The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1854-09-06

world-without wondering N-tihat they
were come to life agvin. All the daayyss
of their journey wore an uniform charac-
ter; and they kept on and on through
waste and ruin, glad to leave the coun-
try behind them, and expecting as some
relief, the aspect of streets and town.
They halted at length.within few miles
of London, and lay down to rest, thank
ful to be so near their bourne; for they
had suffered as much fatigue as they
could well bear, and their stock of dia-
mUnus wus u1zi--ss y-iv-------s-t,
replenishment. Paulett continued busy
preparing water from part of those that
romained, after his wife and children
were asleep. His own frame scarcely
felt the exertion of the journey, and he
was full of the thoughts with which the
approaching sight OF what had once been
the great metropolis filed him. The
vast untenanted dwelling place; the
solitude of Rehabilitation of crowds, the
absence of mind and talent from the
scene they had SO filled; all these things
excited his feelings, and gaining ground
in the solitude of the night, he felt at
least that he could not willingly delay
his first meeting with the bereaved city,
and that he should be pleased to have
an oppo. tunity of indulging alone the
highly-wrought emotion with which he
expected the sight of it. Accordingly,
when the light began to break, he wrote
word to Ellen that she should wait for
him few hours, and that he would be
back again in that time to lead her and
their children to their journeys end {;
and then softly leaving the house, set
forward eagerly on his way.
1t was evening before he returned
He came in pale and excited; he took
] his children In his arms as usual, and
seemed like one upon whom a thing
which he had seen has made deep i'm
preston, but who either doubts the pow
er of words to convey the same impress
sion, or thinks that he himself is over
excited by it. .-e.-
" Ellen" he said at last, London is
burned to the ground"
The sudden flush on her face, and her
clasped hands, while she spoke out, show
ed that the event touched her, too, MS
deeply as him; and then he went on
| freely
"Oh, Ellen if you had seen it ! 1t
stands there, all in ruins-the whole
city in ruins 1t has been the work of
some great storm which fred it when all
were gone or dead; for there has been
no pulling down, no pillage, no aid, no
attempt to stop the tirel All the pal
aces, all the museums, all the stores OF
learning and art; the streets, the crowd
ed houses; they are gone, Ellen-thsy
are all gone "
His wife never before in all their mis-
cry seen him SO deeply moved-so near
ly overpowered by anything that had oc-
Cured. =. His excitement communicated
itself to her, and she caught the full
bearing of his narration. She felt for
the long ages of story, and the monu-
ments of human skill, buried in the
great city. Irretriavable ruin The
work which men, and years, and growing
knowledge, had s s'owly raised up, all
dead, all annihilated so suddenly. They
sat talking of it very long before Ellen
said,
And what must soe do now, Pau
lett9" .e. s.s
give must go on, Ellen, we must trav-
el further. The rest we hoped for is
destroyed with the city, and we must
press forward if we are to save our
lives, .ss ,,asa ra3 aa . =
That seems less and less possible, ("
said Ellen; and in all this destruction
why should we be preserved " ~,
- g Perhaps because we have as yet
avoided the stroke, by using all our hui
man skill; perhaps because new race
is to spring from us, who shall reign in
another mighty London Alas, London !
alas, the great city "
Several times during the night Ellen
heard Paulett murmur to himself words
of lament over the fallen city and when
he slept, his rest was agitated, and his
frame trembling under the emotions of
the day. =.-
1t was resolved that Ellen should
rest little while in their present
habitation, before undertaking the tolls
of further travel. They intended to
make for the coast; sure of dry
channel to the opposite shore, and hop
ing to reach some of the great CON
tinental towns before their store of dia-
monds should be entirely exhausted In
the meantime, Paulett was bent upon
taking his boy through the ruins of Lon
don, and impressing upon him the memo
ry of the place, and its great events
So the next day, leaving Ellen and little
Alice together, he and Charles began
their pilgrimage through the mighty
ruins. The event must have occurred
very many months ago, for the ruins
were perfectly cold, and the winds had
tcppled own the walls of all the more
fragile buildings; so that the streets lay
in confusion over one another, and it was
impossible, except by other marks, to
recognize the localities. Paulett and
Charles clambered over the fallen walls,
and would have been bcwildered among
heaps of masonry, and houses shaken
from their base and blackened by fire
only that over the desolate prospect they
saw, and Paulett marked the bearings of
st. Paul's the chief part of whose dome
rose high in the air, though huge rent
let the daylight through it, and threat
ened a speedy fall There was here and
there spire rising perfect over the
ruins there were remains of Whitehall,
strong though blackened, seen over a
long view of prostrate streets; and in
the distance beyond, fragments of West
minister Abby showed themselves in
the sunlight, though defaced and crum-
bled, as if the frame had been too an
cient to resist the fire. Guided by these
landmarks, Paulett traced out the plan
of the city, and by degrees recognized
where the great streets had run, where
the river had flowed And all was si-
lent all an absolute etillnarc uhara