The Washington weekly post., 1899-05-23

was cradle. Nov. TIE patented SELF
| rockers no doubt have their proper usr.
| nut 60 Up with me into tire gHrrsi Of vslfir
| cd homestead. and eNhuHsr the cradle
| tirat ycu. good while ago slsp- IN. lie
| rockers are somewhat rough. a. though a
| tGrmDr's plane had fashianr them. arsl
/ the sizes just high enough fer a child -
/ l-arE 10 walk by. NHat 4 namCly Thing.
| take u al In slli You say stop your ue-
1 preriHfi0nt We we're ail rocked in that
1 For about fifteen years tia- cradle vas
gong much u the tims. When the oicsr
! child was taken out, q smaller child VAS
/ tut H.
The Lullaby nf Babyhoed.
1.-THE sound ofthe rockersfs pleasant yet
| n my ears. There ! took my first ies-7'ls
I In music as mother sang IA NE Have
! heard what you would caH far better sirs-
/ trg since then. but none thst 50 thorough
/ " touched ME She never got five hCrdTta
! dollars per night For singing three songs
/ at the Academy. with two VI three en-
| cores grudgefully thrown IN: but witncut
pay she sometimes sang all nieht, and
! came oIt whenever eucored, though she
/ had only two little ears for an a--tlieEcc.
/ II was a low. sUbdued tone, that sings TO
me yet across forty-fve years. So you
/ express your feelings IN regard 10 that
! cradle.
/ you see the edge OF that rocker, worn
| quite deep? That Is where her foot was
( placed while she sat with her knitting cT
/ sewing on summer afternoons. while the
/ bees hummed at the door and the shout Of
I the boy at the oxen was heard afield
/ From the way the rocker IS worn / think
/ that sometimes the foot must have been
/ very tired and the ankle very sore, but
4 do not think she stopped for that, When
/ such a cradle as that got a-gOing i KEEP.
! on for years Scarlet fever came IN the
| door. and We all had it, and, oh, how the
/ cradle did go, We contended as 20 who
/ should sleep in it. for sickness. you know
! makes babies OF Us all.
/ But after awhile we surrendered IL tC
/ Charlie. He was too Old TO lie in it, bIt he
/ seemed so very. very sick: and with him
/ IN the cradle il was rock. rock. rock.
| But one day. just as long ago as you
! can remember, the cradle stopped. When
I a child is asleep there is no need Of rock
/ ing. Charlie was asleep. He was sound
I asleep. Nothing would wake him. He
I needed taking up. Mother was too weak
| 90 do II. The neighbOrs came in to do that,
/ and put flower fresh OJS of the garden
/ dew, between the two still hands. The
1 fever had gone out Of the cheek, and left
/ II white. very White-the rose exchanged
I for the lily. There was one less 10 con-
/ tend for the cradle. 1t soon started again,
and with a voice not quite Sc firm as be-
/ fore, but more tender, the old song came
| back: 'Bve, byei byer which meant mora
/ to you than anything ever rendered by
/ opera troupe in the presence OF an Amer
/ lean audience, all leaning forward and
| nodding, to show how well they under
| stood Italian.
Consigned TO the Garret.
There was a wooden canopy at the head
| Of the old cradle that somehow got loose
| and was taken of. But your infsntile
| mind was most impressed with the face
| which much Of the time hOvered over you.
! Other women sometimes looked in at the
| child and said: That child's hair Will be
| Of the wrong color or What peculiar
| chin or Do you think that child will live
/ to grow Up?' and although you were not
! old enough to understand their talk, by
! instinct you knew it was something dis
/ agreeable, and began to cry till the dear
sweet. familiar face again hoyered and
! the rainbow aTched the sky Oh, We never
! get away from the benediction OF such a
/ face! 1t looks at US through storm and
| night. 1t smiles all TO pieces the world S
| ffO%Fn. After thirty-tive years of rough
tumbling on the worlds couch, it puts US
/ IN the cradle again and bushes US as with
the very lullaby Of heaven.
! Let the cradle rest in the garret. II
| has earned its quiet. The hands thai
| slcok up its pillow have quit work. The
| foot that kept the rocker in motion is
| through with It's journey. The face thai
| hCYered over ii has been veiled from NOR
/ taI sIgnt. Cradle of blessed memories
/ Cradle that kindled so many hopes Cradle
4 that rested so many fatigues. Sleep now
/ tnySelf, after 50 many years Of putting
/ others to sleep. But must not be allured
! fTCm the mothers chair by which thai
| cradle stood. The memory of that mothers
| chair hes saved you many a time. II
I speaks with as tender and distinct 4
| voice now as forty years ago
The Voice of Conscience.
! "When at midnight you went into that
| place OF dissipation to get the intoxi.
eating draught, did you not hear a voice
| that said, My son, why go in thereg ARC
| loUder than the bOister0us encore of tht
! sinful place of amusement, voice say
| ing, Ny son, what do you do hereT Ans
when you went into the place of abandon
| ment voice saying, What would youl
| mother do if she knew you were here?
| And you were provoked with yourself
| and you charged yourself with supersti
| ton and fanatiCism. and your head got
/ hot with your own thoughts and yoJ
! went home and you went to bed, and NJ
! sooner had you touched the bed than q
| voice said, What! prayeTless pillow|
| MANI what is the matter? This; YOU
| are too near your mothers rocking chair
] 'Ch, pshawr you say. There's nothing
| in that; I'm five hundred miles off from
| where / was born; I'm three thousand
miles off from the church whose bell was
! the first music / ever heard l cannot
! help that; you are too near your mothers
| rocking chair. Oh, you say, there cam
| be anything in that; that chair has beer
! VGCant a great while | cannot help that
| ii is all the mightier for that; il IS seEli
| Omnlpotent, that vacant mother ) cnair
| 1t whispers; il speaks; il weeps; II carols
| it mourns; it prays; 1t warns; II thun
| ders.
| "A young man went off and broke his
| mothers heart, and while he was away
/ from home his mother died, and the tele-
| graph brought the son, and he came into
| the room where she lay and locked upon
| her face, and he cried out: 'Oh, mother
| mother! What your life could not i,
your death shall effect. This moment
| give nv heart 10 God And he kept his
! premise Another victory for the vaCan'
! chair. With reference TO your mother, the
| words Of my text were fultAled: 'Thol
| shalt be missed, because thy seat VII
/ be empty
The Christian Mother.
| There she sits. the old Christian moth
Ar ripe nor heaven. Her eyesight is al
most gone. but the splendors of the celes
1 tiaI city kindle up her vision. The gray
/ light of heavens morn has struck through
/ the gray locks which are folded back over
/ the wrinkled temples. She stOOps very
much now under the burden Of care she
used TO carry for her children, She sits
1 at home, TOO cid 10 find her way to the
/ house Of God; but while she sits there
/ all the past comes back. and the children
( that forty years ago tripped around heI
! armchair with their griefs and joys and
/ gOrrOWs-thOse children are gone now
/ some caught up into a better realm. where
! they shall never de, and others out il
/ the broad world, testing the eEcel!ency OF
! a Christian mothers discipline. Her last
/ days are fulI OF peace and calneT and
! sweeter will her spirit become, until the
. gates of life shall lift and let the worn
out pilgrim into eternal sprinBtiGe and
youth. where the limbs never ache and
. the eyes never grow dim. and the staff
/ OF the exhausted and decrepit pilgrim
/ shall become the palm Of the immortal
1 athlete!
/ Il go on a little further. and come 70
/ the inVaIids chair. What How ions
I have Won been Sick2 oh | have beer