The ladies' garland. [volume], November 17, 1827, Image 1

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

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PUB LI-'ll KD KVKIt V SATUU I» V Y f.VKNING,
BY JOHN S. <i \1.1,AIIEK.
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payable at the expiration of the first quarter, or
une dollar and twenty-live cents, to be paid at the
time ot subscribing1. I*a\ men*, in advance, from
distant subscribers who are not known to the pub
lisher, will invariably be expected. Should pay
ment be deferred to the end ;>f the year, £0 will
be required.
*** Postage on all li tters MUST be paid.
T2iB KSPOSITOUY.
From the Atlantic Souvenir, for 1828.
PREDICTION.
DY Kleil.utl) PCNX SMITH.
In the year 1S1 ;2. shortly after the declaration
of war "i'll Great Britain, I made an excursion,
paitly of business. partly of pleasure, into that
beautiful and romantic section nl Benusvivania.
winch lies along its north-eastern boundary.—
One morning. while |»utstiintT my journey. I
In nid at a distance the sound of martial music,
which gradually lu-caiTie more distinct as I as
fended the Blue Ridge, and seemed to proceed
from a humble village,situated in the. deep val
ley beneath, on the Bank id the Delaware. No
thing could exceed the splendour of the scene
that lay below. Thu stm was just rising; his
first beams were gradually stealing through the
bre *k or gap in the di-ianl mountains, which
seems to have been hurst open hv the force of
the t irrent; and as they gilded the dark green
foliage ol the wilderness, presented a view
which might well awak'-n the genius of art, and
tie speculations of self-nee, hut was far ton pure
to he estimated by tlmse whose taste had been
corrupted by admiration of the. feeble, -.kill of
man.
1 here arc indeed throughout the globe vari
ous features which the most plausibh- theories
are scarce sufficient to account for, and among
them tuav truly he classed that to which we
have alluded, where the Delaware has cut its
way through the rugged hosoni of the Kittatin
By mountain. The scene is indeed sublime,
nod while raising the eye from the suifaco of
the water to the blue summit of the ridge, a
perpendicular height of twelve hundred and fif
ty feet, the question forcibly occurs, w as this
w nderful work the effect of an inward convul
sion ol nature, or was it occasioned by the irre
sistible pressure of water, ages before the F.uro
p-m dreamed of the existence of a western
World ?
Aber gazing and reflecting for some time on
the w .aiders of nature, thus suddenlv spread be
fore me I resumed my journey. The music
which s ill continued, proceeded, as I found,
from a hand of soldiers drawn up in the main
street of the vill .ge,surrounded by their friends
and families, w'ho had evidently assembled f .r
the pm pose of taking a melancholy farewell. I
descended the mountain l>\ th circuitous path,
and root- up to the mu before which the crowd
had gathered, hut they were all too busily en
gag d w ith their own feelings to notice the ar
rival of a Stranger Wives were listening to tin
last injunction of their husbands, the widowed
mother to the voice of her r uined son. the prop
of her declining years, and many a hashlul mai
den lent her ear to the protestations ot eternal
affection. wInch tit that time sounded tenfold
sweeter as they flowed from the lips of I he war
like lover I In shrill tile w as playing, the drum
heatiIIa-, and amid the jrtm of voices, the cor
poral was heard sweating like a trooper, in or
der to keep np the dignity of his st.dion. Tin;
little hand) legged dnm nn r heal with nncom
mon earnestness; it was uncalled for at die
time, and I was at a loss to account for his
making such a deafening noise, when I per
ceived a shrewish looking beldame at Ins elbow ,
whose shrill voice satisfied me that he would
find comparative tranquillity in the field of hat
tie. to being within its appalling influence. The
lib r, out of compassion, lent the aid ot his shrill
music to relieve his friend from this last unplea
sant lecture.
Removed from the crowd, I observed a young
man, an officer of the corps, in conversation
with a young woman, who did not strive to con
ceal her sorrow on the occasion Health, beau
ty, and innocence, w ere strongly depicted in her
countenance, are! her rustic garb concealed a
lorm, even thus decorated, far mure attractive
than many who move for a season the eonstel
lation ol a fall room, ai d imagine they have at
tained the extent of worldly ambition. The
Voimg mail's 1 ice was animated, yet in the en
thii'iusm of the moment, he could not conceal
the sadness ot Ins heart, while gazing on the
lovely being standing in tears beside him; the
order was given to march; he embraced her,
imprintefl a ter\u-nt kiss upon her p.-.ie tor-he id ,
placed her m the arms of all aged woman, who
stood hard by, and hurried to the ranks. The
soldiers lelt the idlage followed hy a troop of
little urchins, who were either pleased with the
parade, or were desirous of prolonging the me
luneiiol v moment of separating from a parent or
brother The women remained in the street
watching them as they slowly ascended the
mountain path, until they were out of sight, and
then returned to their lonely cottages; one only
lingered on the spot until the last sound of the
distant drum was no longer repeated by tlie
echo of the mountains.
I inqu rrd <>1 the innkeeper concerning the
young woman just mentioned, who informed
me th.it her name was I.ury Gray, the only
elnhl of a poor willow, who in former days had
been m more prosperous circumstances ; that
she had h-en betrothed to Hutch Cameron, the
young soldier, from their childhood, and that
their nuptials were to have been celebrated in
a few weeks, but as he was draughted for the
frontiers, prudence obliged them to postpone
tfcjp ceremony until the campaign should he
over.
Mine host was as loquacious as most village
landlords, and as he was familiar with the life,
birth, and parentage of pveiy individual in the
village, it was not long before 1 received a full
account of the young officer, who. to use the
narrator's own words, “had gained the good
will of all the gray heads and green hearts on
that side of the Blue Mountain.”
Hugh Cameron had been protected from his
infancy by his grandmother, who was a native
of the Highlands of Scotland, and whose mind
was strongly imbued w’th the numerous super
stiliuns of the uneducated ot lu»r ruunlr v lit1
! was the child ot her only daughter, who had
I alien a Viet mi to unlimited confidence in him
she loved, and lin.dh expiated her olfenee hy
i a broken heart! lln,h soon learnt the h i -1 • i v
; ol Ills mother s shame from his pin vmates, nho,
upon the -lightest olVenee. would remind him of
it. m derision, f ,r man appears determined most
religiously lei adhere to tlie law, as laid down in
Deuteronomy, w here it is wiitteo, that the un
fortunate in hiith, ev eu to his tenth gcnern
tion, sliail nut enter into the congregation of the
1 and.
I 1 lie taunts ol his school mates preyed upon
i the mini I ol the hoy; he avoided them and
j sought seclusion \\ h it tiim* was allowed In mi
study, was passed in the deepest recesses of the
mountain, or on the giihh pieeipirc, when* the
eagle made Ins ry ry. Often was he seen hy the
astonished villagers, apparently hanging in mid
air, hy some projectile' rocks Inlhcito untrod
den hy mortal foot, shouting with joy at the af
frighted birds ol prey, as they wildly dashed in
ciielintr flight around his head. They had no
thing to fear from the approach of the dating
boy. lor Ins was not a heart wantonly to inflict
a wound upon the humblest of God's creatines,
llis feelings were acute, and his imagination ii
\ id For hours he would listen to the tales of
: his grandmother, of warlocks, u iteheraft, omens,
| and prognostics of death. With her, not a
j breeze agitated the woods or the river; not a
■ drop iif rain fill.nor an insect moved, hot for a
j special purpose lie nerer became weary of
! listening to her, nor she of relating, the wonder
ful legends with whn h hoi mind was stored
The ullage schoolniasier was also every way
calculated to give a freshness of colouring to
the rude narratives of the old crone, and in
crease their fascinations with the semblance of
reality. IF* had lived long and seen much of
the world : a Hungarian, a classical scholar, and
fond of that love which too frequently destroys
the worldly hopes and enervates the mind of
the possessor, lie fed on thriftless (nil tIi until
his mind sickened at the realities of life, llis
reading had been various and profound, but
that which was speculative and visionary, pos
sessed more charms for his mmd, than that
which partook of earthly matter. He was an
accomplished musician, and many a time at
midnight was his solitary flute heard in the
deep recesses of the mountain, and on the sur
! face of the river.
ite was an isolated man, and imagined no
earthly being: possessed a feeling in unison with
his own. When lie discovered the wildness
and delicate texture of his pupil's mind, tiny
became almost inseparable companions. The
youth unproved rapidly under his guidance, not
only in literature, and music, but in the facility
i of creating theories, which, al the time they ex
panded and enlarged his mind, involved it in an
I oeean of diffieulty and doubt, without a com
j pass to guide it to a haven.
I With years the feeling- of the youth became
J more sensibly alive to the charms of nature.—
: For hours he would conti mplute the rolling ri
i ver, and as wave succeeded wave, the Hunga
rian would discover some analogy to human
life, which served to illustrate his visionary the
ories. The hollow moan of the forest, at mid
' night, which foretold the coming storm, wy«