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uiv country first,” was the rule of right
;>n<l honor, which they had learned in
their Southern home, and she resolved,
with a passionate prayer for strength,
that she would aid them, with all her
p ,wcr, to stand by their principles.
The greatest danger threatened Carroll.
For Theo, she felt no fear; he was a man,
and would, she knew, hasten, at once, to
the aid of Carolina# Wallace and Har
vt y were still mere boys, hut for Carroll
the struggle must commence without
delay. Her love for him, and the urgent
necessity she felt for aiding him, gave
her strength to put aside, for awhile, tire
might agony which her husband’s last
words had brought upon her, and rouse
herself to determine what course she
pursue. It was a decision, which
it required all her strength to make.
She must write to Carroll, at once, and
tell him ol his father’s resolution, and
warn him that steps would immediately
be taken to keep a strict guard over his
movements. H e must lose no time if he
would escape, and she should advise
him to —
To do what ? It was a terrible deci
sion to which she was remorselessly
driven. How could she, his mother,
counsel him to act against parental au
thority ? The memory of her own diso
bedience, and its fearful consequences—
the suffering from which she was even
now reaping in its bitterest agony—made
her shrink with terror from counseling
her boys to any act of rebellion against
their father’s authority. She lelt a
strange, but certain presentiment that
the act would bring upon them peculiar
suffering. Not that for a moment she
deemed they would do wrong in cling
ing to their State; but to fulfil that duty,
they must sacrifice another, only one de
gree less imperative. She threw herself
on her knees, praying fervently that she
and they might bo guided aright; and
she arose calmed and strengthened.
The letter was written to Carroll, and
despatched. It contained a brief, but
plain statement of iiis fatner’s intentions,
and ended by urging him to pray for
help to choose the right, and then to act
as iiis conscience dictated. She eucltsed
him a sufficient sum of money to take
him to Charleston, and a blank check on
the Bank of New York for the discharge
of any debts which he may have in
curred at West Point. She suffered
from no lack of money. Her father had
left her property, and so had both Wal
lace und Edward. It was all tied up in
such a way that the interest was hers
during her iife, the principal passing to
her children, after her death. Captain
Austyn was wealthy, and far from close;
so that during the last two years tne inte
rest had been untouched, and was placed
in the Bank, under her name, and sub
jet t to her order.
The letter despatched, she felt that
her decision was made, and that she
could now only wait and pray, leaving
Carrol! s fate in the hands ot her Heaven
ly Father, Two days passed away, and
no news came of him; but on the third
the storm burst. It was at the still twi
light hour, and Gertrude sat in the par
lor, alone, waiting for her husband’s en
trance to take tea. It was Christmas
Five, and the season of universal rejoic
ing carried her thoughts to the dear ones,
scattered so lar aad wide. Now they
lingered at Spotsylvania, and the house
hold group rose, one by one, before her.
She longed for them ail wearily—the
children, who had been almost like her
own; the merry, affectionate brother and
sister; and, above all, N rman, who had
been to her far more than a brother, in
his devotion to herself and her children.
J non, with Alices sweet face, Theo’s
ft'.so bed oio her; and she pictured him in
far-off Germany, the very land of Christ
ina.'', watching ihe festal preparations
around him, his tender heart heavy
w ith the longing for his own home circle.
thought of Irene, in the midst of* the
gay festivities then taking place at her
giaudfather s handsome residence in .Al
bany; of Wallace studying hard at Prince
ton: and of Ilarvey, the merriest of a
merry group, she knew. And lastly,
she thought of Carroll, sadly, anxiously |
wall a painful, foreboding love. Where
was ho, this Christmas Eve night ? What
was he doing ? Os what was he think
ing ?
“My poor boy,” she murmured softly.
“My bl.ue-eyed, sunny-haired darling,
sometimes I aimost think lie lies nearest
my heart of hearts. He is so like the
hero of ray brief love, dearest—so like
wnat his father might have been, and
wnat I thought he really was. 0, God !
grant they may never stand faco to face,
m opposition. It would be too tend-
She covered her face, in earnest prayer
or them both; from which she was
loused by the entrance of a servant with
lights, lie had just left the room, when
die violent slamming of the front door
and a heavy stride approaching the par
lor, announced the arrival of her bus
band. She raised her head, and forced a
-mile of greeting to her trembling lips.
It faded quickly, however, at the sight of
his white, stern face, flashing eyes, and
and quivering^lips.
lie locked the door, and advanced to
wards her, an open letter extended in
his baud, which shook with passion.
“Read this,” he muttered fiercely, be
tween his clenched teeth. “Read it in
stantly.”
She took the letter from him, but her
hand trembled so she could not see a
line. With a pleading gesture, she
looked up at him, gasping forth :
“I cannot, Theodore, you sec I cannot
What has happened to make you so
angry ?”
He snatched back the letter, and read
it aloud, in a hoarse, constrained tone
It was a letter from the Principal of
the West Point Academy, announcing
that Carroll had left West Point on the
night of the 2*2d, and he had ascertained
lrom one of his room-mates that his des
tination was Charleston. South Carolina.
He had paid all his debts before leaving.
It was a source of great regret to every
one —the Principal added—as he was a
groat favorite with both professors and
cadets, and promised to be a brilliant
ornament to his profession and to the
Academy. The step was the more to
be deplored, as from his well-known
Southern sentiments, there could be no
doubt his purpose was to cast in his lot
with South Carolina. The letter ended
with polite expressions of sympathy for
what he knew would be a severe trial
to so patriotic a gentleman as Captain
Austyn.
When the last word was read, Captain
Austyn threw the letter passionately from
him, aad laying » heavy hand upon the
shoulder of his shrinking wife, he de
manded fiercely :
“Who warned the boy of my inten
tion ? Who counselled his flight ? Who
supplied him with money ? Who insti
gated him to this act of open rebellion
against my authority ? Answer me wo
man ! Have you dared to do all this?”
She raised herself and clung to him,
crying :
“I could not help it! I could hot help
it ! Forgive me ! Forgive me ! Oh,
Theodore, you loved me once. Hare
mercy on me now. lam so wretched.”
lie looked down upon her thin, worn
face, as it lay upon his breast, and a
thought of what it had been, when first
it nestled there, checked the fierce oath,
which trembled on his lip. He gazed
upon her, in silent wrath, until she plead
once more:
“ Forgive me, Theodore ! Oh, my
husband, .say you forgive me. I have
never defied you beikre.”
The word roused him to fury.
“Neither shall you defy mo now, and
escape punishment !” he cried hoarsely.
“You hare urged Carroll to this rebel
lion against me ; but mark my word, no
son of mine lives a rebel and a traitor, if
I can help it. You and he have chosen
his doom. Woe be to him if we ever
meet; for though he is my own son, this
hand shall strike him to the heart, and
so wipe the stain from my loyalty, and
vindicate my authority as u father. Y r ou
will hardly rejoice in your first act of
defiance, as you call it, when you hear
that your son has fallen by your hus
band’s hand, nnd know that on your
head rests the blame.”
llis words fell uyon her ear with the
force of a prophecy, and the.-e rose before
her mental vision a scene of terror,
which turned her blood to ice. A battle
field lay stretched before her. covered
with the dead and dying. A fierce con
flict. was raging; but, among all the
struggling forms, two, alone, attracted
and fixed her gaze. She saw a tall,
slight youth, with sunny curls, kneeling
on one knee, wounded and bleeding, but
still bolding aloft his bright sword, and
cheering on his comrades—the sunny
curls still waving back unstained from
the pure, fearless young brow. A tall
form springs forward from the enemy’s
ranks, raises bis rifle, and, even as the
youth lowers his sword, with a sharp cry,
he pauses, shouts back a curse, and fires.
She sees the fair head prone in the dust,
beneath the rush of the advancing troops
—and she sees no more.
Captain Austyn felt her shudder con
vulsively, and looking down, lie saw that
her horror-stricken eyes were gazing
beyond him, into the distance. So awe
struck was her look, that he cried :
“ What is the matter, Gertrude !
Why do you not speak ? What do you
see
Her lips moved convulsively, and at
length, in tones low and full of dread,
she faltered :
“I have seen it! Oh, God, have
mercy on your soul, my poor, poor hus
band !”
lie spoke to her again, but no answer
came, and he saw that she had fainted.
He bore her t© her chamber, where for
months, she lay so weak and helpless,
A /nils nroofis
zt&i m &^a..©yy
that the doctors feared she would never
rise again.
And where was Carroll ?
His mother’s letter h«d reached him,
ere the excitement, caused by the news
of South Carolina’s secession, had begun
to subside. He had already written to
his I ncle Norman, asking his advice as
to what course tie lied better pursue; but
as bis mother’s letter, received only a
few hours after that to his uncle had
been posted, Carroll resolved to act in
stantly, without waiting fur a reply to his
letter. He knew his father’s determin
ed character, and that what he threaten
ed, he would never fail to use his utmost
endeavors to perform, llis resolution to
stand or fall with South Carolina, was
no boy’s hasty enthusiasm. The ci mvvc
tion that he would one day be called to
make such a decision, had been his for
years; and he had never for an iustant
wavered in his fixed opinion that South
Carolina possessed the highest claim up
on him, and his resolve that to her he
would be faithful even unto death.
Once determined that it was best for
him to act promptly, he lost no time in
making his preparations ; and that very
night found him on his way to the
South. His heart bounded with joy at
the prospect of seeing his home and
friends once more; and when he thought
of Gertrude, hope pictured her to him
as the captive of his bow and spear, her
heart won by bis brave deeds, in defence
of their beloved
He reached Charleston in the after
noon, procured a horse, and galloped out
to Spotsylvania, whore he knew the
whole family were gathered, as usual,
for the Christmas festivities. It was
Christmas night, and whim he rode up
the avenue, at eleven o’clock, the large
old brick mansion was in a blaze of light,
and the sound of a violin proclaimed that
the dancing was at its height. He
rode round to the stable, put up his
horse, and running up the front steps,
found himself’among a crowd of negroes,
who filled the piazza, gazing, delightedly,
at the dancing within. Slouching his
hat over his eyes, and drawing his cloak
around him, he entered the house, and
gained Watt’s room, undiscovered. A
few hasty additions from his cousin
wardrobe, rendered Carroll presentable
for the dancing-room, and in a little while
he was running down the steps, whist
ling in tune with the music as he went.
He hurried round to a side door, from
which he could conmiaud a full view of
the room. The tune had just been
changed, and as he reached the door, the
inspiriting music of the “ Deux-teraps”
rang out gloriously; and instantly a dozen
couples were whirling down the long
room. Just within the door-way, not
three feet from him, stood Gerty, radiant
with excitement, and far more beautiful
than she had been, when he left her, three
years ago, at the immature age of sixteen.
She stood with her hand upon her part
ner’s arm, and they were just starting,
when she said to her cousin Edward,
with whom she was about to dance :
“ Oh, Ned, there is Lucy Dale without
any partner again. She has been dread
fully neglected to-night and she dances
beautifully in spite of her ugliness. You
really must go and dance with her first,
and then we will have a good long turn
when you have finished, to reward you.
Now go, and be very solicitous for the
honor of her hand.”
Edward grumbled a little, but obeyed
her, saying :
“ Now you won’t have any partner for
yourself, Gerty.”
“ I’ll find one,” she said; “or if not, I
can sit down by way of variety. Don’t
worry yourself about me, doctor.”
As he left her, she drew back slightly,
just into the open door-way. Stepping
forward, Carroll threw his arm around
her waist, whispering:
“ Here is your partner, my little dar
ling. Does he suit you ?”
A sudden joy flashed over her face,
and his welcome was spoken glowingly,
in the bright, dark eyes, raised to his face.
But she only bowed low and gracefully,
as to one she had seen a few moments
before, saying :
“ Perfectly. lam ready.”
In another second they had joined the
dancers, the handsomest, brightest, most
graceful couple in the room. They did
not pause until the music ceased, and
then, as his arm supported her for a mo
ment. lie stooped, and whispered :
“You got nay letter, darling. Will I
suit you as a partner for life ?”
She had only time for another lo'w bow.
a quick, bright glance, and a second mu
sical “ Perfectly,” ere they were sur
rounded by a crowd eager to welcome
Carroll home. In that rush towards him,
she escaped; and flying towards her
room, sunk down on a couch, saying*
aloud, over and over again :
“He has come ! He has come ! Oh,
how perfectly happy I am !”
[to be continued.]
From the luish Citizen.
FOREIGN NEWS
IRELAND.
“land question.”
’idle “Liberal” newspapers and mem
bers of Parliament are now doing their
uttermost to excite a popular agitation
about reform in Land Tenure—that is,
a Parliamentary reform, to be obtained
in London. This is understood ; many
of these Liberals want places, and hope
to obtain them by a noisy support of
whatever humbug bill the Gladstone
Ministry may bring in. Here is an item
of news which throws some light on the
game.
“It is no longer a mere rumor that Mr.
Gladstone has provided for two Irish |
members who have supported him on the j
late Irish Church Bill, both wisely and |
well. The two Irish representatives are
certain of their office.”
These two are Maguire certainly, and
Sir John Gray probably.
CHEERING SYMPTOMS.
We extract from the Weekly News,
of Dublin, what may be taken as a sam
ple of the shadowy sort of assurance
which it is intended to give to the Irish
people, that they are really going to get
a chance of Jiving:
“The Ministry are fully conscious of
the necessity for a broad statesmanlike
policy on the Irish Laud question; and
various indications have floated to the
surface during the week, showing that
Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues are
prepared to deal with tho subject in a
liberal and comprehensive spirit, Re
plying to an address from the Corporation
of Clonmeil, the Premier instructs his
secretary to assure the Town Council
“that her Majesty’s Government are fully
aware of the importance of the question
| of Land Tenure in Ireland, and that they
Aire prepared to give their most careful
I and anxious considerati >n to the subject.”
| To be sure they will give it their care
ful consideration, and this is the worst of
l it. They have considered it a great deal
: too much and too often.
MR. BUTT ON THE LAND QUESTI IN.
At a meeting of the Farmer's Club in
Cork last week, Mr. Butt proposed the
[fifth resolution, and was received with
[enthusiastic applause, lie said: Mr.
I Chairman, there is just one of tho obser
| rations with which you opened this
meeting from which I take the liberty
respectfully to dissent. You said the
j meeting was not, perhaps, all, with res
| ptet to numbers, that we could wish. I
think sir, it is; and I think it is a more
j important meeting foi our purpose than
lif it had assumed more the form of a
•great public assemblage. [Hoar, hear.]
A great public assemblage we could have
if we wished it, and if tiiis question L
not settled we could very soon prove
that. [Hear, and cheers.] Thrae years
ago, at a time when I may perhaps ven
ture to say me st men were talking of
something very different from either per
petuity or fixity of tenure, I had thought
something* on this Irish land question,
and i ventured to 'place before the pub
lic that fixity of tenure was necessary
j for the tenant. [Hear, hear, and ap
; plause. ] Perhaps I may say that doing
•so —incurring some obloquy, and being
: charged with being a revolutionist—l
j am entitled to the pride of thinking that I
I was in some degree instrumental in direct
ing public attention to this question. [Ap
, plause.] I then thought, nnd proposed,
that the least the Irish tenant could ask
for was a lease for sixty years. I be
lieve if the landlords of Ireland met
that demand at the time, it would be ac
cepted as a boon by the tenants of Ireland
[Loud criesof Hear, hear, and applause.
Mr. Reardon—No doubt of it. [Hear hear. |
it. Mr. Butt—To-day opinion has made
progress, and you asking, and I think,
rightly asking, for the perpetuity es
tenure. [Hear, hear, and cheers.] Mr.
Forrest—Nothing less will du us. [Cheers.]
Mr. Butt—And there may be a lesson
in that fur those who set themselves
against all concession—that when a rei
sonable settlement of a great que-tion
like this is offered them, it might not
be their interest to refuse it. [Hear,
hear. | Let us see what you do want
I flunk the proposal you have made al
most embodies in law the Ulster Tenant-
Right [hear, hear], which gives the
tenant the right and perpetuity of tenure
so long as he pays his rent, subject, ol
course, to accidental circumstances, as,
for instance a change in the value of
money, or a rise in the value of land, in
which case his holding should be sub
ject to a just aud equitable ‘revaluation.
[Hear, bear.] A voice—And a just one
it is. {Hear, hear. And I say if that
rule were extended to all Ireland we
would have the other parts of this coun
try as prosperous and industrious as Bel
fast. [Hear, hear.] You would have
the same peace aud prosperity throughout
Ireland which you can trace
Ulster Tenant-Right prevails |(u‘° tl,at 1
I cannot give a stronger instance !
necessity (or sifeh an aesociati- t ,
f.n. IP. a speech 1 read_ an <l I cr l l '
With some surprise— since T ss
Cork. It was in the fcl
yesterday, and was delivered by .
man of whom I shall not speak ev
vrith the respect due to his most a-ffivY
and estimable private character— I ' 0
Lord Bandon. At a meeting of o i?'" an
er’s Club ho is reported as savAT]
“tenant’s improvement is never cmlfi ‘1
ted” [oh, oh, and a lauMij an ,ii., ‘
further tmit “the landlords are perftM q
willing to give leases [A Voice-th',:!
false] and that where they do not cive
th«m they are not influenced in any w "
by political feeling [loud lau-1q,., i y
t.ty desire to gain politics!
| renewed laughter], hut by sotne’otig
circumstances which prevent them - ■ '
giving leases Now the first (|U
we have to deal with here, or raffY
the foundation of that question, j g
revolution lias taken place in Iri-lan.t
within my own life, a revolution (r re “ t ,‘ *
in relation to th« subject we are now
deabng \s ith than could be effected bv
any endeavor of tho tenants. [Hear
hear] For, in the days when I was
born, there was scarcely a tenant in
land who did not hold under a lease, and
1 have lived to sec the day when there is
scarcely a tenant in Ireland who holds
under a lease. (Hoar, hear). When
men charge us with revolutionizing the
social condition of Ireland, I sav to
them, the landlords of Ireland have, I
will not say by conspiring, but by com
binat'on, effected within the last half
century a change greater as affecting the
social relations of men in this country
than anything we now propose could ef
fect. (Hear, hear). It is Lord Rosses
testimony, that the landlords wanted to
keep their tenants in their power, that
so they might make them vote as they
pleased. What i* the meaning of tbit
testimony ? It is this—that the distrust
between the tenant-farmers and landlords
has risen to such a height that the land
lords will not trust the tenant-farmers
with leases [ hear], they prefer to keep
their kands untied to strike them duwn
whenever it suits them (Hear.) luff:
can there be peace or prosperity in a
country in which two and a half millions
of tenant-farmers and those depending
on them are in a condition of entire and
perfect dependence on five thousand ac
tuated by such a feeling as that described
by Lord Rosse. (Hear, hear). What
we propose is no invasion of the rights
of property. We leave to the landlord
all the rights of property, but we say lie
is bound to the state, he is bound to die
country, he is bound to the sovereign, ?
plac e oil that estate independent m: ,
with secure tenures at moderate rent:,
and he holds his estate under that coali
tion. (Hear, hear.) Any other measure
than fixity of tenure is a mere delusion.
You see it stated every day in the papers
that the Ministry have framed their bill
I don’t believe it—l don’t think they
have framed their bill. And I must say,
without expressing extraordinaav confi
dence in any English party or ministry
(hear), for I believe that in the end they
will deal with Ireland pretty much as
their ow u interest requires (h ar, hear),
that I think we ought to make every al
lowance for the difficulty which sur
rounds an English Ministry v le u deal
ing with this question, the prejudices
that prevail, and the ignorance that
abroad, aud if they produce an effi a out
measure, and if we in the meantime have
not not done all we can to place our own
feelings and the real nature of the ques
tion before them and the public, it would
be idle to turn round and blame the Min
istry. (Hear.) The blame will rest win
ourselves. Therefore, 1 say, instead oi
throwing responsibility un the Ministry,
let us form this association to bring the
matter before Parliament, before
English public, before the English Min
ister.
A Voice—lsaac Butt will do it.
Believe in* that plenty of men will
found to do all that is necessary, .('hens ;
ikoiieve me abundance of men will be
fouu'l. There may be someone now m
this room or someone in Fork as un
known as Cobden was when the Com
Law League agitation started, who wifi
be sufficient to do all that is wanted.
(Cheers.)
THE QUESTION IN THE DUBLIN COUI 1 RA
TION.
A special meeting of the .Munuop;
Council was held on the 16th of Septe
her, to take into consideration the
referred to in a requisition, which ;1
been presented to the Lord Mayor.
The following resolution was adopt ..
which does not mean very much:
That agriculture being the chief '•'
pation of the great majority (, t the p'-T' 1
lation of this kingdom, it is the duty
the Government and the Legislature t
promote the full development ot thcag..