News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-06-19
SO WITH THE WORLD.
HOW A MOTHER WATCHES OVER AND
PRAYS FOR HER BOY.
Graphic Illustration of the Different
Phases of Life from the Cradle to the
Grave by NJ. Qund.

saw a young babe in its cradle. I
smiled in its sleep, and the mother knel
| and kissed its soft cheek and prayed Coo
that her baby boy might live to a goot
old age. 1t opened its eyes and smiled
and the children softly whispered to eact
other: "See The angels have beer
talking to him. and heis glad y
saw youth as he looked longingly
up the path leading to fame and glory
There was proud flash in the fathers
eye as he saw the boy come and go, and
the mother looked after him with swell
ifsst ,ieart and whispered a prayer to
Heaven to keep her boys footsteps from
wicked paths.
saw young man as he stepped over
the threshold and met the grim world
with smile OF self. reliance,
The father wss5 now wrinkled and gray,
h;su mere was fonder flash to his eye as
he listened to the applause of the multi
tude. The mother was aged and feeble,
and tears came into her eyes as she
murmured: she is moving the hearts OF
thousands by his eloquence, but 1 pray
thee, Oh, Heaven to keep him pure and
free from sin ~ The children who had
whispered before were no longer chill
dren. They had also grown to mans
estate. Some joined in the applause
some felt malice and envy commanding
them to silence.
saw strong man in his prime. He
had fame and wealth, loving wife,
happy children, beautiful home. Men
bowed before him. Men fattered him.
His voice echoed over the land and
stirred the pulses in city and hamlet.
The father and mother were dead, and
their last pray ers had been for him. He
stood alone, but he had the support of
the nation and the homage of a world.
So it seemed to him, but down III their
hearts men feared and eneied and hated
him.
I saw an old man as a winters night
settled gloomily down over the desolate
land.
He was old and weak and hungry and
poor. He was thinly clad, and he shiv-
cred in the raw air. He stood at the
corner, his trembling hand held out in
mute appeal to the passers-by, but no
one gave him aims. Some had their
vision blinded by the falling flakes
others mocked at and cursed him. For
a long hour he hungered and asked only
for what would buy crust of bread, and
then he bowed his head still lower and
dragged himself further away into the
bitter darkness. And men called after
him in heartless tones: 1.-The County
House is the place for beggars p
I saw a stiff, frozen corpse at the
morgue.
1t was that of an old man. There
were snow and frost in the gray locks
the thin fingers were clenehed-the
tears had frozen as they welled up to
the poor old eyes. They had found him
dead on the street-dead and frozen. A
shadow stood beside the marble slab
it bent over the dead and kissed the cold
cheek-it sobbed and grieved as only
a mother grieves, and we seemed to
hear the words:
"This was the babe in its cradle-the
youth painting for renown-the young
man winning his first crown-the strong
man at whose feet the nation bowed like
slaves-this was my son -
And men handled the poor old body
as if it were a faggot, and they mock
ingly cried to each other:
ga pine coffin-a grave IN potter
field-and tomorrow we forget that he
ever lived -