The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1890-03-21

Uo, 40 nOuo nuppOSo, euOugu ucIOo W
earth, II discovered, to cure all the all
ments OF the body; but nothing save
q leaf from the tree of the heavenly
Paradise can cure q wound made by 9
foolish son who il the heaviness Of hii
mother.
Perhaps it is good thing that cruel
treatment by q child abbreviates q
parents life; for what is there desir'
able in q fathers life or a mothers
life If its peace is Comet Do you moi
think death is something bene,icent il
it stops the mothers heart from aching
and her eyes from weeping, and says;
"You need not bear the excruciation
any longer. Go and sleep. ! will put
the defense of a marble slab between
you and that boys outrages. Go now
where the wicked cease from troubling
and the weary are ut rest!" At the
departure of such mothers let the mu.
sic be an anthem instead of dirge.
While you and l hear no sound, yet
there are at this moment tens of thou.
sands of parental hearts breaking. All
care was taken with the boys school
ing, all good counsels given, and the
equipment for sober and earnest and
useful life was provided, but it has all
gone, and the foolish son has become
the heaviness of his mother.
Much of the poignancy of the pa
rental grief arises from the ingratitude
of such behavior. What an undertake.
ing it is to conduct family through
the ailments and exposures of early
lifel Talk about the skill demanded
of sea captain commanding ship
across the oceanl That requires less
skill than to navigate a young soul in
safety across the infantile and boy
hood years. The sicknesses that as
sault, the temptations that entrap, the
anxieties that are excited! Young
man, you will never know what your
mother has suffered for you. You
will never know how your father has
toiled for you. You have been in all
their thoughts, in all their plans, in all
their prayers, from the time your first
breath was drawn to this moments res
piration. What they could do for your
health, what they could do for your
happiness, what they could do for your
mind, what they could do for your
soul, have been absorbing questions.
To earn livelihood for you has not
always been an easy thing for your
father. By what fatigues of body and
what disturbances of mind, and long
years of struggle, in which sometimes
the losses were greater than the gains,
he got bread for you, paying for it in
the sweat of his own brow and the red
drops of his own hearts blood! He
looks older than he ought to look at
his years, for it has been work, work,
work. Many time he felt like Civ
ing up the battle, but then he looked
at your helplessness and the helpless
ness of the household, and then he
nerved himself up anew and said:
by the help of God I will not stop;
my children must have home and
education and advantages, and a COM
Portable starting in the world, and I
must get little something ahead, so
that if am taken away these helpless
ones will not be turned out on the cold
charities of the world" Yes, your
father has been a good friend to you.
He has never told any one, and he
never will tell any one. Of the sacri-.
fees he has made for you. And he is
ready to keep right on until unto that
hand that has been toiling for you all
these years shall come the very numb
ness of death. You cannot afford to
break his heart. But you are doing it.
Yes, you are You have driven the
dagger clear in up to the hilt.
And your MOTHER warrant she
has never told you much about the
nights when you were down with
scarlet fever or diphtheria, and she
slept not wink, or, falling into
drowsiness, your first cry awakened
her, and brought the words, what
is it, my deara' Oh, if the old rock
ing chair could speak, Oh, if the
cradle could only tell its story of
years! And when you got better, and
were fretful and hard to please, as is
usual in convalesence, she kept her
patience SO well, and was as kind as
you were unreasonable and cross. Oh,
midnights of motherly watching, how
can you keep silence! Speak out and
tell that wandering young man the
story that he so much needs to hear.
By the bye, wonder what has be-
come of our old cradle in which all of
were rocked! must ask my
sister when see her next time. Wei
were a large family, and that oil
cradle was going good many years I
| remember just how it looked. 1t wa u
old fashioned and had no tapestry.
two sides and canopy all of plai
wood, but there was great deal d
sound sleeping in that cradle, an
many aches and pains were soothed
{ as it moved to and fro by day an
night. Most wildly I remember TIL
he rockers, which came out from vi
Ter the cradle, were on the top an
tide very smooth, SO smooth that the
'ctually glistened. They must hav
,een worn smooth by foot that Ion
.go ceased its journey. How tire
he foot that pressed it must SOM
lines have got! But it did not std
or that. 1t went right on and rock,
or Phebe the first, and for De Wi
he last And it was a cradle lii
hat, or perhaps of modern make al
ichly upholstered, in which yo
mother rocked you. Can it be tn
or all that care and devotion v,
re paying her back with har