Connecticut western news., 1872-12-13

| one else would have done so. l have eX pressed wish that the boys name shoul, never be mentioned in my presence" q.
 'Come, come, Reginald, be reasonable after all, poor Tom has done nothing dis honorable. He has been wild, thought less, foolish, it is true; undutiful even But his last action has been dictated b, remorse and shame, and that shows how much good remains in him., Besides, own that I admire his enthusiasm; cducat ed as he was so long in France, and havin! French friends, it was natural that h. should embrace their cause when their appeared to be tho losing side"
 ''I grant that. and if he had been commissioned officer; I should not hay, minded so much, though I can never ap prove of any man engaging in war excep at the call of his own country. But tha a son of mine should serve in the ranks It is oLly tib conclusion for careel which ought to have been impossible for { gentleman. Why, when he was in Aus tralia, be kept shop, Henry, think o that-fept c shopi"
 "Well, having brought himself to want by thoughtless extravaeance-which I dc not seek to excuse-surely he was right tt earn his bread by lawful means, rather than loaf and beg, or worse."
 "-Net another word, beg of you That which may be lawful, or even com. mendable in the lower orders, should be impossible for Pomfret."
 "Come, come, Reginald, I appeal te your own good sense, whether your pride does not go beyond what is lawful fol man. Think of this season. and what il means. Realize to your mind who it was that accepted the position of carpenters son, and worked in carpenters shop Let all your prejudices about your pedi. gree be granted, what is the son of s Pomfret to the Son of God9 But I beg your pardon 1; you know all this as well as l do, and l have no right to preach, ] am lawyer, not clergyman"
 After a few minutes silence, MT. Pomfret said, II believe you are right, Henry. Pride has always been the be, setting sin of our race, and have inherit ed it. Perhaps poor Toms conduct is a punishment, if one knew all.''
 .* x e* X *
 Turn from this home-freside scene to a foreign one, in the open air. See they are celebrating Christmas Eve by a dis play of fireworks. A bitter cold night for such an entertainment, though cer- tainly the spectacle is a grand one. What enormous rockets how high they soar, some of them What & mass of flames and eccentric sparks they vomit forth when they explode But surely they burst very low
 The most striking part of this pyrotech- pic display, however, is its extent. The whole length of the Crystal Palace is con- sidered a considerable area for such fetes, but here the air is filled with rushing and exploding globes of fire from right to left, as far as the-zeye can reach, while here and there huge bonfres, stain the sky crimson fantastic bonfres, which take the shape of houses; you .feelcertain that you can trace walls and windows through the lambent flames. An surely that must be the bouquet; the earth appeared to open as that broad, towering jet ot flame belched upwards and outwards. Bravo-bravo! grand finale! See the strangely shaped objects carried up in the mass of fire listen for the explosion. It is not an ex plosion, but dull lingering roar. What! the ordinary display is con. tinued still Then that was not the bou- 4uet, only set piece. One of the fire works had fallen and exploded somewhat near us. Was not that a shriek Surely there cannot have been an accident Accident, indeed :! Do not deprive the man who laid the gun of his need of praise. You may regret, if you like, that there are so few similar accidents" for the waste of powder and she'll that is, the comparatively small amount of death and torture inflicted per ton--is a matter of general regret on both sides, and you will be in the fashion. We are witness ing bombardment.
 They who crucifed the Saviour fought with catapults and battering rams we who call him Lord and Master, and pro- fess to guide our actions by his precepts fight with shells and mitrailleuses. We'll the leaven of Christianity is in the words, "Thy kingdom come," we do not do much to further the rising
 Some distance ill advance of the be leaguertd city, but within the tolls drawn round it by the besieglng forces, stood g village. It was out ot the immediate line of fire, and could only be distinguished when some distant confagration fared up to an unusual extent. Then for all instant you might trace the single long street, the cabaret, the two or three villas on the outskirts, and all was swallowed up in blaekness again. But though Jeff quiet now, many jagged iron shower had passed over the place the roofs O the houses were nominal the walls, torr and tottering, threatening in many places to collapse into heaps of rubbish ant here and there wide gap showed where the flames had fed their full. For the place ha1 been attacked and defended taken and retaken, over ard over again Not that it was an important position but that it happened to be square upor the chessboard to which pawns wer, moved and withdrawn pretty frequently | If the whole detachment were annihilated it was simply the loss of pawn. 4 mere affair of outposts," was the only re mark drawn forth by contests whicl might have supplied Homer with. an cpl poem.
 All was still and silent now, and yo, might have deemed the place deserted but had you advanced within fifty pace of it on any side, low fierce challeng would have warned you of your mistake. The ruins were full of men, sleeping, o trying to sleep, till their turn of dut came. 2' '@ --%
 Two soldiers who had just been reliev ed from sentry, flung themselves dow under the shelter of broken wall whic7 surrounded the villa garden. Wrappe, in their. overcoats, but with their rife handy 10 their grasp at a moment notices, they strove tn snatch a shor -slun1her from fatigue; but it was in vain
 What bitter night !'' exclaime' one, inIan,u undertone, as he sat up, crouch ing his limbs together as much as possi ble for warmth.
 ~" Bitter enougb,'' replied the other, il the same low voice. "I have drop o brandy left in my flask will you shar it ?'' 1' ut Hu,HfH. t-i