Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-07-12
DAILY EVENING STAR,
THE T0LLING BELL.
A SABBATH EoRNIN; TaJr

MOI many months ago, In one of MI
summer ramblcs, I found myself OF
beautiful Sabbath morning the cu, st of :
verify and intelligent family, in a quiet
country village. .- :.
The early breakfast was over; parent;
and children bad .ie;ucd in reading a chap.
ter in the Billie; AR. Sedgwick, the head
of the family, had laen offered up fer
vent prayer, at the conclusion Of which
we all arose from our knees, when oa,
cars were greeted by the clear. deep peal:
Of the singing church bell. - 81
$50 late ~ exclaimed Mrs. Sedgwick
looking at the clsck. 'Our time-piecs
must be Slow ~,'F -..
'That IS not the first Tell for church, -
replied her husband solmcnly. There
has been death in the village. The t:il
lis going to toll for Martin Lord"
"Such then is his unhappy end -
unused his wife. "Well, il will be wrong
to mourn his death. II death was ever
a mcrcjiul providence it is SO in this
case" ,...r..--...-. -.. g. --g g.
.Is it person who had been long
sick s'' l asked. ...,.;I, .-...
Instead of answering my qu,- ion di.
lrectly, Mr.. Ssdgwick said ....a e..
"Ihere is very melancholy history
connected with that young man. 1t is
now sometime since the excitement oc.
casioned by this strange tragedy died
away; but the toiling Fef the bell this
morning must bring it back forcibly to
every heart. Perhaps you would be in
terested to hear the story g"
Ia expressed my desire to listen to the
narration; upon which my friend gave me
the details Of the following story, which
1 relate with only slight deviation from
the original .......-s.---
Martin Lord was once the flower and
the hope Of one Of the most respected
families in the village. His amiable dis
position and superior. intellect procured
for bim universal love and esteem.
Although of slight figure, and pale
features, which indicated a constitution
by bynomeansrobust, Martin was remarked
for his uncommon beauty and indeed his
fine, noble forehead, shaded by locks of
soft brown hair, his lerge expressive blue
eyes, straight nose, with the thin Grecian
nostrils, and rather voluptuous mouth,
entitled him in some measure to that con-
sideratiOn. -.-
Martin Was great faverite with the
ladies, old and young; but he never
showed any marked partiality to any one,
until he tecame intimate with isabella
Ashton, the daughter of our late clergy
man, who did of grief about yeer
ago. .-.f
No two beings could be more indiff,sr.
ent. Isabella was the mcst young and
thoughtless girl in our village. She could
have little sympathy with a person of
such deep feelings :.nd intellect as Mar
tin; and beautiful as she was, it seemed
strange that he should have given his
love to her. There is no doubt she was
attached to him; perhaps she loved him
as we'll as she was capable of loving any
one but in this instance, as in all others,
her affections were secondary to her love
of sarcasm and mis- CHEF.
Martin and Isabella had been pointed
out as lovers, by village goSsips, for sew
eral months be was now ninetee and
she was of the same age, when the trag-
edy occurred which the tollipg of the hell
has recalled to my memory.
ltWas on an autumn evening, a~ly
five years since, that Isabella took a1-
vantage of the absence Of her father to
have social gathering of young people
at their house. Martin, of course, was
present, with tho fairest youths eud
maidens and being under no restraint
from the gravity of the clergyman, who
was not expected home till late, the com.
pany enjoyed themselves freely with jests,
songs, and social games.
The hour at which such parties usu
ally broke up had already passed, and
there was no relaxation in the gaiety of
the young people, when some one fool
ishly mentioned the subject of ghosts,
something of that description having
been reported as having been seen in the
vicinity of the church-yard. q
cit is a silly report" said Martin.
l"Nobody can believe that ghost has
really bs en- seen there; and / doubt if o
person here believes at all in the exist
ence of ghosts" .-.,.... . -.
"You do yoIrself-you know you do,
Martin, although you are ashamed TO
own it," cried Isabella But Martin
only laughed. Come now" continued
the thought1ess girl, :" I can prove that
you have some idea that such things may
exist. Go to the church-yard alone in
the dark, and then declare, if you can,
that you have felt no fear" -su..ssa--r
.:And what would that prove 81 =
"Why, you viii be frightened though
YOU should see nothing. Your fears
fwou,d put your ,lief to the test. How
could YOU Be afraid if you did not feel
that there was something to be afraid
I iofa' ~: n IL 11aE - 5-f-.--.-
"I do think your logic is the best in
! the world" replied Martin, laughing
!" Men are often troubles / with fear, when
there reason tells them is no cause to
fear. But I deny, in the first place, that
a journey to the churchyard, even at mid
night, would Tighten me in the least.
.sHow bravely you can talk" said
Isabella, indulging in her customary tone
| Of sarcasm, But not ody here believes
| you.5 I don't at any rate. Why, you
hadn't courage enough, the other day!
to help kill a rabbit, your mother told
me So" .-.g. fs e.lsssy-,. .,o5 q. -
II never like to cause or witness pan
if IL can be avoided" answered Martin
},Iucl,;,,p..l g.. Ersssr Eiifs 80 -a.at Il e. =.
| uIJ, b., ha, what an excellent ex.