The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-03-12
: DROP FROM MOTHERS
LOVE TO OSLER'S IDEAS.
BY REV. r. II. WHITAKER.

able to answer the question, for no one
is able to fully understand much less
to appreciate the value of good
mother; therefore it is impossible to
estimate the loss home sustains when
the good mother is taken away 1t is
to my mind an irreparable misfortune,
amounting to calamity, to a child,
to lose it's mother in its infancy. A
child that never knew the depth, the
patience. the forbearance and the
anxious solicitude of mother love.
has sustained a loss that nothing can
compensate, and is to be pitied. There
is no love like mother love, this side OF
heaven, and there is no influence equal
to that of mothers. Whatever else
we may forget, the loving touch,
the gentle voice, the tireless watch
ings, and the fond caresses of a mother
will linger with us so long as life lasts.
Time and distance may drift us away
from the old home. and the mothers
body may be bleaching in dust; but,
ever and anon, we hear that voice, We
feel that touch, as If we were children,
standing beside The mothers knees
and looking, as of old, into her loving
eyes. And even when one finds himself
a prodigal and the feeling of loneliness
and despair takes possession of him, a
flash of memory brings back the days
of innocence and the home love, and,
though a wreck, one may be, he feels
inclined, aye impelled, to return from
his wanderings and seeks g. refuge in
that greater love of which his mothers
was but symbol.
when / was little child" said
celebrated man, my mother used to
bid me kneel beside her, and placed
her hand upon my head while she
prayed. But before was old enough
to realize her worth to me as a mother,
she died, and l was left too much to
my own ways. | was inclined to evil
passions, but, young as ] was, l could
not forget my mother and many
time, when indulging those passions
was checked, and, as it were, drawn
back by a soft hand upon my head.
When I grew up / travelled into for
eign lands, and was exposed to many
temptations. But when l would have
yielded, that same hand was upon my
head and those prayers were ringing
in my ears. I seemed to feel that hand
as in the happy days of childhood and,
with that old time touch, came the
old time voice saying: 20 do not this
wickedness, my son, do not sin
against Cod
That hand and that voice. though
mother had long since been dead. were
just as real as if l had been in her
presence
John Randolph once said. address
ing himself to an intimate friend: II
used to be called a Frenchman be-
cause / took the French side of poll
tics: and though this was unjust yet
the truth is, l should have been a
French atheist, if it had not been for
one recollection. and that was the
memory of the time when my depart
ed mother used to take my little hands
in hers. and cause me. on my knees
to say: Our Father. which art in
heaven"
Bishop Doane. preaching the funer-
al of DIR. Wharton. said of him: He
is to be added. or his own testimony
to the host of great and good men
who have owed their greatness and
their goodness, under God, to a moth
er'S preceptS, piety and prayers.
Speaking of his childhood, in sketch
of his early life. Dr. Wharton said:
my mothers precepts and tender
caresses are still fresh in my memory
and frequently present her dear inn
age to my mind" Until he was
eighty-five years of age he was &C
customed to speak. and he continued
to speak. of his dear mother as If he
had been but child.
l once heard of the death of a very
old man, who in his dying moments
smiled and talked as if his mother sat
beside him and her gentle hand were
wiping the death damp from his brow.
Years ago / read a very thrilling
story connected with the early settle
ment of this country. which | will try
to tell from memory. In 1855, think
it was, during the war between tn 2
French and the English in Canada,
the Indians took the side of the French
and greatly harrassed the English,
German and other settlers. In one
of their excursions they came as far
south as Pennsylvania. plundering
and burning houses and numbering
the people.
A father and son. of a German fami
ly. were killed. the house burned and
two little girls were carried away by
the savages; the childless mother be
ing left alone. For many years that
mother heard nothing of her children;
indeed. she never did hear of OF see
one of them. Ten years. after this
mother, as we'll as other mothers had
lost their children. an English captain
discovered where all those children
were being held in captivity and max
ing a raid on that Indian village he
recovered three or four hundred of the |
long lost children. But many of them
were grown and when their mothers
came to claim them they couldn't IN !
many cases identify them, neither
could the children remember their
mothers. The German mother could |
not identify her lost children. The |
English captain asked her: DO YOU |
recollect nothing by which your child
rem might be .1iscovered?" She an
swered that she recollected nothing |
but a hymn they used to sing in the |
home when they held prayers At night. |
''Sing that hymn" said the captain. |
The mother began:
Alone. yet not alone am I.
Though in this solitude SO drear,
find my Saviour always nigh,
He comes the weary hours to I
cheer"
Before the mother had sung two /
lines, out rushed grown-uD girl sing /
ing the same words, in the same tune,
and threw herself into her mothers /
arms. Ten years. even among saw
ages, had not effdced the old memory:
he old song that mother used to sing
mad been sung. in her savage home.
l thousand times. and she knew it
we'll, and though she did not recog-
lize her mothers face. yet. IN her
voice she could not be mis-
AIKEN.
1 often wonder if the mothers of
he present day are setting examples.
eaching precepts and singing HYMNS
u II Il