Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-04-15
THE DEMoeRATI NoRrIT EST tn ApR1L15 1886


innuenee tney pr1ng around tneir home, are
decidedly the physical. Intellectual, moral,
eternal destiny Of the race. You say your
life is one Of sacrifice. I know it. But,
my sisters. that is the only life worth living.
That was Florence Nightingales life; that
was Payson's life; that was Christ's life.
We admit it in others, but how very hard it
is TO cultivate II in ourselves. When. in
this city, young DR.. Hutchinson, having
spent a whole night in diphtheretic room
for the relief Of q patient, became saturated
with the poison and died, we all felt as II
we would like to put garlands on his grave;
everybody appreciates that. When in the
burning hotel at st. Louis young man on
the. fifth story broke open the door Of the
room where his mother was sleeping, and
plunged in amid smoke and fire, crying
Mother! where are your" and never came
oat, our hearts applauded that young man.
But how few Of MS have the Christian spirit
"a willingness to suffer for others. A
rough teacher In school called upon q
poor, half starved lad, who had offended
against the laws of the school, and said:
"Take of your coat directly, SIR" The boy
refused to take it off. Whereupon the
teacher said again, Take off your coat, sir, {"
as he swung the whip through the air. The
boy refused. 1t was not because he was
afraid of tas lash-he was used 10 that
at home-but it was from shame;
he had no undergarment, and as at the
third command he pulled slowly off his
coat there went sob through the school.
They saw then why he did not want to re-
move his coat, and they saw the shoulder
blades had almost cut through the skin.
nd haa hox,
to the teacher of the school, and said: "Oh
r, please don't hurt this poor fellow; whip
see, he's nothing but poor chap;
MT you hurt him, he's poor; whip me-"
''ell, said the teacher, @its going to be
.evere whipping; am willing to take you
as a substitute" SWELL" said the boy, 81
don't care; you whip me, if you will let this
poor fellow CO." The stout, healthy boy
took the scourging without an outcry.
"Bravo!" says every man-"Bravo!" How
many of us are willing to take the scourg-
ing. and the suffering, and the toll, and the
anxiety for other people? Beautiful thing
TO admire but how little we have Of that
spirit. God gives us that self denying
spirit, so that whether we are in humble
spheres or in conspicuous spheres we may
perform our whole duty-for this struggle
will soon be over.
One of the most affecting "reminiscences
of my mother is my remembrance Of her as
n Christian housekeeper. She worked very
hard, and when we would come in from
summer play, and sit down at the table at
noon, remember how she used to come
In with beads of perspiration along the
line of gray hair, and how she would some
times sit down at the table. and put her
T. I. IL
swell, the fact is, I'm too tired to eat. !"
Long after she might have delegated this
duly to others, she would not be satisfied
mi IS she attended to the matter her
sell. In fact, we all preferred 10 have her
do SO, for somehow things tasted better
when she prepared them. Some time ago,
in au express train, shot past that old
homestead. / looked cut of the window,
and tried 10 peer through the darkness.
While was doing so one of my school
mates, whom I had not seen for many
years, tapped me on the shoulder, and said:
"De Witt, see you are looking out at the
scenes of your boyhood." "Oh, yes, re-
piled. Il was looking out at the old place
where my mother lived and died" That
night, in the cars, the whole scene came
back to me. There was the country home.
Inere was the noOnuay taoie. Inere were
the children on either side of the table,
most Of them gone never to come back. At
one end Of the table my father,
with smile that never left his counte-
nance even when he lay in his coffin. 1t
was an eighty-six years smile-not the
smile Of inanimation, but of Christian
courage and Christian hope. At the other
end of the table was abeautiful, benignant,
| hard working, aged Christian housekeeper
--11ny mother. She was very tired. I am
glad she has SO good q place to rest in.
aBlessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
they rest from their labors, and their works
10 follow them" 1t'j '1'fNi 4F