The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-09-03

were a few years of weary, vain struggling
to regain what he had lost; then deep des
pondency, a lingering disease, and death
His wife and four children were left penni
less. The child boy Of sixteen, had finish.
ed his preparatory studies, and was about to
enter college. BY this stroke he found his
prospects for the tutune clouded but viii,
noble selt-forgc,fuiness, he turned cheerful,
Iy into the way fate had marked out for
him and walked resolutely in it..
He obtained situation with merchant
who had known bis father, where his faith.
fnlness and untriug devotion to his duties
won the confidence of all who knew him.
During the first years Of her wJowhood, his
mother had taughta private school for
young ladies and it WAS the boys highest
ambition to relieve her Of the necessity and
give her the rest. her feeble health required
| cannot tell YOU all his privations, his will.
ing sacrifice of every recreation this CONT
nue. self:cenial that he might tighten the
burden Of those so dear to him.
"fear after year success crowned bis ef-
forts In the village where his mother had
passed the years Of childhood, and the first
years Of her married life, he purchased a
pleasant residence for her and then a lucra.
tive business being opened to him iu the
west he came here.
LAT the time Of his removal here, acci-
dent revealed to him the fact that the wild
ow and invalid daughter of one whose for
tune WAS, by his fathers advice, risked in
that unfortunate speculation which had so
changed his own life were living in extreme
poverty. To him they are indebted for the
pleasant home that now shelters them, and
for the delicate, thoughtful mnistra,ion to
their daily comfort
"Now, when the commercial world is
clouded and disasters crowd thick and fast
upon him, as upon others his anxious
thoughts turn to the mother and sufferiDgs
sisters, in their little village home, whose
comfort depends upon him; to the other
lonely fireside, to which bis constant thought
fuIness inparts its only light and to his
own home, and to the young wife whose
happiness is dearer TO him than life. For
this, Margaret Ralph Hale gives his DAYS to
'ncessant toll and willingly sacrifices the
social pleasures he is SO eminently fitted to
enjoy.
Il have been in these three homes
With love that is almost reverence his
mother and sisters speak his name, and
with full hearts thank God for his life, that
life 80 filled with the beauty ofself fr.nuncia-
ton. The widow and daughter, whose
hearts he has made glad, tell Of his number
less acts Of kindness, of his delicate and un-
ceasing watchfuluess and daily they ask
Gods blessing on him whose life is bless.
ing to others.
''ln his own home, the wife whose love
should bless him, whose gentle ministry
should corr fort and strengthen him, turns
collly from him, because he prefers the hap
piness of Others to his own qualification,
because the pressing duties of life claim all
his waking hours, leaving him little leisure
for the claims Of society, or for the high
culture which few attain whose
lives are not wholly devoted to it."
20, Ralph, have never known you /
have 50 cruelty misjudged you," said the
weeping wife.
The old man continued "Some men talk
poetry, some write'it in words, and some
in their lives. The true heroism of which
poets have sung. the beauty Of sef:abnega-
ton and Of ceasless devotionSto duty, which
have been theif insP;ration, Ralph Hale has
lived The eswoman who!has won the deep
est-love Of such, a heart, should reverenty
and gratefully cherish it as the richest bless
ing of'hcElifs"
= In the twilight ofthat day, Margaret was
Waiting Her husbands return. Amid the
bitter self.reproaches that darkened the hour
CLEANED anew and holy light. Higher
purposes were aroused within her. In the
future she would make divineIy real in her
life the beautiful ideals which had filled
her heart with unsatisfed longings. She,
too, would live for Others, and, first ofFsll,
for him whom she had SO misunderstood.
A hurried stepain the entrance hall,
then on the stairs, and the next moment she
was clasped. in her husband s;arms.
THsMorHER:-Despise not thy mother
when she is old. Age mayi~ear and waste a
mothers beauty, strength, limbs. sense, and
estates; but. her relation as another q is las
the san when he goes forthiu BIS 7migbt--it
istalways'in in the meridian aud knoweth no
eveninv The maroon mo,, hn rxra,,, Lnna.So j