San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-09-14

Laura use all these In one week
"She does, quietly answered Laur"s
mother.
"But what extravaganza" exclaimed
Mrs. Smith. "You indulge her too
much. You'll make her too dainty.
think il does children good to keep
them down little. Why that's a clean
handkerchief every day"
"Mrs. Smith, 1 do not consider my
self extravagant," answered Mrs. Worth
Laura wears no iewelry nor fancy
dresses to school. But l feel that il l
ever allow my child to be anything else
than perfectly clean, / do her moral
wrong. The body cannot be dirty
without tainting the soul. Laura needs
absolutely needs-just what you see'
will never forget the miseries L on
dured as a child by an insufliciency OF
these things. I had no mother"
AS she spoke, the lady dropped tear
ON her hand. Her visitor was touched,
and felt rise within her something like
admiration for the speaker.
SWELL" she said at length, Laura
ought to be very greatful to YOU"
Grateful to me ?" asked Mrs. Worth
"what for?"
"For all you do for her."
"For all do for her? Why Mrs.Smith,
only do my simple duty-hardly that,
sometimes think, when consider the
greatness OF my responsibility. Crate
full to me! Why, whoseplqcc but mine
is it to give her mothers care? Who
else should dc it? Why, so far from
her feeling obliged to me for caring for
her, ought to be severely punished if
I did not"
Children are great trouble" feebly
began Mrs. Smith.
Eyes; but that's not their fault. They
do not ask us to assume any such bur
den; it is voluntary on our part. They
have nothing to do with their coming
into the world of trouble-we every
thing. Is not this true? Have we any
right to buy that which we cannot pay
for?"
The uuestioner was silenced for a
time. Mrs. Worth had finished mend
ing Laura's dress, and was now darning
the gayly striped hose"
you're a queer woman" at last re
marked the visitor. "Now suppose you
had half dozen children"
"But I haven't" replied Mrs. Worth.
"Now, just suppose you had" per
sisted Mrs. Smith. 81 have eight. How
could Imend for and look after so many,
like you do for two? Gould you?"
II don't know" thoughtfully an
swered Mrs. Worth, but know this
no woman has any moral right to any
more children than she can properly
care for?"
what ?" almost screamed Mrs. Smith.
cts as true as gospel" firmly assert
! ed Mrs. Worth. "The Lord never re-
quires of any of us more than we can
do"
"Well, sometimes think he does"
dolefully answered the old woman.
"We see families OF ten and twelve ev-
erywhere. .........
$50 we d." asserted Mrs. Worth,
but if we think very carefully we are
compelled to believe that the Lord often
bears the blame of humanity blunders.
If we deliberately put our hands into
the fire and burn them, we have no
right to say that the Lord burnt our
hands, though He did make the law that
fire consumes almost anything that it
touches. God governs the universe by
law-and we can, to certain extent,
put ourselves within or without the
reach of any peculiar law. Can we
not?" -. 49, ..
"I see men as trees walking" uncon-
sciously quoted Mrs. Smith.
Mrs. Worth smiled gladly, thinking
to herself that she had momentarily
touched her neighbor's httle-used intel
lect.
Suppose, though continued Mrs.
Smith, falling back into her old strain,
Laura should grow up and bring dis
credit upon yoar training
"Well," answered Mrs. Worth, shade