Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-16

in childhood, spring up and bear fruit.
One of the most remarkable of such in
stances was that of the Reverend John
! Newton, of Olney, the friend of Cowper,
the poet. 1t was long subsequent to the
death of both his parents, and after lead
ing vicious life as youth and as a sea-
man. that he became suddenly awakened
| to a sense of his depravity and then twas
/ that the lessons which his mother had
| given him when child sprang up vividly
| in his memory. Her voice came to him, as
| it were, from the dead, and led him gently
back to virtue and goodness.
Another instance is that of John Ran
dolph, the American statesman, who once
said, II should have been an atheist if it
had not been for one recollection-andt that
was the memory of the time when my de-
! parted mother used to take my little hands
in hers, and cause me on my knees to say,
Our Father who art in Heaven ?"
Napoleon Bonaparte was accustomed to
say that" the future good or bad conduct
of a child depended entirely on the
mother" He himself attributed his rise
| in life in great measure to the training of
his will, his energy, and his self-control, by
his mother at home. Nobody had any
command over him." says one of his biog
raphers, "except his mother, who found
means, by mixture of tenderness, sever
ity, and justice, to make him love, respect,
and obey her; from her he learned the vir-
tue of obedience"
The greater part of the influence eXer-
cised by women on the formation of char
acter necessarily remains unknown. They
accomplish their best work in the quiet Sc
clusion of the home and the family by sus-
tanned effort and patient perseverance in
the path of duty. Their greatest triumphs,
harauSa priyota and domestic ora raraIu
recorded; and it is not often, even in the
biographies of distinguished men, that we
hear of the share which their mothers
have had in the formation of their charac-
ter, and in giving them bias toward good
ness. Yet are they not on that account
without their reward. The influence they
have exercised, though unrecorded, lives
after them, and goes on propagating itself
in consequences forever.
We do not often hear of great women, as
we do of great men. 1t is of good women
that we mostly hear; and it is probable
that in determining the character of men
and women for good they are doing even
greater work than if they were to paint
pose great operas. 1t is quite true"
said Joseph de Maistre, ''that women have
produced no chefs d muvre. They have
written no Iliad, nor Jerusalem De-
livered, nor Hamlet nor Phedre, nor
Paradise Lost, nor 'Tartuffe'; they
have designed no Church of st. Peters,
composed no Messiah, carved no Apollo
Belvedere, painted no Last Judgement;
they have invented neither algebra, nor
telescopes, nor steam engines; but they
have done something far greater and better
than all this, for it is at their knees that
upright men and women have been trained
the most excellent productions in the
world"
De Maistre, in his letters and writings,
speaks of his own mother with immense
love and reverence. Her noble character
made all other women venerable in his
eyes. He described her as his "sublime
mother 80 an angel to whom God had
lent a body for brief season." To her he
attributed the bent of his character, and
all his bias toward good and when he had
grown to mature years, while acting as en-
bassador at the court Of st. Petersburg,
he referred to her noble example and pre-
cepts as the ruling influence in his life
One of the most charming features in
the character of Samuel Johnson, notwith-
standing his rough and shaggy exterior,
was the tenderness with which he invari-
ably spoke of his mother-a woman of
strong understanding, who firmly i'm
planted in his mind, as he himself ac-
knowledges, his first impressions of re-
ligion. He was accustomed, even in the
time of his greatest difficulties, to contrib
ute largely out of his slender means to her
comfort; and one of his last acts of filial
duty was to write Rasselas for the pur
pose of paying her little debts and defray-
ing her funeral charges.
George Washington was only eleven
years of agc-the eldest of five children
when his father died, leaving his mother a
widow. She was a woman of rare excel
lence, full of resources, a good woman of
business, an excellent manager, and pos
sessed of much strength of character She
had her children to educate and bring up,
a large. household to govern, and extensive
estates to manage-all of which she accom-
plished with complete success. Her good
sense assiduity, tenderness, industry, and
vigilance enabled her to overcome every
obstacle and as the richest reward
of her sOlicitude and toll, she had the hap
/ piness to see all her children come forward
with fair promise into life, filling the
! spheres allotted to them in a manner
equally honorable to themselves and to the
parent who had been the only guide of
! their principles, conduct, and habits.
The biographer of Cromwell says little
about the Protectors father, but dwells up
on the character of his mother, when he
describes as a woman of rare vigor and de-
cision of purpose: A woman" he says,
possessed of the glorious faculty Of self
help when other assistance failed her;
ready for the demands of fortune in its eX-
tremest adverse turn; of spirit and energy
equal to her mildness and patience; who,
with the labor of her own hands, gave dow
ries to five daughters sufficient to marry
them into families as honorable but more
wealthy than their own; whose single pride
was honesty, and whose passion was love;
who preserved in the gorgeous palace at
Whitehall the simple tastes that distin.
guished her in the old brewery at Hunting
don; and whose only care, amidst all heI
splendor, was for the safety of her son in
dangerous eminence."
We have spoken of the mother of Ma
poleon Bonaparte as woman of great
force OF character Not less so was the
mother of the Duke of Wellington, whom
her son strikingly resembled in features
person, and character; while his father
was principally distinguished as musica
composer and performer. But, strange tt
say, Wellington's mother mistook him fol
a Ounce; and, for some reason or ether, ht
was not such a favorite as her other chill
dren, until his great deeds in after-life con
strained her to be proud of him.
Inc NaplerS were blessed In both pa
, rents, but especially in their mother, Lady
Sarah Lennox, who early sought to inspire
) her sons minds with elevating thoughts
admiration of noble deeds, and chival
? rous spirit, which became embodied il
their lives, and continued to sustain then
| until death in the path of duty and o
: honor
} Canning's mother was an Irishwomal
| of great natural ability, for whom he
: gifted son entertained the greatest low
and respect to the close of his career Sh
e was woman of no ordinary intellectual
+ power. Indeed" says Canning's biog
: grapher, 'were we not otherwise assured
; of the fact from direct sources, it woult
! be impossible to contemplate his profoun,
and touching devotion to her without be
2 ing led to conclude that the object of sue.
: unchanging attachment must have beel
possessed of rare and commanding quail
ties. She was esteemed by the circle il
which she lived as woman of great men
: tai energy Her conversation was animat
| ed and vigorous, and marked by distinc
originality of manner and choice o
&C = l,