Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1882-12-01


| The leatiess trees seemed like an intricate
net work of finely penciled lines drawn upon
the deep blue OF a summers sky, and the
houses here and there, ungainly as are their
| angular outlines In reality, seemed softened
into something of that touching graceful
ness which clings SO tenderly about the
crumbling masses of some picturesque old
ruin, 1t is true we have had cold, bleak
winds, ice crusts over the ponds on keen
frosty mornings, gray wintry twilights fold
ing DER the land like a mantle of desolation
and black nights wild with angry Winds
there is no green grass, there are no glossy
leaves, the trees are shorn of all their glory,
bui we have one of those mellow Indian
Summer days-but it seems to have weird,
strange flash of warmth and brightness, fleet
ing and momentary, as the unearthly smile
that plays about the lips of one dying, when
we say that heaven bends to meet them, be-
fore they ara quite ready to say goodbye to
earth forever
Such mis-timed brightness must decay ere
long,
And yet these glorious days still seem to
Close up to Winters fierce and frowning
brow,
And pat his shaggy locks, and sing a song
Or wilderng melody, and dance and leap,
AS If old Time might be fofever-now.
So happy childhood, with its careless fun.
And thoughtless gayety, and undimmed sun,
Tread Doldly on the very yawning brink,
Or coming care.
With trusting innocence, nor stops to think
or what is there.
May the happy sunshine of to-day be a good
omen. A storm has but recently swept over
the pnnntrV--a ctOrtn Of md
OF thirst for power and place and emolu-
ments, but 1t has cleared away, and now
I that na14re smiles so Senignan1y who shall
say that she does not predict, with voiceless
eioquence, peace and good will among men.
In my further wanderings, l halted at the
spot where many, many years ago the great
William Writ taught singing school-a rude
pile OF stone is all that is left to tell of the
memories which clustered there While
| pondering for few moments over the life
of this remarkable and distinguished man,
l was reminded of circumstance in the
earlier part of his life which was related to
me by Mrs. Gay, of Georgia, some few years
since. You will remember, sir" said Mrs.
Gay, that Writ in the early portion of his
life was inclined to be dissipated. Well on
a bright summers day, in years gone by,
there lay, near grog shop, on the outskirts
His senses supplied by liquor, there he was
adegraded mass of animated dust the scorch-
ing rays of the sun beating down upon his
face with furious intensity. A young lady,
who was passing by, recognized in the in
ebrated sleeper, the idol of her earthly al
fections; him whom she had told she would
sacrifice everything for, if he would but
cease his imtemperate habits. With all
womans devotion and tenderness, she softly
spread over his face her handkerchief-he
name written upon it. The sleeper awoke
The name uppermost in his sober thoughts
met his eye. The truth burst upon his
mind. He resolved to forsake such an igno-
minious course. The lovers met and were
united. The subsequent history of William
Writ shows that this little office of love was
not lost; yea, that 1t was the means of res
cuing one, who afterwards declined presi-
dency, from drunkards grave, and en-
rolled his name upon the annals of his
country's greatness to shine with undying
lustre"
Thus it will be seen that little word,
little act, little thought may seal our des-
tiny forcv r. The forest oak was once q
little acorn as the island Of the sea was
the work OF the coral insect-so in the moral
as well as the material world, grand results
often spring from the faintest causes.
Turning for the purpose of retracing my
steps, and in few yards | was in the
midst of the dead. The memory of the
dead what a volume Of retrospect it opens
before us. The frosts of autumn or the
SHOWS of winter may have left its traces
upon US, and as we look down the long
drawn isle of the past, and recall with "sad
and mournful pleasure the memories of those
fallen by our side," we can but realize that in
q few Hpntnn 81, n,
be all that will connect US with the diving.
There are no lessons more wholesome than
the teachings of the silent grave, there is no
voice that appeals more directly to the hu-
man heart than that which speaks from the
tomb. The creations OF monumental art,
which are fitting tribute to virtue, will
but commemorate its opposite, vice." Our
lot in this world may be lonely and obscure,
our influence but an atom, but let us re-
member shat the same Almighty hand
which rears the gorgeous tulip tree plants
also the humble violet, that if He sends upon
one the periodical rain, He gives to the
other the daily dew-drop" There is feel
ing which steals upon the heart with these
reflections, which though tinged with
shade of melancholy, is softening and sub
DUNG, and depraved, indeed, must be the
nature that yields not TO this soothing influ-
St'SNj tlO ilOSI ICUGillOuS pas
sions of the soul into calm submission.
fear that have occupied too much of
your space, and therefore will conclude !
Some readers may say that this writing
savors too much of dreamy reverie, and not |
sufficient of sober thought-that may be so.
The trouble is, that we live in times that
Keep us constantly wide-awake, with our |
minds on the alert, and will not let us in |
dulge long in dreams and fancies. Sit down, |
II you will, in the sunshine with all per-
sonal care thrown aside, and begin to build |
stately and beautiful air-castle See if |
some rude shock will not scatter fragmentary |
ruins all around you, before you fairly have |
laid the foundation stones. If not you are |
less subject than to the fearful and OBJ |
pressive earnestness of the times in which |
we live. The soft atmosphere of the day
seems to have led me into the land Of |
dreams and of sunshine and shadows and
l have hastily given you some of the pictures
which passed before me.
PINES, Nov. %, 1882. ORION.
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