The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

mer, he was much impressed by certain tragic cir-
cumstances which there occurred, and he wrote home
to his sister that he could not think of abandcning
his work so long as such things were gping on.
" If," said he, in that letter, " only one good action
is done in a lifetime, it is enough to show that life
is not altogether a failure."
In the rearing of his family, Captain Brown had'
great regard to their religious interests. His li-
brary consisted chiefly of the " Bible," "Baxter's
Saints' Rest," " Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress," and
" lloddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the
Soul." The " Bible," with which his letters show
him to be perfectly familiar, he was in the practice
of reading "in course." as were his fathers before
him. The custom of hearing the family, every
Sunday afternoon, repeat the " Catechism," he did
not keep up, regarding it as more burdensome than
profitable ; but he substituted therefore the recita-
tion of the Ten Commandments. These, all the
family, old and young, were required to repeat
every Sunday as regularly as the day came round.
"After which," said Mrs. Brown, "he usually'
talked to them; spealiing sometimes half an hour,
sometimes two hours, just as he or they might,
seem interested."
Captain Brown inculcated a practical, not a
formal or sentimental religion. " First pure, then
peaceable," was his idea of Christianity. Love for
God was to be shown by good will to men. In a
letter written home, not long since, he requested
that little Ellen, their youngest child, a girl of five.
years, might be taught a certain couplet which all
the rest had learned by heart, as they grew up.
"But," said Mrs. Brown, "his request was not
necessary, for Ellen had already learned it from the
other children." The lines were these—
" Count that day lost whose low descending. sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done."'
As an illustration of the practical character of
the man, I am allowed to quote a passage from one
of his late letters to his 'wife. It refers to a pro.;
position which had been made by a kind friend to
give the benefits of a more liberal education to two
of his younger daughters :
"Now,
let me say a word about the effort to edu-
cate our daughters. lam no longer able to pro-
vide means of help towards that object, and it there.;
fore becomes me not to dictate in the matter. I
shall gratefully submit the direction of the whole
thing to those whose generosity may lead them to
undertake it in their behalf, while I give anew a
little expression' of my own choice respecting it:
You, my wife, perfectly well know that I have
always expressed a decided preference for a very
plain, but perfectly practical, education for both
our sons and daughters. Ido not mean an education
so very miserable as that you and I received in early
life, When I say plain, but practical, I mean enough
of the learning of the schools to enable them to
transact the common business of life, together with
that thorough training in good business habits which
best prepares both men and women to be useful
though poor, and to meet the stern realities of life
with a good grace. You well know that I always
claimed that the music of the broom, wash-tub,
needle, spindle, loom, axe, scythe, hoe, flail, &c.,
should first be learned at all events, and that of
the piano, &c., afterwards. I put them in that
order as most conducive to health of body and mind;
and.for obvious reasons that, after a life of some
experience and much observation, I have found 10
women as well. as .10 men who have made 'their
mark in life right, whose early training was of that
plain, practical kind, to one who had a more popu-
lar and fashionable early training."
The wives of Watson and Oliver, as well as the
wife of Capt. Brown, were in the fullest sympathy
with their husbands, and, from all that appears,
have borne their parts with equal bravery and.
heroism. Captain Brown incidentally bears testi-
mony to this, in part at least, when he says, as he
does in one of his recent letters to his wife, " The
sacrifice which yoteand I have made (underscoring
the word you') 1 do not regard as at all too great.
Mrs Brown speaks of her daughters-in-law—lsabella
and Martha, the wives respectively of Watson and
Oliver—in terms of warm commendation.
From all this—and you.need not be assured that
in these statements I have adhered as close as may
be to simple verity—l think you will agree with
me that Captain Brown, in the generosity and
nobleness of his character, does not stand alone in
his • family. He has a wife meet for such a husband,
and• Children worthy of their father.