The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-09-26
LAMBERTvILIE, N J, WEDNESDAY,, SEPTEMBER %. 1860

volunteered |"
did you speak Of young Pierpontl
asked another.
| " Yes, he fell yesterday, pierced BY
three balls, poor fellow it was hare
fate for such boy"
For one moment the cheek of tht
| woman was blanched, the heart of the
mother shocked but she spoke almost
as calmly as she asked:
Which one is it, sir 2"
Henry Pierpont, if / an not mista-
ken. Was he known to you ?"
Was he known to her? Obi the
torment that followed that question
Henry Henry Her noble first
born He who had taken the place
of the dead at their board, and, with
gravity beyond his years, carried
out the plans his father left unfinished
And now the blue eyes were closed
forever his bright locks soiled in the
dust O! the thought was anguish !
A deathly paleness came over her, but
she rallied with great effort and said
as calmly as before, as she turned her
whitened cheeks away:
"He was my son, Sir"
They did not see her face as she
walked quickly and firmly from the
room.
"Now God forgive me ! I feel as if
I had done cowardly thing" MUIR
mered the officer, while his lips grew
pale with emotion. Coming here to
partake of this woman's hospitality I
have cruelty stabbed her to the heart.
"You are not to blame, my friend, !"
said Washington, in his deep tones, in
which was blended a sweet pathos.
Neither, if I can read her Alright,
would she recall the child bravely fall
len in his country's cause. This is no
common woman-her very face speaks
her souls nobility. Mark me when
next you see her she will be fearless !;
no word of sorrow will issue from her
lips. Our mothers, our wives--I am
proud to say it-are heroines in this
trying period. "And this" he contin-
ued pointing to the Bible, /" this is the
secret of their greatness wherever
you behold that volume opened, bear
ing evidence of constant persual, there
you will find woman capable of any
emergency. I repeat it, when we meet
her again she will be calm and fearless,
although mother bereaved of her
child.
And so it was. Madam Pierpont
had schooled her grief for time into
sudden and sacred submission, and
when the officers were called into an
other room to partake of smoking
viands she prepared, they found her
collected, unchanged in her manner
and serene in countenance. The Off
Ger from whom the news had so rude
ly burst was lost in admiration of her
conduct, and was often heard to say,
subsequently, that he venerated wo-
man more for her sake.
Toward night the trio departed,
thanking the kind woman with great
full heart for her courtesy. They found
their horses ready saddled, and were
forced to conjecture that Madam Pier
pont had herself performed the duty
of hostler
General Washington kindly took her
hand before he mounted his charger,
and addressed her tenderly and affec-
tionately. Tears came to the eyes of
the officers while they listened, but
though an increasing pallor spread
over the widows face, she murmured
I am thankful, thankful to my God
Sir, that he has deemed me worthy of
demanding my first born, ready for
life or death"
But when they had gone, and she
returned to the silence of that lone
house, the mother wept exceedingly
bitter tears. Draw we the curtain be-
fore her sacred anguish.
Farewell old Pierpont house, with
your carpet of mellows, and old-fash-
Toned flowers in old fashioned pots
standing upon the stoop. / feel sad
at the thought that shall never again
see its open doors wreathed in vines,
whereon hung clusters of luxuriating
grapes; nor its windows on the lower
floor, all opened, with white curtains
of snowy muslin foting with dreamy,
undulating motion in the pleasant
breeze.
The Way to Keep Him.