The Progress., 1889-02-23
MY MOTHERS HYMN.
a Carefully Treasured Little Scrap
OF Paper.

What an Internationally long time
seems to have elapsed since the old
days on the far-away homestead in the
Berkshire Hills! How the years have
dragged themselves along, so that, al
though have several more birthdays
to como to me (if j 7Live1 in g the tweu-
ties, l seem to be already an old man
when | think upon the farm and
mother and the old meeting house and
all the sweet memories of the time
when was boy and knew nothing
absolutely nothing of sorrow and
trouble and hard knocks.
Even to-day when, young as am, 7
have to confess myself worn and
Wearied, battered, bruised and broken,
Scared and scared by contact with all
the roughness, the rudeness, the dirt,
the CRIME, the sin and the heartless-
ness of the world even yet I bless
God for the halo Of goodness which
mas followed me, in all my wander
lngs, from my Massachusetts, home.
was the youngest of the merry
youngsters who had grew up, under
our family roof-tree, to youth and
manhood, and was the last to break
away from the comparative quiet of
! New England for the bustle and hurly-
. burly Of the great West. ..s. ,.Tal.s..t
My two brothers were full-erown
men while I was still small boy, at
tending our village school, and moth
ing could keep them at home when the
gold excitement broke out in the Black
Hills. After they went away my
mother and father never saw them
more. The next events of Importance
in our family We're the weddings of my
two sisters, following in rapid success
sion. s%a..@S "
Then, more than ever, I became nv
mothers companion and might have
rem aimed so, perchance, to this day
had not death claimed her and father
Tor his prey within a few short weeks
of each other.
Father was a good man and I ALWAYS
loved honored and respected him; but
to me think, nay, I am certain. he
was never as dear as mother and I
felt this the more during the few
short weeks that mother fingered after
fathers death.
How she liked TO have me sit by her
bedside and read to her-sometim
from one OF Dickens masterpieces and
sometimes from her well-used Bible!
How it pleased her when would sing
CASA boy, | believe I had pleasant.
musical voice) one Of her favorite
songs, Or a. hymn from the little brown
covered hymn-book! How contented
she was, on the day that she passed
away, to have me place my hand in
hers while she whispered her farewell
words. s. *sGive me the hymn book,
Rod" she said, towards the last. /
gave it to her and watched her as with
much feebleness she tore from it one
OF the pages-worn SO thin and much
soiled by constant handling.
Keep it, Rod, my boy; keep it al
ways, and when you are a man read
it and and sing its7z-it is your mothers fa-
.svorite hymn
scrap, and whileI live it will never
be bartered for the largest bank-note
in existence. Sickly sentiment, is itp
BE it so; there has, God knows, been
little enough of sentiment in my life,
I and | can afford to indulge this one
soft feeling which I possess and treas
ure.
X J y . + G s..F
len years passed away. Amid a
group OF rough men assembled in a
saloon in a small frontier town was
the central figure. ] was arraigned as
!. a a 'culprit before a mock judge and a
mock jury, undergoing a mock trial
for stealing a man S entire outfit
coat, pants, belt, pistols and boots. /
was innocent quite innocent--b the
clrcumstantial evidence was strong
against me, and, besides, [ had GER
talnly been associating with very
hard set. | knew full we'll that the
chances We're greatly against a YER
dict OF mot guilty" and was also
well aware that punishments were not
graded il that locality. Sentences for
all crimes were uniformly severe and
execution prompt The evidence was
taken in five minutes and then the
Judge Ga miner like the rest OF us)
turned to me:
Hev you got owt to say for yesself,
Rod % ] Kimberly p''
a Only this, said ]. /, am not
guilty. n
ss.'Is that allpn asked the judge,
while while a a low, e rude laugh went around
the room.
we, ell though thar GU was squar' ].
Rod, went on the judge, and we
feel like giving You a fair show. Why.
don't you own up, now, and throw.
yourself on the mercy OF the court pq''
- Jud ge,' I replied, giving the man
his mock title, II am square. All
you boys know me, I went on, APP
pealing to the crowd on whose faces I
failed to see much expression Of