The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-04-26
For the National Era.
&c MILE w 0 R D S
BY MARY CLENMER AMEs.

( " w n U o.
BY MARY CLENNER AMEs.
swords may be vvifying than the showers Of
spring and sharper than the sword of destruction.
The point OF lance may be Withdrawn from the body
but cruel word never be extracted from the hear
it has once wounded"-Fros the Persian.
Like sunshine, and air, and water, those price
less gifts which we prize so little, are the innate
charities of life. Scarcely they attract our no
tice, yet how barely would the soul live without
them! Not alone by great deeds and greater
sacrifices are we to accomplish good. The look
that we wear, the words which we speak, modi
fly the feelings, the characters, the eternal des
tinits, of those with whom we associate.
Mark the power of gentle words upon Grim
inal.
The angel of mercy may wear the rough
garb Of msnhood, or she may look through the
tender eyes of woman. 1t matters not, as
she breathes her gentle admonitions, the hard
heart moves with faster throb, the soul re-
lents, and the eyes suffuse with tears. Those
tones, those words, remind him of the mother
who once taught him how to pray. Again
come back the days of childhood, and the hopes
which frightened his being when his life was
pure.
Parchance he is an orphan. His childhood
was cherries, his youth had no hope. No one
taught him of the Merciful One, who is such a
kline Father to us all. No voice called after
hinS when ne entered the road of sin. He stood
upoA the plateau of manhood, without friend.
Ant is it not hard to struggle on in life ALONE?
Had, to gaze into the voluptuous eyes of Pleas
ure, to listen to the voice of the Tempter, to
feel the consuming fires of Passion, and then
forsAke all for Virtue, when there is not one to
aid us, not one to commend?
C, il we remembered oftener than we do the
palliating circumstances connected with the
history of the erring how different would be
our manners and feelings towards them! How
gently we should speak to those who have for
saken their sins How many relapse again In
to evil habits, for the want of a few words OF
encouragement Such, are morbidly sensitive
to raproacIi. The shadows of their past lives
rest upon their present, and darken their future.
Shall we, the pensioners of Infinite Pity, re-
fuse our little need of charity to them, whose
pas lives, though blacker in the eyes of the
word, may not be- in the sight of the Almighty,
THAI our own?
Gentle words are not lost upon the ignorant.
When we meet persons who are grossly ig-
norant, devoid of integrity, without any just
conception of moral truth, instinctively, We
shrink from creatures so far below US in the
scale of being. But is it not wrong to cherish
sehsibiisy which prevents us from doing all
in car power to elevate our race?
B Christian woman can hardly find q Sc
verer test ito her patience than an ignorant,
wilful domestic. She may consider it hope
less task to enlighten and elevate such dark,
contracted mind; and if the task is ever ac-
complished, it will be by patience and forbear-
ance-never by harsh and indiscriminate re-
proof
If we choose to find the way to such hearts,
we will see something to love; we learn that
their joys, and griefs, and hopes, are not very
different from our own.
=, In the uncutured souls of the ignorant, how
often do the flowers of affection spring up in
widest luxuriance. How often in the igno-
rant and The poor do we behold the brightest
examples Of self-sacrifcing friendship and tilial
devotionl
But is it not true that we have too little char
ity for their sins, too little sympathy for their
peculiar trials and sorrows2
I knew a German girl who for low wages
performed the work of very large family.
Through weary weeks and months, from before
the dawn until late in the night, increasingly,
unmurmuringly, she toiled yet nobody thought
that Maggy grew tired, or had too much to do.
What if she had no day of rest, not even the
Sabbath? She was strong-it was her place
to work. The family wanted smoking dinners
when they returned from church, and Maggie
must stay at home and cook them. She
could not appreciate the services Of the sanctu-
ary,' they said.
One Sabbath morning, Maggie arose at an
unusually early hour, animated by the faint
hope of completing her work in time to attend
church, After being annoyed by the late rising
Of the family and numberless other hindrances
until the hour appointed had long passed by,
her mistress came into the kitchen, and, finding
some slight task neglected, said, in an angry
voice, " You have no excuse for not doing your
work my orders must be obeyed, or | shall
dismiss yoa."
Maggie made no reply, but when her mis-.
tresa left the room she burst forth into cry OF
anguish. 30 dear, o DEAR" she said, I" work
all tae tims, but nobody speaks kind words to
me. Nobody loves me but my mother, and she
is away in Germany. O., want to go to my
couatry and to my mother!"
P5or Maggie 1 said, as l saw her bow her
head and weep. Poor Maggiel shut out from
thC bAuO SVotShot AhOhA sho 6NANSA
from the lse-giving air-shut out from the SYM
pathies of loving hearts, from the atmosphere
of gentle looks and words and smiles-I won
der not thst you cried for your country and for
your mother, as you wept alone in land OF
strangers.
L4 us De gentle in our homes. Can that
houss be called q home, where the voice of dis
cord Is continually heard? How often the &C.
cusa1ons and recriminations of husband and
wife aeget.a like spirit in the hearts of their
child -enl How often the bud of truth is crush
ed ffSever, in the heart of sensitive child, by
the Snger of passionate motherl How often
the sspiring nature of proud-souled boy
aroused te bitter defiance by the tyrannicai
rule of an ansympathizing father! :.
Ys who would have your children honor and
love 5ou when you are old, nurture to luxuri-
ant growth the tender blossoms of their young
affections. Be kind when you are firm; be
gentle even when your words must be severe.
Unloose the bands of years, and stoop down to
their tiny Joys and griefs. How amply you viii
be rewarded when you behold the glorious ex-
pansion Of their souls in an atmosphere full of
the fragrance and sunshine of gentle words.
To:BE CONCLUDED IN QUE NEXT.