
 vary was not his only cross. No doubt many 
 crosses pressed heavily upon him even from his 
 childhood. He was unlike other children. Their 
 rough and uncultivated ways must have caused 
 his gentle and sensitive nature to shrink within 
 itself. Their inclination for wrong-doing must 
 have given him pain, and his remonstrances and 
 disapproval of their acts were, no doubt, often 
 misunderstood. 
 
 One of his life-long trials must have been the 
 constant realization that he was alone. Who 
 could understand him? Who could sympathize 
 with him? Upon whose tender, human heart 
 could he lay his weary head and rest? His posi- 
 tion was singular. Never, since the world began, 
 had any one stood in his place, suspended, as it 
 were, between heaven and earth, between ages 
 past and ages to come, neither wholly human, nor 
 yet wholly divine, the Incarnate Son of God, lifted 
 up before the gaze of all humanity, first by sym- 
 bols, then in his own body, that whosoever be- 
 lieved in him should not perish but have everlast- 
 ing life, 
 
BEARING THE CROSS 13 
 
 Singular, indeed, was the heavy cross he bore, 
 upon which was laid the sins of all the ages, from 
 the creation of the world to the end of time. 
 No doubt the wooden cross which was placed upon 
 him, and to which he was nailed at the last, was a 
 symbol of all that he had borne and suffered, from 
 the moment when he realized his position and his 
 mission until that time; and his agony in Geth- 
 semane, and his torture upon the cross, were but 
 feeble expressions of what he really suffered for 
 our redemption. It is not strange that in his 
 intense agony he prayed that the cup might pass. 
 None of us can ever know the mystery of that bit- 
 ter cup. We can only in part divine it, and ap- 
 proach with holy reverence into the presence of 
 the supreme suffering which called forth such a 
 prayer from the Patient One, the Divine One, the 
 Son of God, "Oh, my Father, if it be possible, let 
 this cup pass from me !" Three times he prayed 
 the same words, as drops of blood were falling on 
 the ground, from his intense agony. But not- 
 withstanding this terrible ordeal, we listen rev- 
 erently to his expressions of deepest humility, and 
 sweetest submission, "Father, if this cup may not 
 pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be 
 done !" 
 
 There are hours in the life of every one of us 
 when we feel that our cup is full to overflowing, 
 that it is too bitter, that we cannot drink it. 
 There are crosses fastened to our hearts that 
 pierce and lacerate, and we shrink from them, 
 
14. HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 and beg and plead to have them removed. But, 
 as with Jesus, there are often reasons why the 
 crosses should remain. God has a work to be 
 done by them which nothing else could do, and 
 they will be lightened or removed only when his 
 purpose is accomplished. There are crosses, 
 also, which are light and so easy to bear that we 
 do not think of asking the help of Jesus in bear- 
 ing them, and they fret and irritate, and make 
 us impatient and unlovely. There is no cross, 
 be it light or heavy, which he will not illuminate 
 for us, if we bear it in sweetness and humility, 
 following him. 
 
 All have crosses to bear. There is no escape 
 for any one. Even when we call ourselves happy, 
 is there not an under-current of pain flowing 
 swift and strong threatening to take us off our 
 feet and bear us out into the sea of trouble 
 stretching on farther than the eye can see, with 
 constant ebb and flow throughout this life? Oh, 
 there is, there is, and God's children will find peace 
 only as their minds and hearts are stayed on him. 
 
 Dear one, are you lying on a bed of pain? Is 
 there never a day nor an hour when you are free 
 from suffering? Truly, the earthward side of 
 that cross is very dark; but the other side! Oh, 
 if you can but see the heavenward side! All 
 bright and shining with the loving compassion of 
 your Lord! Hold fast to him, and pain will not 
 overwhelm you; peace will enter your soul, and 
 the Everlasting Arms will hold you, in strong, 
 
BEARING THE CROSS 15 
 
 loving embrace from morning until night, and 
 from night until morning. 
 
 "Take up thy cross and follow me." We are 
 not to shrink from bearing our cross. We are 
 not to try to run away from it ; we are to take it 
 up ! "Take up thy cross, not that of some other 
 person. Take up the cross appointed unto thee 
 for thy discipline, for thy instruction, for thy 
 preparation, for the life of the Crucified." If 
 we be one in him, must we not also be crucified 
 with him? Must not every sinful desire, and 
 thought, every word and deed be nailed to the 
 cross, even to the sacrifice of our most cherished 
 idols, even to the death of our dearest earthly 
 hopes? Humiliated, even with our faces in the 
 dust, here, to receive glory, and honor, and joy 
 unspeakable in heavenly mansions. Crucified 
 with our Lord here, to be exalted with him in 
 heaven ! 
 
 Joyfully let us take up our cross, and, with 
 bleeding feet, if need be, follow all along the 
 thorny path in which he trod to take us safe to 
 heaven. Sometimes it may seem to us that God 
 is partial, that the crosses of some we know are 
 much lighter than our own. Considering it from 
 a worldly point of view, it does really seem that 
 some persons are set up as targets for sorrow 
 and misfortune. 
 
 Many are led as lambs to the slaughter every 
 day, innocent persons led by selfishness, by 
 cruelty, by scandal, by fraud to the ruin of hap- 
 
16 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 piness, of reputation, of property, often to death. 
 Why is it? How futile this question which is so 
 often asked in agony, but which can never be an- 
 swered until the secrets of infinity are revealed, 
 and we see as a grand whole the panorama of the 
 ages pass before us. It was by the sins of the 
 world that the Lamb of God was led to the 
 slaughter, and it is by sin that troubles come to 
 us. Review your life from the beginning. See 
 how much of your trouble has been the result, 
 directly or indirectly, of some wrong-doing on 
 your part or that of another. 
 
 Men are like the beasts of the forest. They 
 prey upon one another without mercy. They 
 steal and rob and murder, with the boldness of 
 highwaymen, or under cover of hypocrisy and de- 
 ceit or with the air of doing a favor. These 
 things have been, and are, and will be to a greater 
 or less extent, no matter who suffers, until Satan 
 is banished and the millennium dawns. If all were 
 living an ordinary, comfortable life, where would 
 be the heroes? Who would perform brave acts, 
 who stand unflinchingly before terrible disaster? 
 Who go to the front in battles to be won? Who 
 follow our Lord to Gethsemane? 
 
 After all, you who have suffered, you whom the 
 Lord has chastened because of his great love for 
 you, would you go back if you could to lead an 
 uneventful life, an ordinary, easy life looking 
 only to the comfort of this world? Would you 
 go back to mere commonplace experiences, to the 
 
BEARING THE CROSS 17 
 
 daily routine of common people, common in the 
 sense of never having had other than common ex- 
 periences? Would you if you could? To be 
 sure, the pain of your life has been great, and 
 there have been many times when it seemed to you 
 that you could not bear it; but have there not 
 been compensations, have there not been rich ex- 
 periences? Has there not been a nearer draw- 
 ing to your Heavenly Father, and a more steady 
 abiding in his sweet peace? Have you not, many 
 a time, felt the sympathetic pressure of your 
 Lord's hand, more precious than lands or houses, 
 silver or gold? Have you not been permitted to 
 lean your weary, aching head upon his bosom, and 
 has he not comforted you? He, the King of 
 kings and Lord of lords? 
 
 A heavy cross-bearer, ah, yes ! To the shat- 
 tering of many hopes, to the giving up of much 
 that is dear, to the drinking to the dregs the 
 bitter cup of sorrow and misfortune ! Jesus bore 
 the heavy cross, yet he did not complain. 
 Sweetly and patiently, with few smiles and many 
 tears, he went about his Father's business with- 
 out a murmur; living his wonderful life with the 
 cross ever before him, ministered unto by angels, 
 beloved and approved by God, rejected, cursed 
 and spit upon by man, he went on steadily to the 
 accomplishment of his sublime work, that of sav- 
 ing a lost world ! 
 
 Doubtless it is for some grand purpose that 
 you are led to the cross; so take comfort, and 
 
18 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 trust in God, and love his Son, and be brave and 
 fearless no matter what happens. We do not 
 need to know the reason for God's dealing with 
 us. We cannot question his love, or his wisdom. 
 With all resources in his power, he can do what 
 he wills ; and what an omniscient and omnipotent 
 God w r ills should be accepted as the best for us 
 he has to give. The bread he provides for us 
 often has the appearance of a stone; but it is 
 really of choicest wheat, the very bread of life. 
 He sometimes hedges us about, and shuts us in, 
 and cuts off all egress from the narrow straits in 
 which he holds us, to work his will in us, his holy, 
 blessed will! Then welcome pain and weariness, 
 sorrow and misfortune, even death itself, if it be 
 his will! 
 
 To the bearing of the cross let it be, following 
 our Lord with bleeding feet and aching heart even 
 unto death! Really following him, and never for- 
 saking him even though the veil of the temple 
 be rent and darkness cover the face of the earth, 
 waiting in hope at his tomb until the resurrection 
 morn. As he triumphed over death itself, so may 
 we in his name gain victories which the angels 
 will record, and which will call forth triumphant 
 shouts from all the heavenly host. 
 
 Then what matter if our lot on earth be hard? 
 After lying on a bed of thorns will not the roses 
 be the sweeter? After the darkness of this life 
 will not the light of heaven almost dazzle us? 
 After living way down in the valley will not the 
 
BEARING THE CROSS 19 
 
 heights of the New Jerusalem be all-glorious? 
 
 "Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and 
 there is no abiding." Then let us not place too 
 much value upon earthly comforts, or too much 
 importance upon what happens to us here. If 
 we can be made ready to fill the place God has 
 appointed for us in the building of the Eternal 
 Temple, we need not call the chippings of God's 
 chisel misfortunes. In so far as we are in har- 
 mony with God's will, what we now call chastise- 
 ments will be received as blessings, and, consid- 
 ered in this light, there is no real misfortune, no 
 real chastisement. 
 
 Fellow cross-bearers, take courage! The help 
 of the Lord of heaven and earth is yours if you 
 will but take it. You may rejoice under diffi- 
 culties. You may sing and shout praises to God 
 even when the thunder-peal of misfortune is the 
 loudest, and such praise will rise to heaven as 
 sweetest incense, and mingle with the praises of 
 the heavenly host around the throne of God and 
 the Lamb. 
 
 It is not strange that we shrink from bearing 
 the cross if we see only the earthly side of it, 
 upon which is written in blood-red characters, 
 "The reproach of the world," "Separation from 
 friends," "Toil and weariness," "Temptation and 
 sorrow." But if we keep in view the heavenward 
 side, we may take courage, for there we find in 
 letters of gold, "Peace unutterable," "Life ever- 
 lasting," "A home in the heart of Jesus." 
 
20 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 " 'Do not choose thy crosses, but take those which 
 God gives thee. 
 
 " 'In the gift of my cross beware of choosing, for 
 I know better than thou what thou canst endure. 
 
 ' 'Thou must not drag thy cross, but bear it. Thou 
 must not blush because of it, but glory in it. 
 
 ' 'When the burden of thy holy cross terrifies thee, 
 it is the want of love which renders it heavy. 
 
 4 'Thou must not bear thy cross with ostentation, 
 but simply upon the shoulder. 
 
 ' 'Under the yoke of my cross bend thy will in 
 bearing this burden with humility.' " 
 
Ill 
 
 HE IS COMING 
 
 "A little girl was playing near the edge of a preci- 
 pice. Suddenly she felt the earth give way beneath 
 her feet, and before she had time to spring back to 
 a place of safety, she had slipped over the edge of 
 the abyss. With the instinct of despair, she snatched 
 at the grass and tall weeds within her reach. Her 
 little fingers dug deep into the ground, and stayed 
 her downward course. There she hung, suspended 
 in the air. Moments seemed ages until she heard a 
 voice calling in a firm, encouraging tone, 'I am com- 
 ing; keep looking up!' Instinctively she obeyed; she 
 never glanced downward, but clung faster to her only 
 chance of safety. Again the voice, this time nearer, 
 spoke hopefully, 'I am coming; keep looking up!' 
 In another moment, two strong hands had seized her 
 in a firm grasp, and she felt herself drawn gently and 
 cautiously forward. Then she was lifted into great, 
 loving arms, and pressed close to her Father's 
 breast!" 
 
 There are supreme moments in life when we 
 must look up and listen for the "I am coming" 
 of our Lord. It may be at the death-bed of a 
 husband or a child that we feel the earth give 
 way beneath our feet, or when we are on the brink 
 of financial ruin and disaster, or when friends 
 
 21 
 
Ml HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 whom we have long trusted prove to be our ene- 
 mies. All have need to look up to avoid the terri- 
 ble fall from the brow of the precipice which will 
 surely happen if we look down, if we look away 
 from Jesus, whose voice is calling, "I am coming, 
 keep looking up !" 
 
 It is not only when some great and terrible 
 calamity or bereavement threatens us that we 
 should look up. When mothers are weary and 
 discouraged with their many cares and trials, 
 what can they do but look up and tell their 
 troubles to God? He will hear even a whisper, 
 or a wordless prayer for help and comfort, and 
 will come. Fathers who are distracted with busi- 
 ness cares and worries, and who know not which 
 way to turn, should look up. Sometimes our 
 greatest trial is the thorn, the pain of which 
 must be borne, day after day, until we are ready 
 to beseech God, with repeated earnestness, that 
 it may be removed. He who wore the crown of 
 thorns and bent beneath the burden of his heavy 
 cross will come to help us bear our trial, be 
 it great or small. To every one, in loneliness, in 
 darkness or in weakness, he will come. Do not 
 fear that his coming will be too late. If he delay 
 it is to try your faith. Only look to him, and he 
 will come; one look away from him, one down- 
 ward look may be fatal. Listen to his voice, and 
 he will come to save you from every danger, to 
 help you bear every trial, to help you resist every 
 temptation, to wash you whiter than snow that 
 
HE IS COMING 23 
 
 you may be his own in the Heavenly Kingdom for- 
 ever and ever! 
 
 Why not look up? Why not trust the Omnip- 
 otent Father? The flowers lift their faces to 
 him to receive the dew, the sun, and rain. Even 
 the little Alpine flower on the mountain top smiles 
 heavenward. The mountains, whether bathed in 
 the light of the setting sun, or hidden by the 
 clouds, lift their summits toward the sky. 
 Everything in nature looks up to God, and tells 
 us of his love. Even the ocean, lashed to fury 
 in a storm, lifts huge waves towards heaven, and 
 speaks in mighty tones of his power and maj- 
 esty. 
 
 When we see God's great power in the 
 earthquake, the avalanche, the thunderbolt, the 
 fierce flame, and at the same time, his tender 
 care of a blade of grass, or a lily of the field, can 
 we for one moment doubt his desire to lift us up, 
 to hold us safe, to keep the terrible life-storms 
 through which all must pass for discipline, for 
 strength, from hurling us against the rocks, or 
 burying us beneath the waves? Cannot we also 
 look up to him for help in all the trivial things of 
 daily life? 
 
 May our faces always turn towards our Lord. 
 May we listen, listen for the coming of his feet. 
 When we hear his voice calling us, may we look 
 away from our earthly cares to him. He is com- 
 ing with swift feet to lift us up, to hold us safe. 
 We know not over what abyss we are suspended, 
 
24 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 ready to fall at any moment, if we look away from 
 him. 
 
 Jesus comes not only when we are in danger, 
 but every day with many messages of love and 
 warning. He comes at an hour when we think 
 not, knocking at the door of our homes, knocking 
 at the door of our hearts, and because we are not 
 ready, and do not hear him, or, if we hear, are 
 ashamed to admit him, grieving he turns away to 
 come next time in chastisement, and spares not 
 whatever is needful for our highest good, that not 
 even one of his little ones may perish. How 
 often he might come to us in anger. How often 
 we weary his patience. How we love things 
 which he hates and from which he is trying to re- 
 deem us. Could we quietly examine ourselves 
 from the standpoint from which he searches us, 
 each day would bring many humiliating proofs of 
 the need of his coming with chastening hands, 
 with loving pierced hands outstretched to save 
 us. 
 
 He comes to us in physical suffering. There 
 are days in the life of each one when every nerve 
 and fiber thrills with pain; when the head throbs 
 as if it would burst, and we find it difficult or 
 utterly impossible to think of anything but our 
 own intense suffering, and we can only hold still 
 and brace ourselves to endure. Need we re- 
 proach ourselves if at such times we cannot pray, 
 that we cannot even think of God, that pain holds 
 us in subjection with an iron hand? Ah, then 
 
HE IS COMING 25 
 
 we can only lie in the arms of Divine Pity, as a 
 sick child lies in its mother's arms, unconscious 
 of the tender, yearning love surrounding and 
 holding us. But as everything which conies from 
 God brings with it some brightness from the 
 throne itself, if in these hours of seclusion we can 
 gain mastery enough over ourselves to realize that 
 this, too, is God-given, we may see ourselves sur- 
 rounded by a Divine Brightness, even Jesus him- 
 self, who cannot remain afar off, when his loved 
 ones suffer; and this wonderful revelation will 
 help us much towards sweetness and patience, and 
 final victory over the pain itself. We need to 
 say continually, "This is of God. I can bear it 
 because it is his will." 
 
 Oh, if we could but see, every day, in all con- 
 ditions of life just how the Savior comes to us! 
 How he wards off unseen dangers, and puts him- 
 self beneath us to make for us a sure foundation, 
 knowing far better than we can know, that it is 
 only the things which are built upon the Rock 
 which will endure. That any beauty or any 
 strength built upon a less secure foundation must 
 eventually prove a deformity or weakness. That 
 however high or imposing the battlements of the 
 soul may be, they cannot withstand the shocks, 
 the underminings of the terrible influence of the 
 world, unless they are built upon the Rock Christ 
 Jesus. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of him in 
 the cloud in which he is enveloped, but oftener in 
 our sins and selfishness we do not know that he is 
 
26 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 in the disappointment, in the shadow, in the 
 causes for worry and anxiety that so often come 
 to us; and because we worry or repine under his 
 easy yoke, and are restless under his light bur- 
 den, we lose the blessing of his sustaining and 
 joy-giving presence. 
 
 How sadly he comes to us when he finds it 
 necessary to take from us our dearly beloved 
 ones ! How he pities us ; and takes us in his 
 arms and hushes us as a mother hushes a hurt 
 child ! How often he comes to finds us sleeping, to 
 be grieved by our indifference ! "Could ye not 
 watch with me one hour?" 
 
 He comes to us in the still small voice, warn- 
 ing us of the enemy at hand, beseeching us to put 
 on the whole armor of God, the girdle of truth, 
 the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of 
 the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet 
 of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. He 
 comes in the thunder-peal of misfortune to rescue 
 us from the danger of laying up treasures on 
 earth, for who but he can know the full value of 
 treasures laid up in heaven? He will come at an 
 hour when we think not, to gather in the harvest. 
 Shall we have nothing to offer him then but 
 leaves ? 
 
 He will come at an hour when we think not to 
 judge the living and the dead. Who will be able 
 to abide that coming? Who but those who ap- 
 pear before him in raiment white and shining, 
 bearing on high a cross stained with his heart's 
 
HE IS COMING 27 
 
 blood? Who but the blood-bought throng will 
 rejoice at that coming? To those who are re- 
 deemed it will be a day of glory and honor, and 
 joy unspeakable. To those who are not redeemed 
 it will be a day of remorse and anguish unutter- 
 able. There is no gainsaying this. If any thing 
 be true, this is true. If there be any salvation 
 for us, it is in our Lord Jesus Christ. You 
 who are not washed in the blood of the Lamb, 
 look to yourselves ! This night your souls may 
 be required of you ! 
 
 "Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when 
 the master of the house cometh, at even or at 
 midnight ; or at the cock-crowing, or in the morn- 
 ing; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping." 
 
 "Be ye, therefore, ready also; for the Son of 
 Man cometh at an hour when ye think not." 
 
IV 
 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE POOR 
 
 There is nothing at which we wonder more than 
 the great contrasts which exist in the arrange- 
 ment of human affairs in regard to the things of 
 this world. Looking at the existing condition 
 of things without serious contemplation, we are 
 ready to cry out against the injustice of immense 
 wealth on the one hand, and abject poverty on 
 the other; of the honor bestowed upon a few 
 men, to the absolute neglect of hosts of others 
 quite as worthy; of the satiety of comforts and 
 luxuries in one direction, and the meager distri- 
 bution of the same in the other. But we need 
 consider only for a moment to see what a strange 
 condition of affairs would exist if all were upon 
 an absolute level, or if all were rich, or all were 
 poor. That there should be an ascending and 
 descending scale in the relation of human beings 
 to one another is a necessity in the world's econ- 
 omy. In order that there may be workers in all 
 grades of mental and manual labor, there must 
 be many grades of position, and a necessity for 
 many kinds of work. Without that necessity, the 
 world would stand still. But the contrasts need 
 not be so great. God's arrangement in regard 
 to these things has been perverted. Many men 
 
 28 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE POOR 29 
 
 are poorer than God intended them to be, through 
 their lack of thrift, or their evil habits ; and 
 many men are richer than they ought to be, 
 through their unjust gains. These are the 
 things which engender strife, and produce suffer- 
 ing, and induce some to call for a communistic di- 
 vision of property. 
 
 If those who find themselves low in the scale of 
 social position are filling a part of God's plan, 
 and fill it honorably, there is no need for suffer- 
 ing poverty. If those who are rich do their 
 duty, no one has reason to cry out against them. 
 Among those who accept their condition in life 
 as an inheritance, and consider it a matter of 
 course that they should be poor, there is great 
 contentment in earning their living and enjoy- 
 ing what, to those more highly favored, would 
 seem meager pleasures. But now and then there 
 is among them one who feels that he is born to 
 better things ; one who is not satisfied with his 
 lot, and who tries to struggle into a higher plane. 
 He finds no congeniality in the companionship of 
 his associates. They cannot understand his as- 
 pirations for something higher than that with 
 which they are amply satisfied. 
 
 This is, indeed, an unhappy condition, if he 
 think only of himself. But may he not believe 
 that his influence is needed by his companions, 
 that they, left to themselves, may not become mere 
 machines? May he not feel that his receiving 
 must be largely through giving; that his grow- 
 
30 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 ing must be through much pruning and cutting 
 away of vines to be planted in other gardens? 
 
 Does not the branch beaten by the wind and 
 storm grow stronger? Will not he, through his 
 struggle upward, have an advantage over those 
 who are born in luxury, upon whom storms seldom 
 beat, and winds never blow? Ought any one to 
 be discouraged who is ushered into the world with 
 little but his own energy to carry him success- 
 fully through life? With good health, this is 
 enough. He is face to face with the world, to 
 fight his own battles, and he must muster all his 
 physical and mental forces to fight those battles 
 well, and gain the victory. By constant exercise 
 he trains and strengthens all his powers for best 
 use. To be dependent on his own resources 
 makes him manly. Work is noble; and you who 
 are born to an inheritance of self-support, re- 
 joice, rather than complain. Put aside all im- 
 aginary necessities, and live simply and temper- 
 ately. If opportunities for mental culture 
 do not readily present themselves, make oppor- 
 tunities, and doubly improve them, so that, in the 
 end, you may excel those whose advantages have 
 been great. That he is poor, is no good reason 
 why any one should be ignorant, unrefined, or 
 unmanly. 
 
 We are slow to learn the lesson of true living, 
 simple as it is. God puts us wherever he wishes us 
 to be. There are means within easy reach for 
 our development in just the direction in which he 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE POOR 31 
 
 wishes us to develop. As every little insect or 
 living creature in embryo is placed in the center 
 of that which it will feed upon until it reaches 
 conditions necessary to its removal to a more ad- 
 vanced stage of life, so God places us in the 
 center of those influences which are to feed and 
 mold us for the station he wishes us to fill. 
 Many of us think our fare rather devoid of deli- 
 cacies, and wonder, often, why things have not 
 been arranged more for our ease and comfort; 
 and, alas, sometimes we refuse to feed on what 
 God provides, and try to satisfy ourselves with 
 husks. 
 
 If all would take up their work just where 
 God has placed them, and exhaust the resources 
 of their immediate surroundings, use everything 
 at their command until it is past use, waste noth- 
 ing of the much God gives to every one whether 
 he be rich or poor, work out from himself into 
 every nook and corner of the limits placed around 
 him, how grandly all would grow! The law of 
 compensation is God's law, and his creatures are 
 not so impartially dealt with, after all, as one 
 might suppose. The trouble comes from oppor- 
 tunities overlooked, or thrust aside. 
 
 Many poor people are unhappy because they 
 consider poverty a disgrace. Their pride suf- 
 fers. They are looked down upon by the rich. 
 Well, what if they are? Does this injure them? 
 Wherein lies the disgrace of poverty? Hap- 
 piness does not come from the manner in which 
 
32 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 others regard us, but from what we ourselves are, 
 and from sources above the power of the human 
 to bestow. One reason why the rich look down 
 upon the poor is because they associate poverty 
 with ignorance and want of refinement. This 
 shows a lack of knowledge of their fellow- 
 creatures ; they forget how many leading men 
 come from the ranks of lowly life, while few sons 
 of rich men reach positions of great honor or 
 large influence. 
 
 What credit is it to a man to be rich when 
 his wealth is inherited? What honor is it to have 
 a title of nobility, when that title is either bought 
 or inherited, compared with the credit and honor 
 due to those who gain through their own honest 
 and well directed efforts either wealth or a good 
 name ? 
 
 The Savior of the world gave the greatest en- 
 couragement that could be given to the poor, by 
 assuming a lowly condition, that of the peasant 
 and the laborer; the son of a carpenter, himself 
 a carpenter, in his youth, no doubt, helping his 
 father, Joseph, to earn their daily bread, living 
 the simple life of the poor, sharing their joys and 
 sorrows, unnoticed and unknown except to the 
 little circle around him, finding his recreation in 
 the quiet and beautiful scenery near his home, 
 loving nature and all things pure and beautiful. 
 He also asserted the dignity of labor, and placed 
 upon it the seal of his own hand, thus showing 
 sympathy with, and approbation of honest toil 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE POOR 33 
 
 throughout all time, and removing from the curse, 
 "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread 
 till thou return unto the ground," its sharpest 
 sting. 
 
 The Son of God, the Holy One, the Beautiful 
 One, lived thirty years in poverty and toil, and in 
 lowly and sweet submission to his lot, unnoticed 
 and unknown ! 
 
 Looking on this picture, which is not imagin- 
 ary, but as real as are the lowly and self-sacri- 
 ficing lives of thousands to-day, need any one feel 
 that poverty is a disgrace, or that any toil or 
 deprivation is too severe to be endured patiently 
 for his sake? 
 
 It is not when the world smiles upon us, and 
 all our earthly path is smooth and joyous that 
 the angels come and go upon the ladder reaching 
 heavenward, bringing us messages of peace from 
 him who sits upon the throne, but when we are 
 alone, fleeing from the world and its allurements, 
 or when we are homeless and forsaken, out under 
 the stars of heaven, the earth our bed, a stone our 
 pillow, and God our only refuge and strength. 
 Nothing can cast us out of his presence. 
 He will take us up quickly when men forsake us, 
 and take us finally to himself to enjoy the true 
 riches which all, however poor they may be here, 
 may inherit in the kingdom of heaven. It is only 
 when poverty is accompanied by vice that it is 
 a curse. Go into the thousands of humble homes 
 scattered all over our land, and see how peace 
 
34 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 and contentment reign therein, when, in many in- 
 stances, the daily toil provides for the day itself, 
 and where the Savior's "Take no thought for the 
 morrow" falls a welcome sound upon their ears ; 
 for how can they take thought for the morrow 
 whose resources are sufficient only for to-day? 
 Fear not poverty if you have the love of Jesus 
 in your heart, and his abiding presence in your 
 home. If you love him not, and your ways are 
 evil, though millions of money are at your com- 
 mand, you are indeed poor, and wretched, and 
 miserable ; and far less to be envied than the poor 
 man who does not know to-day where he will find 
 his food on the morrow, but whose life is pure, 
 whose feet are upon a sure foundation which will 
 not fail him, though everything else totter and 
 fall, though the earth melt and pass away. 
 
THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED 
 
 There are many things recorded in sacred and 
 profane history which, at the time of their occur- 
 rence, seemed disastrous or unfortunate, which 
 were often the carrying out of the wicked pur- 
 poses of men, yet which happened and were ac- 
 complished that God's plan concerning the world 
 might be fulfilled. All can recall many instances 
 of the kind, and we need only to review our own 
 lives to see that while no chastisement for the 
 present seems joyous, afterward it yields the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness ; so that what- 
 ever happens we need not let our hands fall down, 
 nor our knees become feeble, but looking unto 
 Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, run 
 with patience the race set before us, remember- 
 ing that while God's providences are mysterious, 
 they are but the fulfillment of his plans concern- 
 ing others or ourselves. God's purposes are 
 grand, and they compass the ages. We catch 
 only glimpses of what he is doing. We are only 
 unshapely masses of unhewn stone tumbled in 
 confusion here and there, and tall cedars and fir- 
 trees spreading their roots and branches on 
 mountain heights, and gold and precious stones 
 
 35 
 
36 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 imbedded still in solid rock, or still seething in 
 the furnace. We cannot see, even in imagina- 
 tion, the beautiful building the great Architect 
 will bring forth from that which is now rough 
 and unshapely. 
 
 From chaos he wrought our world of beauty, 
 and sun, moon and stars are obedient to his com- 
 mand "Let there be light!" not withholding for 
 a moment their bright rays, going on steadily in 
 their appointed way until their great glory is 
 hidden by the Greater Glory whose light shall 
 fill all heaven and earth! In the same manner 
 will God bring his spiritual kingdom from its 
 present chaotic state into glory and beauty un- 
 fading, and which, though the heavens may fall, 
 will stand throughout eternity. 
 
 God has a use for each one of us in carrying 
 out his plan, insignificant and useless as our lives 
 may often seem. Not everything of value is con- 
 spicuous or significant. Hidden things are often 
 of as much consequence in the accomplishment of 
 a great purpose as those which are visible. We 
 are very small parts of a very large whole, and 
 all the misfortune and unhappiness which ever 
 came to us is but a grain in the accumlated 
 weight of human woe. If it be necessary that 
 we should be crushed and bruised in order to be 
 ready for the Master's use, ought we not to be 
 willing to be crushed and bruised? 
 
 Whatever is needful to prepare us to fill our 
 appointed place in God's great plan, we should 
 
THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED 37 
 
 be willing to receive, no matter what chipping 
 away of cherished forms and lineaments there 
 might be. It matters not whether we become 
 beams of cedar, planks of fir, posts of olive tree, 
 costly stones, or pure gold, we cannot have this 
 fitness for use without being hewn, or polished, 
 or refined. 
 
 All things are being made ready for the temple 
 which will never be destroyed. Shall we allow 
 ourselves to be thrust aside as useless, because 
 we are not willing to submit to the process of 
 preparation? Because we are not willing that 
 unpleasant things should happen to us that all 
 may be fulfilled according to God's purpose? 
 
 Let us be careful not to make ourselves, in our 
 own imagination, the center of God's care, ex- 
 pecting him to grant us especial favor. He has 
 a large family, and all the good things are not 
 given to a chosen few. Sometimes it may be 
 necessary for us to suffer in order that others 
 may be helped in some way by that suffering. 
 We are called upon to be losers, perhaps, that 
 others may be the gainers. The burden and heat 
 of the day must sometimes be ours that others 
 may rest. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
 so fulfill the law of God," is a divine command. 
 Let us hold ourselves ready to be used by the 
 great Master Builder in whatever way he wills. 
 Whether he make of us brazen pillars, or only 
 modest lilies for the adornment of these pillars, is 
 a matter of little moment. That he counts us 
 
38 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 worthy of even the humblest service, is a cause 
 for our deepest gratitude. If his will be ful- 
 filled, however it may affect us, it is enough. So 
 instead of fretting and regretting and wondering 
 whether if we had done thus and so things would 
 be different, let us leave the past, present and 
 future with God, and earnestly seek to be willing 
 that his will only be done. Harmony cannot be 
 wrought out of chaos without many severe proc- 
 esses which God only can understand or apply. 
 In whatever degree we are rebellious toward him, 
 to that extent do we hinder the drawing nigh of 
 the time when Christ shall reign triumphant over 
 all evil, and God's will be done on earth as it is 
 in heaven. 
 
 In order that God's will may be fulfilled, 
 many things happen which we cannot understand. 
 When misfortune overwhelms us, let us bear up 
 bravely with the thought that it has something to 
 do with the fulfillment of the divine will. When 
 our friends die, it is that his will may be fulfilled. 
 When sickness is our portion, or when our cher- 
 ished purposes fail, it is that God's will con- 
 cerning us in reference to the advancement of 
 his kingdom may be fulfilled. Even our most 
 humiliating mistakes may have a '"That it might 
 be fulfilled" connected with them. 
 
 Considered in this light, there is no real mis- 
 fortune; and if we are in harmony with the will 
 of God, what we now call chastisements will be 
 regarded as blessings. 
 
THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED 39 
 
 When the day comes for that grand and silent 
 building of the Eternal Temple, when neither 
 hammer nor ax, nor any tool of iron may be 
 heard, shall we be left out because we are not will- 
 ing to be made ready in God's own way? 
 
 ' 'Tis the Master who holds the mallet, 
 
 And day by day 
 
 He is chipping whatever environs 
 The form away. 
 
 With tools of thy choosing, Master, 
 
 I pray thee then, 
 Strike just as thou wilt; as often 
 
 And where and when 
 The vehement stroke is needed, 
 
 I will not mind, 
 If only the chipping chisel 
 
 Shall leave behind 
 Such marks of thy wondrous working, 
 
 And loving skill, 
 Clear carven on aspect, stature, 
 
 And face, as will 
 (When discipline's ends are over), 
 
 Have all sufficed 
 To mold me into the likeness 
 
 And form of Christ." 
 
VI 
 BE PATIENT NOW 
 
 "Oh, give me patience, Christ, for this day's need; 
 And lest I halt or falter by the way, 
 Do thou with tender, loving, pierced hand, 
 Beside me walk, and lead me all the day." 
 
 What need we mothers have to pray this prayer! 
 For life is like a tangled skein; and if 
 We in our haste and want of patience catch 
 And pull, and tie each knot more tightly still, 
 Or break the threads, why, then our life is full 
 Of knots and broken threads ; but, if our tasks 
 Be done with sweetness and with patience, then 
 From knots and tangles freed, the life is smooth 
 And ready to be used for others' needs, 
 As well as for our own. 
 
 So when our cares 
 
 Press heavily, and brain and heart are weak, 
 And longing for a little rest and peace, 
 We speak in tones too harsh for mother's lips, 
 "Be quiet, boys !" and gentle eyes seek ours, 
 As if to wonder why mamma is cross 
 To-day, and why she meddles with their play 
 So needlessly does it not often seem 
 To us that if we kept in mind this prayer 
 And said it o'er and o'er, we should be less 
 Annoyed at children's noise, and other things 
 Too trivial to name? 
 
 40 
 
BE PATIENT NOW 41 
 
 It is not right 
 
 To hush too much the noise of children's play, 
 Or put too much restraint upon their acts. 
 They need to have their freedom, like the birds 
 And flowers, to sing their own sweet songs, and grow 
 Their own sweet way. Too much restraint defeats 
 Our purposes. And so we need to have 
 Of patience, largest store ; and need to watch 
 And pray, and hide in Christ, and lose ourselves 
 In him, that he may speak through us in tones 
 Of gentlest love, that his sweet patience may 
 Be ours ; and thus our mother-love so strong 
 And deep, be strong and deep in every word 
 And act of daily life; for love should reign 
 In homes as well as hearts ; for of what use 
 Is love which feels, but never acts? What use 
 Is love which hides itself, and blesses her 
 Alone who loves, and not the one beloved? 
 What use is any sweetness in our hearts 
 If that same sweetness does not breathe through all 
 Our words and works? 
 
 If only when our boy 
 
 Lies deep beneath the snow, or when the sun 
 With loving tenderness sends warmest rays 
 To kiss the little violet-covered mound 
 Where buried lie our dearest earthly hopes, 
 We say, "Oh, if I had my baby back 
 Once more, if I could hold him in my arms 
 And feel his soft, warm cheek against my own, 
 And hold his tiny hand and hear him lisp 
 The sweet, sweet words I used to hear him say, 
 And feel his little arms around my neck, 
 I'd be as patient as the day is long!" 
 If only then, what vain regrets are ours ! 
 
42 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Oh, if we have sweet flowers for our boys, 
 Or for our girls, then let us give them now ! 
 For tender cherishing, and patient words, 
 And crowns of flowers, rosebuds in the hand, 
 Or in the casket wreathes of lilies white, 
 Or violets sweet, are given too late to bring 
 Joy to their hearts, or ours. 
 
 Be patient now ! 
 
 Be tender, loving, now! Give all the wealth 
 Of mother-love in such a way that it 
 Will fill their lives with joy; and not reserve 
 It for their burial; as many things 
 Too good for common use are laid away 
 On shelves, or kept in darkened rooms which, oft, 
 Past natural use, cause vain regrets alone. 
 Give royally your gifts ; and scatter flowers 
 Beneath the feet you love so well; and crown 
 With loving tenderness the little ones 
 Who soon may in God's garden pluck sweet flowers, 
 And sing the heavenly songs, and wear gold crowns ! 
 
VII 
 OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 
 
 What greater or better gift can we offer to the Republic 
 than to teach and instruct our youth? Cicero. 
 
 It is of the coming generations of citizens that 
 we speak when we say "our girls and boys," of 
 little men and women for whom we are respon- 
 sible, not only while they are children, but, 
 largely, after they reach manhood and woman- 
 hood; for "as the twig is bent, the tree is in- 
 clined." The natural caretaker and educator of 
 the child is the mother, who should take all pos- 
 sible pains to educate herself for this holy trust, 
 this great responsibility which begins with the 
 first breath of the infant, and ends only with life. 
 From the first dawn of intelligence, the child 
 should be taught obedience, truthfulness, and self- 
 control; long words to apply to the education of 
 an infant, but a wise mother who is worthy to 
 hold in her possession an immortal being, knows 
 just how to so simplify these principles of true 
 living that the youngest child may understand 
 the spirit of them. 
 
 The first thing to be taught our girls and boys 
 is unquestioning obedience to our commands. 
 Home government is not difficult, if wisely and 
 
 43 
 
44 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 consistently administered; but, alas! how often it 
 is unwise, capricious, defeating its own ends, 
 bringing trouble to both child and parent ; some- 
 times broken lives, broken hearts, crimes, even, re- 
 sulting from the fault of the parents in their 
 manner of rearing their children. Law is a 
 necessity in every phase of life ; but law without 
 its careful and just enforcement, is void. The 
 child must always be under law; first at home, 
 then at school, then in society and in relation to 
 the State and Nation, and always under the law 
 of God. The sooner the child can be made to 
 understand this, by careful and gentle teaching, 
 appealing to his reason, the better. Obedience is 
 the foundation of good citizenship, and of true 
 religion. The child should be taught that the 
 parent, also, must be obedient to higher powers ; 
 then he will not be so impatient of restraint, and 
 he will not constantly look forward with delight- 
 ful anticipation to the time when he is of age, and 
 can have his own way. When I was a child, I 
 thought it would be one of the happiest days of 
 my life when I grew up and could have all the 
 honey I wanted from a certain blue sugar-bowl, 
 where it was kept for medicinal purposes. But 
 when I did grow up, I no longer wanted the honey, 
 and having my own way was still unattainable! 
 
 Self-assertion and a consciousness of certain 
 rights and prerogatives belonging to them are in- 
 herent in all children in a greater or less degree. 
 It is the man and the woman struggling within 
 
OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 45 
 
 them before they have the wisdom to discriminate 
 between the right and the wrong time in which to 
 assert themselves. "I have a right to do it 
 mamma," said a boy of eight years in reply to 
 her wish that he should not do a certain thing. 
 
 A father punished his little boy for going on 
 the ice repeatedly, when he had been forbidden 
 to do so, by ducking him. Four times he ducked 
 him in the ice-cold water, and each time the boy 
 said, with his teeth chattering, "Do it again, 
 papa ! Do it again !" 
 
 A boy was in the habit of teasing for pickles, 
 pepper, mustard, etc., at the table. One day his 
 mother thought she would cure him of wishing 
 for these forbidden things. She put a large 
 quantity of mustard on a piece of meat and gave 
 it to him. He put it in his mouth, chewed it vig- 
 orously, choking, and with tears in his eyes ; but 
 he persevered, and swallowed it, and then called 
 out, "Dood, mamma! Dood!" Another boy of 
 two and a half years was very mischievous, and 
 one of his tricks was to throw whatever he could 
 find, stove-handle, or glass bottle or other danger- 
 ous thing out of the open window so quickly that 
 it was impossible to prevent him. Then he would 
 stand in front of his mamma, back to her, and 
 say, "Pank, mamma, pank!" Sometimes he 
 would scold himself when he had done wrong. 
 "Naughty Ralphie! Naughty, naughty Ralphie!" 
 And you wonder how any mother could help smil- 
 ing and catching him to her heart with a hug and 
 
46 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 a kiss, instead of administering the reproof the 
 little fellow deserved. Mothers need not worry 
 too much over the persistent disobedience of such 
 boys ; they have in them the grit of mighty men 
 of valor. 
 
 When we who are now in the prime of life, or 
 older, were children, we reverenced our parents, 
 and thought it a dreadful thing to disobey them. 
 In many families the old order of things is re- 
 versed, and parents, in many instances, obey their 
 children. Mothers are often heard to say, ap- 
 parently without shame or regret, "I can do 
 nothing with this child. She does not pretend to 
 obey me." This is usually said in the presence 
 of the child. Wherever there are children, "I 
 will" and "I won't," "I shall" and "I shan't," are 
 often heard, with feeble protest if any at all on 
 the part of the parent. Their naughty words 
 and deeds are looked upon as cunning, and the 
 parents laugh instead of reproving, and before 
 they realize their mistake, their boys and girls 
 are beyond control, naughty, self-willed and 
 selfish. 
 
 While it is wrong to nag a child continually, 
 and while many of their tricks, which they soon 
 forget, should receive little notice, the difference 
 between right and wrong should be always kept 
 before them. This can be taught more effectu- 
 ally by story or song than in any other way. 
 Much can be accomplished with a naughty or 
 grieved child by diverting his attention. A 
 
OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 47 
 
 gentleman noticed two little boys on their way to 
 school. The smaller one fell, and though he was 
 not much hurt, he began to whine in a baby way. 
 The older boy took his hand in a kind, fatherly 
 way, and said, "Oh, never mind, Jimmie, don't 
 whine ; it is a great deal better to whistle." And 
 he began in the merriest way, a cheerful boy 
 whistle. Jimmie tried to follow his example. "I 
 can't whistle as nice as you can, Charlie, my 
 mouth won't pucker up good." 
 
 "Oh, that is because you have not got all the 
 whine out yet," said Charlie; "but try a minute, 
 and the whistle will soon drive all the whine 
 away." So he did, and the last the gentleman 
 saw of the little fellows they were whistling away 
 as if that were the chief object of their lives. 
 This teaches a lesson we should all do well to 
 heed. A story, a whistle, or a song will often 
 divert the attention of the child, and cure many a 
 pain, and grief, and naughty mood. Badness in 
 the heart will always retreat from the presence 
 of that which is pleasant, and good, and lovely. 
 
 Many persons seem to think that any one of 
 ordinary intelligence can properly have the care 
 and instruction of a young child. The best 
 educators think otherwise. "No unskilled hand 
 should play upon a harp where the tones are 
 left forever in the strings!" If you wished to 
 build a house, would you employ careless or 
 ignorant workmen to lay the foundation? Of 
 how much greater importance is the foundation 
 
48 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 of your child's character! If you had a field 
 in which you wished to raise the best grain, you 
 would take great care to have the ground prop- 
 erly prepared. You would procure the best seed 
 in the market, and have it sown in the right man- 
 ner, and carefully tended, that no weeds might 
 spring up to choke the grain. You would take 
 a personal interest in the matter, and not leave 
 it entirely to hirelings. 
 
 The mind of your child is a most receptive 
 field into which some sort of seed will surely fall, 
 to spring up and grow and ripen for the harvest. 
 Will you neglect the sowing and leave to chance 
 the welfare of your own offspring? Amiel says, 
 "In the moral world there is no ground without 
 a master, and waste lands belong to the Evil 
 One." See that there are no "waste lands" in 
 the hearts and minds of your children, and that 
 the good land is well cultivated; then you may 
 be sure of an abundant harvest of all things 
 good, and pure, and noble in the lives of your 
 girls and boys, of your men and women! 
 
 Cicero says, "There is no place more delight- 
 ful than one's own fireside." There is, truly, no 
 place more delightful when love and good sense 
 reign in the home, when the father and mother 
 are one in the management of the children, when 
 all talk or discussion about them in their pres- 
 ence is avoided, and when even the youngest has 
 some share in the responsibility of making a 
 happy home. 
 
OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 49 
 
 If possible, children should be brought up in 
 a home, and not in a boarding-house or hotel, for 
 many reasons. However humble it may be, let 
 there be a home around which interests and affec- 
 tions may center, and from which the young 
 people may go out into the world with the pa- 
 rental blessing and the hallowed influences of home 
 life. 
 
 "Where do you live?" asked a kindly old 
 gentleman of a little girl. 
 
 "We don't live," she replied in unconscious* 
 sarcasm, "we board." 
 
 A love of home should be cultivated while the 
 children are young. Give your girls the highest 
 education they desire, but do not fail to train 
 them to be good wives and mothers, and good 
 home-makers. Choose companions for your girls 
 and boys, that there may be no opportunity for 
 haphazard acquaintances. We should make our- 
 selves one with our children and young people, 
 and join in their sports and recreations. We 
 should see that they have all that healthful na- 
 ture craves in the way of amusements at home, 
 or at the home of friends of whom we approve. 
 
 When sons and daughters are trained for use- 
 fulness, there will be fewer unhappy marriages, 
 and divorces will be less frequent. When a 
 mother works hard that her daughter may have 
 white hands and polished nails, be sure that she 
 is preparing her for disappointment and unhap- 
 piness. The result of such rearing to both 
 
50 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 mother and daughter is inestimable. It is not 
 at all certain that she will marry a man who will 
 be able to keep her in idleness, and even men of 
 wealth prefer women for wives rather than dolls. 
 No girl's education is complete without a prac- 
 tical knowledge of everything pertaining to the 
 home. Every girl and boy should be taught how 
 to earn a living at need. There is no room in 
 this world of work and great responsibilities for 
 idle young women and helpless young men. 
 
 Habits that are formed in youth are likely to 
 continue through life. If girls and boys are led in 
 right ways, it will become second nature to use 
 proper language, to be studious and diligent, neat 
 and orderly, respectful and obedient, thoughtful 
 of the feelings of others, and helpful everywhere. 
 Let us turn their feet into right paths, which, the 
 older they grow, will be more and more to them 
 the paths of righteousness and peace. 
 
 There is no book in which the children are more 
 interested than the Bible, the daily reading of 
 which is so important. 
 
 "Read more ! Mamma, read more !" was the com- 
 mon request of a boy of three years, when his 
 mother had finished her daily reading of the Bible 
 in words which he could understand. Song is of 
 great use in the education of a child. Dr. Tal- 
 mage said: "Christ ought to be the cradle song. 
 What our mothers sang to us when they put us 
 to sleep, is singing yet." 
 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne had a little daughter 
 
OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 51 
 
 who was fond of making up stories to amuse her 
 youngest brother. One day she was overheard 
 telling him of a boy who was so naughty that he 
 grew naughtier and naughtier, and every day grew 
 naughtier still, until at last, at last, he struck 
 God ! Teach the boys and girls that every wrong 
 act, every unkind or untrue word of theirs strikes 
 God! That they cannot do a wicked thing that 
 hurts some one else, without hurting God. 
 
 Let there be the closest possible intimacy be- 
 tween parents and children. Enter into the lives 
 of your children heartily. Give them the infor- 
 mation they will surely seek. Anticipate their 
 natural curiosity on certain subjects by discreet 
 revelations from time to time. Teach them mod- 
 esty and purity, and how to avoid evil compan- 
 ions. Try to see things from their standpoint. 
 The more you do this, the more will they learn to 
 look at things from your own standpoint of 
 greater knowledge and experience. Hold their 
 confidence as a priceless treasure. Let nothing 
 separate you from their loving trustfulness. Let 
 nothing mar the beauty of the closest intimacy. 
 
 When boys and girls have an especial bent in 
 any direction, it ought to be encouraged. Na- 
 ture is the best guide to a successful career in life. 
 When young men and young women mistake their 
 calling, it is often through following the advice or 
 obeying the commands of an unwise father. The 
 power-loom was the invention of a boy who made 
 a model with his pocket-knife. He showed the 
 
52 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 model to his father, who immediately kicked it to 
 pieces, saying that he would have no boy about 
 him who would spend his time with such foolish- 
 ness. He sent the boy to a blacksmith to learn 
 a trade. The boy made another model, and 
 showed it to his master, who saw that he had no 
 common boy as apprentice, and that the invention 
 was valuable. He had a loom constructed under 
 the supervision of the boy. It worked to their 
 perfect satisfaction, and the blacksmith furnished 
 the money to manufacture the looms, while the 
 boy received half the profits. Imagine the sur- 
 prise of the father when he learned that his son 
 had become a famous inventor. 
 
 Mrs. Browning said that souls were dangerous 
 things to carry straight through all the spilt salt- 
 petre of the world. We all know how true that 
 is. Trials and temptations are on every hand. 
 Wickedness, often too vile to name, flaunts itself 
 before our children and young people. In order 
 to avoid these things, they must be well grounded 
 in knowledge and character. They must know 
 what they have to meet, and how to meet it. It is 
 unpardonable to keep them too long in ignorance 
 of themselves, or of their surroundings. Upon 
 fathers, mothers, instructors, the responsibility 
 rests heavily. They should all teach by example 
 as well as by precept. A boy of thirteen sat at 
 table with his father. There was wine on the 
 table. The waiter asked the boy what he would 
 take. "I'll take what father takes," was his re- 
 
OUR GIRLS AND BOYS 53 
 
 ply. The father had his hand on the decanter 
 just ready to pour out the wine, and he dropped 
 it as if it were fire. Laying his hand lovingly on 
 the head of the boy, he said, "Waiter, I'll take 
 water." 
 
 Sometimes parents teach their children by their 
 own example to deceive and tell falsehoods, and 
 then punish them for deception and untruthful- 
 ness. When asked his age by a railroad con- 
 ductor, a boy said, "At home, I'm twelve; but 
 when we are in the cars, my mother says I'm only 
 ten." Profane fathers must expect to have pro- 
 fane sons. A boy who was heard to swear was 
 told that he must ask God to forgive him. His 
 mother followed him to his room to see that he 
 obeyed her. He knelt down and said in a surly 
 tone, "O God, I'm sorry I said a bad word; but 
 I want you to hurry and grow me up quick so as 
 I can swear like father does, and then you 
 wouldn't mind it." 
 
 When we are walking out on a frosty morning 
 in Autumn, we often see the perfect form of the 
 leaves left upon the sidewalk where they have lain 
 all night, or perhaps for an hour or two. Just 
 as perfect is the impression of our lives upon the 
 minds and hearts of our children. Therefore we 
 need to watch and pray and use great care lest 
 we mar the beauty of the wonderful beings God 
 has committed to our keeping. 
 
 The Rev. Basil Wilberforce, canon of West- 
 minster, writes : "My bird knows a sweet little Ger- 
 
54 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 man song, 'Ich liebe dich' (I love you), but I 
 can get him to sing it only by standing before 
 his cage, whistling the tune myself, smiling upon 
 him and making myself as much at home with him 
 as possible." In this manner we may lead our 
 children to follow our example by singing sweet 
 songs ourselves, if we would have their hearts at- 
 tuned to perfect melody. 
 
VIII 
 COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 
 
 How much contentment and true happiness is 
 missed by the lack of common sense in every day 
 living. It is a rare thing to find a person who is 
 earnest and sensible, and who does not feel com- 
 pelled to do as others do, who has the moral cour- 
 age to depart from the rules and conventionalisms 
 of "society," and to face boldly and with true 
 dignity the false judgments and ridicule of those 
 who believe him to be ignorant of the same, be- 
 cause he does not conform to them strictly enough 
 to meet their approbation. 
 
 What people say, and what people think are 
 often more weighty considerations than his own 
 interests, absurd as this may seem when we reflect 
 upon it. It is important, in his own estimation, 
 that life should be a grand performance. The 
 world must be pleased, otherwise life cannot be a 
 success. To this end there is a constant struggle 
 to keep up appearances, to so conduct himself 
 that he may seem to have more money than he 
 really has, that he is better born than he really is, 
 and, in general, to shine with a false light. The 
 effort to keep this light burning requires the sac- 
 rifice of many comforts, robs him of content and 
 rest, and is a servitude which he assumes to please 
 
 55 
 
56 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 others, when, in all probability, he does not please 
 them, after all his efforts. 
 
 Many live beyond their means, hoping for some- 
 thing unusual to occur in time to save them from 
 disaster. Others live up to their means so closely 
 that when there is an unexpected demand upon 
 them, they are in trouble. To what end is this 
 hazardous way of living? For comfort? It can- 
 not give comfort. It can only bring care and 
 anxiety, and the miserable satisfaction of know- 
 ing that what the world looks upon is fair, with 
 nothing to excite the suspicion that poverty or 
 even limited circumstances may be lurking about; 
 and to this poor end, personal good sense, com- 
 fort and happiness are sacrificed. 
 
 When Jesus tells us that we need take no 
 thought for the morrow, he takes it for granted 
 that we are using wisely and prudently the things 
 of to-day, and not wasting money in extrava- 
 gance or useless display to convince our neighbors 
 that we are persons of importance. He would not 
 do that. When on the earth he sought not to 
 win the praise of the world by display. How 
 simply and plainly he lived ! Cannot we all learn 
 from him a lesson essential to the highest good 
 of multitudes of people, indeed, to every one, 
 whether in the church or in the world? 
 
 A little boy was teasing his papa to buy him 
 something, and his papa replied, "You want too 
 many things." "Buy me too many things !" was 
 the answer. Grown up children want too many 
 
COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 57 
 
 things. Never satisfied with what they have, 
 they clamor for more, and more. They look no 
 farther than this life, and so overrate the value 
 of some things, and underrate the value of others. 
 If money increases their needs increase in propor- 
 tion, so that they are really no better off with hun- 
 dreds of thousands than they were with thou- 
 sands. Instead of using their newly acquired 
 wealth for purposes productive of real benefit, 
 they pull down houses already comfortable, and 
 large enough for their necessities, in order to 
 build larger ones ; then more servants must be 
 employed ; in every direction expenses must be in- 
 creased, in order that the appointments of their 
 homes may be in accordance with prevailing cus- 
 toms among those whose favor they would gain. 
 
 Why not meet the real condition of things 
 wisely and bravely? Why court the favor of 
 those whose opinion of you is based upon external 
 matters? Why not give up the foolish and inef- 
 fectual struggle with pride? What matter is it 
 whether you are thought to be rich or poor, in 
 high or in middle station? Of what consequence 
 is it that the rich should be your friends, if you 
 are not rich? They have the whole world from 
 which to choose their favorites. It is natural 
 that they should choose them from their own sta- 
 tion. It is as if the violet should wish to be a 
 rose, or the rose a sunflower, for us to wish to 
 emulate those who, in the opinion of the world, are 
 above us. As the flowers have their own form, 
 
58 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 and color, and fragrance, each beautiful and joy- 
 giving, so have we, each one, a place and mission ; 
 so have we our own capacity for growth and use- 
 fulness. 
 
 To God, there is no above nor below, except 
 as regards character, and spiritual growth. To 
 attain to the highest excellence in your sphere of 
 action, to be all that God meant you to be when 
 he created you, to use all the resources at your 
 command for growth, and bloom, and fruit as do 
 all growing things in nature, will leave you no 
 time and no inclination to cultivate useless friend- 
 ships, or to carry needless burdens. You need 
 not envy those above you, nor scorn those beneath 
 you. 
 
 Let us strive to make the best possible use of 
 our advantages, without undue reference to the 
 opinions of our fellow-men. No human judgment 
 is unbiased. We can rely only upon the judg- 
 ment of our Lord. Could we form the habit of 
 seeing things from his standpoint, how soon would 
 all useless strivings cease, and our lives become 
 simple and grand like his life ! We need no leader 
 but him. We need bear no yoke but that im- 
 posed upon us by him. The yoke imposed upon 
 us by the world is indeed heavy, and its burdens 
 too great to bear; but his yoke is easy, and his 
 burden light. 
 
 Cast out, then, from your life the things which 
 wear, which worry, burdens which you ought not 
 to bear lest they paralyze your best energies; 
 
COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 59 
 
 seem to be what you are, and not an ugly creature 
 with a false face. Be not like the poor tortoise 
 who borrowed the eagle's wings. Martial says 
 that there is nothing more contemptible than a 
 bald man who pretends to have hair ! And so are 
 we contemptible if we pretend to be what we are 
 not. 
 
 More of the simplicity and common sense of 
 the religion of Jesus ought to be practiced in our 
 homes, in society, and in the church. Think for 
 one moment how much courage it requires for a 
 woman associating with those who dress fashion- 
 ably, to wear contentedly last year's bonnet, or a 
 dress two or three years old. What condition 
 of things is that in which an acquaintance is 
 valued in accordance with the style of her cloth- 
 ing? What opinion can a woman have of her- 
 self for judging the worth of another by her 
 dress? If she should choose to wear the fashions 
 of twenty years ago, what matter? All fashions 
 return in time. The old become the new, and the 
 new the old. What difference? There should be 
 equal rights in these things, that the weight of 
 custom may not press too heavily, and that the 
 freedom of Christianity may enter into our style 
 of dress, and that the consistency and common 
 sense of true religion may be shown in what we 
 wear and how we wear it. First of all we should 
 dress within our means, wear what is modest and 
 becoming and not in the extreme of fashion. 
 Clothing has its proper use, and is not for mere 
 
60 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 display, or to excite the envy of those about us. 
 We dress in the best taste when our dress does 
 not attract attention, and when once put on prop- 
 erly, we need not think of it again until we take 
 it off. It is not necessary to dress meanly. Our 
 clothing 1 may be of expensive material, and yet be 
 modest, and in every way suitable. Indeed, it is 
 of the greatest economy to buy the best of the 
 kind required, if it be desirable or necessary to 
 make the garment last a long time. 
 
 The years that are going by cannot be recalled, 
 and we are growing old more rapidly than we 
 realize. If we are to accomplish anything worth 
 accomplishing, if we have not already begun, it is 
 time to begin now. The exercise of common sense 
 and good judgment in our every day matters will 
 leave us more time to devote to especial and im- 
 portant objects outside our merely personal in- 
 terests. It is not to be expected that those who 
 have no interest in the Christian religion will 
 spend much time or thought upon serious things, 
 but not so of Christians. We are not our own. 
 We have given our all to Jesus. He it is whom 
 we must consult in regard to the use we make of 
 everything. 
 
 In seeking not to dress too much, let us avoid 
 the other extreme, and not be so indifferent to our 
 personal appearance as to dress shabbily. It 
 would not be pleasing or honoring Jesus for those 
 whom he loves to neglect the body. It is the home 
 of the soul, and it should possess a quiet charm 
 
COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 61 
 
 attractive to our friends and to all good people. 
 There is another thing in which our influence is 
 stronger than in that of dress, wherein we fail to 
 use good sense, and to show ourselves consistent 
 Christians. It is in our conversation. Who can 
 listen to the conversation of a dozen women whom 
 one incidentally meets at a public gathering, or 
 at a popular resort, without often feeling dis- 
 quieted or ashamed? It hardly seems possible 
 that intelligent beings, lovely in the image of their 
 maker, endowed with reason, gifted often with the 
 power of rising to an unlimited height, capable of 
 reaching after, and in a measure, grasping the in- 
 finite, should be satisfied to talk of little besides 
 dress, and fashion, and gossip, should be appar- 
 ently satisfied with such subjects. 
 
 When the themes for profitable conversation 
 are so varied and so ample, when the mind ex- 
 pands so rapidly under the influence of the inter- 
 change of thought and sentiment, when thought 
 and sentiment are worthy of expression, what a 
 pity that any one should be satisfied with non- 
 sense. And when to all the other graces of 
 womanhood are added the crowning graces of re- 
 ligion, how surprising and humiliating all this is ! 
 
 We might fail to recognize a Christian woman 
 in such companionship; but, strange to say, there 
 are many professing Christians who demean 
 themselves in just this kind of foolish, uninterest- 
 ing conversation by the hour, and think nothing 
 of it. What power can rouse the thousands of 
 
62 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 women who thus waste the time, the talents, the 
 energy God has given them, to a true sense of 
 their privileges and obligations? What a revolu- 
 tion must take place in society and in the church 
 before the simplicity and nobleness of Christ-like 
 lives will be realized among women; before the 
 light of wisdom and truth will shine forth steadily 
 from their lives to illumine the world in which 
 they move. It is plain that women do not under- 
 stand their power or their importance in the 
 world, or so many of them would not lead the life 
 of butterflies. 
 
 Without doubt there are many who would 
 break away from the yoke imposed upon them by 
 the acquisition of wealth and position, and the 
 tyranny of custom, if they had the courage to do 
 it. Without doubt, many long for better things ; 
 but who will break away? Who will lead the 
 multitude of burdened ones into a better life, and 
 to an inestimable increase of happiness? 
 
 Ah, how many Christians are drawn into the 
 current to float with the rest, resisting feebly, or 
 not at all, the tide which is bearing them farther 
 and farther from the center of all good, and 
 bringing dishonor upon Jesus Christ whom they 
 profess to honor. 
 
 No one should be compelled to do as others do 
 merely because others do it. There never was a 
 greater curse than that of the desire to ape other 
 people. We are individuals. We have individu- 
 ality. Let that individuality be preserved in all 
 
COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 63 
 
 the relations of life. One has poverty, another 
 has wealth. Let the poor man live according to 
 his poverty, and the rich man according to his 
 wealth, neither of them envying or sneering at the 
 other. One has rare ability, another has mediocre 
 talent. Let the first use his ability for the best 
 and purest purposes, and the other do the best he 
 can, and let each be content with the other. One 
 woman is fond of dress and willing to spend half 
 her time in adorning her person. Another finds 
 these things a burden from which she wishes to 
 be freed. Let the former waste her time thus if 
 she wish; what is that to the other? And let the 
 latter live in freedom, and dress as is convenient. 
 Whose affair is it but her own? Let there be 
 perfect independence. Let each one be a unit of 
 unique value, capable of standing quite alone. 
 
 True living does not consist in the position we 
 hold in the world, or in the church, neither in the 
 amount of worldly comfort and pleasure with 
 which we are able to surround ourselves ; still less 
 in the good or bad opinion of our fellow-men. 
 That is the most noble life which gives little 
 thought as to whether one is known or unknown, 
 but which moves on sweetly and quietly in its ap- 
 pointed sphere, gathering each day the flowers 
 within reach, and patiently extracting the thorns 
 which are hidden in the sweetest flowers, valuing 
 the highest those things which Jesus values the 
 highest, and shedding around the luster of a 
 Christ-like character. 
 
64 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 One obstacle to perfect harmony between man 
 and man, is pride of family. It is a good thing 
 to be able to look back upon a long line of noble 
 ancestry ; but the man whose ancestors were ple- 
 beians, and who wins for himself nobleness, is su- 
 perior to the man whose nobility is an inheritance. 
 It is not what our fathers were, but what we are 
 that should claim for us the highest regard. It 
 is character only that bears all tests through all 
 time; that shines bright and pure in the clear 
 light of the supreme moments in life when we 
 are called to noblest deeds or bravest endurance. 
 When that hour comes in which we must stand 
 before God in the clear light of heaven, what will 
 then stand but greatness of soul? 
 
 The King of heaven chose his earthly lot among 
 the most lowly, and esteemed those noble who 
 were noble in character. He taught his disciples 
 not to seek high places, to seek no worldly honor 
 or fame; that the greatest victories they could 
 achieve would be to conquer their own spirits, and 
 that those who followed in the meek and lowly 
 path he trod would be exalted to his throne in 
 heaven. 
 
 God made all men equal as regards individual 
 rights and privileges ; equal in the contest for 
 knowledge, goodness, and truth. He places low 
 in the scale of humanity those who deserve to be 
 low, and those who merit a high position, are, in 
 his esteem, already high, without regard to 
 wealth, or family, or blood. His scale of 
 
COMMON SENSE IN RELIGION 65 
 
 measurement is ours reversed: "The first shall be 
 last, and the last shall be first." When we see 
 men and things from his standpoint, as nearly as 
 we may, then will the galling chains drop off, 
 and we shall be free to live in accordance with 
 sanctified common sense. Then shall we belong 
 to God's nobility, a privilege which is conferred 
 upon many who are scorned by the nobility of this 
 world. 
 
 There are large beams in the eyes of the world. 
 It does not see clearly. Then let us not place 
 too much value upon its judgments; rather let us 
 walk quietly with God, ruling our lives by that 
 of his beloved Son in whom there was no guile. 
 
IX 
 
 OUR RESPONSIBILITY 
 
 Whether we realize it or not, whether the fact 
 is acceptable to us or not, or however strong our 
 effort may be to throw it off, our responsibility 
 to God, to man, to ourselves, remains. We can- 
 not shut ourselves within ourselves if we try. We 
 cannot build around ourselves a wall of separa- 
 tion from other people, so that it would be the 
 same to them as if we were not in existence. It 
 can never be the same to them. Human beings 
 touch each other in some way. It is a law of na- 
 ture which cannot be revoked. Humanity is a 
 common brotherhood. 
 
 There are lines drawn sufficiently marked, it 
 would seem, to separate completely, different 
 classes of society; but they cannot be so sepa- 
 rated. The rich influence the poor, and the poor 
 the rich. The good influence the bad, and the 
 bad the good. All classes are bound together, be- 
 cause all are human beings ; all have souls ; by all 
 must be waged the battle of life; all have their 
 joys and sorrows, their conflicts and their victo- 
 ries, and to all must come, finally, the common lot 
 of death, and the probability of being forgotten 
 before many generations shall have succeeded 
 
OUR RESPONSIBILITY 67 
 
 theirs ; and upon all rests the burden of responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 Jesus calls our influence the light we shed 
 around us. Is it a true or false light? Will it 
 warn others from evil ways, or lead them into these 
 ways? Is it wavering or uncertain and deceiv- 
 ing like the will-o'-the-wisp or steady and bright, 
 leading always toward truth and the beauty of 
 holiness? Jesus said, "Let your light so shine 
 that men may take knowledge of your good 
 works and glorify your Father which is in 
 heaven." Especially in our homes should our 
 light shine clear and steady. If our influence 
 there be cheering, strong and helpful, if our re- 
 sponsibility there be fulfilled carefully and prayer- 
 fully as in the presence of our God, then will there 
 be shining from us a light which will never grow 
 dim, and an influence which will be felt almost 
 without limit. 
 
 It is in little ways that we are most tempted to 
 hide our light. Physical ailments are often the 
 cause, but not a good excuse for a surly "good 
 morning," or a hasty word which will sting 
 through all the day. It is not the burning, 
 scorching, concentrated heat of the sun that is 
 most acceptable, but the diffused rays which 
 reach into all the dark corners, and bring light 
 and warmth everywhere. It is not the brilliant 
 flashes of light that we shed around us that render 
 our lives and the lives of others more lovely and 
 lovable, but the diffused light of little words and 
 
68 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 deeds. Neither is the severe storm so lasting in 
 its influence as the continued dropping which 
 wears away stone. We can endure an occasional 
 outburst of anger more patiently than the petty 
 fretting and fault-finding which is of daily oc- 
 currence in many homes. 
 
 Sunshine then, sunshine everywhere ! Have 
 control of your tongue and of your manner. 
 Keep back the hasty word. If things do not suit 
 you, do not find fault. This never induced any 
 one to comply cheerfully with your wishes, and 
 never will. Approach one another with love and 
 tenderness when any difficulty is to be discussed, 
 or mistake corrected. It is easy to avoid petty 
 bickerings and strife in a home where all its mem- 
 bers are watchful over themselves; and watchful- 
 ness is absolutely necessary. Words slip out so 
 easily. The tone of the voice partakes so much of 
 the feeling, and we are creatures of impulse. We 
 have need often to say to ourselves, "Wait a mo- 
 ment. What am I going to say?" "What am I 
 going to do?" Thinking before speaking or act- 
 ing would often save bitter and sometimes life-long 
 regrets. 
 
 We cannot think or speak, we cannot laugh or 
 weep, or keep silent, stretch forth our hands or 
 withhold them, give or receive, without influencing 
 some one; and whatever that influence is, we are. 
 The water that flows from the fountain partakes 
 of the precise nature of the fountain. If we speak 
 gently, and our manner is always gentle, then are 
 
OUR RESPONSIBILITY 69 
 
 we gentle. If our influence upon others be a 
 Christian influence, then are we Christ-like. If 
 our influence be worldly, then, no matter what we 
 may call ourselves, we are worldly. Our every 
 act is of the utmost consequence to ourselves and 
 to our race, for our influence does not stop with 
 those with whom we come into immediate contact, 
 but it circles on to the outermost edge of time. 
 Our words and deeds weigh more heavily in the 
 scale of human weal or woe than we are apt to 
 think. Every hour we are weaving a web which 
 will entangle souls in deeper misery, or we are 
 drawing by the fine and beautiful threads of our 
 lives, souls nearer to truth, to beauty and good- 
 ness, nearer to heaven. 
 
 There may be those who will say, "Why make 
 life so serious and gloomy?" We are not dolls 
 or puppets. That our acts are of consequence, 
 gives beauty and dignity to our lives ; and the 
 same God who created us with the capacity to 
 influence others, will strengthen us to bear the re- 
 sponsibility resting upon us, and to meet our 
 weighty obligation to do good and not evil. 
 
 God's way is a way of light. The gloomy path 
 has once been trod by him who carried from his 
 cradle to his grave the burden of our sins. He 
 trod this path to open for us a smoother, brighter 
 path. He bore the crushing burden that we 
 might have no burdens. His life went out in 
 darkness that ours might go out in light. He 
 bore the cross that we might wear the crown. 
 
70 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 By perfect obedience to the commands of Jesus, 
 a constant taking up of the cross, and a close 
 following in his footsteps we may fulfill our obli- 
 gations to God, to our fellow-men and to our- 
 selves. The Son of God will not lead us into 
 error. His commandments are not grievous, nor 
 the cross of his appointing too heavy. In his 
 parable of the talents we are taught that we did 
 not come into the world like dumb animals, with 
 no means of progress, no responsibility. Upon 
 each one God has bestowed certain gifts ; not upon 
 all alike, for we must do the work of the world, 
 and some are fitted for one thing, and some an- 
 other, so that all kinds of work may be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 An acorn, containing the germ of an oak, falls 
 from a tree and is buried in the earth. If it re- 
 fuse to take the food nature has provided for it, 
 to swell and burst, to put forth rootlets and to 
 push a tiny stem up through the soil, or, even 
 after it has done this, if it will not drink in the 
 air, the dew, and the sunshine, if its roots do not 
 take up sustenance from the earth, and grow 
 stronger and stronger, it will never become a tree ; 
 even the little life it has will be taken away, nat- 
 urally, and it will perish altogether. 
 
 We enter this world knowing only how to cry 
 and to take the food nature has provided for us ; 
 but there is a power within us to grow physically, 
 mentally and spiritually, and we are surrounded 
 by conditions which tend to rapid growth and de- 
 
OUR RESPONSIBILITY 71 
 
 velopment. If we neglect to appropriate to our- 
 selves all God has provided for us, if we fold our 
 hands idly because but one talent has been given 
 us, what can we expect but to lose, naturally, this 
 one talent, and to be cast out as unprofitable serv- 
 ants? Around him who uses to the utmost his 
 God-given ability, the circle of opportunity and 
 privilege will widen more and more, reaching to 
 the utmost bounds of human knowledge and ac- 
 quirement, and human influence, reaching even 
 into eternity. For who will dare fix a limit to 
 the development of an immortal being created in 
 the image of God? 
 
 All the acts of life are significant, and power- 
 ful for good or ill. Every good thing we do re- 
 flects upon ourselves, and helps to build charac- 
 ter; and while we are adding stone upon stone to 
 our own structure, often, without our knowing it, 
 another is building beside us, and unconsciously 
 following our leading. This world is not a play- 
 ground, but a workshop. The Son of God is the 
 Master-builder. Under his guidance beauty will 
 grow from deformity, and graceful proportions 
 from unseemly confusion ; and by and by we shall 
 see the halo of light which surrounds him, sur- 
 rounding also every one to whom he imparts his 
 divine grace, and we shall go about our duties 
 with this wonderful brightness surrounding us if 
 we follow where he leads ; if we follow ! 
 
 The strong purpose of our lives must be to 
 attain to the highest ; but we must not stop there. 
 
72 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Only meaning to do a thing, amounts to nothing. 
 What if the clouds should say, "We mean to drop 
 rain to refresh the earth," and yet should with- 
 hold the rain? What if the fruit tree should say, 
 "I mean to grow, blossom and bear fruit," and 
 neither grow, nor blossom, nor bear fruit ? What 
 if the sun should say, "I mean to shine," but for- 
 ever hide his face behind a cloud? It is being 
 and doing that make our lives of value. We 
 have no right to ourselves unless we give ourselves 
 away. The world is not indebted to us, but we 
 to the world. "Our part on earth is not to be 
 served, but to serve." 
 
 God does not require of us what we might do in 
 other circumstances. He does not expect us to 
 give time which we have not at our command, or 
 money which we do not possess. Neither does he 
 require us to use the talents of another person. 
 To all he gives advantages enough to make per- 
 fect men and women of their kind. He does not 
 expect a laborer to have the beauty and grace of 
 a poet, or that a poet will have the practical 
 knowledge and muscular strength of a laborer; 
 but he does require each one to do his work cheer- 
 fully and well. A man who cannot drive a nail 
 straight, with a simple story or song may charm 
 the man who drives nails for him ; and so it may 
 be on the every hand; each one aiding the other 
 in a common brotherhood, without envy, without 
 strife, without pride or scorn. 
 
 We cannot in any way be free from responsi- 
 
OUR RESPONSIBILITY 73 
 
 bility. Much is required of him to whom much is 
 given. He to whom little is given, must make the 
 best possible use of what he has. We are all 
 building for eternity. Let us lay the walls with 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
 faith, meekness, temperance, and cement them 
 together with love. Then, at the last day, our 
 Heavenly Father will say to each one of us, "Well 
 done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been 
 faithful over a few things ; I will make thee ruler 
 over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy 
 Lord." 
 
SETTLE IT WITH JESUS 
 
 There are many things we must settle with 
 Jesus which no human being can adjust; trials 
 we can tell to no one, and heart-aches we must 
 conceal even from our nearest friends. The 
 things which wound us, which oppress or injure 
 us, which human nature would settle with the of- 
 fenders sarcasm for sarcasm, harsh word for 
 harsh word, unkind deed for unkind deed follow- 
 ing the old interpretation of the law, an eye for 
 an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But we who belong 
 to Christ have no right to return evil for evil, 
 to retaliate or revenge. He has taught us how 
 to meet wrong and injustice, and we ought not 
 dare to meet them in any other way than that 
 which he has taught by precept and example. 
 
 When our accustomed serenity is disturbed sud- 
 denly, and we are nearly overpowered by the tu- 
 mult within us, then should we go away alone 
 and settle it with Jesus. When we are unjustly 
 blamed for some unpleasant occurrence and we 
 cannot make any one understand that we are not 
 in fault, all we can do is to carry our trouble to 
 Jesus. When our pride is wounded by our 
 
 equals, or perhaps by our inferiors, but who re- 
 
 74 
 
SETTLE IT WITH JESUS 75 
 
 gard themselves as being far superior to our- 
 selves, and we are angry because we are found 
 trailing our armor in the dust instead of wearing 
 it, we should go to Jesus at once and tell him all 
 about it. When recognition is denied us and we 
 are set aside by those who are less intelligent or 
 less refined than we are, who can understand our 
 position better than he? 
 
 There are many times when our hearts are rest- 
 less and disturbed when we cannot assign any 
 reason for it, when we realize that our blessings 
 are many, and that we ought to be happy, but 
 are not ; then all we can do is to go to Jesus. 
 He will search us and try us, and find out the 
 cause for all our restlessness, and apply the 
 remedy in love and tenderness. 
 
 There are many things about which there is a 
 great difference of opinion which we must settle 
 with him. Shall we frequent the theater? Is it 
 right for us to spend our time in idle amusements ; 
 in the mere formalities of society; in meeting the 
 demands of those for whom we have no affection, 
 and who have no real interest in us? Is it right 
 to keep late hours, to dance to excess, to eat and 
 drink that which slowly undermines our health? 
 
 Should we look upon those less favored than 
 ourselves in worldly circumstances as our infe- 
 riors regardless of their true worth? Do we not 
 prove our own inferiority by this false position? 
 Ought we to speak ill of others unless circum- 
 stances require us to tell what we know to be 
 
76 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 true? Let Jesus answer all these questions. Hu- 
 man judgment is rarely free from prejudice. He 
 only can decide impartially. He sees everything 
 through the bright light which surrounds the 
 throne. His judgment is as clear as the light of 
 heaven. He knows even the subtle influences 
 which surround us. There is no dimness in his 
 vision. There are no beams in his eyes, no doubts 
 in his mind; and loving us supremely, he can but 
 guide us for our good. He will answer all our 
 questions in ways that cannot be mistaken, if we 
 really desire to know his will. If we desire our 
 own way, his answer is not always clear to us, for 
 it is in some degree modified by our own precon- 
 ceived opinions. 
 
 Blessed will be the time when we settle every- 
 thing with Jesus ; when we no longer trust to our 
 own judgment; when we no longer cry out anx- 
 iously, "What shall I do?" Blessed indeed to 
 have no more harassing care, to be at rest in him ! 
 We have all experienced hours of peace which 
 passes all understanding, but to have this peace 
 at all times, Jesus must be close at hand. To 
 settle all our difficulties, he must abide with us, 
 that quick as thought his presence may be felt, 
 his hand pressed, and his strength imparted. 
 Thus only can we perform faithfully the common 
 duties of life, moving quietly above their vexa- 
 tions, hiding from others our annoyances as the 
 calmly flowing river hides the rough places of its 
 stony and uneven bed. 
 
SETTLE IT WITH JESUS 77 
 
 But many cry out, "My heart is sinful; my 
 speech is wicked ; my house is in disorder ; I am 
 not prepared to entertain a King." If we shut 
 Christ out with the plea, "I am unworthy that 
 thou shouldst come under my roof," then do we 
 shut him out forever, for we can never become 
 worthy of his abiding presence by our own ef- 
 forts. It is he who will make our hearts fit 
 temples for the King of Glory. We should invite 
 him to come in, not because we are worthy of him, 
 but because he loves us, and stands always knock- 
 ing at the door, and he will enter and abide, and 
 we may know that he is with us in the same way 
 that we know our dearest friend is near us. 
 Though we are not looking at him, or really think- 
 ing of him, we are conscious of his presence. We 
 need not think of Jesus to the exclusion of other 
 things, but we may have the joy of his presence 
 in the home, or wherever we may be ; his helpful 
 sympathy and imparted strength in our work and 
 in our care, and his guidance in all our diffi- 
 culties. Many think of him as being at some re- 
 mote corner of the universe, except on especial 
 occasions when he condescends to draw nearer. 
 He is just as near to every one of us as we de- 
 sire. How blind must they be who admit him not 
 to close communion, and then complain that clouds 
 obscure their vision; that they have not as much 
 light as they wish ; that God and heaven seem far 
 away. 
 
 We cannot follow a guide who is so far from 
 
78 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 us that we can not see him, nor hear his voice, and 
 how can we follow Jesus unless we are near him? 
 How keep our spiritual vision clear unless he be 
 with us to bring light out of darkness? As the 
 branches wither and die separated from the vine, 
 so do we die spiritually, separated from Jesus. 
 Without him we are cumberers of the ground. 
 Without his abiding presence we are in danger 
 of being assailed and overcome by a vigilant and 
 powerful enemy. Left to ourselves, we are help- 
 less indeed. How safe we are if we carry every- 
 thing to him. How strong if we clasp his hand. 
 In his calm presence how insignificant are the 
 daily worries and anxieties. The doubts and 
 questionings which have hitherto perplexed us 
 vanish away. The crooked and tangled things 
 become straight, all the things which once so 
 wounded and vexed us lose their power over us, 
 and all our restlessness disappears in the presence 
 of Peace! 
 
XI 
 
 FAITH AND WORKS 
 
 We are always asking something of our 
 Heavenly Father, as if we were always hungry 
 and in need, and think it strange that so much 
 praying does not bring the desired answer to our 
 prayers. Are not many of our petitions faith- 
 less? Is not God's answer to every prayer, "As 
 your faith is, so be it unto you?" Unless, indeed, 
 the granting of our request would do us harm. 
 There are prayers offered every day, the answers 
 to which would make men dumb with astonish- 
 ment. Men pray too often into the air, and there 
 is no warmth of love in such prayers. They 
 reach no farther than the atmosphere in which the 
 vibrations of sound lose themselves. They are 
 not the prayers of faith. 
 
 We pray that God will take care of the poor, 
 but do not help the answering of our prayer by 
 our works. We pray, "Abide with me, Oh Lord," 
 but we do not really believe that he will abide with 
 us. We pray, "Give us this day our daily 
 bread," but do not believe that he will give it to 
 us, for how we fret over that same daily bread! 
 
 "Ask and it shall be given you," is true of 
 
 everything which it is best for us to have. If 
 
 79 
 
80 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 God deny us anything, it is in the same spirit in 
 which we deny our children many things. If our 
 prayers are not always answered just as we wish, 
 we need not think that they are unheard by God. 
 The feeblest uplifting of the heart to him is no- 
 ticed and considered. Why not pray in faith 
 that God will answer unless there be a good reason 
 why our request should be denied? 
 
 Do we not pray too much and praise too little? 
 While we are admonished to pray without ceasing, 
 are we not also commanded to rejoice alway? 
 Should not praying and rejoicing accompany 
 each other? Should not praise precede or follow 
 every prayer? Is not our cup of blessing so 
 full that our prayers will turn to praise? 
 
 Why be always poor, and hungry and naked, 
 when, if we are hungry, it is because we only taste 
 the bread of life, and then return to our com- 
 mon fare; if we are naked, it is because we will 
 not put on the robes of righteousness offered to 
 us by Jesus ; if we are thirsty it is because we only 
 sip at the waters of life instead of taking full 
 draughts at the fountain. Why do we sit in our 
 poverty crying, "Oh, Father, I am poor and 
 needy, clothe and feed me ; I am a poor, miserable 
 sinner, save me; I am falling at every step, oh, 
 lead me !" And still the same cry, day after day, 
 turning a deaf ear to the answering of our Father, 
 "I give thee bread, eat and hunger no more. I 
 clothe thee, put on these white robes. I pardon 
 all thy sins, go and sin no more. Take my hand 
 
FAITH AND WORKS 81 
 
 in thine, and thou shalt nevermore walk alone." 
 Why not take God at his word? He hears 
 the prayer even before we utter it, and is more 
 ready to give good gifts to us than we think. 
 Under the shadow of his wings, there is rest and 
 peace. We are not beggars at his gates, but 
 heirs of his kingdom, and with light hearts and 
 radiant faces we may go singing towards our 
 eternal home. God blesses us wonderfully even 
 when our faith is like a grain of sand. What 
 may he not do for us when we rely upon him with 
 the strong confidence of children? With such 
 faith, good works, almost without limit, naturally 
 follow, and these good works begin in our own 
 hearts, and in our daily living, for thus, and thus 
 only, are we prepared to extend our works beyond 
 ourselves. Faith and pure living are inseparable. 
 True religion is undefiled. If men who profess to 
 be religious are not so, it is not that religion it- 
 self is wanting in any good element, but that they 
 fall short of the standard raised on high that all 
 may see it, even Jesus Christ. 
 
 How dares one call himself a Christian who is 
 not Christ-like? How can he live in conformity 
 to the world, and give his neighbors occasion to 
 charge him with dishonorable conduct and little 
 meannesses which a noble man of the world would 
 scorn. A true Christian is God-like. A God-like 
 man towers so far above his fellow-men, that they 
 cannot fail to acknowledge his superiority. Alas 
 that there are so many who are only Christians in 
 
82 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 name! That so many, who might shine as stars 
 even here, have only a smoldering faith beneath 
 the embers of worldliness, whose light never shines 
 forth, whose works are according to their weak 
 faith, and who barely press into heaven through 
 gates ajar, instead of entering triumphantly 
 through gates open wide, with loud hosannas 
 greeting the blood-bought and glorified ones 
 whose faith and works here opened to them a glo- 
 rious inheritance with the highest ones in heaven, 
 at the right hand of Jesus. 
 
 The faith which every one ought to have is like 
 the faith of little children in their parents. They 
 lay their hands in ours with perfect confidence. A 
 mother is all in all to her child. If the mother 
 is near, all is well. If mother's hand can be 
 touched in the light of day or the darkness of 
 night, the child is at rest. There is no question- 
 ing in the mind of the obedient child when he is 
 denied his requests. My little boy often asks me 
 for that which is not best that he should do, or 
 that he should have, and I say, "No, darling," 
 and he answers, contentedly, "All right." 
 
 When we hold the hand of God in perfect love 
 and confidence, all doubt and fear will be cast 
 out, and whatever answer God may give to our 
 requests, we can say, with perfect resignation, 
 "It is, indeed, all right." The works which will 
 accompany such faith will be holy living, and a 
 constant giving of ourselves to others as Jesus 
 gave himself to us, not in a sacrificial way, as he 
 
FAITH AND WORKS 83 
 
 did, but in humanly divine way, from day to day, 
 doing all the little things of life perfectly, gra- 
 ciously, gracefully, as he would do them; for life 
 is mostly made up of little things, and but few 
 of us are called to do great things. 
 
 God will assign to us our daily tasks, and we 
 need take no care or thought as to whether we 
 might be doing something greater or better. It 
 is what God wishes us to do, and that is enough. 
 Be sure that he will not fail to give us all we can 
 do well, nor fail to place us just where he wishes 
 us to be. We are not to fret, if sometimes the 
 place seem too humble, or the work too hard. 
 We have taken up the cross to follow him whose 
 lot was, indeed, humble, and whose task was ardu- 
 ous, and we must not shrink, but clasp the strong 
 hand the tighter, and lean more heavily upon the 
 strong arm, and our Lord will bring us through 
 victorious. 
 
 The power of faith is beyond measure. If the 
 members of one large church had the faith they 
 might have, did the works they might do, what a 
 revolution would that church make within the 
 circle of its influence ! If the members of all the 
 Christian churches in the world were really Christ- 
 like, would we need to wait long for the answer to 
 our prayer, "Thy kingdom come?" 
 
 Among men, no professional sham will be ac- 
 cepted as the genuine thing. Men feel it in their 
 hearts when another is sincere, when he stands 
 firm as a rock for right and truth, when he scorns 
 
84 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 every thing unworthy the name he bears, and 
 lives by faith; and they are right in judging of 
 the quality of his faith by the work wrought in 
 his character by that faith. This faith which is 
 like a well of water springing up into everlasting 
 life, is a most wonderful gift from God. He holds 
 it ready for us in his exhaustless treasure-house. 
 All we have to do is to open our hearts to receive 
 it. How gloriously it lifts us above the friction 
 of every-day life. 
 
 How easy, with such a faith, become the works. 
 How naturally, and without apparent effort do 
 we serve God, and do and endure his will, thus ful- 
 filling in our lives the familiar words, "The just 
 shall live by faith." 
 
 Rev. F. B. Meyer tells the following story: 
 
 "On the Campania, by which I crossed the ocean, 
 there were Christian men who held steerage services. 
 They talked about these services at dinner, and an 
 infidel happened to be at the same table. He heard 
 them talk about their faith, their church, and their 
 religion. One day he decided to go to see what their 
 service was like. He put an orange in his pocket, 
 intending to eat it. As he passed through the gang- 
 way, a poor old woman, in a very rusty dress, sat 
 there fast asleep, her hands folded in her lap, open. 
 A thought struck him. He took the orange out of his 
 pocket and put it in her hands. She went on sleep- 
 ing, and he went to hear the talk. When he came 
 back, the old woman had waked, and with a be- 
 nignant smile, she sat looking at the orange. 
 
FAITH AND WORKS 85 
 
 " 'Mother, how are you ?' he said. 'Oh, well, thank 
 you; rather better than I was just now.' 
 
 " 'How better?' he asked. 
 
 ' 'Why, look at the orange, sir.' 
 
 " 'Well, what of the orange?' 
 
 " 'Well, you know I could not eat the food they 
 gave me, and I said to my Heavenly Father to-day, 
 "I wish I might have a little fruit. I would like to 
 have an orange." So I went to sleep; and when I 
 woke an orange was in my hand. My Heavenly 
 Father put it there.' 
 
 " 'Oh, no!' said the infidel. 'There is no Heavenly 
 Father. I put it there.' 
 
 " 'Ah ! but you would not have put it there if the 
 Heavenly Father had not told you to.' " 
 
 Lovely, wasn't it, that she should wake to find 
 in her hands that for which she had prayed just 
 before going io sleep. This ought to have 
 touched the infidel's heart. Perhaps it did, and 
 made him wonder, if there might not be, after all, 
 an all-loving Father without whose notice not 
 even a sparrow falls to the ground. 
 
 According! Oh, the grand possibilities con- 
 tained in that word ! According to your faith ! 
 "What is faith ? To walk right on to the edge of 
 the precipice and then stop ? 'No ! Walk on !' 
 'What, set my feet upon nothing?' 'Yes, upon 
 nothing, if it be in the way of duty; boldly set 
 your feet on nothing, and a solid rock from the 
 everlasting hills will meet your feet at every step 
 that you take in the path of duty; only take it 
 
86 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 unwaveringly, and in faith.' ' "Oh, but we must 
 see where we are going," you say. Dear friend, 
 how often do you really see where you are going? 
 How can you see, when all the future is as a closed 
 highway ? 
 
 In his own country, Jesus did not many 
 mighty works because of unbelief. Many times 
 we pray for healing of soul and body; and if we 
 listen attentively, we may hear him saying, oh, 
 with what infinite love, and infinite pity and 
 regret, "I cannot because of your unbelief!" 
 
 Perfect faith will help to keep us well, and 
 strong, and beautiful in body and in spirit. It 
 will make our faces shine, and our feet will run 
 to do good deeds for very joy of the privilege. 
 Our hearts will sing for joy, and the work ap- 
 portioned to us will be performed cheerfully and 
 well. It will bring us into harmony with the 
 Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It will hold 
 us as an anchor through all winds and tides, 
 through brightest sunshine and through darkest 
 night, and although we may be poor and lowly 
 and unworthy of notice in the eyes of the world, 
 it will make us courtiers in the palace of the 
 King! 
 
XII 
 
 NOT BELIEVING BECAUSE NOT 
 UNDERSTANDING 
 
 There are those who do not believe the Bible 
 because they do not understand it, who do not be- 
 lieve in God because he is veiled in mystery. 
 What do we understand? The smallest leaf that 
 glistens in the sunshine and quivers in the trees 
 is incomprehensible to us. Were we to try mil- 
 lions of years we could not make one. The blade 
 of grass grows silently from the tiny seed, we 
 know not how. Slowly, slowly the acorn sends 
 forth a tree which defies wind and storm in its 
 strength and majesty, and Ruskin looks at it with 
 wonder to say, "What a thought it was when God 
 thought of a tree !" 
 
 Look at the flowers, so varied in their beauty. 
 Whence do they derive their color and fragrance? 
 How is it possible that so much loveliness can be 
 centered in a lily or a rose? How is it done? 
 We are dumb before these thoughts of God ex- 
 pressed in the grass, the flowers, the trees, and 
 in all growing things. And there are mightier 
 mysteries than these. Who understands the laws 
 by which we and all other objects on the face of 
 the earth are kept from being thrown off into 
 
 87 
 
88 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 space in its rapid whirl on its own axis, as it 
 majestically travels on its ceaseless journey 
 around the sun? Look into the heavens on a 
 clear winter night, and comprehend, if you can, 
 what you behold. We do not even understand 
 ourselves. Who can explain the union of the soul 
 and body during life, and the separation of the 
 same at death? Who can tell when and how the 
 soul-life comes to us? And nothing can be more 
 wonderful and mysterious than the reproduction 
 of species throughout the animal and vegetable 
 kingdom. 
 
 Thus we may go on from one thing to an- 
 other until we are forced to cry out, "Alas, we 
 know not anything!" and to feel that we are 
 tossed upon an ocean of uncertainty and unrest 
 without a rudder to direct our course, unless we 
 look upon everything as the work of an infinite 
 God of Love and Omniscience, who holds the world 
 in the hollow of his hand ; who directs and dis- 
 poses all things for our highest good; who has 
 created all the beauty and loveliness of this world 
 for our happiness. 
 
 God has revealed himself to us in his Word, in 
 nature, and in the person of his Son so fully that 
 we may love and honor him, and delight to do his 
 will. We may enjoy to the utmost, all the beauty 
 and endless mystery of nature in her richness and 
 profusion. Bearing about with us something of 
 the divinity in which we were created, we may be 
 kings and queens upon the earth; but only as we 
 
NOT BELIEVING 89 
 
 are obedient subjects of our Heavenly King, to- 
 ward whom disloyalty is the highest treason, 
 justly punishable by banishment from his pres- 
 ence forever! 
 
 He who gives to the flowers their perfume and 
 color, to the sky its blue, to the clouds their 
 splendor, to the forest trees their varied shades 
 of green and their brilliant autumnal hues, to the 
 elements their power for good or ill, to the light- 
 ning its tongue of flame and its voice of thunder, 
 to the earthquake its terror, can do infinitely 
 greater things than these in cleansing our hearts 
 in the blood of Jesus, and restoring us to his 
 favor, and to a place in his kingdom. Shall we 
 refuse to believe this most wonderful of all mys- 
 teries because we cannot understand it? Must 
 we wait for a clear insight into the things of God 
 before we believe them? Can we make ourselves 
 as gods to pry into that which is hidden from 
 us? Is it not absurd to expect to know what God 
 only knows? The finite cannot fathom the in- 
 finite, and who can find out God ? 
 
 Milk for babes, and meat for strong men. We 
 are his babes. All that we can grasp and use he 
 has given to us, and it is neither occasion for re- 
 gret or for distrust that we cannot compass the 
 universe with our understanding. God is ; we are. 
 What can feeble ones do but rest in the all-power- 
 ful? What can ignorant ones do but learn of the 
 Omniscient? We have all eternity before us in 
 which to learn of God and of his mighty works, 
 
90 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Here we only master the alphabet; for this is a 
 training-school, a small beginning; and unless we 
 learn well the Alpha and Omega, and all that lies 
 between of the lesson God has given us to learn 
 here, we cannot expect to understand the lan- 
 guage of heaven. 
 
 If we wish to become proficient in any branch 
 of study, we do not begin with that part which 
 is most difficult, and throw it aside in disgust, 
 saying, "I will have nothing to do with it, for it is 
 impossible to understand it ;" but we begin with 
 the rudiments, and advance slowly, step by step, 
 like a little child learning to walk, until all ob- 
 stacles are surmounted, and what at first was in- 
 comprehensible, becomes easy and well understood. 
 If we sit at the feet of Jesus, willing to be taught 
 the alphabet of the Word, willing to be in the low- 
 est class until we are prepared to go up 
 higher, much that seems dark and difficult now 
 will be illuminated and made easy as we go on 
 in loving obedience to the Divine will. 
 
 What a comfort it is to be sure that what we 
 do not know Jesus knows, and wherein we fail, he, 
 with tender, brotherly love, will intercede for us, 
 and cover our defects with his own righteousness, 
 and present us faultless before the throne of God 
 to go no more out forever! 
 
XIII 
 NO MIDDLE WAY 
 
 "He that is not for me is against me, and he that gather- 
 eth not with me scattereth abroad." 
 
 Can anything be plainer than this from the lips 
 of the Son of God? There are two powers reign- 
 ing on the earth, and one or the other must con- 
 trol us. We are either serving God or Satan. 
 There is no more subtle snare that the prince of 
 evil throws around his victims than that of the 
 middle way. He is always trying to make them 
 believe that between God's path and his path there 
 is a broad highway in which they may walk at 
 their ease, not troubling themselves as to whether 
 they are right or wrong, so long as they have a 
 choice of good things from the trees overhanging 
 this highway, and from which they can pluck 
 the sweetest fruits without discrimination as to 
 whether they grow on the right hand or on the 
 left. There are multitudes of people who are 
 thus led blindly on who know not who is leading 
 them, and who would consider it an insult if you 
 should even gently hint that they are not in the 
 way of safety. The web thrown around them is 
 delicate, its texture of pleasing colors, and they 
 do not feel it tightening closer and closer. They 
 
 91 
 
92 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 are not conscious of danger. If you whisper to 
 them of it they laugh at your fears, and go on 
 gayly to a final hopeless awakening to their real 
 position. 
 
 Many enjoy the pleasures of sin who do not ac- 
 knowledge their master. They imagine that they 
 can break away from the service of God without 
 entering any other service. They think they are 
 free. Oh, how great is their mistake! We are 
 never free until we are born into God's kingdom ; 
 then, indeed, we are free born ; and no power can 
 take away from us our birthright. Another 
 snare which Satan lays for those whom he de- 
 sires to possess, is to conceal himself behind su- 
 perstition, and make them believe that he is only 
 a myth, a fabulous creature invented to frighten 
 simple-minded people. 
 
 It is true that we can neither see him nor hear 
 him nor touch him, he being a spirit, but we have 
 proof enough of his existence by the havoc he has 
 made in the world, which, without him, would be 
 to this day a paradise. He is a liar in very es- 
 sence, and many are deceived by him, and led on 
 step by step to destruction. For this reason God 
 has drawn fixed and indelible lines between right 
 and wrong. Do not try to obliterate them ; you 
 cannot. There are no crooked paths of God's 
 making; none which leans just a little toward the 
 wrong. Out of God's path you are in Satan's 
 path, and there is no broad road nor even a foot- 
 path between them. 
 
NO MIDDLE WAY 93 
 
 The things which are of the greatest impor- 
 tance to us are by twos and not by threes ; good 
 and evil, sin and holiness, life and death, God and 
 Satan, heaven and hell. Either we are the friends 
 of God, or his enemies. The paths in this world 
 which lead on to the next are already marked 
 out, and we are either in the road to hell, 
 or in the road to heaven. If we think that we 
 are in a path between the two, we deceive our- 
 selves. 
 
 Some think it makes no difference in which path 
 we walk, and that a loving Creator will bring 
 every one out right, somehow, at last. Do you 
 think that the Son of God and King of Heaven 
 would have left his throne to come to this world 
 to take upon himself the trial of being human, to 
 endure a life of poverty, suffering and hard labor, 
 and die a disgraceful death upon the cross if it 
 makes no difference, if there be a middle way be- 
 tween right and wrong in which multitudes may 
 safely walk? 
 
 There are few who will not admit that it is our 
 highest duty, and for our highest good to love 
 and obey God; but many such seem to think that 
 the teachings of the Bible, which is his revealed 
 will, are meant for others than themselves. They 
 are good enough now. They do not need a 
 Savior. If they do the best they know, God will 
 not reject them. How can any one do the best 
 he knows and still reject the Word of God? 
 Where in that Word does God suggest a com- 
 
94 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 promise between good and evil? On the con- 
 trary, the contrasts between right and wrong, be- 
 tween the position of the righteous and the wicked 
 are everywhere strongly marked. 
 
 God has left no escape from the thunderings 
 of his anger but through the acceptance of his 
 Son as Mediator and Redeemer. This way he 
 has provided for our salvation. It is the only 
 way. We might have suggested some other, but 
 our plans are as nothing before his plans. His 
 law is perfect. His testimonies are sure. Who 
 shall gainsay them ? Who shall so blaspheme God 
 as to say, "My way is better than thy way?" 
 Yet many do this in deed if not in word; in 
 thought if not in deed. How can men call God 
 severe for drawing lines so straight and even, 
 when they go astray so easily? How could he be 
 a perfect governor of the world and do otherwise? 
 "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eye- 
 lids look straight before thee. Ponder the path 
 of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 
 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; re- 
 move thy feet from evil." 
 
 Young man or young woman, whoever you are, 
 high or low, rich or poor, known or unknown, look 
 the truth fearlessly in the face, and deal with 
 things as they are, and not with things as you 
 would like to have them, and direct your life ac- 
 cordingly. Be not deceived by false appear- 
 ances. We have to deal with real things. Arm 
 yourself for a fight with wrong and injustice and 
 
NO MIDDLE WAY 95 
 
 deceit. These things are in the world, and we 
 have to meet them. The evil one is their origina- 
 tor. Meet them defiantly with God and truth 
 on your side. Lean always towards God, and you 
 will pass through life's ills unharmed. Lean only 
 a little towards Satan, and you are in imminent 
 danger. You must do one or the other of these, 
 for there is no indifferent middle path. 
 
 The idea of being in the service of such a being 
 as Satan is too repulsive for men to accept; and 
 for this reason they do not realize nor acknowl- 
 edge that they are in his service, neither will they 
 take sides with God. But it is impossible to serve 
 God a little, and to serve Satan a little. How 
 vain to attempt it! Have the manliness, at least 
 to show your colors. If you have lived until now 
 without being called upon to determine your posi- 
 tion, find out at once where you stand. If you 
 are not for God, you are for the evil one. Does 
 it humiliate you to think of it? Do you say, 
 "Impossible !" It is not only possible, but the liv- 
 ing truth! Does it startle you? It may well 
 startle you. Perhaps you have never thought of 
 it in this way before ; and this is one proof, if 
 you are not for Christ, that you are in the hands 
 of your spiritual enemy, even in the hands of 
 Satan himself. He has purposely lulled you to 
 sleep, and left you in quiet. Wake up! Rouse 
 yourself to the utmost! He has breathed upon 
 you his poisonous breath ! Break away from him ! 
 Trust him and yourself no longer ! Look to God ! 
 
96 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 He alone is worthy your confidence and service. 
 He alone can help you on to everlasting glory and 
 honor! How can you take a black-hearted mon- 
 ster, the prince of devils, to be your guide? Flee 
 for your life to the Lamb of God who taketh away 
 the sins of the world. Ashamed to come? He 
 bids you come and wash in his blood and be made 
 clean that you may follow him in the path to 
 glory. Will you come? I plead with you to 
 come! 
 
 Oh, how blind you are if you persistently re- 
 ject him; if you grow to be old, and still reject 
 him ; if you call him "Lord, Lord," and yet do not 
 keep his sayings, but build your foundations upon 
 the sand, to be thrown down in that day when 
 nothing will stand which is not founded upon the 
 Rock of Ages ! 
 
 Service is joy, and life a grand victory, if we 
 are in the service of God. How absurd to try to 
 free ourselves from him ! Helpless in his sight as 
 little children are in our sight, wayward and re- 
 bellious toward him as children are to us, how he 
 must pity us ! And oh, how he must love us to 
 bear patiently with us so long, with our indiffer- 
 ence to him and to his dear Son, still hoping to 
 save us from eternal death. Then let us look to 
 ourselves at once! Let us not lose a single mo- 
 ment. Let us flee to Jesus, and let him clothe 
 us in his own righteousness. Be not ashamed to 
 put on that spotless robe ; for if you are ashamed 
 to confess him before men, then will he have reason 
 
NO MIDDLE WAY 97 
 
 to be ashamed of you in that day when he comes 
 to judge the world. 
 
 It may be that you shrink from entering the 
 narrow path. The path of righteousness is nar- 
 row only in comparison with the broad, much 
 frequented path of sin. It is wide enough for all 
 to walk therein who will. It lies through peaceful 
 valleys, and beside still waters. The fruit of the 
 land is sweet to the taste, and refreshing to all 
 who eat of it. Jesus walks in the midst of it, and 
 his banner of love overshadows all. It may be 
 that you have already entered this narrow path, 
 but are so far from your guide that you are fre- 
 quently straying and losing your way. Keep 
 close to Jesus, and you can never lose the way. 
 
 To be for God, to have his protecting, fatherly 
 care, to have Omniscience and Omnipotence on 
 your side, and Infinite Love, how glorious ! When 
 Omniscience and Omnipotence were embodied in 
 humanity that heaven might touch the earth and 
 transfigure it, what glory and honor were be- 
 stowed upon us that we were counted worthy the 
 sacrifice which elicited the wonder and admiration 
 of all heaven, and which might well cause all 
 heaven and earth to bow in adoration before our 
 Lord, crying "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain 
 to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." 
 "Blessing and honor and glory, and power, be 
 unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the Lamb forever and ever !" 
 
XIV 
 ARE WE GROWING OLD? 
 
 We are apt to think when we reach forty-five 
 or fifty years that we are beginning to grow old. 
 That life is at its ebb; that whatever prepara- 
 tion for the fulfillment of life's duties we have neg- 
 lected, cannot be made now; that if we find our- 
 selves at this period of life uneducated, undevel- 
 oped, wanting in this or that acquirement or ac- 
 complishment, there is little use in trying to make 
 up for it now. We are too old. Life is too far 
 gone. We shall soon be growing gray and pass- 
 ing on into the shadows. But let us look back a 
 little. How many years of our life were devoted 
 to physical growth? Fourteen or fifteen. How 
 much of this time to mental development? Seven 
 or eight. How much time at the college or sem- 
 inary? Four or five, making eighteen or twenty 
 in all. If we were prepared to enter upon active 
 life at the early age of twenty, we have had only 
 twenty-five or thirty years of activity, and are 
 worn out at that; are getting past our prime! 
 The life-work of many does not begin until they 
 are thirty or forty, or even fifty or sixty ; and if 
 we are cherishing any morbid, unhealthy fancies 
 in regard to our waning powers, let them be put 
 
 98 
 
ARE WE GROWING OLD? 99 
 
 aside, and let us remember that we are now in our 
 prime ; and if we have already wasted so much of 
 our life that we are still unprepared for earnest 
 work, let us begin our preparation at once. 
 Thirty or forty years may be added to our life, 
 and is it not worth while to spend three, four, ten 
 years, if need be, in making ready for that 
 "added length of days," even at forty-five or 
 fifty? 
 
 Our blessed Lord spent thirty years in prepara- 
 tion for a ministry of three years. Should not 
 this be a lesson of patient perseverance and a re- 
 buke to our haste and superficialness in our own 
 education and development? It is unfortunate 
 that it should be necessary to begin any prepara- 
 tion late in life, for one does not then learn so 
 easily, and there are many more distractions and 
 cares ; but it is far better then than not at all. 
 What we need to do first is to rid ourselves of 
 the idea that we are too old to learn. The best 
 part of life is before us. Forty-five or fifty years 
 of experience have not been lost. We can look 
 upon life more calmly, and with a clearer vision. 
 We can weigh people and things more accurately, 
 and adjust them in their proper places as re- 
 gards ourselves. We are stronger in our man- 
 hood and womanhood, and stronger in faith and 
 hope. Many things have disappointed us, but 
 there is much left which cannot disappoint. 
 
 We have, perhaps, spent much time in the ac- 
 cumulation of property, in the care of children, 
 
100 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 in seeking to advance our own interests. Now 
 we may be able to give more time to others in 
 such ways as are presented to us, and if our 
 years for preparation have not been idly wasted, 
 how much good may every one of us accomplish ! 
 
 Forty years seem long when we think only of 
 our life here, especially to those who have ex- 
 perienced much sorrow and many changes ; but in 
 the thought of the eternal years, it is only a be- 
 ginning. When we realize that to the soul there 
 comes neither decay nor death, how can we ever 
 feel that we are growing old? When millions and 
 millions of years have passed, we shall still be 
 young. Why should we consider the years that 
 are gone as a large part of our lives? We are 
 babes still, cradle-rocked in the arms of God, 
 still needing his guiding hand that we may be 
 kept from falling, still loving the foolish things 
 of this world, and often thinking our own way 
 the best. Old at forty-five or fifty? Why, we 
 are just beginning to walk a little by catching 
 hold of objects nearest to us. Ours is but a 
 child's comprehension of the all that is begun here 
 to be perfected in heaven. 
 
 As regards this life, we may indeed feel that 
 the dignity of manhood and womanhood is ours 
 at fifty, that the season of life called youth is 
 wholly passed, that we stand at a point where 
 the past and the future are about evenly bal- 
 anced. If it be a grand thing to have lived so 
 long, it will be grander still to live thirty or forty 
 
ARE WE GROWING OLD?' 101 
 
 years longer. It would seem that after so much 
 experience the rest of life might count for much. 
 That there need be no more time wasted, no more 
 energy spent upon unworthy objects or pursuits, 
 no more feeding upon common fare, but that the 
 rest of life should be rich and full, with each day 
 showing a better fitness for heaven, until we are 
 bowed down with age, yet only for a little while 
 here, to wake some morning yonder to find our- 
 selves forever young. 
 
 Then take up your life-work just where you 
 have laid it down. You are still young and 
 strong for work and with the richness and fullness 
 of advancing years, there may come into your soul 
 joy and peace, the conscious reward of work well 
 done. Try to comprehend the all of life. Avoid 
 using it as if it were merely something to be en- 
 dured; as if the life-battle were only to gain a 
 sustenance for the body. Even to the humblest 
 laborer life should be something more than this. 
 It should be to him the threshold of heaven; all 
 his troubles and hardships only stepping-stones 
 thither. None needs be a mere laborer. Work 
 is not incompatible with the deepest spirituality, 
 the highest sensitiveness and refinement. To be 
 spiritual it is not necessary to retire within se- 
 cluded walls, or to lay aside the active pursuits of 
 life. Spiritual and temporal things need not 
 clash. As the body and spirit serve each other, 
 so the natural and spiritual go together in our 
 lives. We need not seek to separate them. We 
 
1C2 HERE -AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 need not think that spirituality is impossible when 
 days are filled with ordinary labor. 
 
 The Savior of the world, by leading the way, 
 made it possible for us to perform the humblest 
 duty, and at the same time keep the mind clear, 
 the heart pure, and the spirit calm. While look- 
 ing at the stars we need not stumble in our way. 
 While our hands are busy, the spirit may be free. 
 It is desirable to have our surroundings pleasant 
 and beautiful, to have the dwelling cheerful and 
 attractive with artistic decoration, many books, 
 and fine pictures. How much more desirable a 
 spiritual beauty, with resources for unfailing hap- 
 piness in a mind at rest. In one's self must be 
 the source of the spring which will keep fresh and 
 green all the pathway of life, and secure a per- 
 petual youth. What if the walls are bare and the 
 house desolate? In the soul there may be wealth 
 and beauty and j oy which will endure forever, and 
 without which all external adornment and appar- 
 ent joy will be as ashes. 
 
 Whatever your age may be, train yourself to 
 the highest culture. Begin at the right place 
 that you may lose neither time nor effort. Seek 
 first the kingdom of God. In the Lord's prayer, 
 the petitions, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be 
 done," come before all personal petitions. If all 
 had begun the Christian life in childhood, what an 
 advantage would have been gained ; but, alas ! how 
 many have waited until they were old ! To follow 
 the wrong path forty, fifty, seventy years, and 
 
ARE WE GROWING OLD? 103 
 
 only seek the kingdom in the last hours of life, or 
 not at all, how dreadful! 
 
 We count the years allotted to the life of the 
 body. The length of time allotted to the life of 
 the soul cannot be estimated. Let not the num- 
 ber of years weigh too heavily upon the spirit ; it 
 can never grow old, but it can grow in goodness 
 and knowledge, in love and purity, until it will 
 bear the weight of declining physical powers in 
 a sweet and heavenly manner, and second child- 
 hood will be but the renewal of the spirit's youth, 
 and an obedient answer to the suggestion of our 
 Savior, "Except ye become as little children ye 
 can in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 All of us call to mind examples of this in dear 
 old people whom we have known, when it seemed 
 that the older they grew, the more lovely they 
 became, until "Holiness to the Lord" was written 
 on their foreheads. 
 
 In the prime of life we stand upon an eminence 
 from which we can look both ways ; backward to 
 infancy, forward to old age. The long slope up 
 which we have climbed to reach this eminence is 
 shrouded in mist in the distance, and we cannot 
 see its beginnings clearly. Memory fails to re- 
 veal to us the lights and shadows of infancy ; but 
 where the mist ends, clear sunshine begins, with 
 only here and there a shadow as of a man's hand. 
 Later, the shadows are larger, and storms 
 threaten, but near us is a clear sky, and the clouds 
 are bright, as at noonday. Directly above there 
 
104 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 may be dark clouds, or a sky of heavenly blue; 
 but we may look calmly at either, for we are 
 nearing the slope on the other side, down which 
 we see cool avenues and refreshing streams ; and 
 though, farther on, we fancy that we see clouds 
 gathering, and deep, bridgeless rivers, we see be- 
 yond the river and the clouds, our Sun and 
 Shield; in the west where the sun sets, we see 
 heavenly glory, and through an open window in 
 the battlements of the sky, heaven's portals glis- 
 tening, and a beckoning hand, and hear a voice 
 saying, "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. 
 When thou passeth through the waters I will be 
 with thee, and through the rivers they shall not 
 overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire 
 thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame 
 kindle upon thee. Sing, Oh, heavens; and be joy- 
 ful, Oh, earth ; and break forth into singing, Oh, 
 mountains ; for the Lord has comforted his peo- 
 ple." 
 
 Surely we need not fear or be troubled as we 
 enter upon the sunset slopes of life. While our 
 bodies, after a few years, begin to lose their vigor, 
 our spirits may mount still higher, and gain vic- 
 tory after victory until all the battles are fought, 
 and we calmly wait our turn to pass into the 
 shadows ; then in a moment, to exchange the cross 
 for the crown, the decay of earth and the feeble- 
 ness of old age for the glory of immortality and 
 days of eternal youth. 
 
 Fifty years in the past; forty, perhaps, in the 
 
ARE WE GROWING OLD? 105 
 
 future. Is it not nearly certain that the last 
 years may be the best, may bring forth fruit 
 abundantly from the seed sown from childhood 
 until now? We value time too little. What may 
 one year do for us, or what may we do in one 
 year? Let us reach out hands of helpfulness, 
 reach out hands of love ; and whatever we find to 
 do, do it with our might. For when the Son of 
 Man cometh, shall he find the fields white to the 
 harvest, and we not reaping? Shall he find the 
 sheaves bound and ready, and we not gathering 
 them in? Whatever our age, shall he find us idly 
 waiting because we are growing old? 
 
XV 
 
 THE RISEN CHRIST 
 
 He is not here, but is risen. Luke 24:6. 
 
 That Jesus Christ was a man of singular beauty 
 and divine perfection, in every way surpassing 
 the children of men, all who study his life and 
 character must admit. That his position was 
 unique no one can deny. Never since the world 
 began had any one been in his place. Suspended, 
 as it were, between heaven and earth, between 
 ages past and ages to come, neither wholly hu- 
 man nor yet wholly divine, the incarnate Son of 
 God. Most wonderful and miraculous was his 
 birth, his life unlike that of any other man, and 
 his victory over death that of a God. We hold 
 sacred the days of his birth, his death and his 
 resurrection ; for are not the mysteries of these 
 days fraught with important meanings to us all? 
 
 Jesus did not come into this world to enact a 
 tragedy for our entertainment. The man whose 
 birth angels heralded, whose lowly birth-place was 
 pointed out to Wise Men seeking him, by a star, 
 to whom God spoke out of the heavens at his bap- 
 tism in the river Jordan, saying, "This is my be- 
 loved Son in whom I am well pleased," at whose 
 
 death upon the cross darkness covered the face of 
 
 106 
 
THE RISEN CHRIST 107 
 
 the earth and the veil of the temple was rent, 
 could have been no ordinary man. He who held 
 in control all the forces of nature, all unseen and 
 spiritual forces, who, according to the annals of 
 one brief chapter, cleansed the leper by his touch, 
 healed the servant of the centurion by a word, 
 cured Peter's wife's mother, cast out many devils, 
 healed all the sick who were brought to him, and 
 calmed the tempest by his "Peace be still!" was, 
 indeed, divinely human, and humanly divine. 
 Meekly, day by day, he bore his cross of pain and 
 sorrow, unappreciated, misunderstood, cursed and 
 spit upon, that we might escape eternal death; 
 that through his life, death and resurrection, we 
 might live through all the eternal years clothed 
 with the white robes of his own righteousness. 
 
 Nineteen centuries have run their course, and 
 still the bells ring out on Easter Day : 
 
 "Good news to all the world !" 
 
 "Good news to all !" 
 
 "The Lord is risen indeed!" "He is a-risen!" 
 This day the sepulcher has opened wide 
 Its doors to let the King of Glory pass ! 
 All hail ! Thou mighty, glorious One, all hail ! 
 We crown thee victor over sin and death, 
 And raise our voices high in songs of praise, 
 And Easter lilies bring into thy courts 
 Sweet emblems of thy purity and love, 
 And low in adoration bow before 
 Our risen Lord, our Prophet, Priest and King ! 
 
108 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 All nature awakes to new life at this glad time. 
 Birds sing carols, and flowers waft their fra- 
 grance toward the high heavens. The sun shines 
 more brightly, and the trees wave their branches 
 instinct with new life, whispering to one another, 
 "The Lord is risen !" The little rills far up the 
 hillside whisper it to the ferns and wind-flowers 
 just waking out of sleep. Every leaf and bud, 
 every blade of grass, is delighting in the fresh- 
 ness of its new life. 
 
 How our hearts are gladdened as we behold 
 everywhere this awakening; and as we realize just 
 what it all means, just what the risen Christ is 
 to us, what peace fills our hearts, even the peace 
 of our blessed Lord ! 
 
 O blessed peace of God ! Eye hath not seen, 
 Ear hath not heard, this wondrous, holy, thing! 
 More pure than air of morning bright, in May, 
 More sweet than perfume of the lovely rose, 
 Or of the lily white, fresh from his hand ! 
 Our loved ones gone now know that peace in full. 
 We, too, may know its fulness ; for our hearts 
 Through all the shining way to glory bright 
 Go softly with our best beloved to heaven! 
 
 This is a time for gentleness, for patience, for 
 quiet joy; a time to forgive all known and un- 
 known enemies, and to be more tender and true to 
 friends. It is also a time to follow the Lord from 
 the manger to the resurrection, and to roll off our 
 burdens at his feet, that we may have light hearts 
 
THE RISEN CHRIST 109 
 
 and bright faces and words of cheer for those 
 who cannot see him through their sins or through 
 their tears. 
 
 From this day let each one try to live as he 
 lived, refusing to carry needless burdens, and 
 making each day count much by appreciating its 
 blessings, and using to best purpose its gifts. 
 May the Easter bells ring out all that is unholy 
 in the home, and ring in joy and peace which 
 shall endure throughout the year. This is a time 
 to make every one happy, and to give simple gifts 
 in commemoration of the greatest gift of God to 
 us in his dear Son. A time to hallow his name, 
 and let his kingdom come, and his will be done 
 in our hearts as it is done in heaven. For is not 
 our Lord indeed risen that we may rise from the 
 grave of dead hopes, of disappointments, of trials, 
 of sins ? And is he not our Wonderful, our Coun- 
 selor, our Prince of Peace? 
 
 He is not a dead Christ. He does not mock us 
 with promises he cannot or will not fulfill. Of the 
 earth earthy, and knowing our needs, of heaven 
 heavenly, and knowing his own power, he carries 
 on his heart our burdens that we may have rest, 
 and gives us his peace that we may not be 
 troubled or afraid, if we go to him if we go! 
 What does the resurrection of the Christ teach us 
 but that for all there will be a resurrection into 
 new life? Old things will pass away, and we shall 
 enter upon a more advanced stage of existence of 
 which this life is only the threshold. It will not 
 
110 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 be to fold our wings and sit and play upon harps 
 and viols throughout eternity, but to be co- 
 workers with God in all that he finds to do for 
 his great family in this world, and, perhaps, in 
 other worlds. 
 
 A God who can make anything so beautiful as 
 the Easter Lily and cause it to reproduce its own 
 kind year after year, generation after generation, 
 with no diminishing of beauty or sweet fragrance 
 will take care of us and our loved ones who fell 
 asleep one day to wake in heaven. He will keep 
 them for us, and in his presence they will grow 
 more and more into his likeness, and we shall some- 
 time walk with them the streets of gold and 
 breathe the heavenly air of the New Jerusalem, 
 the city that is builded without hands, the founda- 
 tions of which are of all manner of precious 
 stones ; the first foundation is j asper, the second 
 sapphire, the third a chalcedony, the last an ame- 
 thyst! 
 
XVI 
 THE PARTING OF THE WAY 
 
 At every parting of the way, look carefully for 
 the sign of the cross ; and do not let your eyes be- 
 come so dazed by the shining of the showy, gilded 
 sign-board pointing the other way, that you do 
 not see the words upon the cross written in letters 
 of blood, "THIS WAY, MY CHILD." 
 
 When you are greatly perplexed, and in doubt 
 what to do, you are at a cross-road, and it is of 
 the utmost importance what way you take, for 
 the termination of the two ways may be vastly 
 remote from each other, and one of them must, of 
 necessity, lead you entirely away from the place 
 for which you set out. 
 
 There are many paths which cross each other, 
 so small that you think you do not need direction, 
 that it makes no difference which one you take. 
 It does make much difference. Many foot-paths 
 lead into highways, and some that seem straight 
 in the beginning are crooked, and you waste time 
 in taking them, even if they come out right at 
 last. Time is short, and you need to follow the 
 straight and unobstructed paths to worthy goals. 
 Even at the outset, there is no time to lose ; and 
 
 at twenty, thirty, forty years, surely there is none. 
 Ill 
 
112 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 You sometimes think that you would like to go 
 back and start again. How much better to have 
 gone rightly from the beginning, so as to waste 
 no time in retracing your steps. And then, the 
 course of the years is ever onward; we cannot re- 
 trace our steps. . 
 
 Sometimes you think there is some mistake, be- 
 cause your path is narrow and obscure, leading 
 through unfrequented regions. If you are follow- 
 ing the path marked out by the sign of the cross, 
 do not doubt, do not be discouraged. You know 
 not how soon or how suddenly it may emerge into 
 the broad highway, or into the golden streets of 
 heaven. The cross-roads and diverging paths in 
 life are many. We are often compelled to ask, 
 "Which is the right way?" Dare to ask it of 
 no one but Jesus Christ. His answer will always 
 be, "The way of the cross." 
 
 There are paths which look pleasant and safe, 
 wherein we see many walking, into which we are 
 tempted to enter. Can we place a cross at the 
 entrance to these paths without desecrating it? 
 Can we walk in them without grieving our Lord? 
 
 To what are we asking the way? To wealth, 
 to honor, to fame? The cross leads not to these. 
 It points in the way he trod. Are you able to 
 follow in the thorny, desolate way, rejected of 
 men, crucified as to your own will, then go by the 
 sign of the cross. He endured all this, and more, 
 for you, and is it not a small matter for you to 
 give your life to him that he may use it as he 
 
THE PARTING OF THE WAY 113 
 
 wills? While one side of the cross is dyed in 
 blood, the other side is illuminated and emits rays 
 of light which pierce far into the unknown path 
 before us, revealing Jesus walking as our guide; 
 and if in moments of discouragement we think 
 some other way might lead more smoothly on to 
 the same goal, we have only to listen quietly to 
 hear the gentle voice, "This is the way, my child !" 
 
 The cross points to everything pure and beauti- 
 ful. The other sign-board points to- selfishness, 
 to sin, and to a final dwarfing of the soul to 
 minute proportions, so that God would hardly 
 recognize it as the work of his hands. The cross 
 here points to the crown in heaven, to golden 
 harps, to everlasting glory; the other sign-board 
 to chains, to final condemnation, to endless re- 
 morse. 
 
 Do not think that the cross points one way to 
 all. It turns upon the pivot of God's love, and 
 points in different ways, according to his will. 
 The way to some is over a hill Difficulty, or 
 through sloughs of despondency, or through 
 shadowy valleys. But the Guide is always at 
 hand, to assist at need. To some there are lions 
 in the way, but they need not fear. God will send 
 an angel to shut the lions' mouths. 
 
 When we come to diverging paths, one may 
 seem smooth and safe, the other rough and dan- 
 gerous. It is quite natural to choose the smooth 
 way ; but if the cross points to the dangerous 
 path, enter it fearlessly. There is no danger too 
 
114 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 great to encounter for his sake who bore the 
 cross, and often, things that frighten us are only 
 lions chained. 
 
 When hard questions perplex, look carefully to 
 see which way the cross points. When tempted 
 to follow broad and inviting paths, let us look for 
 the cross. When we are weary and discouraged, 
 the cross points to rest after toil. When we are 
 sin-burdened, it points to the Lamb of God, our 
 sacrifice. When we are lonely, it points to Jesus, 
 our best friend. When we mourn, it points to 
 him, our comforter. 
 
 "THIS WAY, MY CHILD." Ever near us, placing 
 at every parting of the way his cross, is our Re- 
 deemer, who died that we might live forever, re- 
 deemed, glorified, a great company which no man 
 can number around the throne, forever blessed, 
 with crosses all left behind, and crowns resplen- 
 dent with jewels, and the glory of God and his 
 Son filling all. The cross at the beginning of the 
 way, and at many turning-points, and at the end 
 the crown of glory for all who forsake not the 
 way of the cross! 
 
 Make a wise choice at the parting of the way ! 
 
XVII 
 WORDS OF CHEER FOR THE AGED 
 
 Cast me not off" in the time of old age; forsake me not 
 when my strength faileth. Psalm 71:9. 
 
 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar 
 hairs will I carry you. I have made and I will bear; even 
 I will carry you and will deliver you. Isaiah 46:4. 
 
 They shall still bring forth fruit in old agePs&lm 92:14. 
 
 When we are young, everything wears a roseate 
 hue. Nothing daunts us. We feel, in the glow 
 of hope and in the strength of young manhood 
 and young womanhood, that no obstacles are too 
 great to overcome. That success lies before us; 
 that there is no such word as fail. But in the 
 deepening shadows, when the eye begins to grow 
 dim and the step to falter, when we cannot hear 
 quite so well as formerly and all the senses are 
 less acute, and we begin to stoop and to lean more 
 heavily upon the proffered arm of a dear friend, 
 perhaps our courage fails a little and things do 
 not look so bright to us. We dread approaching 
 infirmity and possible helplessness, and pray most 
 fervently that God will not cast us off in old age 
 or forsake us when our strength fails ; and the 
 answer quickly comes ; "Even to hoar hairs will I 
 carry you and will deliver you." 
 
 Oh, how sweet this precious promise of our 
 
 115 
 
116 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Lord ! Will carry you ! As the mother carries 
 her child, too weak to walk alone, so the Lord 
 will carry you, my good friend, and will deliver you 
 from every evil thing. Rest in his arms and fear 
 not. Over hills and through valleys, across deep 
 ravines, up steep precipices, over dark and im- 
 penetrable chasms he will bear you safe to the 
 "land of the leal." 
 
 They say that you are growing old because 
 your hair is silvered, and there are crow's feet on 
 your forehead and your step is not so firm and 
 elastic as before. But they are mistaken. That 
 is not you. The brow is wrinkled, but the brow 
 is not you. It is the body only which is growing 
 old, the building in which you have lived so long 
 that it is tumbling down around you ; but you, 
 yourself, are young, younger than you ever were 
 before, nearer to eternal youth ! When you go 
 out from this old building, you will be like the 
 butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, beautiful, 
 young, glorified, shining, all-glorious in the like- 
 ness of Christ, if you are one of the redeemed. 
 
 What if there be clouds? Without clouds 
 there can be no sunset glory ; and a morning with- 
 out clouds will soon dawn upon you. Then do not 
 feel sad because your body is growing old. Your 
 spirit is young, and your last days may be your 
 best days while you are waiting on the border- 
 land for the coming of his feet who will bear you 
 across the river, into the New Jerusalem ! How 
 blessed! Work all done, victories all won, with 
 
CHEER FOR THE AGED 117 
 
 sins all washed away, with hearts at peace with 
 God and man, resting in the arms of Love, eter- 
 nally young, waiting to behold the King in his 
 glory ! 
 
 "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. 
 They shall bring forth fruit in old age." The 
 palm tree has a long life. If pressed downwards 
 by heavy weights it will spring back into its natu- 
 ral shape on the weights being removed. The 
 more it is oppressed the more it flourishes. The 
 older it is, the stronger and broader is the top. 
 Palm trees produce from the same root a number 
 of shoots, which form, by spreading, a kind of 
 forest. To flourish like the palm tree is to be 
 beautiful in Christ's beauty, graceful in his grace 
 and useful without limitations, bearing fruit even 
 in old age ; to have the resiliency of the palm tree 
 when old age weighs heavily, or misfortunes over- 
 take us ; to see to it that the older we grow, the 
 greater will be our influence for good. 
 
 "The righteous shall flourish like the palm 
 tree." Claim this promise for yourself, dear 
 friend, and take comfort and courage. As one 
 little root or seed will, after a time, produce a 
 forest, so the smallest deed done in Christ's name, 
 whether we are young or old, will grow, and grow 
 throughout the ages ! 
 
 Turn your faces away from the cold and frozen 
 North, and face the sunny South. Look at the 
 bright things of life; the smiles of little children, 
 the joy of the lover and the maiden, the greater 
 
118 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 j oy of the father and mother beholding their first- 
 born child. Take comfort in your children and 
 your grandchildren. Your smile is a benediction 
 to them. Although you may not always realize 
 it, you hold a warm place in their hearts which no 
 one else can fill. 
 
 If you have none upon whom to smile, no one 
 to receive your benediction, then smile at your 
 Lord, whose love and sympathy are even more 
 precious than that of the dearest child. Put 
 away gloom from your life. Are not roses and 
 lilies blooming all about you? Open your eyes to 
 see them. Roses have thorns? Do not thorns 
 also have roses? 
 
 Perhaps you are feeble and lame; perhaps un- 
 able to walk. Think of Jess in "A Window in 
 Thrums." For more than twenty years she had 
 not been able to go so far as the door. With her 
 husband or daughter to lean upon, and her hand 
 clutching her staff, twice a day, when she was 
 strong, she took the journey between her bed and 
 the window where stood her chair. Thinking of 
 Samuel Fletcher's case made her awful thankful 
 for the lenient way the Lord had always dealt 
 with her; for Samuel could not move out of his 
 chair, and she could come and go between hers 
 and her bed. "Mebbe," she would say, "ye think 
 I'm no better off than Samuel, but that's a ter- 
 rible mistake. What a glory it would have been 
 to him if he could have gone from one end o' the 
 kitchen to the ither! Aye, I'm sure o' that!" 
 
CHEER FOR THE AGED 119 
 
 Jess was facing the sunny South and smiling into 
 the face of her Lord. 
 
 Growing old? Aye, yes, it must be so. That 
 is, the body fails. Through sympathy, the mind 
 may fail too ; but this is only for a season. We 
 cannot hold up the days or the years. They ad- 
 vance steadily, one by one, until, almost before 
 we know it, we count sixty, seventy, perhaps 
 eighty years. The days of our youth are almost 
 lost in the dim past, and the heavenly shores 
 seem so near that we can almost hear the music, 
 and see the angelic throng before the throne sing- 
 ing a new song "Thou art worthy to take the 
 book and to open the seals thereof ; for thou wast 
 slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, 
 out of every kindred and tongue and people, and 
 nation. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
 receive power, and riches, and wisdom and 
 strength, and honor, and glory and blessing. 
 Blessing, and honor, and glory and power, be unto 
 him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb forever and ever !" 
 
 We do grow old. It cannot be helped ; and we 
 are set aside, in a way, to make room for our 
 sons and daughters ; and we can never again oc- 
 cupy our old places, in the world, or in our homes. 
 Well, and what then? Then, if we are wise, we 
 may occupy an especial place of honor in the 
 world, and in the home. Children and grandchil- 
 dren may love and reverence us, and strive to 
 make our failing powers less irksome to us. By 
 
120 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 our cheerfulness and hopefulness, we may add to 
 the happiness of the family life. 
 
 The years may weigh heavily, but it is only for 
 a little while. Beyond the smiling and the weep- 
 ing, there is rest and peace. Close, close under 
 the shadow of the Almighty, you are protected. 
 You are loved with an infinite love, and upheld 
 day and night by the Everlasting Arms! God 
 holds you safe for the blessed awakening into full 
 vigor, to be eternally young! Certainly it is 
 desperately lonely for you, if your husband or 
 your wife has gone on before you, or if you have 
 never had the most precious earthly blessing, a 
 loving husband or a devoted wife; but there are 
 compensations. Try to find them. They may 
 be nearer at hand than you think. At all events 
 do not complain. Count your daily blessings. 
 Review the pleasant hours of your past life. 
 Bury the sorrows deep in God's love. 
 
 Look forward! You cannot change the past, 
 and you waste time and strength worrying about 
 it. Grow sweeter every day. There is no place 
 for grumblers in this world or in any other world. 
 Let it be said of you after you are called home, 
 "My friend grew old gracefully." 
 
 We feel hurt, perhaps, the first time we hear 
 some one calling us old; not so much because of 
 the fact that we are old, as because of the sur- 
 prise to us who had not thought of it. When the 
 heart is young, we do not realize how plainly the 
 marks of age are seen by others. But what does 
 
CHEER FOR THE AGED 
 
 it matter whether we are old or young, if we are 
 walking in the light of Christ's favor, in the bright 
 and shining light of his countenance to whom a 
 thousand years are as one day ! Blessed hour 
 when the summons comes to leave this world. 
 Blessed, blessed hour! God grant that you, my 
 friend, and I, and all of us may bravely and trust- 
 fully take the last step away from the sin and 
 pain and weariness of this world into the fullness 
 of the glory awaiting every one who is redeemed 
 by the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 It is true that it is not altogether pleasant to 
 be old and past usefulness, to be set in the chim- 
 ney-corner, or tucked away in a room by our- 
 selves, while others perform the duties which were 
 once our delight; but, dear heart, we are never 
 past usefulness. By your patience and sweetness 
 you may still do good. By your firm and un- 
 wavering trust in God you may lead others to 
 trust in him. By your kindly spoken words you 
 may influence others to speak kindly. To the 
 last breath you may be useful, and put hands of 
 love and helpfulness underneath some weak or 
 erring one, and lift him into the strength of God. 
 Just to sit quietly in your chair with a smile for 
 every one is much, very much to do for God and 
 good. 
 
 So long as life lasts, an influence is going out 
 from us for good or evil; and even after we are 
 dead, the peaceful calm upon our faces may speak 
 to the living of a saintly life and a triumphant 
 
122 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 death; and the good or evil we have done will 
 surely live after us, bearing fruit in ever increas- 
 ing measure. 
 
 It is said that the young look forward, and 
 the old look backward. In the years that are 
 gone there has been an intermingling of the bit- 
 ter and the sweet. Many remembrances bring 
 tears to the eyes and pain to the heart ; but there 
 is reason for rejoicing while reviewing the bright 
 side ; the good deeds ; the life of daily self-abnega- 
 tion for those we loved; the innumerable chari- 
 ties of words or deeds ; the home where love 
 reigned ; the life of the Crucified One, which is, in 
 some measure at least, the life of all who love him. 
 
 Remember that the hoary head is a crown of 
 glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. 
 A crown of glory! How much more precious in 
 the sight of God and the angels than the priceless 
 diadems of Kings and Queens ! Oh, how blessed ! 
 As we approach nearer, ever nearer to the rest 
 that remaineth to the people of God, we may wear 
 a crown of glory! 
 
 Blessed saints who are thus glorified and await- 
 ing the divine call, "Come up hither!" Blessed 
 saints, all your sins washed away, clad in Christ's 
 righteousness, peace be unto you ! May the gates 
 of heaven open wide for you, and hosts of angels 
 and beloved ones greet you with loud hosannas to 
 the Lamb that was slain that you might be re- 
 deemed, and wear a crown of glory throughout 
 the eternal ages ! 
 
XVIII 
 FAR FROM HOME 
 
 Far, far away from home, out in the bitter 
 cold and storms of life are you who never tell the 
 story of the birth of Bethlehem's Holy Child to 
 your own babes. The Christmas bells and Easter 
 chimes fall on your ears with no response of joy 
 within your heart. You heed no story of the Son 
 of God Incarnate, The Wonderful, The Counselor, 
 The Prince of Peace. The light of all the world 
 shines not for you. 
 
 Out in the bitter cold, you do not know the 
 warmth within the palace of the Everlasting King. 
 You never at the banquet rare within his courts 
 have sat as guest. You, in the bitter storm of 
 life, are buffeted and tossed about without a 
 guide, and you will, soon or late, be dashed upon 
 the hidden rocks, and wounded, bruised, cry out 
 in vain to all the false lights set along the shore. 
 In vain you'll shout aloud to all the phantoms and 
 delusions you have followed from your youth till 
 now. 
 
 You're very far from home, for you reject the 
 Holy One and love him not. Sharp thorns you 
 pluck to pierce anew his brow aglow with love, 
 with heavenly patience and with grace most rare. 
 
 Ofttimes you're sick and faint at heart, and 
 123 
 
HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 weary of the long and toilsome way. You gladly 
 would give up the useless strife, the reaching after 
 something just beyond in vain, or if obtained, too 
 late for help or comfort; for the house you've 
 built, the fame you've gained, the gold, all lose 
 their fancied worth when once they're yours. 
 E'en love is bitter-sweet, not always kind, and 
 all your joys are followed fast by dreary shadows 
 which appall the heart. 
 
 A light shines from the windows of a palace 
 warm and bright, wherein Love sits and waits for 
 you to come, calling in tender tones, "Come home, 
 thou tempest-tossed and weary one, come home!" 
 Will you not run to him, with feet made fleet by 
 love, and look into his face, and sit beside him as 
 his guest, and learn to walk with him through all 
 the thorny path that leads to heaven? And 
 walking thus with him, your face will shine with 
 love, and round your head a halo bright will rest, 
 and bright and brighter grow unto that perfect 
 day when you shall see him on the heavenly 
 throne, the King of kings. 
 
 Within your hand you hold a rose of beauty 
 rare and fragrance sweet. God gave minutest 
 care to this fair flower, which blooms perhaps but 
 once a year, and lives but a few days. You love, 
 admire, caress as if it were a thing of life this 
 rose so heavenly beautiful. Of beauty marvelous 
 are all the flowers with which the earth is bright- 
 ened everywhere, in forests wild, on mountain 
 height, in lonely glen, the smiles of Nature, 
 showing gladness in her own sweet life. God 
 
FAR FROM HOME 125 
 
 cares for all these lovely flowers, and clothes them 
 all in garments far more beautiful than those of 
 Solomon, arrayed in kingly robes. Will he not 
 care for you much more than for all these? 
 
 Even Nature's precious things are torn and 
 rent and beaten to the earth by storms, and pass 
 away as do our joys. Nothing endures. The 
 earth itself will pass away ; and creatures born 
 again into the image of the Living God, into the 
 beauty of our King, we shall forget our troubles 
 here, our tears, in all the holy beauty of the Land 
 of Love. 'Tis only for a few short years that 
 beauty and deformity, that sunshine, shadow, 
 sweet and bitter, fierce and raging storms must 
 fill our days; then storm and shadow, bitterness, 
 deformity, will pass away, and sunshine, sweet- 
 ness, beauty rare will take their place, and we 
 shall dwell forever in the presence of our King. 
 Then, and then alone, we'll know the reason for 
 the buffeting and tossing to and fro here on the 
 earth, and why the paths our Heavenly Father 
 leads us in are often just the opposite we fain 
 would choose ourselves. 
 
 If you could know just what it is to live for- 
 evermore! If you could only realize that this 
 short life is only a beginning of eternity! Still 
 in your infancy, you need the cradle of Christ's 
 love in which to rock yourself to quietness and 
 peace. You only know the alphabet, and stam- 
 mer in your speech, and sigh, and cry, and long 
 for rest and home I Beyond this life what heights 
 of knowledge we shall reach, what wondrous Ian- 
 
126 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 guage we shall speak, and sigh and cry no more, 
 but rest in peace in our loved home. Then we 
 shall see our Jesus face to face, and walk and talk 
 with him through all the eternal years. 
 
 You cannot feel the Savior's love surrounding 
 you? You cannot think he died for you? Why 
 did he leave his Father's home on high to work and 
 suffer, to be scorned and beaten, spit upon and 
 cursed, at last to die a cruel death upon the cross, 
 if love to you, to me, to all the human race did 
 not his heart to pity move, and make him wish 
 to lift us up to his high heaven to dwell with him 
 through all eternity? Can you reject the offer 
 of such love from him, the Highest One? Will 
 you still stay away from home and love divine? 
 Oh, be not so unwise! Answer his loving call, 
 "Come unto me!" And go to him, and falling at 
 his feet let his dear hands upon you rest in bless- 
 ing and forgiveness too ; and he will bid you rise, 
 and call you his beloved, and he will care for you 
 through all the years of this sad life, and 
 through all other life beyond this world. Sin- 
 stained, and sick, and blind though you may be, 
 stay not away. He came to call the sinners, not 
 the righteous ones, to follow him. He will for- 
 give and heal you, make you see, and he will wash 
 you in his blood and make you pure, and you will 
 wear his white robes and be glad. 
 
 Come, weary ones, come home, come home! 
 Come one and all and drink of life the waters pure 
 and free, for all who will may come! 
 
XIX 
 
 THE GOOD FIGHT 
 
 Life is a continual fight. Even the little child 
 must be taught to fight selfishness, covetousness, 
 untruthfulness, quick temper, and all other sins 
 in the unregenerate heart. Evil sits over against 
 the good in our lives, and there must be strife 
 for the mastery. Outside ourselves, the battle- 
 field is broad, the enemy powerful, and we may 
 well shrink from an encounter. We may love 
 peace, and hate strife, but we cannot refuse to 
 enter the lists when challenged, without dishonor. 
 Indeed, there can be no refusal, for the invisible 
 power which controls our destiny, compels us to 
 take up the gauntlet, or yield ourselves van- 
 quished. We must, at least, defend ourselves 
 against our enemies who are aggressive and 
 powerful, and ever on the watch to gain a victory 
 over us. 
 
 Our most troublesome foes are those that try 
 to gain entrance into our hearts ; and we need to 
 set a watch, day and night, on the outposts of our 
 citadel, lest they creep in while we are inattentive, 
 or while we are sleeping. Evil is on every hand, 
 and we must either overcome it, or be overcome by 
 
 it; and no victory is final unless good follows so 
 
 127 
 
128 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 closely in the steps of the retreating evil, that the 
 evil cannot retrace its steps. Where good is, evil 
 cannot abide. Where God reigns supreme, the 
 devil (the do-evil) flees away. 
 
 We are created not for our own ease and pleas- 
 ure, but for strife, for resistance, for aggressive 
 warfare against all forms of evil ; and in the home, 
 in society, on the street, or on the Ex- 
 change, our touch may be like the Divine One, 
 casting out evil and substituting good <by loving 
 helpfulness, if only by a word, a look, a smile, or 
 a warning. 
 
 If we make self the center around which all 
 things circle, if we take and never give, if we shut 
 our eyes to the progress of evil and make no ad- 
 vance into the enemy's territory, if we do not try 
 to overcome the evil by tongue or pen, or by 
 active personal effort, what excuse can we make 
 for neglected opportunities? Shown by the 
 search-light cast upon it from God's throne, how 
 will such a life appear? 
 
 The power of the Almighty God is the only 
 power of avail in the hand-to-hand combat with 
 evil. His armor is the only protection against 
 the darts of the enemy. Then put on the girdle 
 of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the 
 sandals of peace, the helmet of salvation, the 
 sword of the Spirit the whole armor of God. 
 Thus protected, you will go forth to battle, and 
 return in triumph to lay your laurels at the feet 
 of Jesus, your great Captain, through whose 
 
THE GOOD FIGHT 129 
 
 strength and in whose name you have overcome. 
 Then will he clothe you in white raiment, and he 
 will feed you with hidden manna, and with fruit 
 from the tree of life. He will give you power 
 over nations, and make of you a pillar in his 
 Father's temple. Then God will be your God, 
 and you will be his son and inherit all things ! 
 Wonderful to contemplate, and how much more 
 wonderful to realize! Thus is evil in our hearts 
 overcome by good, by the entering in of right- 
 eousness and peace ! 
 
 There are those who say that evil exists only 
 in the imagination; that there is no such thing 
 as sin or disease, and that even death itself may 
 be overcome by a mental process ! How delight- 
 ful it would be to overcome all the ills to which 
 flesh and spirit are heirs, by elevated thoughts ! 
 If we could only believe that we are well when 
 we are sick, that we have no pain when we are 
 suffering tortures, that the thing in our hearts 
 which men and God call sin is not there after all, 
 we could take off our armor, and sit down in 
 peace and quietness. To most, the pain and sin 
 are too real to admit of such hallucinations, and 
 we must deal with hard facts. 
 
 God does not ignore or condone evil. While 
 he loves the sinner, he hates sin, and cannot look 
 upon it with the least degree of allowance. He is 
 on the side of right. He will not keep his anger 
 forever. Retribution marches close upon the 
 steps of the evildoer. "And behold, at eventide 
 
130 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 trouble, and before the morning he is not. This 
 is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot 
 of them that rob us." Could you look into the 
 mysteries and behold the secret embassies sent 
 from the high heavens to aid you, with what 
 strength and courage you would go to the very 
 front of the battle ! In the old times, the victory 
 was not to the strong, nor to the greater num- 
 bers, but to those who trusted in Jehovah while 
 obeying his commands. 
 
 In combating vice, something good must drive 
 out the evil. Find a tender spot in the heart of 
 the bad man, or the bad woman; the hidden, ob- 
 scured, apparently extinguished spark of good- 
 ness. Fan it into life by kindness, by genuine 
 interest, by the pitying love like that which Jesus 
 bestows upon even the chief of sinners. Forget 
 your clean hands and unsoiled garments, and fear 
 not to touch the unclean with tender pity and 
 brotherly love. Fear not. Your Lord has 
 walked in the same path. Follow him. Through 
 his life of suffering and good deeds, through his 
 patient forgiveness and uplifting of the chief of 
 sinners, into the garden of Gethsemane, even unto 
 death, let us follow, follow, whither he leads ! 
 Here the cross, but there the crown! Here the 
 fierce combat, there the victory, with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory ! 
 
 In reviewing our lives we remember many bat- 
 tles, some with joy, and others with sorrow un- 
 speakable. When we were victorious, we had 
 
THE GOOD FIGHT 131 
 
 reason for rejoicing; when we were defeated, what 
 but humiliation and remorse could follow our de- 
 feat? 
 
 One evening a man was invited by a friend to 
 go to a prayer-meeting, and by another to go to 
 a gambling house. After a few qualms of con- 
 science, he chose the latter. He won hundreds of 
 dollars from his opponent, who had staked his all. 
 Conscience said to him, "Give it back! Give it 
 back ! It is not yours. You have given nothing 
 in return for it. You have not earned it legiti- 
 mately. Give it back!" The devil whispered, 
 "Keep it! Keep it! You won it honestly. By 
 the rules of the game, it is yours. Keep it!" 
 The man made but a weak fight, and the devil 
 won! The loss of all he had drove his opponent 
 to the drink, and sent him headlong to destruc- 
 tion. Oh, what remorse in reviewing such a bat- 
 tle-field. 
 
 Another man, in reviewing his life, may say, "On 
 that battle-field I had a hard fight with the jug. 
 I filled it with the choicest liquor, carried it out 
 into the field back of my house, and set it upon a 
 rock. Then I said to it, 'You or I must conquer, 
 once for all !' I was almost maddened with thirst 
 for the accursed thing, and I ran to it again and 
 again, and caught it to my breast as a loved 
 friend. Then I took out the cork and smelled it ; 
 then put it down, crying out in agony, 'Oh, God ! 
 Now, or never!' I threw myself on the ground, 
 and, in my desperation, tore up the earth with my 
 
1SS HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 hands. Then I prayed as never before, 'Help, 
 Lord! Help, Lord! Oh, Lord, do help, I beseech 
 thee ! Just this once, come to me, Lord ! Do 
 come!' And he came, glory be to his name, and 
 put his arms around me, and lifted me from the 
 ground, and together, hand in hand, and step with 
 step, we went to the old jug, and lifting it, 
 smashed it on the rock, shouting 'Victory! Vic- 
 tory !' while we watched the vile stuff, the accursed 
 stuff, flow around our feet. Then I kneeled and 
 gave myself, soul and body, to the Lord. He put 
 his hands upon my head and blessed me ; then tak- 
 ing my hands in his, he lifted me and pressed me 
 to his great heart of love. So the compact was 
 sealed ; and never once since that hour have I had 
 any desire for intoxicating drinks, or for any 
 other evil thing." This was a famous victory, 
 won by the Captain of our Salvation, who ever 
 stands ready to help all who call upon him in 
 their weakness, and distress. In the story of this 
 man, tempted beyond what he was able to bear 
 alone, we have the story of many a poor drunk- 
 ard who has been saved at the Savior's feet. 
 
 Another man was tempted, through envy or 
 jealousy, to steal a good name. The devil said, 
 "Do it! Do it! That man thinks too much of 
 himself. He is so pious ! Lower his self-respect ! 
 Take down his pride! Smirch his good name! 
 Set the ball rolling, and fifty others will give it 
 a kick, to keep it rolling with ever increasing im- 
 petus, and when it strikes him, where will be your 
 
THE GOOD FIGHT 133 
 
 fine Christian and highly esteemed citizen?" The 
 still small voice said, "Do it not! He is a good 
 man." But envy and jealousy are the devil's 
 allies. "Get thou behind me, Satan," if said at 
 all, it was in so feeble a voice that Satan pre- 
 tended not to hear, and an innocent man was 
 ruined ; his good name was stolen. This thief sold 
 himself more and more to the devil, until "Lost, 
 lost, forever lost !" were his last words before 
 stepping out into the great unknown ! "De- 
 feated, defeated with a loss great and terrible, 
 even the loss of the soul itself " must be written 
 on his battlefield! 
 
 "In 1875, Mr. Moody was preaching in St. Louis, 
 and the Globe-Democrat was reporting his sermons. 
 Valentine Burke had served twenty years or more in 
 prison, and was a hard case to deal with. One day 
 some one threw a Globe-Democrat into his cell, and 
 the first thing that caught his eye was this big head- 
 line: 'How the Jailer at Philippi Got Caught.' It 
 was just what Burke wanted, and he sat down with a 
 chuckle to read the story of the jailer's discomfiture. 
 
 " Thilippi,' he said; 'that's way up in Illinois. 
 I've been in that town/ Then he began to read. 
 'What rot is this?' he asked. "Taul and Silas A 
 great earthquake; what must I do to be saved?" Has 
 the Globe-Democrat got to printing such stuff?' 
 Burke threw it down with an oath, and walked 
 about his cell like a caged lion. By and by he took 
 up the paper and read its strange story. It was then 
 that something, from whence he did not know, came 
 
134 HERE AND THERE A LEAP 
 
 into the burglar's heart, and cut it to the quick. 
 Again and again, he read the sermon through. 'What 
 does it all mean?' he began asking. 'Twenty years 
 and more I have been burglar and jailbird, but I 
 never felt like this. What is it to be saved, anyway? 
 I've lived a dog's life, and I'm getting tired of it. If 
 there is such a God as that preacher tells about, I 
 believe I'll find it out, if it kills me to do it.' 
 
 "He found it out, by the grace of God. Away 
 towards midnight, after hours of bitter remorse over 
 his wasted life, after a hard fight with the devil, and 
 lonely and broken prayers, he learned that there is 
 a God who is able and willing to blot out the darkest 
 and bloodiest record at a single stroke. Then he 
 waited for day, laughing and crying by turns. Next 
 morning, when the guard came around, Burke had a 
 pleasant word for him. When the sheriff came, 
 Burke greeted him as a friend, and told him how he 
 had found God after reading Moody's sermon. 
 
 " 'Jim,' said the sheriff to the guard, 'you better 
 keep an eye on Burke. He's playing the pious dodge, 
 and the first chance he gets he'll be out of here/ In 
 a few weeks Burke came to trial, but in this instance 
 the case failed, and he was released. Friendless, an 
 ex-burglar in a big city, known as a daring criminal, 
 he had a hard time for months of shame and sorrow. 
 But he was as brave a Christian as he had been a 
 burglar, and he struggled on. Seeing that his sin- 
 blurred features were against him, he asked the Lord 
 if he wouldn't make him a better looking man, so 
 that he could get an honest job. 
 
 "A year from that time Mr. Moody met him in 
 Chicago, and said he was as fine looking a man as 
 
THE GOOD FIGHT 135 
 
 he knew. Afterward the St. Louis sheriff made him 
 his deputy, and several years later, when Mr. Moody 
 was passing through that city, he stopped off for an 
 hour to see Burke. He found him in a room in the 
 court-house, serving as trusted guard over $60,000 
 worth of diamonds. 
 
 " 'Mr. Moody,' he said, 'see what the grace of God 
 can do for a burglar ! Look at this ! The sheriff 
 picked me out of his force to guard it!' Then he 
 cried like a child, as he held up the glittering gems 
 for Mr. Moody to see. 
 
 "Many were converted through Burke, and when he 
 died the rich and the poor, the good and the bad at- 
 tended his funeral in great numbers; and the big 
 men of the city could not say enough over the coffin 
 of Valentine Burke." 
 
 He had fought a great and good fight, and had 
 laid hold on eternal life. Not all battles are of 
 the same nature as that of the gambler, the 
 drunkard, the slanderer, or the burglar; but all 
 are of great importance, and victory should crown 
 each one. There is the hand-to-hand fight with 
 poverty, with misfortune, with affliction, with 
 things too numerous to mention. In all battles, 
 be they great or small, we may be more than con- 
 querors through him that loved us and gave him- 
 self for us. 
 
 It is great and glorious to fight for our coun- 
 try, to protect our flag, to keep inviolate the lib- 
 erty for which our forefathers suffered and died. 
 It is braver and far more glorious to be a soldier 
 
136 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 in the army of the Lord, to follow our Great Cap- 
 tain through fire and through flood, holding on 
 high the banner of the cross dyed with his heart's 
 blood. In his army are men, women and children. 
 None is too old for service in this army; none is 
 too young, and no one is exempt. The young 
 and the old, the rich and the poor, the learned 
 and the ignorant, the hale and hearty, the sick 
 and feeble, the halt, the lame and the blind may 
 enter this army. Once within its ranks, once 
 loyal soldiers of the cross, what a transformation 
 takes place! The old become young, the poor 
 become rich, the weak are made strong; the halt 
 and the lame leap for joy, the lepers are cleansed, 
 and in a goodly company with songs and shouts 
 of victory they march on together, to lend a hand, 
 to right wrongs, to uplift the fallen, to give a cup 
 of cold water, to tell the old, old story, to lay hold 
 on eternal life. 
 
 Where are you fighting, my friend ? In Satan's 
 army, or in the army of the Lord? If you are 
 in the army of Satan, right about face and join 
 the army of the Lord! Then forward march to 
 victory ! "You may step in anywhere, for there's 
 fighting all along the line." Are you one of the 
 feeble ones and afraid? Then flee to the Lord 
 who will hide you away from your enemies, in 
 his secret place. But be not afraid! In his 
 name and in his strength we may go on from vic- 
 tory to victory until the last enemy is conquered, 
 and we kneel at his feet to receive our crown! 
 
THE GOOD FIGHT 137 
 
 Then no more awful struggles with temptation and 
 sin, no more defeats, but glory and blessedness be- 
 yond the heart of man to conceive, forever, and 
 ever, and ever ! 
 
XX 
 
 WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 
 
 Far away in the Adirondacks a spring bubbles 
 out of the ground, forming a clear pool in which 
 may be seen the reflection of the trees and the 
 ferns nodding to it cheerily. It catches the 
 glints of sunshine streaming through the foliage, 
 and a sight of the blue sky and fleecy clouds which 
 it mirrors in its clear surface, a bit of heaven em- 
 bracing the earth. Out from this pool flows a 
 brook which goes rapidly over rocks and steeps, 
 here and there joined by other mountain brooks, 
 and fed by winter snows, until it becomes a large 
 stream. Winding between mountains, through 
 peaceful valleys, by highland and lowland, by 
 huge palisades hewn out by nature's quarryman, 
 a broad, beautiful river, at last, it reaches the 
 sea. 
 
 Like the spring, the brook, the river, is woman's 
 influence. It begins in a gentle way, in the home, 
 in the heart of a child, in the life of a man, and 
 it goes on widening, like the river to the sea. 
 Through this influence, in a greater or less de- 
 gree, she moves the arms which move the world. 
 Of her, statesmen and kings are born; by her 
 
 heroes are reared, and nations founded. When 
 
 138 
 
WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 139 
 
 her voice is lifted, the nations listen. When her 
 hand is extended, all good works prosper. Suf- 
 fering is relieved, and death averted, by her wise 
 and soothing ministrations. The sick soldier 
 turns his weary head to watch her, and calls her 
 "Mother!" The little child clings to her gown, 
 and follows her in perfect, loving confidence. 
 About two thousand years ago, a woman was the 
 mother of our Lord. He chose to be the son of 
 Mary, at the same time that he was the Son of 
 God, and so hallowed maternity through all time. 
 
 Often woman's influence is like the silent dew, 
 or the gently falling rain, or the subtle fragrance 
 of the rose; but sometimes like the rushing wind 
 which carries everything before it. Give her all 
 the opportunity she desires, and step by step, fol- 
 lowing the lead of the Divine Master, she will be- 
 come one of the strongest powers the world has 
 ever known. She is brave and energetic, and the 
 very embodiment of that love which gives the life 
 for the friend. 
 
 Life for the friend 
 Is what her love is giving every day; 
 True love, the love which measured cannot be. 
 If work be hard, love, love can do it; love 
 Can bear it ; love is kind ! Love will make fleet 
 Her hands to work, her feet to run the race; 
 For love endureth all things, love is strong! 
 What will not woman do or dare for love? 
 
 It is this attribute of love in the heart of 
 
140 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 woman which will accomplish great thing's. 
 First, love to God, then love in the home, then 
 love to all humanity, especially to her own sex. 
 What may not woman do when she is in earnest, 
 and walking in his steps who died that all might 
 live? "Who delighted to do God's will; who did 
 not exclude pleasure, or delight in pain, but who 
 did not think about pleasing himself at all." Like 
 him, a true woman forgets self in her home, for- 
 gets self in society, in the church, and in all the 
 work to which she has been called. 
 
 Are all women living in this manner? Alas! 
 by no means ! We need but to read of the doings 
 of "society" in the daily papers to learn that 
 there are many women who waste their time and 
 strength in absolute folly. Whole pages with il- 
 lustrations are given to "Society's Rag Doll 
 Time !" and similar foolishness of men and women 
 of wealth and social position in their ridiculous 
 efforts to pass away time. I quote from a New 
 York paper. 
 
 "All Newport was convulsed by the highly original 
 conceit of several society leaders carrying a stuffed 
 baby down Bellevue Avenue, and disporting with it 
 on Bailey's Beach. It was conceded that nothing so 
 brilliant, so unutterably funny had occurred in many 
 moons. Men and women of wealth, and place, and 
 power, gathered about the rag baby, and caressed it. 
 It was the one touch of nature that spoke to all 
 hearts. They were simply, kindly, genuinely happy. 
 They were as little children," 
 
WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 141 
 
 I forbear to mention the names of these men 
 and women who would not be seen carrying real 
 babies, for the world, but who would pet a rag 
 doll, and be "genuinely happy!" 
 
 The true woman sits not down with hands 
 folded, wondering what she shall do to pass away 
 the time. She is up and doing. She does not 
 think of what she may do to please herself, but 
 of what she may do to please others. She does 
 not avoid the responsibilities of wifehood and 
 motherhood to play with rag dolls, but regards 
 herself as exalted to the highest honor and priv- 
 ilege in being permitted to fulfill these respon- 
 sibilities. She acknowledges no social superiority 
 but that of character. She says of herself, "I 
 am what I am, and not a creature of circum- 
 stance. If I, in myself, am worthy of respect and 
 honor, no added thing which is not myself can 
 make me more worthy, and nothing can be taken 
 away from me but outward appurtenances, which 
 are entirely outside of my real self. My face, 
 my manners, my voice, will be the expression of 
 my inner life, and I must keep myself high, and 
 pure, and noble, for no one can be near me with- 
 out receiving a part of what I am. I am no 
 longer my own. The seal of the covenant is set 
 upon my heart. I am strong in Christ. I fear 
 not to undertake difficult things. With the ban- 
 ner of love unfolded to the breeze, I am marching 
 on to victory!" 
 
 For what was woman made? To follow her 
 
HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 own way, for ease, for selfishness, to pass away 
 the time with as little ennui as possible, for idle- 
 ness, for pleasure, for freedom from every ill and 
 unpleasantness? Ah, no! For love; for tender- 
 ness ; for helpfulness. To do with all her might, 
 whatever of good her hand finds to do. To bear 
 and endure sweetly and patiently the inevitable 
 ills of life. To be a strong tower in time of 
 need upon which father, brother, husband, sons 
 and daughters may lean. To be the strong arm 
 which helps to wield the power which moves the 
 world towards righteousness and truth. 
 
 What will you do? What will you contribute, 
 not only to the good of your immediate home 
 circle, and of those with whom you come in fre- 
 quent contact, but to the honest and honorable 
 life of your city, your town, your State, your Na- 
 tion? Rise up in the strength and grace with 
 which God has endowed you, and do your part. 
 Renounce all foolish, senseless living. Take up 
 your nearest duty, as your nearest privilege, and 
 make the earth glad, and the heavens rejoice that 
 God created so wonderful and beautiful a being 
 as woman ! 
 
 However beautiful and wonderful she may be, 
 woman's work must be done; sewing and mend- 
 ing, sweeping and dusting; food must be cooked, 
 dishes washed, and floors scrubbed. There is 
 no end to the work she must perform in her 
 own home, or in the service of others; and out- 
 side the home, behind the counter, in the office, so 
 
WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 143 
 
 much to be done, so many livings to earn, such a 
 struggle to exist! Work, work, endless work, 
 often with small remuneration, little satisfaction. 
 
 Many women look no higher than their work. 
 They have no dissatisfaction with their lot, no as- 
 piration for anything better. They are work-a- 
 day women, and are content to do the same thing 
 day after day, to the end of time. There are 
 others to whom this daily toil is irksome. They 
 perform it because they must. They would 
 gladly escape from it if they could. 
 
 Let us try to look at this subject from a stand- 
 point outside ourselves. Let us try to see 
 clearly, without prejudice just what it all means. 
 The servant is not greater than his master, and 
 we are not greater than our Lord. Surely, if 
 any one should have been exempt from the care 
 and work of this world, it should have been our 
 Lord. If for any one a life adapted to his natu- 
 ral aspirations and capabilities, there should have 
 been for him a life of glory and honor. But by 
 his own experience he knows how tired and dis- 
 couraged workers often are; that their burdens 
 seem too great to bear ; that work and pain often 
 go together ; and so with outstretched arms which 1 
 were frequently tired, from his great heart of love 
 which often ached, he stands and cries in tones 
 that will not cease to be heard throughout the 
 ages, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest !" He gives 
 us rest while we work, by his presence, by the 
 
144 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 touch of his hand, by his imparted strength and 
 patience, by the light of love from his glorified 
 countenance, by his own promised peace. "Peace 
 I leave with you, my peace I give unto you !" 
 
 Thus helped by our Lord, we may give to the 
 work in hand our best efforts, doing it so pa- 
 tiently and so well that others may be helped by 
 our example. We may perform our tasks as our 
 Lord in our place would perform them, with no 
 anxiety, for does he not walk with us all the way? 
 With no dissatisfaction, for we are doing the will 
 of the Omnipotent, and what matter, if the work 
 be not to our mind? No work is menial done in 
 love's name. Pride says the contrary. Our 
 neighbors look down upon us if we work and they 
 do not; and it often happens that we do not ask 
 what our Lord thinks of such and such things, 
 but what our neighbors think! 
 
 We are bought with a price, even the blood of 
 Jesus ; therefore must we serve him as those who 
 serve him day and night in his temple; not as 
 slaves compelled to obey, but with loving and will- 
 ing service; for are we not his dear children? 
 Are we not heirs to a wonderful inheritance which 
 can never fade away? 
 
 Never complain if you have no heavy load of 
 care, no distracting anxiety, no breaking heart. 
 To be obliged to work, well, what of it? Sing 
 and shout for joy that you are able to work; 
 that no sick bed holds you, that no darkened room 
 shuts you in from the light of the sun and the 
 
WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 145 
 
 starry heavens ! God wants no foolish complain- 
 ing going up to his throne. He loves a happy 
 worker. 
 
 Do not be afraid of the kitchen. There is no 
 sensible man who will not be happier and more 
 comfortable to have his wife attend to everything, 
 even though she may be able to keep servants; 
 and if she sometimes make the bread and the 
 coffee, it is all the sweeter to him. A natural 
 woman likes to be efficient, industrious and do- 
 mestic. She does not allow her neighbors to dic- 
 tate as to what she may do or not do in her own 
 home, and still retain her womanly dignity. The 
 false idea that a woman cannot do any kind of 
 work, not even in her own home, without lowering 
 herself to the position of a menial, causes much 
 discomfort and unhappiness. Away with such 
 nonsense ! Be true women ! Keep your muscles 
 strong, and your minds sound, through much use- 
 ful exercise, that you may be prepared for help- 
 fulness in the time of great need, which may come 
 at any hour. 
 
 If you do train Bridget, and Susan and John 
 so perfectly that everything goes like clock-work 
 without even your supervision, the time may come 
 when you will be for days without John, or 
 Bridget or Susan ; and unless you have the tact 
 and the knowledge necessary to help fill the gap, 
 the whole household will be thrown into confusion ; 
 housekeeping will be declared unendurable; the 
 remaining servants will be overworked, and ill- 
 
146 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 humored, and things go on badly, because you 
 think it would be a disgrace to be seen with broom 
 or duster in hand even in your own household! 
 A woman cannot be strong without exercise. She 
 cannot be graceful and attractive without 
 strength. Why not combine the useful and the 
 beautiful in your life, as do the works of nature? 
 Cannot you fulfill your God-given mission as per- 
 fectly as an inanimate tree? Work is not in- 
 compatible with the highest refinement. You 
 may grow in loveliness and intelligence, and at 
 the same time make yourself indispensable to your 
 household by actual service. 
 
 How much more honorable to spend your life 
 in putting forth effort to some good purpose than 
 to idly fold your hands to enjoy comforts pro- 
 vided by the hard work of some one else. Be ef- 
 ficient and helpful. Learn how to adjust things 
 when they are out of joint, and how to cover and 
 smooth over things which will go wrong some- 
 times, notwithstanding all your care. Make light 
 of annoyances and mishaps, and never lose your 
 self-control. It is a grand thing to be a noble 
 woman. You cannot be noble without being sym- 
 metrically developed. Put forth your powers in 
 every direction, to that end. You do not know 
 what influence you may have in your home and 
 outside your home by the purity and dignity of 
 your life, and the quiet leading of true love. If 
 you do your own work in the home, unless you 
 use great care, your hands and nails are spoiled ; 
 
WOMAN'S HIGH ESTATE 147 
 
 but your heart is not spoiled, neither does it lose 
 one particle of its beauty. You need not degen- 
 erate into a lifeless drudge. You may keep 
 young and strong and loving, and make of your 
 home a heaven on this dull earth, so desolate but 
 for woman's love and self-sacrifice. 
 
 "That's what a wife is for," to cook his meat, 
 To sweep the house, to bruise the knuckles, soil 
 The hands with work, "those pretty little hands 
 That ne'er should bear the marks of homely toil !" 
 It is not that he does not care for her 
 As when at first he held her hand in his 
 And said those foolish words ! It is because 
 He did not know or think what need might be 
 Of having wife for helpmate, not for show, 
 To sit with folded hands and dream of love, 
 To sing, to dance, to have her own sweet will 
 Through all the day. He half is right and half 
 Is wrong, when to her mild complaint replies 
 "That's what a wife is for !" If willingly 
 She worketh with her hands in wool and flax, 
 As good wives did in days of Solomon, 
 If nearest duty, whatsoe'er it be, 
 Be nearest pleasure too, if her sweet love 
 Be strong and sensible as well as sweet, 
 If no false pride control her daily life, 
 She, too, may say without too much regret, 
 "That's what a wife is for, to cook his meat, 
 To sweep and dust, and make all clean and neat, 
 To smile, and kiss away his weariness, 
 To keep the children quiet for his sake, 
 To live and love, and love and live, each day, 
 
148 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 A woman's life of sacrifice and pain, 
 Upheld by love which likest is to God, 
 Transformed into the likeness of his Son 
 By work and sacrifice, by love and pain !" 
 
XXI 
 
 TIRED MOTHERS 
 
 It is a great joy and honor to be a mother. 
 None knows the wonderful, heavenly ecstasy 
 which enters her heart when her babe is placed in 
 her bosom, nor the depth of the love and tender- 
 ness awakened at the birth of every child, but the 
 mother. It is an experience which she cannot af- 
 ford to miss, that of bearing and rearing chil- 
 dren. Even when death comes to take away the 
 most beautiful one, that too opens a path in which 
 it is good to walk, though it be in anguish of 
 spirit ; for it is better to have children and lose 
 them than not to have them at all. The disci- 
 pline is refining, and to have children in heaven 
 a never-ending joy. But they bring with them 
 toil and trouble, anxious days and sleepless 
 nights, and great trials of patience and physical 
 endurance. They throw chains around you 
 which it is impossible to break. You are no 
 longer free. Your time is not your own. It be- 
 longs to them. From the first moment when 
 their strange little voices are heard, they are 
 tyrants, and you are a slave. How to bear the 
 fetters lightly so that they will not oppress you, is 
 a lesson well worth learning; for when the family 
 149 
 
150 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 increases rapidly, and there are two or three 
 hardly past babyhood, how tired the mothers are. 
 How often they feel disheartened, and hardly 
 know which way to turn with the multiplicity of 
 cares devolving upon them. This is the situa- 
 tion of every true mother, no matter how many 
 nurses and servants she may have; and how is it 
 when there are no nurses and no servants? 
 Tired mothers indeed. The world must be full 
 of them. 
 
 There is no end to the buttons to be sewed on, 
 the stockings to be darned, the rents to be 
 mended. There is sweeping and cleaning, a life- 
 long battle with dust, cobwebs and flies. It re- 
 quires a great effort to decently exist; to keep 
 your home, your children and yourself in order. 
 The three meals follow each other in quick succes- 
 sion, then it is soon bedtime, and each succeeding 
 day is like 1;he others. How many women there 
 are into whose lives come little but this weary 
 round of wearisome duties, with no time to enjoy 
 the house in order, or the clean children, or a 
 quiet evening. 
 
 It may be, in part, your own fault if life be- 
 comes to you thus full of care and labor. You 
 may be inefficient, or too neat, or too great a care- 
 taker. But often it seems inevitable. Is it pos- 
 sible, then, for you to be anything but a living 
 automaton? How can you avoid it? How can 
 you rise above circumstances which require your 
 whole strength of mind and body to compass ? 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 151 
 
 In the first place, do not overtax yourself. It 
 is better to leave some things undone than to get 
 so weary that a night of sound sleep will not re- 
 fresh you. Do not allow yourself to be tied up 
 with cobwebs and buried with dust beyond resur- 
 rection. If the house be not always in perfect 
 order, no one need be distressed about it. If 
 your children are not always clean and tidy, it 
 will not hinder their growing up to be good. Do 
 the best you can toward the accomplishment of 
 your daily duties, and when you have used the 
 strength given you for the day, stop. You have 
 done all that is required of you, and more, for a 
 little strength and brightness should be reserved 
 for the evening hours when your husband and 
 children have leisure to enjoy your presence and 
 helpful sympathy. 
 
 Do not try to conceal from your husband that 
 you have genuine work to do each day. Hus- 
 bands know little of household matters, although 
 they are apt to think that they know all about 
 them. Do not hesitate to initiate him into their 
 mysteries. It will make him more helpful and 
 sympathetic to know your exact position and 
 your difficulties, and he will be more ready to ex- 
 cuse some things which you are unable to do even 
 to your own satisfaction. 
 
 Try to find something to interest and occupy 
 your mind while your hands are busy. If you 
 live in the country, in summer take all the work 
 you can to the piazza, or under a tree, and let 
 
152 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 the baby play about you. He will be less trouble 
 out of doors, and the sunshine and fresh air will 
 be of inestimable benefit to you both. There is 
 a fine view near your house. Enjoy it for ten 
 minutes each day. You will work the faster for 
 the pleasant interruption. While you are busy 
 with indoor work, the sun comes streaming into 
 your room making beautiful pictures of shim- 
 mering leaves and drooping vines upon the walls. 
 And this is God's message to you, "Cheer up!" 
 How bright it is. What a beautiful message of 
 love it is to you from God! Will you heed it, 
 and work for the rest of the day with more hope, 
 with lighter heart and brighter face? The little 
 birds work and sing. Have you not a song in 
 your heart also, and does it not sometimes break 
 forth into words? Sing while you work. It will 
 make the work lighter. 
 
 Open your eyes to the beauty around you. If 
 you live near the woods, enjoy them. Even the 
 sight of them is refreshing, and an occasional 
 ramble in them will teach you how Nature every- 
 where is struggling to assert herself and do her 
 utmost to utilize every particle of dust, every 
 drop of dew and every stray sunbeam to make 
 herself useful and beautiful. Even the hard and 
 barren rocks are covered with mosses and lichens 
 which you will find to be wonderful miniature 
 forests, if you look at them through a micro- 
 scope. 
 
 Are there mountains near your home? Then, 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 153 
 
 indeed, you are fortunate, for nothing in nature 
 can be more restful or joy-giving than the sight 
 of mountains standing strong and silent against 
 the sky, with sunset glory gilding them, or clouds 1 
 kissing their brows, catching the first greeting 
 of the morning sun, or made entrancing by the 
 soft light of the moon. They have mysterious 
 caverns and recesses where the shadows always lie, 
 and ravines through which the mountain streams 
 roar and tumble in beauty unseen. They are 
 made green and beautiful by spring's soft color, 
 or clothed in the splendor of autumn's gold and 
 vermilion, or majestic with the snow-covered 
 pines and bare-branched trees covered with ice 
 and sparkling in the sunshine. 
 
 If you live near a river or the ocean, you have 
 a constant variety of scenery, for neither moun- 
 tains, rivers nor oceans are less variable in their 
 moods than we are, and even in dull, cheerless days 
 you may see in them that which you may ad- 
 mire, and in which you may find sympathy. If 
 you are denied social pleasures, you may find much 
 compensation in being surrounded by the pure, 
 unselfish works of Nature, which give much and 
 exact little, and which never disappoint you. 
 Though you may have none of these things, there 
 are other resources for rest and pleasure at your 
 command. Look carefully into your life and sur- 
 roundings and see if there be not some source of 
 joy and gratitude which you have hitherto over- 
 looked. The source of the spring is not always 
 
154 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 apparent, and we may regard as only a common 
 watercourse or a pool of muddy water that which, 
 after the debris and dirt are cleared away, may 
 prove to be a never-failing supply of pure water ; 
 and there are some springs which lie deep under 
 the surface. There are many springs of comfort 
 in your life, if you will find them. 
 
 You ought not to be so tired. God does not 
 intend that each day's burden should be heavier 
 than you can easily bear. He gives help and 
 strength for each day's needs. You can be happy 
 to-day, can you not? Or if this is one of the 
 dark days, you can be patient and brave? Well, 
 that is enough. To-morrow will bring its own 
 strength and resources. You need not now take 
 up to-morrow. God does not work miracles in 
 our behalf, but he has arranged everything so 
 that much help and comfort will come to us every 
 day in easy, natural ways ; and it is wrong for us 
 not to accept what he gives and turn it to best 
 account. Trees, flowers, grass, birds, sunshine,, 
 bright clouds and the wonderful blue sky ought to 
 be to us a continual delight; the love of husband 
 and children a never-failing source of joy and 
 gratitude ; the Bible a city of refuge. 
 
 There is a bright side to everything, no matter 
 how dark the other side may be. We are never 
 so badly off but that we might be worse off. 
 Somebody looks upon us as fortunate. Much un- 
 happiness comes from envying those whom we con- 
 sider in better circumstances than ourselves, and 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 155 
 
 trying to reach their standard. How senseless, 
 when none is so high but that somebody is higher, 
 until you reach the highest, who are seldom 
 happy. Be content. God rules. He can place 
 you higher if he choose. Look upon your position 
 and all that you have as God-given, and do not 
 overlook any of his gifts, nor dishonor him by 
 believing that he has bestowed upon you 
 the thorns, and upon some one else the roses. 
 Sweet and bitter, roses and thorns for all, God- 
 given ! 
 
 In many instances when the care of your own 
 family becomes a hardship, it is self-imposed. 
 You are in the dull routine because you do not try 
 to get out of it. You are overworked because 
 you improve no opportunity to play. You are 
 nervous because you shut yourself up too much in 
 the house, keep your rooms too warm and poorly 
 ventilated. You wait on your children when they 
 should be early taught to help you and each other. 
 You fret too much if Johnny's clothes are torn 
 or soiled, or if he shows no love for cleanliness, 
 and you are forced to urge him to wash his hands, 
 and face, and brush his hair. You allow many 
 trivial things to annoy you, when nothing less 
 than an earthquake or an avalanche should move 
 a mother. What if the baby does fall off the 
 bed and bump his head? Babies are always bump- 
 ing their heads. What if Charlie tell a false- 
 hood? It is by no means a sure sign that he will 
 grow up a liar. Children are not born perfect, 
 
156 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 and there is no end to their little mishaps and 
 childish failings. 
 
 Mothers would be less tired if they were more 
 sensible. Think of the time worse than wasted 
 in the preparation of food without which every 
 member of the family would be better ; of the un- 
 necessary time spent upon the children's clothes 
 in making tucks and frills and a hundred and one 
 other needless things ; of the many hours spent 
 for mere show, or to do as others do, which add to 
 no one's happiness or comfort. No matter if you 
 do differently from every one else in the world, if 
 you do right and make your home a true home. 
 Live for comfort, and the good you can do. 
 Dress your children plainly, that you and they 
 need not be fretted about their clothes. Furnish 
 your house simply and comfortably, and have 
 nothing that you must shut up in a dark room. 
 
 There are mothers who are tired because they 
 have no clothing to mend, no stockings to darn, 
 and who would give worlds for just such a pile 
 of mending as that to which you sit down with a 
 feeling of discontent ; for disorder in the house, 
 for the tracks of muddy shoes on the floor, or 
 prints of little fingers on the window-pane. 
 Think of this, and imagine if you can what your 
 life would be if you had none of these things; if 
 the patience-trying little ones were all silent for- 
 ever, and there were no noise in the house; and 
 put love and cheerfulness into all you do for 
 them; thus will the dullest work receive a bright- 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 157 
 
 ness. Thus will the mother-love shed a halo of 
 light around the homeliest duties. 
 
 Be careful not to become tired with imaginary 
 troubles, lest God say of you, "There is my dear 
 child to whom I have given many blessings. She 
 does not appreciate them. She is continually 
 clamoring for more, continually dissatisfied, and 
 will not enjoy her husband, her children, her 
 health, her lovely home. She has no real troubles, 
 but she thinks her lot, which thousands might 
 well envy, a hard one, and is ungrateful and self- 
 ish. I cannot allow this. She is not making 
 ready for heaven. Her soul is not growing, but 
 is becoming dwarfed instead. She is blind, and 
 nothing will open her eyes but real trouble. Much 
 as it grieves me to do it, I must take away some 
 thing which she already has, instead of giving 
 her more." 
 
 Oh, cannot you open your eyes to see what God 
 is doing for you without chastisement being need- 
 ful? Cannot you be gratefully happy and rest 
 in his love? Oh, mothers, cannot you feel his 1 
 love surrounding you, smoothing your path, ward- 
 ing off dangers, giving you peace and quiet in 
 your daily pursuits? Cannot you see the great 
 glory of God in everything around you? The 
 trees whisper it, the winds carry the message on 
 swift wings, the sun mirrors it and sends it in one 
 great flash of light and splendor all over the 
 earth. The boundless blue sky in silence glorifies 
 him; and will you not glorify him by your life? 
 
158 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Are you so tired and so much absorbed in sordid 
 cares that you cannot teach your sons and daugh- 
 ters to avoid the selfishness, the worldliness, the 
 wickedness everywhere to be seen in the outside 
 world? Do you so shut out all the beauty and 
 all the glory from your life that the lessons they 
 learn from you are only unblessed work and un- 
 hallowed care? Open the windows of your soul 
 and let in the glory of earth and sky ; let in God's 
 love, and God's strength. Then there will be a 
 soft, glad light reflected from you on all the 
 household, and joy and beauty will go hand in 
 hand with work and care, and God will be glorified 
 even in the most uninteresting bits of labor, and 
 you will be weary only to rest again, to rest in 
 him who toiled patiently and sweetly to do his 
 Father's will. 
 
 If there be days when it seems impossible to ac- 
 complish anything, when physical energy is want- 
 ing, and you weary yourself with vain efforts to 
 overcome your inefficiency, be quiet and patient 
 with yourself, as you would be with the lame or 
 blind, and do not try to do so much as on other 
 days whon the nerves are strong and the head 
 clear. Do not make life too weighty a matter, 
 or drag your feet in the mire when you should 
 be walking lightly and cheerfully in the sunshine 
 of God's love. 
 
 It is true that the cares of life often rise up 
 like a cloud between us and God ; but he is on one 
 side of it, and we know he is there, and we are on 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 159 
 
 the other side, and he knows it, and there is but a 
 thin, shadowy cloud between us which will be 
 wholly dissipated by a few tears, or scattered to 
 the four corners of the heavens by a single breath 
 of God. And if we are not always in a religious 
 mood, or in what is considered the active service 
 of God, we need not grieve because our lives seem 
 to have no high purpose. Who serves him more 
 truly than a faithful mother, whether it be in 
 tying baby's shoes patiently twenty times a day, 
 or in teaching him "Our Father," on his knees 
 with clasped hands by her side? 
 
 God places a higher value upon the little acts 
 of every day than we do. Everything done to 
 make the home neat and cheerful is precious in 
 his sight; and we are serving him as truly in 
 performing the work he daily gives us, as when we 
 sing his praise or teach in his name, or pray on 
 bended knee. All day long there may be going 
 up to him the sweet incense of patient well-doing, 
 and we may have, with all our cares, the spirit 
 of love and praise. 
 
 If we could realize the sacredness and magni- 
 tude of our work, if the wonderful mother love 
 could be always uppermost in our hearts, how it 
 would lift us above our petty, wearing cares. 
 How it would increase our tenderness and pa- 
 tience. If we could see in these troublesome, ex- 
 acting boys and girls, angels of to-morrow, or 
 next day, or next month, perhaps, with what 
 sweetness and tender yearning would reproofs 
 
160 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 be given ; for many who are our troublesome chil- 
 dren to-day, ere another year rolls round will be 
 our angel boys and girls in heaven. 
 
 Do not let tHe hurry and worry of life drive 
 Christ out of your heart. Let him into the 
 privacy of home. There is where he is most 
 needed. There is where he likes best to be, close 
 by us, to comfort and to bless us, and to lift from 
 us our burdens. He was often tired, so tired ! 
 The whole world is tired; but there will come a 
 long day of rest. Happy will it be for us then 
 if we are tired to some good purpose. "Come 
 unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest." Here as well as in 
 heaven, will he fulfill this promise. Precious rest 
 in the bosom of Jesus, precious, indeed, the rest 
 which comes to mind and body after work well 
 done to his honor and glory, one smile of whom 
 is worth more than the approbation of the whole 
 world. 
 
 Then, we who are mothers need not be dis- 
 couraged. The King of Heaven is on our side. 
 However poor we may be, however humble our 
 lot, we are queens, and home is our domain. God- 
 wishes us to serve him just where we are. The 
 ways of serving him are as varied as the varied 
 lives of thousands. We cannot all be missionaries. 
 We cannot all be regular attendants at church, 
 at the prayer-meeting, or at the benevolent so- 
 ciety. The world may judge us by our outward 
 religious life, by the frequency with which we are 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 161 
 
 seen in these places, but God looks at the heart, 
 at the mind that is in us, at the patient, untiring 
 love which makes sweet the home life. 
 
 Would we be so tired could we realize that 
 when we cheerfully and lovingly perform our al- 
 lotted tasks we are pleasing God? And if we are 
 pleasing him, what higher life can there be on 
 earth? To please the Omnipotent One, how won- 
 derful the privilege! To be in harmony with his 
 will each day, how delightful! No doubt we shall 
 realize this blessedness fully in heaven, but can- 
 not we realize it here on the earth? Without 
 doubt we can appropriate to ourselves all the gra- 
 cious promises of our God much more than we 
 now do; and instead of living so much in the 
 valley, we may live upon the mountain of our high 
 privilege, in the very presence of God himself. 
 Thousands of hungry, care-burdened and sin-bur- 
 dened ones are crying out with great longings 
 and tears, and reaching out after God. To all 
 these waiting and weary ones the answer sweetly 
 comes from millions of angelic voices around the 
 heavenly throne joining with the Lamb in crying, 
 
 "Whosoever will let him come!" 
 
 f 
 
 "A little elbow leans upon your knee, 
 Your tired knee that has so much to bear, 
 A child's dear eyes are looking lovingly 
 From underneath a thatch of tangled hair. 
 Perhaps you do not heed the velvet touch 
 Of warm, moist fingers folding yours so tight, 
 
162 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 You do not prize the blessing overmuch, 
 You are almost too tired to pray to-night. 
 
 "But it is blessedness ! A year ago 
 I did not see it as I do to-day, 
 We are so dull and thankless, and too slow 
 To catch the sunshine, till it slips away: 
 And now it seems surpassing strange to me 
 That, while I wore the badge of motherhood, 
 I did not kiss more oft and tenderly, 
 The little child that brought me only good. 
 
 "And if, some night when you sit down to rest, 
 You miss the elbow from your tired knee, 
 The restless, curly head from off your breast, 
 The lisping tongue that chattered constantly, 
 If, from your own, the dimpled hands had slipped, 
 And ne'er would nestle in your palm again, 
 If the white feet into the grave had tripped, 
 I could not blame you for your heart-ache then. 
 
 "I wonder so, that mothers ever fret 
 At little children clinging to their gown ; 
 Or that the footprints, when the days are wet, 
 Are ever black enough to make them frown. 
 If I could find a little, muddy boot, 
 Or cap, or jacket, on my chamber floor, 
 If I could kiss a rosy, restless foot, 
 And hear its patter in my home once more 
 
 "If I could mend a broken cart to-day, 
 To-morrow make a kite to reach the sky, 
 There is no woman in God's world could say 
 She was more blissfully content than I. 
 
TIRED MOTHERS 163 
 
 But O ! the dainty pillow next my own 
 Is never rumpled by a shining head, 
 My singing birdling from its nest is flown, 
 The little boy I used to kiss is dead !" 
 
XXII 
 DEAR BABY RALPH 
 
 Love-crowned, the royalty of motherhood 
 
 I bear. My scepter may I gently wield 
 
 With love and patience toward our first-born 
 
 child. 
 From out the heaven where souls are born has 
 
 come 
 This precious gift from God. 
 
 Of all the babes 
 
 Which ever came to bless an earthly home, 
 This babe most lovely is ! No other one 
 Can ere with him compare. The light of heaven 
 No purer, brighter is, than that which shines 
 Within his lovely eyes ! No angel's smile 
 Can be more heavenly sweet than this dear 
 child's ! 
 
 I wonder if the mother of our Lord 
 Was ever weary, caring for her babe! 
 Or was she filled with rapture by the thought 
 That to the Savior of the world she gave 
 Her tender care, her mother-love, her life? 
 So filled with joy by this great mystery, 
 And by the unique honor thus bestowed 
 
 164 
 
DEAR BABY RALPH 165 
 
 On her, above all women, that the cares 
 Of motherhood were lifted from her heart? 
 A man of sorrows, if she knew she nursed, 
 Acquainted with sore grief, how sorrowful 
 She was ! If of the sword which was to pierce 
 Her heart, what dreadful anguish tortured her! 
 But if she looked beyond the heavy cross 
 Of Calvary to all the joy and peace 
 That, through long ages, to the world would 
 
 come 
 
 Through life and death of her dear Son, her love 
 And joy were wonderful, as in her heart 
 She kept and pondered all those wondrous things. 
 
 This glorious October day, the sun 
 
 Is shining, warm and bright. The trees in all 
 
 The glory of Autumnal hues ; the sky 
 
 Is clear and blue, with here and there a cloud 
 
 So beautiful, ethereal, and yet 
 
 So real, withal, it seems as if upon 
 
 It we might float, to all the things of earth 
 
 Indifferent, if we could climb so high. 
 
 The glorious river calmly flows, but grand, 
 
 While doing its appointed work the same 
 
 As when the ponderous blows by Nature dealt 
 
 Hewed out its path through mountains, walls of 
 
 rock, 
 
 Unto the distant sea. The little brook, 
 Its source in mountain side far to the north, 
 Comes tumbling over rocks, in noisy way, 
 Not knowing that it helps to carry ships 
 
166 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Across the ocean; yet in solitude, 
 
 In quiet calmness, rippling on it flows, 
 
 In beauty, as God wills, from year to year. 
 
 Beholding all this beauty, breathing in 
 Fresh inspiration, renewed joy and strength, 
 May not a quiet little mother take 
 Fresh courage? Like the brook on gladly go 
 While singing her sweet songs, unconsciously 
 Fulfilling all that God would have her do? 
 May not this mother, like the falling leaves, 
 Most cheerful be, with brightest face when days 
 All cheerless threaten, and when winter storms 
 Are not far off? 
 
 How cheerfully the leaves 
 Go to their death! Dressed in their gorgeous 
 
 hues 
 
 They seem to try to gladden us before 
 They fall to mingle with the silent dust. 
 It is a glad farewell ! They have performed 
 Their mission, and they are content to die. 
 Just what our Lord intended leaves to do, 
 They well have done. 
 
 A perfect day, indeed! 
 
 What glory in the sunshine, grass, and trees ! 
 The hills and valleys sing and shout for joy!' 
 I too may sing his praise who made this day 
 So beautiful and bright. I praise thy name 
 Creator of the earth, and sea and sky; 
 In adoration bow before my Lord! 
 
DEAR BABY RALPH 167 
 
 This little boy who sits upon my knee 
 I love most tenderly. His dimpled hands 
 And feet, his lovely eyes that shine like stars, 
 The sweetest mouth that ever lisped sweet words 
 Are far more dear to me than tongue can tell! 
 Dear Jesus, bear him gently in thine arms 
 Till he shall grow to serve both God and man ; 
 For service is our destined lot on earth ; 
 And if we serve in love, and not in fear, 
 Our deepest, purest joy is still to serve. 
 
 Oh, Baby Ralph! Those hands will pluck sweet 
 
 flowers 
 
 To find, one day, the hidden thorns that pierce ; 
 Those little feet will run to find the gold 
 Just where the rainbow kisses the green field ; 
 The dancing will-o'-wisp will charm your eyes ; 
 But over you, around you evermore, 
 Your mother's love will like an angel move, 
 And God's love will surround and cover you, 
 As with a fiery cloud. 
 
 His playthings are all put away ; there are 
 No scraps of paper littering now the floor; 
 His darling mice, he called these little scraps. 
 The nursery is neat and orderly, 
 And will remain so, all the livelong day. 
 There is a loneliness about the house, 
 As if our dearest one had gone away. 
 There is no longer noise of busy feet, 
 No joyous, boyish play. The sunlight has 
 
168 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Gone out; throughout our home a shadow of 
 A cloud, instead, and silence, that of dread 
 And fear. 
 
 He lies there with his lips apart, 
 
 And over his warm breast, his little hands 
 
 Are meekly folded. He is very ill! 
 
 It seems so strange to see our pet so weak 
 
 And helpless lie, and we as helpless, quite, 
 
 As he, before the power of dread disease. 
 
 May God have mercy on us in our day 
 
 Of utmost need! 
 
 No "Merry Christmas" greets 
 Our ears to-day ; no little stockings filled 
 From top to toe; no joyous prattle o'er 
 The gifts of Santa Glaus. His Christmas tree 
 And lovely gifts are put away from sight. 
 He there unconscious lies. He does not know 
 The Christ-child waiting stands to lead him home \ 
 Oh, God, be merciful unto our child! 
 
 Our baby! Our sweet child, to lie like this! 
 
 The room is silent as the grave! It is 
 
 A grave, for all our sweetest hopes end here ! 
 
 He lies so quiet, now, and in his hand 
 
 Some one has placed a rose. His eyes are closed 
 
 Forevermore! His lovely hands are clasped 
 
 To nevermore unfold! His feet, "so tired," 
 
 "My feet are tired, mamma," he would say 
 
 When first we noticed he was feeling ill, 
 
DEAR BABY RALPH 169 
 
 Are now at rest ! How still he is ! And yet 
 How beautiful! How can we put away 
 This lovely form? O God, be merciful! 
 
 Our darling is not dead, nor e'en asleep ! 
 But up the golden stairs he softly climbs 
 To enter heaven with shouts of childish glee, 
 While all the angels welcome him with joy! 
 And on his breast the Shepherd mild will hold 
 Our lovely child! 
 
 Bowed down, grief-stricken, sad 
 Are we as only those can be who feel 
 No more the little arms clasped tightly, with 
 "I want to hug 'ou, mamma dear," "I want 
 To kiss 'ou, papa !" "Can 'ittle Ralphie 
 Help 'ou, papa? Or help 'ou, mamma dear?" 
 And all the many baby words and ways 
 So sweet, so tenderly remembered now. 
 He flowers dearly loved. The first thing which 
 Within the room he noticed as a babe, 
 A pansy picture, hanging on the wall. 
 For many days, with his first baby words 
 Which none could understand except, perhaps, 
 The angels watching him, he told his love 
 To those sweet pansies, bright and beautiful. 
 The last thing that he noticed, ere all sense 
 Of what was passing in the room was gone, 
 Was a bouquet of flowers some one brought; 
 And after smelling them, and holding them 
 Until the flowers began to droop upon 
 
170 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 Their stems, and he was tired, too, he said, 
 "Oh, mamma, see! My dear sweet flowers are all 
 Bwoke down ! Some water, give them, please, to 
 
 keep 
 Them nice and fwesh!" 
 
 Broke down is our sweet flower 
 In all its beauty rare, and put away 
 From sight ; but when the promised comfort comes 
 To us who mourn, then shall we know our flower 
 To be transplanted to a balmier clime, 
 Where angels tend the flowers, and where the Lord 
 Is the good gardener, through the eternal years ! 
 We know that he with Jesus is, and safe ! 
 That now no sin can e'er defile our child. 
 Through all the lonely years I'll hear him call, 
 "I'm watching for you, mamma dear, come up 
 To heaven wiv me!" A radiant little one, 
 He shines in holier beauty now, baptized 
 With immortality ! 
 
 Oh, mothers, could 
 
 You know what 'tis to lose a lovely child, 
 To have him go and leave you desolate, 
 However loudly you may call, to hear 
 No answer but the beating of your heart 
 So bitterly bereaved, I'm very sure 
 You would be careful of your words, and strive 
 To exercise the patience God will give 
 To every mother toward the sweetest gift 
 He ever gives! Be good, be good! That when 
 
DEAR BABY RALPH 171 
 
 Your children speak of you in after years, 
 They'll say, "I never heard my mother speak 
 An angry, or impatient word!" That when 
 One goes where only loving words are heard, 
 You will not feel like falling on your knees 
 To ask forgiveness of your angel child ! 
 Be good, be good ! And follow Christ, your Lord ! 
 Then when you too are called to pass that way, 
 You'll find your child, and know him still to be 
 Your own forevermore! 
 
XXIII 
 HOME, SWEET HOME 
 
 Nearly all written romances and scenes enacted 
 upon the stage end with the declaration of love, 
 and the ecstasy of that supreme moment when 
 the lover knows that he is beloved. It is, as it 
 were, the happy consummation of all things, the 
 summit of bliss. It is as if all that is interesting 
 in life, all beauty, all romance, ended with be- 
 trothal, when in reality, this is but the beginning 
 of a life-long, tender, worshipful affection, of a 
 romance more thrilling, more pathetic, more 
 tragic, and at the same time more joy-giving than 
 any drama or story of love which was ever writ- 
 ten. The strong, pure love of a good man for 
 the one woman of his choice, is a thing so noble, 
 so high, so deep, words cannot express the won- 
 der of it. The pure, sweet, unselfish devotion of 
 a true, womanly woman, is a prize the value of 
 which can never be estimated. 
 
 God joins men and women together in the bonds 
 of undying love, love which cannot be measured, 
 love which is kind and suffereth long, love which 
 is strong and endureth all things, love which is 
 born of Him, whose name is Love. Joined to her 
 
 husband in this manner, the wife is content to be 
 172 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 173 
 
 where he is, and no trial is so great as separation 
 from him. The very ground where he treads is 
 precious to her. Everything that he touches is 
 transfigured. In this true love union, she is all 
 in all to her husband. She is the queen of his 
 home to whom he bows down in worshipful defer- 
 ence. 
 
 True love is the strongest earthly thing. It 
 takes possession of the whole being. It pervades 
 the innermost recesses of the heart like incense. 
 It purifies, ennobles, and transfigures the life. If 
 no cloud of mistrust or jealousy be permitted to 
 overshadow it, then, indeed, is the home a heaven 
 on earth. 
 
 But love is not all that is necessary to secure 
 happiness in the home. Love is sometimes exact- 
 ing, and jealous without cause. There are dis- 
 agreements, thoughtless words, too much teasing, 
 too much self-assertion and self-will, and other 
 human failings not even dreamed of in the days 
 of betrothal. Cares are heavy, and nerves are 
 overtaxed. Hasty words are spoken thought- 
 lessly, and wounds inflicted unintentionally. The 
 friction of life is severe, and self-control gives way 
 under its influence. There is too much liberty of 
 unkind speech, something which sounds much like 
 fault-finding, and the day is spoiled. By a little 
 care and forethought, husband and wife need never 
 spoil the day, but they may always part with a 
 cheery word and a pleasant good-by, when the 
 husband goes to his business in the morning, and 
 
174 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 they may both feel the uplifting influence of such 
 words all the day long, and have no bitter regrets 
 should they find the night too late to undo the 
 work of the morn. 
 
 "If I had known in the morning 
 How wearily all the day 
 The words unkind 
 Would trouble my mind, 
 I said when you went away, 
 I had been more careful, darling, 
 
 Nor given you needless pain; 
 But we vex our own 
 With look and tone 
 
 We might never take back again. 
 
 "For though in the quiet evening 
 You may give me the kiss of peace, 
 Yet it might be 
 That never for me 
 The pain of the heart should cease. 
 How many go forth in the morning 
 
 That never come home at night, 
 And hearts have broken 
 For harsh words spoken 
 
 That sorrow can never set right. 
 
 "We have careful thoughts for the stranger, 
 And smiles for the sometime guest, 
 
 But oft for our own 
 
 The bitter tone, 
 Though we love our own the best. 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 175 
 
 Ah ! lips with the curve impatient, 
 Ah ! brow with that look of scorn, 
 
 'Twere a cruel fate, 
 
 Were the night too late 
 To undo the work of the morn!" 
 
 Next to the desire to serve God perfectly, a 
 man's purest ambition is to have a home, a loving 
 wife, and dutiful children. Without a home a 
 man is adrift in the world, and he never knows 
 whither the rough and variable winds of fortune 
 will carry him. A home is to him a haven of rest, 
 a city of refuge, a sanctuary, a place where love 
 reigns. Safe from all intruders, from all greed 
 of gain, from all forms of selfishness and the 
 unjust judgments of men, he is understood, ap- 
 preciated, beloved. He is at home. 
 
 To a woman it is a joy and highest honor to 
 be queen-wife and queen-mother in her own do- 
 main. "Her children rise up and call her blessed ; 
 her husband also, and he praiseth her." There 
 is nothing in life that brings more joy than a 
 happy home. But while we surround it with 
 beauty and poetry, and loving tenderness, we 
 must not forget that we have something to do to 
 create such a home. There is no relation more 
 tenderly watched over by our Heavenly Father 
 than the home relation, but he does not interfere 
 with our arrangements by any supernatural 
 power. It is for the husband and wife to de- 
 termine whether or not their home shall be to 
 
176 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 them and to their children all that a home can be. 
 
 In the first place, the marriage relation should 
 not be entered into for any reason but that of 
 enduring love. No one should be so ignorant of 
 what marriage means as to hazard his life-long 
 happiness by a loveless marriage; the relation is 
 too close, too sacred to admit of any reason for 
 entering into it exclusive of this one; the dis- 
 cipline too unlike anything he has experienced 
 for him to pass through it unscathed, unless love 
 is the scepter wielded in the home. Even then 
 there are likely to be many misunderstandings 
 and many hours of unhappiness before the two, 
 unlike in temperament, with opinions which clash 
 perhaps, and habits formed which they do not like 
 to renounce, can live together in harmony. 
 
 Many persons expect the first years of mar- 
 riage to be the happiest ; and if they are disap- 
 pointed, as they are almost sure to be, they think 
 that they have made a life-long mistake. They 
 do not know that at first they are one only in 
 sight of the law, and that it may require time 
 to make them one in reality, unless they begin 
 their united life in a different manner from that 
 which is usual. Strange as it may seem, in many 
 instances, husband and wife are not together three 
 days before unkind or unwise words have been 
 spoken about something of little consequence. 
 "I am right and you are wrong," "My way is 
 better, and you must conform to it," is the way in 
 which they begin, almost unconsciously, a life 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 177 
 
 which they thought would be bliss itself. There 
 are many differences of taste and opinion of which 
 they did not think before marriage, and they are 
 surprised to find that they are so unlike each 
 other. By reason of these differences they be- 
 gin to go asunder, instead of becoming more 
 closely united. 
 
 They expect everything to adjust itself beau- 
 tifully, without especial effort on their part. 
 They think they love each other too well to have 
 even a shadow come between them. They do not 
 realize how easy it is to be selfish, or how im- 
 perceptibly the shadows fall. Neither have they 
 any idea, until they have lived together a year 
 or two, how many things must be yielded on the 
 part of both, or compromised between them; nor 
 how important it is that each one should be al- 
 lowed individuality in character and life. It is 
 by no means necessary that husband and wife 
 should be alike; on the contrary, they should be 
 unlike, that what is wanting in one may be pos- 
 sessed by the other, that the two may make a 
 perfect whole. If they but knew these things, 
 they would study from the hour of marriage to 
 be thoughtful and unselfish, and so avoid many 
 mistakes and regrets. 
 
 It is better to begin by making love a practical 
 thing, than to regard it as a mere sentiment. 
 Practical love bears and forbears, and covers a 
 multitude of faults. It is patient and reasonable, 
 and is never oftener called upon to exercise its 
 
178 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 graces than in the first years of married life. 
 Why not accept the fact, and act in accordance 
 with it? This is the only way to realize the hap- 
 piness anticipated. Even then the first years are 
 only the beginning of a growing fitness for each 
 other, followed by a more enduring love, and an 
 ever increasing joy, so that the last years are the 
 best. 
 
 Nothing is so much needed in the home as a 
 careful deference to each other's wishes ; but this 
 must be mutual. Too much generosity on one 
 hand encourages selfishness on the other ; too much 
 yielding by one, a sort of tyranny from the other ; 
 so that the only safe way is for each to try to 
 outdo the other in little acts of kindness. It is 
 not enough to love each other secretly ; show your 
 love ! Be lovers always ! Many and many a 
 woman, many a man is starving at heart for ex- 
 pressions of affection, for the acknowledged ap- 
 preciation of their worth, of their efforts to rise 
 in the world, of their daily self-sacrifice. 
 
 If love and the expression of it be necessary 
 when all goes well in the home, how much more 
 so when trouble comes, when the children are ill, 
 when worries overwhelm, when misfortune is at 
 hand, when death breaks into the family circle, 
 Then ought the love-light in the eyes to shine 
 brighter and clearer, and in the strength of noble 
 manhood and noble womanhood and strong faith 
 in God, hand in hand, and heart in heart, they 
 will bravely meet whatever trial is theirs to bear. 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 179 
 
 There are men who love their wives devotedly, 
 but who never by word or sign express their af- 
 fection. Some women are equally reticent and 
 it is hard to believe that they really do love and 
 appreciate their husbands. Love and apprecia- 
 tion should be openly expressed. They are for 
 common use, and should not be withheld from 
 common life. If marriage vows were kept, if 
 there were good common sense and fair dealing 
 in the home, as well as love, how happy every 
 one would be ! But alas ! Many husbands and 
 wives are not in love with each other; they are 
 not one in heart and life, for there are separate 
 interests ; the husband is going one way, the wife 
 another. There are estrangements, separations, 
 divorces, destruction of pure, sweet, family life, 
 disorder in the best place on earth in which to 
 sow the seeds of honesty, love and patriotism. 
 "To have and to hold, to love and to cherish till 
 death do us part," words full of heavenly mean- 
 ing, have lost their solemnity, their sanctity, their 
 imperative obligation. Ought not these words to 
 be changed to something like this : "To have 
 and to hold until the courts do us part?" 
 
 Oh, what happiness can there be in marriage 
 without confidence, without absolute surety that 
 the husband and wife are all in all to each other, 
 and nothing whatever to any other man or woman? 
 Without confidence that all expressions of affec- 
 tion which belong especially to the home, find place 
 nowhere else ? Oh, men, Oh, women ! What of your 
 
180 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 home? What of your fidelity? Are you living 
 the truth, or living a lie? 
 
 A man may love his wife devotedly, and yet 
 torture her to death by a slow process. Thomas 
 Carlyle adored his Jane, but how he treated 
 her! Bringing her no mete of sympathy or 
 praise, and crowning her with laurel only when 
 her hands were folded meekly over her breast, 
 and the birds were singing over her grave. If he 
 had said to her what he said about her, when she 
 could no longer hear his voice, what a marvelously 
 different life hers would have been ! 
 
 The author of "A Window in Thrums" 
 says: 
 
 "I myself have known a woman so good, matched 
 to a man so selfish, that I cannot think of her even 
 now, quietly. Hers was the tragedy of living on, 
 more mournful than the tragedy that kills; but it did 
 kill her, at last; and her husband, when he no longer 
 had a wife to ill-treat, went about whining that she 
 was an angel!" 
 
 The continued nagging which some men, and 
 oh, the pity of it ! some women too, practice in their 
 homes, is terrible ! The fruit of much sowing is 
 bitter indeed, and is likely to grow into an 
 estrangement which no afterthought, or careful- 
 ness or regret can ever overcome. Love wounded is 
 slow to heal. Love with which fault is continually 
 found, will slowly bleed to death. "Oh, Love, 
 how red thy heart is and thy hands are full of 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 181 
 
 roses!" But the roses will drop from palsied 
 hands, and, soon or late, the heart will fail, a sac- 
 rifice upon Love's altar! 
 
 Not many years ago at the marriage ceremony, 
 a wife was obliged to promise to obey her hus- 
 band. A certain woman declared that she would 
 never make that promise. The minister who was 
 to marry her was told her intention, and was de- 
 termined to require her to make the usual prom- 
 ises. In repeating the words of the service after 
 him, when she reached the word "obey," she was 
 seized with violent coughing. The minister pa- 
 tiently waited, saying, "We will try again." So 
 he began at the beginning. The second time, the 
 coughing was more violent than before. "Never 
 mind," he said, "do not feel embarrassed, we will 
 wait a few minutes, and try again." Then some 
 one brought her a glass of water, and they tried 
 again, with the same result. Then the minister 
 declared it to be useless to try the fourth time, 
 and that he would postpone the marriage. "Oh, 
 no, no !" she cried. "Try again !" And this time 
 she fairly screamed the word "obey." 
 
 In these days we marry with, or without prom- 
 ising obedience. It makes no difference. No 
 woman now-a-days is expected to be subservient 
 to her husband, and that is right. An old Quaker 
 lady gave a well known preacher the following 
 advice: "Robert, when thee performs the mar- 
 riage ceremony, thee should not make the wife 
 promise to obey the husband, unless thee also 
 
182 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 make the husband promise to obey the wife ; for 
 they should be equal." 
 
 "Not like to like, but like in difference ; 
 Yet in long years liker must they grow; 
 The man be more of woman, she of man, 
 Till at the last she set herself to man, 
 Like perfect music unto noble words. 
 Either sex alone, 
 
 Is half itself; and in true marriage lies 
 Nor equal nor unequal; each fulfills 
 Defect in each, and always thought in thought, 
 Purpose in purpose, will in will they grow, 
 The two-celled heart beating with one full stroke, 
 Life!" 
 
 Spurgeon settled the vexed question of con- 
 jugal obedience in an address at the marriage 
 of the daughter of a friend, when he spoke to the 
 bride about her future lord: "Let him be the 
 head, and do you be the neck to turn him which 
 way you please." 
 
 While you are not expected to obey your hus- 
 band, let your first thought be for his happiness ; 
 not in a servile way, because he demands it, but 
 because he is more to you than all the world be- 
 sides. Let interests outside your home be sec- 
 ondary ; home first, always. That is your prov- 
 ince. It rests largely with you to make it a 
 happy home. On the part of the husband also, 
 there is much required that every thing may go 
 on happily. If your wife does not, at first, meet 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 183 
 
 your expectations in every particular, do not begin 
 at once to try to make her over according to your 
 own model. Be patient with her. You have not 
 married a woman of experience. However ex- 
 cellent her training may have been, she is in a 
 position altogether new and strange, and which 
 demands much of which she has hitherto known 
 nothing. 
 
 Share with each other your burdens and per- 
 plexities. It will make them easier to bear, and 
 strengthen and purify your love. Do not allow 
 selfishness in any form to enter your home. 
 Teach the children early to seek the happiness of 
 others before their own. With all the members of 
 the household obeying the law of love, how happy 
 will be the home, and how pure and strong its ties. 
 Let the family altar be erected early, that the 
 blessing of God may rest upon the daily life. 
 "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in 
 vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, 
 the watchman waketh but in vain." 
 
 All this may seem prosy and commonplace, es- 
 pecially to the young ; but why not look at things 
 as they are? Much of the unhappiness in homes 
 comes from false estimates. That any discordant 
 note should enter into the harmony of two souls 
 whose bliss is heaven itself, cannot be thought of 
 for a moment. But life is not all sentiment ; we 
 have the material with which to deal; and while 
 we need all the poetry, all the romance, all the 
 philosophy we can command, we need far more 
 
184 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 the grace of God in the heart to fortify us against 
 the surprises and disappointments that are sure 
 to come at first, to be followed by a better under- 
 standing of each other, and a purer love which 
 will bear and forbear with sweetness and patience 
 "till death do us part." 
 
 Some women think that they are not accomplish- 
 ing anything worthy of commendation unless they 
 are able to do something for the world outside 
 their homes. What better can they do for the 
 world than to train a family for usefulness? It 
 is enough for one woman to make a happy home, 
 and to lead her children in ways of righteousness 
 and truth; and to no one will there be a heartier 
 welcome at heavens gates than to the faithful 
 wife and mother. 
 
 A bankrupt merchant went home one night and 
 said to his wife, "We are ruined! Everything 
 we had in the world is in the hands of the sheriff !" 
 After a few moments of silence his noble wife 
 asked, "Will he sell you? Will he sell .me?" 
 "Oh, no !" "Then don't say we have lost every- 
 thing. All that is most profitable to us, man- 
 hood and womanhood, remains. We have lost but 
 the skill and industry of our hands. We may 
 make another fortune, if our hearts and hands are 
 left to us." How much better thus to have been 
 a helpmate and true comrade to her husband than 
 to have weakly bewailed their misfortune, or to 
 have found fault with his management of his 
 business. Many women would have whined and 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 185 
 
 fretted and found fault, making it all the harder 
 for the husband, and for herself as well. Fault- 
 finding is a cruel thing under all circumstances. 
 It is a slow poison which ruins the life of many 
 a woman, many a man. It is so easy to wound. 
 The tongue is an unruly member; once let loose 
 it goes on and on, and before you know it, you 
 have said something you might better not have 
 said, you have wounded your best friend, you have 
 dropped a match into the inflammable materials 
 upon which your happiness is built. It is the 
 little foxes, which are hardly worth noticing, that 
 eat up the vines. Abraham Lincoln said: "I al- 
 ways pull up a thistle and plant a flower wherever 
 a flower will grow." That is what is needed in 
 the home ; thistles pulled up, and flowers planted. 
 Many men and women have much for which to 
 answer for the way in which they desecrate their 
 homes, and bring disfavor and reproach upon the 
 most sacred of all relations. Is sweet home life 
 no longer common? Has falling in love with an- 
 other woman's husband, or another man's wife 
 become so frequent that it has lost half its shame? 
 Is there no longer the laying down of selfishness, 
 the sacrificial offering upon Love's altar? Or 
 have we instead, sacrilege, profanation, the break- 
 ing of holy vows, the sundering of what ought to 
 be strong marital ties ? Thank God ! There are 
 many true husbands, and true wives, and happy 
 homes, and these must be the leaven which will 
 leaven the whole lump, these must be a light set 
 
186 HERE AND THERE A LEAF 
 
 upon a hill which cannot be hid, a beacon light 
 warning all against the dangerous shoals, the hid- 
 den rocks which threaten destruction. 
 
 An estrangement between husband and wife 
 usually begins with a trifling thing, which might 
 easily be settled in the beginning by the use of a lit- 
 tle common sense and forbearance. Be frank with 
 each other. Speak out ! Do not brood over things 
 which are likely to be imaginary. Let there be 
 no reservations. The most important thing is to 
 take God into your counsels. Harmony cannot 
 reign where God is not ; where he is not present, 
 evil will press in. The nearer you get to God in 
 your home, the nearer you will get to each other. 
 If there ever be a time when you need to call 
 mightily on God for help, it is when you are 
 tempted to be unfaithful in word or look, thought 
 or deed, to your marriage vows. Love's hands 
 are full of roses, but beware of the thorns which 
 pierce and poison the heart's life. 
 
 Young men and young women, do not be in 
 haste to marry. Better, a thousand times, never 
 to marry at all, than to have reason for regret- 
 ting entering into the bonds of matrimony. Do 
 not think it a small thing to enter into this sacred 
 relation. It is a most serious one ; its obligations 
 are heavy, and far-reaching; its consequences, a 
 lifetime of happines or misery. Young people 
 often speak of marriage as if it were the most 
 ordinary thing in the world. "We will try it," 
 they say, "and if we are not happy together, we 
 
HOME, SWEET HOME 187 
 
 will get a divorce." Be not so unwise. Weigh 
 well the matter, and marry for life, and live in 
 love, every day, common sense love. 
 
 "Life is too short, the pain of life too keen 
 To hold our love too fine for common use. 
 The sunlight falls alike on lofty oak 
 And on the modest grass-blade at its foot; 
 
 "And so our love is meant for daily use, 
 To lighten common cares and brighten life, 
 And not to be reserved for eulogy, 
 Or epitaph upon a monument. 
 
 "Give while you may, and not withhold your love 
 From dearest and most faithful friend on earth 
 Till you are forced to say with bleeding heart, 
 'Too late, too late ! I bring my gift too late !' " 
 
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