Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-08-15

shoulder hOu not been an inc Tight place.
Miss Cornelia Beverley had reached
| the age of sixty-three without having at
tanned modicum of the patience, self
control or gentlencss inseparable from
| all idea of gracious, kindly autumn.
Hers was the autumn of equinoctial dis
turbanccs. rather than the loneliness of
Indian summer.
Without being clever woman, or
deep thinker or n student of philosophy,
Miss Beverley had arrived by sheer in
stiuct ut Il scheme of life that, for pure
matcrialism and unconscious cxaltation
Of tho ctcrna selfhOod, bcggarcd all phi
| losOphy. Tho earth was hers, and tho
| inhabitants thcreof-crcated for her
| benefit, to minister to her whimS and
wants in the ways she deemed bcftting.
Having been born into n world incom-
plotc until her coming, she had accom-
plished all that could reasonably be ex-
pCcteu of her. She had given creation
center herself; that was her merit, for
| which she must DO rewarded; if creation
failed to avail itself of the privilege of
going around her, that was its sin, for
which it must be punished.
In short, Miss Corncla Beverley was
silly and selfish woman, who, without
having ever read line of Emerson in
her life, made ono of his maxims her
daily rule of conduct-the one which re-
fers to lie soft side of existence being
the special pCrQuisite of tho cantanker-
| Gus and foolish,
1t must not DO understood that Miss
COrnclia was IN anomaly, unlike other
human beings and utterly intolerable
~, Of
such was far from being the case. She
was extremely good natured when her
wants were properly attended to and she
was given the best of everything, and
she was liberal in way-that is, she
would lavishly bcstow such favors as
wCro in her gift on the person who
happened to please her, and she never
said i'll naturcd things of people behind
| their backs unless she We're unusually
| angry. She possessed the negative viz
tue of being spitoful to their faces. 1t
was Il common saying among her kindred
that "thc worst thing Cornclia ever says
| a-bOut You She says 10 your face"
Perhaps those whose daily life and
| conversation were tincturcd with her
| presence ut times deplorrd this excel
lencc, and would have chrerfully sub
mittcd to any amount of baclbiting
could they have thereby escaped the
| many trials i'll which they We're both
criminal and counsel for the defense.
| Still, SO elastic is human nature, and sc
noble in the main, even tho people who
| lived with Miss COrnclia found many
excuses for her. She had had great
deal of trouble in her youth, and some
| very stern affection, and in compassion
| for her sorrow her family had gradually
| learned to throw Il mantle of charity
over her scliishucss. Trouble like hers
even when self caused, carries with il
an atmosphere that touches sympathy
SO llcrmly as not unITrQUCutly to disarn
Judgment
In her youth Miss Curnulia had been I
handsome, high spirited girl, maynard
and passionate, but attractive enough t.
have many admirers. At eighteen she
became. with the consent and blessing
of both families. engaged to a young
man Of the uvlghhorhOod, n MIR. Spots
wood Carrin%tou The courtship was
stormy one, the engagement stormie1
and the end total wreck. The lady in
sisted upon carrying ON Il foolish, willfu
filtration with another man for whom
she cared nothing, simply to demonstrate
to her lover that she would submit to NJ
interference or dictation The gentle
man was violent in temper and jcalou
in disposition, and the termination of tn
miserable affair was fierce quarrel be
tween the two mon and duel, which re
suited in the death of one and the MAIN
ing for life of the other
= After the death of her lover Miss Bev
crley fell into deep melancholy, alter
| mated with wild gusts of rcmOrscfu
passion, which unsettled her brain t
such an extent that for years she re
quircd strict attention and most careful
nursing. The horror of publicity whic'
distinguished the old time gentry pre-
vented her family from sending her t
an asylum, even when she was at tn
worst. Tender care and years of tran
quillity finally restored her mind to it
balance, but by the time she resume
her place in the family her natural Sc
fishness had been fostercd by unlimite
indulgence and developed by the consit
Grafton which had become the habit {
the house.
She had some trifing property, derive
!, from her mother, sufficient for her SUI
port in other peoples houses, but ne
- own. 1t was n standing grievance wit
her that her brother Hector, her guardia
and trustee, had sold her land and inves
ed the proceeds in such a way that tt
principal was beyond her control. HI
nephew Hector had been equally faitl
full to her interests, so she drew her Ii
tie income regularly, unvexed by tt
storms that beset and finally strande
the family property. Her home 81
made principally with her nephew
widow, to whom she was kind in a fitf
way and spasmodically attached.
She preferred her old home and h
old rooms and familiar surrounding
she said; but the truth was that in 9th,
houses she was forced to exercise a sc
restraint that was irksome to her. 81
went about among her kindred al
made long visits. during which MAJ