26. His Domestic Character.
His Domestic Character
He at one time expressed a fear of marrying, lest, from his ardent temperament, he should love a wife too little or too much. Nor would he be anxious about the selection, nor waste his Master’s time in seeking one, confident that he should certainly have a good wife if God saw best. He did marry wisely and well, and we here give an extract showing that his heart was as true to his companion as it was, in a higher sphere of affection, true to Christ and his Church.
He writes on board of a vessel sailing up the Delaware in sight of Philadelphia, " The prospects on the banks of the river were delightful and cheering every moment. The day was fine and the swiftness of our motion was agreeable, and, to crown all, I saw God in his works, and tasted his goodness in everything. I thought of you almost every moment, and nothing but the presence of yourself and the children was wanting to make me as happy as I could be in this world. Everyone on board is in a bustle, and I am standing away in one corner talking with my best, dearest earthly friend. You, at the distance of five hundred miles, have more attractions for me than the whole city of Philadelphia, which is spread out before me. Kiss the children for me, talk to them about me ; love me as I do you. I love you far better than I did when I wrote the last letter to you before our marriage." The qualities of .a tender husband, and of a faithful and affectionate father, were uniform in their action, and were daily manifested in his household in a manner that showed the intense interest he felt in the religious welfare of his family and domestics.
He had both religion and good sense enough not to be a vain and foolish father, but avoided that doting partiality for his children which causes so many parents to hold the reins of parental discipline with a lax hand. Here is a specimen in which with keen humor he takes off the vanity of doting parents.
" As to baby," he writes, " she is the greatest genius and the greatest beauty in these parts. Suffice it to say, that she has four teeth; stands alone; says 4 Pa’ and ’Ma;’ ’no,’ ’no/ very stoutly, and has been whipped several times for being wiser than her father."