Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1857-06-12
DUTY AND KINDNESS.
BY T. 5. ARTHuR.

cOunlenahce OF Deacon Jonas bToNL-
ing. There were tears on the sad face
of his wife.
He shall be sent to sea! :" said Dea-
con Browning, sternly.
There was a pleading look in the eyes
of Mrs. Browning, as she lifted them to
the iron face Of her husband. But no
words passed her lips.
He shall be sent to seal 1t is my last
hope"
philip is very young, Jonas" said
Mrs. Browning.
Not too young for evil, and, there
fore, not too young for the discipline nee
essary to eradicate evil. He shall go to
sea Capt. Ellis sails in the Fanny VII
liams on next Monday. will call upon
him this very day"
"Isn'tthe Fanny Williams whaler 2"
The lips of Mrs. Browning quivered,
and her voice had choking sound.
ayes" was firmly answered.
Il wouldn't send him away in wha-
Ter, Jonas. Remember he is very young,
not thirteen until next April"
"Young or old, Mary, he's got to go"
said the stern old deacon, who was be-
lever in the gospel of law. He was no
weak advocate of moral suasion, rs it is
Familiarity termed. He went in for law,
and was a strict eonstructionist. Implicit
obedience was the statute for home, and
all deviations therefrom met with the
never withheld penalty.
| Mrs. Browning entered into no argu-
ment with her husband, for she knew that
it would be useless. She had never
changed his purposes by argument in her
life. And so she bent her eyes meekly
to the floor again, while the tears crept
over her face, and fell in large drops up
on the carpet. Deacon Browning saw
the tears, but they did not move him
He was teaT-proof.
Philip, tie offending member of the
Browning family, was a bright, active.
restless boy, who, from the start had been
rebel against unreasonable authority
and, as a matter Of course. not unfre.
quently, against authority both just and
reasonable. Punishments had only har-
dened him; increasing instead Of dimin.
ishing, his powers of endurance. The
particular offence for which he was now
in disgrace, was, it must be owned, rather
a serious one. He had, in company witt
three other boys of his age, known as the
greatest reprobates in the village, rifle
a choice plum tree belonging TO a neigh
Dor, of all the fruit it contained, and thel
killed favorite dog, which, happenin.
to discover them at their wicked work
attempted to drive them from the gar
den. The neighbor had complained t
Deacon Browning, accompanying hi
complaint with threat to have Phili-
arrested for stealing.
"If you don't DO something with tha
boy of yours" he added with considers
bic feeling, 4" he'll end his days in th
State-prison, or on the gallows."
Hard words were these for the ears
Deacon Browning, the rigidly righteous
Hard words, and with a prophetic cor
viction in them. He had not a very crt
alive imagination, but in this instance II
prediction Of his angry neighbor conjure
up in his mind the image of a prison an
a gallows, causing a shudder to pass alor
his nerves, and the cold perspiration
start upon his forehead. From that m,
ment the resolution of Deacon Brownir
was taken. The boy was on the brin
of ruin, and must be saved at all hazard
As to the means of doing this, it new
entered into the heart Of Deacon Brow
ming to conceive of any other than SUE
as involved harsh discipline. The c
Mantle was in the land and must be dri
en- out with fire and sword. With hi
the word duty had a strong signifcanc
He had always tried to do his duty, mo
ing steadily onward in the path of If
and crushing down all vanities and evi
that spring up by the way, under be
shod with iron.
"He shall be sent to sear' That ".
the last desperate remedy. In his min
as in the minds Of many Ike him, son
years ago, a ship was the great school
reform and when a boy was deemed i
corrigible, he was sent off to sea, usual
to have his evil inclinations hardened
to permanent qualities.
When Deocon Browning met his S,
Philip, after receiving intelligence of /
great offence. it was with a stern, ang
repulsion. He did not see the look
appeal, the sign Of repentance, the pI
for mercy, that was in his fearful eve