Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-07-14

performer mad not been in Gods
house since the change of my fortunes
{ To be sure, at school 1 was made to at
tend divine service twice on every Sun
day, Snd, during vacations, my mother
insisted on my accompanying her.
For" said she, 'it was SO respecta-
bic; and you must pay particular atten-
ton to the Reverned Mr.. Softly's pro-
nunciation, it is so arristocratic,
But, since then as / had to work hard
SIX days in week, L thought was en-
titled to a.day's study of the transcend
entail works of Sylvsans Cobb, Jr., and
Co.
Yet, with all this, was not naturally
irreligious; only, having been taught to
consider religion as q matter of form,
shared with thousands the most perni-
ciOus sort Of heathenism-the care of
my worldly welfare, to the neglect Of
the immeasurably higher interests of
> my immortal SOUL
BIt when the first words of the Epis-
copatservice were uttered, on that to
tnle memorable Lords Day, when the
fsonorous voice of the Doctor proclaimed
ito the congregation thetouchirg words
The Lord is in His holy temple; let all
the earth keep silence before Him. a
igush of inexpressibIe tenderness and
lgratitude filled my heart; and now 1
remembered for the first time to whom /
lowed my preservation, when, but few
tdays before, our Grain met with an ac-
cident by which seve raj lives were lost.
while mine was saved. Then, 1 attri-
tbuted ii to chance, now, l knew il to be
the work of nay makers merciful Provi-
dence. s.tT
I shall not describe my sensations
during tie service, and the eloquent
sermon that followed. [ shall not de-
scribe them, no. because fear to worry
imy reader, but because these being.of
1.-THE Spirit, may be felt, but cannot be
lspoken. And when 1 incidentally glanc
ed AZ my co.npanion-whenI / saw the
slsjncere fervCr of her devotion, her face
fslightly f1us he'd, her lips gently apart,
her blue eyes confidently, lovingly lifted
up toward Heaven-I thought never
saw anything so IovelyI No! not even
at caravansery-party on the Avenue.
On our way home, we scarcely ex-
Echanged a word, and soon after dinner
Kate withdrew to her own rooms; but
the following Sunday, and many Sun
ldays after, sunshine or rain, the little
hand rested within my arm on our way
TO my young friends my church-now,
ithank God! i.s-
Who cares to read the story of love
and courtship of railroad-conductor
and milliner? L do not intend to in
! flict it on you, kind reader-only just
these few words you must grant me.
leave to say, that, on the Sunday of my
first communion, asked Kate, camly,
coHectedly, in all sincerity of heart, but
without a shadow of remorse, without
falling on my knees, without even plac-
ing my hand on my waistcoat- to be-
come my wife, and heard, with uDspeak-
able delight, but with a look from those
mild eyes, soft, yet full of intelligence,
which left me no doubt of the sincerity
with which this monosyllable was ut
tered. ls; sls -+- -s -c go
Kate had scarcely ever been from her
beautiful native village, and 1 set my
heart On giving her q weeks wedding
tour. sfo.r...:r ~ il 4
applied to the superintendent for
leave of absence, and was gruffiy an
swered Mop me- ~ -e.,.l.. -.
Old Adam not being quite dead with
in me, for it is astonishing how hard it
is to kill the ancient gentleman, gave
rather saucy retort to saucy refu-
sal. ~
One angry word followed another till
at last was tol d that my service would
not be required after the first of the fol-
lowing month. -ss..-a .,.-f III =
came home that evening crestfallen
depressed, aim ost desparing. told Kate
my troubles. -.f ......f..ssr ...
She chided ne. Oh! how gently, how
tenderly, affe ctionately did she chide !
me! and that, not for the loss of my sit
uation; but OH account of my petulance,
so inconsista MT with the duty of Chris
tian = si.,li 20 :el-:s-4 l-.
'We are NOT so badly off, after all,"
said she, in conclusion. "You have three |
hundred dol lars in bank-I have nearly
two hundred. Well, if my Reginald
will lend 10 his treasure, I will take |
that little tore Mrs. Robinson wants to
let, open a mflliner's store and you may |
look, in the meantime, for something to
do"
And she smoothed my iruffledl brow
with kiss.
1t was agreed. And thought then,
as [ thin K now, how wretched, how for
lorn is the condition of him who ha.h |
no loving woman for a counselor in the |
dark hour of trial. ,.ltl ..t,sEz,1 R-iao
1 went the next morning cheerfully to
my duty the superintendent spoke to-
me as if nothing had happened.
never thought he felt sorry for the words
spoken in anger. Icertainly had no ILL |
will toward him, yet considered that to
respect our dignity as men was perfectly |
reconcilable with our duty as Christians.
I therefore spoke to him respectfully,
but without scringing. -Ea 4
The thirteenth of the month, my last
day on the road, came. We reached our |
depot at ehe usual hour. 1t was dark,
and, after the passengers had landed, 1 |
| took up lantern to look for a memo
randum book had left in on of the |
cars. = 'St-H
On going through the first car, L struck
something soft with my foot. L looked
down, and lifted up a large wallet. [
opened it-it was full of bauk-notesi
God forgive me! I looked furtively |
around to see if any person saw mel -
Hastily as L counted the contents, 1 +
was sure there could be no less than four
thousand dollars-but nothing to denote
the owneri ~ --l-'t 2 ..fYfiIt ..s II
4 do not think I have ever been a
wicked.man. yet do believe that, had
1 found this money ere becamea Chris
tian, all the principles of the morality i
chivalry, and that brilliant double, hon
or, would not have forced it out of my i
grasp; for it is astonishing how. full of
sophistry are the mere moral doctrines
with what ease men of honor, who will
shoot you from respectable, gentle
manly distance of twelve PAGES, are apt
to forget their ts ilor's or washerwoman's
bill. -l. -rsl
| Now, with the exception of the mo-
ment's wicked thought alluded to, 1
did not hesitate. I rushed into the
nearest hotel, where L expected stran-
gers from our train most likely to stop.
ANY of you gentlemen lost any
thing?" said L, as 1 entered the bar
room. G(M8UIIajI IGECIlIupA 4,
Twenty hands were in an instant
thrust into a many pockets; but of
those only one was found empty. This
pocket belonged to muscular, athletic
lhearded man with a massiye forehead