Litchfield enquirer., 1854-07-20
Losing One's Temper:


 feeling all out of sorts about something 6r other. when an orphan child, whom l had taken to raise, came in with a tumbler in her hand and said, while her young face was ipale,i and her lips quivered '
 "See. ma'aml went to take this tunn- bler from the dresser. to get a drink of water, and I let it fall. D ~ Ra
 I was in fretful -humor before the Child came in. and her appearance with the broken lumbler in her hand slidn', tend to help me to a better state of m,nd. She was suffering good deal of pain tn consequence of the accident. and needed Ia kind word to quiet the disturbed beat. ings of her heart. Blu. she had come lo me in an unfortunate momsnt. s aiss ." Ton are . careless litle girl r said l, severely. taking the fragments of glass from herttembling hands "A very case- less little gnl, and am displeased with yov." E
 I said no more, but my countenance expressed even stronger rehuke than my wo'ds. The child fingered near me for a, minute or two, and then shrunk away from the room. I was sorry in a mo d1ent that I had permitted myself to speak unkindly to the little girl for there was no need of my doing so. and more> over. she had taken Giy wo'ds; as could see. deeply 10 heart. l had made ns' unhappy without a cause. Tue break Ting of a ,umhler was an accidenl likely to happen iu any one. and the child evl d-n'ly frh bad enough without having my displeasu,e added iherelo.
 lt was unhappy before Jane entered my room, l was s'ill more unhappy af,e, she retired I blamed myself and piled the child but this did not in the leas. mend the matter. ..s,ai
 In about. half an hour. Jsne came up very quietly with Willy. my dear lu'+ curly, haired. angel lactd boy in her a-ms Hr had fallen asleep. and She had with l'e, ,u most strength ca.,ied him np slai.s. She did not Tiff her eyes to mine as she rn,e'ed. hu, went with her bur,h-n ro tue low bed that was in tie .Oom. whe,e e she laid him tende'ly. and then sa, down with her face turned partly away frm me. and with fan kept off tue flies and coolrd his moist skin. 't
 Enough of Jane's eonntenance was vi slble to enable me to perceive that it's px pression was sad. Aud tt was an unkind word from my lips that brought this cloud over her young face.a
 "So much for permitting myself to fall into lreiiul mood" said l mentally. = "In future. mus, be moe watchful over my state of mind. I have no right to make others suffer from my own unhap> pv temper" tn
 Jane continued to sit by Willy. and fan him. and every now and then I could hear very low sigh come up as if invol> Untary, from her bosom Faint ne the sound gas. it smo,e upon my ear, and added to my uncomfortable frame of mind. 1T
 A fiiend called. and went down into the pa'lor, and sat converting there for an hour. But all the while there was a weight upon my feelings. Itried. but in vain, to be cheerful. l was too distinct ly aware of the fsct that an individual. and that a tnoiherless little girl- was un. happy through my unkindness and the consciousness was liks heavy hand upon my bosom. .,s as ssti z.
 {. This is ali weakuess.' 2 i said to my. self. after my friend had left, making an effort to throw of the uncomfortable feel. ing. But it WAS of no avail Even Il the new train of thought. awakened by conversation with my friend. had raised me above the state of mind in which l was when she came, ihe siglit Of JaDe's sober face as she passed me on the stairs would have depressed my feelings sgaih. In order both to relieve my own and the child's feelings, I thought l would refer 10 the broken iumble,, and tell he, not to grieve about ii. as it's loss was ol no cOnsequehce. whatever. But ihis would have been an ackHow ledgmeht t0 her that had been ii the wt1ng and an instructive feeling Of pride SemOnstrated against that. z t.''' v .t
 I" Ah mef' tsigbed. "Wby did permit myself to speak 50 1nguardedly How much of good or evil is there in a single word r
 Some who read this. may think that was very weak to let basty ulie.ed sen irnce against careless child trouble me. What are chiid's feelings? s.a l have been child. and as child have been blamed severely b, ihose whom dssI'ed to please. and felt that unklnd w0ds fell heavier sud more painin'l, somrtimss. ,han blows. l could ih-'e fore under stand the nature oI Jane's i.el iDgs. and .ssmpathise wilh her to ce,- Iaia extent Fs x '. All ihIough-she day Jane moved more quietly ab;1ut than uzual.s When l spoke io he' ahous anyshing. which dsd in a kinder vOics ahssa I ordinarily u.rd, si . would look inlo my sace wilh ap es.nes,> . 1.gs. .s as q. n ~ 2 k