The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1860-06-08
OFFICE IN HooPER's BRICK

1 tIlS III tut Uutlt VI uCuu btJ"Ct obt
for the life Of my mother, and he refused me
he, wifeless, childless, and . rich, and
we his only relatives on earth. 0, into
what rocks and stones this greed Of gold
hardens the souls Of men. Well, they have
met now, and God be Judge betwixt them.
was twenty-six when my mother died.
She stood, for me, a. the type and represen-
tative Of all women. For her sake, had
unbounded faith in oil, though had never
known one intimately. OF an artful, self
ish, designing woman, had not the slightest
conception, but held oil to be as pure IN
heart, as lovely in character, as noble, rs
true, as selEsacrfcing ss-my mother.
In less than half year after she died,
met HER. She was the sister Of one OF my
ass-mates, and to wonderful beauty OF
person, she united that grace Of movement
that rare fascination and vivacity ofcxpres-,
sion which make woman so great favor
ite with men. Larger acquaintance with
the sex has since convinced me that this
style Of temperament and character Is most
frequently associated with lax principles and
impulsve, but shallow feeling, and that such
women fill up their lives with true, and high
and noble purposes, and that their beautiful
impulses seldom condense into those fixed
religious principles, without which oil lives
are mistakes and failures. Well, worship
ed Helen James. For two years there was
no altitude Of moral grace and lovelines tos
which did not exalt my idol. | must tell
the story briefly. We had been engaged
for more than year, when began to have
glimpses Of her real character, Of the petty
social ambition, lhe selfish motives, the fit
ful impulses, and desire for admiration which
governed il. Yet she loved me. All the
best Impulses Of her nature, all the ronances
Of her youth responded TO me, and as there
were in her the elements Of rarely noble
character, so there was strong struggle
bctwixt the good and evil in that girls soul.
Sly faith died out slowly-a death Of such
terrible pain, and struggle, and agony as
it seemed to me, must totally wreck my
manhood. She vibrated long time betwixt
him and me-that distan, cousin Of hers,
who had made sudden fortune in Calfor-
MIA, and returned, and became enamored Of
her, as few men could help doing-few men,
mean, whose souls did not SO recognize
and reverence spiritual beauty, that no out
ward adorning Of grace and loveliness could
atone for the want Of il. saw how, day
by day, worldly counsels and ambitions
gained strength with her; how she de-
scended to petty prevarication aud injustice;
how, one by one, moral barriers gave way
before admiration and fattcry, until felt
that she could never be, in spirit and in
heart. my wife, and at last said to her:
Go, and marry, Helen James, this man who
has bought you, and to whom you have sold
yourself, and | shall never look upon you
again till we stand face 10 face before
the God who is to Judge u.s. And went
out from her prcsence-that fair, false woman's
and down TO the riyer.bank, and my faith
was lost, and one thought only saved me
from the sin and the shame Of suicide-it
was the memory Of my mother.
So, as lsaid, my thoughts gathered up all
these years, as sat, man saddened and
disciplined by the experience Of life, at my
chamber window, that summer morning,
gloriously adorned Of God, and set in 4
golden arabesque in the heart Of June. !
wondered what ! should do with all this
wealth which had fallen to M suddenly, as
in some Of those old fairy legends | could
remember reading at my mothers knee
away up in the early child.mornings, and
said TO myself, "What shall do with alr
this wealth, wonder? have lived long
enough to know the want and the worth OF
money, oil its limitations-all 1t can, and
cannot do for man." And then ! made
some plans for the future, and devised va
rious ways Of doing good, and OF blessing
others with this wealth, and then sighed,
thinking there was no one in the wide world,
who, loving me supremely and entirely,
would rejoice in this fortune which had
fallen to me, who would sympathize in, and
stimulate my aims to bless others with It,
and whom could gather up close to my
heart, aud shelter the fair head there,
knowing that il was the only sweet rest for
il in the world, and felt at that moment !
would gladly give up oil my newly.gained
wealth for such an one to love, and so love
me, to trust in with faith, perfect, absolute;
and then remembered my lost faith In wo-
man, and once groaned out heavily over
II.
I cannot tell Just when caught the FIRST
sight of her. had done this, probably,
some time before was conscious Of Il.
She was long distance of, for pasture
10, and field of corn lay betwixt us, but
I could see her movements distinctly, and
that her figure was small and slender; and
my attention would have been attracted TO
her. if there had been any other human be-
ing in sight, or IL my eyes had not gone
wandering after my thoughts. She was
washing under the great apple tree back Of
the little yellow s,ory-and.a.half cottage.
| could see the old bench, and the tub plac-
cd on il, and how the small figure bent over
the board, and how che rinsed the clothes,
and flung them into the basket on one side
and once saw her pause, aud press her
hand quickly to her side, as though the
work wcaried her. Her face was too dis
tant for me to form the slightest opinion Of
il, or ofihe girls appearance, but took
quiet satisfaction, in watching her, as she
stood there in the deep shadows Of that old
gnarled apple tree, where the robins must
have built their nests for century, and then
went OH an undercurrent Of thoughts In my
mind, somewhat after this fashion.
you add something fitting and pleasant
to the picture, little woman, afthere, doing
your work so industriously over that wash
tub, with your heart full Of the new birth OF
purity and beauty which is to come up from
your toiling, and those snowy suds, which
used to be so fond Of blowing into bub-
bles, filed with rainbows fair and frail rs
the rainbows Of my youth. | wonder how
vide horizon Of thought and feeling you
have, little woman, toiling SO steadily over
that wash-tub, and II you're the happy wife
OF some tall, raw-boned farmer, who has to
bend his head every time he enters the door
Of that little old.fashioned cottage Of yours,
which, most likely, remembers in its silence
| the summers OF the Revolution. You look
young and slender, viewed from this dis
lance. Perhaps, after all, you're a young
pirl who hires out in harvest, and works in
the factory, winters, with your little hopes,
sud yanties, and ambitions. Well, keep to
your work, none the wiser for my imperti.
nent curiosity; and IL do mine in life, half
as well as you seem to be doing that wash
ing. shali be better man than l am sit