Middletown transcript., 1874-04-11
said. was the solitary star shining with
beautiful lustrs over the rough and dark
ened psth wav Of his life .tTlf sl, III I. q

said. was the solitary star shining with
beautiful lustrs ovet the rough aud dark
ened pathway Of his life va 1.
Itwss on this memorable morning thss
a servant entered the break fast room, and
placed in. Colonel Burr's band small pa-
per parcel, saying Il was brought BY
boy whs wss waiting outside Thcodosis
gased on wondsringly ~ her father OPEN
ed tho parcel aud found ''a coarse country
made. clean shirt" or course, they both
laughed merrily over Il, and Burr, sup
posing It to be some mistake, ordered The
boy to be shown ia.
Who should enter then but our .genius
Of the road side. blushing Ia confasion
BY the elegance of the room. and the
presence Of the beautiful daughter, be
was still more abashed, but the face Of
his friend rsassured him. Very modcst-
ly. be placed iu his hand piece Of worn
paper. the one he had treasured for 50
many months. As Burr traced the al
most illegible words be recognised his
own handwriting, and new light flashed
over his face. Taking the child's trem-
bling hand in his own. he gave him such
a welcome as only warm, generous hearts
know how to give. Then presenting the
lad to his daughter. he told her his story.
Theodosia gave him her hand at once, for
she was as much pleased with him as was
her father.
From that hour, the boy was loved and
cared for as one Of the family. He was
educated and placed under the best of
masters in the art be had shown such
talent for. Nor was this enough; Van
derlyn, for that was the boys name, was
afterwards sent to Europe by Burr. where
he spent FIVE years in the study of paint
ing, until Be became, it is said, an artist
worthy Of the name. G
Years and years afterwards, when Burr
was wandering in Europe a poor and
lonely exile, Vanderlyn was exhibiting
pictures at the Louvre, Paris. He had
not only been presented with gold medal
by Napoleon, but was receiving compl-
nj nts and congratulations from the Em-
peror's own lips. His cup Ct joy seemed
almost full 1t was then that he heard
that his bcnefactor was in Paris, and he
FASTENED to give him as warm a welcome
as he himself had received one winters
morning SO long ago. l wish | could
tell about the meeting of those two; the
poor, old man. bowed down with disgrace,
and the grateful, and now famous young
artist whom he himself had upliftcd from
blacks,nith's little drudge at the road
side. We only know that it must have
been most joyful and most sorrowful. We
also know that Vanderlyn gave his old
friend all the help he could.
In after years the artist returned to
America aud was commissioned BY Con-
gress to paint one of the panels of the
Capitol at Washington, Que of the high
est honors his country could bestew upon
him. He executed here one of his most
famous pieces. his well-known "Landing
Of Columbus He also painted portraits
of Aaron Burr aud his daughter He died
u few years ago at Kingston, not far from
the spot where he drew the charcoal sketch
which decided his fortune.
As for Aaron Burr. the way Of the
transgressor is hard, hut the Lord is more
merciful than man. In his old age, Burr
was hated by the country that had once
loved him. he was left homeless, almost
friendless. but he was not left desolate
The bread cast upon the waters in happier
days all returned to him. As he had
once loved to feed and shelter the poor and
homeless. SO be himself. in his last days.
was sheltered and cared for tenderly.