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und to prepare a stock of provender to
take with me, as a future supply for the
road. So I set to work and ground up
about two gallons of meal, on a steel mill,
and also parched and ground two or three
pounds of coffee, which, with several
pounds of sugar, and ten or twelve pounds
of bacon, I carefully wrapped up and
stowed away in a haversack for future
contingencies. I had been so long upon
scanty rations, or none at all, that it
seemed to me almost impossible to satisfy
my inordinate appetite. Half a dozen
times during the day I knocked off work
to cook a cup of coffee, to fry a slice of
middling, or to boil a pot of mush. It was
decidedly a “feast day” with me, and I
did not fail to make hay “while the sun
shone;” and, to conclude the day in an
appropriate manner, when night came I
turned into a nice, clean, comfortable bed,
and slept like a prince till long after sun
rise the next morning.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
CHARLEY ABBOTT:
THE LITTLE BOY WHOSE FAILURE WAS THE
MEANS OF IIIS SUCCESS.
S long ago as 1776, there
stood in the streets of
Canterbury, England,
Sißf ■! near the Canterbury Ca
thedral, a little, old-fash
ioned barber’s shop, with its red
and white pole over the door, and
W its modest display of wigs and puff
\i boxes in the window.
The shop, though a small one, was the
best in the town, and its master, a lean,
stiff and exceedingly dignified man, was
well thought of by all, especially by the
clergy, whose pationage he enjoyed, from
the Archbishop down. Through their in
fluence, his little son, Charley, a lad
fourteen years of age, had gained admis
sion as a pupil into the King’s School.
Charley received so good a name from the
master of the school for industry and du
tiful behavior, that the clergy resolved to
make the lad’s fortune by placing him in
the Cathedral choir, where there was a
vacancy. The boy who gained this place
was considered well provided for, as he at
once received a maintenance, and would
eventually get £7O (about $350 in gold,)
a-year.
but there was another candidate for
the place, and in spite of the strong influ
ence of his clerical friends, little Charley’s
chances were considered at least doubtful,
°n account of the superiority of the other
hoy s voice. At length, the day of trial
came, and Charley Abbott was beaten by
his clear-throated competitor. With a
BTJRKE’S WEEKLY.
heavy heart, ho hastened to. his father’s
shop to impart to him the woful tidings,
and then, unable longer to command his
grief, lie burst into tears.
Mark the sequel: had Charley Abbott
gained that place,he would probably never
have risen beyond it. But failing to get
it, he returned to the King’s School, final
ly entered Oxford University as a poor
scholar, and fought his way up to fortune
and to fame. lie became Chief Justice of
the King’s Bench, the highest of the Eng
lish Courts, and a peer of the realm.
Late in his useful life, Lord Tenterden,
once Charley Abbott, attended ser
vice in the great cathedral of Canterbury,
in company with one of his associate Jus
tices. At the close of the services, he said
to his friend:
“ Ho you see that old man there among
the choristers? In him, behold the only
being I ever envied. When we were
boys together in this town, we were rival
candidates for a place in the choir of this
cathedral. He was successful. If I had
gained what at that time was the dearest
wish of my heart, he might have been
accompanying you as Chief Justice, and
pointing mo out as his old friend, the
church chorister.”
How often failure in early life is the
first step to future greatness, and that
which in youth is considered the greatest
misfortune, is really a blessing in dis
guise.
“If I Should Die Before I Wake.”
OTHER, every night,
w^en s°i sa y>
‘Now I lay me,’ and do
HU you know, mamma,
* though I am four years
I never thought what it meant
until Fanny Grey died. I asked
nurse if Fanny died before she
? F waked, and she said ‘Yes.’ She
went to bed well, and had a spasm in the
night, and died before she knew anything
at all.”
“Noav, mother,” continued Rena, “I
want you to tell me about ‘Noav I lay
me,’ so that when I say it I may think
just what it means.”
“Well, Rena,” said her mother, “I shall
be very glad to tell you. \\ hat docs it
mean when you say, ‘ Now I lay me down
to sleep ?’ ”
“O! that means, mother, that I am
just going to lie down in my bed to go to
sleep till morning.”
“Well, then, as you lie down to sleep,
what prayer do you offer to God?”
“‘I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
I want the Lord to take care ot my soul
while I am asleep, and to take care of me
all over , mother. But, mother, if I should
die before I wake, would the Lord be tak
ing care of me, then ? Now, it seemed to
me when Fanny died that God did not
take care of her that night, and so she
died.”
u Oh, no, Rena! God did take care of
her. The little verse says, ‘lf I should
die before I wake, I pray the Lord my
soul to take;’ so you see God took little
Fanny’s soul to himself; and when she
awoke, she was in the arms of the blessed
Jesus. Now, Rena, when you say, ‘Now
I lay me, I want you to think this way:
‘ Now I am going to bed and to sleep, and
I want the Lord to take care of me. If I
am not a good child, and do not pray to
God, ought I to ask him or expect him to
take care of me ? Let me lie down feel
ing that I am in the Lord’s care, and if I
should die before I wake, that still I am
the Lord’s child ; and I pray that He may
take my soul to dwell with Him.’ ”
“0, mother! I will try and remember.
Why, I used to say it slow, and clasp my
hands, and shut my eyes, and yet I did
not think about it. Thank you, mother
dear. Please hear me to-night when I
say my prayers.”
Ah, little children ! arc there not a great
many, who, like Rena, say their prayers
without thinking what it means?—mere
words, with no meaning in them. God
cannot listen to such prayers. They are
not for Him “unto whom all hearts are
open, all desires known, and from whom
no secrets are hid.”
Think of what I have written about
little Rena when you say “Now I lay
me” to-night; and I pray that God will
watch over you, waking and sleeping.
Paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer.
The following paraphrase of the Lord’s
Prayer has been set to music in England.
It is the best we have ever seen in any
language —there is nothing wanting, and
nothing redundant:
Our Heavenly Father, hear our prayer;
Thy name be hallowed everywhere ;
Thy kingdom come, Thy perfect will
In earth, as heaven, let all fulfil ;
Give this day’s bread that we may live ;
Forgive our sins as we forgive;
Help us temptation to withstand;
From evil shield us by Thy hand;
Now and forever unto Thee,
The kingdom, power and glory be. Amen.
Plant Something. —Plant a grapevine,
strawberry plant, rose bush, or even a
beet or a carrot—something to care for,
and watch and study by
give more pleasure than any toy, besides
adding something to your knowledge. It
may, perhaps, be the beginning of a suc
cessful career as a fruit-grower, a garden
er, or a botanist.
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