Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1851-12-31

NJ actually touched, even at the borders; y
ch an intrinsic resemblance could be traced
nd every fibre of their respective constitution
w Tommy could get tipsy OCCASIONAL
On talk nonsense mixed up with poetry Al
d, time, and brag like jockey about ever
re thing that in any way concerned hiI
at He was, moreover, incapable in busines
lie unsteady in labor, and given to substitu
<, the sentiment of duty for its practice, an
le to content himself with fine speeches
,e place of noble actions; and all without
a shade of hypocrisy, for he was in fact
g proud of what he was, and so ready wit
e reasons and apologies for al that he wa
e not, that he needed no pretences. He wa
f not profigate, unprincipled, or insensibl
: to right: he was only an Irishman an
s that hindered him from being either wors
/ or better The raw elements Of ever,
3 human excellence were in him in ricl
/ abundance, and in great confusion, too
but in Elizabeth they had crystallizcd int
{ the most efficient forms and and most per
feet beauty; for all of texture that was
: wanting in her paternal blood was supplied
to her by her maternal grandfather, who
was an unmitigated Scotchman.
i With his beggar's complement of chill.
dren, and general unthriftiness Of character,
Tommy was, of course, poor to the very
verge of destitution. He had grown
sseady-that is, sober-lately, and he was
not lazy; but it was as much because his
health had failed, and age was beginning
to stiffen the machinery, as from any prin-
Ciple, that he was amending in his habits
II must be allowed, also; that he was feel.
ing Elizabeth'a influence with steadily
increasing force. There was dignity with
its incident authority in her department /;
not of the imposing kind, nor by any
means directly and distinctly shown and
felt; it was more like that energy of gen.
tleness which shapes the bone to the brains
steady pressure, the framework of the
chest to the resilienry of the lungs and
heart, the vital power that in the tenderest
aower-stalk pierces and mellows to confor-
nifty the hardest clod.
The very poor are unapt to respect each
other, or to regard, amid the rude famili-
arities Of their daily intercourse, the noblsst
qualities. Nor, indeed, is it easy for them
to discover them in the coarse dress of
circumstances which poverty imposes. Ay!
it is the bittercsst of Poverty ten thousand
curses, that it denies ID corjitiors of
decorcus association and refining inter. !
course that i: prevents that discipline
which habitual proprieties Of demeano:
only can enforce, and destroys all pure
and healthful self-respect, by the undigui-
fed and indelicate personal relations which
it compels. And It is uttering . volume
Of commentator in a word, when say
that Elizabeth had conquered her fathers
'efractoriness, and secured from him
reference which almost inverted the Irish
order Of domestic life.
Five years before, when she attached
herself to the church, the very church
which had expelled him, he drove her with
7iolen ce from the house, with IS great in
iignstion as if she had stained his name
md honor with the deepest shane. 4
geary, wretehed year she endured the
'xile, earning her support BY labors light 8
r, indeed, upon her hands than the tasks c
which she performed ct home, bot heavier
lpon her heart /; for she could 90 nothing q
or that large family that needed her row {
very day, more and more, in every Office
which woman can fulfil to a household Il
f small children in great need. The t
mother was what the country people called I
"a doless creature" and the sister, next +
q age to Elizabeth, was delicate in health, s
nd too feeble in character for the service. '
The weight that lay heaviest upon her b
.eart, was half dozen Of little sisters, as a
eautiful as birds, wanting all things; and Q
'anting, most of all things, the govsrnance r
nd culture Of an elder sisters nursing t
owe and controlling prudence. They were G
rowded there together, like q herd Of a
rphans il an almshouse, exposed to their
ather's petulance, and to each others c
eldshness and tempers, and suffering many f
hings, besides, which childhood can not IL
ufFer without having the very fountains o
f its life poisoned by the bitter depriva- C
ions ; and, all without the mediation Of b
hat wise, good heart, which was achingin d
ts exile to render its self-sacri6cing SER n
ices. There were frettings and fghtiugs II
here, tears and turmoils, injuries inflicted q
nd endured, and with all, and above all, G.
be absence every hour felt, by the hourly a
ecurring need, Of the nsinistering angel II
the household. Especially through the p
ing, gloomy winter, the days and weeks tt
nd months wore YEARLY away in that v
,retehed cabin. All suffered the penalty q