Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-05-31

~ fOO years dEe ueuiho hnS' Soa AoAeA
ny-you sRow your father and were
sousins and are descended from the
same stock-have been called the loyal
Talbots.' cannot contemplate with
equa nimity the possibility even Of ons
Of us in rebellion against the king"
"Mother-I am sorry-grlevsd-but
must tell you that that ID possibility
I 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 1t Is not
my habit to entreat, as you very well
know. See, you have been the Joy OF
my heart all my life, the idol Of my
soul-I will confess it now-and for
you and your future l have lived and
toiled and served and loved. l have
dreamed you great, high in rank and
place, serving your king, winning back
the ancient position Of our family. l
have shrunk from no sacrifice, nor
would shrink from any. "Tis not
that I do not wish you to risk your
life in war-I am a daughter Of my
race, and for centuries they have been
soldiers, and what God sends soldiers
upon the field, that l can abide-but
that you should go now, with oil your
prospects, your ability. the opportunity
presented you, and engage yourself In
this fatal cause, in this unholy attack
upon the kings majesty, connect your
self with this beggarly rabbls who
have been whipped and beaten every
time they have come in contact with
the royal troops-I cannot bear 1t. You
are man now. You have grown away
from your mother, Hilary, and | can
no longer command, / must eptreat.'
But she spoke very proudly, for, as she
said, entrea was not 30 usual to her
as command.
"Oh, mother, mother, you make it
very hard for me! You know the colo
nists have been badly treated and
harshly used by king and parliament.
Our liberties have been threatened
nay, have been abrogated, our privi-
leges 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
arms"
81 know, | know all that" she inter
rupteu impatiently, with wave OF her
hand II have heard it all thousand
times from i'll balanced agitators and
popular orators. There may be some
truth In 1t. of course, grant you. but
in my creed nothing, Hilary, nothing
will justify a subject in turning against
his king. The king can do no wrong
All that we have Is his. Let him take
what he will, so he leaves Us our hon
or, and that indeed no one can take
from us. 1t is the principle that our
ancestors have attested on Il hundred
fields and in every other way, and will
you now be false to it, my boy"
II must be true to myself, mother,
first Of all, in spite Of all the kings OF
earth, and | feel that duty and honor
call me to the side Of my friends and
the people Of this commonwealth. /
have hesitated long, mother, IN defer
ence to you, but now have decided"
And you turn against two mothers,
Hilary, when you take this course
old 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 low humbly asks, with out
stretched arms, the arms that carried
you when you were baby boy. that
you remain true to your king"
NAY, but. mamma" he said. calling
her by the sweet name Of his boyhood,
taking her hand and looking down at
her tenderly with tear dimmed eyes
full Of affection, "one must be true to
his idea of right and duty first Of all,
even at the price Of his allegiance to
king. And, after all, what is any king
beside you in my heart? But feel In
honor bound to so with my people"
The irresolution was gone from his
expression now, and the two deter
mined faces-one full Of pity. the other
of Observation-Disclosures each 9TH
er.