The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-11-20

OuI thSAS dAioHH buc Wccls anu DIlc-f.
but now I'm willin tew 90 whenever tho
Lord calls. The homos Of tho dead of
the village are meow as fright as tho
homes OF its living, and changin from
one to the other don't seem dreadful
like it used tew. I've always been tidy
in my home among the livin, and I'd
like to be tidy in my home among the
dead"
1t is my fathers delight to accompany
my sisters when they go forth TO strew
fresh flowers on the tombs of our anccs-
tors. On such occasions he favors them
with long extracts from the genealogy.
He never tires Of discoursing Of the ca
reer OF tho Johnsons of England, and in
speaking Of the trials and tribu,ations OF
Sir Archibald his face is 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 so fondly studied their his
tory that he has come to firmly believe
them of his own flesh and blood.
was made aware of this the day after
our grand funeral ceremonies when
said to my father, $50 ends the grim
NEST. most protracted and elaborate
practical joke ever perpetrated on the
soil of New England"
"Joke, sirp sternly cried my father,
staring at me as though he thought mo
losing my wits. ''Do you call that which
has been wrought by the hand of Provi-
dence joke? 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 so many and SO strong that I
cannot doubt them. Not man in Amer
ica doubts them. My son, what has
been done may have been commenced in
spirit less serious than was befitting a
work Of such great gravity and impor-
tance, but all the time unknown to us
God was guiding us Alright. BY his hand
you We're led to the tombs of our ances-
tors, and in all we have since done we
have had his aid. 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
country. In the Bible we read that the
patriarchs of old experienced certain in
ternal physical connections 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 ac-
cept as sign given me from one now in
the other world"
Ny father, being thus curt and decided
with me, his own son and fellow con-
spirator, convinced me that had any
stranger dared to even so much as hint
a 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 / may have hac
to myself. Indeed 1t was to me always
q great pleasure to observe my sister
Eleanor strewing fresh flowers with pi-
ous care upon the tomb of Lady Flea.
nor her NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. by
importation.
If there were any who were previous
ly inclined to stand aloof from our fam
lily, the discourse Of Rev. Walter Now
bray brought them into the fold Of our
friends. Still old Amariah Bradford
was by no means disposed to at once adj
NIT that l was worthy of alliance mat
rimonially with a family Of the "truest,
bluest New England blood"
Charity Bradford, the wife of old Am
ariah. was in full sympathy with her
daughter and through her mother Pru-
dence was able to learn something of the
state Of her fathers mind. She informed
me that after he had listened attentively
TO the discourse of Rev. Mr.. Mowbray
her father had said In a conversation
with her mother that, though member
of my family had landed at Salem in
1880, still IL was 10 years later than the
pilgrims, and, besides, arriving in an or
binary trading vessel was very different
from coming over in the Mayflower.
However, as 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 genuinely God fearing pair.
As for titles, they were all mere worldly
vanities. He therefore pretended to care
nothing at all for Sir Archibald and
Lady Eleanor. He said they wero prob
ably prosecutors of the righteous. Soon
after this was reported to me one day
by chance found tho Bradford Of all tho
Bradfords at the cemetery contemplate
ing with much satisfaction the tombs OF
Sir Archibald, Lady Eleanor and Lady
Arbella. I remained aloof, being con-
tent with the knowledge that the leaven
was working.
Upon consultation with Prudence we