Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-04-07

/ ly the value Of dead men and mouldy pre-
cepts, especially if the former had been en-
tombed thousand years. and if the latter
were well done in sounding Greek and Latin.
began to reverence royal lines of deceased
monarehs, and longed to connect my own
name, now growing into college popularity,
with some far-off mighty one who had ruled
in pomp and luxury his obsequious people.
The trunk in Snowborough troubled my
dreams. In that receptacle still slept the
proof of our family distinction. 81 will go,
quoth /, ito the home of my aunts next va
cation and there learn how we became nigh
ty, and discover precisely why we don't prac-
tice to-day our inherited claims to glory"
l went to Scarborough. Aunt patience
was now anxious to lay before her impatient
nephew the proof he burned to behold. But
first she must explain. All the old family
documents and letters were, no doubt, des-
troyed in the great fire of 9s, as nothing in
the shape of parchment or paper implying
nobility has ever been discovered in Snow
borough, or elsewhere. But-there had been
preserved, for many years, a suit of imperial
clothes, that had been worn by their great
grandfather in England, and, no doubt, in the
New World also. These garments had been
carefully watched and guarded; for were they
not the proof that their owner belonged to a
station in life, second, if second at all, to the
royal court of King George itself? Precious
easket, into which / was soon to have the
privilege of gazing Through how many
long years these fond, foolish virgins had
lighted their unhickPring lamps of expecta-
ton and hope at this cherished old shrine!
was now on my way to the family reposi
tory of all our greatness. | went up stairs
"on the Jump" We all knelt down before
the well-preserved box; and my proud aunt
Patience, in a somewhat reverent manner,
turned the key. My heart, 81 am not asham-
ed to confess it now, although it is forty years
since the quartette, in search Of family hon
ors, were on their knees that summer after
noon in Snowborough,- my heart beat high.
| was about to look on that which might be
dukes or an earl's regalia. And was de-
scended from the owner in direct line?
had lately been reading Shakespeare "Ti
tus Andronicus''; and | remembered, there
before the trunk, these hnes,-
40 sacred receptacle of my joys,
"Sweet cell of virtue and nobility
The lid went up, and the sisters began to un-
roll the precious garments, which seemed all
enshrined in aromatic gums and spices The
order of that interior lives with me to this
day; and l grow feint with the memory of
memory of that hour. With pious precision
the clothes were uncovered, and at last the
whole suit was laid before my expectant eyes.
Reader ana an old man now, and have
not long to walk this planet. But, whatever
dreadful shock may be in reserve for my de-
clining years, am certain / can bear it !; for
went through that scene at Scarborough,
and still live
When the garments were fully displayed,
all the aunts looked at me. l had been to col
Iege; / had studied Burke's ''Peerage;'' had
been once to New York. Perhaps / could
Immediately name the exact station in noble
British life to which that suit of clothes be-
longed. could; saw it all at a glance. I
grew Austered and pale. dared not tiny
poor deluded female relatives in the face.
"What rank in the peerage do these gold
laced garments and big buttons betoken?''
cried all three.
'It is suit of servants liveryl" gasped l,
and fell back with a shudder.
That evening after the sun had gone down,
we buried those hateful garments in a ditchat
the bottom of the garden. Rest there per
turbed bodycoat, yellow trousers, brown
CATERS, and all
Vain pomp and glory of the world, hate ye."