Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-10-31
STAR.
AN INCIDENT IN REAL LIFE,
fFrom the Chica 20 Times q

as an ordinary guest, We KNOWN. his occupa-
tion thought that he paid especial attention u
| the stairway loading to the upper portions Of
the house. We exchanged nod, asked II
there were anything in the wind, received an
| affirmative ned, and we passed on We did
not loose sight of the affair. Next morning,
and 1t was lovely morning in May, We hap
pened TO be at the same place little befJre
| the hour for the departure of the Eastern
cars. A gentleman passed ou. of the hotel
and entered the omnibus; fcw moments sf-
ter the ofhcer calamity escorting a lady, also
entered 1t, and wishing to know and see more
| Of the parties, we too entered the vehicle
The morning was, as we have said, q fine one;
1t was one that q traveller would select as an
auspicious circumstance in his journey; the
air was balmy and refreshing, and soon the
| lady removed the veil which had hidden her
feStures. She was young, perhaps eighteen
years Of age, with q countennn,e slightly
dimmed by sadness, but the sadness, appar
emily, OF an innocent and deeply injured, yet
resigned victim of some unjust suspicion. The
man was uneasy; he would turn bis gaze
| from the lady and fix it with batied or impo-
tent rage upon the officer; occasionally be
| would commence a remark to the lady, but a
| glance from the officer would not only arrest
| 1t abruptly, but would check any response If
any was intended. We saw them seated in
ears, and turned our steps homeward. wonder
| ing who the parties were, what their relative
| position, ard why this officer, by the sinple
silent movement of his eye, could thus control
| and direct their movements, evidently against
! their will. Since then we have, from a hun-
/ dred different sources, gathered little threads
| OF the affair, and now, with names and locali-
! ties changed to avoid identity, we bind these
threads of their history together in the follow
/ ing brief story:
! In the spring of IS4l, the small seminary
I which cnnalIpd fha M n Of
| OF the counties In Maryland, on the Eastern
! Shore IF Chesapeake bay, found itself with
! out teacher in one Of its branches Of instruc-
! ton. An advertisement describing the place
| was published in Baltimore paper, and was
answered by young man, about twenty-five
/ years Of age, who had left a New England
| State in search Cf some employment in a lani
| where teachers as well as pupils were not az
numerous as at home. lie was accepted, and
/ entered upon his duties. lie wss a man Of
| ordinary education, but by the constant dis
| play Ot what he knew, by the continued as
sumption of far more than he knew, and by
the unvaried exhibition Of piety and love of
| religious exercises, he SOON won the respect Of
| all persons, and became tho object Ct even
moro than respect among the country maidens
! for miles around.
| We are not writing a romance. We regret
! ID say that We chronicle in this article the
sad record OF facts and facts alone. 1t would
be out Of place, If we had the room, to sketch
1 even briefly the rivalry and coyness with
which the fair maidens met, and received the
! attentions of the teacher. He was well yersed
in all the herb remedies fer the euts, the
! burns, and other afIlictions Of human nature,
/ and OF course was a favorite among the la
| dies. lie Was an amateur in music, and led
/ tho choir, and upon all such matters, as well
| as upon the fashions was supreme authority
| amor the girls. One Of his young lady pu
/. pills was Mary Ingleton, the only child Of the
wealthiest planter in the county. She was at
! the time of his advent at the seminary but
! fifteen years Of age. With careful speech
| and dcareful unobserved manner he soon taugh
! this lady to love him; and, ere one year had
! passed, they were secretly botrothcd When
. the spring If 1912 arrived, Colonel IngIeton
! and w.fo visited Baltimore, and while on their
! return the steamer upon which they had TAX en-
passage came into lllision with a vessel In
(; the bay, and soon filing, sunk carrying ell on
/ board to q watery tomb. By the laws Of the
| State, the orphan was entitled to q choice of
| guardian; she chose her lover and preceptor
| Three months later, she yielded 70 his per-
| suasions and became his wife. Changes soon
| followed; ono by one the slaves, whose an
! cestors for hundred years had been born and
| had died In that county, were taken posses
| from nelghborlnS port TO more southern
| chimes. Until in May, lS4S, when his wife
! reached her majority, there was but one left
/ of all her fathers people" That one WAS
| the nurse who had reared her; who had been
| her constant companion, her almost second
/ mother. Graves, we must select some
! name we give him this In lieu Of his real one,
| insisted upon the sale of the farm, and re-
| moval to some northern State. His wife de-
INJURED, and for months held out agains. this
| breaking up Of all the associations Of her ear
| licr associations. The sale of the nurse was
| threatened, and to avoid that, and with 9
| promise that the faithful negrcss should be
| freed, and retained as the nurse of her own
| three children, the wife consented to the sa e
of the farm. 1t was sold; and the day the
| wife signed the deed, the negro nurse was
| sent to Richmond.
| Graves moved with his family to Northern
| city, where in rioting and dissipation he
| squandered the fortune he had obtained !;
| he then retired to an interior town In Penn
! sylvania, where, by the profession of his great
and fervid piety, he ingratiated himself into a
| religious society; few months later be formed
| a new congregation, If which he became the
| pastor. Here he continued for year or two,
when he was called to one Of the northern
| counties in the same State, to take char 20 of
| a newly organized sect Of Christians lie
soon became a popular lecturer as well as
preacher. His lectures were filled with that
fiery denuneiGtion, and intrepid zeal in the
cause Oh q regeneration. physical, moral, and
intellectual, of the whole human family, that
! all men, even those who rejected his fanat;-
cism, according to him the sincerest love for
oppressed and enslsved humanity. The wife,
the poor, suffering, neglected, beaten wife,
and mother Of his children, alone knew the
hollowness, and hypocrisy Of the man. Her
wasted form, the meagre allowance of clothin |.
| to herself and children, the neglected fireside
and the harsh, rough imprecations from her
! husbands lips, were evidences to those who
were aware of them, that the man who
! preached freedom abroad, practised bruta,
tyranny at home
! His study was the meeting room for all the
! charitable societies Of the female portion of
| his congregation. From these his wife was
forced to excuse herself, on some idle plea,
furnished by her husband. One Of the most
active, Jealous and handsome of these chari-
table village missionaries was Agnes Nor
wood, the youngest daughter Of a retired and
| wealthy merchant. She soon became tte
leader in these meetings, and having com
marid of money from her father, eclipsed al
others in her contribution to the Rev Mr.
Graves charities. He then made her his