The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-08-17
the vision of glory in the upper Canaan is
opened that there, with the glorifed saints,
Her soul for JOY folds her wings
And loud her celestial sonnet sings.
I'm safe at home


| And loud her celestial sonnet sings.
I'm safe at home
But for him, who, in his lonely, thrice
! lonely chamber, weeps in bitter agony, tC
whom every remembrance, of her love, heI
/ beauty and sweetness of soul, is now as a
! dagger, opening afresh the wounds In his
heart, let US pray and entreat Of our Faith
er' that he soften the blow.
! Time passed, and l became brother in
/ affiiction, Of Mr. A. The cloud gathered
around nty home, and I fed from a place
haunted with horrors, seeking in the bosom
of my lost wifes family surcease of that
| consuming sorrow that rested upon my
mind and heart after my wife's departure to
the mansions above. While wandering one
day along the shady banks of the Cumber-
land in listless mood, my fancy weaving
many q strange and curious dream into the,
web of life, overlook the Squire, who had
gone out before me. He was seated upon
the moss s-cOvered roots of a wide spreading
beech, wrapped in deep meditation, as he
gazed upon the swiftfowing waters, now
lit up by the sun, and glowing like burn
ished gold
"Sit down by me, here" said he, making
room for me. 81 want to tell you some
thing of myself, Brother LIS, you per-
haps never knew
sat down, as he bade me, wondering
what it could be the Squire would tell-some-
thing, 1 thought, sad, for his voice trembled,
and his eyes were dewy with tears.
" l have been sitting here an hour" said
he, looking on these bright waters as they
go laughing and flashing by, and I have
seemed to hear a voice,
Softer than the music through
The halls of heaven flowing
carrying me back, up the stream of time, to
aarf1y lifo tO that bc7nn ov,
whose hearth heth the ashes of fire long
ago gone out, to be lighted never more"
" You are speaking" said, l, " of your
childhOOd's home, and the voice is that of
your mother Tell me of it, and of her"
"Some time, he replied :" [ viii. But"
he added, his voice growing thick and husky,
" that voice was one of dearly beloved, and
that home one of those it pleases our God
to allot US in union with those SO beloved.
" thought to tell you this story of my
life on that evening, when you and Bide
and l sat weeping in that south room of
your home, when | bore you the news of
Jennie's death but 1 could not Again I
determined to tell you, after our sweet, blue
eyed Bide slept in Jesus, and was gathered
to the rest Of the saints, but your sorrow
unnamed me. Here, then, let me tell it.
1t may account somewhat for my presence
among you in this land, a stranger without
occupation l am now thFee-scOre years
old. Forty years ago 1 completed my ap-
premiership to a carpenter, and went di-
rectly away from my native village, for IN
it l had no kith nor kin, nor, indeed, any
tie, save such as might be felt In the grave
yard for my parents were both sleeping
there | visited their grass-cOvered graves
before going away, as 1 had determined 1t
should be for ever, and there recalled my
pledge to my mother on her dying couch, in
which l promised to remember the lessons
learned at her knee, and to aDstrain from
the vices of the world, and on my knees, at
her last resting-place, pledged myself anew
to keep my promises.
The West as now, was the great attrac-
ton forty years ago, and, like many other
young men, indulging the hope of future
fortune, [ came West, and stopped can't
say settled-in a beautiful village not far
from the mighty Mississippi Young, strong,
and willing, L soon found work, and by ad-
herence to principles early impressed upon
my mind, soon won the confidence of the
people to whom l came a stranger. Among
my earliest acquaintance was the widow
B, who had but one child, daughter
about two years younger than myself, a fair
haired, beautiful girl, whom l soon learned
to love, and to whom 1 offered loves purest
| and truest devotion. With her mother s
| C0uS6uCj we were 0uSdS6u W D6 LudLIl6uI
and at twenty-five, on the birthday Of my
| beloved Mary, we were united in the holy
| bonds of wedlock in the church. Twas a
/ bright, balmy Sabbath moning in May. How
well remember It'll My Mary was general
| favorite-the pride Of the viIlage-and all
came, young and old, to witness the cere-
mony, and to offer US their congratulations.
! 0, how transcendently happy was thatday
| How proudly looked on her sweet face, as
she blushingly received the greetings of the
! village maidensl My heart felt as if it would
! burst with Joy as l reflected that she was
mine l was full of resolves that to the
very letter l would keep my vow to cherish
my Mary, my aoife How / loved to repeat
the word What a world of sweetness and
pure Joy it conveyed to my mind How
ever selfish my love, could not charge my
self with having sought the hand of my
Mary through other than the purest affec
ton and desire Of cOmpanionship, because
L0Ued her.
"Our lives ran smoothly on, an unchecked
stream of bliss to me. Mary was my world
had no desire beyond her This she sooI
saw, and pure gentle Christian, that she was
and true wife, chided me for what she calleC
nv idOlatrY. She bade me think that lif
is but a wave that must break on the shOre
of eternity, and always huyYyi11g to its des
tiny. l pretended to no more than higl
mortality; but was proud OF my high stand
ard She tearfully sought to turn N
thoughts to Jesus, the Lamb for sinner
slain. All Brother L-s Mary stood be
tween US. She was my sweet model Of pu
} rity, and 1 proudly thought she shone wit
: no borrowed light. l remember ministe
, of our Church came to our little town dul
: ing the latter part of that summer, and hel
} a series of meetings, resulting in many col
versations. We became acquainted wit
F him, and often had him at our house, the
, and afterward. He seconded Mary entire;
r ties with me, warmly and faithfully. wa
l only touched with her devotion to my hal
4 piness, but was unmOyed in my notions
: therefore resisted the minister; not angril,
: for 1 felt he was only obeying his sense
e duty but stubbornly refusing to admit b
? views Of religion, because l did not thin
+ any thing ! could do would advance u
e spiritual interests, already, as / though
: firmly secured But the summer passes
$ and the autumn also, like long dream
d pleasure Winter came, with its frOsts ar