The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1855-05-04

So large family made a sad discoun
| from the annual receipts for corn and wheat
Farmer wilkins staples. And it oblige'
him, moreover, TO turn more OF his lane
| into crops for home consumption, and mad'
his sale OF IA, cattle for the butcher or drover
| in the Spring, less BY one or two 'han !
should have been, 10 farm at proh''-
Calves, sheep and lambs, which shou''
have added 10 his cash receipts, were ea'el
on the place. And then the money which
he did obtain had 10 undergo severe TO
duc,ion and taxation, before he could make
any investment. To use the old gentle
mans own words, he had an "unprotilablt
family" It mus, be diminished, or made
available. Now the Oldest boy should have
been the stay of the house, according 10 Inc
old rules Of primogeni,ure, and on Jonathan
with double interest in The house should
have devolved The premiership Of the estate
whilehis father lived. Perhaps we shall disco
vel, one of these days, that in our "p'ogress'
and ''improvemen'," we have progressed Q
little faster than is wise, and have thrown
away lessons Of experience which our an
ces,ors paid dear for. IfsO, We have only
to buy them over again If mans Oldest
boy is, or ough, 10 be his right hand man,
why should he not be inciied thereto,
with adouble portion!
Jonathan was growing ont OF reach. lie
was no, half so docile as his sisters, one, al
least, Of whom, was older than himself
He presumed TO have opinions Of his own;
and though, to do him justice, he always
tried to do as he was bid, ho had begun TO
do so ''under a protest." He doubted his
fathers infallibii,y, and, as TO his mother,
he almos, dared TO laugh at her. He would
follow the idle boys, uObody's children, into
the gallery OF the old Westinghouse and
there chop seats with his knife, and take
his frs, lessons in tobacco, instead Of walk.
ing reveren,ly behind his father into the
old family pew. He ran after new lights
in theology, especially at nights, and de.
spised the ,hineen,hly OF the reverend man
who had preached 10 his father over thirty
years. He came home redolent Of the
fumes OF bad tobacco. The younger ones
were contracting habits of INSTRUMENTATION
By his bad example. II was indeed quite
time that Jonathan should be "pecked off"
and packed off.
This being determined upon by the heads
OF the house. there followed discussions,
and many.of them, as 10 what could be
done with the boy-wha, should be his des.
tiny, and what his business All these de.
bates resulted, as is usual, in family delib-
Grafton, only in farther doubts and 'uncer.
,ain,y. Somebody with will must, in
such matters, make step, and the rest fall
in. All the trades which had representa-
lives in the village were canvassed. Some
Of them, The elders did no, like, and some,
the Juniors protested against. As il is
somewha, difficult 10 find pursuit against
which no objection lies, Jonathan, ut the
end Of years debate, was as far from
doing 70; himself as ever. Meanwhile, the
house at home became more and more
crowded, as the inmates grew larger, and
required more room. Farmer wilkins be
can 10 feel, as he looked over his flock, pre-.
pared TO make their ma,u,inal or meridian
assault, upon the edibles, as il he ough, to
stake the sense OF the meeting" among so
many grown people.
jonathan, in his state Of uncertainty, grew
more dubious, and was evidently receding
from his years Of discretion, instead of ap-
preaching them. He wasted time in idle
haun,s. He began 10 show the incipien,
indications Of hOrse,jOckcy propensilies-io
wit looking into the mouths Of all the
strange animals which stopped long enough
a, the village inn 10 allow him the opporlu-
nifty. Heialked knowingly Of The "poinis, !"
pTofessed ability 10 cure all durable diseases
which horse-hesh is heir to; and absolutely
dared 10 rejuvena,e Old Ball, his fathers
horse, with dose OF ginger in his chopped
iced. This experiment had nearly result,
ed in breaking ,ha, pa,ernal neck, any evi.
dence ofspirit in the old nag, being for
many years unprecedented, and quite un.
expected. It was absolutely true iha, some,
thing should be done with the boy. Some.
thing, bu, what!
The question has puzzled wiser heads
than those Of Farmer wilkins and his vile.
The father did propose ,ha, he should shire"
with neishbor, whose stock did not pre-.
sen, quite such plethora Of boys. Bu, rs
the neighbor did not exhibi, any grea, anxi.
ETY. for the acquisition, and Jonathan s,ren-
uously objected, !, was no, deemed prudent
10 insis, upon the arrangement. Jonathan a,
length vcu,ured 10 mention the dream which
had been running in his own head.
"Givc me n start, father, and le, me
strike on, for myself, and I'll wuuan, that
III &c, into business. You shall hear
good accoun, Of me-"
The father, as fathers are ap, 10 do in such
cases, received this proposal with smile,
and affected 10 doubt whether his son was
in earnest. Nothing, however, makes n
plan so soon and so certainly feasible as 10
talk about il; and nothing brings a thing
more certainly to pass than 10 assume il as
a fact. So Jonathan was fitted out for the
world and marke, -at no very ex,rava.
gan, rate certainly, but with more money
than he had ever before had possession Of
at once. With the common notion Of coun.
II. ~, AZ. cs,,, Il m, vaJ ,,.;,h .,o.,.