{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_23478/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_23478","id":"gutenberg_23478","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23478","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian literature for children","Sunday school literature"],"text":"Produced by Mark C. Orton, Emmy and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSELF-DENIAL;\n\nOR,\n\nALICE WOOD, AND HER MISSIONARY SOCIETY.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThe village school-house was situated on a pretty green, and surrounded\nby old elm-trees, and at a short distance and in full sight was a\ncandy-shop, kept by an old woman, whom the children called Mother\nGrimes. Mother Grimes knew how to make the very best candies and cakes\nthat ever were eaten, and almost every day she displayed in her\nshop-window some new kind of cake, or some new variety of candy, to\nexcite the curiosity or tempt the palates of her little customers, who\nfound it a very difficult matter to pass Mother Grimes's shop on their\nway from school.\n\nOne day, just after the school-bell rang to give notice of the recess,\na pretty little girl, by the name of Alice Wood, was seen very busily\nrunning about among the school-girls and whispering to one and another.\nHer object was to induce them to remain a little while after the school,\nas she had something to propose to them. Alice was a great favourite, as\nshe was always willing to put herself to any inconvenience for the sake\nof giving any one else pleasure. So they all readily consented to stay,\nif it were only to please her.\n\nAfter school was out and the teacher had left, Alice collected the\ngirls together and told them her plan. \"Girls,\" said she, \"last night I\nwent to the missionary meeting, and some of you were there too. We heard\na missionary speak, who has just come back from India, and he told us of\nthe millions of poor degraded and ignorant people there, who have never\nheard of God or the Bible, and who worship idol gods of wood and stone,\nand sacrifice their children and themselves to these dumb idols; and he\ntold us of millions in other countries who are just as ignorant and\ndegraded, besides the multitudes in our own land who know nothing of\nthe Bible or the way of salvation. I knew all this before, to be sure,\nfor I have often heard it; but I never _felt_ it as I did last night;\nand when the missionary called upon us children and told us that we\ncould do something to save these immortal souls, I felt, for the first\ntime in my life, that it was my duty, by denying myself some\ngratifications and by trying to save money in other ways, to do all that\nI could to send the word of God to those who are perishing. Girls,\"\nsaid she, with earnestness, \"I could hardly sleep last night, for I was\nall the time going over in my mind the different ways in which I might\nearn or save something, and I thought if all our school were to feel as\nI did, and join me in this, we might collect a great many dollars a\nyear.\"\n\nHere some of the older girls began to whisper to each other that they\nhad no money to spare, and that their parents could not give them money\nevery day to send to the heathen.\n\n\"Now stop a little while, girls, if you please,\" said Alice, \"till I\njust tell you what I want to have done. In the first place, I think it\nwill be so pleasant to form a sewing Society, to meet on Saturday\nafternoons, and make bags and needle-cases and collars and many other\nthings to sell; and I know my father will be delighted to have us put a\nbox, with these things, in his store. Then, while we sew, I propose that\none reads aloud from some interesting book or paper about missions and\nbenevolent societies, and thus we shall all become interested in the\nintelligence, and be more willing to work and save to help the needy.\"\nAlice then, with a great deal of tact, proposed the names of those who\nshould be President, Secretary, and Treasurer of their Society,\nselecting the very ones who had been opposed to her plan. One large girl\nwas still dissatisfied, and declared she would not join them, till Alice\nmoved that she should be appointed reader. This delighted her very much,\nas she read remarkably well; and now all were pleased, and Alice went on\nwith her plan.\n\n\"Now, about our laying up money, girls,\" said she. \"I believe our\nparents are none of them very rich, and yet we contrive to get a great\nmany pennies, in one way or another, to spend for our own gratification.\nHow many pennies do you think go, in a year, from our school into Mother\nGrimes's pocket? Why enough to send a great many Bibles to the\ndestitute. Perhaps enough to support a missionary, or educate a heathen\nchild, or give a library or two to a poor Sunday-school. Just think of\nit, girls! Now I, for one, spend certainly a penny a day for candy. How\nmany will that be in a year, Susy?\"\n\n\"Three hundred and sixty-five,\" answered little Susy Barnes.\n\n\"Yes; three dollars and sixty-five cents will buy a great many Bibles\nand good books,\" said Alice; \"and then my father gives me a penny a week\nfor slate pencils. Now I am going to ask him to continue the penny a\nweek; and then I am going to see how long I can keep a pencil, for I\nhave been very careless in losing them. And in these, and other ways, I\nhope I can save quite a sum of money in a year. Now, girls, will you\nall think, between this time and tomorrow noon, how much you can save,\nand then we will put it all down together, and see how much we can hope\nto collect in a year?\"\n\nThe girls readily promised, and then, as they had stayed a long time,\nthey all set off in haste for their homes, full of the new project of\nthe Missionary Society.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n\nThe next day, as soon as school was out, the little girls, of their own\naccord, crowded around Alice, who stood with a pencil and piece of paper\nin her hand, ready to put down their names, and the sums they each\nthought she could save. Several of them thought they could save a penny\na day, instead of giving it to Mother Grimes; some a penny a week, and\nsome a penny a month. Alice told them, that if some of them could only\ngive a penny a year, she would gladly take that; and then, that they\nmight not be ashamed of giving so little, she read to them the story of\nthe \"widow's mite.\" And when the girls laughed, because one little girl,\nwhose mother was very poor, said, \"She would bring a penny _if she could\never get one_,\" Alice kissed her, and said,\n\n\"Perhaps, Kitty, your penny will be as acceptable, and do more good,\nthan hundreds of dollars from some very rich man who does not miss it at\nall. At any rate you shall come into our Society and help us sew.\"\n\nRachel Brown said \"she was sure _she_ did not spend much money for\ncandy.\"\n\n\"No! and why not, Miss Sugar-tooth?\" said little Susy Barnes; \"because\nyou always keep close to Alice Wood, as you go home from school, and you\nknow that the one that is nearest to her will always have half of her\ncandy.\"\n\n\"Hush, Susy,\" said Alice, \"I can tell you that no one will have half of\nmy candy after this, as I do not intend to buy any; and I am sure Rachel\ncan save a good deal if she chooses, for our Society.\"\n\nClara Hall said, her father had promised her a quarter of a dollar if\nshe would have an ugly double tooth drawn, that had ached for some time.\n\n\"But,\" said Clara, \"the provoking thing aches the worst at night, and\nthen I think I will certainly have it out in the morning, but when the\nmorning comes it is sure to stop aching.\" Once or twice she said she had\ngone to the dentist's door, but her courage failed. \"But,\" said she,\n\"Alice, the very next time it aches as hard in the day as it does\nsometimes in the night, I shall come with the tooth in one hand, and\nthe quarter of a dollar in the other, for the Society.\"\n\nSally Bright said, their next neighbour had cut her hand very badly, and\nhad promised her a penny a day, for milking her cow for her, as long as\nher hand continued lame; and those pennies should all come to Alice.\n\nCharlotte Green said, her father had promised her half a dollar if she\nwould leave off biting her nails. \"And now,\" said she, \"I mean to try in\nearnest to break myself of this habit, that I may have something too to\ngive.\"\n\n\"Well, girls,\" said Jane Prime, \"my father, you know, keeps a large\nnursery, and he gives me three cents a quart for peach stones and plum\nstones; and he says he will pay that for as many as are brought to him.\nSo here is a fine way for any of you that choose to make money, as long\nas fruit lasts.\"\n\nAlice Wood now reckoned up the promised sums, and said,\n\n\"I think, girls, if we all keep the resolutions we have formed, that by\nonly saving the money that we should spend in other ways, and giving it\nto the society, we can pledge ourselves to give altogether fifty dollars\na year; and with our Sewing Society, and the many other ways that have\nbeen mentioned of earning a little money, I should not be surprised if\nwe should raise it to one hundred dollars a year. Just think what a sum\nthat would be, and how much good it may do, if we give it in a right\nspirit, and with prayers for the blessing of God to accompany it. For\nyou know the missionary said the other evening, that we might give a\ngreat deal of money, merely for the sake of having it published, or from\nsome other improper motive, and if it should do good to others, it would\nnot do any to ourselves; but that even a little given from a right\nmotive, and with fervent prayer for the Divine blessing, might\naccomplish great things, and would return in mercy upon the head of the\ngiver. For, said he, (and these words are from the Bible,) 'He that hath\npity upon the poor, _lendeth_ unto the Lord, and that which he hath\ngiven, _will he pay him again_.' And, 'The liberal soul shall be made\nfat, and he that watereth, shall _himself be watered_.'\"\n\nAs the girls went home, they all kept on the side of the road opposite\nto Mother Grimes's shop; for the old woman had a bad temper, and a very\nloud voice, and they were all afraid of hearing from her if they passed\nher shop without stopping to buy something.\n\n\"What on earth is the matter with the children?\" said old Mother Grimes\nto herself. \"Here, these two or three days past, hardly a soul of them\nhas been near the shop, and my candies are getting quite old.\" And\nMother Grimes went to work, and cracked nuts, and boiled new molasses,\nand made nicer candies than ever; but all to no purpose.\n\nRachel Brown did say to Alice Wood one day, \"See, Alice, what beautiful\ncandy Mother Grimes has put in her shop-window to day.\" But Alice only\nsaid, \"Rachel, we have now a better use for our money; let us waste\nnothing, but save all we can, so that we shall not feel, when we meet\nour fellow-creatures at the last day, that any of them have perished\nthrough our neglect, or because we were so selfish that we could not\ndeny ourselves a small gratification for the sake of supplying their\nneed.\"\n\nOne day a knot of little girls were so bold as to pass directly by the\ncandy shop. The old woman stood in the door, and called out to them as\nthey passed, and asked them why they never stopped now. \"See,\" said she,\n\"all my nice candies melting in the sun; and nobody but the flies to eat\nthem.\"\n\n\"We have found something better to do with our pennies, Mother Grimes,\"\nanswered little Susy Barnes, who was the leader of the party, \"than to\nspend them in getting the tooth-ache, and making ourselves sick; and we\nhave all made up our minds that we will not buy any more candy.\" The old\nwoman flew into a passion, and talked so loud, that some of the little\ngirls were for running off, but Susy stood her ground undaunted.\n\n\"I'll tell you what, Mother Grimes,\" said she, \"if you will give up\nselling candy, and keep slates, and pencils, and pens, and sponges, and\nall such useful things for sale, we shall all be much more likely to\nstop here, than to go all the way round to the booksellers.\"\n\nBut Mother Grimes's wrath only increased the more, and as she showed\nsome signs of coming out after them, Susy was glad to join the\nretreating party; and they all darted off without looking behind them,\nand did not consider themselves perfectly safe, till they were seated at\ntheir desks in the schoolroom. Mother Grimes soon found that it was\nuseless to try to tempt the little school-children any more, so she\ndetermined to move off to some other place, \"where,\" as she said, \"the\nchildren had no such foolish notions in their heads.\"\n\nAnd now the Sewing Society was started; and such a cutting and fixing,\nand bustle as there was, till enough work was prepared to give them all\nsomething to do! And then, when the one appointed began to read to them\nthe interesting accounts from the papers, even those that at first felt\nno interest, but joined merely for the sake of being made officers in\nthe Society, became so much interested, that they too were willing to\npractise great self-denial for the sake of aiding in sending the gospel\nto the destitute. And now who can estimate the good that one such little\nSociety may accomplish? It is like casting a little pebble into the\nsmooth water; at first small circles are formed about the spot, but they\nwiden and increase, till we cannot see where the influence of that\nlittle pebble upon the water ends. So it may be with this little\nSociety, but we shall never know, till the secrets of the last great day\nare disclosed, how much good such an association may have accomplished;\nhow many souls the Bibles thus sent forth may have converted; and then,\ntoo, how much good these converts may have done in teaching the way of\nlife to others, and these again to hundreds and thousands more!\n\nChildren, is it not worth while to try and see if you cannot yourselves\ndo something, and induce others to join you, and see how much money you\ncan save, and make in the coming year? Do not ask your parents for money\njust to throw into a box, but give that which you would have spent in\nsome other way. And then see if you have not ingenuity enough to find\nout some plan of earning money for the sake of doing good with it.\nDepend upon it, your interest in benevolent objects will increase from\nthe very moment that you deny yourself for the sake of giving to others.\nThink what it would be to have even _one soul_ saved from among the poor\nbenighted heathen, to rise up in the last great day, and call you, yes\n_you_, my little reader, blessed. Try it, and with daily prayers for the\nblessing of God upon your efforts, see what you can do for the heathen;\nremembering, that \"he that converteth a _single_ sinner from the error\nof his way, shall save a _soul from death_, and shall hide a multitude\nof sins.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_Good Resolutions._\n\n\n        Though I'm now in younger days,\n          Nor can tell what shall befall me,\n        I'll prepare for every place\n          Where my growing age shall call me.\n\n        Should I e'er be rich or great,\n          Others shall partake my goodness:\n        I'll supply the poor with meat,\n          Never showing scorn nor rudeness.\n\n        Where I see the blind or lame,\n          Deaf or dumb, I'll kindly treat them;\n        I deserve to feel the same,\n          If I mock, or hurt, or cheat them.\n\n        If I meet with railing tongues,\n          Why should I return them railing?\n        Since I best revenge my wrongs\n          By my patience never failing.\n\n        When I hear them telling lies,\n          Talking foolish, cursing, swearing,\n        First I'll try to make them wise\n          Or I'll soon go out of hearing.\n\n        What though I be low and mean,\n          I'll engage the rich to love me;\n        While I'm modest, neat, and clean,\n          And submit when they reprove me.\n\n        If I should be poor and sick,\n          I shall meet, I hope, with pity;\n        Since I love to help the weak,\n          Though they're neither fair nor witty.\n\n        I'll not willingly offend,\n          Nor be easily offended;\n        What's amiss I'll strive to mend,\n          And endure what can't be mended.\n\n        May I be so watchful still\n          O'er my humours and my passion,\n        As to speak, and do no ill,\n          Though it should be all the fashion.\n\n        Wicked fashions lead to hell,\n          Ne'er may I be found complying\n        But in life behave so well,\n          Not to be afraid of dying.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Note:\n\nObvious punctuation errors were repaired.","title":"Self-Denial; or, Alice Wood, and Her Missionary Society","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2990}