Roses and Thorns

By Dennis Gundersen

The American Tract Society printed numerous stories in the 1800s, the goal of which was the promotion of Christian character in young people. These two short stories in one, "Roses and Thorns" and the shorter "Prison Roses," were regarded as one of the most appealing of these volumes.

In the setting of Aunt Eleanor sharing stories from her rocking chair with her niece and nephew, the priority of integrity and honesty in all that we do shines forth about careless words, lost children, thunderstorms, and thoughtful sisters.

This volume is one of eleven titles in the "Children's Character-Building Collection," our popular reprints of 19th century Christian books for young children.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace & Truth Books
• Release date: Nov 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781930133594

Book preview

The stories in this volume were originally published in the 19th century. This Grace & Truth Books reprint, in which spelling, grammar, and formatting changes have been made, is copyright © 2013 by Grace & Truth Books. All rights reserved, with the exception of brief quotations. For consent to reproduce these materials, please contact the publisher.

ISBN # 978-l-58339-057-3

e-ISBN # 978-1-930133-59-4

Current printing, Grace & Truth Books, 2004

e-Book edition, Grace & Truth Books, 2013

Cover design by Ben Gundersen

Cover illustration by Greg Gundersen

e-Book conversion by Digital Puritan Press

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Table of Contents

Roses and Thorns

Chapter 1 - Thoughtful Jan and Careless Kitty

Chapter 2 - The Poor Weaver

Chapter 3 - The Tree Brothers

Chapter 4 - Careless Words

Chapter 5 - The Lost Children

Chapter 6 - The Thunderstorm

Prison Roses

Roses and Thorns

Roses and Thorns

Chapter One

THOUGHTFUL JAN

AND CARELESS KITTY

In passing through thine earthly hours,

Avoid the thorns and choose the flowers.

Which do you want? asked Aunt Eleanor cheerfully one summer evening. She entered the room where her niece Mary and her nephew William were playing. Which do you want, the right hand or the left?

Mary and William saw that Aunt Eleanor held a bouquet of roses in one hand, and a bunch of thorns in the other. They quickly made up their minds. They cried out together, The right hand! The right hand! They rushed over to look at the lovely roses, just picked from the bush.

I wish that you would always make such wise choices, said Aunt Eleanor.

Mary and William loved their Aunt Eleanor. They had good reason, because she was always doing thoughtful things. They understood her way of dealing with them. However cheerful her remarks might be, she always tried to make them useful. No matter how stern she might be, they knew she would be sure to make them smile another time. They knew their aunt well, so they carefully listened to what she said.

We can compare good qualities to flowers, said Aunt Eleanor. "They seem more lovely and desirable to us. Faithfulness and truth are pretty flowers! Faith, hope, and charity would make a lovely bouquet! Love, joy, and peace make a beautiful wreath! Who wouldn’t choose them? Who would ever want to be without them?

In passing through thine earthly hours,

Avoid the thorns and choose the flowers.

"We may truthfully say that bad qualities are like thorns. They have the same characteristics. What is more piercing than envy and slander? What can be sharper than anger, hatred, resentment, and selfishness? What is more painful than bitterness, revenge, and fighting?

"I gathered these roses and cut the thorny sprigs from the black thorn hedge for a reason. I wanted