Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-19

ary war. David Dudley Field, the father
Of the four boys who have become noted in
American affairs, was born Nay 20, 1881
He was educated for = clergyman, and be-
came pastor at Haddam, Conn., when he
was twenty-three years old. He married
Miss Submit Dickinson, of :Somers, who
bore him ten children.
Morerthan common interest attaches to
home which reared SO famous family.
The parish of Haddam was rough and un-
inviting; the meeting house was huge
barnlike structure in keeping with the vii.
lage. But the young pastor entered ear
nesrly' into his work. His great strength
and vigor of Thought were seen best in the
pulpit. His reputation as q preacher spread
abroad and he was called to deliver SER
monsoon special occasions.
The mother of the Field boys was .
worthy helpmeet for this hardworking
minister. The SONS never tired of singing
her praises. She was the joy and light
Of the home," writes one of.them. What
ever Of success or prosperity has attended
the family has been in aegreat measure
owing to her unselfish spirit, which made
every sacrifice for the education Of her
children, to her perpetual buoyancy OF
temper, to her womaniy pstience, courage
and hope" With a salary of $500 and
growing children, there was no time for
idleness or luxury or playing the fire lady.
She WAS up early and late; haove made all
dutdes easy, all burdens light. Never was
home, continues this affectionate son,
blessed with a moro cheerful industry.
To her husband she was uoU,0nly the truest
friend, but the wisest counselor. His heart
safely trusted in her, while ito her children
her devotion was such that after the lapse
of hnfsa century those Of them who SUR
vive call her blessed
AfterIfourteen years. service at Haddam
DIR. Field was called to Steckbridge, Mass.
A beautiful picture of their domestic life
there has been drawn by Henry M. Field.
the family historian already quoted. Its
whole tone came from the unaffected piety
of the parents. Saturday evening was
kept In strict Puritan fashion. AS the sun
declined, DR.. Field gave the solemn admo-
nition, My sons, we are on the borders OF
holy time" At sunset all labor was sus-
pended fortwenty-four hours. There was
fasting and prayer and devout meditation
But like other boys. with pulses beating
with strong vitality, they wanted anxiously
the close Of the Sabbath. They watched
the sup sink in the west, and sounded off
to play as soon as the orb was below the
0OEAAOus ~ 6bEaCV eC0puO my anu
no end OF self sacrifice to send four sons to
college, but this great object was accom-
plished, and the boys were turned out in
the world we'll equipped to battle with it's
trials and ovencome its difficulties. How
they succeeded is known to evesy Amer
Jean. One achieved high honors on the
bench of the sulreme court; another sim
plifled and codifieA the laws Of his native
land and gave impetus to law seform
abroad; third, the one whose old age has
been saddened by disaster. won undying
distinction as the father of ocean telegra-
ply, and the fourth attained prominence
~ q divine and theologian.
One can trace the influence of their sim
pie homo life in the career of each of those
famous boys. Each had pluck and perse-
verance; each was OF strict honor anE
probity. OF uprightness and fair dealing.
Their early training fitted them to wrestle
valiantly with the difficulties Of the world;
their use Of advantages honorably and
won was marked with wis
dom, discretion and benevolence. No bet
ter evidence of the splendid inauence OF
ancestry is needed than the career OF the
Field boys. for in each was the mark Of
Puritan conscience and virtue softened by |
the broader charity of more modern belief,
and in none hsve the higher attributes of |
been more markedly illustrated |
than in Cyrus w. Field, whose recent
troubles have called forth this brief efreview |
pf ) remarkable family.
a 8 JOHN W. PosreATE.