Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-06-19

expressed desire. / do not imagil
my solemn, owlish yisage would affo,
him any great pleasure while abroa
Perhaps I may relent and present
him a lock ofmy waveless black hal
{ tied with gorgeous green ribbon
How would that do. Ruth?''
f0h hush, Willis; why doyou spsa
D SO harshly of Uncle Horace2 / "a,
sure he has the greatest admiration fc
you, and to be candid / think you ar
, rather unappreciatiye,". tss m5
r Hal ha Lit is Pythias rejectin
the tenderness of an Aristotle. We'll
, III declare, | have been very thought
less, have been unappreciatiye of tn
God-head, and have rejected match
less Adonis. No, to tell the truth
Ruth, you are so wound up and blind
ed by your uncle's perfections that yol
think one is committing grievous sil
by not imbibing your opinion. ad
NIT that he is generous and true, bu
you must remember,
Our meddling intellect
Misshapes the beauteous forms of things
He is an estimable gentleman, but h.
is far from being second Christ. / ad
mlre and reverence his genuine nobili
ty. | uphold his charity, and sanction
his loyalty; at the same time an
cognlzant that he is not perfect" A
low constrained laugh followed her
mocking speech.
You need not try to mask you,
heart, Willis. understand you
thoroughly. You think as do, that
ne is eminently above the mass of men
In point of great superiority. Uncle
Horace does not court your admira-
ton, but it is there despite your effort
to conceal it," Her blue eyes were
bent searchingly on Willis inane coun-
tenance. She glanced up and and their
eyes met defantly.
You place an exalted estimate upon
your noble kinsman. Verify he must
be par excellence. Most assuredly |
admit his worthiness in some degree,
but consider his gracious majesty
signally flattered and his few good at
tributes magniicently overwrought.
The picture you have just drawn is
fully worthy of the holy niche of your
Savior, but frankly avow that his
virtues are loftily overrated. He is
one among the many true gentlemen
that we meet daily, aud whose excel
lence we consider paramount, but he is
nc exception. Have you finished? ?"
Ruth did not vouchsafe reply, and
they left the gallery in silence. That
evening as they were all assembled
around glowing coal fire, Ruth
brought the picture, and presented it
to her Uncle. A smile of satisfaction
lit up his frank features as he gazed
on the gift 1t was indeed an exquisite
little affair. The sweet young face,
with its dark, matchless blue eyes, and
the sunny hair falling softly around
the brow, fresh with the charm of
youth. The flexible lips were curved
into half smile, and in the azure eyes
was brooding look of tenderness.
ut is beautiful, Ruth" he said. II
shall not be lonely in foreign lands
with shfs bright rnlio of homo I....-s-
be that | shall never return to see the
fair original, but we will meet again,
eh, Ruth ?"
II hope so, Uncle Horace" she mur-
INJURED, and womanly tears welled up
to her eyes. you must not talk so,"
she continued, You know we will
meet again before death"
She went over to his side, and he
drew his loving arms around her, say
ing, There is no death for the christ
ian, Ruth. There comes long, dream
less sleep on couch of dust, with the
birds warbling above us, and the wind
harp's requiem ever flowing, the sun
shine sometimes kissing the sod, and
again wraptip shades sad mantle We
do not perish; we only slumher in
silence. Only death comes to those
who are rebellious and willful."
As he spoke, he fixed his eyes stead
lily on Willis. She interpreted the
glance and said quickly, You agree
with Shelley then when he says. This
life is-only the suburb of the world
elysian. whose portals we call death.
DR.. Hays, do you think that the disci-
Piles of pantheism are as doomed as
you pronounce pyrrhonists ?" She
watched his features eagerly.
"If possible more so, he answered
emphatically. 1T must indeed be
weakened intellect to believe that the
universe is our supreme God. | do
not doubt but what iSpinoza was an
honest thinker, but he bequeathed to
the world a meagre legacy in the shape |
of hts creed. The idea of identifying |
God with substance is too thin a gauze
to drape his belief with. Ihope, VIII
lis, you are not pauthiest," he said
rigidly.
mo, not exactly" she answered
slowly. 'I have almost decided to ac-
cept Emerson's doctrine. He says,
To i'll the hour is happiness and
verilyI believe it. Again, he teaches
to 'leae no crevice for repentance,
none foipraise.' He and myself re-
lclmble epsely. We are both expert
menters, e,dless seekers with no past
at our back He does not desire fol-
lowers, leas, he should mislead them,
and he is bysome unjustly called the
Prince of pyrhonists. His teachings
s.vor of inhitsm, but they are unvarn-
isied and earnest. In Self Reliance he
sa's, Trust thyself obey thy heart,
all thou shalt reproduce the fore
weld again. Those words filled a
grlt void in ny heart. They are COM
foing, precious words" As she spoke,
! sheapped her foot impatiently on the !
foo Theyhad all left the room and