Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-12-05

BER s, 1898.
stated. In this my father and lent
our assistance. and the story Of Jspsou
was made known to only few discreet
persona In his preaching be u said TO
be doing good work. The pictures hs
draws In his warnings to young men are
70 realistic that his hearers wonder how
the good old man 10 able TO % faithfully
portray the many evils OF this wicked
world, Of none Of which he can possibly
have had any personal experience
Ny fathers example caused many Iron
rsilings and handsome monuments 70 b
erected by his neighbors, and the Pason-
agessit cemetery 10 not only the pride OF
the village, but also 10 the model for al
the neighboring villages, In nearly every
one Of which the work Of Improvement
Il In progress. Rev. Nantucket Sperm
Is always loud In his praise Of my father
for his Inauguration Of the good work
which u now being carried on with %
much pious enthusiasm.
But that which gave my father the
greatest pleasure was the following Incl
dent, which he was never tired Of relst-
Ing: One day as he was coming In from
the cemetery he was stopped by . wom-
an apparently about 90 years Of age,
who, cane In hand, stood before her cot
tsge. "Mr. Johnson" said the veners-
BILE dame, II want tew thank you. I've
been a.holdin back for years al I knew
heow jist tokeep from bein stuck deown
out there among the weeds and briers,
but now I'm willin tsw 60 whenever the
Lord calls. The homes Of the dead Of
the village are meow a. bright - the
homes Of its living, and chsngir from
one TO the other don't seem dreadful
like Il used tew. I've always been tidy
In my homo among the livin. and I'd
like TO be tidy In my home among the
dead"
Il IL my fathers delight to accompany
my sisters when they 60 forth to strew
fresh flowers on the tombs Of our ances-
tors. On such occasions he favors them
with long extracts from the genealogy.
He never tires of discoursing Of the ca
reer Of the Johnsons Of England, and In
speaking Of the trials and tribulations Of
Sir Archibald his face 10 at one moment
flushed with righteous wrath. and at the
next he becomes pathetic, and tears roll
down his cheeks. He has now not only
fully adopted our imported ancestors,
but has also 90 fondly studied their his
tory that he has come TO firmly believe
them Of his own fesh and blood.
Twas made aware Of this the day after
our grand funeral ceremonies when !
said to my father. 80 ends the grim.
NEST. most protracted and elaborate
practical Joke ever perpetrated on the
soil Of New England"
"Joke, sirr sternly cried my father,
staring at me as though he thought me
losing my wits. "Do you call that which
has been wrought by the hand of Provi.
dence joker Let me never again hear
you speak In that light manner Of what
the Lord has brought about. ! am as
certain as that live that Sir Archibald
johnson was my great-grandfather. The
proofs are 30 many and 40 strong that ]
cannot doubt them. Not man In Amer
lea doubts them. My son, what has
been done may have been commenced In
o spirit less serious than was betting
work Of such great gravity and impor.
tance, but all the time unknown to US
God was guiding us Alright. BY his hand
You were led to the toinbs Of our ances-
tors, and In all we have since done we
have had his MD. Thus has our work
been made to prosper and bring forth
good fruit.
"How you can doubt that those whose
remains We have so dutifully honored
are our ancestors cannot conceive, es-
pecially In the face Of all the proofs you
have brought home from the mother
sountry. In the Bible we read that the
patriarchs Of old experienced certain In.
ternal physical commotions termed
'yearning Of the bowels when brought
into the presence Of those to whom they
were united by ties Of consanguinity.
Formerly ] could not understand the
phenomenon, but now never approach
the tomb Of Sir Archibald that do not
experience similar internal sensations In
the region of the diaphragm, which nc.
cept as sign given me from one now In
the other world"
My father. being thus curt and decided
with me, his own son and fellow con.
spirator, convinced me that had any
stranger dared to even NO much as hint
q suspicion that our imported ancestors
were not all we claimed the old gentle
man would have belabored the doubter
with his cane.
As had no desire to detract FROM the
family enjoyment. ever thereafter kept
whatever light thoughts I may have had
TO myself. Indeed 1t was to me always
great pleasure to observe my sister
Eleanor strewing fresh flowers with pi.
Gus care upon the tomb Of Lady Eles-
nor, her Observation-Disclosures
importation.
II there were any who were previous
| ly inclined to stand aloof from our fam.
|liy, the discourse Of Rev. Walter Now.
bray brought them into the fold OF our
friends. Still old Anariah bradford
was by no means disposed to at once I'D.
NIT that was worthy Of alliance mat
rimonially with family Of the "truest,
bluest New England blood"
Charity Bradford, the wife OF old Am
sriah, was In full sympathy with her
daughter and through her mother Pru.
dencs was able to learn something OF the
state Of her fathers mind. She informed
me that after he had listened attenttvely
to the discourse Of Rev. Mr.. Mowbray
her father had said In conversation
with her mother that, though member
6 my family had landed ut Salem IN
1880, still II was 10 years later than the
pilgrims. and, besides, arriving In an or
binary trading vessel was very different
from coming over In the Mayfower.
However, a. Lady Arbella johnson
seemed to have been Of very respecta-
BILE Puritan family. her not coming to
the country 10 years earlier might be
overlooked. As her husbands name was
Isaac, he was inclined to the belief that
they were q genuinely God fearing pair.
Az for titles. they were oil mere worldly
ysnities. He therefore pretended to care
nothing at all for Sir Archibald and
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