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* * * * * GRACE DARLING THE SECOND. Whilst these pages were passing through the press the news came of the bravery of another Grace Darling in a far-off land.[1] [Footnote 1: See letter of Rev. Ellis of Rangoon in _Times_ of 25th May, 1894.]
Miss Darling was head mistress of the Diocesan School at Amherst near Rangoon, and her pupils were bathing in the sea when one of them was bitten in the leg by a shark or alligator. Alarmed by this terrible shock she lost her balance and was being carried away by the tide when her sister and the head mistress both went...
In the far-off Sandwich (or Hawaiian) Islands in the Pacific Ocean there are many lepers; but the leprosy from which they suffer is of a more fatal kind than that which is spoken of in the Bible. So as to prevent the spread of the disease, the lepers are sent to one of the smaller islands, where there is a leper villag...
Until the year 1873 the lot of the lepers on their help them, that all hearts were turned in love towards him. He first made the discovery when he had been at Molokai about ten years. He happened to drop some boiling water on his foot, and it gave him no pain. Then he knew he had the leprosy. Yet he was not cast down w...
In 1889, sixteen years after landing at Molokai, Father Damien died. When he was nearing his end, he wrote of the disease as a "providential agent to detach the heart from all earthly affection, prompting much the desire of a Christian soul to be united--the sooner the better--with Him who is her only life". During his...
A GREAT ARCTIC EXPLORER. THE STORY OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. The passage to the North Pole is barred by ice fields and guarded by frost and snow more securely than Cerberus guarded the approach to the kingdom of Pluto. For three centuries and more the brave and daring of all nations have tried to pass these barriers. Hundr...
One of the bravest arctic explorers was Sir John Franklin, who, after many wonderful adventures, finally died with his companions amid the frozen seas of the north. As a little boy, "life on the ocean wave" was to John Franklin a delightful day-dream. Once when at school he walked twelve miles to get a sight of the sea...
The first winter they were nearly starved to death. They stayed at Fort Enterprise; but, long before the spring returned, they found their food was all but finished, and the nearest place to get more was five hundred miles away, over a trackless desert of snow. One of their number, however, tramped the whole weary way,...
The night of their reunion, the six survivors had a grand feast. A partridge had been shot, and for the first time during an entire month these men tasted flesh food. Later on, sitting round the fire they had kindled, words of hope and comfort were read from the Bible, and the men joined heartily together in prayer and...
The final relics of the Franklin Expedition were discovered by McClintock and a party of volunteers. Starting from England in a little vessel called _The Fox_ he and his crew passed through a hundred dangers from shipwreck, icebergs, and other perils. But at length, in April, 1858, they found on King William's Island t...
The object for which Sir John Franklin had sailed, viz., the discovery of the North West passage, had been attained, but no single man of the expedition, alas, lived to enjoy the fruits of the discovery. A SAVIOUR OF SIX THE STORY OF FIREMAN FORD. In the waiting room at the head quarters of the London Fire Brigade, in ...
From amongst these let us take one, and tell briefly what befell him. It will serve as a sample of the dangers which beset the fireman daily in the pursuit of his duty. "Joseph Andrew Ford," so runs the official record, "lost his life at a fire which occurred at 98 Gray's Inn Road, at about 2 a.m. on the 7th of October...
"He pitched his escape to the left-hand window, and with great difficulty and much exertion and skill succeeded in getting the six persons out safely (the woman in the right-hand window being in the meanwhile rescued by the next escape that arrived, in charge of fireman W. Attwood); and Ford was in the act of coming do...
That's all the official record says--simple, calm, straightforward--like Joseph Ford's conduct on that night. I suppose that next morning two pairs of bright little eyes were on the watch for Joseph Ford; and perchance four pattering feet ran to the door when the knock came; and that two little minds dimly realised tha...
Only thirty feet between him and safety! Yet the man was "fairly roasted" in the escape. Men have been burnt at the stake and tortured, and limbs have been stretched on the rack, and people have been maimed by thumbscrews and bootscrews, and put inside iron figures with nails that tear and pierce. All this have they su...
"A fine handsome child, with flashing black eyes!" Thus was Elizabeth Gilbert described at her birth in 1826; but at the age of three an attack of scarlet fever deprived her of eyesight; and thenceforth, for upwards of fifty years, the beautiful things in the world were seen by her no more. Her parents were most anxiou...
When she was about ten years old, the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria visited Oxford, where Bessie then lived with her parents. On her return home Bessie exclaimed: "Oh, mamma, I have _seen_ the Duchess of Kent, and she had on a brown silk dress". Indeed, the child had such a vivid imagination that she saw me...
When Bessie was twenty-seven years old an idea was suggested which was the means of giving her an object in life, and affording her an opportunity of doing a great work for the blind. It was her sister Mary who first spoke about it, having seen with sorrow how changed the once happy blind sister had become, and longing...
"Work to death!" she replied with a happy laugh. "I am working to life." But if a few were opposed, her parents, brothers, sisters, and the majority of those she loved, were in hearty sympathy. So in May, 1854, Bessie commenced her life work. Seven blind men were given employment at their own homes in London; materials...
A cellar was rented in New Turnstile Street, Holborn, at a charge of eighteenpence a week. A manager, named Levy, was engaged at a salary of half a crown a week and a commission on sales. He was a blind man himself, and a blind carpenter was engaged to assist in making the storehouse presentable. It was a small beginni...
This gracious acknowledgment of the work in which Miss Gilbert was engaged not only gave sincere pleasure to the blind lady herself, but helped on her scheme immensely. And the Queen did more than contribute money: orders for work were sent from Windsor Castle, Osborne and Balmoral; and the blind people delighted in sa...
A GREAT TRAVELLER IN THE AIR. SOME ANECDOTES OF JAMES GLAISHER. For many years past men of science have been engaged in ascending far up amongst the clouds for the purpose of finding out as much as possible about the various currents of air, the electrical state of the atmosphere, the different kinds of clouds, sound, ...
His first ascent was made from Wolverhampton on the 17th of July, 1862. It was very stormy at the time of starting. Before he and Mr. Coxwell got fairly off they very nearly came to grief; for the balloon did not rise properly, but dragged the car along near the ground, so that if they had come against any chimney or h...
Up to the time they reached the fifth mile Mr. Glaisher felt pretty well. What happened afterwards is best described by himself. "When at the height of 26,000 feet I could not see the fine column of the mercury in the tube; then the fine divisions on the scale of the instrument became invisible. At that time I asked Mr...
The year following Mr. Glaisher had a narrow escape from drowning. He and Mr. Coxwell started from the Crystal Palace at a little past one o'clock on the 18th of April, 1863, and in an hour and thirteen minutes after starting were 24,000 feet high. Then they thought it would be just as well to see where they were, so t...
THE SOLDIER WITH THE MAGIC WAND. THE STORY OF GENERAL GORDON. "That great man and gallant soldier and true Christian, Charles Gordon."--THE PRINCE OF WALES. Charles George Gordon was born at Woolwich on the 28th of January, 1833.
In early life he was delicate, and of all professions that of a soldier seemed least suitable for him. At school he made no mark in learning. He was a fearless lad, with a strong will of his own. When he was only nine years old, and was yet unable to swim, he would throw himself into deep water, trusting to some older ...
Whilst in the Crimea he worked in the trenches twenty hours at a stretch times without number. Once when he was leading a party at night he was fired at by his own sentries. On another occasion he was wounded in the forehead, and continued his work without showing any concern. He found it dull when no fighting was goin...
Gordon had only about 3000 men, chiefly Chinese; and, notwithstanding the fact that when he took over the force it had just been demoralised by defeat, he soon proved himself more than a match for the rebel hordes. From one victory to another he led his men on, and cities fell in quick succession before him. His name e...
During this war the only weapon Gordon carried was a cane; and men grew to regard this stick as a kind of magic wand, and Gordon as a man whom nothing could harm. On one occasion when he was wounded he refused to retire till he was forcibly carried off the field by the doctor's orders. After he had put an end to the re...
He returned to England and settled down at Gravesend, living quite simply, and working in his spare moments amongst the poor. To the boys he was a hero indeed. That was but natural, seeing he not only taught them to read and write, and tried to get them situations, but treated them as his friends. In his sitting-room w...
He had one object in life--to do good. His views were utterly unworldly and opposed to those generally held, but they were in the main right. In 1874 Gordon went to Egypt, and at the request of the Khedive undertook the position of Governor-General of the Soudan, in the hope of being able to put down the slave trade. H...
Once his men failed in their attack on an offending tribe; and, believing they had been misled by the Sheik, wanted to punish him; but Gordon saw the other side of the man's character--"He was a brave patriotic man," he said; "and I shall let him go". Here was his hope. "With terrific exertion," he writes, "in two or t...
[ILLUSTRATION: GORDON STATUE IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE.] The work begun by Baker was continued with great success by Gordon. He estimated that in nine months he liberated 2000 slaves. The suffering these poor creatures had gone through was appalling. Some of them when set free had been four or five days without water in the ...
When Gordon was in Abyssinia King John took him prisoner. Brought before his Majesty, Gordon fairly took away the breath of the monarch by going up to him, placing his own chair beside the king's, and telling him that he would only talk to him as an equal. "Do you know, Gordon Pasha," said the king, "that I could kill ...
"Certainly. I am always ready to die," answered the pasha; "and so far from fearing your putting me to death you would confer a favour on me by so doing." Upon this his Majesty gave up the idea of frightening him. At the end of 1879 Gordon was free from the Soudan for the second time. In 1876 he had left it, as he thou...
Leopold II., King of the Belgians, who had a profound regard for Gordon, greatly desired that he should go out to the Congo; and in January, 1884, he was just preparing to start in his Majesty's service when on the 17th of that month a telegram from Lord Wolseley arrived, asking him to return to England. At six o'clock...
But ere long it was found even beyond his powers; for after sending off a portion of the Khartoum population in safety down the river, the Mahdi's legions closed in upon him, and Khartoum was in a state of siege. For nearly a year he held the city against all the forces of the enemy; and meantime Great Britain was stir...
By January, 1885, the city had been reduced to starvation. Donkeys, dogs, rats, everything indeed in the way of flesh, had been consumed; even boot leather, the straps of native bedsteads, and mimosa gum did not come amiss to the sorely-tried garrison. Famine had produced lack of discipline on the part of some of the t...
[ILLUSTRATION: REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE LAST PAGE OF GORDON'S DIARY AT KHARTOUM.] It was on the whole a happy and fitting end. The mind cannot conceive Gordon rusting out; and the man lived so much in the presence of God that death was a welcome visitor. "Like Lawrence," he wrote, "I have tried to do my duty"; and Engl...
The bracing life they lead in their country home soon brings the colour to their cheeks, and the training they receive fits them for becoming useful citizens and valuable servants of the State. Most of them join the army, and the Gordon boys are now to be found serving the Queen in every land. "VALIANT AND TRUE." THE S...
If the story seems somewhat out of place amongst nineteenth century records, it is, nevertheless, such a unique display of stubborn heroism "under fire" that I have not hesitated to include it. On the 10th of September, 1591 (31st August, old style), Lord Thomas Howard, with six of her Majesty's ships, five victualling...
The master of the ship wanted him to "cut his mainsail and cast about, and to trust to the sailing of his ship"; but Sir Richard utterly refused to turn from the enemy, saying that he would rather choose to die than dishonour himself, his country, and her Majesty's ship, and informed his company that he would pass thro...
After discharging their guns the Spanish ships endeavoured to board _The Revenge_; but, notwithstanding the multitude of their armed men, they were repulsed again and again, and driven back either into their ships or into the sea. After the battle had lasted well into the night many of the British were slain or wounded...
And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. Ship after ship the whole night long their high-built galleons came, Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame; Ship after ship, the whole night long,...
He endeavoured to persuade his men to yield themselves to God, and to the mercy of none else; that, as they had repulsed so many enemies, they should not shorten the honour of their nation by prolonging their lives by a few hours or days. The captain and master could not, however, see the matter in this light, and beso...
Though the Spaniards treated Sir Richard with every care and consideration, he died the second or third day after the fight, deeply lamented both by, the enemy and by his own men. "Here die I, Richard Grenville," said he, "with a joyful and quiet mind; for that I have ended my life as a true soldier ought to do, that h...
And, although Lord Howard would himself have gone into battle even against such odds as that, yet the other commanders were greatly opposed to so rash an enterprise; and the master of his own ship said he would rather jump into the sea than conduct her Majesty's ship and the rest to be a prey to the enemy. Hence it was...
Fancy Hannington, of all persons in the world, turning missionary, and going out to preach the Gospel to the blacks! It is well-nigh incredible at first thought that such a light-hearted, rollicking, jovial fellow could have given up _everything_ for such a work as that! He had plenty of money, hosts of friends, wife, ...
I will try and show briefly how it came about. At school Hannington was the veriest pickle, and was nicknamed "Mad Jim". On one occasion he lit a bonfire in his dormitory, he pelted the German master with rejected examination papers, and in a single day was caned over a dozen times. Yet he fought the bullies, and kept ...
Both at Oxford and at Martinhoe, in North Devon, where he spent some time during the vacations, Hannington preserved his reputation for fun and love of adventure. At Oxford he took part in practical jokes innumerable; at Martinhoe cliff-climbing and adventurous scrambles occupied some little of his time. One day he wen...
A little later comes an important entry in his diary: "---- opened a correspondence with me to-day, which I speak of as delightful; it led to my conversion". Thereafter followed a change in Hannington's life--he prayed more. It seems that about this time a college friend began to think much of him, and to pray earnestl...
Having spent some time in study, Hannington went up for his ordination examination. He did very well the first day; the second he was ill and could do nothing; the third the same; and when he was dismissed by the bishop he was in a state akin to despair. The next examination was better, but he was nervous, and found hi...
"Iss," said that official, "we reckoned you was lost, but now you are here go and put on your surples and be short, for we all want to get back to dinner". Truly he was no Wesley in those days! But to him, as to every true-hearted seeker, light came at last. Not long afterwards he could write, "I know now that Jesus Ch...
It was not, however, till the year 1882 that he finally entered into arrangements with the Church Missionary Society to go to Africa. Their high estimation of his capacities may be gathered from the fact that he was appointed as leader of the expedition which was being sent out. It was a horrible wrench at last to leav...
Strangely enough, both his missionary journeys in Africa failed in their original aim, which was to reach the kingdom of Uganda. In the first journey the expedition started from the coast at the end of June, 1882. After two months' difficult marching into the interior, amidst the constant difficulties which beset the A...
Notwithstanding this suffering, the expedition started forward again on 16th October, Hannington being placed in a hammock. They reached Lake Victoria, but the leader could go no further. He was utterly broken down by continued fever; and, though the thought of returning to England without accomplishing his mission was...
On 21st October, 1885, the bishop had started from his tent to get a view of the river Nile when about twenty of the natives set upon him, robbed him, and hurried him off to prison. He was violently dragged along, some trying to force him one way, some another, dashing him against trees in their hurry, and bruising and...
On the day of the bishop's release, the 29th, he was held up by Psalm xxx., which came with great power. As he was led forth to execution he sang hymns nearly all the way. When his captors hesitated to launch their spears at him, he spake gently to them and pointed to his gun. So, either by gunshot or spear wounds, die...
In an hour or two's time fever developing rapidly. My tent was so stifling I was obliged to go inside the filthy hut, and soon was delirious. Evening: fever passed away. Word came that Mwanga had sent 3 soldiers, but what news they bring they will not yet let me know. Much comforted by 28th Psalm. A MAN WHO CONQUERED D...
THE STORY OF SIR HENRY HAVELOCK. He was nicknamed "Phlos"--short for philosopher--even when at school. Havelock and a few companions at Charterhouse met together for devotion, and of course came in for a large amount of jeering from some of the other boys. But it was useless to call him "Methodist" and "hypocrite"; he ...
He had always had a leaning towards a military life, and by his brother's aid obtained a commission as second lieutenant in 1815, being then twenty years old. Unlike Colin Campbell, who was in the thick of the fight within a few months of joining his regiment, it was some years before Havelock had a chance of distingui...
During the two months he was at Calcutta he held religious meetings, to which the soldiers were invited. At these, not only did he preach the Gospel of Christ, but he made a point of telling the men the blessings of temperance; and it was by his influence that later on a society was formed in the regiment, and various ...
During this war a night attack was made by the enemy on an outpost; and the men ordered to repulse it were not ready when summoned. "Then call out Havelock's saints," said the commander-in-chief. "They are always sober, and can be depended upon, and Havelock himself is always ready." And, surely enough, "Havelock's sai...
Time passed on, and the leader of "the saints" was still but a junior lieutenant, though he had been seventeen years in the army. Thrice were his hopes of promotion raised, and thrice doomed to disappointment. Still he murmured not. "I have only two wishes," he would say. "I pray that in life and death I may glorify Go...
Though their offer was refused, yet Havelock could not but be thankful for the kind feeling which prompted it. At length, after over twenty years' service, he became a captain. In the Afghan war Havelock was with General Sale at Jellalabad at the time that Dr. Brydon brought the news of the massacre of our men by the A...
When the terrible mutiny broke out in India in the year 1857, the hour of dire emergency had come, and with it had come the man. "Your excellency," said Sir Patrick Grant, presenting Havelock to Lord Canning, "I have brought the man." That was on 17th June, 1857. Two days later Havelock was appointed to the command of ...
Not a moment was to be lost, for both cities were in deadly peril. Alas! Early on the 1st July came news of the terrible massacre of the Cawnpore garrison,--men, women and children slain in one wanton, heartless slaughter, which still makes the blood run cold to read about. Out of the 2000 men under Havelock's command ...
Sour he was _not_, but he kept splendid discipline among his troops. "Soldiers," he said as they set out, "there is work before us. We are bound on an expedition whose object is the supremacy of British rule, and to avenge the fate of British men and women." The first battle fought was at Futtehpore. Writing to his wif...
His men were often half famished. For two whole days they had but one meal, consisting of a few biscuits and porter! Hearing that some of the women and children were still alive, having escaped the massacre of 27th June, Havelock pressed on with his wearied little army. "With God's help," said he, "we shall save them, ...
And again the Scots scattered the enemy, at the bayonet's point. The sun was far towards the western horizon before the battle was finally over. The mutineers were brave men; and, though beaten, retreated, reformed, and fought again. The enemy had rallied at a village; and Havelock's men, after their day's fight, lagge...
But their general rode out under fire of the guns, and, smiling as a cannon ball just missed him by a hairsbreadth, said:-- "Come, who is to take that village--the Highlanders or the 64th?" That was enough: pell-mell went both regiments upon the enemy, who had a bad quarter of an hour between the two. Cawnpore was won;...
For after advancing into Oude Havelock found that constant fighting, cholera, sunstroke and illness had so reduced his numbers that to go on would risk the extermination of his force. He therefore returned to await reinforcements. By the time these arrived, Sir James Outram had been appointed general of the forces in I...
As the women and children frantic with joy rushed to welcome their rescuers the stern-set faces of the Highlanders changed to joy and gladness; hunger, thirst, wounds, weariness--all were forgotten as they clasped hands with those for whom they had fought and bled. "God bless you," they exclaimed; "why, we expected to ...
After a series of the most thrilling incidents the world has known, Lucknow was finally relieved by Sir Colin Campbell. When Havelock came from the Residency to meet the troops the men flocked round him cheering, and their enthusiasm brought tears to the veteran's eyes. On the 17th November Lucknow was relieved, and on...
THE STORY OF JOHN HOWARD. In St. Paul's Cathedral there stands a monument representing a man with a key in his right hand and a scroll in his left, whilst on the pedestal from which he looks down are pictured relics of the prison life of the past. The man is John Howard, who travelled tens of thousands of miles, and sp...
Then a great grief came to him. His wife died, and Howard was bowed down with sorrow. But the distress brought with it a longing to be a comfort to others; and he set out for Lisbon, which had just been visited by the great earthquake of 1755, with the hope of assisting the homeless and suffering. France and England we...
From the inquiries he made during the course of his visitations he was astonished to find that the gaolers received no salary, and that they lived on what they could make out of the prisoners. As a result it often happened that those who had been acquitted at their trial were kept in prison long afterwards, because the...
He gave evidence before the House of Commons of what he had seen. Then Acts of Parliament were passed, providing that gaolers should be paid out of the rates, that prisoners who were found not guilty should be set at liberty at once, that the prisons should be kept clean and healthy, and the prisoners properly clothed ...
When he was in London on one occasion he heard that there had been a revolt in the military prison in the Savoy. Two of the gaolers had been killed, and the rioters held possession of the building. Howard set off for the prison, though he was warned that his life would not be safe if he ventured inside. Nothing daunted...
At Vienna the Emperor Joseph II. specially requested an interview. Howard refused at first to meet the emperor's wishes; but, on the English ambassador representing good might come of the visit, Howard went to see his majesty, and remained with him two hours in conversation, during which time he made the emperor acquai...
His last journey was to Russia. At Cherson he received an urgent request to visit a lady who had the fever. The place where she lived was many miles off, and no good horses were to be obtained. But he was determined not to disappoint her; so he procured a dray horse and started for his destination on a wintry night, wi...
THE STORY OF KAVANAGH. It was the time of the Indian Mutiny. Lucknow was in the hands of the rebels. Within the Residency Sir James Outram, Sir Henry Havelock, and their troops, were fast shut up, around them a vast multitude of mutineers. But now near at hand was Sir Colin Campbell with the army of relief. It was diff...
Dressing himself as a native soldier, and covering his face and hands with lampblack, he was so altered in appearance that even his friends failed to recognise him. Thus disguised, and accompanied by a native spy named Kunoujee Lal to guide him, he set out. The night, fortunately, was dark and favoured their design. Th...
A man whom they asked declared he was too old to guide them, another on being commanded to lead them ran off shouting and alarmed the village. It was now midnight, so there was no time to be lost. They made for the canal, into which Kavanagh fell several times, for his shoes were wet and slippery, and he was footsore a...
Much against the spy's advice, Kavanagh now insisted on a quarter of an hour's rest, for he was about worn out. After this they passed between two of the enemy's pickets who, happily for them, had no sentries thrown out, and reached a grove of trees. Here he asked Kunoujee Lal to see if there was any one who could tell...
In consideration of his gallant services he received the Victoria Cross, and was afterwards made Assistant-Commissioner of Oude. THE MAN WHO BRAVED THE FLOOD. THE STORY ON CAPTAIN LENDY'S BRAVE DEED. In the autumn of 1893 a police force of forty men, under the command of Captain E.A.W. Lendy, Inspector-General of Polic...
It was no easy task to perform. The men had to cut their way through a dense jungle. This was heavy and tiring work, and, owing to the fact that for a month past they had been obliged to exist on a small quantity of rice, they were not in the best condition to undertake such labour. However, so as to get the road finis...
No wonder, then, that the natives were terrified at the idea of attempting to swim across. Yet the river lay between Captain Lendy's force and the food and rest it needed. So, though owing to the privations the men had endured their vital powers were at a low ebb, yet, with starvation staring them in the face they must...
Smith gallantly went to the rescue; but it was difficult enough for him to get along alone; and, with Bangura to support, he quickly became exhausted. After shouting for help, he and his companion disappeared from view beneath the waters. At once two other men went to Bangura's assistance, giving Smith an opportunity o...
At this moment their brave commander came to the rescue, and at once changed the aspect of affairs. Diving into the stream he soon reached the drowning man; and the others, released from their burden, were now able to give their undivided attention to self-preservation. The supreme moment had arrived. Would Captain Len...
At length the shadow of death was dissipated; for the gallant soldier managed to land his burden on the further shore, which the others had already reached. The end of the stern combat with the waters was particularly gratifying, as several men had previously lost their lives in crossing the same river. The silver meda...
The little block in this page is a reproduction of Momo Bangura's statement forwarded to the Colonial Office, duly witnessed by his companions' signatures. Pte Momo. Bangurah's Statement. My name is Pte Momo Bangurah. I am a private in the Frontier Police Force. On the 4th instant I tried to cross over the Seli River. ...
his mark. Witnesses A TEMPERANCE LEADER. THE STORY OF JOSEPH LIVESEY.
The leader of the great temperance movement in England--Joseph Livesey, of Preston--had a very bad start in life. He was quite poor; he lost both father and mother from consumption when he reached his eighth year; he was frail and delicate; his brothers and sisters all died young; so that he seemed ill fitted to make a...
But, whilst he was weaving in the cellar where his grandfather and uncle also worked, he was at the same time gaining knowledge day by day. When his pocket money of a penny a week was increased to threepence, he felt himself on the high road to wealth, and ere long he was the possessor of a Bible and a grammar, which h...
The weavers used to keep Monday as a day of leisure; and the public-houses were crowded from morning till night with men and women, who drank away their earnings to the last penny. In the church to which Joseph Livesey belonged the ringers and singers were hard drinkers, the gravedigger was a drunkard, and the parish c...
At the age of twenty he received a legacy of a few pounds; and soon after, having saved a little money, married a good and true woman, who helped him much throughout life. "Our cottage," says Mr. Livesey in his autobiography, "though small, was like a palace; for none could excel my Jenny for cleanliness and order. I r...
No sooner thought of than done. But, when he had finished weighing out the cheese to his friends, he found he had made, quite unexpectedly, a profit of eighteenpence, and that it was more than he could have gained by a great deal of weaving. So he changed his trade: weaving gave place to cheese mongering; and, after so...
[Handwritten: We agree to _abstain_ from all Liquors of an _Intoxicating Quality_, whether ale porter Wine, or Ardent Spirits, except as Medicine. John Gratix Edw'd Dickinson Jno: Broadbelt Jno: Smith Joseph Livesey David Anderson Jno: Ring.] It was a terrible struggle for these men at first. They were laughed at, they...