The ladies' garland. [volume], April 22, 1826, Page 42, Image 2

About The ladies' garland. [volume] (Harpers-Ferry, Va. [W. Va.]) 1824-1828

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
iiir oppressed lios.un <;) i!it load which weighed
upon tin* lie.tit Yv leu lie 11-«t New Y «iik ;i leu
V .1I'S before. In . i lei I;'. in ;i dearly beloved or
[iliiiu sister, linn" niili her "ii iidians. youti",
i inuecnl, ami liraaliiul ll tin re i- anv i iiiMem
■inearth Hi lii it >[i ilh-si iijiiueeiiee ami punH
which ive are taii.'hl t■) expert in the regions of
the skies, ii isa v oilny; artless female. in Id niece
liesiiin all lili|nite ticJU"lit lias 'e ver elilereil,
n hose cheek lias inner iiei n siithaseil imt with
III" M ".III 111 health, or U Ill'll llsti'lllll" to tin' lie
r; i.t' i• t ueTIte.l eoiiiini'iiila'loii. ami uiiose e\e
i i u.iiii. look, ami action. -p. ik tin- mi|o>11 ■ ■ ie<i
Hum! with in. Such, in the <■ \ e . I M-, w as
his all* etionate sister, ilnw oil hail sin- Inin"
up.in Ins arm with fiatrrnnl atreelmn, as they
visi(i■ 11 together tile principal places of altrac
In ii i in tow n , or l and I' d a man " the creen tie Ms
and d'h"htful "lines In the siiiiurhs, iratheriri"
dai-ies, cow -lips, and hhn> lu lls, or listrnin" to
the carols ot the t.irds as tin \ skipped cheerily
from sprav to sprat . duriii" his former i mil-.—
Ami with what tenderness did she rim" to him,
as he ki-sed ||n' |;iHitler tear from her cheek, at
the moment of their last separation. And with
w lnt f.iiidin ss, luo, did lie anticipate the happy
moment ol their meetin", alter so Ion" a separa
(ion, when, as In' miiiht suppose, the tender Inn I
which lie had lell must have expanded to the
toll Mow n Holier. Tarn ill" a tew days at I’hi
lulelphia. however, while on his way to New
York. annul" hi- friends in that staid rnetrupu
Its, dark suspicions were ureasiona 11 v w hispered
in his ear, that hi- sister was—no better than
she should he. lie would hare united the
imputation promptly, could lie have been per
leytly satisfied that it was groundless; hut lie
lore he left, hls'an'ony was completed by such
declarations and proofs of her ipiilt, that he
verily believed the child whom In- had left pure
and unsullied as the. driven snow, was now a
loathsome prostitute, and the kept mistress of
some "rntlrman in New Y ork, ll was even in
lunuted that for his own credit, and the happi
ness nl Ins intended bride, it would lie hi tter tor
him not to speak ol one who had rendered her
self so utterly unworthy of Ins kindness and pro
lection. And bavin" thus been made to believe
tll.it
-~ik nan Kindi
Into a fiit of ink, 11 i:it tin: wide sen
llsd drops too tew to wash her clean again,”
hi yielded to this adv ice. M-- was a soldier;
end although the struggle was a severe one,
still, alter his arrival in New \ ork, lint ing com
In and over his feelings. lie siilnlued them so et'
leetuallv. that the lew taint and transient ei i
deuces ei' the secret workings ot his soul, before
related, were all that escaped him.
Alter remaining: a tew weeks in the citv. the
happy couple made the fashionahle lour ot the
several watering; places in this state, visited the
romantic regions of I.ake: George, listened to
the deafening roar of Niagara, and then return
ed. And having resigned his situation in the
army, and obtained an appointment in a dis
tant territory, in the autumn of lsd—, after tak
ing leave of Ins friends, and parting with great
reluctance Irom his still more endeared friend
and companion 15-. he departed with his wife
lor the station where his new duties required his
residence. IIitherto their matrimonial path had
been strewed with (lowers, and not a cloud had
tor a moment obscured the sun of their happi
ness. I ne brightest mornings, however, some
times lead on the darkest days, and it is but too
true that—
“ fete's fairest views arc hut an airy dream,
Trad as the transient cloud, or bubble on the
stream ”
An t'liili'iii1' ;i! fever, so often fatal to stran
iT'-r- in that climate, urr<->t<-i| in- progress at
Natela'/, uliieli haili'-il tin; ol In- physi
cians. 1!■■ received every attention tfain tin;
strangers among whom lie wa- ca.-t, ami all (In;
endearing attachments oi ini \vif»;—hut in vain.
It uas ih ei'i'i i! lh it the cuj> ol bhis, which liaii
lull j • l-t I ill'll tasted, wa- to In; (la-lied suildeillv
leolii In i 11j>s ; and so r.t|>i■ i u as tile progress of
tlie di-ease. that in In e short nay s li om the eoni
Ilieneeliiellt nl Ills iillies,, she tumid liel'selt a
a union in a strange land—desolate—alone.—
lint the measure oi her aliheiion Living nut tel
lull, she in torn uas seized by the dire cento
gion ; and it uas not until alter the lapse of se
veral months that she uas aide to return with
the messenger sent to conduct her hack to her
friends, and the scenes of her recent enjoy
merits.
Many of her husband's affairs were left in an
unsettled state; and after the poiguancv of her
grid had somewhat subsided, it became neccs
sary tor her to look alter them. Korlun'ately
I!——- was a professional man. and to nhoin
could she better apply for assistance ill her for
lorn situation, than to her husband's most inti
mate and ronfi.leiitial friend ’ Mje did so; and
he attended to her reepiests with all the readi
ness and kindness that she could have expected.
A year rolled away, and the affairs, though not
vet settled, were m a train of ad justment. Mean
time another year passed away with those be
yond the Hood, during uliieli his \isiis had gri
dually become more and more froqm nt. and Ins
attentions to her more marked and particular,
lie uas her husband's dearest friend, and she
therefore the more readily confided in him.—
During this intercourse with her, his conduct
was uniformly marked by the most scrupulous
propriety and delicacy. And when, uith honor
able frankness, he formally avowed himself as a
suitor for her heart and hand, lie uas accepted.
An engagement for marriage soon succeeded,
and the time lived for the. wedding was not re
mote. The engagement was known and ap
proved by her friends ; hut ere the time for thg
celebration of the nuptials arrived, it uas post
polled—again, again, and again—In various
plausible pretexts, so artfully devised as to leave
nothing to excite any well grounded suspicions
as to his faith, and the rectitude of his inten
tions. lie was a grave and an honorable man,
not likely to be fickle in bis mind, or flexible in
ms purposes.
!u tlu-> situation affairs stood until a few
months since, when, as it was supposi -d, an ir
revocable determination was made that the wed
dim; should tako plain- during tin- present spring;
and the lady went upon a winter's \ i-it to her
triends in the country—to the dear delightful
spot of her infancy—where she first dreamed of
love—and where those bright visions of liappi
ness first danced in her youthful imagination,—
the. reality of which had. as it were, hut just
dawned upon her for a moment, as if to render
the storm of adversity which followed still more
gloomy and atllictivc—hut v liich now hid fair
to return again soon, if not with their primitive
brightness, at least with a mellow light v. hieli
promised to cheer her through the remainder
of her life. A constant correspoinh-ncc was
kept up between herself and 1!-. and he eon
tinned his v isits to the family of her sister, with
whom she had resided while in this city. And
here our tale must begin to unfold itself. A t'e.w
weeks since the hell ram; feebly at the door of
this lady's residence, the initial of whose bus
hand's name we omit ; and the servant ushered
in a ladv whose fragile form, pallid check, and
sunken, lustreless eyes, bore ample testimony to
decaying health ; and there was a deep M-ttled
melancholy upon her countenance, yet so hand
some as to proclaim that her features had once
been beautiful, which told hut too plain]v that
her heart strings had been torn with anguish,
ttntl that there was a canker in her bosom "eat
it eg into ler s ml," and wasting a wav her thin
light Inrm, which had apparently been formed
in the finest mould. She hesitatingly and timid
!y impiired lor Mrs. M-. hut on learning that
she was in the country, and that the lady of the
hnu.~e W its Iter sister, she pulled front her bosom
the immature ol the deceased Major M——,
avowing heisell to have been hts sister. She
said at the same time that it was a treasure,
which she hail highly prized, though on his last
visit to the city, ol whit'll she t\;e, unapprized
until by accident she had received the sad till
h.g> ol Ins death, he hail treated her w ith a tie
give ol negleet, wInch had grieved her to the
soul, hut lor w hit'll slit* could never account.—
Ami as site believed now that she could not long
survive, she thought her brother's widow had
the best claim to the picture, and she had in
ijuiicd her out ami brought it. .Mrs.-, hav
iog never before heard that her deceased bro
tiler in law had a sister living in the city, was
incredulous to the story of the relationship, lmt
took the picture and promised to write to her
sister. The stranger then departed, reatlirining
vs itii earnestness, and a gleam ol woman's pride,
h-T near consanguinity with the deceased, anil
promising shortly to return.
1 he lady wrote, to her sister the particulars
of this inters iew . ss ith her belief that the strait
ger was an imposter. The return of the mail
brought a reply, in which .Mrs. M-for the
lir't time imparted to her sister the melancltols
tale respecting her deceased husband's sister,
which sve have given above, and which he had
communicated to her only after thev had left
Philadelphia for the west. Shortly after the re
ceipt ol this letter, the strange lads' called again .
apparently, as before, oppressed by the bittci
ness of grief, anti pining ass ay under the pangs
of her burtheni'd bosom, lint the lath now
shrunk trout her as Irom the touch of pollution
The stranger perceived this alteration in her ih
meanor, and truly apprehended the cause.—
1 he colour which had long been a stranger (o
hercheek. again partially returned.and herdark
blue eves were f ■ r the moment lighted tip, as she
exclaimed with sudden and unwonted energy —
" V es ! I am his sister, anti your suspicions,
which 1 well understand, are groundless : l am
an unfortunate, an injured, but an innocent svo
man : 1 am the lawful wife of"-hut diet king
herself, she proceeded in a subdued tone. ■' alas '
I cannot speak further." For a time
“Her lips moved not, Imt quiveringlv,
Nor would t/tfii aught hetrtiv ;
Vet more them spoke, her flushing eve,
Than words could ever sav ;
Yes, there was meaning in her glance.”
Having i:i a measure composed her troubled
feelings, some lurlher conversation ensued, in
which the blighted fair one renewed lier pm
testations of innocence, and intimated that
while she had been deserted by her former
friends, though lawfully married, and the mo
ther of several children, yet she had been coin
polled silently lo hear the reproaches that had
been cast upon her—in the daily hope that all
the mystery >n which her case was involved,
would soon he cleared up. iiut her heart was
now fast withering under the disappointments
of hope long deferred. Indeed she had hoped
until no hope was left; and she was now de
termined, ere site dropped into the tomb, which