Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-05-16

1
PosT OPPIs CoNPEDRIT Y ROADS, !
| (Which is in the Stait Nv kentucky, :
May 2, 1867. J
| A bite hez fallen DER my soul. MY
eyes, albeit unused TO the meltin mood,
hev distilled nothin but tears for twelve
hours. A Pillar hez fallen In the
meetin house there is vacant pew, and
a chair at Bascom's is without setter.
Last mite at precisely nine P. NJ, Elder
Abimileck Gavitt departed this life aged
SO years and some odd months. | weep
ez write. The Elder wuz snnfrt out
| jest ez the flowers Nv spring wuZ cumin
Jest ez the weather wuz a gittin warm
enough to go baretooted-jes when it
wuzn't nessary to bother about getting
fire wood or be concerned about feedin
the stock-jest, in fact, when men begin
to enter upon six months OF enjoyment.
Why wuz he taken7 Exc ansers. The
ways Nv Providence is inskrootable.
Elder Gavitt wuz q native NV North
karliny, witch State he left in the blush
NV early manhood, Jst after he wuz
married. Wat he left North Karliny for,
| never wuz able to assertane percisely.
but hev understood that it wuz suthin
In connection with smoke. house and
the hams witch did hang therein. He
wuz in & Wing naberhood-his naber.
the proprietor OF the smoke-house wuza
Whig-ther wuz sum hams mist-the
rlnds wuz found in his possession-Whi
Intolerance and persekooshen. Upon
SIGH site evidence he wuz adiudged
guilty Nv theft, and wuz ANONYMOUSLY
rid on rale, and ordered to leave the
country in twenty. four hours, WITCH he
did, driftin naturally to Kentucky. Thank
Heaven for SIGH outrages But for SIGH,
Kentucky wood heV bin Republican
State, or wood hev remained unsettled
TO this day.
Elder Gavitt wuz alluz Democrat Nv
the strictest sect. He voted for Jackson.
and reglerly for every Democratic can.
didate sence. He didn't read very much;
indeed, eff remember right, he Cooden't
do it at all, and wuz, Consistently, sted-
fast in the faith. He wuzn't shook about.
and driven hlther and yon by every wind,
but remained thro life fast in the groove
into witch he he'd bin origenelly sot. His
politikle creed wuI made up Nv this one
idee, to.wit Hatrid NV Moo England.
He hatid Moo England becoz Moo Eng
land hatid whiskey, witch he cooden't git
along without, and slavery, Nv witch he
he'd hundred niggers. He votid agin
Moo England all his life regerly, and ez
many times on each eleckshen day ez he
Good, without risk.
My acquaintance with the deceest
about three years ago 1t
wuz at his house stopt on my advent
into these parts. Their wuz no need Nv
formal introduckshens - Their wuz
already bond atween US wich knit our
souls together. His eye, ez it lii onto
my nose, lighted up with a smile and ez
| gazed on hizzen felt that he wuz in
deed man and brother He took me
in-he sheltered me-he gave re where
of to eat and to drink and to make
merry, and with him tarried till wu7
reglerly installed ez paster Nv the
Church, and thereby reglerly pervided
for.
The cause Nv the Elders death wuz a
broken heart. He wuz a ardent Confed-
rit, and manfully bore up under the re-
verses Nv the war. His courage Wuz
mistaken doOring the repeated successes
Nv the Fedral armies, and even wheu
deprived him Nv his slaves
he still he'd faith that, evenchooally, all
wood be well. ave may be beeten now"
wuz his constant remark, "but the
Northern Dimocrasy are all right, and
throo them We'll yet conker !" Confdin
in EN-, bleevin in EN-, he held out brave
up to the passage Nv the military recon.
bill.
l then saw change steel insensibly
over my venerable friend. His head |
bowed with supprest grief-his bosom |
throbbed with the emoshen that wuz |
for uttrance. He wood come |
over to my offs five or six times a day, |
and ask me to read him that passage Nv !;
the law giving the niger the ballot. l |
wood do it, when, without sayin a word, |
he wood reel off, with tears fowin down |
his wasted cheeks, to Bascom's. wood |
fOler him, to see that no harm came to |
him. The old man wuZ so broken that |
he'd pay for his own lkker, and mine
too, without noticin. Fearin to awaken
unpleasant emoshGns in his mind, |
never mentioned the latter CirCum-
stance.
Things grew worse with him. When
Mr.. Randall wrote me to consulate the
niggers ez Wade Hampton wuz doom
it, the old father in Dimocrisy obeyed
without murmur. Dimocrisy wuz his
first idea, and he obeyed her behests tho
swuz consoomin his very sole. He shook
hands with niggers at my rekest, tho
the touch wuz ez red hot iron-he took
.wo Nv EN- into his pew, tho his pro-
Eovlty to EN- set him a shakin like the
lger, and he vOtid to change the name
Ind objects Nv the Institoot, tho the
workins Nv his face showd
vat the struggle cost him.
Day by day the Elder faded. The iron
uttered his sole, and it wuz corrodin
orrodin corrodin and eating him up
~ degrees. He walked the streets list
essly, his eyes suffoosed with teers. and
lis lips movin ez eff mutterin suthin to
Iisself. became concerned for him,
md so did the entire cirkle. Bascom
lggered up his akkount at his bar. and
vent To the records to see whether his
arm was unencumbered, and SIGH Nv the
eighbors ez he'd lent him small sums set