Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-05-22
For the CnnoSrcLE.
WILLIS WATERS.
By HILDA.
CHAPTER XIV.

/ BY HILDA. 80
CHAPTER XIV.
bright, particular star. and think 70 wee
it," ai.s4
| Horace Hays. accompanied by Lu
dolph, had returned to the city. His
practice was extensive, and his dutie.
at home urgent He would fain have
fingered at the Springs with his host
of friends aud and loved ones, but be
was man of the true type, who at du-
TVS call came quickly forth. ready for
her sternest mandate. He never
shrank from it in any form, nor could
the most delicate charm cause him to
deny its injunctions. No trembling
smile from fair woman's lips could WOO
him from its path. Bacchus, with his
sparkling, crimson banner, failed sig
nally upon him. He was a man of
men Steeled against vices, proof
against iniquity, he scorned the SEM
blsnce of dishonor, denounced the very
hint of fraud. He knew that society
sanctioned knaves. fawned upon rog-
uish machines whom fate favored, that
the coward who would Willingly cheat
his neighbor out of his birthright, was
received and cajoIed by the mocking
masses of the earth, provided he cum
ningly accumulated the almighty dol
lar" He saw that weakened society
would receive man who supported
his coach and livery, and marks of in
dolence upon his white hands, whilst
they would scoff and sneer at the la
borer, toiling daily for subsistence
with hands hardened and stained with
honest labor. His generous heart
wept for the depravity, he mourned
the corrupted morals and vitiated Gus
toms of theworld in which he lived.
'Tis said ''man yields to custom as ne
bows to fate" but that is an egregious
mistake. The glorious old adage
might have been verified in the palmy
days of the aborigines, when prince
and peasant supped together, and uni
ty and peace sheltered the nation with
their spotless wings. Then there was
no strife, no denunciation of the poor.
Aye, in those halcyon days, men did
not convert themselves into money
making machines, and worship the
God of traffic.
Men in those days reflected honor
on their Creator. The household key
stone was then safe in bonds of love
and fidelity. The arch was complete,
the circle unbroken. The demoraliz-
ing love of gain had never crept in
and sought shelter under the rude
roof. Wealth with its glittering pa
geant was yet far in the future to
crush under its bright waves the JOY
Gus hopes and unful6lied promises of
coming generations. Living in the
present age we will never know the
perfect peace and blissful quiet of our
forefathers.. IF the granl na eh of
civilization brings inits train falseness,
deception and inevitable ruin, l say
crush it down. and eiyse Us primeval
ignoranceg If Investigation teaches
fraud, deliberate artifce and fashiona-
bic follies, l say abandon it and flee
into illiteracy. What will all our
vaunted wisdom avail us in the great
end, if we WELD it on garth for pitiahle
fallacy. The erudition of the Sealigers
will be measured in a thimble if
their great learning be not directed to
the promotion of good. Our boasted
sagacity will have to pass through a
purgatorial fire, religious filter. Man
yields to custom as he bows to fate"
I would not have it true in this pollu-
ted age. I would not have our men,
strong, mighty oaks of society, bow
their proud headE to fashions deprav-
ity. | would not have them swindle a
fellow man, and declare itjust, because
he secured the best end of the bargain.
All! | would not have them yield to
wines red sway, and steep their noble
intellects in inertness and sluggishness.
Let them stand as shining models for
the rising generation, and by their wis
dom and power revolutionize our gov
ernment, and place US in the strong
hold of peace and prosperity. Nor
would have the women of our nation
yield to custom. The hahitual practice
of worshipplng fashion units them for
the holier duties Of life. A woman
who seeks after nothing but to array
herself in purple and fine linen, and
to deck herself in earth's glittering
gems draws her intellect, however
mighty, down to the level of weak,
vitiated custom. She who prefers the
opera to the instruction of her chill
dren, and will risk the life of her help
less babe in the hands of a careless
nurse is woman devoid of a woman s
heart She is corrupted by the fash
ionably established manner of the day
Custom has overwhelmed her with It's
sweeping colossus. She drifts farther
and farther on in the sea of imbeoility
until she becomes walking advertise
ment of the latest style" And this
woman has entrusted to her the train
ing of young minds. Do you marvel
that we have worthless fops and aban-
doned women? The mothers Of the
universe rule the universe, and the
hand that rocks the cradle is the hand
that rocks the world. We would have
no use for Victoria Woodhulls and no.
! ted Clafins to proclaim ourrights ifthG
, mothers were TO exercise thpir duties
Why should they crave to ill the gu.
bernatorial chair, when they can sit il
their cozy homes and guide the tide o.
government? Why wish to be presi
dentiaIly honored, when they ipsti
every principle and element of gOoC
that osSerts itsalf in that lofty position'