Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1873 — What Will You Leave Behind ? [ARTICLE]

What Will You Leave Behind ?

Talking with an old farmer once, Tie said: “When I die, I am going to leave behind me, its a heritage for my children, the home where they were born, made aS beautiful as my means and uneducated taste will allow, pleasant memories of the home fireside and of thfr -sunny summer days, and a true regard for the dignity and worthiness of the calling which their -father followed.” The old than was so full of emotion when he talked in this wise, that he had to use his handkerchief To prevent the tears .telling their tale of manly: sensitiveness. His boys were widely scattered, having a varied experience in life; but there was not one of them who did not honor the old farmer they called (and reverently, too) “Father;” nor one of them who was not glad to Visit the old homestead once a year. Now, we repeat the question, “What will you leave behind?” Money? It will do your children little good, comparatively. Money is easily obtained. But homes are scarce. The associations which the men of the world value most are the associations with tlieir early homes. No man, no matter what his position, circumstances or relations in life, who has had a happy and pleasant home in his youth, fails to remember, love and long for it. It is the haven he seeks, one toward which his heart goes out whenever he is in trouble; it is the shrine to which he makes pilgrimage whenever he has means and opportunity; it is the one spot on earth upon which he is willing to lavish the wealth he may have acquired, and where he desirps to die and be buried. What will you leave behind, good friend of the farm? Snail the homestead be your monument? Shall the children return thither as the pilgrim seeks the shrine of a saint? Shall each tree teli its story of your taste and good sense—revive in the minds of your children the time and circumstances of the planting? Shall it symbolize by, its growth, and extended and -extending branches, the growth of your children’s affections for you, and the influence your example and precepts are exerting through them? Shall each stone in the w r all, addition to the barn, the house, out buildings, -improvements, orchard, garden and field, speak to them of the love you once bore them, of the labor you once performed that tbsy might be fed, clothed and educated? Shall each blade of grass lift itself up toward heaven and testify to your providence and care? Shall each appleblossom in the orchard shed its perfume in memory of the man who planted the seed from which they sprang, or the tree on which they bloom and laugh in the sweet May air? Will money compensate your children for the loss of such a heritage? No, sir! emphatically, No! Let us try to leave behind us something that shall soften the hearts of men and women when they remember us—be they our children or not; but especially„le.t US. who have homes, who are blessed with a title to a portion of God’s green earth, see that it is rendered so beautiful in the eyes of our offspring that their hearts will always find anchorage there whenever the longings of loneliness come over them ; whenever the rough elbowings of an unfeeling world jostle them out of humor with it. Let the coming spring witness some effort to leave the old farm better and moreTeaUtifiil in the autumn. Let the boys and girls feel that we have lfeft something behind that money cannot purchase, and for which it can be no substitute. —Rural New Yorker. - ’ A Pittsburgh somnambulist one night recently got up and deliberately dressed himself. lie then took out the lower sash of one of the windows of his room and proceeded to walk out. The walking was a sticcess till Re got outside of the Window. Then there was a sudden halt. The fact was, in his descent he caught upon one of the hooks of a butcher’s frame that stood below. There he hung by one of his boots till it was completely torn off, then he proceeded on his journey to mother earth. Here there was a definite stop., The man was nqt dangerously injured, but he received some-se-vere bruises and a terrible shock to his nervous system as he Woke up when he landed on the hook. Thomas Caldwell, President of the South Nashville Street Railway, undertook to ride with a new driver, the other night, telling him in Tesponse to the demand for fare: “I own most of This road,” and getting this reply: “ Well, you won’t own it long if you don’t pay me your fare. That’s ali I’ve got to say about it.”