Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1848-03-24
The Sleigh Ride,

'A ENFEF FfFN -"
ihonghilessness. than from intent to do
wrong aud want Of Election leads chill
dren sslray much oltener than want OF prin.
ciple. Indifference to the feelings Of the
aged, a ptoneness to make light Of peculiar
tiles, are, howevei, occasionally INDUCED
in by the young,-aEd, IN the excitement
Of the inomentary gratihcstinn which such
merrIment may produce. all thought Of the
wrong and all sense Of the right. are equal
ly forgotten. The proSerb Of The wisest
man saith, The glory Of young men is their
strength aud the beauty Of old men is the
gray head" The strength OF the young
should project aud defend the beauty Of the
old. The hoary head should ever be re-
spccied, whatever may be the outward con.
dition Of lis possessor and neither sport
nor ridieule should be thrown upon him
whose enfeebled strength scarce s~ufices
to bear the weight Of The many years with
which lime has burdened him.
The following narrative, which is strictly
true, illustrates what has been observed, and
proves, that the just recompense OF a
t~houghiless fault may be much more speed
lily repaid TO those who commit il, than may
be either expected or desired by lhem.-
The common saying, Of waking up the
wrong passenger" is peculiarly applicable
10 the case.
In one OF the most populous cities Of New
England, a few years since. a party OF lads,
all members OF the same school, got up a
grand sleigt-rid There were about TWEEN
ty-hSe or thirty boys engaged in the frolic.
The sleigh was a very large and splendid
establishment, drawn by six grey horses
The afternoon was as beautiful as any body
could desire, aud the merry group enjoyed
themselves in the highest degree. II wasla
eommon custom Of the school 10 which they
belonged. and on previous occasions their
teacher had accompanied them. Some en-
gagement upon important business, howcv-
or. occupying him, he was not. at this time
with them. IL is quite likely. had il been
otherwise. that the restraining influence OF
his presence would have prevented The scene
which is the main feature Of the present
story.
On the day following their ride, as he
entered The school.room, he found his pu.
pills grouped about the stove, and in high
merrimeui, as they chalted about the fun
and (rolic Of their excursion. He stopped
awhile and listened. aud in answer to some
inquiries which he made aboU, the matter,
one Of the lads. a fine, frank and manly boy,
whose heart was really in the right place,
: though his love OF sport sometimes led him
astray. volunteered 10 give a narrative OIL
their trip and lis various incidents. As he
drew near the end Of his story, he exclaim'
ed, 20 sir there was one little circum
stance which had almost forgotten TO tel
you. Toward the latter part of the after
noon. as we were coming home. we saw
at some distance ahead Of US. a queer look
ing affair in the road. We could not ex
acily make out what il was. II seemed tt
he a sort Of half.and-half monstrosi,y. Al
we approached it. il proved 10 be a rust,
old sleigh. fastened behind covered wagon
proceeding at a very slow rate. and Iakin.
up the whole road. Finding that the own
er was not disposed to turn out, we defer
mined upon a volley ~ofsnowballs and a goot
hurrah. These we gave with a relish, ant
they produced the right effect, and a It'll
more, for the crazy machine turned out in
to the deep snow by the side Of the road
and the skinny old pony started OIL a ful
irot. As we passed, some one who had tn
whip gave the old jill Of a horse a GOO
crack, which made him run faster than h
ever did before, I'll warrant. And so. wit
another volley Of snow-balIsspiiched into th
front OF the wagon, aud three times tire
cheers, we rushed by. With that, an al
fslop in the wagon. who was buried up I'M
der an old hat, and beneath rusty cloak
and who had dropped the reins, bnwIed GU
"Wby do you ffighien my horse 7" "Wh
don't you inrn out, then 7" says the driver
So we gave him three rousing cheers more
his horse was frightened again, aud run U
against a loaded team, and, ! believe, almol
capsized the old creature-and so We lie
him"
"Weil, boys" replied the instructor "thI
is quite an incident. Bot take your seat
and, after our morning service is ended,
will take my turn and tell you a story, an
all abou, a sleigh.ride, too"
: Having finished the reading OF a chaptt
in the Bible, aud after all had joined in III
(, Lords prayer, he commenced, as follows
: YESTERDAY afternoon, a very venerabl
7 and respectable old man, and a clergyma
. by profession, was on his way from Bosio
) TO Salem, 10 pass The residue Of the winis
at the house Of his son. That he might /
; prepared for lourneying' as he proposed
do, in the spring, he took with him h
b light wagon, aud for the winter his sleigI
: which he fastened behind the wagon. II
was, just as | have told you, very old and il
I firm; his temples were covered with thil
ned locks, which the frosls Of eighty yea
e had whitened his sight, and hearing to
: were somewhat hlunied by age, as you
d will be, should you live TO be as old. Il
s was proceeding very slowly and quietly, &
n his horse was old aud feeble. like his owns
His thoughts reverted TO the scenes Of h
J, youth ito the scenes ofhiS manhood. whs
he had preached the gospel Of his diyiI
Master to the heather Of the remote wilde
d ness; and TO the scenes Of ripper years, wh'
the hord band ri penury had Ioid hca,i