The ladies' garland. [volume], July 28, 1827, Image 1

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

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
VOEi. &
KO. II
ri iti.isin::) m.nv sati'iimt i \ i:\iv;,
r,V JOHN is (. U,l. AI IK It.
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VI VASARI,
A TALK OK KI.l.'LK.Ni K,
% From tilt pen of i lit• lull 4 'harks F.-heard\ !'. y J
Ifhe-hunod's Magazine for December, con
m:h a spirited article under tin- above bead,
which is characterised with singular leave and
v igor. while at the same time there is a u ddnos.s
about it. verging upon insanity. It seems to he
••illeetion ol episodes u hich the author has
tint! tr.g< Ihcr hv an attempt to relate a story —
'l h" scone is laid in Finn ece in the year Id hi.
and opens with a description of the plague
which then reigned—uc extract the follow
mg:
■■ n ivu; thru that trio genci;.) tumult and It r
ror reached its height ; anil that l'i• letice ap
jn- wed like a city given uvu to |iiii.-.- in which
cadi made the best id'v.hat came next to him;
nr rather, like a vast ship tost in the tem|icst,
under uhie.h lie would not choose hut founder,
and where each man. according to the tisane of
de'jii-ratc uiarincis. resolved to live .a! eunnnoii
cost, the stunt while longer that i-xtsi' nee last
ctl. Domestics left in chaige oi tlieir master s
houses, hurst open the cellars and eal'inels. and
Used their treasures as their own — the richest
garments were seen worn liv common beggars
—the most costly wines intoxicated the lowest
of the pi■[tulatinil. All sale people tied the citv
at ev cry hazard, or shut tliemselv o up. and re
fused to eomiminieale even with eaeii other;
and a scarcity of food—ui the very excess of
valuables and money—began to aggravate the
general distress. Those physicians who still
li veil, now made of!, with one consent. to seem e
what they had gained. The monks barred the
gates of tlieir convents—some would my no
mass; and scarce any would confess the >ick
longer. Same men lay dead or living in tlieir
houses, and none would come to aid, or Imrv
them Others were found with marks of vto
lence on tlieir bodies, and their e.h unbers riiled;
and none eon! I say. nor did a11> iiirpiire, wbo
had done it. 1 he hired nurses, it was reported,
poisoned their patients; and one beldam eon
less,al alterwards to have caused the death of
live w,mil'll, by administering the run forte
(nqniijotlis'i to them instead of common water.
Brute si length and Ireedom from the plague
became the only sources of power; and the
slave spat in the lace of his master. Those
few who dwelt within the city, or near it, watch
ed armed, and shut thetr doors by day ; for
murders won: done '".'(Mi in tho broad Irht. 1 he
cemeteries mi'V became choked, and (hero was
no more room in tin* streets and toaik' t places.
Hollars LC'»t ch«np. and graves wer-* b ud to >
come by. 'I'bo ;;reat i;o."C which bad l:o'ii j
hastily opened, and consecrated, at tin* back oi j
the Spedale St M •rtii.!. ran cvit with bodies j
from all ranks, a;;> s, and conditions, which. !
ni^ht at’icr ninht, were caM promiscuously into
it. And to (juotc tin- words used b\ a writer oi*
I lie time, in desr.rihiny: the s( i'e. of riorence, at .
tie- ci >se of die mai olv — almost !’*r idult of mat
ter to fc> t ip in—4* V. ortii V. .; lis. 11‘ss ; >ti en-.ilii
i?'one ; i -i v sullied ; title Inii ied; honors w ere
tdi ^<.{teu , greatness humiliated ; diirnitv scorn
• d— ai:d, of the i^ood and evil, equally perished
the memory!
In tlie rijiLifin of passions, (he author is
pi'tuiiiii ly happy, viz:
“ farther yet wouhi the enumeration have
gone. lint that a noise, as if of loosening holts ;
anil liars in the hnspital, interrupted i( la the i
i"'\t moment, one of the massy lidding doors at ■
the great entrance was flung open ; and, right
hand and h it. hom its farthest e\iremi(v, as fat
as the eye eould see. down tn that very dour. ;
the e.anmion rorridi ' of the home, tippeareil on
each side, elosi !\ «, | pallets. i'.veiv bed w;.s i
occupied, tleuldy. raid even tret.lv ; or rut her.
i the whole range nl beds—for each touched the
other—was formed into one great litter ; crowd- 1
I eil with sutler' io, in ail moods, and in all stages j
ol disease. Sane-—they might he hv ing or they
might he deed—all that could he seen was a |
strange, shapeh — lump, tolled m the utelchnl ;
bed chilliest (libers, covered up in hoods and
caps, incapable of speech, stared from the pil *
I avs, with their glassy eves and ghastly fun-i
that the v haver shrank to look on them! S mm. I
I’m inns aad strong in agony, sat in their beds ‘
holt upright— raimg, tos-mg; thru- turns, and I
muttering li'ii nil in;preen limit — hi tic mi- o I >j. 1 s :
nl' 111'iM‘n Tlf in,t-l 11■:«rii: 1 of nil were (hr j
Mi-11 11rii It by— Iluwo wh -un t\ t :il led the *( on - |
vnli -.*< nit.tml u Im glided about in tiicii- 1,,n
"bite. shroud Itkr 1ju>|>it:il row ns and dres-es ;
looking mill in11v mg like riI'titim s emerged t
I mi mi tlif grave—( vim more appalling In nature ;
than those who were ready Im desim 1 into it. i
*■ A; nr;re, ambition, tenor, mav havemerev; i
hut there is one p • s-ion bilk- within the Iiumi im
Ireasl. wli"sci vi i v instinct's murder. Once
lodged within the heart. fur tii'e it i n!"-—ascen
(knit are I niulM ! sports in the solitude like i.m i
untie lient!! if icods mm fNied. and livers wool!
nut sate its appcti.e. .Miutls strongest jM worth i
ftru 1 valor stoop to meanness anil disgrace he
lore it The meanest son! -the weakest—it can
give murage to, l.im\..nil the daring of (lespair ! I
W hat i- the still;; which no halm can assuage
W'liat is the wouml (hat lie nth alone can heal
'A hat is the injur y that—inee (lone—can never
he repaired Whose is the sword that, when
once drawn, the seahhard must he cast away
lo rev or —V- hen is it that man has no ear lust
tor (lie tale that tails like nionlten lead upon his
brain—no eye iint for the plucked-out heart of !
him he hates ; no hand hut for that clutch—that
one last clutch—which earth may not resist_
that gripes his dagger ? Who is it that hears
about him a life, horrid to himself, and danger
ous to the world ? Who has been wise, yet notv
w-illea-t away reason —was kiml and pitiful,
yet mimics tin- humanity ill tilt; i It I dog \\ ho
is il hi'us his I'm* tti mnmmoeks . unti •* Ac -
tinitial " mi his turn!)— amlylies \\ Ini is it stalls,
yet u ill not lii.line : ill inks—as Ins draft of lit'.-—
another . hlootl : yet leels there i' hut one relief
—to s|,eil his own * That wretch is .11: u.tii's ! —
Oh! talk nut of remembrance—consciousness
heyonil the or,He ‘ — once .sleeping, let the jeal
ous never wake again ! I’itv him. whatever
Ins rrimes ! \\ ere they ten thousand Inthorn
|i;ist tin: ti n'll of mercy, they are punished—
l ln' gamester u linsn last piece is li.st—tin nicr
I'lnutl, whose whole risk tlm si'ti lias swallow<’(1
up—tlm fliili! whose air bubble 1ms burst—nniy
<'iii'li create a bauble like the foriner! hut In',
whose 11'i'ii stirc was in woman's love; who trust
ml as men once. trust, anil was deceived!— that
hope once trace ! weep—search—rcgict—dc.
spair—seek thyself Mind—there is attain no find
inti' —no restorin'.; it ! Woman ! symbol of wo,
anil nature's weakness! gamester of hope and
h:ippine«s ! Thy love must lie intern !—single
—pel feet—or he nothin;;. Like the. glass toy
that Inis amused thy childhood, entire it spar
kles. shining, bright and precious—hut, from
the farthest thread—the finest—break oil' hut
one filin'—it is gone—form—shape—design—
iii.deii.il—sid,stance ! That Haw has shivered
it to countless atoms ; and where the jewel w as,
a heap of dust—wlii- ii men despise and trample
on—alone remains!”
'('he singularity of the style, and the nr.;i
n a li ty of the thoughts of the author, grasp tin
attention of the reader, and however open (to*
hall told story may he to criticism, no one who
enimiienres it can easily throw it aside until he
has arrived at its “ l.une and impotent conciu
sionf—[ Boston Stitt'snuin.
THE WIFE.
To .1 fond and c; -aiding girl. fi:w hours in life arc
so full of buoyancy ai.d hope, "f kindness ami affec
tion, as thus ■ -,f ceurt-hip, ami Kay it may be truly
said, are s . mpc.rtaat to In r future welfare ami Imp
pna ss. In her lover site loo often sees all that is
worlliv and respectable i:i man; the ardor of her
afiert:on - 'su n-; Hie most offensive traits of charac
ter, and oi.bt; rati's all minor feelings. Whatever
she may have nhlectt .1 front poetry, front novels,
or Iron; betu , is brought in aid of her imagination,
which picture;, m the most glowing colors the cha
racter of a husband, and her affection persuades her
tlint i;i her Inver he has found a perfect represen
tati. c of this ideal picture.
In dreams of confidence in the prudence of her
choice, and delightful anticipations of succeeding
years of affection and happiness, she ’,■> led to the
altar; and how often, alas! decs one short tear
bring home to her aching bosom the sad reality of
the falsity and empliite >s of all her hopes of inti'nal
love, tender assiduity, and lasting affection. Yes
terday the lover was all alien!..an, and love marked
every action; to- lay the hits' and cold, distant,
and neglectful, prew iring she < >..iiptvn.- of the
worthless and dissipated l > li ; he., v : -> bat .