Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-11-29
nlisfellaneous.
From Gleason's Pictorial
THE WHITE COTTAGE AND THE MANSION.
BY REV. HENRY BACON

n tiful and attractive to me as when seq
S from a splendid and luxurious home.-
D The latter always suffers, in my mind. b
$ the contrast. and images of slight labo,
are brought into comparison with ince:
SAINT care, anxiety and toll, where depe,
, deDce must be made on many servant
) jealous of overstepping the limits of eac
} others labors.
What gorgeous room was that out {
, which, with my friend Hadley, looked o
,, , a sweet white cottage in the distance, shr
ing out from between the hanging, luxu
RANT grape vines in the rear, and the hon
, eysuckles, and woodbines, and roses il
front. A door leading to the veranda wa
open, and after the eye had passed th
smooth and undulating lawn, it shot owe
the hawthorn fence and ran down tn
winding path by the woodland resting OF
the Widow Elford's cottage looking ther
as quiet in the vale as the folded hands o
that sanity woman reposed in her Ian
when, in the soft light of early twilight
her daughter read to her from the On,
Book for the heart. Fancy was fairl,
caught by the sight. and weaving togeth
er my imaginations. in connection Will
the visible beauty of the place. | made q
wood picture which subsequently, pleased
my friend exceedingly.
The next time | left the noisy town foI
the quiet of his summer home, we sat al
tbs same point of view and looked on the
same landscape, which was more beautiful
than before, seen In the hues which the
witchery of early autumn imparts l found
that few months had wrought wonder
full change in him. and this, in connection
with what followed. will make the story I
am now to write
Arthur Hadley was the son of one of the
wealthiest of our late citizens rememb bered
for the tremendous energy with which he
| pursued whatever enterprisehe undertook,
seeming many times to turn what appear
| ed to threaten adverse fortune by the
| might of his will As be amassed wealth.
he wanted to enjoy all its show and appli-
ances, and his house, therefore, was pal
ace, In which a retinue of servants kept
up a constant appearance of activity, and
Injury assumed all her forms, though with
out ever being modified by degrading as
sociations. He did not come to his home
for repose, but the time spent there seem
ed to be only change of busy activity.
and he was as ready at any hour Of social
companionship to fly back to town by re-
lays of swift horses, at any call, as to ap-
ply himself to business when there His
taste He F1 essmatg he hg If If s 9as formed
of wealth by her husband gave him the
means of luxurious living, and she never
abandoned the settled conviction of those
early years She felt that that life which
is attainable by all who will live virtuous-
| ly and unambitiously must be the true
| life-the most abounding in real. substan-
| tial happiness-the best to enjoy and the
sweetest to remember With woman's
instinct. and the tact of true wisdom, she
drew out of the luxurious life about her
what she needed. and let the rest 90 as
parts of drama in which she was not
and would not be interested She treated
it as she treated scenes to which she traV-
elled with gay parties she did not tie
herself to adniring what they admired
but while they consulted guide books and
quoted scraps of poetry selected from
them, she looked with the eye of her own
heart, and made poems for herself; hence
there was lovely consistency in her char
acter. Every opinion she cherished she
could vindicate and whenever her tastes
were questioned she answered the criti
cism with the eloquence of intelligent sin
cerity She, too, when her palace home
was admired by some new guest, would
glance down to the white cottage, and di-
rect attention to some other object than
the spler dor about her.
| Arthur was more mother than father
but he had but lately discovered it. He
had early been thrown into the rushing
Istream of business life with his father, and
that fathers energy and enthusiasm were
contagious Yet it was evident, from
many tokens, that Arthur followed from
lconstraint rather than from nature; ht
was drawn on by the tide, rather thar
swimming of his own free will. 1t wa
not till the little conversation we had to
lgether. as above referred to, that he realil
knew his own tastes and his own estimate
of life
At that time the white cottage had no
long been the Widow Elford's 1t hat
been owned and occupied by family o
, small taste and little relish for refinement
and who had removed to the West. where
in contact with undisciplined nature. the.
would find fitting sphere Mrs Eltor'
was the widow of a clergyman, with whom
life had been truly Christian thing. an
with the little property she had been mad
by him always to keep in her own name
she purchased the white cottage and mad
it her home, some miles away from th
old parish, and here she sought to live
neditating on the past and imagining tn
blessed future beyond mortality, rathe
than living in the present She had a
only daughter and one son, both faithful
: to their mother-one at home, the othe
$ in our city.
! 1t is not to be wondered at that Arthu
had not noticed the change In the whit
D cottage, or rather around it, since the r.
moval there of the new family Durin
his brief times at home, some book Ell
crossed his attention, or else, if he locke
" around him, his vision seemed 70 retail
the images of business, as dreams han
= round US when half awake in the morning
Rut now his eva uas einola Whan IN II