The Wingham Times, 1888-03-23, Page 3‘111111r mm,
EMPERORWILLIAMISOARER.R
Twen�_ty,seven years. ago on Jan. 2, 1861,
Prince William, the second son of Frederick
WflJialn
IIL and, the beautiful and scoots.
plished Lourie of Hetse.Darsnstadt, upon
the death of his. brother, Frederick Williatn
seconded the throne as King of Prussia,
under the title of William I, He had serv-
ed as Regent for nearly four years, sothat
thie public investment with kingly powers
was but a matter of form.
Prince William was born in the palace of
the Crown Prince in Berlin, March 22, 1707,
When in 1806 the news reached Berlin that
the Prussian artifice had bean defeated in
the two great battles. of Jena and Aueratadt,
Prince William was but 9 years old, Al.
though unable to fully comprehend the scope.
of Prussia's defeat, his mother's words,
"The King was mistaken in regard to the
efficiency of his army and its leaders; we
have been defeated, and mutt flee," made
a profound impression upon leis youngmind.
One of
TIIE it itantoaver a TnantTIONS
is that theprinces shall enter the army at
the age of ten years ; but the events of 1806
threatening the destruction of the Prussian
monarcy, the 22nd of March, hie tentlt'birth-
day, was anticipated by his appointment as
first lieutenant of the Royal Guards on the
let of January of that year; so that King
William could count his. 81 years' service in
the army. Koenigsberg, in which city the
Royal family had taken refuge, soon after
being threatened by the French, Queen
Louisa, with he two sons, hurried away to
Memel, near the Russian 'frontier, where
young William was attacked witha nervous
fever, while his elder brother was seriously
ill with scarlatina. These were trying times
for the Queen. On the 15th of June, 1807,
Prussia's Russian ally was utterly routed
near Friedland and nothing but a treaty
of peace unser the most, humiliating terms
could avert the complete annihilation of the
Prussian: monarchy. It wag even a ques-
tion with Napoleon I. whether Broderick
William III. should be permitted to take
part in the peace negotiations, the Emperor
being in favor of striking Prussia from the
roll of States. Not even the teara of the
beautiful Louisa, who had been prevailed
upon to appeal 'to the Emperorin person,
wasable to persuade him to modify or
withdraw a single point of his hard condi-
tions.
Finally, the Treaty of Tilsit was conclud-
ed, by the terms .of which Russia lost half
her territory, and loaded down with heavy
war indemnities, she was reduced to the
rank of a second or third power in Europe.
The old maxim that early hardships are
necessary to the development of a full man-
hood must have been in the mind of the
Queen •when, 'in a letter to her father, the
Grand Duke Meoklenburg-Sterlitz, in 1808,
she wrote :-" Circumstances and his sur-
roundings educate the man, and therefore
it may be well that our children are.. com-
pelled to learn
'LIFE'S STERNEST REALITIES
Bund" had been dissolved,, and inroar to
appease the popular demand in a measure, a
Parliament, composed of representatives,
from all the (erman States, Austria and
Prussia included, to be elected by popular
vote, was ordered to.aesenible'ab: 'rankfort,
The history of this.repreeentative body may
be comprised in the term of derision which
was then applied to it, and with which to
this day It' is. spoken of, "The Pnpperla.
moat" ((Matter gathering). The only aeiti-
stent upon which all the representatives
agreed was that of German .unity.
At this Parliament were assembled pa-
triots, statesmen, authors and historians,
whofor many years• had labored and atrug•
glad for a principle ---the rights of the peo.
Pie as against those of kings. Their names
were dear to every German heart, But the
single-mindness of such men as Arndt,
Auerswald, Beckerath, Camnhausen, Dahl-
man, Heinrich von Gagern, Von Rodowitz,
Von Rominer and many others, weighed Jit•
tie against those having great personal in-
terests to promote. It soon boron evident
that Austria was manipulating this Parlia-
meat with a view to acquiring the smell.
dewy in. Germany, and thus to gradually
restore the old German Empire under the
Hapsburg suzerainty. The suspicion was
confirmed when on the 29th of June, 1848,
Aronduke John of Austria was elected
reioheverveaer over Germany, he having
once, in the exuberance of hie enthusiasm,
given vent to the sentiment, " No Austria
No Prussia 1 Only a united Germany 1"
This office, however, was of short .contini}.
ance, for on the 3rd of April, 1849, a depu-
tation ,from this Parliament proceeded to
Berlin' and offered the Imperial Drown of the
States of Germany to Frederick William
IY., which, however, was refused.
Prince William, .during :the, latter part of
the revolutionary days, of March, 1848, had
considered it beneficial to take
�. A TaIP TO ENGLAND;
where he remained for six weeks, returning
to Brussels May 30, from 'which city he
wrote his brother, the King of Prussia, as
follows :-
"I hope that the free institutions which
are to be consolidated by the represein
tatives ofthe people will, for Prussia's wet
fare, develop themselves more and more.
U on his; arrival• in Berlin he repaired to
the Prussian Assembly, to which he had
been elected. In his first speech Prince
William assured the menibers'of his loyalty
to the principles of a Constitutional Monar-
chy, but notified the President that, it being
impossible for him to always be present at
their meetings,on such occasions the Presi-
dent should take the liberty of balling upon
his alternate. •
It was not, however;. until 1849 that Wil-
liatlt was called upon to:perform special pub -
lie duties. Austria having dissolved connec-
tion with the Frankfort Parliament, declar-
ing against the choice of any. other German
prince over. Germany, and Pruasia refusing
to sanotien their confederate Conrtitution,
and some objections having been raised
against its provisions by the smaller States,
notably Wurtemberg, which refused to ac-
cede to Prussia's suzerainty, the dissatisfac-
tion of the people over these abortive results
began to make itself felt all over Germany.
This dissatisfaction culminated in May,
when an open revolt occurred in several of
the principal cities of central Germany. In
the grand duchy of Bader, the king`sarmy
made common cause with the citizens, and
established a provisional Government, with
Lorenz Bretano, the present educated citizen
of Chicago andformer representative of Con•
gree, front the 1Vorth Side. as chief executive
officer. Lieut. Franz Sigel -Cam Sigel of
the Union army -was put in command of
the revoluntionary forces. On the 81h of
June Prince William (at the request of the
Grand Duke of Baden and the Princes of
other revolted German States), with an
army of 10,000 men, marched into South-
western Germany, and before the expiration
of a month had so, effectually quelled all
disturbances that aG,en. Sigel and the other
revolutionary leaders were forced to flee to
the neutral ground of Switzerland, while
others took the first ship across the Atlantic
for America. Thusworethe last efforts and
aspirations of Republicanism in Germany
crushed and extinguished.
Throughout the reactionary measures
which, followed, to which Frederick William
IV. acceded willingly, -, and which were
troublesome enough to have turned the bead
of a stronger monarch, his brother William
was living with his family at Coblenz, de
voting his time to the improvement of the
Prussian army. In the fall of 1857, how-
ever, he was 'called upon for more serious
work ; in fact„to take charge of the Govern-
ment A Royal order had'been published,
in which it waslistated that the King's phy.
sician had advised his abstention from all of-
ficial affairs 'connected with the administra-
tion, and that the Government of the State
would be intrusted to Prince William. His
first term of
in their youth. Had they been permitted to
grow up in luxury and leisure, they would
think life must always be so. That it can
be otherwise they can now see from the sad
countenance of their father and the abund-
ant tears of their mother. We have, indeed,
gone to sleep upon the laurels of Frederick
the Great, who mastered his country." .The
Royal family continued to experience the
bitterness of unsuccessful warfare. Their
country remained occupied by French troops,
and the email revenue that could be collect-
ed from the people hardly suffieed to cover
the necessary expenses of State and the sup.
port of the army ; so that it often hap-
pened that in their asylum at Memel there
was barely sufficient means left to defray
the most urgent demands of the Royal
household.
A change; for the -better ocaurred - only
upon the withdrawal of'the,-Frenoh troops,
on Dee. 23, 1509 -the sixteenth anniversary
of Queen Louisa's entry into Berlin as the
bride of Broderick William IIL-when she
returned again to the capital amid the en-
thusiastic'greetings of her subjects.
On Jan. 1, 1814, Prince William iA found
at the side of his father in the Battle of La
Rothiere, between the allied armies and
France, and on the 27th of February at Bar -
sur -Aube and Fere Champoiee, which battle
resulted in the total defeat' of the French
under Field Marshals-Marmount and Min-
tier. He was,also present at the entrance
of the victorious allied troops into Paris,
March 31, 1814.
. Prince Williamwaa appointed by Emperor
Alexander of Russia colonel of the regiment
Kaluga. 'The following twelve years of ; hit
routine life were spent in the reorganisation
of the Prussian Amy.
'In 1829, at the age of 32, he married the
Princess Augusta, second daughter of the
Granc&Duke Carl Frederiok of Saxe -Weimar.
From this time on until the death of hid
father, which occurred on June 7, 1840,
Prince William's energies were devoted
principally to military affairs;
Upon the 'accession of the eldest son,
Frederick William IV., it wad expected the
new king would keep peace with the people,
who, under.the fostering care of hie father,,
had had extended to them a new system of
poplar education and the extension of muni-
cipal liberties, but he proved not to have
been formed of the same play at Frederick
William I. Frederick the Great, or Frerier-
iek William ,III, Until 1847 the only re-
form of a representative character in Prussia
,42 wail the "Provincialatands" (Councils of
the Provinces), which, however, were Closed
with very limited powers. In this year the
rumblings of the approaolaing revolution of
1848 began to reach the ear of the king,
which induced him to call together the re-
presentatives of the eight provinces compos-
ing the kingdom of Prussia into one body
at Berlin. But this Memento proved too
late to avert the storm. The successful re-
volution of February, 1848, in Perla, and
the flight of Lelia Philippe were the signal
for action at Naples, Milan, Vienna and
Berlin. Emperor William stands charged
with having issued the order at this time ----
the 18th of Idaroh,1848-to fire Upon
TIIE DEIiENOELENCE PEOPLE
in the streets of the' City. of Berlin, but, as
he 'was appointed Governor•General of the
Rhenish Provinces on the 10th of the wane
month, his personal engagement in these
bloody 'conflicts is seriously doubted by his
admirers. On the other hand, his enemies
assert that hie departure waS delayed• until
the day following the order, and that the
manure WAS due to hie advloe,
The rovoltttlons throughout Germany and
Austria ot 1848 had shattered what remain•
eel of the "holy Alllanoe;" the "German
following is a description of the oeeasien by
an eyo.witnees s---
'ti first time I saw the king wars when
he rode in procession through the anoint
city of Koenigsberg, some two or three days
before the coronation, Ile seemed a firm,.
dignified, handeome, somewhat bluff old
man, with grey hair and pray mouetacbe,
and an expreseron which, it it did net denote
intellectual power, bad muchof cheerful.
strength and the charrn'of frank nianhoed
sheat it. No One was just then disposed to
be very enthusiastic about him, but every
one was inclined to make the
iiES1°ot TUE SOVEREIGN
and the situation, But the manner in which
the coronation ceremony was gonducted, and
the epeech which the king delivered soon
after, produced a terrible shock of diseap:
apointment, for in each the king manifested
that he understoodthe crown to be a gift,
not from the people, but from Heaven, To.
me the ceremony in the chapel, splendid and
picturesque as it was, the mise en scene ap.
peered absurd and even ridiculous. The
king, bedizened in a regal costume, lifting
a crown from the altar and, without inter-
vention of human aid other than his own
hands, placing it upon his head, to signify
that he had hidcrown from Heaven, not
from man; then putting another brown
upon the head of hie wife, to show that she
derived her dignities from him, and then
turning round and brandishing a gigantic
sword, es symbolical of his readiness to de-
fend
efend his state and people -all this seemed
to me too suggestive of the ' opera comique'
tosuit the simpledignity of the handsome
old soldier. Far better and nobler did he
look in his military u niform, and with hie,
spiked helmet, as he•sat on bis horse in the
streets; than when arrayed in crimson vel-
vet cloak and other finch stage paraphernalia
of conventional royalty.",
It is a matter of common notoriety that
the sets and . words of the king at this
oroWning ceremony did not impress the.
People with . the deep conviction that his
reign would be a constitutional one : but, on
the contrary, they were looked upon as new
declarations of 'absolute rule. The next
Chamber, which met after the coronation,
proved conclusively that these werethe
prevailing sentiments of the country. &
large number. of. representatives had been
elected upon the. understanding that they..
were to give support to eievernment mea-
sures only upon eondttion that the: Govern-
ment would pursue a liberal policy at home
and a decided German policy abroad The
�. .t
by the king te> increase and strengthen bb/
army, which soon assumed enormous pet
portions and prepared to meet the arch-
enemy, who Was lurking on the western
borders of Germany. �Napoleon M. had.
been watohfng Prussia s snooess with un-
feigned diopleasure, and fearing et unifica-
tion of the German States under that power,
be resorted to the moat shameful intrigues
to prevent such a consummation. Under
various pretexts he sought Austria's alli
mace in Case of a war with Prusaia, He pro-
ferred hie influence and. if need be, bee ma'
terial aid, tc the States of Southern Ger-
many in forming a South German Goofed.
enation, but lie exceeded the ordinary limits
of courtesy and prudence in sending the
Duke of Grammont on a special mission to
Ems, where King William: was sojourning,
to make the impudent demand of that soy.
ereign to openly declare that none of the
Hohenzollern princes should ever occupy
the Spanish throne. King William very
properly refused to see the French envoy
again, sending him ward that he had noth-
ing further to .ebmmunicate.. This was the
signal for the war between France and Prus-
sia, or rather Germany, which closed with
the humiliation of France, the lose of two
of her provinces -Alsace and Lorraine-
and the destruction of the second Bonapart•
ist dynasty on the one side, and with the
establishment of a united Germany and the
coronation of King. William of Prussia as
her emperor on the other.
TUE. MaETING OF TES EMPERORS.
FIRST DEMAND OF THE nxr o
was an increase of the war Jiudget; this was'
refused: The monarch, however, was not to
be thus thwarted in his favorite projeots of
increasing the efficiency of the army. He
accused the, . Ministers who iepresentod his
wishes in the Assembly with timidity. He
looked about for a more decided character
to foam a Ministry. His -choice •fell upon
Otto Von Bismarck von Schoenhausen, then
Ambassador at the French Court, whom he
recalled Sept. 23, 1862, appointing him
Secretary of State, and President ad interim
of the Ministry. But the people and their
representativeswere not to be driven from,
the stand they had taken upon the Constitu-
tion. They remained steadfast in their de-
termination to uphold their prerogatives in
the matter of money appropriations, and to
resist any attempt on the part of the Govern-
ment to subvert them by diverting any of
the funds which had been .voted • from their,
original purposee.
In this dilemma the Schleswick-Holstein
question, which threatened serious compli-
cations on the northern frontier, seemed to
come to the relief of the Government. The
death of King Frederic of Denmark, which
occurred Nov. 15, 1863, opened the question
of suzerainty over these Provinces. A Con-
stitution had just been adopted in Denmark,
in which these Provinces were declared to
be Danish territory, contrary to the stipu-
lations of the London protocol, which had.
been signed' by the great Powers, and, Hol-
stein being a member of the German Confed-
eration, the Act was also considered a direct
insult to the German Parliament, The con.
sequence was the sending of some sixty
thousand federal troops, partly Prussian,
partly Austrain, and contingents from some
of the other smaller German States, into
Schleswick. The Danes were defeated in'.
SEVERAL EL00Dt ENGAGEMENTS
•' TEE IiEGi$NOY
was limited to throe months. Three times
the power was renewed, but on the 7th of
October, 1868, the office was made permen.
ent. Ele was then 62 years old, at an age
when the renewal of physical and intellect-
ual vigor is rarely accomplished, and few
people anticipated that William T.'s reign
would present so warlike e. character, and
but for Austria's retentions to power in
Germany and French chauvinisnt, his days:
might have passed more peacefully, and to-
day we should hear of Prussians, Swahians,
Wurtembergs, Saxons, Hessians, Hanover.
inns, Bedew, Loewensteiners, etc., but no
Germane. On the 2nd day of January, 1861,
King Frederiok William I.V. breathed his
last, and hie brother, • Prince William,
ascended the throne. • On being con-'
gratulated by a magistrate of Berlin the
king replied.-
" Eistory has eho*n that the Hohenzoli-
erns have Always kept a warm heart for their
people, 1 am known to possess the same
feelings: I may have been misunderstood.
in the past, but. I assure you I have ever
been animated' with the moat sympathetic
eentfinents for theeople of Pruseia, end' it
may not be amiss for me to acknowledge,
perhaps, that everything bas not been done
satisfactorily to the people of late years."
On January 9 the king issued a proclama-
tion, in which, among other things, he
said:-
" It is not Prnasia's deathly to grow ,great
ay aequisitions, but in the exertion of her
moral and intellectual power, in theearneat.
neta and eteadfastfteee of her religious'senti.
anent, and in the strengthening of her defect.
Sive arm will be found the condition Of her
power and rank among the .European
Staten."
It was net until Ootober 18, 1811, that
the king was Drowned, the coronation acre•
monies taking place ab Hoenigeberg, The
The meeting of the Emperors of Germany.
Russia and Austria took place at Berlin in
the autumn of 1872. In October of that
year Emperor William gavea decision ad.
verse to England on the San Jpan boundary
question, submitted to hie arbitration by.
the British and American Governments,
In April, 1873,' he visited the Czar at St.
Petersburg, and. in October visited the Em*
peror of Austria. • In 1875 the. Czar visited
Emperor William. Au attempt was made
to assassinate Emperor William while he.
was driving, on the afternoon of May 11,
1878' in Berlin: The grime was committed
by a young Socialist named Eutil Hoedel,
he firing two shots, neither of them hitting
the Emperor, The man was pursued and
finally captured. • Hesaid he had, no inten-
tion of murder; but, being unemployed and
dissatisfied, had resolved to commit suicide,
He was tried, found guilty and exeouted.
A second attempt upon the Entperor's life
was made June 21, 1878, on the avenue
"tinter den Linden," whilst he was out
driving. Two shots were fired, both of
which took effect. The would be assassin
was a Dr. Nobiling, who, atter' an attempt
to commit' suicide, was captured and re-
moved to the hospital, where he died from
hisself-insisted wounds.
The illness of the Crown Prince was a
terrible•strain upon the vitality of the aged
Kaiser. Though always hoping for the beat,
he grieved over the sorrowful proapeot with
a suffering that only parents know. At'
times he completely gave way to his feel-
ings and shed scalding tears over "Our
Fritz." His attendants with the greatest
difficulty kept him from going to San Remo
to see once more his afflicted son. A trifl-
ing illness combined with his great mental
suffering was more than even his iron con•
stitution could bear, the thread of life
snapped, and Germany is today plunged in
mourning. '
on land and sea, in which the Prussian troops
and marines exhibited unexampled courage
and intrepidity. But this war, wbich was
but of spurt duration, and delivered Hol
stein into the hands of Prussia and Austria,
contained the germ for the next conflict
between these two Powers of much greater
magnitude. The German Parliament declar-
edan reference -to these provinces in favor
of Austria's demand, , which amounted in
effect to a declaration of war of all the Gor-
man States -Austria included -against
.Pruasia. This gave William I. the oppor-
tunity to retrieve his popularity with his
subjects, and to revive among them the
;spirit which .had made the armies under
'tederiok the Great invincible.
"If they are then all against me" ho
said, upon being informed of the action of
the Parliament, "'I shall plaoe myself at the
head of my army and sooner perish with. it
thanto submit to these outrageous demands,"
and in a proclamation which he at once' is-
sued to,the people•of Prussia, he said, "The
country it in danger 1 Austria and a large
portion of. Germany are up in arms against
us.. Wherever our eyes turned over Ger-
many we are confronted by enemies
whose watchword it is :-' Humiliation of
Prussia 1' It is a struggle for our exist-
ence. I1 God gives us victory we shall' then
be etrong enough to renew in a better and
more indissoluble form the loose ties • which
to -day are uniting the German States more
in name than fn fact."
These' sentiments created a deep inured-
Sion upon the people of Prussia and were
favorably received by a large number of
Germans beyond the frontier. The war
measures received the most enthusiastio sup.
port, and in less titan a fortnight 268,000
sten wore ready to cross the lineinto
Bohemia. The war wan as short as it re.
suited gloriously for the Prussian arras.
Austria was defeated .in every battle, and
the last and decisive one ab ICoenfngsgratz
laid her at the feet ot hercongaoror, ging
Williaut, however, was magnanimous. Ea
sword secured Prussia's supremacy in Ger-
many ; that was sufficient. A further (hu-
niilfatlon or a dismemberment of Austria was
neither polttic nor desirable, These
EUTltA0ItbXNAitT StiCCas9E5
in the field caused also a revulsion of pith -
lie sentiment in favor of King William at
home, which resulted in the election of
Conservative Chamber thoroughly in wave -
thy with the
ynpa•thywiththe Government. This favorable
turn of affairs was inlnedfately seised upon
31;y Ati '10.0
the bid the aldmen, wattipt, sit
Ruder;
Where tnsi nand wife lay dying and
shadow* brown,
Slowly from the wall aid window chased
golden splendor
(o(ng down,
'Is it night?" rho whispered, Meakin (tar her r,p
seemed to hover
Lost between the next world's sunrise sad the had
time panne of this),
And the old man, weak dad teatil, u *nbJ'Ag ss h!1
beet before her,
Answered "Tee."
Are the children in. 7' ;he mired him. Could ha •
01 their ell houser. hold ll the in slime many yearn be•
Heath thea now 1
But her heart was wits them living back arnon4lrer
toile and pleasures,
Long ago.
And again aha called at dew -fall in the sunny S.unn.
mer weather,
" Where ie little Charley, father 2 tank and Rob-
ert -have they come 7'
"They ore tate," the Old man faltered! "all the chil-
dren are together.
Safe at home."
Then be murmured gentle soothing*, but hiegrief
grew strong and btronger.
Till it choked and stilled him as heheld icer week,
led hand,
For her soul,. far out Of hearing, could hie fondest
words no longer
Understand.
Still the pale lips stammered iueetione, lullabies and
broken verses
Nursery prattle" all the language of a mother's lov-
ing heeds
While the midnight roun4 the mourner, left to sor-
row'* bitter mercies,.
Wrapped its weeds.
There was stillness on the pillow -and the old man
llatened lonely -
Till they led him/eon; tlheohamber, with the bur-'
den -on his breast,
For the, wife of sixty years, his manhood's early lute
and only,
Lay at rest.
"Fare you well 1" he*obped,.'"my Sarah:: you will
• meet the babes heft re me ;
'Tie a little while, for neither can the parting Yong .
abide,
For you will come and call me soon, I know. -and
Heaven will restore me
To your side."
Bog in the Witness -Bot.
Mr. Burton, of Minneapolis, some time
ago lost a valuable Gordon setter dog, which
was' found eventually in the possession of a
saloonkeeper, who claimed that he had raised
the animal from puppyhood. The( evidence
in Court was equally strong on both sides,
and there appeared to be a case of mistaken
identity somewhere. Judge and jury alike
were in a terrible quandary. At this juno-
tura Mr. Burton asked the Court if he might
be allowed to introduce the evidence. of the
dog. No objectionswere made to this novel
motion, Mr. Burton, mindful of the a000m-
plishments which his wife had taught Sport
in hisyouth, turned to thedog and said in a
careless tone of voice :-
" Come, Sport, go and shut the door."
Without a moment's hesitation the intolli-
gent creature trotted over to the door of the
Court -room,. which happened to be ajar,
shoved it shut, and then trotted back to his
master, and looked expectantly up into his
face. The latter then took a bone out of his
pocket, and, laying it on the floor at his feet,
said :-
"Well, Sport, that was well done ; and
no* would you like your dinner ?"
The dog'e head nodded an emphatic affir-
mation, but he seemed to be in no hurry' to
take the bone.
Do you 1" said Mr. Burton, "but you
must remember that it is necessary for a good
orthodox dog.to say grace before eating."
Upon the word the dog dropped down on
his stomach, extended his head along the
floor, and reverently covered his eyes with
his paws. In a moment Jt'r. Burton called
out Amen, and Sport sprang to his feet
like a 'flash and seized the bone without
any more ceremony, crunching. it between
his
any.
Mr Burton then had the clog do his fantous
"gallant" act. In this Sport sat upon his
haunches with a• hattapon his head. When
asked how he saluted a gentleman when
meeting him, hs deftly.touched the edge of
the hat with his right paw; but when asked
how he saluteda lady under the same cir-
cumstances, he brought up his paw and
knocked the hat off his head. All concerned
were perfeotly satisfied, and the jury in a
few moments brought in a verdict for Mt.
Burton, and Sport followed his triumphant
master oitt of the court -room. ,
Poor Fellow.
She gently took his passive hand,
And tenderly she placed
Her arm, rbithouta reprimand,
About his willing waist.
She drew him close./ a fervent kiss
Upon his brow she pressed,
He yielded, and a new found. bliss
Set all her fears at rest.
Then its a wild impassioned way,
Her love for him she told,
Arid begged of him that he would. say
Shed not been over hold.
Without him all her life, she said,
Would be a desert drear
If he said '" No," 'she'd never Wed
At least till next Leap Year.
Blushing, he heard her bravely through,
And then he cooed ; "Oh, la ,I
Thfe is so awful sudden, Sue
You'll have to ask my ma,l"
It was even so. The Spring -time, in steps of Winter
treading,
Scarcely shed its orchard blossoms era the old man
closed his eyes,
And they buried him by Sarah, and they bad their
"diam'ond wedding"
In the skies.
JOHN STEBBINS' BARN.
Toni Tompkins Relates How the Edifice
Was Built..
" Speakin' o' John Stebbin's barn puts
me in mind of the time when that are barn
wur planned. John insisted, John did, of
ereetin' it upon a side hill ; an'that side hill
wur clay ; an' clay is conaiderable more nor
less like a March wind -continually on the
shift,
W hy, clay, there ain't no more confi-
denoeto be placed in clay thanthere is ina
kickia' horse, not a might. When it's' web
it'llcling to ye like the cankerrash, or else.
take ye right in for all your worth. When
it's dry it'll oracle and slough off an' do
everything else t at's mean an' inhuman ;
an' when it's frozen it'll hump up like a cam-
el's back, an' twist everything askew that's
on top of it, . I allus climb a clay hill by
goin' round it, especially in the spring.
" Afore John Stebbins planted hie barn
he held a consultation ez to how the hatreds-
don
gQ indation should be built. John had Tare conallitek
inion, John did, but afore he expressed it he
wanted the opinion of others. One sorter
thought that a trench, four foot Wide, tet
foot deep, filled with, atones, an' the sills
laid on top, would knock the stuffin' all out
of theclay, an' the barn would stand ; John
didn't. Another thought that in addition
to the stones there shonld be two foot o'
sand on each side o' the wall. The sand.
would sorter hold the stones ; the stones
would sorter hold the sills ; the sills would
sorter hold the barn ; an' the barn would te•
main firm as the rock of ages. John didn't
think any selih thing. Another said drive°
spike inter the ground an' set the barn on
top, John wouldn't. John's oldest boy,
Sim, said : ' If they'd build a fire round the
barn, and keep the clay thawed out, the
pesky thing ud'never hist;y an' they .award-
ed him a leather medal ;Qn the spot.
"John's theory, though speculative, wur
right to the pint. ' Frost,' said he, " never
shows any partiality. If it nippith one earn
it nippith tether alio-unlessit's kivered up.
It's agoin' to freeze that are clay jest ez at'
would a pond a' water ; an' when .it heaves,
it's agoin' to heave all the;way alike. Jest'
lay them are .sills upon Ruthin' but clay p
an' when the clay elevates, jest let the barn.
elevate with it. It'll got up in the fall, an'
down in the spring, an' ail= be on a -dead'
level.' So that are barn was built, an' the
foundation was laid upon nuthin' but pure
undefiled clay.
" Well, yon ?tighter seen that barn traVel'
the fust season. The west side went up an'
the cast side went down. The south east
corner chassesed to the left, an' the north
end humped itself up like a man With the
rheumatics. Scuilitia' Along the ridgepole
wus like squintin' along a range o' noun,
tains. There wife valleys and declivities,
an' deep gorges, an' canyons . at irregular'
intervals along the hull line. Why, it'
seemed the delight of that are clay to see'
how infernallyit.eould twist that barn an'
still leave it staudln', An' stand it did until'
John had to prop it up: with seven by nine'
joioe.
'The wust feature of the barn, though,
wur the way it affected the cattle. In it wur
same twenty head which John wur a win-
terih' the fust season. There were Jerseys,
an' shorthorns, an' Suffolks, au' Ayrshires,
a' same as wasn't neither but a leetle of all.
They wur ez straight, plump, well propor-
tioned cattle when they entered that bain ez
e man would wish to see ; but you'd otter
seen them in the spring, So confoundedly
did that barn warp up an' double about
durin' the wit:tcr months, that, when them
are cattle were let out in1r"month of May,
I'll be blest if each one o£ eon Now that's
twist-
ed completely out of shape. Now that's a
fact."- Newton Courier.
l
Reverence iul Scott fdr
The reverence for the Sabbath in Soot•
land sometimes takes a form one would
hardly have anticipated. An old Righland-
man said to an English tourist t
"They're a God feaarin' net o' folks herei,
'deed they are, an I'll give ye au imsten.
el. Last Sabbath, just as the kirk*
skailin' there wan a drover thiel free 1)
fries along the road)whiatlin' and loo
ex happy as .ik.,i, a was to muddle o' +n +v
Weal, sit, oniriaads. is a God cadre• 't
hada, an' they yokib upon lrltn an' e'
killed hint. "«--.stolen Genitive
1
1