The Illegal Marriage — page 118: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

110 THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. fused them, however, and was want to aver that this led to a kind of religious dissipation, which, as a physician, he could not approve. Still, Ham was regular in his worship at other times; and but one real fault could be urged against him—a fault which harmed no one but himself. Failing in all else, this was made the pretext for a mean and petty persecution. And when a new doctor settled in the place—one who was politic enough to join in the revivals, yet having the same fault in secret—he was taken up by the church set, and got capital recommendations even from the pulpit. Griffin, Allen, Matthews and a few others of the more cultivated, upheld Pierce strongly; but the pressure was too heavy, and his practice soon dwindled down to the families of the educated class, and the poor. Ham’s charity practice was immense. He never refused a call from the poor, day or night, and rode fifty miles to pay visits of charity, where his rival rode one. Mrs. Pierce, a Floridian, a lady of quiet, elegant manners, was also a favorite with Stannard; and he never visited Fort Valley without calling on her. The two men were very fond of each other. Stannard made his toilet in a few moments, and went into the room where Trippe was lying. Pierce had just performed some operation for relieving compression of the brain, and was wiping his instruments by the bedside. “My dear fellow,” said Stannard, heartily, grasp- ing the doctor’s hand, “I am very glad you have come. What do you think of him?” Turning to look at Trippe, they saw him roll hig head uneasily from side to side, cComicbooks (Elo)