Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1892-06-02
dishes are on the table, ar
the kettle on the hearth be-.

OlSUtS dIS Su< RuO IlDiC, III
the kettle on the hearth be-
with the steam, and the shadow o. w.
industrious woman by the Pickering
fame on the hearth is moved up and
down the wall. The father is at the.
barn feeding the stock-the oats thrown
into the horses bin and the cattle
craunching the corn. The children, ear
lier than they would like and after be-
ing called twice, are gathered at the
table.
The blessing of God is asked on the
food, and, the meal over, the family
Bible is put upon the white tablecloth
and a chapter is read and a prayer made,
which includes all the interests for this
world and the next. The children pay
not much attention to the prayer, for it
is about the same thing day after day,
but it puts upon them ar impression
that ten thousand years will only make
more vivid and tremendous. As long as
the old folks live their prayer is for their
children and their children's children.
Dayin and day out, month in and month
out, year in and year out, decade IN and
decade out the sons and daughters of
that family are remembered in earnest
prayer, and they know it, and they feel
it, and they cannot get away from it.
Two funerals after awhile-not O.
than two years apart, for it is seldom
that there is more than that lapse of
time between fathers going and moth
er,s going-two funerals put out of sight
the old folks. But where are the chill
dren: The daughters are in homes
where they are l~ncarnaCions of good
sense, industry and picty. The sons,
perhaps one a farmer. another a mer-
chant, another a mechanic, another a
physician, another a minister Of the
Gospel, useful, consistent, admired, hon
ored. What a power for good those
seven sons ard daughters! Where did
they get the power: From the schools,
and the seminaries, and the colleges:
Oh, no, though these may have helped.
From their superior mental endowment:
No, l do not think they had unusual
mental caliber. From accidental cir
c~umstances? No. they had nothing of
what is called astounding good luck.
THE FOUNTAIN OF PIoUS INFLUENCE.
I think we will take a train and ride
to the depot nearest to the homestead
from which those men and women start
ed. The train halts. Let us stop a few
minutes at the village graveyard and see
the tombstones of the parents. Yes, the
one was seventy-four years of age and
the other was seyenty-two, and the cpl
taph says that after a useful life they
died : Christian DEATH How appro-
priately the Scripture passage cut on the
mothers tombstone, She hath done
what she could" And how beautiful
the passage cut on the fathers tomb
stone. Blessed are the dead who die in
the Lord, for they rest from their labors
and their works do follow them"
On over the country road we ride
the road a little rough, for the spring
weather is not quite settled, and once
down in a rut it is hard to get the wheels
out again without breaking the shafts.
But at last we come to the laEe in
front Of the farmhouse. Let me get out
of the wagon and open the gate While
you drive through. Here is the arbor
under which those boys ard girls many
years ago used to play. But it is quite
out of order now, for the property is in
other hands. Yoader is the orchard
where they used to thrash the trees for
apples, sometimes before they were
quite ripe. There is the NOW where
they hunted for eggs before Easter.
There is the doorsill upon which they
used to sit. There is the in which
they had family prayers and where they
all knelt-the father there, the mother
there and the boys and girls there.
We have got to the fountain of pious
and gracious influences at last. That,is
the place that decided those seven earth
ly and immortal destinies. Behold.
Behold! That is the secret pla"A &C
thunder. Boys are seldom moro
their fathers will let them be-.
are seldom more than their mott
let them be. But there come
when it seems that parents CT
children. There {