Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1876 — THE STRANGER’S STORY. [ARTICLE]

THE STRANGER’S STORY.

“That boy win break my heart!” was the passionate exclamation of a respecta-ble-looking woman, as, with an appealing look, she addressed a strange gentleman who passed by at the time. A large, overgrown boy, of more than fifteen years, had leaped over a fence the moment before, and now, feeling himself beyond her reach, stood laughing defiantly at his mother, who had undertaken to reprove him for some mean conduct. Without making reply, the stranger turned a severe look upon the boy, which had the effeot of checking his mirth and changing his color a little, and then, advancing to the rails and resting his arms upon them, related the following story, w-hich might have been profitable to both his hearers: “There is, perhaps, nothing more painful than to see children, ana especially large boys, who ought to know better, uncivil and disrespectful to their superiors, but particularly so to their parents. When I was a boy myself, I regret to say, I fell into the very same sad fault, for which I was not alone blameworthy. I ’was considered remarkably smart'for my vears, and my singularly wise sayings and doings delighted admiring friends; I suppose;! was looked upon by my parents as a young Solomon. They generally brought me into the parlor for the express purpose of entertaining company. But ! remember that I was wise enough to understand and mark well all the praises they heaped upon me. All my wisdom was gathered from my friends, and yet they gave me credit for originality in everything I said or did. By these aids I soon discovered my great importance, and this made me very impertinent—a pest and a scourge to my parents.

“ When ! had grown up to the age at. which I ought to have been a pleasure to them, I was disobedient and sadly disrespectful. When I think of the irreverence I was guilty of, and which they tolerated in me for a moment, I feel to this day crimson with shame. And if I thought it could make amends for niy youthful vilehess, I should like to underfo now the floggings which I ought to ave received then. 1 was permitted to call my father such slang names as ‘ governor,’ ‘ the boss,’ ‘the old man,’ ‘ John,’ and such like, to his very face, and he heard it good-naturedly and laughed. That most sacred of all names, mother, was seldom applied to her who loved me more than any other human being; I usually called her ‘ the old woman,’ or * Maty,’ humorously, of coursej Mid thought it looked well. “ This bad training showed on me everywhere else. At school, the teacher was a firm man, a first-class disciplinarian, and kept me in my place well; but I disliked him for what I styled his seventy, and behaved as disrespectfully and disobediently as I well dared. I was afraid of an open conflict with him, knowing that, in that case, I must have fared poorly. In secret, however, I did what I could to disaffect the other scholars and make them disrespectful. In this I succeeded admirably, especially among the larger body. We could all plot mischief against him and sneer at him behind his back. His rebuke made us angry and revengeful, and we consoled ourselves with the hope of paying him for it when we grew up. In the meantime we enjoyed ourselves delightfully in making game of him, much to the entertainment of the scholars generally," I was the prime mover in these annoyances, and it never occurred to my mind that my heartless conduct could receive a sudden and unexpected check. “On one occasion he reproved me. Thinking myseif master of the situation, I tossed my head in defiance; and sneered contemptuously, looking for the approval of my rude companions! But before I had time to think what I was doing, the teacher made my ear ring with a blow of his open hand. I staggered a little, but instantly recovering myself, and shrugging my shoulders in contempt,dared him to repeat it. He commanded me to leave the room;gtyd of the opportunity,! went, and closing the door with an impudent farewell, ended my school education. “ In Bunday School I was even worse. I knew that my teacher, had no means of enforcing his instruction, except by moral suasion. I was irreverent, even in the most sacred things. I turned my pious teacher’s instruction into ndicule to moke the others laugh. More than once I used bad language to his face, and I am now convinced that he was a man of more than ordinary grace, or his temper could not have brooked my conduct for a moment Yet. strange to say, I never knew of his having made any effort to obtain my removal out of his class. I think bis prayers were answered, however, by my suddenly leaving the place. I went to business and was there but a month when my bad manners were directed towards my employer. He told me quietly, that I might go home to my father went I tried several other places with a similar

nni»»nnM If -as it It flUF-HAH • A-fl lu *i tin nappy foray employers * " “I had noh grown up’to-'he a young man and knew that PWas losing my time, that I could never be worth*anything in the world. , In weeks of despondency I had time to -reflect'. f saw that -1 had'been turned out of school fox mytinsuboriinatiofi; that fhitil been disrespectful'to my Sabbath School teacher, though he desirtd US K tions, and prevented me from ev<d ooiutemper, suppress my insufferably ifcWe, ,Which had developeti by this .time into imptttfence, arid practic'd obeuidned and respectfulness to my supffEWW-’ TMiMPKe of having been turned outof several JtoriA, id th* cirtdirti kifowl«asc of my acquaintances, njortifted -me< ,To friends I explained,' when opportunity afforded, that <it not , ajy. lanll; but that of tyrannical masters; but no use: they had their owh'-opitjidtf, wnfeh was- the- correct one. My;> ill fortune had its good. eflept upon me. After the exdraW Of pttticnoir aad practice of self-culture for a long time, I succeeded In obtaining another sftdation. When entering upoh At/I nfladfe ftpm»y mindfto try better conduct, and be as respectrtil as possible to ail around nie. I was able to kbep mjr place thia learned that steadiness, honesty ana respects illness to superiors 'were indispensabla .to a young man’s suecess. “ Young man,” he continued,' “If you wish ever t® prosper in tfie world, you must begin by obeying the Fifth Commanfiihent, which is Htmor tHy father and thy mother, that thy days may he long upon the land which the Lord tny Goa giveth thee.’J Tf 1 you ndglect this,-.'tike care that you come not under thpr cprse which declares that ‘ Tiro eye that niocketh.at h» .father, and deapiseth to obey his mother, tne ravens of the vallqy shall pick it but, and the young eagles'shall eat it.’ ” — R. H. Craig, inN'. y. Obaenver.