The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-10-06


his white waistcoat and for the pro-
fusion of jewelIy displayed thereon.
"a safe man, my dear sir; a very
safe man. said Mr.. Spalding to me at
lunch. "Why, l suppose his turn
Overt is about half million a year
the iron trade, you know" added the
old gentleman by way Of explaining
that Mr.. Blagden was one of the
metal kings Of England.
"Self-Inade man, too" said Mr..
Spalding; "began life as foundry
boy"
From what I saw Of Mr.. Blagden
within the next few weeks, his origin
could have been pretty accurately
/ guessed, from the manner in which he
4 impaired the |'foundry-boy's" man
ners into the sphere In which his in
( dustry and success had led him. He
was essentially a vulgar man, who
/ bullied his sister, a meek, silent little
woman, with a good heart and kindly
nature, as ! discovered later on.
As we drove home from lunch that
day Jim was strangely depressed. /
/ guessed his thoughts pretty accurately,
for he burst out into a TRADE against
Mrs. Spalding on our arrival home"
81 shouldn't wonder, Regy," said he,
of that fellow Blagden has been in
vite down here as a sutton for Nelly.
He's a friend of Mrs. Spalding's, l
know, because she herself comes from
the ''Black Country"
Jim's state of mind, from the mo-
ment he preached this theory, may be
better imagined than described. For
the next three weeks l am bound to
say that his temper was Well-nigh UNI
endurable. One evening at dinner at
Mount Grove l felt half afraid he was
going to inflict personal chastisement
upon Mr.. Blagden, a feat | should
have been much rejoiced to have seen
skillfully performed, after the iron
masters coarse invectives against the
medical profession, which had been
called forth during some argument
concerning doctors fees. Nelley's at
titude toward Jim appeared to have
3 undergone no perceptable change.
She was loving and gentle as before
= but l fancied that Mrs. Spalding con-
trived deXterOusly to keep Miss Blag-
! den and Nelly as frequently together
/ as possible, and thus Jim's tete-a-tetes
were reduced tC miserable minimum
5 Worst of all, as Jim remarked to me
one day, Nelly had confessed that heI
} step-mOther had on more than one Occa-
: sion limited that Mr.. Blagdem visit and
: stay We're not solely prompted by
. friendship to her parents. Mrs
? Spalding was, in other words, &
= clever woman, playing nice
> little game Of diplomacy, and
5 while keeping on the most friendly
= terms with jim, was, to my mind
} furthering her own aims and ideas o
: a matrimonial alliance for Nelly
: with the elderly irOnfounder. l know
; that most of my readers will say tha
Miss Spalding should have settled
l the matter for herself, and have givel
T Mr.. Blagden to understand that hi
attentions were unwelcOme and hope
+ less. But, as l remarked before, W.
I are not all cast in one mould and tht
: most loving natures may sometime
be coereced by what seems to be thei
} duty, into self-sacrifice of the mos
unr asonable kind, and which cal
e only entail misery in the end.
So things went on at ROckhampton
with diplomacy at Mount Grove anC
Z despair at No. IA High street, wher
DIR. James Brooke announced hi
| Willingness to relieve the afflicted
; daily from 10 to II am. and from T.
s pm. L had been sitting cOgitatin,
| over matters one evening at the Re-
LiOn-Jim having been called to
= distant part of the parish-when al
! idea, founded, 1 believe, on a quota
. tatiOn from an old French author, OC
; Cured to me. The quotation was t
Il the effect that ''When moral suasiol
). fails from any cause to change al
: opinion 1t is lawful to appeal to tn
u most trivial of our emotions" Happ
|, idea thought l. l shall see whethe
/ or not l can work it out to the advan
u tage Of DR.. James Brooke and-shal
= l add it ?-tO the confusion of JOSEF
: Blagden, Esq.
= My plans were then rapidly ma
= tured. Morning, noon and night fin
:. me busy in the old church. l al
: hard at work on a canvas in whic
. the interior of the church grows un
. der my brush day by day. There ar
= no sound of the "Kyric" now, nor az
. the jubilant strains of MendelsshO
. heard, as on bright sunny day nc
far gone 10y. Nelly does not come t
=, practice her old favOrites as of yort
!, Blagden, L know, hates music an
:, painters, as he once expressed it,
= shocking bad taste-are usually g
- seedy lot" l remember Mr.. Josiah
: white vest and cable cabin, wit
enough appendages attached thereto t
y have set up small jeweler in a thriV
ing way of business. The aisle anC
= gallery OF the church are now com
~ plete in my picture. 1 paint it as
- sit in the aisle; in the distance YOU ca
see the alter and chancel; and tn
>, vicar, who looks in upon me oc
% casionally, says it is as like as can be
4 He is curious, however, to know tn
;, nature of the figures l have sketcheC
= roughly in. There is a group passing
down the aisle from the altar-rail
where the vicar can still be seen a
;, the post and there is a figure stand
ing alone and solitary in pew, as
- facing the advancing party TIL
. vicar cannot quite fathOm the design
=, The church he can understand; bu
. the meaning of the picture puzzle
:, him. bid him wait patiently for tn
> solution of the mystery.
# When my study of the church wa
# completed l went home to the Re
II Lion, and there painted in my fig
O ures. There was little need for models
y for my skctch-bOok was full of stud
e les. Turning to my picture, now pro
e crossing rapidly, 1 find that there ar
d heads of two elderly men, and ther
Y Is a careful sketch of a young man
:. face likewise. There is a fair girl
?. face and matrOnly cOuntenance, an
4 another face which seems not unlik
y that of Miss Blagden. AT last IN
is task is completed. The picture is
/ mere study but it is a careful stud
Nr~ifh al oh mol,