It was indeed, very fine sliding; and they staid till the clock struck nine, when John proposed to go home; but the rest insisted on staying a little longer, “only a few minutes,” as they said. John had many unpleasant feelings about stopping after the clock had struck nine, for he knew that his father would expect him agreeably to his promise; but he at length yielded to the entreaties of the rest, and tried not to think of the uneasiness his absence would cause at home.
From the time John went, we were all unhappy, and kept asking father if he were not afraid that he would get drowned? So much were we all concerned about our brother, that it made the tears steal silently down our father’s face, and he resolved that in future he would spare us all this anxiety, by using his authority to keep him at home. After the clock had stuck nine, and John did not return, we became impatient, especially our little sisters, who ought to have been in bed long before that time, but they were unwilling to go until they saw their brother return; and father did not compel them, for he was the kindest of fathers, and sometimes a little too indulgent. But when the clock struck ten, the pain of the whole family was extreme. Father would have gone after him to have seen if anything had happened, but he was lame with the gout, and could hardly walk across the room; and we had nobody to send. Oh! what a wretched half hour we spent!
There lived at the public tavern a man whom they called Sailor Jem; he had once been a sailor, and he happened to see the party set off for the river. While he was sitting telling stories and hearing the news, a man came in to warm his feet, and Jem asked him what news he had. “A sad accident,” said he, “has just happened at the bridge; a party of boys were sliding, and one of them is drowned.” Jem heard no more, but came breathless to my father’s. He found us already in trouble, but his story made us half distracted. My father was more composed, and begged of Jem to go directly to the river, or the road which he saw John take, and see if he could make any discoveries.
Jem started immediately; he had only got a quarter of a mile, when he met the boys returning, all safe. So he accompanied John, and saw him restored to his anxious family. Our joy was great when we saw him safe, and father did not interrupt it that night, by talking to my brother about his conduct; but the next morning, at breakfast, he endeavored to show him wherein he had done wrong. They had not been to the bridge, it was true, but then he did not come home at the appointed time.
You will see by this, how much you can do, if you choose, to make a whole family unhappy, by not taking the advice of those whose age and experience enable them to judge better for you, than you can for yourselves. And remember one thing, that promises should be held sacred. Had he come at nine, as he ought to have done, he would have saved us an hour and a half of the most intense suffering; and I hope, if you make a promise, even the most trifling, that you will keep it.
A Roman Judge.—While Octavius Cæsar was at Samos, after the famous battle of Actium, which made him master of the then known world, he held a council, to examine the prisoners who had been of Anthony’s party. Among the rest, there was brought before him a man named Metellus, oppressed with age and infirmities, disfigured by a long beard and a neglected head of hair, but especially by his clothes, which, through adversity, had become ragged. The son of this Metellus was one of the judges, and had great difficulty to recognise his father in the deplorable condition in which he now saw him. At length, however, recollecting his features, instead of being ashamed of his unhappy parent, he ran with tears to embrace him. Then, returning to the tribunal, “Cæsar,” said he, “my father has been your enemy, and I your officer; he deserves to be punished, and I to be rewarded. The favor I ask of you, is, that you would save him on my account, or order me to be put to death with him.” All the judges were touched with compassion at the affecting scene. Octavius himself relented, and granted to old Metellus his life and liberty.
Patrick Henry.—This eminent American left in his will the following important passage:
I have now disposed of all my property to my family; there is one thing more I wish I could leave them, and that is, the Christian religion. If they had that, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich; and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.