Foot-prints of an itinerant

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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

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Preface

More than two years ago, in consequence of a bronchial affection, I reluctantly dissolved my pastoral relation with the Green-street station, in the city of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio. Under these circumstances I was induced to go to the city of New York, for the purpose of consulting a distin guished physician. From there I proceeded with my family to Brattleboro, Vermont, and spent the remaining part of the summer of 1853 at the cel- * ebrated “Wesselhoeft Water-Cure Establishment.” In the fall my health was slightly improved, but my vocal organs so much debilitated that I was compelled to take a superannuated relation. When 1 retired from the active duties of the ministry, I resolved to go again and visit my brethren in every city where I had previously gone preaching the word of the Lord, “ and see how they prospered .” But this I found impracticable. In entering into a retrospect of the different circuits and stations assigned to me I could truly say, “ Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” I was then deeply impressed with the belief that the time for labor with me that would be profitable to my fellow-men was drawing to a close. It was then and at a still later period of that same year that the “ Foot-Prints of an Itinerant”

PREFACE.

were hastily written. I addressed a note to a highly-esteemed literary friend, with a request that he would take charge of my manuscripts and keep them till after my decease, and then make such disposition of them as he should think best — for the glory of God, the good of his Church, and the interest of my beloved family. The following fraternal letter will reveal the spirit with which they were received :

“ My Dear Brother Gaddis, — I have just time to say that I received and read with deep interest yours of January 18th, . You are acting wisely in penning your recollec-

tions of the past. The book will not only be interesting to your associates, but to the Church in general and the public at large — as I presume it will embody much of the local history of south-eastern Ohio. Any service that I can render you will be most cheerfully afforded. I have often prayed for God to bless you in your affliction. Be grateful for his mercies; O, how rich and abundant they are!

“Yours, affectionately,

About midsummer in the following year, on meeting this beloved brother, he informed me that he had “ redeemed time” to read all my manuscripts carefully, and that it was his opinion that I should superintend their publication myself without delay. This statement surprised me very much; and I deem it proper to state to my readers that I had no such thoughts while engaged in sketching my personal recollections of incidents and scenes in the itinerancy. I never expected to see them printed. I had simply recorded facts and incidents without special regard to style or any attempt at ornament . I thought if they were published in future they would need rewriting or a supervision, such as I

PREFACE.

was unable to give in my present state of health. However, I finally concluded to order their return. I then forwarded them to Bishop T. A. Morris at Cincinnati, with the request that he would give them an impartial investigation. His opinion of their merits, after a careful examination, and the propriety of their publication in their present form , will be found in the following brief, characteristic communication :

“Home Lodge, November 25, 1854.

“Rev. Maxwell P. Gaddis — Dear Brother, — I have followed your ‘ Foot-Prints' through with much interest, alternately moved with tender and terrific emotions as the scenes and subjects changed. I am clearly of the opinion that the manuscript ought to be published, and that it would be popular and useful, and of course would sell quite extensively.

“Yours, faithfully, T. A. Morris.”

As the u Foot-Prints” contain much personal experience and observation , I still hesitated to publish them myself till the reception of a second letter from a highly-esteemed friend, in regard to the propriety of publishing them at the present time. Were I permitted to give the name of the writer, none would doubt his ability to judge correctly of their merits :

“ As a friend I would advise you to put the manuscript to press without any thing else than such a revision as you can easily give yourself as the sheets pass through the press. Do not think me hesitating or equivocating; I say as before, the work will do well . It may safely go to press as it is. I would advise you to put it to press immediately.

“Yours, affectionately, .”

Dear reader, twenty years ago last February I commenced the work of the ministry. When I com-

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menced my labors the original, eloquent band of “ western pioneers” were still on the field of battle. I entered the work at a point which brought me into close fellowship with Revs. Quinn, Lakin, Collins, Jones, Page, Christie, Ferree, and Raper. These venerable men of God “taught my inexperienced hands to war and my fingers to fight.” I am especially indebted for much of my success in winning souls to Christ to the instructions of the venerable John Collins and the late Rev. William B. Christie, who were both men of deep experience and great practical skill. I regret that I did not profit more by their lessons of experience and brilliant example. Upward of fifty of Zion’s watchmen have “ died at their post ” in the Ohio and Cincinnati conferences since I commenced the work of the ministry. I was intimately acquainted with nearly all of them, and some of them I loved most tenderly. “ Our fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?” It seems but as yesterday since I girded myself for battle. How fleeting and transient is human life !

“We are passing away.”

“ Time

Knows not the weight of sleep or weariness.

And night’s deep darkness has no chain to bind

His rushing pinion.”

Eternity! 0, eternity! how it sounds in my ears! Brothers and companions , let us “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but wise, redeeming the time , because the days are evil.” “Let us contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints,” holding fast the form of sound words, and then God

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will go forth with our armies as in other years. “The direct and downright preaching of Jesus, in these days of critical and carping hearers, requires far more boldness, self-denial, and consistency of decision than is generally suspected. There is a lamentable aversion, in all ranks and classes, to the undecorated propositions of the Bible. The embassy of Divine mercy must be philosophized and rhetoricated, or we reject it. Plainness of speech is meanness of speech. We call for figures and flowers of oratory; we are luxurious in our tastes and exorbitant in our demands; spiritual life and spiritual death, the vast themes of eternity, and the engrossing subjects of revelation, are powerless to move us, unless tricked out and garnished with the pride of learning and the glory of the schools. We go to church or chapel as we would to a lecture-room or a theater — for intellectual instruction or intellectual entertainment ; and our approbation of the performer is in exact proportion to the skill which he exhibits or the talent he displays. The fact is, we take the bread of life and the water of life, not because we hunger and thirst, but in compliance with the pressure of a fashionable duty; and the preacher who best succeeds in turning the water into wine and the bread into sumptuous fare, is the preacher under whom we 4 sit ’ with the greatest composure.55 “ He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night ? watchman, what of the night ? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come!,,

I respond with humility, that I have constantly

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endeavored to preach the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust, with great plainness of speech, confidently believing that it would prove effectual in the awakening and conversion of my fellow-men. I now thank Jesus Christ, who counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, that the successive fields of labor assigned to me were never barren. I sowed the good seed of the kingdom, believing that I should reap soon . I was not disappointed. I have witnessed many extraordinary revivals of religion, especially in the Scioto and Miami Valleys. Many have been added to the Methodist Episcopal Church through my feeble instrumentality — some of whom are now with trump in hand standing as watchmen on the walls of Zion. To G-od be all the glory! Amen. To my former colaborers I will take the liberty of saying, let us exalt the cross now and ever; let us continue to point the sinner to it as the only acceptable sacrifice, as the only adequate purchase of salvation. For the sin-sick, dying soul there is no other fountain but that which has been opened for sin and uncleanness; for the “ weary and heavy laden” no other relief but the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. To the tempest-tossed mariner of time we would present no other chart than that which was drawn by the great Captain of our salvation — no other compass than that which points unerringly to the throne of Goa — no other foundation than that which was laid in Zion, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.

PREFACE.

It is now more than two years since I have been able to preach. This is a sore deprivation to one whose heart is still in the work. Yet I do not repine ; I am still a very happy man. I could never see my way clear at any former period to quit the battle-field. In my retirement this reflection affords me much consolation, that while continued by the conference on the “ list of effectives ” I was a uman of one work” “By the grace of God I am what I am.” When the dark days of prostration came upon me and wearisome “ nights were appointed unto me,”

“ O’er all those cloudy scenes and dark There ever was within my call.

An arm outstretched to guard my fall,

And guide my fragile bark ;

A light, a sign of power divine.

Which made the darkest night with radiance shine.”

“ Thou, Lord, hast known my soul in adversities. I had fainted unless I had believed , to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. My heart trusted in thee and I am helped”

“ Ever changeless,

God’s blessed word hath firmly stood.”

I have not been without friends in utime of need” in by-gone days. I do not fear that they will forsake me while living, or forget me when dead.

“ To live in hearts we leave behind us Is not to die.”

In conclusion, I need only say to my numerous friends and a generous public, that the entire proceeds arising from the sale of this work will be faithfully applied to procure the means of an inde-

PREFACE.

pendent subsistence for my affectionate wife and three children, whose happiness and welfare are as dear to me as life itself.

I now send forth the “ Foot-Prints of an Itinerant” with the ardent hope that they may travel more extensively and prove a greater blessing to the Church and more highly beneficial to the world at large than the itinerant labors of the unworthy author. May Heaven's best blessing ever accompany the perusal of the “Foot-Prints /”

“ Foot-prints which, perhaps, another Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.”

Maxwell P. Gaddis.

West End , Dayton , Ohio , August 3, 1855.

Chapter I. Nativity — Emigration — Graves Op A Household

Birth — Ancestry — Emigration — Ship Stafford — Sickness — Death of my two little brothers — Burial at sea — Painful reflections — A mysterious dispensation— Anchorage in the Delaware — Death of a twin babe — Settlement in Pennsylvania — Removal to Ohio — Death of my eldest sister and her husband in Indiana — Burial-places of the departed members of the family — “Graves of a household ” Page 31

Chapter II. Incidents Connected With My Early Life

Removal from Delaware — War— Enlistment of my brother Robert — Five years’ campaign — Artillery company — Light dragoons — Painful separation— Anguish of my mother — Her subsequent conduct — Removal to Ohio — Never meets her son again — Wonderful providences 35

Chapter III. School-teaching

A mother’s solicitude — Difficulties overcome — Her indefatigable exertions— First effort at teaching school — Licensed to teach “common schools” — Attended college — Health very poor — Clerkship — Book-keeping— Engaged in teaching a large school — Ruled them by prayer — “Glen Cottage ” — Bishop Bascom — An amusing scene — “ Barred out ” — Rev. William H. Lawder — His first public exhortation — A mother’s prayers — Family scene — Taught to sing Mr. Wesley’s hymns 40

Chapter IV. Methodist Camp Meeting

Seceders — Their strong prejudices — Parents members of Seceder Church in Pennsylvania — Introduction of Methodism — Camp meeting — Curiosity of my brother to attend — Opposition of my parents — Opinion of the Methodist people generally — My brother finally concluded to attend — His awakening — Mourners’ bench — Happy conversion — His unwillingness to return — Conduct of my father — A visit to the encampment — His feelings

CONTENTS.

on approaching the ground — Listens to one sermon — His unkind treatment of my brother — Their sad return home Page 45

CHAPTER Y.

CONVERSION OF MY MOTHER.

Persecution of my brother John — Displeasure of my mother — Her fears for the reputation of the family — Steadfastness of my brother — Forbidden to attend the Methodist meetings — A period of painful solicitude — Resort to prayer — Increasing spiritual vigor — A Methodist prayer meeting at M.— Time of deliverance — Forbidden to attend — Submission to parental authority— Retires for secret prayer — Indignation of my mother — Starts for the prayer meeting — Hears a voice at prayer in the barn— Listens for a moment — Recognizes the voice of my brother — Trembles before the Lord — Hastens to the house — Deeply convicted for sin — Sleep departs from her eyelids — Cries aloud for mercy upon her bed — Alarm of my father — Awakes my brother — Desires to have a physician called — Jesus appears to save — Conversion of my mother— Her shouts of victory — Its effect upon my father * 49

Chapter VI. Shouting In Church

Scene at family prayers — Shouting a breach of decorum — Subsequent conduct of my father — Attendance of my mother at her own Church — - Shouts aloud for joy — Consternation of the minister and private members— Speedy termination of the service — An unusual occurrence — Effect upon others — Shouting at home — Shouts again at Church — Her minister unable to proceed — Mortification of my father — Rejoicing among the Methodists — A similar scene — Cries of “Order! order!” — Elders called upon to remove her from her pew in vain — Congregation dismissed in great confusion — Cited to trial for disorderly conduct — Her fears and fervent appeals to the throne of grace — Trial and acquittal — Attends a class meeting — Obtains a letter of dismissal from the Seceders — Joins the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816 55

Chapter VII, Origin And Progress Of Methodism In Ripley

Family discussion on Christian experience — Controversy on Calvinism — The doctrine of free grace — Removal to Ohio in 1817 — Settled on Eagle creek — Preaching at the house of Samuel Fitch — Sermon by Rev. James Havens on free grace — Change in my father’s views on theological subjects— His union with the Methodist Episcopal Church — Rev. Isaac Pavey — Names of the members of the first class on Eagle creek — Rev. H. 13. Bascom, leader — Rev. John Meek — A sketch of Ripley— First class — John Gaddis, leader — First Methodist sermon and first burial — Rev. John Collins * 63

CONTENTS.

Chapter VIII. My Conversion

Camp meeting in Mason county, Kentucky, in 1824 — Parting scene at the gate — Exhortation of my mother — My object in going — The number of our little band — The kindness of the late Johnston Armstrong — Its happy influence on my youthful mind — Powerful preaching — Prayer meeting for mourners — My curiosity to witness the scene — The means employed to bring me to Christ — The thought of final separation from family in heaven — Approach to the altar — Long struggle without relief — Temptation of the enemy — How I obtained the victory — Kindness of a beloved brother — Prayers of my mother — Conversion of my brother William — My own deliverance — The importunate prayers of my mother at home — The answer in her own heart — Our return and the subsequent joy Page 70

Chapter IX. Call To The Ministry

Call to the ministry — Licensed to exhort — Rev. W. Allen and Elijah H. Field — Form of my first license — Unwillingness to bear the cross — Compelled to exhort against my will at Georgetown — Rev. B. Westlake — Sickness— Entered college — Health failed — Returned to business pursuits to drown my convictions — Made known my conviction of duty to Rev. P. — Unhappiness of mind increased daily * 77

Chapter X. Camp Meeting Scene

Rev. W. B. Christie- — Rev. J. B. Finley — Rev. H. B. Bascom — Arrival at the camp-ground — Rev. B. Westlake — Arrival of tent-holders — Appearance of a storm — Appropriate hymn — Remarkable answer to prayer — An infidel awakened — Sketch of Christie — His style and manner of preaching 82

Chapter XI. Scenes At A Fashionable Watering-place

A visit to the Lower Blue Licks, in Kentucky — Shocking profanity of the visitors — Card-playing — A mock class meeting — The peculiar character of the exercises — Sudden and melancholy death of two of the principal actors — The degraded condition of another when last seen or heard from — A visit to Cincinnati — A happy meeting with my first school-teacher, Dr. V. — A pleasure-trip to Wheeling — Cholera on the Ohio — Deaths in Wheeling — Passengers all refused to land — Went ashore at Steubenville and spent the Sabbath — Returned home by the way of Cadiz, Cambridge, Zanesville, and Chillicothe — Sickness at the “crossings of Ohio Brush creek ” — Arrival at West Union — A good class meeting — Happy frame of mind — Safe return to R. 93

CONTENTS.

Chapter XII. First Religious Exercises In Public

Engaged as book-keeper at Ohio Brush Creek Forge — Parting words of my sister during the prevalence of the cholera at R. — Healthy location of the Forge — How I was first introduced as an exhorter — Exhorted nearly every Sabbath — The kindness shown me by the Forgemen — Visiting the sick — Mind harassed continually on the subject of preaching — Licensed to preach, through mistake, at the Hopewell meeting-house — Singular manner in which it was discovered — My first effort — The effects resulting— A mysterious providence explained — “ No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back ” Page 98

Chapter XIII. Remarkable Conversion Of A Young Lady

Conversion of Miss W. — Her subsequent despondency — Despairs of the mercy of God — Her rapid decline — Last sickness — Gracious deliverance — Happy death — Funeral Sermon by Rev. John Meek — A powerful awakening— Success of my efforts — Commenced keeping a diary — Happy frame of mind — Trials and temptations — Licensed regularly as a local preacher by Rev. Leroy Swormstedt, in 1835. 103

Chapter XIV. Happy Death Of My Father

Sickness of my dear father — His strong confidence — An affecting scene — His dying benedictions — His cloudless prospect — Freedom from the power of temptation — Death struggle — “ A hard day’s work ” — “Roughest of the journey over ” — Last conversation with a friend — “ I am Christ’s free man” — Peaceful death — A solemn funeral — Sudden death of Dr. V. with cholera, at Cincinnati — The grief of his family — Refusal to occupy the homestead — My own lonely condition — Ravages of the cholera at West Union — Extracts from diary — Preached at Saterfield’s — Opened the doors of the Church for the first time — God gave me one soul as the “ first fruits ” — A few weeks afterward caught three more “fish ” of great promise 108

Chapter XV. Remarkable Premonition

Built a stone church with a subscription of ninety dollars — Singular occurrence at Saterfield’s meeting-house — Went prepared to preach from a certain text, but was obliged to speak from another without a moment’s time to prepare — Sudden death soon after — His funeral sermon — An explanation of the remarkable circumstances connected with his sickness and death H5

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XYI.

MY FIRST CIRCUIT.

Refused a recommendation to the annual conference — One to be supplied on West Union — Informed that I was expected as the supply — Refused to go — Another employed to fill it — Dissatisfaction on the circuit — Consented to travel at the first quarterly meeting — Went down to Ripley to commence — Much embarrassed and discouraged soon after my arrival — A remarkable dream about fishing — Its influence on my mind — Private interview with my mother — Her affectionate counsel — The covenant — Its happy influence upon my future ministry Page 120

CHAPTER X YII .

EXHORTATION BEFORE SERMON.

*

Embarrassed state of feeling at my second appointment — Exhortation before preaching — Eavesdropping of an aged minister — Death of a classleader’s wife at E. — Happy state of feeling in the audience after her interment— The Spirit grieved by boasting of victory — Upbraided for not opening the doors of the Church at one of my appointments — Changed my practice soon afterward — A singular dream — The good resulting from it — History of little Henry — His presentiment of death — His funeral sermon— Message to his class-mates 126

CHAPTER XYIII.

THE CONTRAST.

A triumphant death-bed — Her last exhortation — The Bible adapted to every condition — A midnight scene at the dying bed of a young lady — “ Grieve not the Spirit of God ” — How hard it is to die without religion — Delay dangerous — Awakening and conversion of a young lady at R. — The unexpected messenger — Her happy death and thanks to her pastor 134

CHAPTER XIX.

REMARKABLE DEATHS— MYSTERIOUS FAMILY.

Terrifying death of an intimate acquaintance — The fatal warning — A vision of heaven and hell — The “gnawings of the worm that never dies ” — The horrors of the death-chamber — Ruling passion strong in death — Untimely death of a young man engaged to be married — Preached for him when dying till his speech and sight failed — Buried on the day appointed for the nuptials — “ Be ye also ready ” — Mysterious family- 140

CHAPTER XX.

THE SUICIDE.

The fatal results of intemperance — A broken constitution — Warned of

his death — Convinced that religion was necessary — A troubled con-

CONTENTS.

science— Embraces Universalism — Preaches in the market-house — Threat* ens to destroy himself — Blows his brains out with a horse-pistol — Bloody scene in an upper room Page 150

CHAPTER XXI.

WEST UNION CIRCUIT.

Case of delirium tremens at R. — The appearance of the devil three times — The conflict the last night — The Bible a defensive weapon literally on that occasion — A scene in the Methodist Episcopal church — Strange recital by the alarmed inebriate — Continued to carry the Bible for a long time — Camp meeting — Great revival — Preaching at midnight — An imposing procession — Blowing of the trumpet — Alarm of the ungodly— Success of the meeting — Closing scene the next morning — Sketch of Ripley — Origin of Methodism — First class 157

chapt'er XXII.

SCIOTO CIRCUIT.

Rev. John Collins preacher in charge — Members in West Union — Par sonage — Scioto and Brush Creek circuit records — Quarterly collections — H. B. Bascom recommended to annual conference — Steward’s book of Scioto circuit— Preacher’s salary 162

CHAPTER XXIII.

WHITE OAK CIRCUIT.

Appointed to White Oak — My feelings when commencing my work — - Prayer in the rear of the church at F. — Preached the funeral of a Universalist — Great revival at Mt. Zion, in the spring of 1837 — Rev. John Miley — Took our dinners at the church — Meeting continued ten days* 174

CHAPTER XXIV.

REVIVAL OP RELIGION IN A SCHOOL-ROOM.

Regular exercises suspended — Sentiments written by the young ladies — Happy conversion of a large majority of the pupils 177

CHAPTER XX Y .

CONVERSION OF A SCHOOL-TEACHER FROM VERMONT.

Prayer for the unconverted — My visit at G. — The power of truth— Awakening of Miss W. — The efficacy of a sister’s prayers — Her wish to become a Methodist — Opposition of her friends — Public union with the Methodist Episcopal Church — Instrumental in converting others 180

CHAPTER XXYI.

THE TIMELY WARNING.

Calvary meeting-house — Strange impressions while preaching — Powerful strivings of the Holy Spirit — The effects resulting — A conversation of

CONTENTS. 19

a gentleman and lady at the close of sermon — Their mutual fear — His sudden death a few hours afterward — Her happy conversion and union with our Church — Noble conduct of a young man at Big Indian camp-ground— Farewell meeting at F. — Numbers in society — Rev. John W. Clarke and his family Page 184

CHAPTER XXVII.

, WEST CHESTER CIRCUIT IN 1837.

Interview with brother Christie at Milford — Conflict at Sharon — Great victory — First sermon on West Chester — Happy frame of mind while preaching — Rev. J. J. Hill — Society at Montgomery 188

CHAPTER XXVIII.

REVIYAL AT MONTGOMERY.

Commencement of the work of God at Montgomery — Conversion and union with the Church of a father, son, and two daughters — Strange conduct of our enemies — Conversion of the leader of the band — Disorderly conduct — Arraigned before the civil authorities — Progress of the work in other places— Revival at Company Mills — The reconciliation — Numbers in society 193

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE MERCHANT’S DAUGHTER.

Awakening of the daughter of a wealthy merchant — Conversation in love-feast — Opposition of her father — Forbidden to attend our Church — A

great trial — Mr. threatened to whip me — Great excitement in the

village — A visit to his store — The attack — The happy result — No blood shed — Substance of the conversation — Sounding a retreat 198

CHAPTER XXX.

THE MERCHANT’S DAUGHTER — CONTINUED.

Attachment to R. — Conduct of the father — Manner of holding intercourse— Deaf and dumb alphabet — The disowned — Cruel treatment — Departure from home — Subsequent marriage — Death of their first-born — Unnatural conduct — Her union with the Methodist Episcopal Church — Death of her mother 203

CHAPTER XXXI.

DEBATE ON U N I Y E R S A L I S M .

An interesting debate at New Richmond — Hon. David Fisher and Rev. Robert Smith — Rev. D. Parker, the restorationist — An amusing scene — Close of the debate — Victory of Mr. Fisher — A noble concession from Rev. Robert Smith - 211

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXII.

SABBATH DESECRATION.

Morality of the Universalists — Sabbath desecration at M. — Arrest of Mr. F. — Trial before Mr. D. — The result — Boasting of Rev. R. Smith — Running the saw-mill at night — Strategy of my colleague — His success — Another trial of the offenders — The saw-mill stopped — Legal suasion succeeds well occasionally — Destroying Bible — Singular manner of preparing for debate — Last account of Rev. Robert Smith — His renunciation of Universalism • • • * • • • * Page 218

CHAPTER XXXIII.

FEARFUL CONSEQUENCES OF OBSTINATELY RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Awakening of a great sinner — His opposition to the Church — Persecution of his wife — Subdued by the power of God — Offers himself for membership— Looks back — The sequel 223

CHAPTER XXXIV.

MY FIRST STATION.

A good beginning — A joyful spirit — An unpleasant occurrence at a funeral — Happy New Year — Revival — “I will still go on” — Health declining— Answer to prayer — Sick-bed repentance — Danger of deception — ■ “ Laying aside the weights ” — Joy cometh in the morning 227

CHAPTER XXXV.

PRACTICAL AMALGAMATION.

A remarkable case of deception — Marriage ceremony from home — Practical amalgamation — Thecheat discovered — Mystery unvailed — Divorce — Another case of the samte kind — Departure of the husband — Illness of his bride — Physician called — Her life in danger — Rebukes of conscience — How the deception was first developed — Long absence of the husband — Return and final separation of the parties 233