it. But gentlemen, much as you may think you know about that unhappy
correspondence, you cannot know the straight of it till you hear it from
my lips. It has always been garbled in the journals, and even in
history. Yes, even in history–think of it! Let me–please let me, give
you the matter, exactly as it occurred. I truly will not abuse your
confidence.”
Then he leaned forward, all interest, all earnestness, and told his
story–and told it appealingly, too, and yet in the simplest and most
unpretentious way; indeed, in such a way as to suggest to one, all the
time, that this was a faithful, honorable witness, giving evidence in the
sacred interest of justice, and under oath. He said:
“Mrs. Beazeley–Mrs. Jackson Beazeley, widow, of the village of
Campbellton, Kansas,–wrote me about a matter which was near her heart
–a matter which many might think trivial, but to her it was a thing of
deep concern. I was living in Michigan, then–serving in the ministry.
She was, and is, an estimable woman–a woman to whom poverty and hardship
have proven incentives to industry, in place of discouragements.
Her only treasure was her son William, a youth just verging upon manhood;
religious, amiable, and sincerely attached to agriculture. He was the
widow’s comfort and her pride. And so, moved by her love for him, she
wrote me about a matter, as I have said before, which lay near her heart
–because it lay near her boy’s. She desired me to confer with
Mr. Greeley about turnips. Turnips were the dream of her child’s young
ambition. While other youths were frittering away in frivolous
amusements the precious years of budding vigor which God had given them
for useful preparation, this boy was patiently enriching his mind with
information concerning turnips. The sentiment which he felt toward the
turnip was akin to adoration. He could not think of the turnip without
emotion; he could not speak of it calmly; he could not contemplate it
without exaltation. He could not eat it without shedding tears. All the
poetry in his sensitive nature was in sympathy with the gracious
vegetable. With the earliest pipe of dawn he sought his patch, and when
the curtaining night drove him from it he shut himself up with his books
and garnered statistics till sleep overcame him. On rainy days he sat
and talked hours together with his mother about turnips. When company
came, he made it his loving duty to put aside everything else and
converse with them all the day long of his great joy in the turnip.
And yet, was this joy rounded and complete? Was there no secret alloy of
unhappiness in it? Alas, there was. There was a canker gnawing at his
heart; the noblest inspiration of his soul eluded his endeavor–viz: he
could not make of the turnip a climbing vine. Months went by; the bloom
forsook his cheek, the fire faded out of his eye; sighings and
abstraction usurped the place of smiles and cheerful converse. But a
watchful eye noted these things and in time a motherly sympathy unsealed
the secret. Hence the letter to me. She pleaded for attention–she said
her boy was dying by inches.
“I was a stranger to Mr. Greeley, but what of that? The matter was
urgent. I wrote and begged him to solve the difficult problem if
possible and save the student’s life. My interest grew, until it partook
of the anxiety of the mother. I waited in much suspense.–At last the
answer came.
“I found that I could not read it readily, the handwriting being
unfamiliar and my emotions somewhat wrought up. It seemed to refer in
part to the boy’s case, but chiefly to other and irrelevant matters–such
as paving-stones, electricity, oysters, and something which I took to be
‘absolution’ or ‘agrarianism,’ I could not be certain which; still, these
appeared to be simply casual mentions, nothing more; friendly in spirit,
without doubt, but lacking the connection or coherence necessary to make
them useful.–I judged that my understanding was affected by my feelings,
and so laid the letter away till morning.
“In the morning I read it again, but with difficulty and uncertainty