Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-06-04
From Chambers Journal. 'H
A Man Of Moderate Independence lie
STARTLING situations. sF ,'H..fi


Startling situations. nf 'Iaii
Ny existence, am happy TO say, has not
been what any conscientious "gentleman con-
nected with the pressp would feel himselfjus4
tilted in calling "checkered.' did not begin
lie as the heir to a dukedom, find myself at
twenty-one to have been illegit.mate, and
eventually in position to dictate to some
popular author, from the sick ward Of a union
work-house the interesting raw materials for
his nos,telette, THE Falling STAR Neither
did begin life q lad in the knife-house, and
mCrssping up from high to higher .r.
ga Become on fortunes oroyniDg slope,
And dt with aldermen to cope.p n /
The prayer Of my godfather for me was like
..Aaur's, that should have neither riches nor
poverty; he left me that much-abused Inherit
ance--which, to reasonable mani is never
the best in the world, since it enables him to
pursue all good objects for their OWL sake-a
= moderate Independence" and have kept il
ever since. sHyilnl4laaf IE ii1la H. ,j fi.t
Hence, 0 reader, tits in vain 70 expect from
this comfortable quill either soaring flights into
the Empyrean, with large E,) or down
swoops into thr Aysms. I7know no more OF
palaces than / do ofprisons and yet | have
had my three starting situations" too. Most
mortals who have grown to be men and wo-
men have had some experience always after
ward observable to their minds eye in the
level road of their existences, even If they be
but the being pitched out off merry-go round
at fair, or the having proposals of marriage
rendered to them by a black man; and why
not like the rest?
First, then, ] have had the privilege of be-
holding a spiritual rnanifestation--three dis
tinrt, or, at all events, separate ghosts at the
same time. This happened ON my way from
Calais to Paris in the winter of 1882. The
boat, as il always does when ! am in it "a
proof of my honest assertion that there i
nothing about me unlike what belongs to tht
majority of my fellow w-creatnres)h had made al
exceedingly bad passage, and l landed upoi
the shores of France with vacuum with mi
that had yet no desire to replenish. Had
dbeen otherwise there was very little time Il
do it, for the diligence, unlike myself quit
fall inside, was upon the point of starting
and climbed up in miserable condition be
side the conductor. How he screamed, ges
ticulated, and cracked his prodigious whi
ike demon driver, il is not necessary, AM
h would be painful for me to describe. | fel
asleep as soon as could, and forgot hin
and when ! woke again he was asleep, too
and the horses were going at their own swee
viii and pace, which latter is in France yer
moderate one. I felt coldand hungry enough
but yet so faint as not TO seem equal to tn
effect Of waking the driver and urging him [
push on o little faster TO the next roadside I'M
50 faint so drowsy, that no earthly thing,
think, short OF an upset, could have rouse
j lne up or awakened my interest.
p No earthly thing, perhaps; but what WI
that running along the hedge, on the top
the side Of the diligence and vet a little
advance, 30 IS to turn back and look at it an
me7 That woke me soon enough and mo
thoroughly. What business had Mary RoS
my little ward, who bad lately been left
widow, with two children, and whom hi
hidden gocd-by. to only few days before
what business, say, had she to be runniI
atop OF a roadside hedge between Calais q
Paris At midnight, always keeping her he
turned round, and her eyes fixed upon mel
There was not the leastd of its beil
Mary, although l had never seen her wi
look of pain and entreaty ON her face befol
am thankful to think that she never had
ask anything, either for herself or othe
twice from me. She never looked before Ii,
but glided swiftly on along the hedge; al
when a gap or gate intervened, seemed
. leap it without any spring OF unusual exc
atipp, When her eyes were not on mine, tn
were fixed on one or, other of the two 70
wheels ofths diligence; and,d presently,
leaned over TO see what was attracting her
the leftrhapd one. Georgy was there
b,lseorgy Ross, her eldest son, revolving wi
the wheel, and upon its rim, disappearing a
coming up again as though he were bound
g u, with bis white face upward toward I
and htFi bat With shut eyes, Her broth
Charles was on the otheE, wheel ] kne
~ although, OF cpuzge, 1 could not see him; az
presently, upon the great empty front ~
where there was room for four besides I
driver, there lay stretched on either side
me those aarpe two boys, in long VIII
dresses whichr7ai since they were dead, Do
things, as II subseq qusntlY turned ont7-miR
haye heen shroQds, i had scarcely time
put my hands out, right and left, and tbron
T.|t ttaooa IL H.