The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-03-28

fire, the problem they set themselves {.
answer was, what is the best thing W,
can do with them, and for them th,
question asked daily with such a wrench
ing of heart in myriads of homes, AM
? answered so differently. The fear o.
God seemed to Jacob and his wife tn,
d best her age to give them; the next
z best, plenty of money. - To give th.
: first, they. began by hedging the chill.
Z dren s lives with system of rules, bor.
4 roTed half from the Jewish laws, hal
froHR the theory of their sect. Stric'
morality, the keeping of Sunday as y
periodical day of penitence and wretch
edness, the learning under p nalty o.
dark closets and thrashings, Of the chief
duty of man, therein was their religion
Life they were shown as straight ani
hard path through n dark valley will
4 the eterrorsa of Sinai behind, aud tn,
\ traps and pitfalls of flaming hell oi
either side. Even Jacobs wife, Mary
holding her darlings to her breast, thar
which no mothers ever throbbed Will
more tenderness, had no other sermon
to preach to them. 1t never occurred
| to her or her husband that it was int,
| Just such fields of grain as those abou'
tIern, under just such towering cedars
that Jesus led his disciples. and taugh'
them, by the sunshine and the rain, IT,,
tender mercies of God The worl6
grew green around them, failed again
AID wrapped itself an deep SHOWS, yea
after, wear :sthe river sang its mysteriou
song of the woods at their very door
and overheard the stars that had de
clared to patriarchs of the. old worl,
the infinite secrets OF Jehovah blazone,
them forth stin unregarded Day unt'
day uttered speech, and night mt,
night showed forth knowledge of Him /
but both farmer and wife were deaf anf
blind God was to be approached onl,
through dog-eared catecl!ism and fiel6
and river were worth only so much fish
and wheat per year. A Fw r.
~ The children's salvation being thu
provided for, the next thing to be in
sured was money. Husband and wifi,
worked and stinted as only Scotcl
Irish farmers family can work or stint.
All produce that was saleable went r.
the market : the children were reareG
ON the refuse, the .slKim-milk, pOOres'
bacon and watery. potatoes. Thei
clothes were coarse and patched. theil
feet bare and chilblained. The hous
grew Earer year by year, the father
back more bent, aud his face harder
but the balance increased dollar by dol
lar. As for the plump bonny Mary
she halt long ago Joined that sisterhOo,
of lean, yellOwskinned, tOothless wo.
men, who, with dirty calico dress, an,
-wisps of hair twisted mp behind, ar |
sometimes found in farm houses lik' |
CHASTITY megrims or daylight specters o. |
wasted life. When churning am |
scrubbing we're done she would sit NJ |
until near morning washing and darn
ing their clothes that they might lool |
more "genteel, then she, dragging he' /
aching body to look at them when they |
slept, praying for them with ferc'
longing to have power to be God him
self te be able to protect aud care fol |
them. The boys had certain strong an.
imal propensities, and physical tenden
cies which required skill and knowledge
to guide or restrain. One had morbi6
imagination; another tendency to al
cohOlic poisoning, against which hit
diet and training from infancy shOul6
have defended him. The girls, left 10
were filling their brain
with sickly false fancies of life and theiI
work in it. But what time had MARY
to read or acquire in any way the power
to comprehend or help her children
There was the scrubbing and churninP
to be dOne,i the money to ne saved.
Boys and girls were sent to colleges and
every advantage that edu-
cation could give them was theirs thu
only mistake Jacob and his wife made
in this respect was not TO educate them
selves as we'll. The children went for.
ward khev sat down and Orubbed
What is the end of IL all? The
daughters grew up dyspeptic and sickly
for the lack of early proper food /; they
married and died before middle age,
brilliant, hard women, and neither OF
them in any sense religious. One son
went into politics, was successful, and
Is now member of Congress, 'One OF
the most Influential of his party. Jacob
and his mother read of his life in Wash
ngton, his wife's receptions, his popu-
Iarity. But long ago he was stranger
10 them. 1t is years since he crossed
The old threshold. What is there in
common between him and the ignorant
boorish farmer and his wife? A few
weeks ago, the last of the sons came
home to die the one of all the chill
lren who had real power of intellect
the only one who was not ashamed to
talk of mother" fondly to the last.
He died in her arms, a drunken,
sot. The thin, haggard wo-
man closed his eyes without tear. 81
have lost all my children" she said. 81
must have made mistake somewhere
in the beginning. God know" Is no
other mother making tins mistake ?-N
Y. tribune.