M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1857-04-30

much selfconcelt as most young men,
but the more looked at that sweet
girl, the less / thotof myself. When
the services were over | followed her
to the door OF the carriage, and could
not help saying as the gentleman
handed her in, God bless you, my
sweet angelP and to my surprise, in
stead Of being offended, she replied,
Thank yon. sir, and may He bless
you too The gentleman raised his
hat to me and smiled. Goodbye,
Jack, he said, good luck toyou.' It
was the voice of q sailor; he was no
doubt, retired sea captain. Both
the ladies, though | had neglected
one entirely, bowed to me out Of the
carriage window. In moment they
were gone, and never saw them
from that time to this, yet from that
day to this ! have truly loved that
sweet GIRL"
did you ever try to find who she
was" inquired.
mo, sir, what was the use9 | felt
myselfa poor, ignorant sailor, hardly
able to write my own name; and |
was not silly enough to think that such
lovely girl would care anything
about me. Thinking about her, took
all the seli-concet out Of me-"
"But you said you thought you had
seen her before; how was thatl"
1T was only a dream, sir. Inever
saw her before. Now, as I'm grow
ing old, have been thinking serious
y abouttrying TO be good, that may
meet her in Heaven. Every Sunday,
for forty years, has the scene in that
church been before me, and every
time | think upon my sweet girl she
looks more lovely than before. |
could never think of marrying with
her image ever present in my mind
Do you think, sir, it is possible for an
old sinner like me to be good enough
to 90 to Heaven"
"Why not, William9"
"l'll tell you why, about eight years
ago left the sea, for then | dreamed
that saw my dear angel 60 to Heav-
en-, and tried to be good. worked a
long shore with niggers and steve
dores, and had over two thousand dol
lars that | saved, sol got along very
comfortably. | joined a church, and
thought had got religion, when
rascally deacon cheated me out offfty
dollars. | was so laundering mad,
that | gave the fellow an awful hiding,
and before he could set the law down
on me, | was at sea again. think
now that | did very wrong; but Pm so
hard. hearted, that | can't, in my soul,
forgive the fellow, even to this day.
My sweet angel tells me in my
dreams that must forgive him, and
that i'll wish to join her | must be
good"
He said much more, but the above
affords glance at his inner life, and
shows the purity of his soul. ltmust
be thought that he was whining
old fool; on the contrary he was a
man Of dauntlcsS courage; bold even
to recklessness, and quick to resent
an insult. No men are thrown more
upon their own resources for mental
food than seainen. For weeks, and
even months sky and water, are thCir
only companions; and long voyages,
when they have watch-and-w watch,
their labor is very light. 1t is then
their mind dwells upon the pleasant
scenes ofthe past and make the dross
of earth appear divine. Bill Thorn
tons case is not singular. Almost
every sailor has some beauteous love-
dream, and hence the reason why so
few ofthem marry. The ideal has
more charms for them than the
real.
With all their faults sailors are not
bad men. AS class, in a rude way,
they love the true, the beautiful and
the good, and are proverbial for their
generosity. May they all go to
heaven at last.
Iron.