The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-05-09
THE CONVICT'S RETURN.
BY CHARLES DICKENS.


I said the old gentleman" " which is now
| just five-and-twenty years ago, the most
| notorious person among my parishiOners
was man of the name of Edmunds, who
| leased a small farm near this spot. He
was a mOrOse, savage'hearted man idle
| and dissolute in his habits; cruel and
| ferocious in hi5 Opposition. Beyond the
| few lazy and reckless vagabOnds with
whom he sauntered away his time in the
| fields or sOtted in the ale house, he had
not single friend or acquaintance; no
! one cared to speak to the man whom
they feared, and everyone detested--apd
| Edmunds was Stunned by all.
! "This man had a wife and one son,
who, when I first came here was about
twelve years old. OF the acuteness OF
that wOman's sufferings, of the gentle
and enduring manner in which she bore
| them, of the agony of solicitude with
which she reared that boy, no one can
! form an adequate conception. Heaven
| forgive me the suppOsitiOn, if it be an
uncharitable one, but l do firmly and in
my soul believe, that the man systemati-
| cally tried for many years to break her
| heart; but she bore it all for her child's
| sake, and, however strange it may seem
| to many, for his fathers, teo; for brute
! as he was, and cruelty as he had treated
/ her, she loved him once; and the Tecol
| lection of what he had been to her,
awakened feelings of forbearance and
| meekness under suffering in her bOsOm to
which all God creatures, but woman,
| are strangers.
"They were pOOr-they could not be
| otherwise when the man pursued such
courses; but the woman's Unceasing and
unwearied exertiOns, early and late,
morning, noon and night, kept them
above actual want. These eXertiOns
were but i'll repaid. People who passed
the spot in the evening-sOmetimes at a
! late hour of the night-rep0rted that
they had heard the means and sobs of a
woman in distress, and the sound of
blows and more than once, when it was
past midnight, the boy knocked softly at
the door of a neighbOr's house, whittier
he had been sent to escape the drunken
fury of his unnatural father.
During the whole of this time, and
when the poor creature often bore about
her marks OF iil-usage and violence which
| she could not wholly conceal, she was a
constant attendant at our little church.
/ Regularly every Sunday, morning and
afternoon, she occupied the same seat
with the boy at her side; and though
they were both poorly dressed-much
more so than many of their neighbOrs
who were in a lower statiOn--they were
always neat and clean. Every one had a
friendly nod and a kind word for poor
Mrs. Edmunds;' and sometimes when
she stopped to exchange few words with
q neighbOr at the conclusion of the ser
vice in the little row of elm trees which
lead to the church porch, or fingered
| behind to gaze with a mothers pride and
| f0ndness upon her healthy boy, as ne
| sported before her with some little com
panions, her care-worn face would
| tighten up with an expression OF heartfelt
gratitude; and she would look, if not
cheerful and happy, at least tranquil and
contented,
| " Five or six wears passed away; the
! bov had become robust and well-grewn
| youth. The time that had strengthened
! the childs slight frame and knit his
weak limbs into the strength of man.
| hood had bowed his mothers form, and
| enfeebled her steps, but the arm that
| should have supported her was no longer
locked in hers; the face that should
have eheered her, no more looked upon
| her own. She occupied her old seat,
| but there was a vacant one beside her.
| The bible was kept as carefully as ever,
the places were found and folded down
as they used to be; but there was nc
one to read it with her; and the tears
| fell thick and fast u gOn the book, and
| blOtted the words from her eyes. Neigh.
bors were as kind as they were wont tC
be of old, but she summed their greetings
| with averted head. There was no lin
gering among the old elm trees now, nc
cheering anticipation of happiness yet II
store. The desolate woman drew hel
bonnet closer over her face, and walked
hurriedly away.
Shall 1 tell you, that the young man
| who, looking back to the earliest of hi:
| childhOod's days, to which memory and
consciousness extended, and carrying his
recollection down to that moment, could
| remember nothing which was not in
some way connected with a long serie:
Of voluntary privations suffered by hi
mother for his sake, with ill-usage, anC
insult, and violence, and all endured fol
him; shall / tell you that he, with {
reckl less disregard of her breaking heart
and a sulien, wilful fOrgetfulness of al
she had done and borne for him, haC
linked himself with depraved and aban
doned men, and was madly pursuing :
headlong career, which must brig dealt
| 10 MIN duu , dulo 70 uSE AIMS ~
human nature You have anticipates
it long since.
"The measure of the unhappy WON
ans misery and misfortune was abOu
to be completed. Numerous offense
had been committed in the neighbor
hood; the perpetrators remained undis
covered, and their boldness increased
A robbery of daring and aggravate'
nature occasioned a vigilance of pur
suit and strictness of search, they ha'
not calculated upon. Young Edmund
was suspected, with three companions
He was apprehended, committed, tried
conference.-the die.
"The wild and piercing shrieks from
woman's voice, which resOunded througl
the court when the solemn sentence wa
pronounced, rings in my ears at this me
ment. The cry struck terror to tn
culprit's heart, which trial, condemns
ton, the approach of death itself, ha
failed to awaken. The lips which ha