Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1848-06-03
FoR THE AMERICAN
FAMILY TfES.-EDUCATION.

FAMILY REPRESENTATION.
--"But oh if those who cluster round
The altar and the hearth,
Have gentle words and loving smiles,
How beautiful is earth.
A few evenings ago we called at the resi-
dence of friend who has for some years
been enjoying the pleasures Of married iiie'
He and the partner Of his joys and sorrows,
were sitting beneath the trees that snade
his dwelling, surrounded by their little
troupe of children. The setting sun cast
inc his fading rays upon the group, bright
ened up. The happiest picture it has ever
been our fortune to look upon. Two little
boys were rolling over and over in one an
others arms, tearing up the grass and crush
ing the violets in their course. A brother
and sister somewhat older, leaned on each
others shoulders trying to count the tiny
waves that danced in the departing light.
The father bent over the mothers should
er, caressing an infant that sat, laughing and
clapping its little hands, in her lap, and ever
and anon gazing on the other children with
fond delight. They all seemed the very
incarnation of happiness. In short time
the sun set, the damp chill air of evening
shed its dews on the grass, the bright eyes
of the little babe were closed in sleep, and
noisy children and happy parents left the
open air for the parlor. The picture van
ished from the eye but its impress was still
vivid on our heart. But the brightest sun
shine casts the deepest shadow. And though
awhile the recollection of the happy family
filled the bosom with Joy, it lapsed into
gloom where we thought that in few
years, one after another, its members would
depart from the paternal roof, and contact
with the rough world would weaken and
wear away the golden chains of affection
that now so closely bound them. For this
is too much the way of the world. How
often are family ties broken and the men,
bers once ,linked in the bonds of love scat
tered abroad on the earth, the one scarce
knowing the residence of the other per-
haps not aware of his existence. Other as
sociations are formed, new friendships spring
UP, and other objects of love present them
selves. Selfshness, that bane of society,
and its parent ambition create and perpetu-
ally widen the breach between brothers.
Envy too, soon follows in their train and
unnatural hatred separates those whom natll-
raj affection should bind together. Look
out upon the world and observe how many
fathers and sons are at enmity how many
sons, and daughters too, permit their aged
parents whose fostering care watched over
their helpless infancy, to drag out their ex-
istence in want and wretchedness, while a
comfortable roof shelter them and plenty
sits smiling on their hearthstone. How
many brothers live in secret strife or open
war. Would you know the cause of such
arrangement 1t is the fault of education.
The culture of the heart has been neglec-
ted. The generous affections, so natural in
the human bosom, have not been fostercd
and cherished. The germs of good in the
heart, which by proper nurture would have
borne good fruit, have been suffered to de-
cay and perish. Perhaps that mutual trust
and confidence between parent and child,
so necessary to the proper education of
children, has been absent. In most cases
the characters of children are formed at
home; there they receive the earliest i'm
pressions-those which, for good or evil,
adhere to them for life. Ifthere the exam
pie of love and kindness is not before them,
they can not be expected to exhibit those
traits when they grow older. The charity
of the world is very small. Too much is
society wrapped up in selfshment. If
person goes forth from the paternal roof,
without the proper cultivation the heart,
he can never improve by contact with Inc
world. Home is the only school of the af-
fections. Point to man eminent for vir-
tue and piety and you may with confidence
say he has had a pious mother. The state
of society depends on the strength of social
ties. Kindness sympathy, charity and BEN
evidence, are habits, cultivated and cherish
ed in childhood, and when deeply rooted
by early education are carried with the hap
py possessor through life, shedding their
light and joy on the world. Sadly is So
ciety deficient in these virtues. The chari-
ty of thought which attributes to every ac-
ton the best motives, and charity in word
that speaks no evil, are wofully wanting.
Calumny and detraction are ever ripe a.
mong its incumbers. And it is not surpri-
sing that this is the case when SO many fam
lilies discuss dish of slander with their tea,
and children imbibe scandal almost with
their mothers milk. When the early i'm
provement of the heart is neglected, pa
rents can not expect children to be ahec-
tionate to them or kind to each other. And
when years have gone by they will see the
fruits Of neglect-the rupture of those ties
which should have bound them in love-
The half of the evil in the world results
from this negligence in the careful and ear
ly cultivation of those finer feelings, on
whose existence and influence SO much de-
pends.
WOMEN AND PIsToLs.-The women in
Mississippi have taken to pistols to revenge
their wrongs. The New Orleans Delta gives
an account of very tragical affair which oc-
cured quite recently ;-"Mr. Charles Jones,
who was originally from Red River, and has
practiced law in Louisiana, was shot at his
residence on Black River, near Natchez, by
highly respectable lady, said to be re'ative
of his. II is statal that tho lady drnya in a