James Dawson to George Dawson, Pictou, Nova Scotia, 28 February 1857.
Dr George
I have a letter from you today – without date. I hope baby & you have got quit of your colds. You should take good care not to get your feet wet among the cold snow and water – you have heard the old Proverb I suppose that Waters a fine one Good Servants but bad master.
Every body knows what a comfort it is to have a Fire when bad weather comes, and the wind blows keen & chilly. I alone say you have found it being pleasant of an evening, when you have been out building snow men & snow Houses, to gather round a nice fire with your parents and brothers & sisters. But suppose that one of these evenings, when you were snug and warm in bed, a blazing spark or coal should have flown into the room, and burned away while no body was near, till you were awakened by the crackling noise, and smoke caused by the House being in flames your Papa [...] to you, seizes hold of your arm and rushes out with you in great haste, just in time to save your life, while the roof of the House falls in and all his property is consumed. – “What”! you would say, can this dreadful work all come from that little fire by which I sat last evening,” “Is it possible that that little Fire could do so much mischief.” Yes, it is even so. You remember how, last year, Burnside Hall, together with a number of Papas Books and specimens were destroyed, from some such little spark of fire.
The English cathedral also of your city was very lately consumed by <the> [...] to some such small Beginnings – Now a Text came into my mind when I heard of these things, and I thought that I would write to you about them, so that you could talk about them to Anna & WB, and so that you might all see how much sin is like a fire. The Text is “behold how great a <fire> matter a little fire Kindleth.”12
To help you understand and remember it, let us take only the three words, “A little fire”.
There were once two boys who were brothers, they had grown up together, but one was better than the other and more obedient in his conduct than his elder brother. It happened one day that they were out in the fields together, and a little spark of sin in the form of jealousy, came into the elder one’s heart. He did not check it, for he did not like his brother to be better or more beloved than he was. The spark burnt on to Anger, and just as smoke shows when there is fire within, so his face was dark and clouded, and showed that anger was there. But soon it blazed out into Rage, and he lifted up his hand, seized a club, and killed his brother. AH! he did not at first mean to do this; no, but neither did he check the Rage {or fire} of anger, so that it became his master and destroyed him; for God set a mark upon Cain, and there he stood like some blackened ruins, never again to become the fair temple which it had once been. Is not sin then like a fire.
I must tell you of two other persons, they were Husband & wife; at the time they lived Christians were very self-denying, and were ready to give up a great deal of their property, and sometimes their lives even, for the cause of Christ. Now these two persons wished to be thought very good, tho they were not ready to make the real sacrifice; so a spark of sin in the form of deceit sprung up in their hearts, and they began to say to each other, “what can we do to make people think that we are giving up all for Christ, without actually doing it?” Now they were very rich people, and possessed some land, so they consulted how they might deceive about it, was not this like blowing the fire to make it blaze, and so it did, for at last they agreed together to tell a direct Lie. you, no doubt remember what the Lie was which Ananias and Saphira told, and what followed; how it was no sooner uttered than the hand of God fell on them and destroyed them both. How like a fire was this; as rapid in its progress, as fearfull in its consequences? (More of this next week meantime I send my love to you all
James Dawson to George Dawson, Pictou, Nova Scotia, 7 March 1857.
Dr. George
Grandpapa is thinking of coming to stay with you, which I am afraid will be a great loss to you, as you will by that means lose the fine oportunity you now enjoy of corresponding by letter with me – There is no finer way that I know of for cultivating the mind than by writing plenty of letters about familiar things. We must just try to make up the loss some other way.
In my last letter I was telling you and anna about what a Great Fire a little spark sometimes kindles. I told you of Cain & Abel and of Annanias & Saphira. There is just one other character to whom I should now like to refer you.
The spark of sin in his heart, took the form of covetousness, which means an inordinate love of money. It seemed to be always there showing itself in little things, like a Tiny spark. He joined himself to a band of Humble men, who cared so little about money, that they put all that each one posessed into a bag, for General use; and this man begged that he might carry the Bag, and keep it for the rest. He seemed to like to feel that he could Grasp money, and this feeling increased so much, that he could not bear to see the money spent on costly ointment to anoint the feet of his heavenly master. Thus, by degrees covetousness burnt out all his feelings of affection.
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