The Project Gutenberg eBook of A fifth day in Mary Carrow's school
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: A fifth day in Mary Carrow's school
Author: Anonymous
Release date: June 19, 2026 [eBook #78896]
Language: English
Original publication: Philadelphia, PA: American Sunday-School Union, 1852
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78896
Credits: Eloise Tara Unerman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FIFTH DAY IN MARY CARROW'S SCHOOL ***
A FIFTH DAY
IN
MARY CARROW’S SCHOOL.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
The Harvesters.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A FIFTH DAY
IN
MARY CARROW’S SCHOOL.
American Sunday-School Union,
_PHILADELPHIA_: 146 CHESTNUT ST.
_NEW YORK_: 147 NASSAU STREET
_BOSTON_: 9 CORNHILL.
_LOUISVILLE_: 103 FOURTH ST.
--------------------------------
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by the
_AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION_,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania.
--------------------------------
☞ No books are published by the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION without the
sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen
members, from the following denominations of Christians, viz. Baptist,
Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Reformed
Dutch. Not more than three of the members can be of the same
denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the
Committee shall object.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
Eddy at the Window,—Just up.—p. 5.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
FIFTH DAY
IN
MARY CARROW’S SCHOOL.
--------------------------------
THE FORESTERS’ COTTAGE.
I will take my little readers over to Eddy Forester’s, this morning.
There is Eddy at the window, just up. Do you see him in the picture? He
has opened the window, and is glad to find the sun is shining; for the
first thing he thought of this morning, when he awoke, was the
mowing-party to be at Linn’s.
As soon as Eddy was half-dressed, he went to the little bedroom where
Lily slept, and called, “Sister Lily! Sister Lily! Get up; it isn’t
raining, and we shall have the hay-making party this afternoon.”
Lily was apt to be sleepy in the morning, and she would not get up; but
Eddy called and thumped at the door till his little sister was wide
awake, and then she got up and came to open it. He kissed her and said,
“Come, Lily, I will help you to carry your clothes down to mother’s
room, and she will dress you. If you were not such a big girl, I would
carry you, too; but I’m afraid, if I did that, we might both get a
tumble. Don’t you think we should, Lily?” Lily was sometimes a little
cross when she first waked in the morning; but Eddy talked to her till
she was in a good humour. He liked to take her out with him in the
morning, when he went to do what he could for his mother before
breakfast, and he sometimes had to bear a good deal with her little pets
and humours before they could get off.
Their mother heard them talking overhead, and then she heard their
little naked feet pattering along the entry and on the stairway; and she
wondered why they were so long coming to her.
Shall I tell my little readers why Eddy and Lily stopped on their way?
In the stairway wall, about half-way down, there was a small window
which overlooked the garden.
There was something in the garden which had been placed there the day
before. Eddy knew of it, but Lily did not. It was a _beehive_, for the
bees to make honey in.
When they were on the step, just under the little window, Eddy said,
“Stop, Lily, and I will show you something you have never seen—something
that begins with a B. Would you like to see it?”
_Lily._ Yes, Eddy. What is it? A little pig?
_Eddy._ No. I said it began with a B, not with a P. You must guess
again.
_Lily._ A pussy-cat?
_Eddy._ No. It begins with B, I tell you. That is not it, either.
Lily could not guess, and Eddy said he would show it to her, if she
could climb up into the window. Then he sat down on one of the stairs,
and told Lily to get upon the step behind him, and to put her foot on
his shoulder, and then she must take hold of the window-sill, and he
would raise her up. Lily did so, and Eddy climbed up beside her, and
showed her the beehive in the garden.
While they were there, talking about the beehive, their mother called
them, and they soon came down again and ran to her. Lily could hardly
wait to be dressed, she was so eager to have a closer look at the
beehive. Her mother told her she might go with Eddy, if she would not
touch the bees; for if she did, they would sting her.
After Lily was dressed, her mother took out of the closet a pair of
thick-soled, leather boots, which she was to put on when she went out
with Eddy, early in the morning, while the grass was wet with dew. Then
she wished Lily to sit down, and put them on herself; and while she was
doing this, Eddy went for his boots, and then they set off together to
look at the beehive.
Eddy slipped back the little door which was placed in the side of the
hive, and then, through the glass, he and Lily peeped, to see the
little, industrious bees at work. They saw them travelling to and fro,
inside of their glass house; but they did not know much about bees, and
could not tell what they were doing. They only knew that bees made wax
and honey, and they knew that honey was very nice, for they had eaten
it.
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
Eddy and Lily looking at the beehive.—p. 10.
]
“We will ask Mary all about the bees, when we go to school,” said Eddy.
“She can tell us what they are doing inside of their little house.”
When they were satisfied with looking at the beehive, and talking about
the industrious little bees, Eddy said—
“Come, Lily; do you want to go with me to bring Brindle up, for mother
to milk?”
Lily said “Yes.” And Eddy took her by the hand and led her very
carefully, out of the way of some swampy ground which was near the
garden-wall, and then they had two meadows to cross and a fence to climb
over before they found the cow. Brindle knew Eddy right well, and he had
no trouble in driving her home to the barnyard to be milked. He had a
long stick, which he had cut from a hickory-tree, and whenever Brindle
walked out of the right path, he gave her a little tap with the stick,
and that was quite enough of a hint to turn her into the track again.
Eddy and Lily loved the old cow, and they played with her, and talked to
her as if she understood them.
After Lily’s mother had milked the cow, she carried the pail, which was
filled with milk, into the spring-house, and there, on the stone floor,
were two nice, bright tin pans, all ready to receive it. She took down
from its place a fine sieve, which she put first over one pan, and then
over the other, as she poured the milk into them. This was done in order
to strain the milk and have it perfectly clean—free from motes and
hairs, and the small insects which are often flying about barnyards.
When the pans were filled with the nice new milk, Eddy assisted his
mother in carrying the water, with which to clean her milkpail, and Lily
went to the house to get the cream cup, that it might be filled with
cream for breakfast.
Then Eddy drove Brindle away back to the meadow, where she could eat her
good breakfast of grass, while his mother and Lily went home to prepare
their’s.
Lily carried the cream cup, and her mother carried a pot of butter in
cold water to keep it hard. The first thing they did when they went into
the house was to put on dry shoes.
Then Lily’s mother began to prepare breakfast. Lily could place the
cream and butter and bread on the table, after her mother had cut it;
and she knew where the sugar was kept, and could fill the sugar-bowl,
and she could count as many eggs as were wanted for breakfast, and bring
them to her mother from the pantry. Then she put a plate for her mother,
and one for Eddy, and one for herself, and a knife and fork for each,
and an egg-cup and a napkin. When Lily had done all this, she asked her
mother, (as any other good little girl would do,) if she could assist
her in any thing else?
Her mother told her she might go up-stairs and take the bedclothes off
Eddy’s little bed, and off her own; first the coverlets, which she could
put on the back of a chair; then the sheets, one by one, and then the
pillows and bolster, which she might place on the window-sills to air.
When Lily came down-stairs, Eddy had returned, and breakfast was ready.
It was only six o’clock, when the Foresters sat down to their morning
meal. They were a happy little family of love. They always rose early,
and finished their tasks before breakfast, and when they came to the
table, they enjoyed their meal as much as any prince in his palace could
do. They had found the great secret of happiness—they were contented
with their lot. Eddy’s mother would sometimes say, her cottage and her
children made her a little Garden of Eden, in the midst of which God had
planted her, that she might dress it and keep it.
Eddy and Lily had a great deal of talk with their mother at table. They
asked her questions, and she answered them, and instructed them in many
things.
“I will take another egg, if you please, mother,” said Eddy, “and some
more bread and butter. I am very hungry this morning.” Eddy and Lily ate
their eggs as their mother had taught them, without soiling their
fingers at all. They took their knives, and cracked a line round the
shell, near the large end, about half an inch from the top. Then they
peeled off the shell where it was cracked, and put their eggs into
little cups, which their mother had placed for each of them, the peeled
end being uppermost; and with their spoons they ate the egg from the
shell. There is another way to eat eggs. Cut through the middle of the
shell into the egg, and with the thumb and finger of each hand break it
open; hold the cut part next to your cup or glass, and let the contents
of the shell fall into your cup. But little boys and girls are not apt
to do this dexterously; so, for fear of soiling their fingers, (which is
a very offensive habit, at table,) they had better eat eggs as Eddy and
Lily Forester did.
THE WALK TO SCHOOL.
As Eddy and Lily walked to school, they had to wait, when they got to
the wide turnpiked road, for two travelling-carriages to pass. While
they waited, a little curly-headed boy dropped something out of one of
the carriage windows, and Eddy told Lily to stand still where she was,
while he went and picked it up. It was a large humming-top, and when he
handed it to the little boy who had dropped it, the little boy said, “I
thank you, Eddy Forester. I wish you would ask your mother to let you
come and see me, when we come back, and I will show you how my top hums
when I spin it.” Eddy said he would like to come, and then the carriage
passed on. It belonged to their neighbour, Thompson, a gentleman who had
a beautiful country-seat near the Foresters’ cottage.
“I wish _we_ could ride in that pretty carriage, and have little ponies,
as Willy and Alfred Thompson have,” said Lily. “Don’t you, Eddy?” “Yes,”
said Eddy. “I wonder why mother hasn’t as much money as the Thompsons,
and why she cannot have servants to milk and get breakfast and dinner,
as they have, instead of doing it all herself.”
“I don’t know why it is,” said Lily; “but we will ask Mary as soon as we
go to school.”
“Oh, yes,” Eddy replied. “Mary knows; she can tell us all about it, and
about the bees too.”
And with this happy hope of an answer to all their questions and doubts,
the little brother and sister began to look about them for something
else to enjoy and talk about.
“Look! look! Lily. Here is an ant-hill. Don’t tread on it. The little
ants are bringing grains of sand to make it bigger.”
_Lily._ Why do they creep in at that hole in the top of the hill? Do you
know, Eddy?
Then they both stooped down and watched the little ants; and while they
did so, Eddy told his sister that the hill was the house which the
little ants had built for themselves to live in, and that the hole at
the top was their front-door, where they went in and out of their house.
_Lily._ Why do they go in and out of it?
_Eddy._ Because they are building little rooms inside of it, and those
pellets of sand and earth which they carry in with them are what they
build with. They use those little pellets just as the masons use bricks
when they build houses for people to live in. They pile them up close
together to make the walls and ceilings of their little rooms, inside
the hill which you see.
_Lily._ Who told you about it, Eddy?
_Eddy._ Mary told me one day, when she and I carried some things over to
Mike’s mother. She and I stopped to look at some ant-hills, and we
talked about them all the way home.
_Lily._ What else did Mary tell you about the little ants?
_Eddy._ She said that after the rooms inside the hills were finished,
the ants laid their eggs in them; and when the sun made the little rooms
nearest the top of the hill too warm for the eggs, the ants removed the
eggs into the cellar of their houses; for they make rooms under the
ground as well as above it. When the young ants come out of the eggs,
then there are too many to live in one house, and the father and
mother-ants and the children-ants all set to work together, and build
another little house.
_Lily._ Oh! Eddy, what a pretty story about ants! Do you know any more?
_Eddy._ Yes. Mary told me these little brown ants were called
mason-ants, because they build their houses as masons do; and she said
there were different kinds of ants, and some time she would tell me more
about them.
When Eddy and Lily were satisfied with looking at the ants and their
little houses, they went on again to school. Suddenly, Lily screamed,
“Oh, Eddy! Eddy! Take it off! Do take it off! Do kill it!”
“What is the matter?” said Eddy. But poor little Lily only jumped about
and cried, “Oh, the ugly thing! The ugly thing!”
At length Eddy discovered that a caterpillar had fallen on Lily’s neck,
from one of the trees under which they were walking.
He begged Lily to be quiet while he took it off, telling her at the same
time that it would not hurt her. He then picked a green leaf and held it
close to the caterpillar, and the caterpillar crept off Lily’s neck and
came upon the leaf. As soon as she knew it was off, she wanted to kill
it.
“Oh no! You must not,” said Eddy; “let the poor little thing have some
breakfast, out of this tender green leaf. We have had our’s, you know,
and this leaf is the little caterpillar’s bread and butter.” When Lily
understood that the caterpillar would not bite, nor poison her, she
looked at it, as Eddy pointed out the pretty bright rings round its
body, and the little horns on its head; and when he told her that a
pretty butterfly would come out of the caterpillar, if it were let
alone, she was glad she did not kill it.
As they walked along, Lily spied a beautiful rose, just outside of a
garden railing. She was running off to pluck it, but Eddy held her by
the arm.
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
They saw a gentleman sitting in an arm-chair, with a book in his lap,
and his eyes uplifted.—p. 25.
]
“It is not your’s, you know,” said Eddy. “It would be stealing, to take
it.”
“Would it?” said Lily. “Then let us go and ask for it.” “So we will,”
said Eddy; and they turned back a short distance, to a garden-gate,
which they opened and passed through. They found themselves in a
beautiful garden, where were flowers of various kinds all in bloom. Lily
could hardly keep her hands from them, but Eddy told her she must not
touch them without leave. They went on, until they came to a door, which
was partly open. They peeped in, and saw a gentleman sitting in an
arm-chair, with a book on his lap, and his eyes were uplifted as if he
were praying. “It is our pastor,” whispered Eddy, and at that moment the
good man espied his little visitors. He held out a hand to each, and
said, “Well, my little children, have you any thing to say to me this
morning?”
Eddy told him their errand, and he immediately laid down his book, put
on his hat, took his cane, and walked with them into the garden.
“May we have one of your pretty roses?” said Lily.
“Yes! That you shall, my little daughter, and as many other flowers as
you like. Now, come and show me which you admire most, and I will cut
them for you.”
Their good pastor made them up a beautiful nosegay, and then dismissed
them, inviting them to come and ask for flowers again, if they wanted
them.
Eddy and Lily ran off to school with the flowers, and Lily said they
would give them to Mary. On the way, Lily stopped to listen to
something.
“What is that noise, Eddy? Do you hear it?”
_Eddy._ Yes. It is the mill-wheels grinding wheat, to make flour; but we
must not stop now any longer, or we shall be late at school.
Eddy and Lily were the last at school, but not late. They met Mary, just
as they went up the lane, and ran to her with the flowers.
“Thank you! Thank you! for your beautiful gift,” said Mary. “I will give
you each a kiss for it.”
* * * * *
“Definitions, arithmetic, spelling, reading, sewing, and philosophy is
the order of to-day,” said Charles Linn. “Come, let us be at work, so
that we may have plenty of time to play in our harvest-fields this
afternoon. Father says we may do as we like—make hay or help bind the
wheat-sheaves. At any rate, we shall have fine fun. Father is coming out
to work with us, and, at lunch-time, mother will come and bring the
baby.”
“May I nurse the baby, Charles?” said Lily Forester.
_Carry Deacon._ I like kittens better than babies, because babies cry,
and kittens don’t.
_Mary._ Come, now, we must get to work, and talk about the respective
merits of babies and kittens at some other time. What is the lesson in
philosophy? We will take that first.
_Charles._ The atmospheric air.
_Mary._ What can you tell me about the atmospheric air?
_Charles._ It has _weight_.
_Susan Field._ It has _colour_.
_Mary._ Lucy Linn, please to give me some proof that the air has colour?
_Lucy._ The blue sky is a proof of it.
_Mary._ How does that prove it? Is there any thing beyond the sky? Any
surface which reflects this colour, and makes it appear blue?
_Charles._ No. The atmospheric air is really of a blue colour; and we
see it only in the sky, because between our eye and that distance a
great space is filled with atmospheric air. The air is composed of
transparent particles, and we must see a great number of these particles
lying close together, in order to discover their true colour.
_Mary._ Can you make this more clear to me by illustration?
_Charles._ Yes, I think I can. If I take any transparent substance, a
piece of glass for instance, so slightly coloured that I cannot tell
whether it is blue, or pink, or green, by placing another piece of the
same kind of glass behind it, the colour will be deepened; and if I
place a number of pieces of glass of the same kind together, the whole
of them will be so distinctly blue, or pink, or green, that in this way
I can discover the colour of the first piece.
Just so I obtain the colour of the air. The particles which fill the
space between you and me, being transparent, appear colourless because
there are so few of them together; and if I look beyond you, out of the
window, to the woods across there, I still perceive no colour in the
atmosphere. But if I look far, far beyond, through as much space as my
eye can take in, then I find out the colour of the air, because I see a
sufficient number of its particles, one behind another, to give it to
me.
_Mary._ Is there any other transparent fluid, the colour of which you
can find out by the same means?
_Carry D._ Yes. Water. If I stand on the bank of a river, or on a boat,
or in any situation where I see a large body of water, it appears
coloured; sometimes blue, sometimes green. And I know I can only find
out its true colour, by seeing a large body of it; because, if I were to
take a cup and fill it with this same water, it would be colourless in
the cup.
_Mary._ Very satisfactory. Now I should like to have some proof that the
air has _weight_.
The scholars hesitated, and Mary asked them if flies, walking on the
ceiling without falling, had any thing to do with the weight and
pressure of the atmosphere?
_Lucy._ Yes. I remember now what you told us about that. The feet of
flies are so constructed that when they place them on any surface, the
atmospheric air is excluded. There is, then, no air between their feet
and the ceiling, or wall, or pane of glass, on which they are walking,
and the weight of the atmospheric air on the outer surface of their feet
keeps them in their position, and prevents them from falling.
_Mary._ What else can you tell me about it?
_Charles._ The weight of the air falls equally on every side of a body
which is exposed to it.
_Mary._ Give me a proof of it.
_Charles._ I keep my upright position as I stand before you, because the
atmospheric air is pressing equally upon the top of my head, and on both
sides of me. If the air pressed with greater weight on my head than on
other parts of my body, I should stoop instead of standing upright; if
it pressed with greater weight on one side of my body than on the other,
I should lean from my perpendicular position.
_Mary._ Very good. What would be the effect upon you if the air had no
weight, and if there was no pressure upon the surface of your body?
Would you fly, as the birds do?
_Charles._ No; because the spaces in my bones, and in other parts of my
frame, contain more fluids and less gases than those in the body of a
bird.
_Mary._ Very true. And so wisely has our Heavenly Father fashioned all
his creatures, that they can only live and move and support themselves
by obeying the laws of their respective organizations. Our Heavenly
Father intended that you should stand still, or sit, or lie, in any
position you choose, without feeling the weight of the atmosphere which
surrounds you; and He has filled the spaces within your bodies with just
so much power of resistance to this outside pressure, so that you can
keep yourself steadily in any position which you choose to assume.
What causes the piece of leather, which you call your sucker, to adhere
to the stone on which you place it?
_Charles._ The weight of the atmosphere.
_Mary._ Explain, if you please, the whole matter to us.
_Charles._ I asked our shoemaker to cut for me a round piece of leather,
rather larger than a silver dollar. I then made a hole in the middle of
it, through which I slipped a piece of twine, making a knot in the end
of the twine to prevent it from slipping back. I then wetted the leather
until it was quite pliable, and would adhere closely to any surface on
which I placed it. I selected a smooth stone, placed the leather upon
it, and stamped my foot down on it; and then father, and old Pete, and
myself, successively tried to pull it off the stone, but it adhered so
closely that, when we attempted to raise it, we lifted the stone and
all!
_Mary._ What produced this effect?
_Charles._ The weight of the atmospheric air upon the leather.
_Mary._ But if the air presses equally on every part of the surface of a
body, why did not the weight of the air on the under part of the leather
force it up?
_Charles._ There was no air to press upon the under surface. It was
excluded by the adhesion of the leather to the stone; and there was no
resistance below to the pressure above it. Hence, it retained its place.
Mary now went to the closet, and brought out the little pot, from which
the water would not run freely the day before, at the tea-party. She
held it up, and asked her class if any of them could tell her why the
water did not run freely out of the spout, when they attempted to pour
out tea. Each of the scholars took the pot and examined it, but no one
could answer the question.
Mary then filled the pot with water and closed it with the lid. Then she
attempted to pour out the water into a little basin. At first it ran out
freely, but it soon flowed only in drops.
“You have told me, Charles,” said Mary, “that the air has weight. Now
the spout of the pot is filled with air, and when I pour out the water
at first, the resistance which the water meets from the pressure of the
air in the spout is not great enough to prevent it from flowing out; but
after the air in the spout has been forced out by the water, you
perceive, (do you not?) that the water, as I continue to pour it, meets
with the pressure of the whole surrounding atmosphere, and that is too
great to allow the water to run freely. How is this?”
_Charles._ Oh, I see—I know! When the lid is _on_ the pot, the air
cannot get to the surface of the water in the pot, and therefore there
is no pressure there to act _against_ the pressure which the water meets
as it flows from the spout.
_Mary._ Now can you tell me what we shall do to have the water run
freely?
_Charles._ Take off the lid, and then the weight of the air on the water
at the top of the pot will press it out of the spout as you pour it.
_Mary._ We must do so in this case to have the water run freely; but you
have observed that at table we always pour out tea and coffee with the
lid _on_ the pot.
Mary then took an iron piercer out of her desk, and she made a small
hole in the top of the pot lid. While she was doing it, Susan Field
exclaimed, “I have found it out—I have found it out! There ought to be a
little hole in the lids of coffee and tea-pots, so that the air can get
through the little hole, and press upon the surface of the tea and
coffee. Then the pressure upon it within being equal to the pressure it
meets without, whatever liquid is in the pot will run out freely. Is not
that it, Mary?”
_Mary._ Yes. And now we will test your discovery.
Mary then filled the little play tea-pot with water, and put on the lid
with the hole in the top of it; and to the delight of all the scholars,
who had crowded round the basin, the water flowed out freely and
beautifully, until there was not a drop left in the pot.
“Bravo! little Miss Philosopher,” said Charles Linn. “Let us crown her!
Let us crown her! She is the conqueror of the day.”
_Mary._ I am very well satisfied with all my little philosophers to-day;
but we have spent so much time over this lesson, that you must leave
crowning Susan until you have a recess. Charles may do the honours of
the occasion by making a speech, if he likes.
Charles went to his desk, humming by the way some verses which his
father had read to the family the evening before, and which he had
desired Charles to learn.
We are trav’llers on a plain
Rich with treasures sprinkled o’er;
God has placed us here to gain
All that lies upon its floor.
Every truth we find is gold,
Dropp’d by wise men gone before;
Fast our findings let us hold,
Daily adding more and more.
Then for those that come behind,
We can leave our tiny grain;
Thus, for every good we find,
Giving something back again.
As the generations rise,
Each gains something from the past—
Each should go out, as it dies,
Wiser, better than the last.
Mary now heard the lessons. Definitions and spelling occupied the time
until the hour for recess.
“Now let us crown our Queen of the Day,” said Charles; and every one of
the scholars set out, through their bounds, to gather wild-flowers and
pretty green leaves to make a wreath for Susan. Charles said they must
have some laurel, and he went off to gather it.
Heated and weary they came back again, and all sat down together on the
grass, bringing their gatherings to Lucy Linn, who had been appointed to
make a wreath for the queen.
Lucy twisted and untwisted, and arranged and re-arranged, until she had
formed a very beautiful wreath. She had ivy, oak, and laurel leaves
twined first together, as a framework, and then she twisted wild-flowers
in among them. The little children were lying about on the grass, around
Lucy, while she was at work, and the older ones made suggestions to her
as she proceeded. When the wreath was made,
“Now,” said Charles, “I must crown the queen, for I was the first to
acknowledge her discovery.”
Susan looked very sweetly when she was crowned. She had waving brown
hair over a fair round forehead, and soft hazel eyes. Charles said she
looked every inch a queen.
“Now you are too grand to play, Susan,” said Eddy Forester.
“Oh no, indeed I am not,” said she. “One, two, three, and away!” and
away ran Susan, and all the scholars after her, and a merry chase had
the subjects after their queen. When they caught her, Susan said she
would take off her wreath, and keep it to show to Mary, and then she
would take it home to show to her grand-father and grand-mother.
The day was very warm, and they all sat down together, to rest, near a
fountain, away off at the lower edge of the wood. The spring had been
walled round by Alfred Thompson’s father; and in order that the
villagers might obtain water readily, he had a pipe made and carried up
through the wall; and from this pipe the beautiful, clear water flowed
out all day long.
While they were there, some washerwomen came to get water, and a little
girl who was with them spied the school children, as they sat and talked
and laughed under a shady tree.
“Will you give us some water? we are so very thirsty,” said they to the
little girl.
“Are you Mary Carrow’s scholars?” asked the women.
“Yes,” said Charles Linn, rising up and coming forward.
“Then,” replied they, “you shall have as much water from our cup as you
like, because you have a very good name in the neighbourhood.”
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
Women at the fountain.—p. 46.
]
While they were drinking, they heard Mary’s voice, and presently she
appeared among them. She thanked the little girl, and said some kind
words to the washerwomen, and then hastened the scholars back into
school.
_Mary._ Do you know how fast the morning is running away? We have yet
one lesson to say, and then, Eddy and Lily want to know something about
bees.
Mary looked at Susan’s wreath as they walked back to school, and put it
on her own head to see how she looked in it. Then she told her to keep
it as a good mark gained at school; for that would be a pleasant
remembrance, when the sweet flowers and pretty leaves of which it was
made should have withered away.
Mary’s scholars were earnest and bright this morning, and were soon
ready for the reading.
“Now for the bees!” said Eddy Forester.
_Mary._ Eddy, what did you wish to ask about them?
_Eddy._ I should like to know what they do when they travel about in
their hive?
_Mary._ When you see them hurrying up and down in their hive, they are
at work. Some of them are carrying wax to the place where other bees are
building cells, and these cells, you know, form the comb. Some of them
are loaded with farina, which, you know, they gather from the flowers;
and with this farina they feed the young bees. Each one does his own
work, without interfering with the others; and though you sometimes see
only an apparently confused crowding of bees together, in their hives,
yet they are all busy at their appointed work.
There are three classes of bees in every hive. First, there is the
queen-bee, who is mother and ruler of the whole community. Then there
are the drones; and there are the working-bees, who build the cells and
make the honey. The working-bees are divided into two classes—the
wax-workers and the nursing-bees. It is the especial business of the
latter to take care of the young, but they also make wax and assist in
the architecture of the hive.
When you saw so many bees passing to and fro in the hive, they were
engaged in doing their own special business. Some of these which you saw
were carrying wax to the little architects who were laying the
foundations of a new comb; and as soon as they reached the spot, these
would come forward to meet them, and relieve them of their burdens; then
they would immediately leave the hive, to procure more materials for
building, and when they returned with another load, it would again be
taken from them by the bees who were at home in the hive, and applied to
the same purpose—forming or finishing cells. Some of those which you saw
were probably nursing-bees, carrying food to the cells, where the young
bees were in the first stage of their existence. Some of these might
have been wax-workers, taking the wax which they had made to the cells
which were already filled with honey, in order to spread a very thin
layer of it over each cell, to prevent the honey from wasting by running
out.
_Lucy Linn._ Do the bees make the pretty combs which hold the honey?
_Mary._ Yes. That is the first work of a new swarm after it has taken
possession of the hive.
_Eddy._ How did they learn to make such pretty combs? Look, here is a
print of one.
_Mary._ God gave them instincts, by which they learn to provide for
themselves. He has implanted in every creature which he has created, an
instinct, which guides it first to gather such materials as it needs for
the construction of its habitation, and afterward to make use of the
materials which it has collected, in building its habitation.
[Illustration: drawing of honeycomb]
“He has implanted in every creature the instinct of self-preservation,
and he has endowed even the most insignificant insect, as well as the
noblest animals, with intelligence sufficient to provide for its own
wants.” He has fashioned every creature with organs adapted to
accomplish this end; and the more you know of insect history, the better
you will be able to comprehend something of the wisdom and beneficence
of our Heavenly Father, who has made nothing in vain.
_Susan._ Here is a cluster of bees hanging together, as I have often
seen them hanging at the door of a hive. What does it mean, Mary?
_Mary._ They are manufacturing wax, while in that position. It is always
their preliminary measure, when they are about to begin building their
cells.
_Eddy._ What is wax made of?
_Mary._ Honey. When the bees are gorged with honey, they hang together
in this way, in order to make their honey into wax. As soon as they have
made enough to build cells with, they begin.
One bee, (called by naturalists the founder-bee,) attaches itself to the
roof of the hive, in order to lay the foundation-wall for a row of
cells. While in this position, it affixes to the roof a shapeless little
mound of wax; it smooths and works at its deposite until it is weary,
when another bee comes and takes its place, and works in the same way
until it also is tired. A number of bees in succession come after these,
each one bringing its deposite of wax, which it adds to the general
mass; and they soon have an irregular line of wax hanging down from the
roof of the hive, about two-thirds of an inch in length. This is the
foundation-wall of their pretty house of honeycombs.
You will observe that I have told you this wall of wax, which depends
from the roof of the hive, is of an irregular thickness. When it is
completed, another set of bees begin to lay the foundations of the
cells, by commencing a hollowing process at those parts of the wall
where it is thickest. The first bee who comes to the work takes out of
the wall with its teeth as much wax as is equal to the diameter of a
cell; and after kneading the particles with its mandibles, and
moistening them with its tongue, deposits it on the edge of the
excavation which it has made in the wall. When this insect has laboured
for some seconds, it goes away, and another takes its place, working in
the same way. So soon as one bee succeeds another in the work, a number
of excavations in the wall are made, which are the rudiments of cells.
While these are being made, another set of founder-bees build a second
wall, which they bring down in a parallel line to the first, and near
enough to it to admit of only a passage for the bees who are making the
cells on either side of the wall.
Two sets of bees are always at work in constructing the comb; those who
build the walls, and those who excavate the cells; and there is also
another set of bees, who polish and finish the cells, after they are
formed.
_Lucy._ How do they proceed after their house is built?
_Mary._ You will observe that, in consequence of the mode of building
among bees, new walls and the rudiments of cells are being constructed
in one part of the hive, while, in another, the work is in a complete
state. As soon as some of the cells are completed, the queen-bee begins
to deposit eggs in them, and these are called brood-cells. Very soon
after the eggs are laid, the embryo insect requires feeding, which work
is performed by the nurse-bees. This creates a division of labour, you
see, and of course there are fewer builders to carry on the construction
of combs. The nurse-bees always assist in building, when they have no
young to take care of. Another set of cells is appropriated for the
honey, and it is the business of some of the bees to store up winter
provisions, by filling them with this delicious fare. Here we come in
for a share of their labour, for you know we take all the honey which
they do not need for themselves and their families.
_Mike Terry._ Where do the bees get the food for their young?
_Mary._ They gather it from the flowers. It was formerly supposed that
the young bee was fed with honey, but Huber and other late naturalists
have discovered that they are fed on farina.
There are many very interesting facts in connection with the swarming of
bees, which are worthy of attention.
When the number of bees becomes too great for one family, there is a
wise provision made for their division into separate tribes. These
tribes are called swarms, and when a swarm leaves the hive, with a queen
at its head, they seek a new home, and begin to build, in the manner
which I have described to you.
_Charles._ Would they not go without a queen?
_Mary._ No.
_Lucy._ How do queens differ from common bees?
_Mary._ They are larger and handsomer, and their position is different
from that of any other bee, inasmuch as they receive the homage of all
the bees in the hive.
_Charles._ But if there is but one queen in each hive, how are others
obtained when the swarming takes place?
_Mary._ I was about to explain this to you, when one of you asked a
question about something else.
In the construction of the cells which form the comb, there are three
different sorts—the brood-cells, which are for the common eggs—the honey
cells, for honey, and the royal cells, for the eggs which are to produce
queens. These royal cells are always made larger, and with more care,
and with a greater expenditure of wax and labour, than any of the other
cells. There are usually three or four, but sometimes as many as ten or
twelve in one hive.
About the time that a royal princess comes forth from her cell, the old
queen usually leads off a part of the family, to seek with them a new
home, leaving her successor to govern and receive the honours of
royalty. This is called swarming. The queens seem to have an instinctive
hatred of each other, and when more than one princess emerges at the
same time from their respective cells, they attack, and would destroy
one another, if they were not prevented by the workers.
Some naturalists are of the opinion that the bees send out scouts, prior
to swarming, to select for them a new home; and if there are no empty
hives near at hand, they will begin to form their combs in the hollow
trunks of trees. Owners of bees, however, usually watch them, and have
empty hives ready for the new swarms.
So wonderful and interesting are the little creatures, in all their
habits, and so marvellously is the wisdom of our Heavenly Father
displayed in their instincts, that we might spend weeks in pursuing
their history, and yet not become acquainted with all that naturalists
have discovered about them. I scarcely know how to quit the subject; but
it is already past the hour at which we usually close school, and I am
afraid the fathers and mothers of my little scholars are wondering why I
keep them so long, this morning.
“Will you not tell us all about it at some other time, Mary?” asked the
scholars, almost all at once.
Mary told them she would. “And now,” said she, “we must put away books
and slates, and go home to our dinners. Talking so long to you, makes me
feel very hungry, I assure you.”
When Mary’s scholars came to school in the afternoon, they scampered
away, one by one, down to the tool-house, with the rakes and little
pitch-forks which they had brought for the harvesting at neighbour
Linn’s. They were all neatly dressed, to stay to tea. Poor little Mike
Terry had never been out to tea in his life before, and he was so
pleased to be invited, that he could talk and think of nothing else.
Lucy Linn was whispering round that they were to have a table spread out
on the lawn, and she told Mike he should sit next to her, and she would
give him cakes and sweetmeats, and as many nice things as he wanted to
eat.
“And will you give me some of the good things to take home to mother,
Lucy?”
_Lucy._ Yes. You shall have the little basket that Charley and I bring
our dinners in to school, on rainy days, and I will fill it full of good
things for your mother, and you shall carry them home to her.
_Mike._ What a nice girl you are, Lucy! I love you dearly for that.
While Mike and Lucy were talking, the little bell rang for school.
Mary told them she should give them a short session, so that they could
have plenty of time for the hay-making.
“Now what have we to do?” Charles.
“Sewing for the girls, geography for us, and tables and slates for these
youngsters. Then Bible-reading, and then hay-making.”
_Ellen Raby._ Mary, will you read to us something pretty, while we are
sewing? See, my hemming is all fitted, and Lily’s work is a little
patch, and we could listen without interrupting you at all.
“Yes,” said Mary. “My little girls and boys have been such good children
to-day, that they deserve to be indulged with the reading of a pretty
story. It shall be a true story—one which a preacher related to my
mother, during her life, and which she wrote down and preserved among
her papers.”
Mary then took out of her pocket-book a paper, carefully folded and
enveloped, which was filled with her mother’s hand-writing. It was very
precious to Mary, and she did not allow any one to handle it but
herself, lest it should be soiled or worn out.
THE PREACHER’S STORY.
In one of my annual rounds among the poor of a bleak district in the
west of Scotland, after a day of weary travel, I came at nightfall to
the little cottage of John Wilson.
I had frequently halted there before, when out on similar errands, and,
as often as I had done so, I was reminded of Burns’ faithful pictures of
the cotter’s home.
It was Saturday night. I met John just coming in from work, and we
entered his home together.
[Illustration:
~Fifth Day.~
Whenever she went out, she carried the baby in her arms, and Jamie
went before as a guide.—p. 67.
]
“His wee bit ingle[A] blinkin’ bonnily,
His clean hearth-stane, his thrifty wifie’s smile,
The lisping infant prattling on his knee,
Does a’ his weary, carking cares beguile,
And makes him quite forget his labour an’ his toil.”
Footnote A: Fire.
In a snug corner of the fireplace sat a stranger—a woman with a baby in
her lap; and on the floor beside her, lay a little boy asleep. I soon
found that it was blind Amy Duncan, the widow of an honest fisherman who
had been lost in a storm a few weeks before.
I had often heard of little Jamie Duncan, her son. He was a good, bright
boy, and as he could not be spared to go regularly to school, he had
been instructed at the manse, by the minister. His mother had learned,
blind as she was, to knit, and to prepare thread and yarn for the
weavers; and now that her husband was dead, this occupation was all that
she had to depend on for support. Little Jamie had been his mother’s
guide all along the shore among the cottages of the fishermen. He would
lead her by the hand, a few times, to any new place where she wanted to
go, and after that he would run on before her, and she would follow, by
listening to the sound of his footsteps. He brought her the wool and
flax which she used, and when it was ready for the weavers he would
carry it to them.
He had but little time for his book, for while his mother was at work,
he had to mind the baby for her; and whenever she went out, she carried
the baby in her arms, and Jamie went before as a guide.
Jamie used to think a great deal about what the minister taught him, and
he learned his spelling and Scripture lessons by saying them over aloud,
as he led his mother about. When the poor, blind widow was left without
a home, John Wilson made a place for her and her little ones at his
hearth, though he was a poor man himself and had to work hard for his
bread.
I left the cottage early the next day, to fulfil an engagement in a
distant part of the country, and, for a long time after, I heard nothing
of John Wilson’s family, nor of the blind widow.
The next season, in the course of my rounds, I purposed visiting them
again; and just after I had entered upon the wide moor which lay between
my road and the cotter’s, I met little Jamie Duncan, with a stick over
his shoulder, hung with the weaver’s thread, and his mother and the baby
following on close behind. I drew near, unperceived by them, for Jamie’s
face was turned toward his mother, and she, being blind, could not see
me. She appeared to be weeping, and little Jamie was saying to her—
“Don’t cry mother, for you know that we have a Father in heaven, and if
we mind what He says to us, He will take care of us. You know when our
father died, you said you couldn’t tell what was to become of you and me
and the baby. So I went out under the fir-tree and said a little prayer
to our heavenly Father. I told Him you were blind, and asked Him to help
you and to take care of us all.”
“Who put that into your head, child?” said Jamie’s mother.
_Jamie._ Nobody. I learned it out of the Bible. The Bible says, “Ask,
and ye shall receive;” and our minister told me that every word in the
Bible was true, and that we must try to obey all our Saviour’s commands,
and then we would believe all His promises.
“What else does the Bible say?” Jamie.
“It says, ‘Trust in the Lord;’ and it says ‘God is a husband of the
widow and a father of the fatherless.’ Dear mother, I am sure if we ask
our Heavenly Father, He will find a place for us to go to.”
“I cannot see him, child. I am blind!”
_Jamie._ I cannot see him either, mother: nobody can see him; but
sometimes, when I am all alone, I feel as if some good being, that I
could not see, is walking along by me, just as you are now; and then I
can pray, and sing little hymns, and I feel so happy, that if I am ever
so hungry and tired, I don’t mind it. I think, mother, that when we feel
so, our Heavenly Father’s good Spirit is with us; and our minister says,
nothing can harm us then.
I now advanced toward them, and questioned them about the Wilsons. I
found that death had been in the house. The father and mother were both
laid in the burying-ground of the little church. Elsie, the oldest
daughter, was married, and had taken the younger children to her new
home; and the family circle of the Wilsons was broken up, and there was
no longer a place by the fireside for the poor blind widow.
It seemed clearly my duty to take them into my own home for the present,
which I did. The widow did not live very long, but the baby and little
Jamie are still with me; and I thank God for the blessing he has given
to my household in that sweet child of faith—Jamie Duncan.
* * * * *
Mary now heard the geography class, arranged and fitted the sewing-work,
attended to “tables” and sums, and then took the Bible to select a
portion for the reading.
“Where shall we read? and what shall we read about?” said she.
“Under the oak! Under the oak!” exclaimed the scholars, all at once. And
there, once more, teacher and flock gathered together, finding in its
shade, a most agreeable retreat from the heat of the schoolroom.
“Mary,” said Eddy Forester, “I have been wanting all day to get a chance
to ask you a question. Will you answer it now, before we begin to read?
Will you tell me why the Thompsons are so much richer than my mother,
and why Lily and I cannot have little ponies to ride, as Willy and
Alfred Thompson have?”
_Mary._ I cannot answer your question, my dear little boy. Why some are
rich and prosperous, and why some, equally deserving, are poor and
unprosperous, are questions which have puzzled the wise of all ages. But
this I can tell you, that God, who knows all things, and who knows what
is best for every one of us, _permits_ an unequal distribution of such
things among his children. Wealth for some and poverty for others, and a
condition between poverty and wealth for many, is of God’s permission;
and, therefore, this difference of condition must be good for us. If it
were not so, He would find some way to change it. You remember, we were
reading the other day, in the Bible, about Abraham. Abraham was very
rich; he had lands and cattle in abundance. God loved Abraham, and he
blessed him and made him rich. But God had other servants, whom we read
of in the Bible, whom it pleased Him, for some wise purpose of his own,
to make poor.
The apostle Peter was a poor fisherman. The apostle Paul was a poor
tent-maker. And so it is at this day. Some of the Lord’s most faithful
servants are rich men, and some, whose lives are equally acceptable to
Him, are very poor—have to work for their daily bread, as the apostles
did.
_Charles Linn._ But, Mary, you told us once, that our Heavenly Father’s
children were equally the objects of his care and love. How is it, then,
that poor people have to work so hard, while the rich have nothing to
do?
_Mary._ It is not really so, that the poor only work, and that the rich
do nothing. Rich people work just as hard as poor people do.
_Eddy._ How can that be? Do Alfred and Willy Thompson work as hard as I
do? and does their mother work as much as my mother?
_Mary._ Yes. Your work and their work are not alike, but it is, I should
think, about equal. Our Heavenly Father placed us here to do different
kinds of work in his harvest-field, which is the world. The rich man’s
work and the poor man’s work can never be the same; if it were so, then
the ends for which we were placed here would not be gained.
You are too young to understand this subject now so well as I hope you
will when you are older; but I will select for our reading some portions
of Scripture which, I think, will enlighten you.
You remember that I read to you, on a former occasion, the history of
Adam and Eve—of their disobedience—for which God sent them out of the
garden of Eden; and you will remember also, that I read to you the
sentence which He passed upon Adam, and that I told you that sentence
was passed upon all of Adam’s race who should be born after him. This is
the sentence: “In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, until thou
return unto the ground.”[B] Many, many years after these words were
spoken to Adam, we find the same sentence in full force upon Adam’s
descendants. David mentions it in the Psalms: “Man goeth forth unto his
work, and to his labour until the evening.”[C] “For thou shalt eat the
labour of thine hands.”[D]
Footnote B: Gen. iii. 19.
Footnote C: Ps. civ. 23.
Footnote D: Ps. cxxviii. 2.
I will now read to you what is said about labour. “All things are full
of labour.”[E] “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and
that which is done, is that which shall be done. It hath been already of
old time which was before us.”[F] These passages of Holy Writ will show
you that God’s command to labour has been obeyed by millions of people
who have lived before us, and that it must be obeyed over and over again
by every succeeding generation.
Footnote E: Eccl. i. 8
Footnote F: Eccl. i. 9, 10.
I will now read to you another scriptural command to labour; and you
must remember that all the commands of God, as recorded in the Bible,
are to be obeyed: “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening
withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper,
either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.”[G] Now
hear the blessings which are promised to the labourer: “The sleep of a
labouring man is sweet.” “It is good and comely for one to eat and to
drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the
sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his
portion.” “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and
hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to
rejoice in his labour, this is the gift of God.”[H]
Footnote G: Eccl. xi. 6.
Footnote H: Eccl. v. 12, 18, 19.
Our Heavenly Father has not only commanded us to labour, but, because He
loves us and knows what is best for us, He has so ordered our life that
we find our happiness in it.
You will now see, by the Holy Scriptures, that labour is the condition
of our being, that God commands us to labour—that He makes no
distinctions in giving the command to the race of Adam. It is for all;
for rich and poor—for high and low—for great and small. None can escape
from it, and do their duty. Whoever does escape from it and lives in
idleness, disobeys God, and will be punished for disobeying him.
Idleness is sin; and we cannot commit any sin, you know, without
disobeying and displeasing our Heavenly Father.
Charles Linn’s merry face was full of serious thoughtfulness while Mary
was speaking, and her younger scholars were listening attentively to
every word she said.
“You understand now,” continued Mary, “that human beings come into the
world to work—not to live in idleness; and that our Heavenly Father
plants us in different parts of the world, and in different positions,
in order that we may be near the duties and occupations which He has
appointed for us.
One little boy finds himself born in a great house, where there are
many servants, and handsome grounds, and horses to ride, as at our
neighbour Thompson’s. Another little boy finds himself in a snug
cottage, with only his mother and a dear little sister. And both these
boys must work, though their work will be different, as it ought to be.
When they are old enough to be useful, the little cottager, if he is a
good boy, will assist his mother in taking care of the chickens and
pigs, in gathering eggs, picking cherries, and in doing any little
services about the house for which his strength is sufficient. The child
in the great house, if he is a good boy, will try to repay the servants
for their care of him, by teaching them, when they have time, to read in
the Bible, if they do not know how, and entertaining them sometimes from
other books. Some of them may be old and sickly, and the rich little boy
can take some of his money and buy them warmer clothing than they can
afford to buy for themselves. And when they are weary of waiting and
running to do this and that, the rich little boy can say to
himself—“John has been out in the rain, or cold, all day, and I will
light the fire in my own room myself. I think I know very well how to do
it, for I have often looked at John while he made the fires.” Or, if
Sally, the chamber-maid, is busy, he can quickly take his pitcher and
fill it with fresh water, without calling upon her to do it. This will
be the work of the rich little boy, just as helping his mother is the
work of the poor little boy; and our Heavenly Father will look with
approving eye on both, because both are obeying His command—to labour.
Little boys and girls who are so happy as to be sent to school, have
another sort of work to do, in which the rich and poor fare alike. They
must be diligent, obedient, industrious, and try to understand all that
they are learning. This is their school-work; and pretty hard it is
sometimes. Do you not think so?
“No!” said Mary’s scholars all at once. “It is not hard at all, at our
school. It is altogether pleasant.”
_Mary._ I am glad to hear you say so. But let me tell you, it is because
you observe my rules and attend to my instructions, and do as I bid you,
that you find it so pleasant. Your dutiful and agreeable behaviour to
me, beautifully illustrates God’s law of labour; for you find your
happiness in it, do you not?
“Yes! that we do,” said Eddy Forester. “If we were idle and bad, we
should be very unhappy, I am sure.”
_Mary._ And just so it is, if we obey God’s law of labour. We find our
happiness in our obedience to it. He is so merciful and loving, that He
lays no command upon us and holds no law over us which we cannot convert
into a blessing by cheerful obedience to it.
_Charles Linn._ We understand now, that the lots of poor and rich
children are not so unequal as we had thought they were. Will you tell
us something about grown people? Do ladies and gentlemen work?
_Mary._ You know that Willy Thompson’s father is the owner of very
extensive factories, where he employs several hundred persons—men and
women. When he purchased these factories, the workmen were vicious and
intemperate. Their wives had wretched homes, and their children were
idle and ignorant, because they had no one to instruct them.
Willy’s father and mother went up there to see how their workmen lived,
and they immediately set to work to reform and improve them. They
provided a school for their children, and Willy’s mother went round
among the cottagers’ wives and instructed them in housewifery, and in
making garments for their husbands and children. His father talked to
the men about drinking whisky, but they told him they were too poor to
buy coffee, and that they drank whisky because it was cheap. He then
made a calculation for them; showed them how much time they lost by
drunkenness, for which they received no wages, of course, and made them
see clearly that if that lost time were filled up with work, they would
have more money, and could afford to buy many things that they must now
do without. After a long time of weary but steady and kind labour among
them, he succeeded in prevailing upon them to hear the Bible read and to
go to a place of worship.
The Thompsons have been labouring with these people for ten years, and
now, by the blessing of God on their efforts, they have the
gratification of seeing them changed from a vicious, idle population,
into honest, temperate, and respectable people.
Besides all this work, Willy’s father regulates the labour on his own
farm, and his mother takes care of her large household and orders her
domestic arrangements.
Now tell me if rich people, who are good stewards of wealth, have not as
much work to do as their poorer neighbours.
Eddy Forester opened his blue eyes wide, when Mary had told him all
these things, and said, “Yes; and I am glad my mother has only Lily and
me to take care of, instead of all neighbour Thompson’s people.”
_Mary._ As we do not go to the harvest-party yet, I will pursue the
subject; and, perhaps, if you try to remember and think upon what I have
said, you will find it opening more and more clearly to your
comprehension.
You know, I have told you that our Heavenly Father has many different
kinds of work to be done on earth, and he has endowed men and women with
a great variety of gifts and faculties, which are adapted to a great
variety of occupations. There are men and women whose appropriate work
is to spend a great part of their lives in thinking and writing books.
If there were not such men and women we should have no schools, we
should have no learning, we should have no arts, we should have no
sciences. There are also men and women whose business it is to go about
among the poor and sick and afflicted, to relieve and comfort them, and
sympathize with them by personal intercourse. There are many whose
proper business it is to be engaged in trade and merchandise, for a
civilized nation could not live without commerce. There are those whose
chief business it is to instruct the souls of people, by preaching the
gospel, who do all they can to win souls to Christ our Saviour; to
induce poor sinners to come to the Saviour who died for us that we might
have eternal life. There are many, (women especially,) whose lives are
acceptable to God, who are scarcely known outside of their own family
circle; who make our HOMES what homes ought to be—pleasant, cheerful
places, where every thing is well ordered in the spirit of love and
kindness, and under whose influences all the domestic virtues flourish.
These are the good mothers, the good wives, the good sisters, the good
daughters.
God has a place and a purpose for all of us. He has given us bodies to
take care of, and minds to be cultivated, and souls to be instructed.
Nothing is to be done without labour, and nothing is to be got without
labour. We cannot live without the labour of others. Hence, it is our
individual duty to contribute, by our own labour, to the common good of
our fellow-creatures. To labour, according to our different gifts, is
only to pay a debt of gratitude which we owe to one another; and, above
all, to labour is our duty, because God has said, “In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread.”
The little clock on the mantelpiece now began to strike,
one—two—three—four, the hour for school to close on this afternoon.
Books and work were soon smoothed away, and the whole party were at
neighbour Linn’s at the time appointed for hay-making.
[Illustration: FINIS]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
=TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:=
Italics, bold letters, blackletter font and small
capitals have been converted to _ = ~ and
ALL CAPS respectively.
Perceived typos have been silently corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling, and punctuation, excluding
the above, have been retained.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FIFTH DAY IN MARY CARROW'S SCHOOL ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516,
Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
