The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-11-29
Dcspising Ones Mother, When She is
Old.
.issociu,t Ry.o.mcd.prc<h.ytcrian.

-Associute Reformed. d.P"cshytcri0n.
Indebtedness. in general is y condi.
ton that is regarded very differently by
different men. There are persons, upon
whose shoulders any load of debt sits
lightly. They can NEE. their creditors
nj every turn, with the utmost compIa.
cency. On the other hand, there are
those to whom the least Indebtedness
brings discomfort. As borrowers
they are and they feel that they are,
servants To tie lenders. The sight of a
creditor awakcns painful feelings and
the thought of their debt haunts them,
day and night, like spectre.
There is one class OF creditors and one
kind of debt, in regard to which this
difference among men largely disappears.
With respect TO one class of creditors
and the obligations that hold upon us.
almost all OF us are more or less indilicr.
cnt. These are the creditors which are
the most common to US all-our fathers
aud mothers. The debts we owe them
are the first, in the order of time. Long
before we owed any neighbor or friend,
we came under obligations to them Our
Indebtedness TO them is. also, the first in
the order of importance. For every one
loan or act of kindness, which we have
received from others, there stand u thou
sand against us OH their account The
debts we owe others are for value rcceiv-
ed i'll the shape Of money, and can be
discharged by an equivalent IN dollars
aud cents. what w owe our parents
is fer value received il fUrn,s that silver
and gold can not compare with, and that no
sum OF puiest coin can repay. Who can
estimate the principal OF his Indebtedness
to his parents, at the time he attained his
majority? Who can reckon the debt rs
1t Eow stand, with the interest that has
been accumulating these long years?
How can we be so restive under the
least pecuniary obligation and so much
at ease under this harvest moral debt
that we owe 10 men? Is it that the
creditors have become unworthy? Is it
that our father or mother, now old and
weak i'll body and mind, are unthankful
and hard to please? They have discrim.
lnated--dO we say? in favor of the other
children as against us. What if all this
and much more ana worse be true? 1t
does not lesson our obligation, much less
make 1t thing to be despised. llowev
er unworthy our old father may be of
the attentions of other people, lie can
never become undcserving of ours.
When we were children, ungrateful and
peeri:h as We were, did not our mother
car' ds? And shall we not bear with
her. now that she has become child {?
If the old homestead or other little
effects have been given 10 the other chill
dren, have we not had full share of
the love aud care that enrich that
hearthst0ne and that are better than all
houses aud goods
Perhaps, the debt we owe our parents
is but meaniy regarded by US, because
they themselves seem to disregard it,.
But, if this were the fact, would it not be
all the reason why we should be endeay-
oring to pay it? Who are the creditors
whom we are most anxious to pay The
kind and consideratc ones, who wait most
patiently and say least to us Oh the sub
Ject. by all the long years, then, through
which our parents have been waiting
upon us, and by all the unmurmuring
silence they have maintained, we should
feel the more bound TO serve them. Bat
Is 1t true, AS it often seems to Us, that our
fathers and mothers are quite forgctcu!
Of their claims upon us? If they expect
not material aid at our hands, are they
as Indifferent rs we think to our love and
attention? That aged, dccrepd father
loves to haze letters from the old friends
of his youth. But far moro is he delight
ed with Il brief note from his boy, in n
distant State. The gray haired mother
is in comfortable circumstances. Social
attentions at the hands Of ncighbOrs, she
has in abundance. But why don't the
children come? Where are those little
visits from the son or daughter, that best
relieve the loneliness of widowhood .
All our parents are not unmindful Of
what we owe them. benjamin franklin
said Creditors have better memories
than debtors. And the bitterness of pa
rents over their children's neglect of
them, only their own hearts knew.
AS lightly as we may regard this sub
ject, it has an aspect that is very solemn.
Il: any neglect or desois;ng of our o5iga-
tions to our parents, we despisc the com.
mandment Of God. For our weakness
aud need of childhood, God made ample
provisions in the instincts aud principles
He implanted in the breasts Of our pa
rents. But, for their weaknesses aud
needs of age, lie has made full provision.
Not entrusting this case to natures feel.
ings and principles, which ought to have
sufficient for it, He has embodied its re-
quirements in one Of the statutes of that
law which was written with his own
fingers. When, in awful lightnings aud
thunderings and fire, Jehovah came
down on Sinai, He said, Honor thy faith. q.
er and mother.
OF their obedience to this command,
many have had 10 give sorrowful account
here. AS they have stood by the fresh
grave of loving father or mother, their
hearts have sore smitten them, at the
remembrance Of what they might have
been and were not. But it is at the last
great day that our full account, in this
matter, shall be rendered. and not to our.
selves but to Him who is greater than
our own heart and knowc:h all things.
If, either as foolish or careless son,
we have been grief to our father or an
unutterable heaviness to our mother,
shall we not receive Of the wrong we
have done ? "There is a generation that
curseth their father and Mat loth nat bless
their mother"
Tho Iowa Brand Of Ghost Story.