The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-02-07
/ SATURDAY
NIGHT TALKS.
NV n D.usoS RUTLAND Vt.
GOING AWAY FROM HOME.
RUTLAND Vt.
BY F. e. DAWSON,
Feb. 10, '07-tGen. 12:1-S.)

when one goes away from nome.
Whether it is a young man going 10
seek his fortune, or young woman
about to make a home of her own,
when the time comes to bid good
by to the ola family mansion, there
is a rending of heart strings on the
part Of those who go, and those VINO
stay. No one can tear himself away
from the room where he was born,
from the trees he has climbed. from
The brook i'll which he has fished ana
bathed, from the schoolhouse Where
he learned his letters, from the
church where he was taken IN IN
fancy. from the companions Win
whom he has grown up, WITHOUT
pang. The future may be roseate,
but the past is a part OF his very me-
and as he faces the one with hope, ne
feels the pail of the other upon his
heart strings. And yet, for many peo-
r}ie. the hour In which they leave
nome is the time when they grasp
the key OF destiny, and open Tor
themselves doors of opportunity ana
influence, that would otherwise re-
main forever closed.
A vivid illustration Of that fact is
found in this story. Away Off in UT
Of the Chaldees there dwelt in OBJ
security man whose name was
Abram, living along on dead level
of commonplace nothingness, among
the nObodies of his community he
suddenly heard a voice that no one
else heard, and it said to him; Get
thee cut OF they country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy fathers
house: unto ii land that 1 will show
thee AMI in thee shall the famil-
les o. the earth be blest.'
There were good many consid-
ocas.c15 against making such
change. Abram was 10 years old
when he felt the call to so, an age
when most people prefer rest and
settlement: 1t was long journey to
the land selected; It was new and
untried experiment and no one knew
how it would turn out. To become
the founder of q great nation was
+ but q dream The neighbors, with
out doubt, looked upon the whole
scheme as a Tom FOOLS" errand.
But we know that It was the best
thing that ever happened to Abram
when he turned his back on his
country. his lindred, and his fathers
house. For 1000 years Abraham has
/ been realizing the promise.
( And this is not by any means a
! solitary instance History, sacred
and profane is full of instances.
where the breaking UP Of the home,
! or the abandonment of the homo has
/ resulted in untold blessings, for the
exile and for those who remain be-
hind. Look at the history Of Joseph.
Never was a boy in greater danger OF
being spoiled by Indulgence. His
foolish old father took no pains tc
disguise his fayoritisnl. He was OF
superior clay to the rest Of the fam
lily in the Old mans estimation, and
so Joseph was cuddled, and humored
and rugged out in crazy quilt coat
CT many colors, until the big broth
ers Of the family rose in rebellion
and threw him out. His future
| career does not excuse their con-
temptible, cowardly conduct, but Il
shows that he had good blood in his
veins, and some Of his grandfather
Abraham's pluck, for he landed or
his feet. He refused to be over
| whelmed with the disaster, and
though it took him thirteen years tc
get there he rose to the second place
in Egyptian affairs, next to the king
But he never would have amounted
to a hill of beans If he had remained
at home.
How many men there are in thi;
country to-day of whom the same
thing is true. They have come tt
America because there is an oppor
tunity here for the poorest and hum
blest to make something of himself
They were handicapped in birth
in their education, in their fnancia
prospects, in their social advantages
They were. held down by the heel o
despotism, caste, persecution. Blu
they struck out for a distant CONT
nent, whose beacon light they saw
and the peasant has become thu
preacher, the physician, the publish
er, the president of institutions o
learning. They sit in gubernatoria
chairs, they WELD editorial pens, the,
legislate il halls of congress.
And the same thing is true in tn
moral world. The reformers an
thinkers and spiritual lights of tn
centuries have been the men VIII
have followed the voice divine, bid
ding them depart from low levels
and crude ideas, and mistaken nc
tions, even though those ideas an
notions have been held by thei
countrymen, and their kindred an
those of their fathers house. Abra
hams neighbors were idolatOrs, blu
he shook off that heresya as effectuall
as he did the dust of his native lant
Luther immortalized himself, whe
he nailed his thesis on the very door
Of the ancestral church. Growth, e.
pansion, that is the law Of the UNI
verse. But one must break out of hi
shell to do SO.
Guild thee more stately mans1on
{ oh, my soul!
AS the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than tn
last,
Shut thee from heaven with dom
more vast,