The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-10-21
soundly for nine hours. From Thurs
day, however, dated

! III. Ia. ". W iiSOn, Jr., were convinced
that the case was a critical one. and that
the crisis would be reached that night.
| There was no improvement, and by Fri
day midnight the case was hopeless. al
| though to those about him. except tile
| physicians, he appeared to be better On
| saturday the patient took some milk,
which his stomach retained, and contin-
ued to receive nourishment up to
o clock. About s Z. NJ. DR.. Wilson ar
lived, for his usual night visit, and upon
seeing his patient was at once convinced
that death was rapidly approaching. DR..
! Guard was extremely weak, and several
! complications. growing out of his nerv-
Gus prostraticn, rendered his whole sys-
| TEN inactive. Numerous remedies were
applied, i'll order to assist nature, but no
relief was afforded. DR.. Wilson then de.
c!dcd to tell Mr. Guard his condition.
NOT AFRAID TO DIE.
! Clearing the room of the family, the
| physician approached the bedside. and,
! taking the hand of the patient, who was
even then sinking, he said Mr.. Guard,
have you any directions to give about
! your affairs in case of your death. The
crisis is near" The dying clergyman.
| with an effort, slowly shook his head,
aud gave no evidence of being in the
least degree disturbed by the news. Al
| ter this, DR.. Wilson informed the family
OF what was to be expected, and, after
| making his patient as comfortable as
| possible, left the house. DR.. ii. VI. Will
son, Jr.. remained in charge at the bed
side and surrounded by the children of
the diving man, waited for the end. At
/ IL q clock life was almost extinct, aud
! DR.. Wilson, ST., was sent for, and short
y arrived, remaining until after death.
SCENE AT THE DEATHBED.
When the end approached there were
in the room the two physicians and the
following children of Nj. Guard s-viZ:
William j. Guard, Miss Charlotte J.
Guard, Percy L. Guard and Porter II.
| Guard. The eldest son, Reginald Il.
Guard, is in San Franciso. and the two
Younger children, Miss Jessie L. and
Master J. K. Guard were not admitted
20 the scene. Just before midnight the
dying man, it is believed, recognized
Percy, who tried to rouse him. The end
came in few minutes after one. Infor-
nation OF the sad result WAS at once tel
egraphed to his son Reginald and to nut
merous other gentlemen throughout the
country.
The Mount Vernon official board caus-
ed the interior of the church to be drap-
ed in heavy mourning as soon as possible
after the death. The chancel. reading
desks and ratings were hung with heavy
sable folds, and there was profusion of
the same sad emblem displayed through
out the auditorium. Early in the morn
ing the members of the congregation and
friends hpSi1aS a.,
rived, and condolences and regrets were
soou pouring il from all parts of the city
and elsewhere. In order to allow the
members Of the congregation and other
friends to take
LAST LOOK At THE FEATURES
of their dead pastor, the body was laid
out in the parlor of the residence. 1t re-
posed Oh catatalque, draped with
funeral pail, over which profusion of
tube roses and other choice flowers were
strewn. The number of visitors through
out the day was numerous, and tie ex-
preSs'ons OF regret were profound and
heartfelt. AT all hours up to late Sun
day evening the residence was thronged
with sympathiZing friends, and much
emotion was visible as each newcomer
stood beside the dead body of the below
ed pastor. The features of the dead
were somewhat drawn, showing the ter
ribe agony which he had endured, but
beyond this the body was remarkably
life like. Among the callers were near
ly all the Methodist ministers of the city
among whom Mr.. Guard was very popu-
lar and much respectful and looked up to
because of his marked abilities and intel
lectual attainments.
Renaissance OF HIS LIFE.
Like all men of genius-forh he was GER
tainly man of genius-Mr. Guard had
some eccentric traits i'll his character.
One of them WAS sort of absent-mind-
edness. as perhaps it might be called,
which sometimes led him into an extrav-
agance i'll the expenditure Of money for
articles for which he had no immediate
use, and the purchase of which he had
forgotten by the time the goods were de-
livered at his house. Ii is said of him
that he would step into bookstore, pick
up one volume of Il valuable set Of books,
become interested in something in it's
pages, and, turning around to the book
seller, order the whole sent to his house
and the bill sent to him. BY the time
the books were delivered and the bill
sent in he had, perhaps, forgotten all
about them, but the seller was never al
lowed to suffer. SO with articles of furn-
iture. perhaps, when handsome set
would attract his attention; or articles of
vertu or brio brac; and thus there were
often sent to his house many very valua-
BILE and costly articles which were really
not needed, and for some Of which it was
almost impossible to find a place. His
salary at Mount Vernon Place-$4 900
year and the largest salary raid to any
Methodist preacher in this conference
was large enough to stand the strain Of
these expenditures; but as Mr.. Guard
was only in the habit of visiting certain
number of stores, most of them kept by
members of his own congregation, the
merchants, when they felt confident that
he really did not want the articles order
ed. would not carry out the order, and it
was certain Mr.. Guard would never re-
mind them of these failures to DO SO.
4 LITTLE TOUCH OF ROMANCE.
Shortly after Mr. Guards return from
his California charge a San Francisco
paper published a little story of his life
there, with vein of romance in it. The
story, as then told, was probably exag-
merated in some of It's features, but there
was more or less foundation for it. The
story was that while Mr.. Guard was pas
tor of Mount Vernon Church here, dur
ING his first term, he had in his congre-
cation two sisters, one of them older
Than the other They were active in
church work, and he thus became init
mately acquainted with them. While
he was in San Francisco his wife died,
and sometime afterward he had occasion
lntt n Ra1tipnpra and did
addressing it, as he thought, to the
Younger of the two ladies. His memory
had proven false to him, however, and
he had confounded the first names of the
ladies: and SO the letter, instead of going
to the younger lady, as Mr.. Guard had
intended, went straight to the hands of
the elder. She answered the letter, and
foom this start a correspondence began
which became more and more interesting
as time went on. 1t is said that one Of
the letters from Mr.. Guard to the lady
contained proposal of marriage, and
that the return mail carried with it her
acceptance of the offer. The same letter
carried picture of the lady, and one can
hardly imagine the eloquent preachers
astonishment when he looked at the pho
torraph and found there not the face of
the lady he intended to ask to be his
wife but that of her older sister. He
was naturally very much puzzled what to
do in the matter; but the story is that he
determined to write frank letter to her
and tell her the curious mistake that he
had made, and he did so. She was nat
urally as much taken by surprise as was
he, but made up her mind to release him
from his engagement, which she did
This was the more trying for her, as a