Clje (Kiirliin).
VOX.. 4. IIARFERS-FEHF.Y, VIRGINIA, JULY 14, 1S27.
KfO. 9
PUBLISHED EVERT SATURDAY tVESISS,
BY JOHN S. GALLAHEIl.
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THE REPOSITORY.
FR"M THE ARIEL.
THE MATCH GIR.Ii.
“Will you buy a bundle of matches, Sir 1—
only a cent.’ -—said a wretched lookin'; child of
apparently twelve years old, in modest, but iin
pinring accents, as we were a limn to leave t lie
office after the irksome labors of a sultry day.
She was dressed in something which might once
have, been clean calico, for 11 was now soiled
and ragged,.while the flaming figure which yet
lingered among a cloud of dirt, presented a me
lancholy relic of departed finery A wretched
Straw hat barely hid her ragged locks, which
seemed as if they had long been strangers to
the beautifying powers of the comb, and her
countenance was marked with that pathetic ex
pression of wretchedness which professed beg
gar' know so well bow to assume \ et there
was something in her looks which arrested my
attention. Though the sadness of her features
betrayed the deep and soul felt sorrow that bad
been laid upon her, yet there was a silence in
her grief, an unobtrusiveness in her petition,
which, from its dissimilarity to the urgent irnpu
denee of a veteran pauper, wound itself insensi
blv into my sympathies, and would have stag
gored the forbearance of the most penurious
charity. 1 looked at her with a degree of inter
cst which others in her situation hut seldom ox
cite,—and the picture of her patient mis.-iv
made my very heart ache. 1 stepped back into
the office, and bought a few bundles of her
matches.
10 no supplicated lor charity in the streets
of Philadelphia, is now of rare occurence ()pen
beggary has very sensibly decreased within a
few years past; but the laziness of pauperism
has assumed other and more plausible means
to gratify its endless wants. 'I lie artlessness of
childhood i“ used to tax the sympathies of the
public, when the more systematic efforts of
adolt knavery have he' n found to be unavailing
Children are sent out by tlnor variant parents
to prey upon 'he community bv moving tales
of misery and suffering at liome, and. if their
habits do not teach them, they are instructed
to seize every opportunity of petty theft anil
imposition Born to the inheritance of pover
ty ; nursed in the cradle of misfortune and ne
glect ; and tutored even in their infancy in eve
TV species of petty dishonesty ; taught to imi
tati the whine ol suffering, and to blend with tl
the obsequiousness ol a beggar, they are turned
out to depredate upon the public—paupers in
appearance, but villains in the heart.
There are, however, other children who roam
our streets in search of charity—the children of
honest parents—parents who have been sud
denly struck prostrate by the blastin'? hand of
sickness, and to whom no resource remains, ex
cept the withering; alternative of sending; them
abroad to solicit a portion of that charity, which
the public has too much reason to believe is
thrown away- V arious, indeed, arc the schemes
adopted to enlist our sympathies. A basket of
kniek nao.ks, a bundle of matches, or almost
any other portable commodity of fireside manu
facture, is the plea for arresting; the attention,
lint so manv are the calls upon our time, that
most of them are unreguarded—oftentimes with
that heart chilling; insolence and indifference
“ Which virtue, sunk to poverty, would meet
From giddy passion and low-minded pride.”
! Ol' the latter class of children was the poor
Match (lirl who stood before me. relating in pa
thetic artlessness, the history of her parents'
troubles. It was brief, and like the tlioiisaiid
others w hich we read of as the unavoidable at
tendants on a crowded population—such, in
deed, as the newspapers furnish us for every
day's perusal. The lather had been disabled
by an accident, and as his little fantilv had sub
sisted by his daily labor, a confinement of two
months bad brought them to the very brink of
' starvation, friends they had not; and the
i 1 lowaid-like benevolence which would search
them out in their forlorn abode, and administer
I to their wants, was a hopeless resource. The
| mother, too, was ill—borne down by the dark
| ness of the prospect which surrounded them.—
I As a last and only hope, this child was si-111 out
! to procure them food, with a basket of matches
in her hand. They had instructed her not to
ask for any thing—not to icg—but to m II her
matches. The spirit of independence—
“ Lord of the lion heart and eagle eve,’’
still bore, them up, leaving them to hope that
tiny might vet obtain a living by their own t\
ertions, until the father was restored to health
Her success was discouraging—for she was a
novice in the business : and when chance (or
shall I say Providence :’) directed her to the of
lice door of the Ariel, the de-titute family were
almost ready to desp dr. and to believe that an
Almighty hand had laid it' rod of affliction on
tin 'a more heavily than upon the rest of their
I i iw-mortals. 1 mentioned thi'ease t,i a friend,
i 1 ii' heart was touched at the recital—Ins means
' wa re ample—-and at the end of lour and twenty
! hours a ft e i 1 parted from the Match (iiil the fa
i tnilv had been relieved effectually.
I Mow many tiumJrfMi chiMrrn un* ihrrr*, most |
| lv ui. of nil ages from si\ to twelve \ «-.tr«.
I const: oily prowling through our streets, soli
eitiaiC 'Mtli offensive importunity, the chanty of
the politic, and seeking opportunities to plun
der from their houses. ’These children are in
deed horn in caprice anil hred in ignorance.—
Tutored to iniquity from their very childhood ;
practised to distort tlo-ir infantile features into
the semblance of grief; and employed hy worth
less parents in the most ahject of all occupa
tions. beggary itself, how lamentably deficient
must their minds he found in all that constitutes j
a good and virtuous citizen. With boys, the
penitentiary.and perhaps the gallows.ends their
career With these unprotected girls, guarded
l>v none, hut preyed upon hy every villain—how
certainly are they drawn aside from virtue in
maturer years, and how taint the hope of dim
return ! We hail, with feelings of gratitude to
Him who placed in their hearts the efforts ot
the ladies ol this city t > establish Infant Schools
They will he productive ofinestimahlc blessings.
It lin e draw aside a single Match Girl Iron) the
path to certain ruin, the effort is worthy oftbr
iug made. To such unfriended wanderers of
our city their protecting care should be extend
ed. It is suchtUoble rtfurts in so good a cause,
that beautify and raise the female character—and
“ Whose incec. ,e smells to heaven.”
BIOGRAPHY.
From shin ,Vinm Li e's Mnmrirs of eminent Ft mate
writers.
Jane Pouter, a powerful an 1 elegant writer, is
the eldest sister of Sir Robert l’orter, a gentleman
distinguished for his talents as an artist and author
At an early age Miss Porter exhibited talents of no
ordinary kind, and made large contributions to the
periodical publications of the day. The first work
of any magnitude which came from her pen was
“ The Spirit of the Kibe'!*’ in three volumes. This
was followed bv “The Scottish Chiefs,” a romance
in five volumes, which was also sucres fill, lie
tween the publication of these weeks, however,
site published two volumes of “Aphorisms of Sit
Philip Sidney, with remarks.’’ Miss Porter has in
deed caught much of the spirit of the hero whose
character she so highlv admires Hence the lofty
and magnanimous style of thinking and feeling
which distingu shei her works, all of w hich are cal
ciliated to improve the heart, wlnle they elevate
the mind.
A \ s M vui a Purr in is the y i tinge*-! of 'his fam.
ly so rrmarkable for tlie:r literary attainments, and
is the rival of her sister Jane, as a wr.’.er of novels.
When only thirteen years of age, she published
“ Artless halt s,” two volumes . which was quickly
succeeded by "Walsh Colville,” in one volume.—
She lias since published “ Octavio," three volumes,
“ The Lake of Kdlarney," three volumes . “ A bai
lor's Friendship, and a Soldier’s Love,” tvo vo
lumes ; “ The Hungaiiun Rruther.s,” ihree volumes;
“ |) ,n Sebastian, < r the House of llragan/a.” luui
volumes; “ I'lie Recluse of Norway, ’ four volumes;
“ lhe village of Mnrb ndorp.” four volumes ; “The
Fast of St Magdalen,” three volumes ; “ llouoi
O’Hara,” two volumes, fee.
Ann IUim'MFFe. — Among tne cmimini women
who have contributed by their talents to the intcl
lectual character of their country, the name of tins
lady will always stand highly dsthiguished. She
was horn in London on tlie 9 h of Jul\, 1< 01, and
was the only child oi W illiam and Ann \\ .»rd, per
sons i/f great respc ta ih y At an « a; ly agGahe
exhibited extraordinary powers of mind, but the
peculiar bent t f h«*r genius was not developed until
after her marr.aire. In the twenty-third )car of her
ago she married Mr. Will.am UadclifTe, a student
of law, but who afterwards became the proprietor
of “The English Chronicle.*’ Thus connected in