The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1902-10-09
Matters Discussed By the Barlow
Philosopher
He WRITES VERY INTERESTINGLY
Much Good Reas oning and Practical
Common Sense, Written in Cheer
full Language.
Atlanta Constitution.

be said to prove them beauties. A
book may be amusing with many
errors or it may be dull without a
single absurdity. The hero in this
story unites in himself the three great
est characters on earth-the priest,
the husbandman and the father of a
family.
Strange that the author could write
such a charming story about the very
three characters he knew least about,
for he had no fitness for nor expert
ence in either. 1t is not recorded that
he was ever in love or sought the com.
pany of virtuous young ladies', yet mis-
ballad of the Hermit in the Vicar OF
Wakefield" is admitted to be the ten
derest and most perfect love poem
ever written. My father made me COM
NIT it to memory when | was young
and there are at least a dozen verses
in it that | can cry over now n 1t
does me good. It is a comfort to weep
over these sad, sweet things. Lang
horn wrote a verse about a poor wo-
man with g. babe at her breast hunt
ing over the battle field of Mi1den for
the body of her husband, and when
she found him she knelt by his side
and wept and the big tears fell upon
the face of her child and mingled with
the milk he drew. "A child of misery
baptized in tears" A painting was
made of it, and Walter Scott says the
only time he ever saw Burns he was
looking at that painting and crying
like a child. To read the lines and
imagine the painting Is enough for me.
But If l had been Goldsmith | would
have set down the mother OF a fam
lily as greater than the father. Evan
Howell said he would not vote for q
curfew, for his observation was that If
the fathers would stay at home at
night the boys would and that song Of
Where is my wandering boy 20
night" would not have been written.
But the fathers can't all stay at home
at night. They are wanted at the
store, the office, the counting room,
for on them. depends the support Of
the family. But many a tired mother
can sing, where is my wandering
husband tonight" Alas, too many can
be found at the club, at the pool
room or the hotel, while the mother is
straining her mind to untangle that
hard sum, IF A and B can build q
house in thirty days and B can build
it in forty-five days. how long will it
take A to build it,"
Take it all in all, it is the mothers
who are the hope of the world-tha
s~aviours OF the children. They certain
ly save the girls, for nobody has yet
sung Where is my wandering girl to-
night" If the fathers would do their
half and save the boys it would be all
right. Oh, but for the mothers and
wives and sisters. what would become
of Us without them? Since / have been
sick sometimes away in the silent
watches Of the night, when. as job
says, Deep sleep falfeth upon man.
it does not fall upon a woman, for l
feel her gentle touch arranging the
cove and feeling whether l am breath
ing or not. Since l have been sick |
have never caught her fast asleep and
the other night she got hurt with me
because l slipped out in the hall and
called the girls down to make a fire
and heat some water, for / was sick
and suffering, and there was no hot
water in the boiler. 1t is just as Scot
wrete:~
cWhen pain and anguish wiring the
brow,
A ministering angel thou"
And as Coleridge wrote:
"a mother is a mother still;
The hottest thing alive"
may have written it before. but will
write it again, that one night agree
to stay with two dear little girls while
their father and mother went out to
tea at aa neighbours. This pleased me,
for ! am always happy in their com-
any ant. they in mine. When bed
time came I undressed them and they
knelt by my knees and said their pray
ers; one Of them was soon asleep, but
the other fingered and said, "Gran'pa,
when papa comes home please tell him
l love him." Yes, l will" said l..
-'What must l tell your mammal" She
closed her eyes and said. Nothing
she knows l love her." That express
es it. That child's father loves those
little girls dearly, but he keeps a drug
store, anu is the pieScIIpliou iIhei'
He goes 10 the store before his child
rem get up. He has but an hour with
them at noon, and has to return to the
store soon after supper. No wonder
these little girls want him to know
that they love him. Boys are very dr.
ferent, and when they get up in their
teens mothers lose their influence.
Some say it is bad associates. or
course that has something to do with
it, but Cain didn't have any that we
know of, and yet he killed his brother.
Environment is a big word, but it COW
ers everything that a boy inherits or
that he gets from association. One day
a friend Of mine. a Hebrew, said to me.
>HMajor, ! pelieve you does love your
shildurn better dan aybody in DC
toy y" "Oh, no. l reckon not" said l.
Don't you love your children" wy,
yes. of course; bat pelieve you would
die for your shildrun better dan any
body in de town" "Oh, no. l reckon
not" said l. Don't you love your chill
dren?" Wy, yes, Of course, but pc
n. e.. op -otl T