Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-08-26
winding up by the statement.

II propose immediate marriage to you
daughter, provided the young lady will have
me-"
The father bowed his head and looked
sad
ssMr. S." he said at length. 'de
you know that my child has not penny il
the world %
II want to marry the girl for herself, moi
for her money" said the lawyer.
s'Do you know" said the sire, "that
my daug hter's maternal grandparent was
hanged during the Revolution p
'sWhy do you tell me of her grandfath-
er 2" said the lawyer, angrily. II love the
girl, and would marry her if all her grand
parents had been hung since the food p
Now there was shade of pain, like the
fit of disturbing cloud over the old man s
face. Twice he placed his hand on the red
spot on his sad face, he sighed deeply, and,
after an effort, he looked long and solemnly
in the eyes of his visitor, and in solemn
| tones remarked:
"Your language, your letters, and your
earnestness, satisfy me that am addressing
a gentleman. | dare not treat your honest
love rudely."
The old gentleman paused, and again the
solemn flashes of sadness came to his face,
while he looked as if he were surveying the
long, shadowy past
81 have not always, young man, been
buried, as you see me, in this remote place
l loved once, and the woman loved now
wears the crown of martyrdom At the
bidding OF her Lord she sacrificed the luxu-
ries of her elegant hone to follow the foot
steps of poor priest, who followed his Mas
ter And in the labors and loneliness of
this place she laid her life on the altar of
sacrifice, leaving me with desolate heart
and this girl whom you love I have never
doubted" added the old man, with fervor,
''that He would care for her."
II will give her position, wealth and
everything that money can buy" exclaimed
''Do you know that my daughter is an
idiot :? Come this way, young man."
The lover followed his future father-in-
law up a fight of stairs.
'sLook at your BRIDE" said he, pointing
to figure upon the floor. Half reclining
upon the floor and playing with doll, was
the object of his attraction. The lawyer
approached the girl. and, with the familiar
ity which sincere love only can give. rever-
emily lifted the mass of beautiful but sense
less beauty from the floor, and placing it
reverently upon chair, and placing his
hand upon her forehead, looked long and
intently down in her deep blue eyes. Alas
She returned one look, as men look at things
they do not understand. It was all too true
The barrister was looking at vacuity.
For moment the lawyer sighed, as
strong mon sigh but once in their lives.
Il wish to speak with you moment
alone" said S..
"We can speak here. She will under
stand no more than the dead -
The two gentlemen parted at late hour
that evening, the faces Of both pale and wet.
When the SHOWS Of tho next Winter were
whitening the Potomac with foam, S.
and his bride stood before the altar of DR..
O'Bryan's Church, in Washington. He
looked ten years older. The sense Of an
unearthly trust and responsibility was con-
sunling him. When the ceremony was
over, the bridegroom took his wife in his
strong arms, as father would take child,
and wrapping his cloak about her tenderly,
placed her in the carriage. He; stopped
over her and imprinted one kiss upon her
forehead. cit is the FIRST" said he, land
it will be the last!' He had loved but once,
and it was the last.
The traveller who letters for an hour in
the quaint old town Of Fayette, may see the
remains of an old garden at the rear of one
OF the most comfortable houses, and he may
see the slight bars which surround pretty
window at the rear Here, surrounded by
all that money and love could buy, lived,
for forty years, the child wife Of a brilliant
lawyer the wife Of man who was appoint
ed District Attorney by PRECEDENT Monroe,
and who, from 1921 to 1927, from 1881 to
1885, and from 1843 to 1847-eight terms
in all-served as Representative in the Con-
gress of the United States. Strange that
in his strong honest heart, at a time of life
when passion and desire hold the ascendan-
cy, that this man should devote his 6no
mind, his money, his all, to the care of a
beautiful idiot He secured the attention of
two Christian ladies Gone Of them an old
fame of his, } and nothing that could add to
the comfort Of the singular wife was with
held, During his labors as a states man,
the husband always FASTENED back from
Washington, his hands full of toys and
trinkets, and would sit upon the grass and
amuse her, a
Some years ago the child wife-now
grown old and gray, but still pleasant to
look upon-was carried from her homo to
the place where the grass grows in the vii
lage church-yard, and often, at eventide, the
villagers see an old man with STOPPING fig
ure and furrowed face, bending his steps to-
ward the little church in the calm Summer
evening and arranging with his hands the
flowers which bloom over the grave of the
Idiot Wife.
PERSUASION BETTER THAN FoRcE.-Dea
gently with those who stray. Draw then
back by love and persuasion. A kiss ii
worth thousand kicks A kind word t.
the lost is more valuable than mine O
gold. Think of this, ye who would chase
to the grave an erring brother. We mus
consult the gentlest manner and softes
methods of address our advice must no
all like violent storm, bearing down ane
making those to droop whom it is intended
to cherish and refresh. It must descend
as the dew on the tender herb, or like melt
ing fakes of snow the softer it falls tn
longer it dwells upon and the deeper i
sinks into the mind. If there are a few
who have the humanity to receive advice
as they ought, it is often because there ar
few who have the discretion to convey it il
the proper way, and who can qualify tn
harshness and bitterness Of reproof agains
f which human nature is apt to revolt. T.