Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1853-05-20
The STORY OF JOHN LEE.
BY MRS. d. c. CONANT.

BY MRS b. c. CONANT.
"Thers was . man. though some did count hin mad
The more he cast away the more he had."-BuNYAS.
Thus did the Golden Dreamer state
problem in life, Of which very few find th
true practical solution. Increase, gain, i
some form or other, is the object Of a
men. Nor is this in itself a vicious pre-
pensity. Far from it. 1t is the very cor
Of human progress, the grand condition G
the ultimate perfectibility Of the race
And yet, ,ofthose wLo Civ freest play to thi
tendency, who live but to obey the law Q
gain, the greater number grow continual.
poorer; and at the last find themselve
miserable, and destitute, and naked, ant
in lack of all things. Experience is sai'
to be a great preacher. If this be true
she must have had very inapt pupils
From the foundation of the world, she ha'
been preaching the same lesson about thi'
law of gain,-in other words, the true way
to become ri:b. And yet it is only hert
and there one, who seems ever to get the
lesson by heart; and these few are by al
the others accounted the ounces ia the
school.
The story of one of these plodding heads
sh all form the illustration Of our principle.
John Lee was an orphan. He lost his
father at an age too early for remembrance.
For him, that father had lived only in the
tender and beautiful reflection Of his moth
er's heart, true, to her latest hour, to the
memory of first affection. Perhaps The
paternal influence thus transmitted entered
no less really, if less consciously, into the
formation of the boys character. The
beatifed father spoke through the sanity
mother, and the voice had in it less of
earth than of heaven. Johns childhood
was full Of sweet promise to such mother.
To fair, though by no means remarkable,
mental gifts, were united moral traits, In
which she fondly traced the image Of his
lost father; straitforward, single-hearted
earnestness in whatever seemed to him q
right cause, blended with an honesty to-
wards himself and candor towards others
not always found in such connexion. As
the Bible was the mothers book of un-
questioning reference, so was it with the
son. As prayer was the element in which
the mother lived, so was it from infancy
a sweet, familiar practice with the child.
But alas scarcely had he reached the age
of twelve, when this guardian angel was
taken from him. She died suddenly, al
most without warning. John was SUM
moned from the school playground, to
receive her last farewell. Stunned and
bswildered by the sudden shock, the whole
scene passed him like a wild dream. One
alone engraved itself upon bis
As he knelt by her bedside, the
dying mother, laying her cold, damp hand
upon his head, and raising her eyes to-
wards heaven, uttered these words: 81 ask
not for him long life, or honor, or earthly
riches. Make him rich in faith, heir of
he promises! With thee trust him. Into
by hands 1 commend my spirit!" She
ell back upon the pillow, and John Lee
vas motherless. Not that he realized, at
he time, the full import Of this prayer.
like an unexplained oracle, it fastened
tself upon his memory, till gradually un-
olding its hidden sense, it became the key.
tote Of his character and life.
After his mothers death, John found
10 path Of thornless roses. The little
roperty she had left behind served for
lis support and schooling few mouths
onger; and then, without . relative from
'hom he could claim succor and guidance
70 Wa cast upon the world, and was expec-
ed to look out for himself. For a boy