{ title: 'Saturday evening review. volume (Elmira, N.Y.) 1869-1871, June 05, 1869, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031391/1869-06-05/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031391/1869-06-05/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031391/1869-06-05/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031391/1869-06-05/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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tm mess + a u In view Annual Conven- of gll Pastor®, © interested in the a report of their to the County of the incom- school in the by the County & NEWCOMBE'S | Lock, 180 Water . assortment to select Their \Grecian is attract- gentlemen. Prices my1l;6t subscriber contin- Astor, rter Qak Fire Insu- to issue policies Agent, National Bank.} CROSS has re- street, near the Church and First and ready to deliver mayl;4t Perfumed Crystal pitch, tar, var- I kinds of clothing, Use only on fast of damp sponge, the grease spot ; For paint, tar, var- few seconds ; rub be- with a damp be paid to any person Crystal Paste will \ ROBERTS, , 69 Water street, Elmira, N. Y. CK ST Vicinity, in Webber's Main-St. ARN stock of Staple and INGS, LADIES etc., etc., in one Tea, Coffee, Spices, other. t for cash. We have years at a moderate bargains as you will do an honest, legiti- for bad liberal {atrmwge since strict attention to bus- the same. Goods de- City free. & BRADEN. LL & DAV, Block) * &I o SALE and Do- trade, consisting GOODS, FLANNELS, HE PLACE, FURNI- RE. CO., CONN. Accident Tickets, on hand, and for (Up Stairs.) N. Y. a She N Fa4V' 3 meso mat eth anti Ais ant cee hash t oes ones\ (to; flit} ; 1 *i be ds ock WL - W N. Y., SATURDAY JUNE 5, 1869. numBir is. sites cave > | Entered according to Act of Congress in the yel DEBENHAMS vow. BY AKELIA B. EDWARDS. ! apto there! Is this the way to Benhampton?\ The rustic thus hailed > halted, with his hand on he gate, grounded his geythe and looked round. eeing only a dusty and somewhat shabby-look- ing wayfarer in the road below, he shouldered his seythe again, and boor- like, answered with a question. ''Maybe yofi're bound for farmer Bow- stead's?\ “V0 19 ''Then maxPe you're going up to par- son's?\ 'I'm going to Benhampton, if I can find the way,\ retorted the stranger, im- patiently. \Ef yqu can't direct me, just say so.\ The man with the seythe grinned;shift» ed his weight from the left foot to the right, and said: «Well, I'vellived here, man and boy, nigh upon forty years. Ithink I owt t' know the wayiby this time. You're in Benhampton gnu-fish ever since yon passed the pike.\ \'Then where is the village?\ 'Down yonder, at the bottom o' the hill\ | \And the c \Oh the Bowstead's.\ 'Which is my way, then, to farmer Bowstead's?\ , Rusticus seratched his head and con- sidered. He 'knew every inch of the parish; but he had no talent for descrip- tion. 'You go by the road,\ he said, hesita- tingly, \as fartas Mill Pond, and then up urch?\ urch is up agin farmer Goodman's larie, and gcross t' common. But the nig way's up here by the quarry.\ \Then I'll come by the quarry.\ And, swift in act as decision, the travel- ler sprang upohn the bank and climbed the slope in a montent. 'If you're going that way, my man,\ he added, \I one of farmer. Whereuponi thereto, perhaj go with you. Are you stead's laborers?\ he of the seythe moved s, by something of author- flow wound do ity in the sttariger's manner, touched his cap and replied more deferentially : \Ay sir, I be one of farmer Bow- stead's men.\ And with this he trudged on, leading the way, by a scarcely perceptible foot- track, that led up trasnsversely a steep hill-side, flivided here and there by rough stone fences. At the top of this hill there ran a long belt or terrace of.fir plantation. Beyond that again, the ground seemed still to leadnptolfigl‘xfileveh, and the road be- into the valley, which spread thence My into the far distance, fertile and F' and golden with the | - To the left, some ten ore, lay the Monméuth Temple Debenham marked all tbs-5 ag he scaled the hill-side, looking onfiithe while for any first sight of house-ta or spire. Hewes himself surprised atithe keen and eager interest with which he serutinized each foot of the way. (gav- ery tree, every enclosure, every fence, he said, \'This was once theirs.\ The lsnd- seape took a deeper significance, . it had been so familiar to those who vrere gone before. The very elodhopper - ding by his side, inasmuch as he a son of the soil, seemed not altogethek' the same as other clodhoppers in Temple De- benhan's eyes. 5 \Did you say you were born h this very parish?\ he asked presontl The man.nodded. '\'Ay he said. \I were born hem, sure enough-and my father before me.\ **You don't remember the old family, I suppose?\ The man looked at him vacantly, ht] shpok his head. ''What old family?\ said he. 3 'The DRDebenhams-the old here, who once owned all these [martin—- You must have heard of them?\ He shook his head again. 6, 'No,\ he said, \I never heard 99 any such name. $ And then he began to whistle, 3‘ ~ 'The young man sighed, and a f of desolateness came upon him. 'His mother was-right. The family, as a: ily, was indeed extinct, and the thereof knew it no more He. not thought to find the very meg stor- gotten. 4 - By this ametheyhadmonnwdthdhfll- side and struck into the plantation. 1 Presently Rusticus, who was now plod- ding ahead, the path being full » gave his seythe a hitch, and half looking back, said: it ''Maybe you mean the folks thug be- longed to th' old castle; but that be- fore my time.\ ''What old castle?\ asked De 1 quickly. ''Benhampton Castle, to be sure-{xgrm er Bowstead's place.\ Benhampton Castle! His mother Elma told him nothing of this-not & word. He remembered, however, that her l had said something about & ruin. 'BHtill he had not dreamed that this rmn‘gtvps the ruin of so great a place as the of Bemhnmpton Castle would seal? promise. ''What do you mean by speaking Hf mt as Farmer Bowstead's place?\ he khi after a brief silence. \'Is the castle gain or a farm-house?\ ''Both,\ replied Rusticus; curtly. \‘ ''Both?\ i '\'Ay-t' master lives up in a coyner like, and a' leaves the rest to th' owlg\' The young man fell back & step on two, silenced and troubled His cageyness was gone. He cartd to ask no whore questions. He had heard too mutch al- ready. Hew high they must have held 6m heads, how rich in all worldly they must have been, those Dams of the olden time. Adm—novfixeu very name was not only forgotten nip-the place, but their ancient home, the place of the race, 1'me er Bowslead and the owle! Bilter tions, theso Dehemham began to - that his mother was not altogether $1889,byanznaWu-zz,luthehfifik'sommdmeDmcUmde deNewYotk. a i & a A p- 4 » + an me mme a - in hm- apprehensmus It nught been better for him never to lave known these things-never to havé 'set foot in the place. They now emarged from the plantation, and still following the path, skirted the base of another slope, apparently no less steep than the last,. Then, passing a huge use stone quarry, hewn out of the hill-side like an ancient amphitheatre, and long since clothed with trees and brambles, they came to a stile; and beyond the stile to an open space where sheep were feeding. \'Yonder's the church,\ said Rusticus, |: pausing with his foot on the stile. \And youder's the castle.\ Debenham cleared the stile at a bound. CHAPTER XX-THE TABLET IN THP CHURCH ''The knight's bones aro dust, Andhilgoodlmdrgtt * mmuflmmmzm ** Coleridge. Benhampton Castle on the crest of the [j hill; Benhampton Charch nestling against the slope a little lower down; farmer Bow- stead's stacks and barns clustered, notun- fictumsquely,mflmmxdst of the rains : . we thaplaumb 3m,\ plump roan cob lockingou‘e phmdlfironit pack? his place of pasture in the church-yard, with his nose on the church-yard gate; in . the background more hills, more woods, more belts of fir and pine; in the fore- ground, reaching far and wide on either side, and down into the valley, long wa- ving slopes of gold-brown wheat and rip- pling barley, rich spaces of chocolate colored fallow, fragrant fields of white and purple clover, and broad tracks of | w, turnip lands and beet; down in the valley a chain of low meadows, green, alder- fringed, populous with cattle, and water- . ed by a winding rivulet; beyond all this the open country and the far-away hills, Buch was the scene, en bloc, as it were, which met Temple Debenham's eyes at the first glance. That first all-embracing glance once given, he looked again for the details. > A long, straggling, grey stone ruin was Benhampton castle, bounded by a line of battlemented wall which enclosed, appa- | rently, a space of several acres. | This | wall, in some places quito perfect, and in e | others so broken away as to be aimost lev- el with the ground, was interrupted here and there by a hollow-eyed, windowless watch-tower; while standing a little back, |, towards the center as it might be of the inner courtyard, arose 3 huge square | keep, literally tapestried Fith ivy from top to bottom. A picturesque and i impo- ¢ sing ruin, on the whole, and superbly sit- vated. Bo, at least, thought Temple Debenham, who had seen feudal rains by the score during his life in Germany. The churgh looked very small, and more modern by some centuries; but this, | probably, was because it had been re- stored from time to time, and so restored as to lose on each gccasion some of its ons | primitive - characteristics. It was sur- mounted by neither spire nor tower, but only by a small wooden belfry, containing a single bell. And the church, like the castle keep, was almost overgrown with i vyTim grassy hill-side on which these buildings stood was dotted over here and there with clamps of fine old trees, and presented one unbroken stretch of pas- ture covering, perhaps twenty neres, It was evidently all that remained of the park of former times. For some moments Debenham stood looking fixedly, gilently, as one who paus- es at the summit of a mountain pass, when first the landscape which he has toiled. so far to see, breaks upon his sight. Then he drew a deep breath, and, turn- ing to the laborer who still lingered by fis side, said :- \Is the church open ?\ \It's open most days,\ was the reply 'But if not, shall I find the keys up at the cistle?\ \Ay-you ask th' master, He'll let But belfore approac’hmg any of these monuments, before deciphering one of those inkeriptions, Temple Debenham looked rpund for the one tablet which, above all else, he had come there to, see. \Under the north window,\ said his \Under the north win- the altar-a little to the left mother's /ietter. dew, faci of the cel\ He had not yet ad- vanced beyond the font; just inside the door; but he saw it instantly-a small, square tablet borderedwith black marble; a tablet that, even at this distance, lookeil you in with his key He be one o' the newer the rest. Inanother moment he was standing before i, reading the in- ~ seriptio: That inscription was brief and ample enough, but it epltomlzed ahistory. ghurchwardens.\' .- '\'Thanks for your guidance, my man,\ said Debenham, his fingers exploring the Fomewlmt waste recesses of his waistcoat ket. \Get yourself some beer this 45th morning.\ Rusticus looked at the shilling, looked nt the stranger, and looked back again at 'the shilling. He had been doubtful all jalang whether or not this dusty pedéstri- a' genfleman; but the shilling r 80319 touchgé‘fns hat/jot the to! unknown depth and M231” 'under his smock frock, and with & 4mm» tered \thankee sir-thankee, kindly,\ turned on his héel and went his way. Tz went np towards the church. Ho conld see as he drew nearer that the half door at the porch was standing sjar, but that ‘the inner door was closed. At the ‘chm'chyard gate, he paused to glance for 'a moment at the graves. There were but jaw of theeso-& dozen headstones, per- :hape; one or two railed tombs; a score 'or 'so of plain monds on which the grass [had had long time to grow. The young gum know that none of his own people lay 'out hgre in the cold. His mother's letter told hint to look for their monuments and brasses in the church; and yet his glance lingered with a kind of interest on these humble graves. Were they not the rest- ing-places of those who had been tenants, | laborers, servants of the family, genera- [tion after genemhon? The roan cobsnuffed at him, as if know- ing him to be a stranger, and, as he 'opened the gate, moved aside to let him pass _- Apd than he went quickly up the path and through the porch, and up to the church door - The handle turned in his grasp, and the door melded. His heart beat faster than usual as he 'took off his hat and stepped ncross that 'threshhold. He advanced a few steps-paused- looked round-looked down -saw that the very fiagstones on which he was standing were covered with inscriptions 'and armorial bearings; that the walls 'were thick with, tablets and monldering hatchments; that the aisle and chancel were lined nth stately monuments. Were theeeallDeBenhama? 'Were these stained. glass heraldries through which the noonday sun was pouring in shafts of pur- neue ~a ces, theirs-all theirs? His, brow dar» kened as he reflected that he, the heir, the last living representative of all these. dead, was ignorant of the very 1218181130f Then, very slowly, Temple Debenham ' THIS SPOT THE BODY OF THE RIGHT HON. REGINALD TEMPLE DE BORN APHIL 14, 1809. DIED MOYVEMBER 5. 1842. The ygung man read, 'and as he read, a (k finsh mounted slowly all over gnd brow. Then thoflush. faded.“ mam him vow we, tol. : . FormJong time Monfthe came mi in: fixes-me ed) in, Mqun thought Am gain he read that brief inscription; d again recapitulated to himself s winch it recorded. But they bn it difficult cance, At, : (yep breath, sat himself down upon t‘lw al face with his hands» The sun had ahlttedirom the painted window, Md the shadows 'had changed upon the floor, before he looked up, from that revérie. And then he rose heavily, dreamily} like one just roused from sleep. One by one, he then took the monu- ments they came, staying to read the ble, and, setting himself, apparently, to carry a clear and permanent recol: lechonzgxot only of each separate tomb, but of the name and deeds of those who lay ben Happening to have a pen- cil and a mall note-book in; his pocket, he now apd then scrawled line of mem- orandum|as he went along; stopped 0b sketch abasty oufli of arms. All this he did j ethodmally, -step, and.covered his inscriptions upon such as were «still 'legi- | it had no It was f yer worn in all his: long task; for thi le and 0 these many-quartered a“? arms, gems mottoes, these devi- |/ the family. «ee on pe dbs is o ptr beet m‘fifimmrmn—wju anes eton were many-very many, v The inscriptions, p amore mus qoute 40,0 atty 2A Vike i- ess defaced. . of quaint egible. Of one, Benhmslun ID. 1306. Of anoth nonument in hig] ebefore. monuments various, all full for the and crabbed iations, and in someafcases almost nowhere m r and a very relief, 15W A5.
