a boy has
lost his life by breaking the fifth commandment, which says, "Honor thy
father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee." Many a boy who, had he lived, might have
become a good and noble-hearted man, doing much good in the world, has
thus early been summoned suddenly and unprepared before the judgment
bar of God, simply for having forgotten, in a moment of pleasurable
excitement, to honor his parents by a strict obedience to their
commands. But, thanks to our Heavenly Father, this was not the case
with little Joseph Charless, for, although he was drawn by the current
of the terrible Mississippi into a whirling eddy, he was saved from
such a dreadful doom. A good, brave boy, who was larger than he, and a
better swimmer, rushed into the whirl and pulled him out to the shore.
Poor little fellow! he was almost gone, for he was insensible, and it
was some time before he breathed freely again. He was carried home--to
that dear home which came so near being made desolate--and with
deep penitence did he confess his fault and beg for pardon. His last
thoughts when he was drowning (as he thought) were, "I have disobeyed
my mother! It will break my poor mother's heart!"

Children have a great deal of curiosity, and perhaps you will
ask, "how did grandma know so much about grandpa when he was a little
boy? Was she a little girl then, and did she live in St. Louis, too?"
No, my children, when my parents moved to St. Louis I was a young lady
and grandpa was a young gentleman. We soon became acquainted, however,
and after awhile we were married, and then I took a strange fancy to
learn all about him from the time he was a little baby in his mother's
arms; and when I ventured to ask his mother a few questions about him,
I found it pleased her so much that I was encouraged to ask many more.
And now it seems to me I have known grandpa always, and was with him
when he used to go with his mamma and little brothers and sisters into
the country, with a company of the neighbors, all in little French
carts, to gather strawberries and blackberries, which grew in abundance
in Lucas Place, Chouteau avenue, and all about, where now are elegant
mansions and paved streets. It was then a prairie, with clumps of
trees here and there, springs of water and sweet wild flowers.

He told me himself about his frolics with the French boys (many
of whom were his earliest and truest friends),