a rhe Z ie Bae ) ee At fe 3/8 CE, FRA JUIN SE BN CFA B Je VEN Op Wess Set 1 Fo OA (Pa a IA (eae SN yg A WAIEGIN ap Zn AEN } ROP ONC Oe Des aD esi) GAGNON SAD ND Ps Lie Tee SSaRESS) (arp yh Zp ce a Oats TRUE NOBLES AND HEROES. Frontispiece. True Nobles and Heroes AND OTHER STORIES BY DAVID HARRIS, FESS. EDINBURGH AUTHOR OF “PRATTLES;” ‘'SHADE AND SUNSHINE;” “ WATCHWORDS;” ‘ram HAPPY SECRET ;” ‘SANDY M‘GAUCHIE,” ETC, NEW EDITION EDINBURGH AND LONDON OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ ; The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master’s joy. The voice at midnight came ; He started up to hear ; A mortal arrow pierced his frame— He fell—but felt no fear. At midnight came the cry,— “To meet thy God prepare!” He woke, and caught his Captain’s eye; Then strong in faith and prayer, His spirit, with a bound, Left its encumbring clay ; His tent, at sunrise, on the ground A darkened ruin lay. The pains of death are past, Labour and sorrow cease $ And life’s long warfare closed at last, His soul is found in peace. Soldier of Christ, well done! Praise be thy new employ, And, while eternal ages run, Rest in thy Saviour’s joy. FE reface. —+e-—— N sending forth the following pages, my earnest desire is that the men of the next generation should be in every sense better men than their fathers—if need be, daring to stand alone, seeking only the approval of “the one Master, even Christ ;” and then, in His spirit of love and meekness, .seeking to save the lost, and raise the fallen. DAVID HARRIS. Eprypureu, 1885, G@lontents. See PAGE TRUE NOBLES AND HEROES, 3 ; : ‘ « 9 THE TRUE RICHES, ; “ i ‘ : = add THE POOR RICH AND THE RICH POOR, : é « 53 “ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS,” . ‘ : . 61 THREE WISHES, . . 7 : ‘ 7 08 THE CHANGED LOT, . ‘ . . . ‘ ee D) A PERFECT GENTLEMAN, . : ‘. 2 ‘ « 93 TRUE NOBLES AND HEROES. CHAPTER I. “We have seen those faces in days of yore, When the dust was on their brow, And the scalding tear-drop on their cheek : Let us look at those heroes now.” NOBLE deeds! a noble life! a noble man! are expressions often upon our tongues, begetting true homage from young and old. But why should not owr lives be noble = est lives? Why should not we have noble deeds recorded in ow life’s his- tory? Why should not the humblest-born of us be anoble man? Earthly patents of nobility are often given, without attaching or carrying any true nobility with them. Would that the New Testament patent of nobility were true of us in these days as it was in ages past, “of those who hazarded to True Nobles and Heroes. their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!” Then would instances of self- denying love to the Master, and of true heroism, such as those of Williams, the martyr of Erromanga, of David Livingstone in Africa, be multiplied over and over again, and the aspirations and resolutions of many a youth be realised in a noble life of service for the Lord Jesus. Scotland justly boasts of her Covenanters, who, undeterred by fear of bloodshed or the sword of persecu- tion, met, at the risk of life and liberty, to worship God according to their own con- science, raised the standard, and waved it in the face of those who would oppose liberty of religious worship, by not only “ hazarding,” but yielding up their lives for the sake of Christ and truth. They said— “We are this day in arms For a broken covenant and a Persecuted kirk.” And nobly they lived and died. As one of the Scottish poets has beautifully sung :— “Tn a dream of the night I was wafted away To the moorlands of mist, where the bless’d martyrs lay— True Nobles and Fleroes, II Where Cameron’s claymore and Bible were seen Engraved on the stone, where the heather grows green. "T'was a dream of those ages of darkness and blood, When the minister’s home was the mountain and wood— When in Wellwood’s dark valley the standard of Zion, All bloody and torn, ’midst the heather was lying. * * * * * * The muskets were flashing, the blue swords were gleaming, . The helmets were cleft, and the red blood was streaming— : The heavens grew dark, and the thunder was rolling, When in Wellwood’s dark moorlands the mighty were falling. ‘When the righteous had fallen, and the combat was ended, A chariot of fire through a dark cloud descended ; Its drivers were angels on horses of whiteness, And its burning wheels turned on axles of brightness, A seraph unfolded its doors bright and shining, All dazzling like gold of the seventh refining ; And the souls that came forth out of great tribula- tion Have mounted the chariots and steeds of salvation. On the arch of the rainbow the chariot is gliding, Through the path of the thunder the horsemen are riding : 12 True Nobles and Heroes. Glide swiftly, bright spirits! the prize is before ye— . The crown never-fading, the kingdom of glory.” Who is there without love of the heroic, and this aspiration after nobility? Does not the boy at school feel the blood coursing through his veins more swiftly, as he reads in Grecian and Roman history of old warriors, the record of whose deeds will make the heart thrill as long as history exists, and can he help admiring such men as the “ brave Horatius, who kept the bridge at Rome,” and defended it against the thousands pressing on him, and only when he could hold out no longer, swam the Tiber with his armour on? or Leonidas, who kept the pass of Thermopyle with three hundred Spartans against the myriad hosts of the enemy? He clenches his little fists behind him, and resolves that with but half the chance, he will show to his admiring friends and loving parents that he has got the right stuff in him to make a hero. How the midshipman aims at the “blue ribbon” of honourable mention in the commander’s despatches (if it shall ever be his fortune to be engaged in actual warfare), even if he does True Nobles and Feroes. 13 not get the decoration of the Victoria Cross in the battle itself, often forgetting the while, that the true heroism is that which grasps everyday difficulties as they come, determined that however mean or humble the struggle is, it shall be ennobled by a noble mind adapting itself to circumstances, and resolving to persevere and triumph over Satan and his devices. Even the expectation of achieving dis- tinction on the field is a healthy stimulant toa young lad. It has been happily said that the knapsack of every French soldier carries a field-marshal’s baton within it; and the very thought of this makes the raw clodhopper bear himself with a more noble mien and manly gait than he otherwise would. Oh! if the lads who read this would remember that God offers them His Holy Spirit; The Truth to assist them in every struggle for the mastery against sin, and that, if they will only be guided by Him as they march on to the battle-field of life, He will give them what is far better than a marshal’s baton, the promise fulfilled, “As thy day is, so shall thy strength be!” 14 True Nobles and Heroes. “Day by day the manna fell; Oh! to learn this lesson well.” “Very fine indeed,’ says some old grumbler; “but what have youngsters to do with these things ? what is the use of filling their heads with high-flown heroics?” “Use!” say we— the youngsters will think and resolve, and the sooner their thoughts are turned into a right and honourable direction, the greater the hope that in after years the man will bring forth the promise of the boy, for is it not true that “the boy is the father of the man?” Look at Hannibal,the boy of twelve years, led by his father to the temple of the heathen deities : while he grasps the horns of the altar, with one tiny hand, and sprinkles a few erains of incense to the heathen gods with the other, his father makes him swear that if he lives to be a man, his father’s foes shall be his foes, and that nothing shall intervene between him and a lifelong struggle with them, except it be greater victory and success than ever were his father’s. The boy becomes the man, and we do not wonder that childish thoughts have become life thoughts with him. As we read of the suc- True Nobles and Fleroes. 15 cesses of Hannibal’s arms, and the wondrous achievements of his Alpine campaign, we learn the natural results of the noble thoughts instilled into his mind when but a boy (though we mourn its misdirection). Go ye, lads, and resolve also; for I assert that the resolutions of schoolboys do not end there,. and that the case of Nelson fighting with the white Polar bear without the least sign of fear (when but a boy), is but one illus- tration of the true manly spirit existing in the minds of our British youths. I suppose you have often heard the story (doubted however, by those who knew him best), that when Nelson was asked if he had no fear, he replied, “ What is it, sir?” Would that all our boys feared none else but God, not the fear that hath torment, but the child-like fear of grieving. Another case of heroism worth recording is that of young Lucas, the sub-lieutenant, who, while in the Baltic during the Crimean war, on board the man-of-war Hecla, saw a shell which had been thrown from the enemy’s ship, reach the deck of his own vessel. The fusee was lighted, and in a few 16 True Nobles and Heroes. moments the shell must explode, scattering death and destruction all around it. Now was the chance to put his schoolboy resolu- tions of heroism into practice! With scarcely a moment’s hesitation, he rushes forward to the ship’s side, catching the deadly shell in his arms (though they were hardly long enough to encircle it), rolls it over into the sea, and with a hissing noise the shell bursts harmlessly in the water, amidst, we may suppose, a true British hurrah from all the Jack-tars who witnessed the noble act, for which Lucas received the Victoria Cross. You say, “ Well done!” and you are right ; but let me tell you that there are those who, with their hearts right towards God, and the love of Christ filling their souls, can show a truer heroism than any of those I have mentioned. During the Indian mutiny, when the Sepoys had risen against the British forces, their hatred was particularly strong against. all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. A young ensign named Cheek was shut up in a cell with a native Christian, when the infuriated mob came, and one of them flour- ishing over his head a naked sabre, threatened True Nobles and Heroes. 17 that, unless he would curse the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be put to death. As Cheek thought of his home in Norfolk, with his loving family circle, his faith wavered and his courage almost forsook him. The native Christian seeing him waver (although he himself was about to be led out for the death-stroke), turned as he left the room with a beseeching look, saying, “‘ Never deny the Lord Jesus!” These words settled the matter. Cheek’s response was, “I never will, God helping me!” and a few minutes after- wards wonderfully, with a shout of relief, came a British regiment, releasing him from his imminent danger. What a hero was General Gordon! whether in the Crimea, or at Gravesend (helping the poor street arabs), or in China leading on the “Ever Victorious Army,” or alone at Khartoum—his heart touched by the cruel- ties of slavery and its dark deeds of blood— willing to die, to serve his beloved Soudanese. “Take him for all in all, We shall not look upon his like again.” His faith in God’s guiding hand so strong, and his trust in His all-sufficiency such, B 18 True Nobles and Heroes. that rewards, rank, wealth, are absolutely as nothing in the balance—his Orders of Merit sold that he may have the wherewithal to send money to the relief of the starving folk in Lancashire at the time of the Cotton Famine. Another noble instance of a godly general was Cromwell, who, supported by his brave Tronsides, the cause of right and truth on their side, could look up to God for His blessing, and then with confidence rush on to victory. Nay, who were not ashamed, amidst the jeers and scoffs of the gay Cava- liers, to sing their song of worship in the cold grey morning to the God of battles, and to offer up earnest believing prayer to Him, feeling solemn indeed, as they remem- bered that perhaps before nightfall their head would be laid upon the sod. These morning services did not unfit them for their work, for sometimes, as at Dunbar, before they had time to finish their “ morning exercises,” the Royal horse deployed in line in their front, and these Christian soldiers (if there ever were such) had to push their Bibles underneath their doublet, leap into True Nobles and Fleroes. I9 the saddle, and dash at the foe. Then came the rattle of the steel, the clash of swords, one wild shout of victory (more than half secured before the combat began by their confidence, not so much in an arm of flesh as in an Unseen Arm), and ere the eye could see it all, the vanquished foe was galloping away. We take it that in Cromwell and his brave men we have specimens of some of the - qualities which go to make up a true noble hero—patience, continuance, and earnestness of soul; for as Vaughan has nobly said, ‘‘ We would that our life should go out to its mark like a cannon ball, and not be ignominiously dribbled through a sieve.” I. ask you, is it not worth the effort daily to fulfil your life’s mission in noble deeds? Will you not be, or try to be, under God’s blessing, a true, noble man ? “Tn the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of life, Be not like dumb driven cattle, Be a HERO in the strife. “ Lives of great men all remind us ‘We can make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time,” CHAPTER II. N the excitement of battle, with the rush of numbers, it is not wonder- ful that men do daring deeds, and achieve dazzling exploits. Who could have refrained from joining the charge of— “The gallant six hundred, as onward they thundered.’ a y x) During the Crimean war, after one of the Russian sorties, a colour-sergeant was observed rolling himself over, bleeding from his wounds, as if hiding something. As soon as his comrades had time to go and gee what it was, they discovered that he had rolled the colours of the regiment, all bloody and torn, round his body so as to save them. Some of my readers must have seen the flag shown in the Advocates’ Library in Parlia- ment Square, Edinburgh, which, it is said, floated over the field of Flodden, and was 20 True Nobles and Heroes. | 2r saved by one of the prisoners wrapping it round his body. Oh! how jealously will a regiment guard its colours, and to the last gasp defend them! Would that we, who have been enrolled in the service of Christ, were as anxious to defend our colours, as these soldiers are to show theirs, not only on the occasion of a fight with some great sin, but in our daily life confessing Him, who has promised that if we do so, He will confess us before His Father and the holy angels! The Christian life, is a battle all through; but we have so much to fire and sustain our enthusiasm that it ought to be easy work. It is said that Napoleon at the head of his army: was worth 10,000 men. We have Jesus! the Captain of our Salvation, to lead us, and “ He ts more than all that can be against us.” You will remember how the fiery cross sent out amongst the Highland clans roused them to action, and how the Crusader when faint and weary, would gaze upon the badge of honour on his shield, the Red Cross, and remembering his vows as a Red Cross Knight, would take courage 22 True Nobles and Heroes. and fight on; and shall not we look at The Cross as a mighty faith reviving power? for “that Cross all hell defies,” and conquest by it is guaranteed to us. ‘You will remember the story of the chief of the clan Macgregor at the battle of Prestonpans. He fell wounded by two balls; but seeing his men give way, he raised him- self on his elbow while the blood streamed - from his side, and exclaimed, “I am not dead, my children; my eye is upon you to see that you do your duty.” We have One who is alive for evermore, who never slumbers even, nor sleeps; and although he may appear not to be with us for a while, in order to teach us that our own strength is only weakness, He steps in just as we are about to give up the conflict, reassuring us with these words, ‘Lo, I am with you alway.” That is true, solid heroism which can, with the object of saving life, face death. George Stephenson is an illustration of this. After racking his mind for months he at last devised the miner’s safety-lamp, which would at all events lessen the dangers incident True Nobles and Heroes. 33 to a miner’s life. To test it, after having some deadly firedamp shut up in the pit for some time, he descended lamp in hand. His comrades who had come to witness the experiment, shrunk back and dared not go one step farther; but he (noble man that he was!) went forward, exposing his lamp in the most dangerous places, in order that he might thereby gain the knowledge to be afterwards used in saving the lives of others. You say “Bravo!” and rightly; but while we shout to the honour of George Stephenson,— “Shall we whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high, Shall we, to men benighted, the lamp of life deny?” No. I trust that some one who reads these pages may resolve that he will go forth, as many a noble missionary has done, for Christ, with his life in his hand, telling the story of the Cross (that old, old story, ever new), and be the means of saving some soul from eternal death. The missionary’s success, after years of weary waiting and working, as in the case of our Chinese and other missionaries, may be small indeed, measured 24 True Nobles and Heroes. by our standard, yet from God Himself he shall receive the true patent of nobility for having borne the cross, and stood the heat of battle. He shall receive a crown of life which shall never fade away; and the Master’s welcome, “ Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” will more than recompense him for all the toils and dangers of the fight. Has He not said, Surely I come quickly, to give to every man according to his work ? Here is another example of what I mean. When vessels leave this country for America, it is often the habit of the sailors on board to stow away boys of their acquaintance until the ship has been some days at sea, too far out for the boys to be put ashore again ; so that, to the annoyance of the captain, and loss of the owners, they are compelled to convey these boys across the Atlantic free. Some months ago a steamer had been two days out of Liverpool on her way to New York. A little fellow, with bright, open face and clear blue eye, came out of his hiding-place, and presented himself before the mate of the vessel. The mate believing SSS LY fj YY LUNI, SSS \ AK THE STOWAWAY, True Nobles and feroes. 27 that one or other of the sailors on board had hidden the boy, insisted that he should tell him who had done so. The boy, looking into his face, replied, ‘“ Please, sir, none of them. It was my father who put me on board, and said I was not to come out for two days and nights, and then I was to say that I was going to my auntie who lives in New York: she would take care of me. My father said he had no money to pay for me, or he would not have put me on board.” The mate, suspicious and angry, said, “It is a lie, boy. Unless you tell me the truth, I will thrash you.” The boy persisted in his story, and affirmed its truthfulness. To terrify him still further, and find out if his story were really true or not, the mate took a rope in his hand, and making a noose with it said to the boy, “ Unless you tell me the truth in ten minutes I will hang you to the mast-head.” “Please, sir,” said the boy- hero, ‘‘I could not tell a lie. I have told you the truth. May I pray, sir?” The mate, with a choking sensation in his throat, replied, “Yes, boy, you may.” And then there occurred such a scene on board that 28 True Nobles and Heroes. steamer’s deck! The passengers and sailors crowded round the mate, and watched as that poor little waif knelt down in the circle, and clasping his hands together, began, ‘Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come,” &c, ; and when he had finished the prayer, which the Lord taught His Jewish disciples, he added the simple words, “ Lord Jesus, take me to heaven when I die in a few minutes, to be for ever with Thee. Amen.” There was not a dry eye in all that company, as the mate clasped the little fellow in his arms, and told him he believed the truth of his story. On the spot, a collection was made for the boy ; and during the remainder of the voyage, no one was more kind to the little fellow than the mate. . In the “ Girls” Training Home, Edinburgh, one of the girls lay dying. She had been ill for a long time. One of our city ministers put the question to her, ‘Are you ready to die?” She gave as noble a reply as ever was uttered by the mouth of man: “I am not afraid to die, for Jesus has taken my sins away.” WOLSEY AND ‘HE YOUNG PRINCE. True Nobles and Heroes. 31 A dear little boy, not long ago, when he was dying, was asked if he were happy. He said, “Oh! yes. I see Jesus; He has a great many little boys with Him, and they are all singing victory through the blood, papa!” and so he passed away to wear the victor’s crown, and to sing through the countless ages of eternity, Victory through the blood! Yes, through the precious blood of Jesus. Just by way of contrast, let me take two other cases. ‘The first one shall be a world’s hero; the next, a faithful follower of God, a true hero and a noble man. You know how Cardinal Wolsey, by scheming and plotting, had attained to the position of the highest ecclesiastic in this country, and after serving -the king, often against the dictates of his own conscience, in his last hour exclaimed— “ Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies.” See how little trust there is to be put in Princes! And now let us look at a noble specimen of the other sort,—old Palissy, the renowned Huguenot (French Protestant) 32 True Nobles and FHleroes. potter. He, too, had enjoyed the smiles of royalty, and in some sort joined in the pomp of courts; but no confidence did he place in them. And well for him that he did not; for, at the age of ninety, we see him in the prison of the Bastille, urged to recant his Protestant faith, to give up all that his soul held dear; and in his reply we observe a true heroic spirit, as, pointing to his white locks, he said, ‘“‘ What! forsake the God who has kept me all these years! Never! My hair is white in His service. . He will never forsake me even unto death.” Even so let us “Fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold upon eternal life.” BERNAnD PALLISY, THE POTTER. 33 CHAPTER IIL THE one weapon that I want to recommend to my young friends for use in “winning their spurs,” as Christians, is prayer ; for prayer is a mighty weapon that conquers alla kind of Jacob’s ladder reaching from earth to heaven. In the fiercest conflicts with evil it is the only weapon that can avail. Oh! how all-powerful it is! “For Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees!” Clothed with the helmet of salvation, armed with the sword of the Spirit and of prayer, we shall not only be able to overcome all our enemies, but even over death shall be victors; for He who hath led captivity cap- tive, and overcome death, is on our side. We should not fear but press onwards— 35 36 True Nobles and Fleroes. “Onward, onward, let us press, in the path of duty ; Virtue is true happiness, excellence true beauty !” But whilst I urge you to remember that confidence in God makes heroes of those who trust in Him, do not forget that ‘“ con- science makes cowards of us all.” To be truly noble, there must be a “ conscience void of offence towards God and man,” a conscience purged from sin. In the 1867 Paris Exhibition I saw two pictures which are more firmly fixed in my memory than any others. In one the artist had represented a dead body lying beside a streamlet, with the murderer flying away in great affright, every blade of grass looking like a scorpion, mockingly accusing him of his frightful crime as he ran. The hedges and trees assumed the shape of hobgoblins, pointing their fingers jeeringly at him as he tried to run away from—what no man ever yet escaped—his own guilty conscience. The other picture was an amphitheatre, represented as crowded with spectators, awaiting the sport (2). You saw the one- half of two cells. In one, a roaring, hungry lion, almost ready to tear the bars out; and True Nobles and Heroes. 37 in the other his intended victim ready, lying sleeping calmly, unmindful of the dreadful fate awaiting him, with his Bible on his breast. It is true “a guilty conscience does” indeed “make cowards of us all.” Many years ago there was a little boy, whose sister was lying dangerously ill.