Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-11-10
gHE Sc EPEEOTHER.;


The viliarertsz Hof ~ .-.--.sy well remember the
saa morning when the bell toIed for the death oil
Emna, the once beautiful, loved and beloved wife
of Jrdgc Ailstsn.t Many face was shadowed,
many heart was III mourning on that day; for
she was zone 50 early TO her rest, had endeared
herself to many her goodness, gentleness. and
r aalty sef her blameless life. She had been de-
ciining for a long time, and yet she seemed to
Have died suddenly at last, So difficult 50 almost
iinpossible it was for those who loved her to pre-
f,aretheir hearts for that fearful bereavement that
unreasonable Ioss st rsHilas 81 bis4iI as4 s7sa
= Mrs ..llston left four hildree1r--Isabel, the
ELDEST, an Intellectual, generous hearted girl Of
seventeen, not beautiful, but thoroughly noble
looking; Frank, 9fne boy of twelve; Einma,
sthe beauty,'''a child of seven, and Eddie, the
baby, delicate infant, only about year old.
Judge Ailston was man Of naturally quick
AMI strong feelings but one who had acquired a
Remarkable control over expression, calnlIless
and reserve of manner often mistaken for hauteur
ard dsnsehsl6ility He was alone with his wife
when she died. Isabel, wearied with long watch
ing, had Idi, down for little rest, and was Sleep
ing with the children-and the mother, even in
that Hour tenerfy caring for then would not that
they should be walked Tho last Struggle was
brief but terrible; the spirit seemed painfully torn
from lis human tenement-the immortal rent its
way forth from impfisoning mortality. Yet he.
the husband and lover, preserved his calnihess
through all; and when the last painful breath had
been painted out on the still air Of midnight, he
laid the dear head he had been supporting agains
his breast gently down on the pillow-kissedth.
cold damp forehead and still lips Of the love CT
his youth, and then snrnmoning an attendant
turned away and sought bis room where nloIe, il
the .dsrkneks, he wrestled with the angel Of sor
row--wept the swift tears of his anguish, and Ia
cerated his heart with I'll the vain regrets and wilt
reproaches of bereaved affection. But with The
coming OF morning came serenity and signati On
and then he led his children into the silent cham
her where lay their mother, already clad in tht
garments of the grave. There too he was calm
holding the fainting Isabel in his arms and gen
tly h,shing the passionate outcries Of Emma ant
Frank. Hewas never seen to weep puntil the frs
earth fell upon the coffin, and then he covered Vi
his face and sobbed aloud:.
Mrs Alston was not laid in the village church
yard, but was buried, at her own request, within
an arbor, at the end Of the garden. She said
would not seem that she was thrust out from he
home, if the light from her window shone toward
her grave; and that he, half believed that tn
loved voice Of her husband, and the singing Q
her daughter, and the laughter Of her children
would come to her, when she lay with her favor
lite flowers about her, and the birds she had fe'
and protected building their nests above her in th
vines. yss
When the stunning weight Of sorrow, its frs
distraction and desolation had been taken from tn
lie. and spirit of Isabel A llston, clear an
noble. purpose took possession Of Of her mind. mind. sh
wouH FL the place of her dead J., mother in tn
shousehold--=she, would console and care for he
poor father-she would love yet more tenderly he
young brother and sister, and bind up the bruise
heart 50 early crushed BY affction, she would b
a mother to the babe, who had almost felt the be
som, which had been its first resting place, gro
cold against his little cheek, and hard and nser
sible to its awaxed touches,7 now that the voic
which hushedi it to its first sumbers had sunk low