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Chapter 49—Duty to Orphans
Dear Brother and Sister D,
Your late visit and conversation with us have suggested many
thoughts, of which I cannot forbear placing a few upon paper. I
was very sorry that E had not carried himself correctly at all times;
yet, when you consider, you cannot expect perfection in youth at
his age. Children have faults, and they need a great deal of patient
instruction.
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That he should have feelings not always correct is no more than
can be expected of a boy of his age. You must remember that he has
no father or mother, no one to whom he can confide his feelings, his
sorrows, and his temptations. Every person feels that he must have
some sympathizer. This boy has been tossed about here and there,
from pillar to post, and he may have many errors, many careless
ways, with considerable independence, and he may lack reverence.
But he is quite enterprising, and with right instruction and kind
treatment, I have the fullest confidence that he would not disappoint
our hopes, but would fully repay all the labor expended on him.
Considering his disadvantages, I think he is a very good boy.
When we entreated you to take him we did it because we fully
believed it was your duty and that in doing so you would be blessed.
We did not expect that you would do this merely to be benefited by
the help that you would receive from the boy, but to benefit him, to
do a duty to the orphan—a duty which every true Christian should
be seeking and anxiously watching to perform; a duty, a sacrificing
duty, which we believed it would do you good to take up, if you
did it cheerfully, with a view to being the instrument in the hands
of God of saving a soul from the snares of Satan, of saving a son
whose father devoted his precious life to pointing souls to the Lamb
of God who taketh away the sin of the world.
From what was shown me, Sabbathkeeping Adventists have but
a feeble sense of how large a place the world and selfishness hold in
their hearts. If you have a desire to do good and glorify God, there
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