The Newtown bee., 1905-09-01
THE NEWTOWN BEE, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER T. 1905

tales found in Indian lore; and the
citizens Of Concord, N. H., have erect
ed a monument on the spot where the
deed was performed, that the memory
OF such brave woman might notbe
left to die. There was Mrs Sarah
Knight, daughter of Captain KENT lie,
who was equal to the all-round woman
of to-day in doing well the duties of
business and the home. This Captain
kemble, by the way, obtained quite
reputation in his day. He had re-
turned from a three years voyage and
was seen kissing his wifeOn the door
| step OF ms home on d Sabbath after
| noon, and for this ''ilagrant INSIDE
| meanOr" he was Condemned to sit for
two hours on Boston Common with his
feet fast in the public stocks. His
daughter, Mrs Sarah Knight, was pro-
| hclent in all housewifelY cares. She
was good soap-maker, sugar maker,
butter maker, clOtbeS-maker, bread
maker, clOth-maker and brOOm-maker.
We know from her diary (tor she kept
one with minute care) that she owned
and superintendent flour and griSt-
mill, ran tavern, taught school, rode
on horseback from Boston to New
YORK and back again on business err
rands, and specialized Il little in In
dian lands. Do you think now that
the sphere Of our forcmotherS was con-
tracted and narrow, and that they
knew scarcely anything Of life beyond
the bounds of their dahlia beds? The
Puritan maiden was in many respects
striking and fascinating figure.
Who would not have looked twice at
such quaint personalities as Deborah
and Mehitabel Nash, rubed in bear
skins? The pretty Puritan maiden, too.
Priscilla Mullens, sitting at her spin
ming wheel, had enough of romance in
ler to suggest to Longfellow his most
beautiful poem on CourtShip.
THESE PURITAN FoREMoTHERs OF
OURS WE'RE
real homemakers They kept home,
4 home, say, not flat where you
stay for while in sleeping car, nor |
four-StOry affair where at different |
portions OF the day you are on differ |
emit rounds OF the ladder. Our good |
Puritan fOremOtherS were the loved |
heads of the home. They were not
creatures of fads, the star patients of |
the physician. They did not spend 50
much time at the club that their
children once in a while wished to get
think that the chief aim in living was
TO pose before a mirror or illustrate
the latest mode. They were mothers,
perhaps we ought to place some en-
phaSlS there; they were mothers of
many vigorous sons and blooming
They had large families.
[ do not think that they spent a great
deal of time in discussing the problem
Of race suicide. | have said that our
Puritan sires have been feted and
dined over-much; it is high time that
che era OF the toremothers was due.
Here is point where we should strike
the loud symbols in the praise Of the
nome-makers OF that day; they got
along with their cranky old sireS.
They brought two bears into the
home, and without these bears good
deal Of growing will go on. These
mothers learned how TO compromise,
now to yield and yet pretty well to
ave their own way. They governed
their children not by breaking their
will, but by making their will act in
oval harmony with the other facul-
lies. Yes, one who could do this and
,ood old Roger Williams, who was
cranky and consistent
y out-of-SOrtS, deserves a bright crown
n Heaven; and these mothers are
wearing their crowns now over there
How much does this great
Nation owe to these Puritan :
ZONES? Can you measure their :
influence in our history by :
Weights and scales? Can you set over !
heir value las proportionate to 50
much timber-land or navigable rivers a
r great watersheds or railroad sys- :
ems? Here are some of the families
Which have shaped our Nations deS> :
my and guided its career; will you y
ut down in ma thematlcal calculation :
ow much they are worth: the Otis .
amily, the Hancock family, the Ad- :
ms family, the jefferson family, the
Washington family, the Budinot fam :
y. John Quincy Adams tells US in
is diary that when he first realized
anne that his mother had given to
i'm, he felt a great call to splendid
chievement. My dear friends, that
the meaning of this anniversary &C.
aston; you greatly mistake if you
stem only to it's din and noise. Back
all our parading, back of all our T
back of ali our addresses, l
this clarion call: Live up to the
est that was in your SireS. This is
0 place or time for criticising or find
lg fault. Our New England forebears
ad their defects and shortcomings;
ut this is not the occasion to thrust 5
Jul OOuhll dIlu pICh OuU UuC ldlS6 -
lread. You remember what an in
lence the elder Pliny had in the best
avs of Rome; his letters send forth
1 aroma of sweetness that is really
,freshing in the midst of SO much
lat is uncanny and foul. He writes
nd l think it is beautifully of his Y
lfe: "She loved that which was i'm
Ortal in me-" Let US G.
AXE THAT WHICH WAS BRAVEST AND
TRUEST AND MODEST
the lives of those who have gone
'fore and hold it up to-day for emula- =
on and desire. Miriam, in the his