{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44658/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44658","id":"gutenberg_44658","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44658","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Children and death -- Juvenile fiction","Christian life -- Juvenile fiction","Mothers and sons -- Juvenile fiction","Sunday school literature","Sunday schools -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"HISTORY\n  OF\n  ORRIN PIERCE.\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, AND\n  REVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.\n\n  Philadelphia:\n  AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,\n  NO. 146 CHESTNUT STREET.\n\n\n_Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1847, by_ THE\nAMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, _in the Clerk's Office of the\nDistrict Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania_.\n\n\n\n\nORRIN PIERCE.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe cottage where Orrin Pierce was born stood by the side of a clear\nbright stream not far from the sea-shore. This cottage had a thatched\nroof, and was surrounded by a plain fence.\n\nOrrin's mother was very fond of flowers, and the little yard in front\nof the cottage was filled with many beautiful plants and shrubs; some\nof them were trained up about the upper window and around the door. A\nmarten's house stood on a post one side of the cottage, where three\ntwittering birds built their nests in safety.\n\nEverybody that passed Mrs. Pierce's house, looked at it with pleasure,\nand some even stopped to admire its neatness and comfortable appearance.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: Noah.]\n\nMrs. Pierce was an excellent woman; she feared God and instructed her\nlittle son out of the Scriptures. Before he was old enough to read,\nshe used to read to him about the creation of the world; and before he\nwas four years old, he could tell a great deal of Scripture history.\nHe knew about the temptation and fall of man; the story of Noah; the\ndeluge; the history of Joseph; the account of the Israelites in Egypt;\nthe plagues sent upon Pharaoh; the departure of the children of Israel\nout of Egypt; their journey through the wilderness, and their entrance\ninto the promised land. He also could relate the story of Daniel; of\nIsrael, and many other accounts from the Bible.\n\nThose who do not read the Bible are ignorant of some of the most\ninteresting and important parts of the world's history.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSometimes Mrs. Pierce would walk out with little Orrin, and she always\nused to talk with him, so as to improve his mind. She would make him\nobserve the works of God, and tell him of the wonders of Creation.\nOrrin was very fond of going to the sea-shore, and when he had been\na good boy his mother would go there with him. He always took with\nhim a basket to put his shells in, for there were many shells on the\nbeach. His little dog, Dash, always went with him, and when Orrin threw\na stick into the water, Dash would plunge in, and swim after it, and\nbring it to his little master.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOften during the summer, when the evenings were mild and pleasant, she\nwould walk in the fields with Orrin, and they would sit down to enjoy\nthe beauty of the scene. The calm, full moon, shining above them, shed\na soft light on all around. Sometimes a cloud would pass over it and\nhide for a moment its brightness, and they would watch for it as the\ncloud moved on, and it would suddenly burst upon their sight; on such\noccasions, Orrin used to repeat some passages of Scripture to his\nmother, giving thanks to God, who made the moon and stars to shine by\nnight.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOrrin loved very much to see the different animals, that are for the\nuse of man. He liked horses and cows and dogs very much, but best of\nall he liked the sheep and lambs. There was a field not far from his\nmother's cottage where a flock of sheep were often kept. He used to\nwatch the shepherd taking care of the sheep, and when he noticed how\nreadily they followed him, he thought of the words of Christ, \"My sheep\nhear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.\" He also remembered\nthat this harmless animal was employed as a type of Christ, who is\ncalled \"the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMrs. Pierce gave her little son a place for a garden, which the\ngardener used to dig up for him. She gave him different seeds of plants\nand flowers. She bought him a shovel, a rake and a hoe, of a suitable\nsize for a little boy. Here he used to amuse himself for hours. He had\none tree in his garden which would not thrive, though he had bestowed\nmuch labour upon it, but finally he determined to remove it. Indeed the\nbranches were many of them dead. He told his mother he was reminded of\nthe passage in Luke xiii. 6, 9, for he had waited long for fruit, but\nfound none, and he was going to remove the worthless tree.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOn a pleasant afternoon, it was very delightful to walk in Mrs.\nPierce's garden. Orrin's garden spot was as neat and in quite as good\norder as his mother's. The roses were so fragrant, and the various\ncolours of the numerous flowers so pleasing to the eye, that all\nadmired who beheld them. The butterflies roamed from flower to flower\nundisturbed: the humming-birds and bees took their portion of the\nsweets, and pretty singing birds fluttered among the branches. Mrs.\nPierce used often to point to the beautiful lilies, and say to Orrin,\n\"Consider the lilies, how they grow, and remember the instruction they\ngive.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou may be sure Orrin was early taught to pray; and that he was careful\nnever to forget or neglect this duty. He did not wait till after he\nwas in bed, either, but kneeled down before he became sleepy, so that\nhe might pray with the understanding. He used to pray for a new heart,\nso that he might love holiness and hate sin. He also prayed for the\nforgiveness of his sins. Sometimes he prayed when he was in the field\nor on his way to school, when he thought he should not be observed.\nHe thanked God for all his mercies, but more than all for the gift of\nthe Saviour; and when quite young, he could repeat many very pleasing\nverses about the love of Christ for this sinful world.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne day when Orrin was on his way to the Sabbath-school, he met a boy\ngoing across a field with a kite in his hand. He did not know the boy,\nbut he knew he was about to commit sin, so he asked him if he would\nnot leave his kite and go to the Sabbath-school. He opened his book\nand showed him where the lesson was, and told him that he would be\nmuch happier in learning to keep God's commandments, than all his\nkite-flying could make him. The boy thought so too, and was willing to\ntake advice, so he hid his kite behind the fence, and went with Orrin.\nWe should try to do good to all as we have opportunity.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe next day he met the same boy flying his kite. He stopped as Orrin\napproached him, and said, \"I thought yesterday when you asked me to go\nto the Sabbath-school that it was a pity to give up flying my kite,\nbecause there was such a good wind, but to-day the wind is just as\ngood, and I have had a fine time with my kite.\" So he lost no pleasure,\nbut gained much good. Orrin stayed a while and played with this boy,\nand told him he hoped to see him again at Sunday-school; and so he did,\nfor he continued to attend regularly from that time.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOrrin's mother was almost sorry when he was too old to be kept at\nhome under her instruction. She felt afraid that when he began to\nbe more from her watchful care he might become more like those boys\nwhose company she had always directed him to avoid. He was very fond\nof study; and his teacher soon noticed him as a boy who would be an\nexample to the school. He was always in his place when the bell rang\nfor nine o'clock, and his lessons were well learned. His mother was\nmuch pleased with the accounts she received from his teacher, of his\ngood conduct.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen Orrin was about fourteen years old, he met with the greatest\naffliction that could have been sent upon him. This was the death of\nhis excellent mother. She was sick for a long time, and had a very good\nphysician, but God did not see fit to restore her to health, and she\nwas quite ready to submit to His will. Her only anxiety was for her\nson, and even this care she was able to commit to the Lord, who has\npromised to be a father to the fatherless. She talked much to Orrin,\nand told him that she had trained him up thus far, in the way he should\ngo, and charged him not to depart from it.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nA great number of friends and neighbours followed Mrs. Pierce to the\ngrave. She was greatly beloved by all who knew her, but none could\nmourn for her as her poor afflicted boy did. When he saw his mother\nlaid in the grave, he felt as if he had not a friend on the earth.\nTrue, he had neither sister nor brother. His father died when he was\nan infant, and now his precious mother was taken away. But God could\nsupply to him all that he had lost, and be to him more than all earthly\nfriends, even one who would never leave him nor forsake him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDay after day, Orrin went to the graveyard, to visit the tomb of his\nbeloved parent. He used to take with him the Bible, which they had so\noften read together, and read those passages which she delighted in.\nHe was much comforted by these words of the Lord Jesus Christ, \"I am\nthe resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were\ndead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall\nnever die. The hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves\nshall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth; the\nfollowers of Christ to enter into heaven, and his enemies to be cast\ninto hell.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter his mother's death, Orrin went to live with a kind uncle, a\nbrother of Mrs. Pierce, who lived a great distance off, so that Orrin\nwent there in a ship. Then God raised up a friend for this orphan-boy.\nHis uncle had a little daughter much younger than Orrin, whose name was\nJane. As he never had a sister, it was very pleasant to have such a\nlittle companion as Jane. His aunt was very kind and affectionate to\nhim, but no one was like his mother. Though he was very sad for a long\ntime, he tried to overcome such feelings, and, by dutiful conduct, to\nshow his kind uncle and aunt that he was grateful to them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nJane had not received as much instruction as Orrin had, and he was very\nhappy to tell her some of the things he had heard from his mother. One\nday, he and Jane were walking in the garden, and they stopped by the\nbee-hives to watch the bees go out to gather their stores, and return\nladen with sweets.\n\nOrrin told Jane many curious facts about bees, which instructed her\nvery much. He told her that they were always busy, and would not\nallow an idler to live in the hive. Orrin and Jane also attended\nSunday-school together.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nJane used to walk and play in her father's garden, but she did not\nhave one of her own. Her father used to tell her she might look at the\nflowers, but that she must not pick them, as she would injure them. But\nwhen Orrin came he gave Jane a garden by herself in which her cousin\nworked, and they both kept it in order, and it was a great pleasure\nto her to pick flowers whenever she liked. She used often to gather a\npretty nosegay for her mother. Orrin used to say when he looked at her\nflowers, why even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of\nthese.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMany boys who have been taught by pious mothers to pray to God in\nchildhood, when they become older forsake the law of their mother. They\nbegin to think it is well enough for children, but not needful for men;\nbut this was not the case with Orrin. He remembered what Solomon says\nof a mother's counsel: \"When thou goest it shall lead thee; when thou\nsleepest it shall keep thee; and when thou wakest it shall talk to\nthee.\" Orrin read his Bible daily, and continued to pray to the God of\nhis mother, and he kept in mind her instructions and always tried to\nact as he supposed his mother would wish.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFrom the time he was old enough to behave properly, Orrin went to\nSunday-school. He was in a room where only the little scholars\nattended, and they were taught by a very kind lady. She taught them\nfrom Scripture-cards, and they could say and sing many beautiful little\nhymns. He could also answer all the questions in a simple catechism.\nWhen he could read well, he went into the larger school, and was put\ninto a class with some boys larger than himself. Some of them did not\nbehave as well as Orrin did.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOrrin's mother loved to see her little boy play at proper times. She\ndid not always require him to be studying, or reading books. When he\nwent to play she was careful that his mates should be good boys who did\nnot take the name of God in vain, or use coarse and vulgar language,\nor quarrel and fight. She told him always to treat his mates kindly,\nto be just and fair in his sports, and at all times to \"do unto others\nas he would wish others to do unto him.\" She reminded him that \"even a\nchild is known by his ways,\" and that \"cheating play never prospers.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWherever there is a library of useful books, a young person can gain\na store of knowledge. Orrin was very fond of reading, and his uncle\ngave him the liberty of reading in his study, whenever he wished to do\nso. There Orrin spent many hours, gaining useful knowledge; and as he\nhad a very good memory, he found, many years after, much use for the\ninstruction he received in this way. Solomon says, \"Get wisdom, get\nunderstanding, take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her,\nfor she is thy life.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThose who have read the history of this good boy, will like to hear\nsomething of him as a man. He became not only a respectable, but a\nuseful and pious man. He was a kind friend; he warned and reproved\nthose he found doing wrong. When a man, he was as fearless in\nreproving sin as he was when a boy. If he saw a young man profaning the\nSabbath day, he kindly warned him of his evil way and would invite him\nto go with him to the house of God. His example was, also, a silent\nteacher of all.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou will not be surprised to hear that Orrin became a Sunday-school\nteacher, nor that he knew how to teach in a way to profit his scholars.\nThey all loved him very much, and never were absent from school unless\nthey were sick. Here he is, just returning from Sunday-school. Two of\nhis scholars are with him; they have their library-books in their\nhands. How orderly they walk by his side, talking with him about the\nlesson. It is a great blessing to have such a teacher.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThis picture may remind us of Orrin, for we may think of him as\nwalking by the water-side with a friend. Perhaps he is speaking of the\noccupation of Christ's disciples, when he called them to preach the\ngospel. They left their ships and followed him. He is pointing to\nthe church amid the trees, and says \"I too would preach the gospel.\"\nNo doubt he would make a useful minister of the gospel, for from his\nyouth he has known the Scriptures, which are able to make him wise unto\nsalvation. He may be thinking of Christ's words, Go ye unto all the\nworld, and preach the gospel to every creature.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter much thought upon the subject, and having taken the advice of\nfriends, Orrin determined to be a missionary. He went to bid farewell\nto the scenes of his childhood. He visited the cottage where he was\nborn. He stood by the sea-side, where he had gathered shells, and\nlistened to his mother's instructions; he walked in the fields where\nhe had seen the lambs. And as he stood thinking over his days of\nchildhood tears fell from his eyes, but they were tears of gratitude to\nGod, for having given him a mother who taught him to love the service\nof God.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe at length goes to make known the way of salvation to those who\nnever heard of a Saviour; to poor ignorant pagans, who worship idols,\nthe work of their own hands. Many, like him, have gone to tell the\nperishing heathen of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.\nMay all such reap a rich reward, and turn many to righteousness. May\nGod incline the heathen to cast away their senseless idols, which have\neyes that see not, and ears that hear not, and enter upon the service\nof Him who is worthy of all their love.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"History of Orrin Pierce","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3019}