The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-02-23
For the National Era
REC0LLECTIoNs OF MYGRANDFATHER's HOME.
CHAPTER III.
The Viat.

Inc ItS3t
We know not the future tho past we have felt:
Its cherished enjoyments the bosom can melt
Twas happy day for Benny and myself
when, released from the tasks and confinement
1 OF the schOol-room, we found ourselves on the
road to our grandfather's farm. That day
was an era in our young lives-the usher in Of
big plans for future usefulness My grand
father was in the midst of having. and need
ing help the old market wagon had been dis
patched for DO less important percentages than
my brother, venerable by eight years, and my
self his junior by enc.
No reluctant teaIs then dimmed our cyes.
as we bade the wonted good bye: and me
thinks our loved mothers customary iniunc-
tion "behave well, my dears," sounded les,
sweet than usual. "Dear," exclaimed little
Benny, Pm no dear! Pm a little man, my
grandfather's man." Dear, mentally repeated
|, eyeing askance my pantalettes and check
cred pinafore
Twas not the spirit which sends the school
| boy 80 prematurely from round Jacket into
dress coat and dickey; or the lisping mrs
| from her mothers nursery to wither in gas
lighted bathrooms Oh no. it was a selfim-
portanee, first consciousness of our own in
dlvlduallty, gained with the newly conferred
houor. DO you wish to plant selfreliance in
the bosom of a child, to bind him 70 yourself
by firm ties, make him. not your servant. but
| your useful companion in some pleasant en-
ployment. Let such work engage his busy
hands let him not feel it as favor conferred on
yourself, but that he does it because God gave
him those hands to do the bidding of an I'M
selfish heart. Thus, then, will spring up in
the mind of that child spirit of gentle beneyI
oience, winch shall make happy and honorable
| his after life
Clumsiy ratified the old market wagon be
meath its Juvenile burden, and YEARLY pIodded
the old gray horse, urged on by the blows from
! my grandfather's leathern whip. What cared
we tor equipage No rnodish phaeton could
have borne happier burden. Our checks
| glowed with joy not with shame; and each
flourish of the leathern whip made our tiny
fingers Jingle with very gladness; for were We
not going to be grandfather help
true child never cares for fashion. Here
and there an anomalous infant, who has been
nursed in its breath, will lisp in mother tongue
but to the natural, free-hearted child. pleasure
| not pomp is the law of life. few years
bring worldly experience and the guileless
children change into selfish fnancers and
dancing fashion plates Yet not always: for
here and there beacon hghts stand out noble
men and women who have not forgotten that
they were made in the image of their Maker
men and women, who are not afraid 10 sneak
loudly IN favor OF honor and humanity Ave,
even IN fashions coterie we here and there find
a noble soul above its trammelsi God bless
that man of the world, Of humble but till then
unknown parentage, whom once heheld pre-
sent to brilliant circle his clever, old-fashioned
mother, with her square neckerchief and small
frilled cap! He had lived many years in the
gay world, and was still child
The tops of the village chimneys fast recedei
from our back-turned gaze, and at length the
shimmering of the weather. vane on the village
spirc was lost among the trees We were lit
orally in a strange country. The three mile
plain, with its stinted pines and dwarf oaks,
was as lnterminable, to our untutOred magma
tions, as the great desert; while moderated sized
pond, Benny confidently whispered behind my
grandiather's back, could be none other than
the Dead Sea itself! Little Benny-he was
lnnocent and simple then With passing time
went from me also this pleasant fancy-one
more couplet lost from the poetry of childhood
How much of poetry, how much of romance il
dlsslpated by the garish light of maturer years
How much of simple faith and purity is put TO
flight by the cold cOnyentionalities OF life
Ayaunt proud Fashion Let well up, now
and then, in the dust and strife Of busy life,
the weighed-d down glow and freshness of child
hood
The shadows had begun to lengthen on the
nelghboring hills, and the cow-bell was tink
ling at the pasture bars, as we swung back the
huge gate at the end of the green lane. NV
grandfather stood in the door, his gray hair
covered by the identical slouched hat which
had bravely weathered the storms of nv birth
year. That same hat weather beaten and
worn, has lain undisturbed for years In the
corner of al oaken drawer, placed there by
my grandfAtheI's trembling hands
Fair weather, Mol," whispered Benny. as
we simultaneously detected rogush twinkle
OF his small gray eye, beneath their shaggy
brows and significant elongatiOn Of the cor
ners of his mouth. There was a more than
usual trembling of the aged hand and gen
tleness of tone somewhat foreign TO the speaker,
as he babe us welcome Benny and | were
happy. What mattered it to us if our step
grandmother eyed askance the juvenile respon-
sibilities deyolyed upon her-we were to be
grandfathor's help His kindly greeting made
our young hearts glow. o, speak gently to
plastic childhood.
A light supper of bread and milk needed no
digestatOry exercise and Benny and / were
sent to bed, with the mi junction to be up bright
and earl y for the haying" The sun was al
ready making great rcd streaks across the blue
and white counterpane, when Benny's little
feet, patterng across the nicely-sanded floor
In that veritable east chamber, startled me
Apii was dreaming OF
that little enclosure in the moving field ]
thought We were gathering buttercups on o.
ley,s grave, when great pit suddenly opened,
and little Benny fell into it There was a
slight choking sensation, and a mist around
little Benny but snuff of the morning air
and the gush of a little robin under the win
cow; restored my wonted cheer How lightly
shadows rest on the brow of childhood
"Quick-we're almost ready,o shouted Ben
ny, at the top of his voice, and then ran away
TO help Elk off" No elaborate toilette retard-
ed my exit that morning. Little Benny had
pumped basin of fresh water which, with
napkin, awaited me, On the wooden bench at
the back door Never, amidst the appliances
OF luxury, have lsved my hands and face in
a china basin with so much zest as scrubbed
them that morning in the wooden basin at the
back door When wearied by etiquette, worn
out by tie ceremonious nothings Of noyy-a-dav
life, how are We fain to look back to the sim
Pile, time saving, pain-seving customs If our
ancestors We find ourselves, in Imagination
not in modern social community, with it,
modern Innovations but in circle where pen- .
,ralzation is carried to much higher neint
Ind where property becomes personal. in the
house hold, only by Immediate o. session. The
lays OF mugs and ewerless basins have nsssed
Iway-and, IN good conscience, we must saw
ct them not come again
breakfast who would stop for that and
'esides, some mysterious import attached itself
huge, brown-paper bundle, under Nathan,s
rm-sundry grease spots in the stout enyelope
cd nrnsr. n