The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-12-17
TALES or THE BORDERS
The First and Second Marriage.
NJ JoHN AAoKAI Wilson.

. beg your pardon, sir, said yer
, erable-looking, white headed man, accost
! ing me one day, about SIX weeks age, as
was walking alone near the banks of th
Whitadder; "ye are one Of the authors o
. the Border Tales, sir-are ye not 2"
Not being aware Of anything in th
Tales Of the Borders" of which | need t,
be ashamed, and moreover being accustomed
to meet with such salutations, after glancinl
at the stranger, with the intention, | be
lieve, Of taking the measure Of his mind
or serutinizing his motive in asking the
question, answered -" am, sir"
" Then, sir, said be, 81 can tell ye a
true story, and one that happend upon the
Borders here within my recollection, and
which was also within my own knowledge,
which | think would make capital tale. y
Now, ! always rejoi in hearing any
tale or legend from the lips Of grey-haired
chrOnioler. ! do not recollect the period
when | did not take an interest in such
things and tradition of the olden time,
or tale that pictured human nature as it
is, ever made the unceasing birr, birring Of
the splnning-wheel-which the foot, belize,
Of an aged widow kept in perpetual motion
As agreeable to me as the choicest music.
For what is tradition, but the fragments
which History left or lost in its progress to
eternity and which Poetry, following in its
wake, gathered up as treasurns too precious
to be overwhelmed by the approaching
waves Of blivion, and, breathing upon
them the influence Of its own immortal
spirit embalmed them in the hearts and in
the memories of men unto all generations
Though, therefore, il was no ancient legend
which the stranger had TO relate, yet know
ihS that it might not on that account be
the less interesting, ! thanked him, T" and
with greedy ears devOurcd up his dis
course
The story which be then related to me,
| shall, therefore, after him, communicate to
my readers.
You will excuse me in no, mentioning
the name Of the town in which the chief
Incidents mentioned in our story occurred.
They may be some yet living to whom some
Of them might not be agreeable. | shall,
therefore. speak Of it as the town Of H,
and other circumstances referred to may
lead you to form an idea Of 4" its where
abOuts."
Many years have passed-at least forty
- since the period at which our story COM
mences and there then dWelt in the town
of H one Walter Kerr. SO you will
allow me to call him.
His parents were what are generally
called respectable sort Of people for the
house in which they dWelt was their own,
and there was also three or four others, all
very good and respectable-looking houses,
(as we say again, the rents Of which they
received from their tenants. But there is
no word in our language to which less re-
spect is shown than the word respectability.
1t Is prostituted every day Il is no matter
whether a man be the proprietor Of one
house, one acre, one pound, or hundred
houses, Thousand acres, and ten thousand
pounds neither houses, acres, nor money
can make him truly respectable. AS the
sun, moon, and stars shed light upon the
earth, SO do honesty, virtue, and strict in
tegity confer Iespectability on the head Of
their possessOr. ] care not what a man 8
situation in life may be, nor whether he be
4 newer of wood OF a drawer of water, the
\ lord Of a forest, or one who hath a fleet
upon the seas show me good, virtuous,
and an upright man-and there is re-
spectacle man, be bis rank or situation in
life what it may. The parents of Walter
Kerr, however, were respectable in a better
and a tTuer sense Of the term than that Of
being merely persons Of certain proper
ty they we're Christians not only in their
profession but 10 their practice Walter
was by far the cleverest of the family
and from bis boyhood his parents designed
him for the pulpit, and gave him an edu-
cation accordingly. Like many parents,
they thought that his clevernsss was suf-
6cient reason why they should bring him
up to the sacred profession, without once
considering how Tar the seriousness Of bis
thoughts and habits fitted him for preparing
for the Office. 1t must be ackuowl lodged,
however, that in this they were net singu-
lar We find hundreds who, without per-
ceiving either cleVerness or piety in their
favOrite son, resolve to make him minis
ter Yea, frequently, from his very cradle
his calling is determined. / remember hav-
ing heard good woman say" If l live
to have another son, and he be spared tC
me, shall bring him up for the Kirk :"
Bat the parents Of Walter Kerr were
possessed Of more discretion and wher
they found that be wSs averse to their pro
pOsal Of bis becoming preacher, they
abandoned the idea, though not without re
luctance, and some tears on the part Of BIZ
mother. Now, Walter was a youth of 4
gentle temper and an affeStionate heart
but, at the same time, be seemed fOrneC
for being what you would term man o
bu~iness. He was shrewd, active, specula
tive, and calculating, with quite sufficien
degree of caution, as ballast, to regulats
his more ardent propensities- At his owl
request, he was bound apprentice to gen
eral merchant in his native town; and be
fore be was twenty-One years OF age, b,
commenced business for himself. He be
gan With but small stock in trade; for BIZ
parents could not afford a great deal to Sc
him up Yet he was attentive to business
he pushed it, and his trade increased, ant
bis stock became more various. He hat
scarcely, however, bsen two years in bust
ness, when be took unto himself portion
less wife. His parents were displeased-
tthav looked urnn him an Ioaf Evarv On.