The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1881-01-20

Ills MAN LEgUDl6 was W4bu uAh DADAbs
Turn where he would, the verses familiar
from his childhood mocked him. The word
gow seemed to stare at him from every
page. 1t was David who said: Shall /
offer to the Lord sacrifices of that which
uie uothing?" And David, had always
,H his fav0rite character. But they all
paid their vows.
Even Jephthah, whose rash and sweep
ing pledge to the Deity had involved the
Offering Of his only daughter in q dark and
mysterious doom, had not shrunk from
the terrible exactOn. Saul, in a moment Of
haste, had condemned possible offender
is.s,h; and 10 it proved to be Jonathan
80 must meet the bolt Of faith, and only
the majestic protest Of the united nation
ad availed to save him. The Bible was
an armOry which bristled with weapons
turned constantly against TIE Deaconis con-
science. and while he sat at the head Of
his table, silent, constrained, and gloomy,
imposing an unWhOlsOme and irritating re-
preston on wile and children, a fiery Dat-
tie was raging within him. He grew to
dread Agnes sweet, composed face, where
the patience THAT could wait indefinitely,
and hold its own to the last, was already
stamped a MadOnna-like dignity. Often,
as he saw Edgar Murray in church, he felt
that he was unreasonable in opposing his
suit. rr,crC CoE'd b" 10 SD objection to
c. steady, well-educated and hon0ra-
bic y6G-g man, who loved his daUghter,
and whose love she returned The Obsti-
nate antagOnism Of his dislike had no
foundation which could be sustained by
arguments.
Days wore on. Months and seasons
waned. The apple trees blOssOmed, ripened,
and were shorn of their fruit. Successive
harvests were reaped. And then the tide
of good fortune turned, and the deacon had
a new experience. He lost money. -Appa-
rently stable investments collapsed. His
eldest son went to a distant state. A horse
of which he was proud was earelessly tied,
and lamed in consequence. A favorite
Alderney sickened and died. The barn took
fire and was consumed. None Of the losses,
so far, were crushing; but the aggregate
bore heavily on the Deacon and made him
very sad. As he sat in his armchair OF
followed the plow, he felt that the warfare
of the Almighty had assumed tangible
form, and that His arrows were being
aimed for his destruction.
One sorroWful day there came a greater
loss. The hand Of paralysis was laid upon
the meek and ever-submissive 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 demOnstTative nor a very loving
husband, the Deacon had felt 3 true respect
and'a cOmplacent proprietary affection for
the woman who had given herself in the
radiant bloom Of her girlhOOd, when she
had chosen him from many suitOrs. Al
ways had she been a faithful wife, diligent
frugal, 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, smitte1 his
soul When she lcy queenly, in silent
state, in the house where she had been
chief servant trather than mistress, he sat for
hours in the room, living over IOngyears, and
suffering poignant remOrse, which none
knowing the man would have IMAGINED
possible. When he followed the hearse to
the family lot where the Camerons had
been buried fer generations, he was bowed
under an anguish as deep as it was IN
speakable. Agnes slid her hand into his;
but he scarcely felt the pressure, though
he suffered her to lead him home like a. LIT.
tie child, after the earth had been packed
upon the coffin.
A few days Iept on-interminably long
in the abode Of mourning one night
the family were gathered for worship. The
Deacon took the Bible, and slowly turned
the leaves until he came to the sixtY-sixth
psalm. In a voice low and deep with emo
ton he read these words:
For thou, o God, hast proved US. Thou
hast tried US as silver is tried. Thou
brOughtest Us into the net. Thou laidest
upon our lOins Thou hast caus-
ed men to ride ever our heads. We went
through fire and through water; but Thou
broughtest Us out unto a wealthy place I
will 60 unto Thy house with burnt offer
ings. viii pay Thee my VOWS, which my
lips have uttered and my mouth hath spO-
ken when I was In trouble"
The Deacon paused. Children" he
said, u have had q controversy with the
Lord. I have made VOWS; but I have not
paid them, The Lord Is too much for Al
Cameron. shall resist him no
longer. have been vain, cOnceited and
stubborn; fond Of my own way and care
full Of my own interest. But now I shall
begin again, if may, and seek, if haply he
let me find him, my wife's God. Your
mother was nearer to him than I. Hugh,
ask the pastor to come hither tomorrow. IL
want to help him with my substance. Ag-
nes, daughter, Edgar Murray may come as
you list, and viii give him my child and
my blessing. Let us pray"
As his way was, the Deacon, having be-
gun, paid his vows to the uttermOst. The
evening of his life was sweet with thank
fulness; and when the sturdy babes Of Ed
gar and Agnes clambered on his knees and
held fast to his hand, they thought in the
wide world there was nobody so kind and
good as grandfather.