Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-07-25
A storr ofan opal Rinr.

An opal OF remarkable size and beau
ty, recently handed to me to examine and
admire, called 10 mind some incident:
connected with an opal ring Of even great
er beauty, that were related to me year:
ago-Iueidents that would never have hap
pened but for the Sugar act Of 1865. New
port was then actively engaged IN com
mercial pursuits, and here, If anywhere
the officers Of the Crown felt that q vigil
ant eye should be kept on all incoming anC
outgoing vessels. To this end Lord Gov
lille, Rear Admiral Of the White, stationed
here the frigates Squirrel and Maidstone,
and the schooner St. John, but the officers
of these vessels, so far from pouring OF
on the troubled waves, adopted measure:
that added fuel to the flames, until al
length the people. stung to the quick, gavt
vent to their feelings IN acts Of violence
The guns Of Fort George were turned upon
the schooner ST. John, the slOop Liberty
was burnt by number of excited seamen,
and boat belonging TO the Maidstone wa:
Wrested from the officer and men who had
her in charge and openly burnt IN one oil
the streets Of Newport.
The Maidstone, frigate of twenty-eighi
guns, was manned with crew Of one hun
dred and ninety men under the command
of Captain Antrobus. The purSer was
W. Mortimer, and his clerk bore the name
of John Bell, Jr. And here my story be-
gins. Bell, the purser's clerk, was the
son of a prosperous merchant in London,
who had given him a liberal education.
The Young man had taken his position fol
the sake Of seeing something Of the world
and particularly Of America. He was fond
of travelling, and he knew of no way in
which helcould 50 easily indulge love Of
adventure. As purser's clerk he had fire.
ouently to 20 on shore. and while here b,
made friends with the BrentOn family, who
were loyslists, Under their roof be be-
came acquainted with Mary Anthony, a
maiden of little more than sixteen years,
aud the daughter Of aQuaker who was an
uncOmprOmising oppnnent of tue SUGAR
act To know her was To love her. En-
raptureG 10y her presence be begged her Ia
become his wife. His hand she promised
to accept, her heart was already his own,
and hut for parental restraint they would
have been married. But her father was
made of sterner stuff. Loyal he had been
and loyal he wished to be, but the decree
of Parliament had well-nigh ruined his
trade: the officers of the Crown were iGen-
tilted in his eyes with the act which they
were required to enforce, and his ire knew
no bounds when be understood how matters
stood between his daughter and the clerk.
Bell was no longer permitted to come to
the house, and but for the kindly Office Of
friends the lovers would have seen but lit
tie of each other. As it was, they were
frequently separated by the departure Of
the ship on q cruise or q mission. In July,
1865, the Maidstone was here. but in Sep
tember she was in Halifax. In December
she returned to Newport Harbor, was here
again for few days in March, 1866, and
also in June and July.
So matters stood when orders were re-
ceived in July for the ship to sail for Eng
land. The parting was sad one, and il
proved to be the last meeting Of the young
people. At the last moment he pressed
her lips and then hurried away, bearing
with him but one feYOr-a knot Of ribbon
that but moment before had rested upon
her bosom. His gift to her was an opal
ring which had once belonged to his moth
er, who had some association with IL that
made it precious in her eyes, and, dying,
she had left it to her only child, who, after
he har come to mans estate, always kept
it by him. Mary could not wear it openly
but, suspended from a ribbon around her
neck, it was hid from observation under
her kerchief. Years rolled on, and the
overt acts in the days of the Sugar act
orsW into open rebellion in IT'S. Bell re
mained on board the Maidstone, hoping
that a turn in the tide would take him
back to America. In 1778 the wished-for
change came, and the frigate, under the
command of Captain Alan Gardner-who
was later raised to the peerage-was or
dered to the West Indies. When OF the
Chesapeake, on November Sth, he fell in
with the French ship Lyon, OF forty guns,
and after a desperate fight, once broken
off and then resumed, he took her. Among
the dead was Bell, who had taken an active
part in the engagement.
The Maidstone sailed away for Antigua
with her prize; but dispatch boat brought
news Of the capture to Newport, still in
the hands of the enemy, where it was re-
eeived with acclamstion by the troops.
But it fell with crushing weight on one
heart. From that blow the girl never re-
covered, and soon it was evident that her
DAYS were numbered. The ring, no long
er hidden beneath the folds of her kerchief,
found a place on her finger, where it alone
claimed her attention. So matters con-
tinued through the winter, By Spring
her form had wasted, and cough and
hectic flush told that the end was nigh.
At that time one of her most intimate
friends was to marry Henry Goldsmith, of
Westmeath, Ireland, young man Of four
and-twenty, who had found his way to
Newport, and liking the place, had made
mis- abode here. In this wedding Mary
took an interest, and insisted that the
should take place at her bedside;
and there, amid tears rather than smiles of
the ceremony was performed
by the Rev. George Bisset on the goth of
March, 1779. Then Mary drew the opal
from her finger, and as she handed it to
he bride, who stopped to kiss her, said in
4 voice but little above whisper, "keep it
-or my sake. and if Heaven should bless
7ou with daughter, give it to her, with
he name of Mary" When peace was de-
,lsred the Goldsmiths, not feeling them
selves comfortable in Newport, for MIR.
Goldsmith had been conspicuous for his
oyalty, removed to st. Andrews. n. B.,
hen to Annapolis Royal; from there to
Halifax, and finally, in 1900. to England.
They had fourteen children in all. The
irst born bore the name Of Mary; but the
spell of the opal was upon her, and she
lied in Annapolis Royal at the close of
L799, before she had completed her twen-
ieth year. Another child was born to
hem in 1900 daughter, to whom they
yave the faYorite name of Mary; and she,
90, found an early grave. What became
4 the ring cannot say; possibly after the
leath of the mother it may have passed to
me of the other daughters.