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[Entebbd at the Post-office, in Atlanta, Ga., for Transportation through the United States Mails at Second class Rates. I
PUBLISHED
twice a month.
yol. m.
ATLANTA, GA., JANUARY 1, 1884. NO. 5. I° ,M W8K- A *
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A HOMF.I.Y IDYL.
BY MATTIE C. SEWARD.
In a quiet home In a quiet spot
Lived dear old Grandmother True;
lor only companions were two little tots,
And theirs were rabbits two.
Grandmother True would sit in the shade
spreadln B evergreen tree,
ith one little tot sitting close by her side
nd the other tot perched on her knee,
ose by there would be a basket of leaves
And roots for the rabbits to eat,
® n ‘ h «y finished their nap and came to play
„ tl,e tots In the grass at her feet.
i here they come,” Joyfully cried Tot No. 1,
, * j rabbits peeped out of their house,
slipped from her seat down by grand
mother's feet,
„ * n<1 waited there stiU as a mouse.
186 tuml n\ too,” said tot No. 2,
With^ 6 * rom grandmother’s knee,
hand Chr i*tm a * * lom tightly clasped in one
And with eyes determined to see
“atever was seen by tot No. I;
And ready to claim a share
In all that came and all that went,
Was grandmother’s baby fair.
Soon the rabbits spied the two little tots,
And, blinking their bead-like eyes,
They scampered over the fresh, green grass,
To where little Tot merrily cries
“ I sees Bunnie! I sees Spot!
Turn on, my rabbits two,
I’se dot some dinner an’ a ’ittie new born,
An’ I’ll div ’um all to ’ou! ’’
Grandmother True quietly smiles
At little Tot’s baby speech,
And kept her hand on his plump little arm
To keep him within her reach.
The rabbits and tots they romp and play
In the dcisles and fresh, green grass,
While grandmother True site still and thinks
Of all the years take as they pass.
Tear drops gather in her kind old eyes,
And swiftly each other chase
Down her cheeks as she thinks of those who are
gone—
Of each well remembered face
That brightened and smiled at right of her
Of the pearis now quiet apd still,
own;
And her own heart feels an aching void
That even the tots cannot fill—
They bring the sunshine into her life,
But they can’t quite take the place
Of the sweet young mother who passed from life
In the fullness of youth and grace.
Little Tot has her hair and smiling lips,
The other tot has her eyes;
And the same sweet voice the grandmother hears
As her grandchild merrily cries,
“ He’s a snowball, he is, my Bunnie sweet,
I loves him, I does, Gamma) ”
And her hazle eyes sparkle and brighten and
glow
As if each imprisoned a star.
Gently she strokes his soft white fur
As he quietly nibbles a bite
Of a cabbage leaf, and submita to be stroked
By her little hand dimpled and white.
And so the days come and so the days go,
With the tots and Grandmother True;
Every morning they go when the sun shlree
. bright,
And the skies are fair and blue,
To feed the rabbits and stroke their fur,
Andjplay in the daisied grass,
And watch the sparrows that twitter and chirp,
And the fleecy clouds that pass
Over the blue so far away
That the tots wonder how it got there;
And Grandmother True tells them of heaven
And of their angel mothef fair.
A good character is in all cases the
fruit of personal exertion. It is not ere*
ated by external advantages, it is no
necessary appendage to birth, wealth,
talents, or station; but it is the result of
one’p own endeavors, the fruit and re
ward of good principles manifested in a
course of virtuous and honorable actions.
««■ • *•
When d^ing what is right the heart is
easy, and becomes better every day;
but when practicing deceit the mind la
bors, and every day seems to get worse..
— •
The repsntance that is delayed until
old age, is but too often a regret for the
inability of committing more sins.
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