THE OLD PURITAN LAWMAKER GENERAL Robert E. Lee, a general who was great enough to bear defeat heroically, wrote the following in a letter to his son, G. W. Curtis Lee, while his son was attending college. The letter contains such good advice from an eminent father to his son that we are naturally anxious to read it closely. The incident told of the old Puritan legislator is one of the best illustrations we have of faithful adherence to duty. THE OLD PURITAN LAWMAKER You must study to be frank with the world. Frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot; you would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back. We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of principle, but it is a path of peace and honor. In regard to duty, let me, in conclusion of this hasty letter, inform you that nearly a hundred years ago there was a day of remarkable gloom and darkness,—still known as "the dark day,”a day when the light of the sun was slowly extinguished, as if by an eclipse. The Legislature of Connecticut was in session, and as its members saw the unexpected and unaccountable darkness coming on, they shared in the general awe and terror. It was supposed by many that the last day-the judgment day-had Some one, in the consternation of the hour, moved an adjournment. come. Then there arose an old Puritan legislator, Davenport, of Stamford, and said that, if the last day had come, he wished to be found at his place doing his duty, and therefore moved that candles be brought in, so that the house could proceed with its duty. There was a quietness in that man's mind, the quietness of heavenly wisdom and inflexible willingness to obey present duty. Duty, then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things like the old Puritan. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less. Never let your mother or me wear one gray hair for lack of duty on your part. -Robert E. Lee. NOTES 1. General Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia in 1807, and died in 1870, after a most brilliant career as commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. As a military leader, he was dashing and brilliant; as a student, he was highly educated; and as a father, he was kind and sympathetic. 2. Davenport, of Stamford. The incident as given here is historically correct. 3. Look up the meaning of the following words: frankness, principle, equivocation, experiment, extinguished, sacrifice, unaccountable, consternation, adjournment, inflexible, sublimest. EXERCISES 1. What is the meaning of the first direction given to the son? 2. What other principles of right conduct are in the first paragraph? 3. What policy wears best in dealing with others? 4. Explain the "dangerous experiment" mentioned in paragraph 3. 5. What principle makes possible the "path to peace and honor"? 6. What "dark day" is mentioned? 7. Does this letter appear to you "hasty"? Explain. 8. How did many regard the day? Who were the Puritans? 9. What motion was first made? 10. What motion did the old Puritan legislator make? 11. What reason did he give for his motion? 12. Explain "Duty is the sublimest word in our language." 13. What final caution was given the son? 14. Write out in your own words the five best rules of conduct con tained in this letter. ADDITIONAL READINGS WASHINGTON: Rules of Civility. JEFFERSON: Ten Rules. FRANKLIN: Autobiography, Chapter on Self-Examination. SMILES: Character. Duty. LORIMER: Letters of a Self-Made Merchant to His Son. LANIER: Power of Prayer. WORK DONE SQUARELY The longer on this earth we live The more we feel the high stern-featured beauty Steadfast and still, nor paid with mortal praise, But finding amplest recompense For life's ungarlanded expense In work done squarely and unwasted days. -James Russell Lowell. Alas! it is not till time, with reckless hand, has torn out half the leaves from the Book of Human Life to light the fires of passion with from day to day, that man begins to see that the leaves which remain are few in number.-Longfellow. LITTLE BOY BLUE SOME have mistakenly thought this delicate gem is primarily for children,-it is the burst of grief of a bereaved father's heart. it Although children love this beautiful poem is not a child's poem; it is a father's poem about a child. Its sweet and lofty sentiment requires a grown-up experience to appreciate it fully. Eugene Field's tender heart was stricken with grief over the death of his beloved little son—a grief intensified yet mellowed and sweetened since the angel song awakened the loved dreamer. With tender care, the toys have been left where the tiny hands placed them, and they seem almost a part of the little lost one as the father stands over them and calls to mind the scenes in which the little prattler gave them life. Filled with the tenderness of mingled love and sorrow the father's heart breathes forth this exquisite melody of parental grief. LITTLE BOY BLUE* The little toy dog is covered with dust, And his musket moulds in his hands. *From "A Little Book of Western Verse;" copyright, 1889, by Eugene Field; published by Charles Scribner's Sons. |