Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-07-16

ny NARY c, VAUGHN,

lost him dear Mrs. Wynnef'
IL have not. God still gives him 10 me.
He still lives, Is in this world, calls me
mother. and so far Is nine"
"Dear Mrs. Wynne," said Ruth. after a
moments silence, hesitating still, and
looking embarrassed. "forgiye me II ]
have, in my sympathy. trenehed upon
your hidden sorrows. know you have
sorrows that you never speak Of, that the
world knows not OF, l ought to have
been more cautious, Can you forgive
meF'
Eyes, dear, il there is aught 10 forgive.
l could not cherish anger for an uninten-
tional fault Your question was perfect.
ly natural, and was called forth by my
own words l do not often mention Eael'
wild, as happy mother would do, / sell
dom sec him, he is-' and here the UNI
happy mother broke down.
She bore her burden well, but some
times the oyerstrained tension Of her feel.
inss gave way, with sudden twang, like
the chord Of an oyerstrung harp, that
snaps suddenly.
Her friends used 10 say that after these
rare seasons when restraint was removed,
she was wont 10 ''freeze up intolgreater
silence than before. But 1t was different
now. Her spirit seemed melted under the
influence Of Ruth's sweet sympathy.
She spoke more and more, and more free
ly than was her wont, till, fearing that
she was selhshly taxing the delicate SYM
pathy Of this young girl, whose own lot
had been undarkened by sorrow. she sud-
denly paused, with murmured exolama-
ton of apology.
But Ruth would not have il so.
Tell me all the story, dear Mrs. Wyn-
ne," she cried, "if you can. l know not
what such sutferings as yours are. in ex-
perience. but can sympathize with those
who suffer. Tell me about your mar
riage and about Edelwild.
And sympathy, real sympathy, is 50
precious after long restraint, like hers,
and careful covering of the ranking
wound, that the sad woman yielded, and
allowed the tide Of sorrow 10 pour forth.
With a fullness she could not have be-
lieved possible, she told the story Of her
wrongs and sufferings.
Il have told you that Edelwild was Civ
On me nearly twenty-six years ago. hat
was year after my marriage, year that
had been crowded with revelations, that
had made my young life old with sorrow.
| had learned that / had been deceived
where trusted most fully, that / had
passed the threshold and barred myself
out from happiness.
"Ohl il was a sad awakening! W hen
one wakes from dream Of bliss Ia ind
life wrecked, and hope destroyed, death
seems welcome. But hope was not quite
destroyed in me. / felt sure that no very
happy fate was in store for my child, bat
the thought that young life would be
entrusted to me was intense joy, and |
resolved for its sake 10 triumph over all
obstacles.
But alas knew not the nature of the
obstacles that encountered my path. /
thought my new Joy would enable me to
disregard them. | knew not by how
much the bitterness of their presence
would be increased.
''Edelwild was born. Precious gift OF
God. SO | welcomed him. But too soon
learned that TO another belonged the
same natural rights, to whom the law de-
creed those denied to me-the law which,
where we women are concerned, has 80
often tried to arrogate TO itself the a trlb-
utcs of Divinity.
"Does any mother believe her children
less her own than their fathers. can
not believe that such a one exists. And
yet the law sets itself in defiance of God
given rights, and trespasSes upon the pre-
rogative of the infinite.
my pretty blue-eyed baby boy. whom
l welcomed with such tremulous joy and
gratitude, l saw beaten with heavy blows,
that well nigh crushed out his little spark
of life, ere a week had passed over his
head. He was not especially welcome 10
the master that owned him-that was ev-
ident
Ruth, dear, pray God no such fearful
sorrow may ever visit you,
I bore it, and perhaps you might, but
may it be averted from you
"God has implanted those sacred in
stincts in the mother heart, even in the
brute animals, which every human being,
of unperverted feelings, believes himself
bound to protect and defend. Few there
are who wantonly defy these manifesto
lions. To man alone is left that crown
ing infamy.
"The years that succeeded Edelwind's
birth were as full of revelations as the
one which produced it.
Zone grows old in the learning of
such lessons very rapidly They make
deep impressions on young life, and soon
efface its freshness.
"After time / came to accept the fate
that seemed irreversible, and to try to
bear it, at least quietly. Pride kept me
quiet. AS studiously as was possible, |
concealed my sorrow from the cold multi
tude, and sheltered my darling, as far as
/ was permitted, from the drunken brutal
ity that too often prevailed in our home,
if home it could be called, where nearly
all the gentle amenities of home were per-
sistently disregarded.
ITO this day wedding to me is the
saddest of sights. Tears seem to befit il
better than smiles. And / tremble in
view of the possible fate of the innocent
young creature that takes the name OF
wife, hoping for the happy life that may
too soon be overloaded with the dark
ness of shame and sorrow, through anoth-
er's ill-doing.
"God knows, l sympathizs with an
others Joy, at least as readily and as glad
ly as with his sorrow, but the impulse to
weep is stronger at a wedding than at q
funeral. The still form in the coffin and
the funeral cerements, is done with earth
ly sorrow. The bright faces and the
gayly clad forms in the other scene may
too soon be clouded and bent beneath sor-
rows unntterable and burdens unbearable, |
to be removed perhaps not at all while
life lasts. / dread the fate yet hidden in
the future of these voyagers, just launched |
upon the ocean of life, full perhaps of
its fiercest waves and most overwhelming
dangers"