Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1846-11-05

iy that was on him, was that he could not give
his children The letters. They were good chill
dren, for all the crock Of the shop was on theil
faces, and their fingers were bent like eagles
claws with handling nails. He had been a
poor man all his days, and he knew his chill
dren would be poor all their days, and poorer
than he, if the nail business should continue TO
grow worse. If he could only give them the
letters, or the alphabet, as they called it, il
would make them the like Of rich; for then they
could read the Testament He could read the
Testament little, for he had learned the let
ters by FIRE light, Ii was good book, was the
Testament; never saw any other book-heard
tell of some in rich peoples houses but il mat
tered but little with him. The Testament he
was sure it was made for nailers and such like.
Ii helped him wonderfully when the loaf was
read it when The sun was up, and il took him
long 20 read liule, for he learned lhe letters
when he was old But he laid it beside his
dish a, dinner time and fed his heart with it,
while his children were eating the bread that
fell 10 his share, and when he had speIt Out
line of the shortest words, he read them aloud,
and his eldest boy, The one on the block there,
could say several whole verses he had learned
in this way.
1t was a great comfort to him, TO think ,ha,
Jeemes could take into his heart so many ver-
ses of The Testament, which he could not read
He intended TO teach all his chIdren in this
way 1t was all he could do for them aud this
he had 10 do, as all the other hours he had to
be at the anvil The mailing business was
growing harder, he was growing DID, and his
family large He had TO lpork from four o'clock
in the morning, till ten o'clock at night to earn
eighteen pence. His wages averaged only about
seven shiIlings week and there we've five of
hem in the family 10 live on what they could
earn. Il was hard TO make up the loss OF an
hour Not one of their hands, however lirle.
could be spared. Jenny was going on nine
years Of age, and heIp pfu lad he was and the
,oor man looked at him doatngly. Jenny
could work off a thousand nails day, of the
smallest size. The rent of their liile shop,
enement and garden, was five pounds year,
md few pennies earned by The youngest OF
hem was Of great account.
But, continued the father, speaking cheeriiy,
am not the one to complain. Many is The
nan that has harder 10, of it, than |, among
he nalers along these hills and in the valley
My neighbors in he next door could tell you
about labor, you may never heard
he like of in your country. He is an older
nan than l. and there are seven of them in his !
amily; and, for all that, he has no boy like !
Jenny here, 10 help him. Some of his lule
,irls are sickly, and their mother is no, over
strong, and il all comes on him. He is an old |
sh man, as was saying, YET he not only works
eighteen hours every day at his forge, but every
Friday in the year, he works all night long, and /
lever lays of his clothes I'LL late of Saturday
light. a good neghbor is John Stubbns, and
he only man just in our neighborhood who can
cad the newspaper. 1t is not often he gets
newspaper; for it is not The like of US ,ha, can
lave newspapers and bread, TOO, in our houses
t the same time. But now and then, he begs
n old one, partly torn, at the bakers and reads
to US of a Sunday night. SO once in two or
nree weeks we hear something of what is 60
ng on IN The world-somelhing about corn
avs, and the Duke of Wellington, and Oregon,
nd India, and Ireland, and other places in
England E. b.
young girl. eleven years old, in Kingston,
'anada ~ yacaptt,y 6naL o. 81 70 |