Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-08-08
MARK TWAIN'S WIFE.
The Humorist Talks Seriously of Family
Government.
[From the Christian Union

From the Christian Union.
For whippingS are not given in our house
for revenge; they are not given for spite,
nor even in anger; they are given partly
for punishment, but mainly by way of i'm
pressive reminder, and protector against
u repetition of the otfense. The interval
between the promise of a whipping and its
infiction is usually an hour or two. By
that time both parties are calm, and the
one is judicial, the other receptive. The
child never goes from the scene of punish
ment until it has been loved back into a
happy-heartedness and a joyful spirit. The
spanking is never cruel one, but is always
an honest one. 1t hurts. If it hurts the
child, imagine how il must hurt the mother
Her spirit is serene, tranquil. She has not
the support which is afforded by anger
Every blow she strikes the child bruises
her own heart The mother of my children
adores them-there is no milder term for
it and they worship her; they even wor-
ship everything which the touch of her
hand has made sacred. They know her for
the
BEST AND TRUEST FRIEND
They have ever had, or ever shall have
they know her for one who never did them
any wrong, and cannot do them a wrong:
who never told them a lie, nor the shadow
of one; who never deceived them by even
an ambiguous gesture who never gave
them an unreasonable command nor ever
contented herself with anything short of
perfect obedience: who has always treated
them as politely and CONSIDERABLY as she
would the best and Oldest in the land. and
has always required of them gentle speech
and courteous conduct towards all, of what
ever degree, with whom they CHANGED to
come in contact; they know her for one
whose promise, whether OF reward or pun
ishment, is gold and always worth its face
to the utmost farthing. In a word, they
know her, and ! know her, for the best and
dearest mother that lives-and by long
long way the wisest. You perceive that |
have never got down to where the mother
in the tale really asks her question. For
the reason that | cannot realize the situa-
ton. The spectacle of
THAT TREAcHERoUsLY REARED BOY
And that wordy, Mandy PANTY father, and
that weak, namby-pamhy mother. is
enough to make one ashamed of his spe-
cies. And, if / could cry. I would cry for
the fate of that poor little boy-a fate
which has cruelty placed him in the hands
and at the mercy of a pair of grown up
children, to have his disposition ruined, to
come up ungoverned, and be a nuisance to
himself and everybody about him, in the
process, instead Of being the solacer of care,
the disseminator of Happiness, the glory
of honor and Joy of the house, the well
contest face in all the world to them that
gave him being-as he ought to be- was
sent to be, and would be, but for the hard
| fortune that flung him into the clutches of
| these paltering incapables. In all my life
| have never made a single reference to my
wife in print before, as far as ! can remem-
Der, except once in the dedication of a
book; and So after these fifteen years of
silence, perhaps l may unseal my lips this
| one time without improperly or indecency.
| | will send this manuscript to the press
without her knowledge, and without ask
ing her to edit it. This will save it from
getting edited in the stove.
| MARK TWAIN