The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1884-12-04
CBlackwood's Magazine.l
"TOMM

thousand pounds offered to me-. with
out any marriage settlements |
tossed on my bed. Towards morning
[ became calmer | thought Of Tom
my. Then | rose from my bed,
dressed, put my poor traps together
in bundle, and at early daybreak, be-
fore any one was stirring, | left the
house. | fed the temptation to do
what | knew Tommy would have
scorned to do. As in the cold morn
ingsair | walked away. / thought how
Harry would have acted if placed in
my position. He would not have
nursed the sick boy, called thereto by
no obligation: Then the boy would
have died, and Maud would have been
an heiress of fourteen thousand q
year. Harry would not have run
away alone, but run away with the
heiress, and changed his name from
Flopiohn to De Vaudville. and recon-
ciled himself with the father-in-law,
and succeeded to the estate and the
park, and become ]. P, and D. L., and
Sheriff of the county, and put his son
into the Guard, got a baronetcy. |
sighed, and felt in my pocket, and
found only one pound four shillings
and threepence three farthings there.
| had left without drawing my quar-
ter's salary. But if light in purse, |
was also light in conscience. was
treading the paths of virtue under the
guidance of Tommy.
The next place where | found a tu-
torship was in the family of a well-to-
do farmer, who had amassed suffi-
cient money to think Of bringing up
his boys to be gentlemen.
I had considerable trouble with
these urehins. They were wayward.
undisciplined, and overfowing with
animal spirits. Indeed | doubt much
whether they had in them any other
spirit than animal spirit. At least |
never lit on the symptoms. They
were very full Of blood; their lips and
cheeks swollen, and looking ready to
burst. They hated books, and loved
and smelt of dogs. They had no pow
er of concentrating their thoughts; |
should have almost said they had not
the faculty of thinking. They were
wholly destitute of the moral sense.
tried to appeal to their consciences
they had none; to the sense OF dig
nifty and decency imbued in man
they were without it. / did my best
to humanize them. but found my Ia
Dor thrown away. [ did get them to
learn rosa, rose, but that was only by
threatening not to allow them to see
pig killed unless the first declen-
sion were repeated.
They made sbooby-traps for me.
They sewed up the legs and sleeves of
my pantaloons and coat They made
me apple-pie beds. They put the soap
med together the pages Of the gram
mar The putty gunpowder into the
candle. They cut up hair very fine
and strewed my night-dress with it.
Lastly, they mimicked me. Their par
ents, so far from reprimanding them.
laughed at these frolics, and regarded
them as exhibitions Of daring origi-
nality.
I have always held that moral sua-
sion@s far better vehicle Of educa-
ton than the cane; but | doubt
whether moral suasion is Of any avail
where the moral sense is dormant or
non-existent. | believe that, just as
nature has provided the auditory sense
with an organ, the ear. and the olfac-
tory sense with an organ, the nose,
and the sense Of sight with an organ,
the eye, SO she has fashioned an organ
for the reception of moral impress
sions, connected by nerve with the
brain. She has developed this organ
into some prominence, no doubt to
show how primary and important the
moral sense is. She has withdrawn
from it all arteries, and has invested
it in delicate network of highly sem
sitive nerves, to make it serve much
as the drum Of the ear The waves of
sound beat on this latter and resolve
themselves into ideas Of the brain; so
precisely the pulsations of the cane
on this other organ is rapidly trans
formed into moral idea, and as such
impresses itself on the mind.
| tried very hard to do my duty. l
tried to get these boys to study. I
tried to lead them to look to higher
things than pig-killing and rat-hunt-
ing. [ tried to infuse into them
sense of honor. But [ found in them
none Of the material Of which the
Tommies are made.
| was drawing my salary, and doing
nothing for it. I had not got these
boys to say horse instead Of "oss,"
to use pocket-handkerchiefs instead of
the back Of their hands. At length
the climax arrived. On the 5th Of
November these urchins made Guy
Eawkes. which was intended to bear,
and did bear, a striking likeness to
myself. It could hardly do other, as
it was invested in my new suit Of
clothes. not yet paid for. What with
the fireworks and the mud with which
Guy was pelted, and the general rough
usage it received, my best Sunday suit
of clothes was utterly ruined. [ told
Mr.. Clodd plainly that [ would no
longer teach such unruly cubs as his
sons, and | left the situation. As a
man Of honor [ first paid the tailor
for the spoilt suit, and then found
myself with four shillings and three
pence three farthings in my pocket.
j received no bnanKS Tor my pains,
no recognition that | had done my
utmost. The blame was thrown on
my head. | did not understand the
temperament Of the boys; l made no |
allowances for their exuberant vitali-
ty; | was exacting. stiff, and unge-
ni4i | felt that these wretched louts
must come to bad ends; they were the
raw clay out Of which the villainous
Harries are moulded. | have lived to
see them grow up. Ny predictions
have not been realized. They are now
rough sporting young men, with good
incomes, farming good estates, and
farming them we'll; and the gallows
to which [ had consigned them does
not seem destined to suspend them.
When left Mr.. Clodd's | reviewed
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