The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1867-02-02
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aakIbe ff Ne mlnHlef When
Informed lhal W. wss mH NJ lown. h.
Wtmel disappointed fud Husimt
Uu lrlng 1aatihneel s n his iHsi
nfaa, ho replied - have Io~l my
mother abA lhit rIate uspl ~ W. htf
hoHf and ~ ms hihtf lies here,
W. have crue W lay hff beside him
UHf heart pse h ymIaihy Hni
W. md You have met with o..
great losa9'
We'll yes," replied ihe strong
man, With htsilaney, ~ mother is
a great loa in general hh ouf
mother had ouilivcd her uscflncas
She wns IN her second childhoo,l, nnd
her mind wns grown wcak ne hor
body ~ that she was no comfort lo
herself, and was burden 10 every
body, There we're soyen of ~, sons
and daughters and, ~ We could mol
/ find any one who would board ho
We agr,", to keep her among ~ a
/ year about but | have had mere
than my share Of her, for she was
too feeble 10 hc moved when my time
was out, and that wos more than
three months before her death. but
then she was u good mother in her
day, aud toilcd very hard 10 bring
us up.p
Without looking at the face Of the
hcartlcss man, we directed him to the
house of n neighboring pastor, and
returned TO our nursery. We gazcd
on the merry little faces which smiled
or grew sad in imitation of ours,
those little ones to whose ear no word
in our language is half so sweet as
mother" and when we wondered if
that day could ever come when they
could say of us, "She has outlived
her uscfulness"-she is no comfort to
herself, and a burden to everybody
clse--and we hoped that before such
a day would dawn, We might be
taken to our rest. God forbid that
we should outlive the love of our
childrenl Rather let us die while our
hearts are a part of their own, that
our grave may be watered with their
tears, and our love linked with their
hopes of Heaven.
When the bell tolled for the moth
er's burial, we went to the sanctuary
to pay our only token Of respect to
the aged stranger; for we felt that
we could give her memory a tear,
even though her own children had
none to she'd"
"She was a good mother in her
day, and toiled hard to bring us all
up-she was no comfort to herself
and burden to everybody else!'
Those cruel, heartless words rung in
our ears, as We saw the coffin born,
up the aisle. The bell tolled long
and loud, until its iron tongue had
chronicled the years of the toil-worr
mother. One, t,co, three, four, fire
How clearly and almost merrily eacl
stroke told of her once peaceful slum'
ber in her mothers bosom, and o
her seat at nightfall, on her wear,
fathers knees. Sir, seren, eight, nine
ten, rang out the tale of her sport
upon the green sward, in the meadow
and beside the brook. Ecren, trelrc
thirteen, fourteen, spoke more gravel,
of school days and little household
joys and cares. !Sirtcen, serenteen
eighteen sounded out the cnrapture,
visions of maidenhood and the dream
Of early love. Nindcen brough
before us the happy bride. Trenty
spoke Of the young mother who's
heart was full to bursting with tn
new strong love which God ha,
awakened in her heart. And then
stroke after stroke told of her earl
womanhood-of the loves and carcs
!. hopes and fears, and tolls througI
which she passed during these lon
years, till fifty rang out harsh an
loud. From that to sirty each strot
told Of the warm-hearted mother
and grandmother, living over agar
her own joys and sorrows" in thos
of her children and children's chill
dren. Every family of all the grou
wanted grandmother then, and III
only strife was who should secure tn
prize; but bark, the bell tolls on
Serenity, serenty-oRe, t,ro, three, tou
She begins to grow feeble, requir,
some care, is not always perfect
patient or satisfied; she goes frol
one child's house to another, so tn,
no one place seems like home. 81
murmurs in plaintive tones, an,
after all her toll and weariness, il
hard she cannot be allowed hon
to die in; that she must bc sen
rather than invited, from house
house. Eighty, eighty-onc, t,ro, hr,
four. All, she Is now a second chill
now she has outlived her usefulness
she has now ceased To be a comfort
"herself or anybody" that is, 81
has ceased to be profitable to h
earth-craving and money -graspii
II, children.
ds Now sounds out, reyerberatir
,y through our lovely forest, and ech
ed ing back from our :" hill Of the dead
to eighty-ninel There she lies now
e. the coffin, cold and still-she max
ut no trouble now; demands no sc
ed words, no tender little offices.
er look Of patient endurance, we "a
as cied, also, an expression Of grief
he unrequited love, sat on her mari
ng features. Her children were thei
clad in weeds Of woe, and as in iroi
at we remembered the strong maj
he words, "she, too, was a good moth