Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1867-02-13
Whose Fault is it !?

goes wrong in family, Mr. Murray q
Jennie and | were sitting alone quite
late at night in our cheerful library, when
suddenly put the question. Mr.. Muir.
ray is minister of the town of Seymour,
Jennie is his wife and nv pet sister, !
have to-day come to visit them. While |
am here l become very much interested
in their parish matters, a small country
\ village is such world IN itself, if one is
only accustomed to look beneath the sur
face One of Mr.. Murray's deacons had
called to consult him about son who
was becoming bad boy. There is some
thing in such q character which always
touches sympathetic part of my nature,
and found myself soon as anxious for
Tom as his father. Mr.. Murray gave him
some sound advice. If the deacon follow.
ed it faithfully, his child was saved, so |
was conscious of being very CHEEKY as
bade him good BY He oughtto have
gone home wiser and happier man. In
the afternoon, the deacon's wife, Mrs
Tupper. called, and when she went away,
| would not have given straw for any
chance there was for Tom. a.ia
Mr.. Murray laid down the Review from
which he had been reading an article
aloud to us, and, having given the chem" "
usually preparatory with him to speech
he began ............
President Edwards says"
I held up my hands in horror, "Now,
please don't )" l said: "Ifyou begin with
President Edwards, by.and-by we shall
have Emmons and Hopkins, aud then
there will never come an and. don't care
for the question theologically treated f;
what l want to hear is, simply, "Whose
fault is it p
"Do you suppose there is any manner
Of poubt who is to blame for Tom Tuppcrs
conduct?"
There it is. said Jennie laughing, Il
knew it would come l have been waiting
all the evening for it."
"For what ?''askcd her husband.
"For Kitty's opinion of Mrs. Tupper.
She called here this afternoon"
Well,' l said. nothing daunted by being
SO easily found out, us there any doubt
who is responsible for the sins of that
whole Upper family? So far from won
dcring that Tom is bad boy, my only
astonishment is, that the deacon and. all
the daughters haven't come to the gallows.
Who do you think Cunning sharply on
the mipister) is the most culpable for his
wrong-doiDgs, Tom or his mother? ?"
II am afraid your theological education
did not do you much god, if you cannot
answer that question, said Mr.. Murray.
"Well, confess | cannot. | know
we'll enough what | ought to say, but this
thing puzzles me. There is Mrs. Upper,
small enough in every way. perfectly des
picablc; but for this very reason, it seems
to me all the more capable OF doing an
infinite deal of mischief"
"Oh stop, do" said Jennie, you are
harder on the poor woman than she deser-
yes.-I pity more than blame her."
| PITY her, for what ?"
.For--for-well, it may as well out,
for being a non compos, you know" she
said, looking apologetically towards her
husband. ut is safe to speak FREELY to
Kitty"
II should be less hard on her." | an
swered, "if thought God had really
made her with weak intellect. She
would then come under the claSs whom
our Scotch brethren so kindly call snnoc-
ents but think she is on of class Of
women, not only capable Of, but actually
doing a large amount Of mischief.
l meau silly women not Gcd-made, but
made by criminal selfindulgence, by
their ignoring every matter Of disci.
pline. from which they might have
derived growth, by--oh there are
SO many ways in which talented woman
even may. in course of time, make herself
silly. that it is useless to try to enumerate
them. A very wise writer--in her own
conceit at least--hos written on pages
which the lines sully forever Marriage
is the grave Of love-" If it is SO. the
grave is dug, nine times out of ten, by
Just this class of women. All, Mr.. Muir
ray don't laugh at me !! but when 1
read that line, l thought l saw
the kind Of hands by which it is
made There are inefficient hands; your
selfish, eascloving hands; your irritable,
faultfnding hands; your foolish, babbling
hands. They may be hard and honey
and red. or delicate jiwel.covered but,
If they belong to woman like Mrs. Tup-
per. they will dig grave SO deep. that
!, from it there can be no resurrection Of the
u oau Ioat Inun IiItln childran,a feet .rnau