The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-10-15
A Bachelors Plea.

ngga WE- - EE&sk GEaS
They call me an Old Bachelor, and ! am
one but not as the world fnestheword.- -
Its definition OF bachelor is this--a man who
never was married and therefore it IS infer
red, as a part Of the definition that, he had
mo spot in his heart where cnpid's dart could
make an impression, hts heart is harder even
than Pharaoh's. Or, which is still more com-
mon, they believe that bachelors have no
hearts-that the part Of the human anatomy
usually occupied by that organ is a void, or is
oecupiedby a piece Of flint or steel Of the
form of heart, which is impervious to all at
tacks And we bachelors do MT often unde-
ceive them. We 10 not frequently lay bare
our bosoms to their inspection, or raise the cur
tain of silence ord obscurity which surrounds
ourselves, and expose to view the CORY wounds
and the arrows ranking in them, which many
a bachelors smooth face and pleasant smile
conceals- rse 49,
Nor do we often disclose 10 them the treas
ured images OF times and scenes, long, long
gone by. and forms, and fsces, aud hearts,
dearer to us than all else the world ever pro-
duced, which are there enshrined, aud before
witch the lamp VI love burns brighter and
brighter, aud onr exterior forms grow older
and older, and as we draw nearer and nearer
tcthat place where. our lamps Of love shall
kimlie TO light divine. ssi sa.s ~
We dS not often, say. lay open those SEE
ere. recesses Of our mature to the common eye.
But sometimes there are those found who, like
myself are willing to do 80, that the rest OF
mankind may learn lesson. have said I
am bachelor. never took the hand Of one
loved best on earth in mine and called her
wife. / never had her kind and anxious face
bent over my pillow, and her gentle hand
smooth away the wrinkles OF pain from my
brow or bathe my aching head, towering ar
ound me like a spirit Of light when was laid
upon couch Of sickness. never felt fatt-
er's Joy when his FIRST born was brought to
him to train up in the world or when his chill
dsen gathered around his knee and amused
him with their innocen: prattle. never had
the'rpholding hand OF strong and noble son
tq support my now weary footsteps; Or a
daughter 10 cheer me with words OF love and
D fallen to my lot. Yes, am bachelor. ~
And / am an old bachelor, too. The frosts
= seventy winters have fallen on my head,
aud give il their hue. The suns Of seventy
summers have shone upon my face and left
their tinge. The hands OF thrce-score years
and ten are already heavy upon me, and are
fast hurrying inc to the cold grave. And I
feel that the next year will he caeting the cold
elods OF my colin, and every succeeding one
viii be busiiy obhterating even the name from
nStomb- stone, and not many more will come
ere all trace OF thea Old Bachelor Granto viii
hare passed away. Well, let it be 50. There
are but few in the wide world whose love even
now Iwould covet, and what does it matter to
me whether mankind remember me or not
when am gone? ,-.-ss ss,a1r.a
Butin this old withered hulk, 30 repalsive
to view--as sometimes in the toughest shell
there i pearl, or iE an ugly stone q diamond
sosin this old worn out body there is price.
less jewel, which all the struggles Of the world
have not been able to take away OF dimn its
] lusture. Yesf have heart within this
breast--a heart softer to the calls of pity -
/ affection than you may believe.
And In this heart there are images tress
ured, a. fresh and palpable to my mental Wis
ion, ae ever the originals, which have long
tsincs passed from US, were to my actual eye.
Deep down In corner, whittier memory o.
ten wanders, is the image Of ber who gave me