The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-08-09

IL, He was not 81 very old. but was
GRAY and bent and tired. lie had oeth
IL the. great re-unio ana was Oh hS
way back 10 Mississippi. I stopper
over i day To see you, he SAID anu 'ol
r.,;sit th,. nlace where | was born, but
couldn't find it and am very tlfth, Tor
b.va heen tramping over the hills anu
.~alevs above here nearly MI day. The,
old man famed himself with his hat anu
locked sad ana disappointed. | learned
from him that he was born
ha+ ween her. and old CaSsville. anu ms
mother boarded some of the hands Ntlo
were m work building the State faH-
road. ami there was Il spring not iar
from their humble home. Il Thought.
said he. that | could find the spring anu
The branch and the walnut Tree ahl
blackberry patch, but | walked anu
walked and nothing looked natural.
seemed 10 me that everything has
changed and shrunk up. The hills have
washed down and the branches nearly
dried up and nobody could tell me :tHA
thing. You see. We left here away DICK
- thn f~ortics. when | was i lad. and
there is i new set OF people, bd' !
,nonabt would find somebody or some
thin. that | remembered. The old na5l
looked away off and sighed. OF course.
We were sorry for him, and tried 70
cheer him up. | asked him about the
| Hoopers and Trips and Akin ana
Underwood and Iatimers and Arthur
Haire. but he didn't remember them. tie
was 4; poor hoy and mixed With poor
boyS and they had grown up anu gone
| west too. How the old people DO Neafl
for the friends and the scenes Of thelr
youth. After fifty years absence from
his native State. Judge Warner, our
honored chief justice. had this IcarHllG
to cone over him and he. too. revisited
his hoyhood's home III Massachusetts.
He went With fond expectation and
| came back sad and disappointed. My
relatives We're all dead or gone away,
lie said. 4 found but one man VIII" re
| ncmIercd me. and he was blind and in
the poorhouse. The hills where | used
to pick hlueberries had been cleared and
We're not 50 large or 50 high. The little
| branches where | tisled for minnows
had Ill been diFhed and were brid@ed
where they crossed the highways.
Everything was strange and | took no
| comfort and have come bach to good,
old Georgia, my adopted mother, and
here | will stay until | die and | wish
10 be buried III her friendly bosom
Life seems to be but a circle. and we
would all go back to the starting point
if we could. The startled hare when
pursued by the hounds speeds straight
forward for Il time, but after Il mile or
two begins to bend its course. and keeps
on curying Until it comes painting on
The home stretch 10 its familiar nesting
| place. And the pioneers tell rs that
when 4 hunter gets lost in the forest on
Il cloudy day and tries to make 4 bee
line for home. he makes Il curve IN
.-l - I ~ -. - +.,.
point. Shakespeare says that old age is
but second childhood, and 50 the older
we grow the more affection we have for
children and their innocent sports and
pleasures. How fondly our minds and
memories live over again the little plays
Of blind mans buff, milybright, hide and
seek. trimble-toe. club-tist, hide the
switch. crane crow and many others.
How we admire their happy laughs and
glowing faces as we draw near TO them
now. No wonder that George Francis
Train III his gloomy moods wandered to
the park and drew as many children TO
him rs he'could and played with them
on the lawn.
Blu time shrinks more thar nature.
The world is not 50 big nor the trees so
high rs when we We're children: but Il
year is not half so long-not Il tenth part
so long as it used to be. The days
were never too long then, for they were
happy: but it seemed like a lifetime from
Christmas to Christmas. Children are
the sweetest part Of this great big world.
Not long ago Il cynical friend who has
none said they We're an expensive luxury;
50 they are-eNpensive not only III money
and labor and toll, but in anxious care;
but they repay it in love Il thousand fold.
They are the life and comfort Of every
good family. What would the world be
without them? Suppose they We're all
grown up and there We're no more to
come-no day schools nor Sunday schools
-no playhouSes or toys or picture books
no babies learning to talk and saw
mamma or grandpa-no little chaps to
follow YOU about and love YOU, and. the
saddcst Of all, no more mothers to fondle
and careSS and hug them to their hos
o,ns. What 4 cold and dismal world his
would be-no mothers. no fathers. no
~grandmas, 10 nothing but grown-up peo-
pie Wlo never played horse or sang Il
lullaby song.
Ny cynical friend says that children
make no return except III filial duty and
10 recompensc but affection. Well that
Is enough. Parents do not ask any more.
he love and obedience Of Il good child is
beyond price. The diSobedience and in
gratitude Of 4 bad one is the most III
tense Of al miseries. There is not i
greater contrast upon earth than III the
JOY on the sorrow that children bring ia
parents. From the time Of old ELI until
now tins contrast has been going on.
Thar Ioer cid man had the curse Of
tod upon hlln because his children were
we ara he restrained them not. | tell
YOU young friends. who have mated and
l IN Il 1.I.Ial and orn .,. "
had better read and ponder the story If
Old Eli. The first commandment says.
L Will visit the sins of the fathers unon
the children but III this story the Lord
visited the sins Of the children upon the
parent. The old man was cursed and
the priesthood taken from his house for
ever. What if all the preachers who