The Pedler of Dust Sticks | Page 7

burying ground was not far from the street,
and often unfeeling boys would steal these sacred flowers; but not one
was ever stolen from the grave of Agatha.
The sister of whom we have before spoken, whom we will call also by
her Christian name, Catharine, loved her sister with the most devoted
love, and when Agatha was dying, promised her that she would be a
mother to her children, and never leave them till they were able to take
care of themselves.
She kept her word. She refused many offers of marriage, which she
might have been disposed to accept, and was a true mother to her
sister's children, till they were all either married or old enough not to
want her care. Then, at the age of fifty, aunt Catharine married a
widower, who had three children, who wanted her care.
From the time Henry lost his dear wife, he devoted himself not only
more than ever to his children, but also to the good of his workmen. He
sought in duty, in good works, for strength to bear his heavy sorrow; so
that death might not divide him from her he loved, but that he might be
fitting himself for an eternal union with her in heaven.
Henry never forgot that he had been obliged to work hard for a living
himself, and he also remembered what had been his greatest trials in his
days of poverty. He determined to save his workmen from these
sufferings as much as possible.
He recollected and still felt the evils of a want of education. He could
never forget how with longing eyes he had used to look at books, and
what a joy it had been to him to go to school; and he resolved that his
children should be well instructed. The garden of knowledge, that was

so tempting to him, and that he was not allowed to enter, he resolved
should be open to them. He gave them the best instructors he could find,
and took care that they should be taught every thing that would be
useful to them--the modern languages, music, drawing, history, &c.
Henry had found the blessing of being able to labor skilfully with his
hands; so he insisted that all his children should learn how to work with
their own hands.
"My daughters," he said, "in order to be good housewives, must know
how every thing ought to be done, and be able to do it. If they are poor,
this will save them from much misery, and secure them comfort and
respectability."
He insisted that those of his sons who engaged in his business should
work with the workmen, wear the same dress, and do just as they did;
so that the boys might be independent of circumstances, and have the
security of a good living, come what would. Thus every one of his
children had the advantages which belong to poverty as well as those of
riches. Their father said to them, that if they knew what work was, they
would know what to require of those who labored for them; that they
would have more feeling for laborers, and more respect for them.
Henry was truly the friend of his workmen. He gave them time enough
to go to school. He encouraged temperance; he had a weak kind of beer,
made of herbs, for them to drink, so that they might not desire spirit.
He gave them, once a year, a handsome dinner, at which he presided
himself. He encouraged them to read, and helped them to obtain books.
He had a singing master, and took care that every one who had a voice
should be taught to sing. He bought a pianoforte for them, and had it
put in a room in the factory, where any one, who had time, and wished
to play, could go and play upon it; and he gave them a music teacher.
He did every thing he could to make their life beautiful and happy. He
induced them to save a small sum every week from their wages, as a
fund to be used when any one died, or was sick, or was married, or
wanted particular aid beyond what his wages afforded.

Henry's factory was the abode of industry, temperance, and
cheerfulness. The workmen all loved him like a brother. It was his great
object to show them that labor was an honorable thing, and to make
laborers as happy as he thought they ought to be.
Henry was much interested in all that related to the United States of
America; and he was very angry at our slavery. He felt that slavery
brought labor into discredit, and his heart ached for the poor slaves,
who are cut off from all knowledge, all improvement.