""I can call my own experience to witness that in the external actions, occurrences and incidents of my whole life I was never disappointed of the best guidance and direction when in humility and sense of my own deficiency, or inability to direct myself, or to grapple with the difficulties of my life, I have with humility and sincerity implored the secret direction and guidance of the Divine Wisdom and Providence.
""And I dare appeal to the strict observation of any man"s experience-whether those counsels and purposes which have been taken up after an humble invocation of the Divine Direction have not always been most successful in the end.
""Consider what it is that thou pridest thyself in and examine well the nature of the things themselves, how little and inconsiderable they are; at least how uncertain and unstable they are.
""Thou hast fine clothes, and this makes children and young men and women proud, even to admiration; but thou art not half so fine and gay as the peac.o.c.k, ostrich or parrot, nor is thy finery so much thine as theirs is, but it is borrowed from the silkworm, the gold mines, the industry of the embroiderer, weaver, tailor, and is no part of thyself.
And hast thou the patience to suffer thyself to be abused into this childish, pitiful, foolish pride?
""Thou hast, it may be, wealth, stores of money; but how much of it is of use to thee? That which thou spendest is gone; that which thou keepest is as insignificant as so much dirt or clay; only thy care about it makes thy life the more uneasy.
""Thou hast honor, esteem; thou art deceived, for thou hast it not; he hath it that giveth it thee, and which he may detain from thee at pleasure; but suppose it were as fixed a reputation as a rock of marble, and that it were the best kind of honor imaginable-the result of virtue or worth-canst thou think it reasonable to be proud of the shadow, where thou oughtest not to be proud of that worth that causeth it?
""Again: Thou art in great power, or place and authority; but thou art mistaken in this; the power thou hast is not inherent in thyself. One of the meanest of those whom it may be thou oppressest is as powerful as thee, and could, it may be, overmatch thee in strength, wit or policy; but thy power is invested in thee by those men whose promises, faith, or voluntary a.s.sistance thou hast. This power depends upon the fidelity or a.s.sistance of others, which, if withdrawn, leaves you like Samson shorn of his locks. _Thy strength will go from thee, and thou wilt become weak, and be like another man._""
"Mother, you have read quite enough for one day. It will likely take us a week to learn all that by heart, and that will be a week of this visit lost!" cried George disconsolately.
"But suppose I entreat father to have you learn some verses from "Mother Goose" to recite to us instead of these maxims-do you think you could memorize them quickly?" suggested Mrs. Parke.
"Oh, yes, mother! Do ask him that. We can learn "Jack and the Beanstalk"
or anything like that in no time," hastily replied Martha.
"Ah! then it shows that the only trouble with memorizing these truly great sayings is that you won"t bother to study what is good and helpful! "Mother Goose" is funny and amusing, and you promise to learn any such verses quickly; that is why father wishes you to learn these "Contemplations" and afterward wear the uniform of an American soldier; because one cannot be frivolous and inclined to constant fun if he is to be the custodian of his country"s safety," declared Mrs. Parke.
"But can"t you see that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?""
argued George impatiently.
"Have you any proposal to make better than the one father planned for the earning of the prize packages?" asked his mother.
"Well, we might arrange it this way: For every set of contemplations or maxims we learn each day we are to receive something from those packages as a reward. If we learn a long paragraph like some you read to us just now we ought to have some big item in the package. For a short verse or paragraph you are to give us a glove or a shoe or a cap-if there are any in the boxes," said George.
"Yes, yes! That is a fine idea!" shouted the other children in chorus, so that the ladies smiled.
"Well, as the main thing is to have you learn these valuable sayings by heart, it may be better to serve them out to you one a day, and pay the reward as you suggest. But remember, the prize is not what we are aiming at-it is the memory of the great words, that will have its effect on your after lives," responded Mrs. Parke.
"Yes, yes, we know! We"ll let it affect our after life if you will but let us have the soldiers" outfits right now!" retorted George, so that every one laughed at his reply.
"Well, then take the first paragraph and learn it well. As each one knows it without error we will hear it recited and give the reward for the study," sighed Mrs. Parke, who feared the wonderful words would fail to leave an impression such as her husband hoped for.
For the rest of that day very little commotion was heard about the Parke house, but Jack appeared about four o"clock with the a.s.surance that he had mastered the first maxim.
Mrs. Davis heard him recite it while both ladies held a copy of the paper. He had memorized the words, but seemed to have failed in understanding them, so his recital was more like that of a parrot"s speech.
"Just what I thought," said Mrs. Parke, in an aside.
"Kate, we must add to this method of memorizing; each child should be able to explain what the words mean and how they individually interpret them."
"Please give me my prize now and talk over the best way to impress our minds when I am gone," cried Jack, disappointed that he had not been handed his package immediately upon rendering the maxim correctly.
With a sigh of despair his mother gave him the first reward-a khaki army coat trimmed with blue braid and bra.s.s b.u.t.tons. It was a very elaborate affair, that any youthful general might be proud to wear.
The moment Jack saw it he gave a wild cheer and raced from the room to call to his companions. From the lilac bushes, from the summer house, from the cool back porch and from the hammocks swung under the maple trees ran the friends who were eager to admire the prize won by the first member of their army.
The boys had to try it on, and there followed many exclamations of delight and approval. Then, as each wished it was his they remembered the way to earn one, so they hurried back to their papers.
Thus, by learning the paragraphs in order as they came on the pages, the children not only won rewards, but also imbibed the high and excellent maxims followed by General Washington.
When the first few rules were learned Mrs. Parke gave the children new ones. As she distributed them she said: "Before you go I wish to read some splendid things Washington wrote as he supposes himself to be standing before the Seat of Judgment, answering to G.o.d for the charges given him to account for:
""I have given unto you all understanding and reason, to be a guide of your actions, and to some of you more eminent degrees thereof.
""I have given you a conscience to direct you, and to check you in your miscarriages, and to encourage you in well-doing; and I have furnished that conscience of yours with light and principles of truth and practice conformable to my will.
""I have given you the advantage of speech, whereby to communicate your thoughts to one another and to instruct and advantage one another by the help thereof.
""I have given you counsel and advice of faithful and judicious friends; good laws in the place and country where you live; the written word of G.o.d acquainting you with my will and the way to eternal life; the word preached thereof; the sacrament both for your initiation and confirmation.
""And the man who stands at the bar of judgment answering his G.o.d must give a true and faithful accounting of all he did or hoped to accomplish with the talents thus given him on earth."
"Now, children, this last section of Washington"s words are to me most important, as they embody the whole basis of his religious att.i.tude. And every one knows what an account he could render the Master for being a Good Steward in the field.
"I am sure that his harvest must have been very acceptable to G.o.d, for there were no tares mixed with his wheat," said Mrs. Parke seriously.
"If our children-descendants of that n.o.ble character, Washington-can render as good a record of works accomplished on earth when they appear before the Throne of the Great Judge it will be a cause for great rejoicing and thanksgiving for all," added Mrs. Davis.
"Yes, I suppose it would, aunty, but you see times change and so do folks, and ways change with them. George Washington just had to be good "cause it was born in him, and G.o.d made him feel that he had to be an example for America. Doesn"t it show it was so, when he never wanted to quarrel in school, he never told a lie-even kept his mouth shut when something was being asked that he knew all about-and the way he sacrificed fun and good times just to study old dry stuff like these maxims? Oh, he was, indeed, a queer boy!" sighed George, rolling his eyes upward in earnest contemplation of the ceiling.
The ladies had great difficulty in maintaining serious faces at these remarks, but they felt all would be ruined if they laughed outright, so they managed, both of them, to remain stern and respectful.
"Haven"t we occasion to thank G.o.d that he was such a serious-minded boy?
What would the United States have done if he had been otherwise?" asked Mrs. Parke.
"But it didn"t! If Washington wasn"t that kind G.o.d would have raised up another Moses in the Land of Bondage, to lead the poor colonists out of Egypt!" declared Martha triumphantly.
"You said yourself, while explaining some Bible reading the other day, that it wasn"t the name or mortal man that did all the great and glorious things, but the power of the Principle that influenced and operated through a being. Then I could be as great as General Washington if the test came and I was being moved to do glorious deeds through the help of G.o.d," said George, frowning over such a theological problem.
"Yes, you could, if you understood enough of the Truth and operation of G.o.d, who _is_ Principle, to apply what you knew; but the Truth does not operate blindly, remember, and Washington would never have been guided as he was if he hadn"t applied his _thoughts_ seriously to finding out the "deep things of G.o.d"," said Mrs. Parke earnestly.
The children showed an eagerness to get away from further preaching, so the ladies rose as a signal that the meeting was over. With grateful sighs the youngsters hurried away to learn the next dry and, to them, senseless maxim of Washington"s.
CHAPTER IX
THE ARMY WINS UNIFORMS
It took a full week to win every prize contained in the packing case, but only half of the maxims had been learned, as there were more "Contemplations" than rewards. When the children heard there was no more prize clothing to be won they lost interest in the learning of Washington"s rules of life.