The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-10-30


dren. You can't be too fond ofyour books.
They are the best friends in the world. II
you ask them, they will tell you about every
thngm ThisrcmHrB, uttered in n very scri-
Gus tone, made deep impression. That
evening, rs brother and sister sat on the door
step, eating their supper ofbreud and milk,
the sun set bright and clear after transient
shower, and u beautiful rainbow arched the
entire heavens. SO Esther, look at that pref
ty I0inbow!" exclaimed John. "Ah, see! see
noWsthere arc two of'eni" Hc gazed at the
neutrality-suspicious. with all his soul in his
eyes, and added, GAS soop.as we have eggs
enough, we will get Mr. Brown to buy book
that tells how r0inbows are made, and where
they come from" Esther replied that she
did wish the hens would lay three eggs a
day.
When the market-man was commissioned
to purchase another volume, he declared him
self unable to find one that told where rain
bows came from. In lieu thereof, be bought
Bruces Travels; and an uniaiing source of
entertainment it proved. Thus month by
month their little library increased and their
intellectual craving grew fast by tho food II
fed on. They gathered berries,picked chips,
ran on errands, rose early and worked late,
to accum ulate siXpenCes.
When this is done merely to obtain
animal indulgcnces, or for the sake
of possessing more than others, there is
something degrading in the servile process;
bur when the object is pursuit of knowledge
for its own sake, all creeping things become
winged. Beautiful it is 10 see human souls
thus struggling with poverty and toll, sus-
tanned only by those miuistering angels,
Hope and mutual Faith! Those who huve
life enough to struggle thus, are all the
stronger for the contest. For the vigorous
intellect it is better to be so placed than to
he born in palaces. jean Paul says truly:
"Wealth bears far heavier Oh Talent than
poverty. Under gold mountains aud thrones
who knows how many Il spiritual giant may
lie crushed down and buried"
Esther and her brot her were troubled with
no ambitious coniectures whether or not they
could ever become spiritual giants; they SIM
ply felt that the acquisition of knowledge
was present delight. They thought lille of
hats and shoes, till father and mother said
these must be bought with portion of their
wages; but after that, they were doubly care
ful of their hats, and often carried their shoes
in their hands. Thus were they, in their un-
conscious earnestness, living according TO
laws which highest reason would prescribe
for the whole social fabric. They worked
industriously at manuel labor, but always
with spiritual end in view; and that spiritual
end was their own chosen recreation They
practiced the most careful economy, but II
was neither mean nor painful, because il was
for noble use, not for the mere sake OF ac-
cumulatiOn.
Though the poor parents were Obliged to
appropriate portion of the children's juve-
nile earnings, there was one little fund that
was sacredly their own. The chickens had
progeny of chickens, and these, i'll process
of time, likewise laid eggs. John picked up
every stray grain of oats he could find, be-
cause he had heard it was good kind of
food to increase eggs; and busy little Esther
saved all the oyster-shelis she could find, TO
pound for the hens in Winter, when there
was no gravel to furnish material for the
shells. The cackling of a hen was to them
an important event. Esther smiled at her
knitting as she heard it, and John,as he pluck
ed the weeds, raised up his head to listen.--
Hens have been often laughed at for pro-
claiming all abroad that another egg is in the /,
world; but Johns brood had right to crow
over their mission. Cuckle away to thy
hearts content, thou brown little feather-top! /.
Never mind their jlbes and jeers! Thy hu- /
man superors often become worId-famous /
by simply obeying an impulse, which uncon- /
sciousIy to themselves, evolves extensive aud .
progressive good; and thou art not the first |
prattng egotist who has worked for far high
er results than he had the ability TO compre-
hend. Let him who laughs at thy cackling
measure, if he can, what share thy new-laid .
egg may have in changing the destiny of
Man! II will aid in the culture of a human
soul. 1t will help to develop and stimulate
individual thought. And if generously aim
ed and feallessly uttered, may not that ndi-
vidua thought perpade and modify the ell
tire opinion of Society. And is not law jhe
mere record of aggregate opinion?
Truly the cacking hen brought no such
thoughts to simple Esther and her brother
John To them it merely announced that
another egg was laid, and thereby another
cent gained toward the purchase of n new
book. They talked the stories over by the
light the moon, or recited to each other flu
vorite passages from Burns and Bloomfield.
When the field lahorers took their noon-day
rest, you would be sure to find John hidden
away in the shade ola haystack, devourinG a
book. His zeal attracted the minister's atten-
ton, and he often stopped to talk with him.
One day, he said to the mother, 'This boy
will make something extraordinary. He
must get an education. BE must go to col
lege, ma'am." .... .....
'Bess my heart, l might as well think of
sending him to the noon!" she replied.
But Esther heard it, with quick blush of
pleasure and pride; and henceforth the one
thought other life was how TO as ,
sist in sending John to college. Busily she :
how much could be learned in two /
years by knitting, and binding shoes and !
braiding straw. John listened with rapture \
% her plans, but his triumph was checked r
midway by the recollection that his sister +
could not go to college with him. "Why Es- :
her, you have always been my teacher, he I
said. You learn faster than l, and remember :