Samantha on Children's Rights

by Marietta Holley

Jack laughed and run his hand through ’em and put ’em back. Jack always minds me, or, that is, most always.

Now I don’t always mind the Higher Teacher, I don’t always set the stitches right in the great sampler that is hung up before me from day to day. It is a true remark that wuz once made at a conference meetin’ that “We often leave ondone the things that ort to be done, and do the things that we hadn’t ort.” Then why should I be hard on Jack when occasionally, very occasionally, mind you, he don’t do exactly as he ort, or duz as he ortn’t.

You see our Heavenly Father tells us what to do, He has told us once for all in the divine book, and then He wrops himself in the Everlastin’ Silence and leaves us to our own convictions, our own sense of duty to Him. He makes us afraid to disobey Him. His love constrains us, our sense of duty holds us (a good deal of the time) and we try (some of the time) to do right for the Right’s sake, and because of the completeness and constancy of the love and tender pity broodin’ over us.

Now, I have often wondered what we would do if our Heavenly Father nagged at us as some parents do at their children, if every time we make a miss-step, or a mistake, owin’ to the blindness of our ignorance, or our waywardness, if He kep’ naggin’ at us, and bringin’ us up short, and threatenin’ us with punishment, and twitched us about and pulled our ears, and sot us down in corners, and shet us up in dark closets, and sent us to bed without our supperses, and told us to, “Shet up instantly!” and etcetery. I wondered how long we would keep our love and reverence for Him.

Now, a father and mother are to their children the controlling power, the visible Deity of their lives. They stand in the High Place in their souls. Let ’em tremble and quail if they don’t hold that high place reverently, thoughtfully, prayerfully. The making or the marring of a life, a endless, immortal life, is in their hands, let ’em tremble at the thought.

Jack’s mouth is a good natered one more’n half the time, most all the time, when he is down on the farm with Josiah and me (he loves to be there). It is quite a big mouth, but none too big, not at all, with red lips, the upper one kinder short, and the ends curl up in a dretful sort of a laughin’, roguish way. But them curls can droop right down and the lips quiver like a baby’s—I’ve seen ’em. That is when he is nagged at. Tamer Ann nags at Jack more’n half the time.

Jack loves his mother, and that is why the naggin’s reach right through the little blue jacket and touches his heart. And the tremblin’ onhappiness of the heart makes the blue eyes shet about half up in a forlorn way, and the red lips quiver. I’ve seen ’em. Why, good land! Jack hain’t much more than a baby anyway, only about six and a half years old. He’s a stout little feller, and most always wears a dark blue cloth suit with a little sailor hat sot kinder back on his curls if he puts it on himself. And I don’t want to see a better lookin’ boy than Jack is. His father is my cousin on my own side.

Hamen Archibald Smith, old Elder Archibald Smith’s boy. Hamen is well off, he owns a big farm and a shingle mill up in Zoar, about seven miles from Jonesville on the old State Road. Hamen’s wife is a female he got acquainted with while he wuz away to school (Hamen is high learnt). His father sent him away for upwards of seven months to a high school, and then he got acquainted with Tamer Ann Bodley and married her. She wuz from a high family, she herself is over six feet high and spindlin’ in figger. She wuz to school to the same place. She had been there over nine weeks when Hamen got acquainted with her.

Their love wuz sudden and voyalent, and they married at the expiration of the term and left school and sot up housekeepin’, both of ’em bein’ high learnt, and havin’ traveled. Why, they went over forty milds on their weddin’ tower. And the high school where they got acquainted wuz upwards of thirty milds from Zoar.

Havin’ had all these advantages and bein’ forehanded, they naterally put on some airs, and wuz looked up to. They did make a handsome, high headed couple, I’ll say that for ’em. Hamen wuz about a inch or a inch and a half taller than she wuz.