The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-09-10
Not Ashamed of Ridicule.

| shall never forget a lesson which | learn
ed when quite lad, at the Academy
Among my sclioolfvlows were lIartelv
and Jemson. They were somewhat older
than myself, and to the latter looked up
as sort Of leader in matters oc opinion as
well as of sport. lie was not at heart ma
licious, but he had fool-amLition Of being
thought witty and sarcastic, and he made
himself feared by beset,ing habit of turn
ing into ridiculc, so that he seemed contin-
ually on the lookout for matter Of deris-
ion.
l1artely was new scholar, and little was
known of him among the boys. One morn
ing, as we were on our way to school, he
was seen driving COW along the road to-
ward neighboring field. A group Of boys,
among whom was Jemson, met him as he
was passing. The opportunity was not to
he lost by Jemson. "IIalloa ~ he exclaim-
ed, "what's the price of milk? l say, Jo-
nathan, what do you fodder on? What
will you take for the gold on her horns ?
BOYS, if you want to see the latest Paris
style, look at those bocts!"
l1artely ly, waving his hand to us with a
pleasant smile, and driving the COW TO the
! field, took down the bars of rail fence, saw
her safely in the enclosure, and then, put
! ting up the bars, came and entered school
! with the rest Of us. Af;cr school in the ar
ternoon, lie let out tie COW and drove her
! cil, hone ofus knew where. And every
LAY, for two or three weeks, he went through
TIC same task
The boys Of B. Academy were nearly
all the st'ns Of wealthy parents. and some
O: them, among whom was J-,nson, were
; ounces enough to looi; down with sort of
di~dain upon scholar who had 10 drive n
COW. The snecrs and ie;s Of .Jcmson were
accordingly often renewed. lie once, on u
! plea that he did not Ike the otor Of the
barn. refused to sit next to Hartley.
With admirable good nature did Hart
; ley bear all these silly attempts to wound and
annoy him. do not remember that hr
was even once betrayed into look or word
OF angry retaliation. 81 suppose, Hartley
said Jemson, one day, 81 suppose your dad
t dy means to make a inilkman Of you."-
Why not 2" asked Hartley. ooh, nothing :;
/ only don't leave much water in the cans ,af-
! ter YOU rinse them-tl,at's all !" Tie boys
laughed, and Hartley not in the least NOR
;itic,l, replied. "Never fear; if ever / should
rise to be mi1kman, Ill give good meas
ure and good milk"
The day after this conversation there WAS
! public exhibition, at which number Of Ia.
/; dies and gen,leriicn from neighboring cities
were present. Prizes were offered by the
Principal Of our Academy, and both Hart
| ley and Jemson received ii crcdit;b!c num-
Der; for, in respect to scholarship, these
two were about equal. After the ceremony
of distribution, the Principal remarked that
there was one prize, consisting of a gold
medal, which was rarely awarded, not so
much on account Of its great cost, as be-
cause the instances were rare which
rendered its bestowal proper. 1t was the
prize Of heroism. The last boys who re-
ceived one was young Manners. who, three
years ago, rescued the blind girl from drown
ing.
The Principal then said that, with the
permission of the company, he would relate
n short story. "Not long since, some schol-
ars were flying kite in the street, just as
poor boy on horseback rode by on his
way to the mill. The horse took fright and
threw the boy, injuring SO badly that he
was carried home. and confined some weeks
to his bed. OF the the scoars who had
unlntentionaly caused the disaster, none fol-
lowed to learn the fate ofthe wounded boy.
There was one scholar, however, who had
witnessed The accident from distance,
whom only went 10 make Inquiries, but
staid to render services.
"This scholar soo5fi learned that tie wound.
ed boy was the grandson Of poor widow,
whose sole support consisted in selling Tie
milk Of a fine COW, of which she was the
owner. Alas! what could she now do g.
She was old and lame, and her grandson, Oh
whom she depended to drive the coYsto
pasture, was now on his back helpless. =
"Neyer mind, good womanp said the scbol-
ar, Il can drive The cow" With blessing
! and thanks the old woman accepted his
offer. =.
"Buthis kindness did not stop here
Money was wanted to get articles from tile
apothecary. "hhave money that my moth,
er sent me to buy a pair of.boots with; but
I can do without them for ,whilep "Oh
no." said the old,woman,;..aI cant coDsen.
totba; but bdg is ID psiFof ofcevhidss. boots
ca,ntyT ks:,..t,x G.. M