Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-07-14
For Love of Country.
Continued from 5th page. ,

CONTINUED from 5th page.l
Mother am sorry-grieved-but /
must tell you that hat is a possibility
l fear you must learn TO face. !
have
"oh, Hilary, do not tell me you have
finally decided TO join this unrighteous
rebellion Pause before you answer,
my boy-I entreat you, and IL is not
my habit 10 entreat. as you very well
know. See, you have been the JOY OF
my heart all my life. the idol OF my
SOUL viii confess IL now-and for
you and your future l have lived and
toiled and served and loved ! have
dreamed you great high in rank and
place, serving your king. winning back
the ancient position of our family. |
have shrunk from no sacrifice, nor
would ! shrink from any. Ills not
that ! do not wish you TO risk your
hfe In war-I am a daughter of my
race, and for centuries they have been
soldiers. and what GSs sends soldiers
upon the field. that & can abide-but
that you should 60 now, with all your
prospects. your ability, the opportunity
presented you, and engage yourself in
tails fatal cause, In this unholy attack
uFon the kings majesty. connect your
SELF with this beggarly rabble who
have been whipped and beaten every
time they have come In contact with
the royal troops-I canno bear IL. You
are a mar now. You have grown away
from your mother, Hilary. and I can
NJ longer command, I must entreat"
But she spoke very proudly. for, as she
aid, entreau was not % usual to her
% command.
~Oh, mother, mother. you make II
very hard for mel You know the colo
nAsts have been badly treated and
hanhly used by king and parliament
Our liberties have been threatened
nay, have been abrogated, our privi-
teges destroyed, none of our rights re-
spected, and unless we are to sink to
the level of mere slaves and depend.
ents upon the mother country We have
no other course than an appeal to
arma"
Il know. I know all that" she inter.
rupted impatentiy. with a wave Of her
hand Il have heard II all a thousand
times from III balanced a~gitators aud
popular orators. There may be some
truth In It, Of course. l grant you, but
In my creed nothing. Hilary. nothing
viii justify a subject In turning against
hb king. The king n do no wrong.
AL that we have Ii his. Let him take |
what he will. 90 he leaves Us our hon
or, and that indeed no one can take
from MS. II IL the principle that our
ancestors have attested on a hundred
fields and In every other way. and will
Jon now be false to IT. my boyY'
Il must be true to myself, mother,
FIRST Of all, In spite Of all the kings OF
earth. and l feel that duty and honor
call me to the side OF my friends and
the people OF this commonwealth. l
have hesitated long. mother, in defer
ence to you. but now l have decided"
And you turn against two mothers,
Hilary, when you take this course
England, the mother country, and
this old mother who stands before you.
who has given you her heart, who has
lived for you, who lives In you now,
whose devotion to you has never falter-
ed She now humbly asks, with out
stretched arms. the arms that carried
you when you were q baby boy, that
ron remain true to your king"
NAY, but, mamma" he said, calling
her BY the sweet name CT his boyhood,
Eaking her hand and looking down at
her tenderly with tear dimmed eyes
Full Of affection, lone must be true to
his idea Of right and duty first Of all.
at the price Of his allegiance to a
King. And. after all. what IL any king
beside you In my hearth But i feel In
honor bound to 60 with my people"
The irresolution was gone from his
oppression now, and the two deter
mined ~faces-one full Of pity. the other
= apprehension-confronted each 9TH 1