The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-07-12

Never was Young.
The following is a sad picture Of
mothers error-a mother who, in striving
to make her child good, went too far, and
made him q wretched misanthrope. He
tells his own story, thus:
was born in Frankfort. My parents
had several children. all of whom died in
infancy except me. was the youngest,
and lived through the periods which had
proved so fatal to the rest. The extraor.
binary care Of my mother, who watched me
with a melancholy tenderness, no doubt
contributed to save life which, in boyhood,
and, indeed, to mature age, was, at best,
precarious one.
NY parents were respectable, in easy cir
cumstances. grew up selfish and sffem.
mate in consequence of being so much
INDUCED. | exhibited early studious
disposition, ard it was decided to give me
an accomplished education, with reference
to my occupying. could | attain it at
future day, a chair in some university. My
mother was very religious woman
From the first, she had morbid sense Of
the responsibility Of bringing up boy.
She believed my way to manhood was beset
by innumerablc temptations, almost i'm.
possible to escape, difficult to be resisted,
and absolutely ruinous to my soul, If yielded
to. She preached to me necessarily. She
kept mo from the society Of boys Of my
own age, for fear should be contaminated;
and from the approach Of any of the other
sex. lest my mind should be diverted from
serious matters and led into wantonness
and folly. She would have made q priest
of me had it not been for my father: he
objected. His brother, after whom was
named, was distinguished professor, to
whom bore, as he thought, a resemblance,
and he desired shonld initiate him in my
pursuits. l had good abilities, and was
neither inefficient nor wanting in energy
or industry.
At lirst I longed for natural life and So
ciety; but, by degrees, habit helped me to
endure, and finally to conqaer. In fact,
I was taught that was doing God service
in cultivating an ascetic life. My studies
were pursued with success. | rapidly
mastered what was placed before me, and
my relations were proud Of my progress.
At the usual period the ordinary craving
for female society became strong in me.
My mother took great pains to impress on
me that here commenced my first struggle
with Satan, and, if yielded, should Ger.
tainly, and beyond all peradventure,
become q child of the devil. I was in .
degree conscientious. I was ambitious to
attain . holy life. / believed what my
mother had from my Il fancy lsbored so
hard to inculcate, and trod down. with an
iron step, every fresh rising emotion of my
heart, every genuine passion Of my nature.
But I suffered much. The imagination
could not always be subdued, and there
were periods when felt that the "strong
man armed" had possession Of me. Never
theless, his time was not come, and at
length the struggle was over.
It was not that had gained laudable
control of myself; but, having crucified
every rebellious thought, there was nothing
left for control. | had marked my victory
by determination. To live was no Joy,
neither was it specially the REVERSE long.
monotonous, changeless platitude-yet no
desire to quit the terrible uniformity.
A careful statician at Washington has made
the following estimate of the losses of the
south, in the matter Of capital, during the
war.
'sThey have lost in slave property $4,000.
OOO,OOO; also five crops Of cotton and rice,
81 ,O0O, 900 900; banking capital $78, O0O, 900;
railroads in stock and destruction, 1924 ,OOO..
COO; tobacco. grain, stock, &c, $500 200, 900
80 that their entire loss of actual capital is
$500, 900 ,OOO. larger sum than the entire
federal debt, Add to this their outstanding in.
debtedness, to remain forever unpaid, Of &c..
OO0, 0OO, 900, and we see an entire loss and in.
debtedness Of $4,000. OOO, 900, Of the confed.
crate states, to say nothing of the loss Of hu.
man life."