Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-03-26

and whose love bhe returned. The OBJ
stinate antagonism Of his dislike had no
foundation which could be sustained by
arguments
Days wore on. Months and seasons
waned. The apple trees blosBOmed.
ripened and were shorn Of their fruit.
Successive harvests were reaped. And
then the tide Of good fortune turned,
and the Deacon had new
experience. He lost money. Ap-
parently stable Investments collapsed.
His eldest son went 10 dis
tant State. A horse Of which he was
proud was carelessly tied, and lamed in
consequence. A favOrite Alderney
sickened and died. The barn took fire
and was consumed. None Of the losses,
so far, we're crushing; but the aggre-
gate bore heavily on the Deacon and
made him very sad. As he sat in his
armchair or followed the plow, he felt
that the warfare Of the Almighty had
assumed a tangible form, and that His
arrows were being aimed for his de-
| struction.
One sorrowful day there came
| greater loss. The hand of paralysis
was laid upon the meek and ever-sub-
missive wife, and she lay for hours in
that death-in-life which is so horrible
and so inscrutable. Now was the cup
of calamity full and running over.
Never a demonstrative nor a very low
ing husband, the Deacon had felt a
true respect and complacent propTie-
tary affection for the woman who had
given him herself in the radiant bloom
Of her girlhood, when she had chosen
him from many suitOrs. Always had
she been a faithful wife, diligent, fru-
gal and obedient TO his wishes. When
she passed softly away, amid the sobs
of her children, he shed no tear; but
Gods lightning had, nevertheless,
smitten his soul. When she lay,
queenly, in silent state, in the house
where she had been rather chief
servant than mistress, he sat for hours
in the room, living over the long
years, and suffering poignant remOrse,
which none knowing the man would
have imagined possible. When he fol-
lowed the hearse to the family lot
where the Camerons had been buried
for generations, he was bowed under
an anguish as deep as it was unspealka-
BILE. Agnes slid her hand into his; but
he scarcely felt the pressure, though he
suffered her to lead him home like a
little child, after the earth had been
packed upon the coffin. t.,r.t
A few days crept On--interminably
long in the abode of mourning-and one
night the family were gathered fol
worship. The Deacon took the Bible,
and slowly turned the leaves until he
came to the sixty-sixth psalm. In &
= voice low and full of emotion he reaC
) these words: Grt
"For thou, o God, hast proved us
Thou hast tried us as silver is tried
t Thou broughtest us into the net. ThoI
3 laidest affliction upon our loins. Thol
\ hast caused men to ride over our heads
l We went through fire and through wa
+ ter; but Thou broughtest us out unto
: wealthy place. will go into Tn,
D house with burnt offerings. will pa,
2 Thee my VOWS, which my lips havl
. uttered and my mouth hath spOkel
s when l was in trouble.n
The Deacon paused. "Children,
Q he said, 81 have had a cOntro
Q versy with the Lord. 1 hav
n made VOWS; but l have not pai
h them. The Lord is too much fo
e Alexander Cameron. / shall resist HiT
j, no longer. l have been vain, conceite
}. and stubborn; fond of my own way an
+ careful for my own interest. But nov
l shall begin again, if may, and seeB
n if haply He let me find Him, my wife
4 God. Your mother was nearer HiI
r thanI. Hugh, ask the pastor to com
! hither tomorrow. want to help hiI
+ in his work with my substance. Agnes
n daughter, Edgar Murray may come a
n you list, and will give him my chill
r, and my blessing. Let us pray"
Ii AS his way was, the Deacon, havin
d begun, paid his vows to the uttermos
N The evening of his life was sweet wit
r thankfulness; and when the sturd
N babes of Edgar and Agnes clambere
# on his knees and held fast to his hant
ii they thought in the wide world thel
ID was nobody so kind and good as grant
,e Acknowledgment E. Sdngster, in N.
ss Independent.