Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1852-08-12
A Patch on both Knees,

A Patch on both Knees.
When l was boy it was my fortune 10
breathe for long time, what some writers
term the bracing air Of poverty. My mother
light lie the turf upon the form which once
enclosed her sweet and gentle spirit-was
what IS called an ambitious woman for that
quality which overturns thrones and supplan,s
dynasties, finds legitimate sphere in the hum
blest abode that the shadow of poverty ever
darkened. The struggle between the wish TO
keep up appearances and the pinching grip of
necessity, produced endless shifts and contr-
vances, at which, we are told, some would
SMILE, and some 10 whom they would teach
their own experience, would sigh. But let
Inc not disturb the veil of oblivion which
shrouds from profane eyes the hallowed mys-
teries of poverty.
On one occasion, it was necessary TO send
me on an errand 10 a neighbor in better cir
cumstances than ourselves; and therefore il
was necessary that | should be presented in the
best possible aspect. Great pains were ac-
cordingly taken to give a smart appearance TO
my patched and dilapidated wardrobe, and 10
conceal the rents and chasms which the envi-
vious tooth of Time had made in them and BY
way of throwing over my equipment certain
SAVIOR and sprinkling of gcntil,y, my red and
to oil-hardened hands were enclosed in the un-
familiar casing of pair of gloves, which had
belonged to my mother ill days when her years
were fewer and her heart lighter.
| sailed forth on my errand, and on my way
encountered much older and bigger boy,
who evidently belonged TO family which had
all our own dragging poverty, and none of our
uprising wealth of spirit. His rags fairly ful-
tered In the breeze; his hat was constructed
on the most approved principle of ventilation,
and his shoes, from their venerable antiquity,
might have been deemed pair of fossil shoes
the very ones in which Shem shufled into
the ark. He was an impudent varlet, with a
daredevil swagger in his gait, and an I'm as
good as you leer in his eye-the very whelp
TO throw dirt at well-dressed horseman, be-
cause he was well-dressed; to tear boys
ruffies, because he was clean. AS soon as he
saw me, his eye detected the practical incon-
slstencles which characterized nv costume.
and taking me by the shoulders, turning me
round with no gentle hand, and surveying me
from head 10 foot, exclaimed, with scornfnl
laugh of derision-'A patch on 10th on knees
and g1oues onr
/ still recall the sting of wounded feeling
which shot through me q: these words. To
parody celebrated line of the immortal Tus-
can
"That day 1 wore my gloves no more
But the lesson, so rndely enforced, sank deep
into my mind and, in after life, have had
frequent occasion to mark a practical applica-
ton ofthe words of my ragged friend, when
have observed the ridiculous Inconsistencies
which so often mark The conduct of mankind
When, for instance, see parents carefully
providing for the ornamental education of their
children, furnishing them with teachers in mu-
sic, dancing and drawing, but giving no
thought to that moral and religions training
from which the true dignity and permanent
happiness of life can come, never teaching
them habits of self-sacrifice and selfdiscipline
and control, but rather, by example, instruct
ing them in evil-speaking, in uncharitableness,
in envy, and in falsehood, | think, with sigh,
of The patch on both knees and g'oues on.
When see family in cold selfish solitude,
not habitually warming their houses with
glow of happy faces, but lavishing that which
could furnish the hospitality of whole year,
upon the profusion of single night, think of
the patch on both knees and ,glopes on.
When | see house profusely furnished
with sumptuous furniture, rich curtains, and
luxurious carpets, but no books, or none but
few tawdry ANNALS, am reminded of hhepatch
ON both knees and gloves on.
When see our public men cultvatlng ex-
clusively those qualities which win way to
office, and neglecting those which will qualify
them to fill honorably the posts to which they
aspire, | recall the patch ON both knees and
gloyes on.
When see men sacrificing peace of mird
and health of body to the insane pursuits of
wealth, living In ignorance of the character of
the children who are growing up around them,
putting themselves off from the highest and
purest blessings of nature, and so perverting
their humanity, that that which was sought as
means, insensibly comes to be followed as an
end, | say to myself, A patch on both knees
and glores on
When see thousands spent for selhahness