Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1857-07-03
Gitrrarp Selections.
DIR VILLAGE POST-OFFICE
A TALE OF JAcKsoN's TIMES.
BY MISS sEDGwICK.

SWhy weep We then, for him, who having won
The bound of mans appointed years, at last,
LIES blessings all enjoyed, ife's labors done,
Serenely TO his final rest has passed
While the soft memory of his virtue yet
Iingers ike twilight hues, when the bright sun
is SET" Bryant.
The master of our village post-offiee
Cor many years past was an old man
but the real dispenser of its joys and
sorrows was his son, youth who per-
Srmed its duties with intelligence, ex-
octDess and delicacy. Some persons
nav not be aware howmuch this quality
;.c.Ded into requisition in village post
master. Having the universal country
aouuaintances with his neighbOrs affairs,
10 holds the key to all correspondence.
He knows, long before the news tran
sD;res, when the minister receives call,
when the speculator's affairs are vibra-
ting he can estimate the conjugal de-
votou of the absent husband; but most
srrsbIe is his knowledge ofthose delicate
.pi Uncertain affairs so provoking to vii
hge curiosity. Letters, directed in
Tel.known characters, and written with
beating hearts within locked apartments,
pass through his hands. The blushing
youth steals in at twilight to receive from
him his doom and TO him is first known
the results of village bellies foray
through neighboring district. Our
young deputy postmaster rarely betray-
ed his involuntary acquaintance with the
nature of the missives dispersed but
when sympathy was permitted, his bright
smile or radiant or fearful eye would show
how earnest part he took in all his
neighbors suffered or enjoyed. Never
was there kinder heart than Lloyd Bar
pards-never a truer mirror than hi:
face.
Every family, however Insignificant il
the strangers eye, has world in it
own. The drama and the epic have
their beginning, their middle, and thei
end in the material world. The trut
story Of human relations never ends, ant
this seals of Immortality it is, that give
dignity and interest to the affection
of the humble and unknown, beyon,
that which fiction and poetry, even whel
it makes gods and heroes its actors, ca
attach to qualities and passions that ar
limited to this worlds stage. This in
trinsic dignity l claim for the subjects c
my humble village tale.
Lloyd Barnard's father, Colonel Jess
Barnard, belonged to that defunct bod.
the aristocracy of our country. II
served in the revolutionary war, he di
good service to the state in the subsequer
Shay's rebellion, and, though he aftel
ward inexplieably fell into the ranks (
the popular, or democratic party, he r
tanned the manners and insignia OF b
caste-the prescribed courtesies of IL
old regime, with the neatly tied cue, al
the garment that has given place to Il
leveling pantaloon. He even perseve
ed in the use of powder till it ceased
be an article of merchandise and to Il
very last he maintained those strict o
seryances of politeness, that are becomil
among US subjects of tradition and b
tory. These, however, are merely ac'
dents Of education and usage. His MOI
constitution had nothing aristocratic
exclusive. On the contrary his hea
was animated with what we would fl
believe to be the spirit of our democra
Institutions, universal good will. L
colonel was remarkably exempt, (whetE
fortunately or unfortunately each accol
ing to his taste must decide) from
virtue or mania of his age and country
and consequently, at three score and t
instead of being the proprietor of Lar
IN the West, or ships on the sea, he p
sessed nothing but his small paterl
estate in B, pretty, cottage-looki
dwelling, with garden and an acre
land. As far back as the administrat
oi Jefferson, he had received the appoi
ment Of postmaster and, as the villa
grew with the prosperity of manufactu
and agriculture, the income of the of
mas OF late amounted to some five or
hundred dollars. This with the addit
O bis pension as a revolutionary offiC
made the colonel passing rich )" for
'niS time his sons and daughters W
nl@frled, and dispersed from Maine
georgia, and the youngest only,
mend Lloyd, remained at home. "P;
ing rich" We say, and repeat it, was
colonel. Those who have never seer
Income Of a few hundred dollars well
mlnstered in rural life, can have
conception of the comfort and indeE