The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-11-25

days after would come the first da,
Of punishment. My mother spen
the time in reading her native Scrip
lures ); she spent it in prayer and il
musing; whilst her daughters clung
and wept around her day and night
-grovelling on the ground at thu
| feet of any people in authority tha
entered their mothers cell. Tha,
same interval,-how was it passed BY
1me? Now mark, my friend. Every
man in Office, OF that could be pre-
ssumed to- bear the slightest influence
every wife, mother; sister, daughter .,
such men, I besieged morning, noon
and night. Iweaned them with my
lssupplications. ~ 'humbled myself Il
ths' dust IL, the haughtiesti 'of Cod 4
creatures, knelt and prayed, to 'the1p
ffotiAe sakei,of N.Y. mother: IL be
sougktathem that mig ehsundergo tht
punishment ''ten';Etihes ever I'M he.
fstead. .'asAnd ohce;o or twice T did OBJ
tain the encouragement of a few nat
stiral tear, ,Agiven smore;;' however, az
r was told, to- my 'piety than to- my
mothers deserts: But rarely was ]
heard out with PATIENCE and from
some houses repelled with personalin-
dignities. The day came I saw my
mother half undressed by the base of:
6cials heard the prison gates ex.
pand; I heard the trulnpets of the
magistracy sound. She had warned
me what to do; l had warned my.
self: Would 1 sacrifice a retribution
sacred and comprehensive, for the
momentary triumph over an individ-
ual'? If not, let me forbear to look
out of doors; for I felt that in the
selfsame moment in which I saw the
dog of an executioner raise his &C.
cursed hand against my mother,
'swifter't than the lightning would my
| dagger search his heart. When l
heard the roar Of the cruel mob, l
paused, Aendured, ,-ferbore. I stole
0dt by bylahes zof st. the, city from my
poor exhausted sisters, whom" F. left
'sleeping in each other innocent arms,
fnto, the forest. ; There I listened to
the shouting popu}ace !; there even I
fancied that T could trace my poor
mothers route by the course Of the
triumphant cries: There, even then,
even then, I made,-O, silent forest =!
thou heardst me when I made,-a
VOW that I have kept too faithfully.
Mother, thou art avenged: sleep,
daughter of Jerusalem ! for at length
the oppressor sleeps with thee. And
thy poor son has paid, in discharge
Of his vow, the forfeit of his own hap
piness, Of a paradise opening upon
earth, of a heart as innocent as thine,
and a face as fair.
'"I returned, and found my mother
returned. She slept by starts, but
she was feverish and agitated; and
when she awoke and first saw me,
: she blushed, as if I could think that
real degradation had settled upon
her: Then it was I told her of my
vow. Her eyes were lambent with
fierce light8ot a;;mornent but; when
Inwent on more eagerly to speak Of
my hopes and projects, she called me
to: her,-kissed me, and whispered {:
@, not 50, -my: aonl think not Of me,
think not of vengeance,-think
only Of poor Berenioe and Marianne
gAty,Ithat thought I" .sas ! st. startling: y X1et
this, magnanimous and fMofb1earing M 4
mother, as I,knew b7 the 5eport: q :i9 of
our one faithful female servant; had,
in the morning, during her bitter
trial, behaved a. might become
a; daughter Of Judas Maceabeus {:
she had looked serenely upon; 'tthe
vile mob, and awed even them by her
serenity; she had disdained to-: utter
a shrek when the cruel lash fell upon
her fair skim There is a point that
makes the triumph over natural feel
ings of pain easy or not easy,-the
degree in which we count upon the
sympathy of the bystanders. My
mother had it not in the beginning ;
but, long before the end, her celestial
beauty, the divinity of injured limo
cence, the pleading Of colnmon' ~om-
anhood in the minds Of the lowest
class, and the reaction Of manly feel
ing in the men; had worked a great
change IN Il. the 81 mob: Some M. began Row
t. threaten at las!t those who had been active
in: insulting g her: The silence of ave
s..l ssnd respect assaeceeded 70 noise and
npPoeF.i;. lie and ~ fselpgs5 p25o oEhieh bis they &
scarcely, Ii j dnqn9ed3erstqed, q9ed3 mastered the
rude rabble as they witnessed more
and more the patient feEtituds Of the
sG8erer: Menaces began to rise to-
wards theAexecutioner: Things wore
such an aspect that the magistrate.
put a sudden end to the scene >
THAT day we, received permission
to 90 home to our poor house in the
Jewish;quarter l know not wheth
er you are learned enough in Jewish
usages to be aware that in every
Jewish house, where old traditions
are kept up, there is one room conse e
Grated to confusion; q room always