Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-04-12

wood, and told his son to take another
All was put u the wagon; he not forget
ting six candies and paper of matches
Deacon Goodman needed no secondary mo.
tive to Christian duty yet historical truth
demands the concession, that the wife q
the poor drunkard was his first love. She
Tilted him Of, as we Yankees say, "gave
him the mittcn," in favor of the abiec,
wretch who was now become her tyrant,
And this wasthe way he 'sfed fat the an
cient grudge he owed her!'' The truth
is, Deacon Goldman knew Nothing about
grudges, ancient or modern. The old
Adam enthusiastically flare up, but he
always got him under before sun-down.
All was ready, and in five minutes the
Deacon was exposed to the peltings ofthe
pitiless storm But what did he care for
the storm? & am going on Gods errand,' y
said he to himself. 81 am going to visit
the worse than widow and fatherless."-
The next thing that he said was, "Oh, get
out" That Ne meant for the promptings
of his own proud heart.
Misery, mpery indeed did he find in
that most miserable dwelling. The poor
wretch himself was dead drunk on the
floor. The pbor woman was sobbing her
very heart Out The children were clam
orous sand bnt few were the words Of
their clamor. sI am cold,"- am hun
gry,"-and that was all. The Deacon
brought in the wood, made up fire, light
ed the candles and emptied the bag and
basket. Thepoor pale woman wept and
sobbed her thinks. "Oh, you varmin,, -
said the Deacon, as he looked at the hus-
band and father, and broke off piece of
bread for each Of the children. The gen.
eral co,nmotion aroused the poor wretch
from his drunken stupor. He looked up
and recognized the Deacon.
"Hallo, old music" said he, "are you
here 2-give us stave, old nightingale
Sing as you do in meeting. Sing, and
scare the rats away"
"Why, what on earth does the crittur
mean ?" said the Deacon. The poor, pale,
grateful woman smiled through her tears.
She could not help it. She had been
singer in her better days-she had heard
the Deacon sing.
do not record these incidents merely
because they are honorable TO Deacon
Goodman, butbecause they are particular
ly connected with my story. In this err
rand Of mercy, the good Deacon caught
very serious cold--it affected his throat
and his nose, and even his lungs, land
gave his voice tone not unlike to that of
the lowest note of cracked bass-viol, al
ternating with the shrek Of a clarionet
powerfully bit unskillfnlly blown. On
Saturday evening he soaked his feet in hot
wafer. drank copiously of hot balm tea,
went to bed, and said he felt comfortable.
"Now, Deacon" said Mrs Goodman,
"you are dreadful hoarse; you uont sing
tomorrow, will you?" "singing is pray
ing-and-"-he dropped asleep. And
sure enough, he did sing tomorrow, and
it surpassed all that had gone before
"This is the last Of il, said the choir lead
er,-'I have done.'' lnthe afternoon the
choir was vacant, some of the singers abb
sent, and others scattered about in the
pews. The minister read three verses Of
psalm, and then observed, "The choir
being absent, singing must necessarily be
omitted" But Deacon Goodman saw no
such necessity. He arose and sung the
three verses himself. He stopped six
times to sneezc; and blew his nose be-
tween the verses by way Of symphony!
The next day he was sick abed. A par
ish meeting was hastily called, and res
olution was unanimously passed, that
"Whereas the solemnity and desprum of
public worship depend much on the char
acter ofthe music resolved, that hereafter
no person shall sing in meeting, in this
parish. without the appreciation of the
choir" Rather stringent measure, but
what could they do? The Minister call
ed on Deacon Goodman, and handed him
the resolution. He read il over three
times. He then calmly folded up the pa
per, and handed it back to The Minister.
"This is free country yet hope. IshaI
sing in meeting.'' He said those very
words! He was dreadfully "set in his
way."
"Then Deacon" said the Minister. 81
have painful duty to perform: am in
stucted to tell you, that your connection
with the society must cease" The Dea-
con here started from his seat. Had the
full moon split into four pieces, and dane
ed quadrille in the heavens-Orion
singing, and the Northern Bear growing
bass, he could not have been more astoun-
ded. He was silent. Emotion after emo
ton rolled over his heaving spirit. "At
length tears came to his relief" as they
say in the novels. He spoke, but almost
inarticulately. 81 know | am poor I'M
worthy creature, but hope they will take
me in somewhere" The Minister wept
himself. How could he help it? The
Deacou's cold was nearly cured : and about
an hour after the interview, he was seen
mounted on old Mag, heading due North.
Four miles in that direction lived the wor-
thy Minister Of another parish. The
Deacon found him in his study, where also
was his daughter, copying music. She was
a proficient in the art, and played the or
gan in her fathers church.. She had heard
Of the Deacon's musical troubles, and had
also heard him sing. "Sir," said he to the
s'there has been little difficult
ty in our parish, which makes me feel it
my duty to withdraw and l have come
RI aSL tho nr;v ;laro If npitinr az; h 1,ours >,