The ladies' garland. [volume], October 27, 1827, Page 79, Image 3

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

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“ Out with the boat in an instant!” roared
the captain, and. at the same time, running
wildly about the deck, “ cal! the fresh watch!
and about ship immediately!—Mate up the
shrouds directly; keep a sharp eye upon the
poor gentleman and his hoy, and let vour arm
be directed to where the waves carry them.”
The. captain was the first to spring into the
hoat, and his crew eagerly followed him For
never did a true American sailor wait lor a se
cond order, when his aid was required. Brave
ry and kindness of heart are often synonymous.
“ Pull, my lads; for God's sake pull!” said
the captain, as he kept turning round, at one
time to see the mate on the mast, pointing out
the direction the bodies had taken, and then, to
steer the boat aright. The men did not utter a
word ; but pulled at the oars with all their pow
er.
i is a urimng sea, saiu me caprain. i'oi
one of ihe men answered him ; but each conti
nued to labor away.
“ I have my fears!—keep a good look out at
the head of the boat, Atkins !”
Here the captain turned around to look again
at the directing arm upon the ship’s mast; and
he turned deadly cold when he saw the mate
raise, as if in alarm, his Rands on high! —
“God of heaven!” cried the captain, “then
they have indeed sunk!’’—
“l saw it,” exclaimed the second officer, who
was stationed at the bows of the boat. I saw it
shake its jaws! And look, Sam. is that the yel
low gulf-weed between his teeth ? Surely it can t
be the poor child's hair!”
The dreadful catastrophe was soon partly
told. A billow, lightly tinged with blood, arose
round the boat, and displayed within its centre
a huge shark!
No tracts of the poor father was perceivable.
The captain grew sick at the heart.
“Take the helm, Atkins,” he said, keeping
his eye fixed on the bottom of the boat. The
second mate’s cheek had a cold tear upon it, as
he, in silence, obeyed his commander’s orders.
And a fine expression of still sorrow was per
ceivable upon the face of every man composing
the boat's crew.
Slowly and faintly did the captain ascend the
side of his ship.
“ Let rne not he called during the night,” he
said, addressing his first officer; “and do not
show me the log book for some days to come.”
He then entered his state-room, fastened the
door, and fell upon his bed, sobbing violently.
The night watch was set; but not a man dis
turbed the stillness of the deck with a heavy
tread. The heavens looked cold and bright,
nought was heard through the dark hours but
the light cry of the wheel, as the man at the
helm looked at the binnacle light, and kept the
vessel up to the wind. C. E. E.
THE FEMALE HEART.
The female heart may be compared to a garden,
which, when well cultivated, presents a continued
succession of fruits and flowers, to regale the soul,
and delight the eye : but, when neglected, pro
ducinga crop of the most noxious weeds; latge
and flourishing, because their growth is in propor
tion to the warmth and richness of the soil from
which they spring. Then let this ground be faith
fully cultivated ; let the mind of the young and
lovely female be stored with useful knowledge,
and the influence of women, though undiminished
in power, will be like “ the diamond of the desert,”
sparkling and pure, whether surrounded by the
sands of desolationsfoi gotten and unknown,or pour
ing' its refreshing streams through every avenue of
the social and moral habit.
SHE MIRROR.
Extract from an \tn published Athlress, commendato
ry the Christian charities of l J'omen.
Next to the ministers of righteousness, the gen
tle sex, have in all ages, distinguished themselves
by the lustre which they have constantly shed on
every branch and department of charity. Though
women in their social course of action, describe a
smaller circle than men, yet it has been well ob
served, that the perfection of a circle consists not
in its dimensions but in its correctness. I- might
proceed to illustrate the truth of this remark by
naming individuals, some of whom are known to
most of those who compose this auditory—indivi
duals exemplary for the fulfilment of the charities
of mother, daughter, friend, and benefactor—but
motives of delicacy prohibit such a gratification.—
But if we examine the roll of ancient, or some of
the brightest pages of modern history, it will be do
ing the sex but bare justice to declare, that it
seems to us as if the Deity, from wise purposes, had
infused into the hearts of woman a double portion
of the true spirit of Christianity, unwearied kind
ness, tender piety, and practical commisseration.—
No wonder, indeed, that a system of faith which
breathes benevolence and is based on charity,
should have been early adopted and zealously pro
pagated by so many illustrious women. To omit
earlier cases, and later instances, I shall briefly men
tion two only, one of which occured during the
middle age of darkness, the other, after the day
star of reformation had arisen in Europe. Twelve
centuries ago the mild and pious Bertha, first in
troduced the charities of the Gospel, into a royal
branch of the Saxon Heptarchy. And thus by a
woman was the glorious and civilizing work begun
of christianizing our gross and ferocious progeni
tors. Nine centuries afterwards, Bullen, the mo
ther of Elizabeth, that British Queen who became
the pillar of Protestanism,—Bullen, the gentle and
accomplished ; she who became a victim to her
inexorable tyrant, at a time when superstition had
corrupted the purity of the Gospel—protected, in
England, the devout leaders of evangelical refor
mation. And it was those leaders who afterwards
educated so many luminaries of piety and learning.
And it was these and their successors who in the
land of our forefathers, diffused the radiant light of
reason and revelation It was these men who in
structed that sect of puritans in church and state,
who finally led across the Alantic, preferring hard
ship in a howling wilderness, to bigotry and bon
dage in their native land, a sect who by thus evad
ing persecution aud the creed of the divine right
of Kings, became the founders of our republican
ism, knowledge and charity, whose posterity have
aggrandized the rights of man throughout this wes
tern world. Thus, the benevolent Parent of the
Universe seems to have appointed the docile minds
or gentle influence of illustrious women, to imbibe
and diffuse the blessed spirit of Christian reforma
tion and charity.
Fl'.MAI.K ACCOMPLISH MKNT9.
U hen Mrs. Jordan sang, it was (lie heart in her
[ voice that came through, and made her very song
1 forgotten. The orchestra ceased, and the house
• recognized the genuine human being, liven the
homeliest utilities when brought into contact with
a refinement, and gracefully managed, reflect upon
it an additional beauty, by reason of the secret ap
peal they make to our paramount sense of good. -
It was a pleasant surprise to us the other day, when
visiting our friends, to hear an answer brought from
a young lady who was sent for to take a mirt in a
duett. “ That her fingers were all over nour, hut
she would come to us the moment she got it off.”—
1’he same hand that could play an instrument was
making a pudding, as it ought to do, The union
m accompiismnems is Jess respected now a days,
than it was in the times nf my Lady Pembroke and
Mrs. Hutchinson, when a lady’s hand could at one
minute be playing on the “heavenly verginalls,”
and at the next was deep in pickles and preserves.
' I hey could not spell then,’ scornfully exclaims a
modern fine lady. No madam ; spelling was not so
common as it is now. Let us pique ourselves as
we ought upon that interesting advantage, especi
ally as it is an evidence of the diffusion of letters
among rich and poor; hut the real progress of
knowledge docs not consist in acquiring one utility
and leaving another. The hand is most accom
plished, which is fullest of power. To be perfect*
we would have it be able to spell, and to work, and
to play, and to make a tart or a bed ; and to dress,
and to dandle a child, and to twitch the ear of a
friend, and to wipe the tears fr^m one’s eyes, and
to be kissed in old age with a'4<iVc beyond rever
ence. Is it deficient in any of the perfections ? Let
it he able to lay itself with encouragement on the
heads of those who possess them, and that action
gives it the spirit of them all. Next to an absolute
piece of genius, the greatest accomplishments any
one can possess, are a love of nature and of hooks.
VARIETY,
Literary.—At the lute Commencement of Hamp
den Sydney College, the Literary and Philosophi
cal Society of that Institution appointed VVilliajjj
C. Itives, Esq. of Albemarle, and Nelson Page,
Esq. of Cumberland, Orators for the next Anni
versary ; and Daniel Uryan, Esq., of Alexandria,
to deliver the I’oem. '
Singular Fanaticism. — Dr. Henderson, in his
interesting journal of a tour in Russia, says, he vis
ited one family of dissenters, who carried their su
perstitions so far, that the mistress of the ^ouse re
fused to sit at table with him, because one of his
companions had metal buttons on his travelling
coat, and another had a tobacco pipe in his hand._
Their aversion to snuff was so great, that if a box
happens to lay on the table, the part on which it
has been laid, must be planed out, before the table
will be used again.
Courage certainly i9 of no sex, but a faculty of
the soul—and however custom may depress, or dis
courage it in females, it certainly belongs to human
nature in general. If men possess a more deter