The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-07-09
BILL ARP ON BABIES.
HIS EXPERIENCE AS a NURSE.

He is Glad that Women Love Them
Great Men and Their Children.
That was "a pretty Persian rhyme
which said
"A newborn child lay crying
While all around were smiling;
An aged man was dying
And peacefully was smiling
While all around were crying.
| Sir William Jones put it in better
verse:
son parent knees, naked newborn
Lay weeping, while all around il smiled.
So live that, sinking in thy last long sleep
Calm thou mayst smile while all around
thee weep"
What is more wonderful or beautiful
than the maternal instinct-what an
attraction does a birth in the family
have for all the sex-the women and
children, girl children | mean-the
men and the boys show no great con-
Germ. The babes would have o hard
and perilous time IL entrusted to them.
Babes are born every day, every hour,
by the thousand. 1t is the most COM
mon and universal event that concerns
our humanity. 1t is more common
than death, for more come into the
world than go out Of it every year, aud
| y
and is big thing with matrons and
with maids. For few days / have
sat In my veranda and ruminated, for
the women come and go and the neigh
bors send flowers and kind messages
and the girl children come to see the
baby, and the tiniest one wants to hold
1t in her arms. Verify, it looks like
this was the first and the last one that
ever was born. The three great events
OF our life, oar birth and marriage and
death, are ministered, too, by woman.
What sad affair would either be
without her presence, her care and
sympathy. The wonder is that she
can go through the ordeal that provi-
dence has assigned her, and be so con-
tented, so calm and serene. What
mother ever harbors gloomy fears or
forebodings about her infant child ?
How hopefully they look upon the fu-
ture-how happy in the lore OF her
offspring. The poet says
"a mother is mother still
The hOliest thing alive"
And she is. | wish that was as good,
as true and as loving as the average
mother in this land. I wish that |
was as sure OF heaven. Most of them
have child up there, and they still |
treasure every smile, every dimple, |
every song, and in their waking
dreams realize what the poet so beau
tifully said:
60, when mother meets on high
The babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then for pains and fears,
The day of woe, the watchful night,
For all her sorrows, all her tears
An overpayment of delight?"
The maternal instinct The never
fading love of children. My wife is
serenely happy now, for there Is an
other child to look after, and she
moves around with her old alacrity. I
used to help her with her own, but my
time Is out. AS old man Calder said
after the first battle of Manassas, "T
have fit enough" ] used to tote the
little chap around the room sometimes
until L wore 1t out, and at times | felt
like the tired parent who hugged his
little boy to his bosom and said: 81
wouldn't take million dollars for you
no | wouldn't--but wouldn't give
nickle for another" 1t is a weary busi-
ness-nursing and caring for little
child. But it is part of the bargain, and
has to be done, and it has its rewards.
The more the father helps with the
children the better he loves them and
the more they love him. The country
their children except the members of
the family, and their devotion to the
little helpless ones is beautiful. The
baby in a country home Is common
All nurse it and the father
does his share when he comes from
the field. Go to country church on
Sunday and see how many fathers are
not ashamed to "tote the child F." and
keep 1t while preaching is going on.
Why shouldn't he? 1t shows his love
to the child and his loyalty to his wife.
wide field for his ambition. He Is not
seeking fame or Office or riches. He .
has no longings for going to New York
Or Washington or crossing the ocean.
His hope and desire Is limited to his
family and his farm and he looks to
God for rain and sunshine. There is
nothing that weans him from his wife
and children or that geJs between him
and them. Sometimes he takes the
family to town in the big wagon, and
the children, go with him
to the mill, and on Sundays all go to
meeting, and so the weeks and months
roll on-proving the truth of the poets
lines
Happy the man whose wish and care
few paternal acres bound"
IL lS BIVcH w DuU lew men IN UnlS |
world to do any great thing, hut all
can be happy II they will be content
with their humble lot. used to envy
the rich and great, but do not now. AS
a general rule grief and sorrow are
the perquisities Of riches and of fame.
Great men are rarely blessed with
loving children. Not long ago one of
our noblest men found himself face to
face at Delmonico's with drunken
son. His modification was intense
and the lines OF trouble still linger or
his face. The pressure of public
affairs and the constant struggle to
keep up socially and politically con-
sumed the time that should have been
devoted to his children. In such cases
the mother is their only safeguard.
She may do all she can, but she can
not watch her boys when they get in
their teens. She can love and pray
and chide. but still they will stray
away. 1t is pitiful to see the breaking
OF mothers heart over son who Is
on trial for his life. How closely does
she cling to him when all the world is
against him. remember once wild
ow who sold her COW and her little
furniture and then went from store to
store begging for little more money
to take her to Arkansas to see her SON |
who was in jail for murder. Her devo.
a L.