New-York tribune., 1884-11-16
MAJOR CORNELIUS.
.,o,, thirty wears ago was clerk in lawyer !

then lodged ny ss n"a ent by an emincntly respect.
shn sh "a maid Miss Jones. who tIeateu a, az from
Soar,ers with consideration ana o'% nav We dined
tnci, ar NM, house ony on Sundays and on was
Tav-that Is, unless invited out aim,avs followed
sIways carly-at I o'cockCanndd a. in the month
tie Same 1rdcr. On md bacon: on the second, oueu
hcef ganished with carrots add;ng allH on the third
inc with parsnips, and suet od fried potatoes;
SUNDAY we haI roest beef aud mashed or oo,er otb
n om ens When there were five -unl;od with beef
the additional sunday Srnds wS Of beef to pudding
s'eak Pnt know how il was that the 'cont
W;ss Jones's always tasted Vi ~ hn;Ied in a
know very Wen ,ns he budding which is did not
ciotn; o oout and the potatoes did heIr ,''o
several insoluble mysteries cnoo'
this Wa isrd adv was tall pale. ndy;hairea. nnc
od c dsskGbiUe in the kitchen all the % Te
br. at a. H. al breakfast ana ~ " che t' was prm.
boaiaeiS lieJ JsJ'p and stately How she managed 10
S"come so in few minutes. never knST ne life
also was one of the insonbie d;s,osed we
WI Mic1 ,hot az hv o.30 n M she was what we calleu %
H. our slang "disl- -shoveed not cur ~ nrnc
sulirch across her cheek, ana II. ne' 81 Tor = lady
oar Miss Jones was the ideal maiden i"u, III -
rroprcty. dignity, and thri'. enc os iMm"aynrabIe
nanred one point hoTeSSer sne re fall into debit
,,e naid weekly beforehand one Pouhu p,s pc, ~ o"
She had an afiablc smile, and similar nh renI had a
The weather for all her boarderS; ,'tast Ea'm and
it, nf hocon of the same size at breakitss, ny
Iasn, @ - W of snoar in his tea and one spoonful o
brown igar in his coffee Each, also, hau az
and all the eggs tasted oi iIhe"a'e' "
alike .o1os oxcont one. an old
,.dv with false front. who combed ner nd this
with an antmoniacal COMP 10 Sh Hore also set
of false teeth; both jaws were thus ht aIso re-
contriyed we never quite mace % o;i'. &C Ito They
mains one of the insoubc my ~ ,;,h snrngs and
We're somehow contrved TO mt WIN spt"SS;;i p IA not
crc go badly contIivcd that in eating she uiu % NOV
look her best aud sometimes pIesenlte& & W. dd n"t
attractive spectacle indeed. he old iauy uu , no
i;ls ms and we did not like her she oi,en iau d
devilied kidneys for breakfast we never, p"t & Sro
Maid extra for Them and when she had & lne, %or
imav,tablv the teeth went out OF gear Dehinl IN Nv.
hacL we were accustomed to mimic her; sne kuew
II bv some extraordinary intuition my nys'cLiou,
ns for a long time. till we discovered Una. 'o - I
ofaIwork had sneaked to her OF what We t sa az n
g she scarcely spoke to us at meals. except Ill d
ncrcmptory way, TO have the mustard or @ ,o"n, -;
passed 10 her. We took malicious picS'fiv p forcn
ppeclectinp to anticipate her wants, anu io..
her To demand the butter or toast etc, aiid d
NOT 10 hear her requests to nave lhem tha,,
tin she raised her voice angrliy anu Ieict" rve
very loudly when we Immediately regah "! W sol, M
her With mustard, pepper. eggspoons, empty saI-
dine tins any and every thing, VIII MOCK ,'; 70
ness 10 forestal her little wants Wo welo auuD
tLe old lady admit, but she was very aggrdHa.,t-
inr. However my story has nothing 10 90 WIN WIN
her so may dismiss her; 1t concerns an n"u ~ Mss
man who was our M 90lodSfa Maior a& Cornelius thin
gpav-haired man. with a refined face and me most
1ehcately cut nostrs think ever saw. nc Ns mns
closely shaven. He was scrupulousy g,u, od thrsad.
bis clothes and though they were old ana tnieau-
hare no one could doubt that he was genllel'on io
by birth. breeding and In feelng. lntiu n4 his
something very sweet and prepossessig IpU", n, ns
face 1t was pale and grave put kInan @ 9n,a n,,eo
lnrked about the delicate mouth, ana inc gray SNcs
were soft He was rather lame, from "ouhu lie
had received at Waterloo. He had his pension.
hat. he
On That however, wOnld have suihced 10 Keep
him IN comfort had he not III an eVii hour stoou
security for a Younger brother. We none Oh hs
tncw the circumstances exactly, and canuot now
eav what was truth and what was CONJECTURE IN IN
tho story whispered among us MY mpIess9i,o" -
that the broth to whom he was deNotedIN az
fachcd had not behaved hOnorably; lie had lei,
the country and the Majors resources were strained
TO the utmost to meet the demand tnal t''nn Gn G
him as security. We none of us VeltuIeu u dliuuc
10 this topic; the disgrace raukled III tue ou i'tn
heart: there was an ever-Open wound thefe "hicn
we were careful not to touch.
There was a childike simplicity in the Old man
which rather amused us youngsters then; now
loo ing back on him, find il was ininltely touch
ing. Ne however, laughed over I've knew H
much more of the world than he. 10 MISS JULIUS
and the old lady with the teeth he was couI'eons e
with an od-fashioned courtesy that faIlrTeu .np' %
and won their hearts He pad MISS SohTT nii 'nf af
home we used to say that Miss Jones set her cap
at the Major and that she only allowed nun 10 re-
main on these moderate terms because sue uSSio" @
tn hacome Mrs Cornelius. i do not believe IL was
So | think she strained point so as 10 retain az az
old Waterloo officer III her house, 10 give IL ai S
of superiority above other boardng-houSeS III INC
Whenever think of Major Cornelius remember
Lis hair have already said 1t was thlh; II WIS
always elaboratelv brushed and watered, inc IdT
drawn forward from behind the ear, aud turned III
n sort of curl over the temple. HIS collars were
always clean and very stlh, ana his DiacA cI"'"V
x Kind old man! When Robbins was i'll with
rheumatic fever he sat up with him night aitcr
night and mnlstered 10 him as nurse. Wheeil
Robbins was better; and able TO receive our cal ne
SAT mn i'm his bed. leaning on the MAJOR, VINO had
his arm round him, and smiled and looked as
pleased with our congratulations as tho"gn 'n''
vulgar Robbins had been his own SON.
A kind old man! lie allowed us youngsters 10
poke little harmless Jokes AT HIM. We called nm
the Centurion. When an Italian nand stayed PLAY
ing in EbuIy-st. we would tell hlm bis propeI
place was to lead il. On Sundays, when he arriVed
ior dinner one of us would ask. " Been 10 churcn'
Majori" Then Robbins or another w9uid answer,
"Of course he has. What is the good oi asking
Does NOT Scripture tell us that Cornelius was
dront ccnturionf' These little exhibitions OF fee
ble fun he bore with great good humor, hut we ~
sinctively felt that there was limit we must not
transgress. The only man among us. coarse In per-
ceptiou who could not recognize this was Robbins.
When he pushed his butioouery too Tar the haJor
would rise, bow. and leave the room. lhen the
rest of us fell upon sat upon, and ilattened out
Robbins.
The Major dined daily with Miss Jones at the
lodging-house. We never knew of what that week
day dinner consisted but We believed 1t was
made out OF the remains of the great Sun
day feast After chicken Sunday the
fare must have been poor After beef and
mutton sundays, the meat no doubt was minced,
and overaid with blanket Of potato as cottage
puddiag-much potato and little mlnce; or was
served as harcot with carrot and large slppets of
toast; or was lost in batter and called toad-i
hole; or buried in boiled dough. We did not know,
we only guessed. No information could be ex-
tracted from The MAJOR when inquired after the
"cold remains" or the venerable relics or
Duke Humphreys dinner" He would answer
81.
aud have Jared sumptuously." The old
man practsed the severest economy. He
denied himself everything he could; he
d aux only water at dinner aud supper
Each OF us had his separate jug; one had stout
other pale ale another bitter beer Robbins drank
brandy and water; the old lady Marsaa. Ale
meant TO the Major fourpence day, or two-and-
fCurpcnce week, that is, over six pounds per an
mum, and the six pounds was needed for neccssa-