No Ordinary Man. Lois Winslow-Spragge
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Название: No Ordinary Man
Автор: Lois Winslow-Spragge
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: География
isbn: 9781459714519
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He Loved money better than any thing else, and when the Temptation came – “deliver up your master to us, and we will give you thirty pieces of silver” – that master from whom he had received nothing but Love and tenderness – that master with whom he had lived so many years, and to whose instruction and mild councils he had daily listened, – instead of shrinking from the Honied proposal he yielded. The fire of covetousness had been burning so long that he could not check it, and so it raged on to his destruction, for you both know the fearful end of Judas. He went & hanged himself.
In these three instances I have showed you how much sin resembles a fire; if you will take your Bibles and search them, you will find many more, and if you read the History of your own, or any other country, you will see, in the lives of wicked men you meet with there, how much Sin is like a fire. We shall find too, that the men who did such evil deeds, did not become bad all at once, oh, no; if you will go to them and hear their account of themselves, we should find that there was a time when sin was but as a spark in their hearts, and that if they had checked it then, they might have been happy men.
Now there is one thing I want to impress upon your minds. You all possess the spark of sin in your hearts, you know it is so, and whether you do or not, this you know that you feel there is always a readiness to do wrong within you, oh, then be carefull to check it in the beginning. Look into your hearts and see whether it is most likely to break out into Anger, or Lying or selfishness, and set to work at once (asking for the help of Gods spirit) to put out the fire of sin, whatever it may be.
With my love to Anna & WB – I am yours
James Dawson to George Dawson, Pictou, Nova Scotia, 22 April 1857.
Dear George,
I have received your Letter inclosed in one from Papa of 3rd. April, and it is, by far the best written letter you ever sent me. I am very Glad to be thus able to testify to your improvement. – I can read your fine, Large, Round hand without my specs, and I hope you will continue to give attention to your writing, because if you ever allow yourself to Decend from writing a legible round hand, to write a hasty sharp scrawl in place, you will never recover what you have lost – The wise saying of Solomon, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from {it},”13 is no less True in Physical than in moral things – in the works of our hands than in the Thoughts of our hearts.
I am most happy to hear that Papa approves of your progress in Drawing – you will, I hope, be encouraged by this to earn a further amount of his approbations.
But you say Papa has bought you a pair of snow shoes, I am not sure that he has done right in so doing. When Grandpa was a young man he was one time journeying along, on a Wintry day, on Horseback, towards Halifax, in company with {a} Mr Patterson and some other Pictonians. – There had been the previous night a fall of snow of about 15 inches which ended with a shower of Rain, that froze into a thin ice on the Top of the snow but not strong enough to carry a man. – After leaving Salmon River, where we had put up all night, we observed the Tract of a person walking on Snow Shoes, going in the same direction we were; when we had advanced about 3 miles our Horses all at once took fright and pricked up their eyes & ears, and were like to run off with us. – we looked in the same direction with the Horses and saw some thing weltering and plashing in the snow – Two of us dismounted and gave our Horses to the others to hold and went ahead on foot to see what it was – and what do you think it Turned out to be? Why, a poor unfortunate Pedestrian who had borrowed Mr Archibald’s snow shoes to take him onto [...], and not having any experience in their use – he fell and his head & shoulders went down through the soft snow while his feet and snow shoes remained on the surface, and in that position he would most likely have soon finished, had we not come to his rescue.
I shall not forget your request about “[Dayands] Book”
Give my love to Anna. WB and Miss Bell.
Yours afftly
The above gives a brief insight into the character of James Dawson, who was evidently a man of keen observation with a variety of interests. He also obviously believed in the instruction of children, even if the practical lessons of life had to be taught with rather vivid stories.
It is also interesting to be able to reproduce a few of George’s letters, written at age eight, in reply to those of his grandfather.
April 23d 1857
Dear Grandpapa
I thank you very much for the seeds you sent us. Dr. Anderson14 has been visiting us and when he was down town he bought me an Album in four languages German Latin French and English. Mama has planted sweet peas in the crocus pot and they are springing up nicely we each have one side. With love to you {and} give {my} love to Agnes.
May 16th [1857]
Dear Grandpa
I have got my seeds sown and Papa brought <yes> Miss Bell Me and Anna {to the mountain} and we got a lot of Aders tongues trillium sanguinaria & saxifrage.
there are also great improvements going on in the grounds there ar I think 18. men busy: they have planted upwards of 400 trees carried away the surface stones and are going to make a new fence.
Please give my love to Agnes.
June 2 57
Dear Grandpa
it is very hot just now. some of my seeds are coming up I go out every morning to pull up the weeds from their roots; papa’s garden is laid out very nicely, we were very glad to hear that you are a little better and I hope you will be able to go up the Mountain
6James Dawson (1789-1862) arrived in Pictou, Nova Scotia, from Scotland in 1811 and became a prominent businessman. James was a devout Presbyterian with extremely strong convictions, who was not always popular in the community. After retirement he spent his last years in Montreal with J.W. Dawson’s family.
7Anna Lois (Dawson) Harringon (1851-1917), the oldest of George’s sisters, was also his closest friend and confidant. Even after her marriage to Bernard Harrington in 1876, Anna continued to share an intimate and rich relationship with George. They corresponded regularly and George recurringly offered assistance to his sometimes beleagured sister, who had СКАЧАТЬ