Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1851-01-02
THE DUTY OF SELF CONTROL.

was Slt'lnS IN my room one morning,
ceiling tall out of sorts" about something
,r other, when an orphan child, whom |
rad taken TO raise, came in with a broken
umb!er in her hand, and said, while her
young face was pale .and her little lip quiv-
ered-
"See, ma am! went to take this tum-
bier from the dresser, to get Anna drink
Of water, and let it fall"
was in fretlul humor before the !
child came in, and her appearance. with
the broken iumbler in her hand did not |
tend to help the TO better state Of mind.
She was suffering good deal Of pain in
Of the accident, and needed
kind word to quiet the disturbed hea'ing<
of her heart. But she had come to me in
an unfortunate moment.
"You are a very careless little girl!'
said | severely, taking the fragments Of
glass from her hands. "a very careless
little girl, and am dis pleased with you!"
l said no more, bu, my coun,enance ex
pressed even stronger rebuke than my
words. The child fingered near me for a
few moments, and then shrunk away from
the room. was sorry in a momen, tha,
l had permitted myself TO speak unkindly
to the little girl, for there Was no need Of
my doing so, and moreover, she had taken
my words, as could see, deeply to heart.
| had made her unhappy without cause.
The breaking Of the !umber was an acci-
dent likely to happen to any one. and the
child evidently Tel, bad enough about wha,
had occurred, without having any diSplea>-
ure addet, thereto. II | was unhappy be-
fore Jane entered my room, | was still
more unhappy after she retired. blamed
myself and pi,ied the chiIa, but this did
not in the least mend The matter.
In about half an hour, Jane came up
very quietly with Willy, my dear ltle
curly haired, angel.iacrd boy in her arms.
He had fallen asleep, and she had with
her utmost strength, carried him up stairs.
She did no, lift her eyes 10 mine as she
! entered. but went will, her burden to the
low bed that was in the room, where she
laid him ,enderly, and then sa, down with
her face turned partly away from me, and
with fan kept of the flies and cooled his
| moist skin.
| Enough Of Jare's countenance was WIS.,
ible to enable me 10 perceive that its ex-
preston was sad. And it was an unkind
word from my lips that had brought this
! cloud over her yonng face.
$50 much for permitting myself to fall
into fretiul mood" said meially. "In
future, mus, be more wa,chtul over my
I I.-
others suffer from my own unhappy tenn
| per-
Jane continued to sit by Willy and fan
him; and every now and Then ! could hear
very low sigh come up. as il involnn-
tarily from her bosom. Faintas the sound
was, i, >mote upon my ear and added to
INV unaccnun,ahe fr"me Of mind.
A friend called, and went down into
| the par!or. and sat conversi is there for an
hour. But all the while there was a weight
upon my feelings. tried in vain to be
cheerful. was too distinctly aware OF
the fact, that an individual and that 9
motherless little girl unhappy thro'
my unkindacs<; and the consciousness wa.
like a heavy load upon my bosom.
This is all a weakness. | saidto my.
self. after my friend had left, making u,
effort to throw off the uncomfortable feel
ing. Bu, it was OF no avail. Even fifth,
new train Of though, awakened by ih,
conversation with my friend, had lifted m,
above the state of mind in which wa.
when she came, the sight of James >obe
face as she passed me on the stairs woul,
have depressed my spirits again.
In order both TO relieve my own and tn
chi!,!> feelings, thought l would refe
to the broken tumbler, and tell her no, {,
grieve herself a3on, il, as il was of II
consequence whatever. Blu, this woul
have been to have made all acknow ledge
!, mem ,ha, had been in the wrong, and u
; instructive feeling Of pride remonstrate
against that.
: "Ah, me," sighed. "Why did per
mi, myself TO speak so nnguardedly? Ho,
small are the causes that sometimes de
>troy our peace. How much Of good q
. evil is there in single word -
Some who read this may think that
;. was very weak TO let hastily uttered Ger
sure against a careless child trouble m,
What are child's feelings?
lhave been child; and as a child ha,
;, been blamed by those whom l desired
please; aud felt that unkind words ia
5 more painfully and heavily sometimes thu
II blows. could, therefore, understand Il
N nature Of james feelings, and sy,npa,hi.
h with her To ii certain extent.
r All through the day, Jane moved abo
l. m"re quietly than usual. When spoil
a TO he, abou, anything, which did in
l. kinder voice than ordinarily nsed--sl
8, would look into my face with an earne>
a. ness that almost rebuked me.
' Towards evening, sent her down stat
% for a pitcher o: water.
5, She wen, quickly. and soon return
&c with pitcher "f water aud a ,umblcr
c a waiter. She was coming towards n
evidently using more than ordinary ca
he tion, when her foo. trippcd against som
s. thing, and tumhled forward. 1t was
to vain that she tried to save the pitcher.
d. balance was lost, and i, fell over and "
$. broken 10 pieces at my feet, the wal
- - dashing on the skirts Of my dress.
ls The poor child became Instantly as p
is as ashes and the frightened look which 5
,y gave me, shall not soon forget. She tri
m 10 saw it was an accident, but her tong