Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1855-12-19
.The Old Folks. !"

have a thanklc,s child
Il suppose l must go down and see the old
| folks pretty soon, but il is dull job" said
iashionably dressed young man to me one eve-
| Ming s.The country is so dull, after living In
the city, that l dread TO go there's there Is no
| thing TO look at, and nowhere to go; but moth
er is getting very feeble and l ought to co.
perceived that the sold folks he so disre-
spectfuliy spoke of, were 10 other than MS
own father and mother.
81 could get. along with one day well
enough - he said, ..but the old folks.are never
satisfied unless stay week, rsthree or lou.
days. and get heart-sick of it, itss SO dull
used to go and see thex, once OF twice ssyear,
but now it is between two and three years
since have lean there. ] could go oftenor'
but it is so tedious; and then they make 50
much of me, and cry when they See me,
that it makes me feel bad, because do not go
as much as I ought; 80 sometimes l think l
will not 60 at ALL
How little had this careless son thought Of
his aged parents, and yet how daily and hour
| ly had those aged parents thought of him, and
| how many fcrvcnt prayers had ascendsd to
| God for him, from that quiet firesidc. Ho
| knew not how many evils those prayers had
aYerted from his ungrateful head, of how ma
NJ blessings they had poured upon him.
But all sons are not thus ungrateful-
young friend of mine, who has resided sixteen
years in the SINE great metropolis, has never
failed twico year to visit his parents, and
goes often, or whenever it is possible for him
to leave his business. accidentally saw
| d.,,. Gle Shn
since, which shows that a young man can be
immersed in czt.nsiye business, and yet ind
time 10 love and veneraie his mother.
esI received a letter from my Hnother,'' he
writes. after hearing that she had been III 81
an fearful she is not improving. II shs IS any
worse, or becomes dangerously SICK, desire
to know it. dread the thought that our mo-
thei cannot be spared many years, at the best
it may be but few months. have tho't Of
it very much for few weeks. Altho' she has
lived nearly her three-sco and ten, and na-
ture has become almost exhausted, yet how
should miss herl What mother she has boon
to u.s. what an example; what 8 Christian II
am sure of it, know that she has been my
dearest object OF love and affection all the days
of my life. However may have sirayed from
her bright examples and her teachings, my
mother has always been before, beckonng me
to walk in the right way and If 1 have not
prayed myself, with the ferver and devotion
that 1 should. have always felt that she was
supplicating for me. How much she has cared
for us! What sacred treasure, even to tho
end of our lives, will be the memories Of ouH
MOTHER
| La-- she iooE cd tn m
she stood by the bedside of one dying brother,
cheering him in his sufTe -ings; and hear her
say, 1.-THE same clock that told the hour of his
BIRTH is now telling the hour of his death :'
What 4 scene was thati We know, dear sis
ter, that these things must be, and it is not in
a melancholy strain that l write, but every in
dication of the approaching end of my mother.
stirs within me all the tenderest impulses Of
my heart Her removal will be to the BRIGHT
EST heaven, die when she may. Old age is but
the threshhold of death, and after life spent
as mothers has been, the portals of anoth-
er world can have no dreary look"
How ennobling, how touching, are this
young mans words. We cannot but respect
him for his beautiful reverence for his mother.
Years of life in New York, subject to every
| snare anu temptation, cDSageu III an ehSToss-
ing and extensive business, with the heat and
passion of youth upon him, yet the one steady
fame of deep love for his mother, burned un.
dimmed in Lis heart.
Mother, she was mother worthy of such
son. She was Christian mother. Would
you inspire a similar love and reverence, be
like her, and earnest and heartfelt follower Of
the blessed Redeemer.
And let every heartless, neglectful son, re-
member the thorns of agony his thoughtlcss-
ness implants in the hearts of his parents
Let him call to remembrance the helpless
years of his childhood, and all the seif-sacrih-
cling Ioye that fills their hearts, and now re-
: turn to them and to God the love and grati-
tude which justly due.
PRAYER.-Prayer was not invented; it was
born with the first sigh, the first joy, the frst