The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1873-01-19
AN INDOOR TRAGEDY.

Well nigh half . century ago newly
married couple settled in one Of the west.
ern counties of Pennsylvania. They had
what their neighbors deemed fair capital
with which to begin life "a well-stocked,
though small, farm, sound health, good
common sense, and a more than average
amount OF sbrewd intelligence and cul-
ture. Upon all this was n sincere trust IN
God and jealous, sensitive love for each
other, neither of which their neighbors
knew much about, American backwoods
farmers take n pride in covering their
emotions under hide as tough as that of
their own beeves. They had three or four
children, and night after night,
over the kitchen fire, the problem
they set themselves to answer was
what is the best thing we can do
with them, and for them; the question
asked dali y with such a wrenching of
heart in myriads of homes, and answered
SO differently. The fear VI God seemed
to Jacob and his wife the best heritage to
give them; the next best plenty of money
To give them the first, they began by
hedging the childrcns lives with system
u. rules, borrowed half from the Jewish
laws, half from the theory Of their sect
Strict morality, the keeping of sunday as
a periodical day Of pentinencc and
wretcbcdhess, tue learning under penalty
Of dark closets and furnishings of the
chief duty Of man, therein was their re-
ligion. Life they were shown us strait
and hard path through a dark valley
witn the terrors of Sinai behind, and The
traps and pitfalls of a flaming hell on
either eide. Even Jacobs wife, Mary
holding her dsrlings to her breast than
which no molhcY's heart ached or throbbed
with more tenderhess, had no other sermon
to preach to them. 1t never occurred to
her or her husband that it was into Just
| such fields Of grain as those about them,
under jus, such towering cedars, that
Jesus led his disciples and taught them,
by the sunshine and tho rain, the
tender mercies Of God. The world
grew green around them, faded again
and wrapped itself in snow, year after
year The river sang its mysterious song
| to the woods at their very door and over
head the stars that had declared to the pa
triarchs of the old world the infinite So
crets of Jehovah blszoned them forth
still, unregarded. Day unto day uttered
speech, and night unto night showed forth
knowledge of Him. But both farmer and
wife were deaf and blind. God was to be
approached only through dog-eared cat
echism, and fields and river were worth
only SO much fish and wheat Per year.
The children's salvation being thus pro-
vided for, the next thing to DO insured
was money. Husband and wife worked
and stinted as onlya Scotch.Irish farmers
family can work or stint All produce
that was salable went TO the market the
children were reared on the refuse, the
skim-inilk, the poorest bacon and watery
potatoes. Their clothes were coarse and
paShed, their feet bare and chilblaned
The house grew barer year by year, the
fathers back more bent, his face harder,
but the balance in bank increased dollar by
lar. AS for the plump, bonny Mary, she
had long aga joined tho sistorhood of lean,
Observation-Disclosures women who, with
dirty calico dresses and vhisps of hair
twisted up behind, are sometimes found in
farm-houses like CHASTITY megrims, or day
light specters of a wasted life. When
churning and scrubbing were done she
would sit up until near morning washing
and darning their clothes, that they
might look more "genteel' than she, drag
ging her aching body to look at them
when they slept, praying for them with u
fierce longing to have power to be God
himself-to be able to protect and
care for them. The boys had
certain strong animal propensities, and
and knowledge to guide or restrain. One
tendency TO alcoholic poisoning against
which bis diet and training fssm infancy
should have defended him. The girls,
left to themselves, were filing their brains
with sickly false fancies Of life and their
work in it, But what time had Mary to
read or acquire in any way the power to
comprehend or hslp her children There
was the scrubbing and churning to be
done, the money to be saved. Boys and
girls were sent to colleges and seminares
every advantage that education could give
them was theirs the only mistake jacob
and his wife made in this respect was no,
to educate themselves AS well. The chill
dren went forward they sat down and
grubbed.
What is tho end OF it all? The daugh
tiers grew up dispeptic and sickly for thu
lack of early proper food thoy married
and died before middle age, brilliant
hard women, and neither of them in any
sense religious. One son went into poll
tics, WAS successful, is now n member Of
congress, the most influential of his party
Jacob and his mother read of his life IL
Washington, his wito's receptions, his pop
: ularlty. But long ago he was strange,
, to them. 1t is years since he crossed III,
old threshold What is there in common
between him and the ignorant, boorisl
y farmer and his Wife, A few weeks aro
d tho last of the son, came home to die; III
I, ono OF all the children who had real DOW