The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-11-12 00:00:00, page 1

THE
WHEELING REPOSITORY.
(VOL. I.)
Thursday, i2th November, 1807.
(No. 27.)
MIS CE L L A NT.
* vl'n would rmn the h< ur to come defcry,
To him unknown the pu'pofe of the tkv—
Oetrp o’er the future low Vs eventfui gloom,
And each datk moment fhrouds ?. biddentiooxn.”
f> -me fiy the female h:art is prone to rove :
l\ow mask the lair Alpafn’s conflant love.
^ he following true storv, from the
Ha HBLr.n, is a striking exemplification
of the instability cf human prospects.
It manifests the truth of the old pro
Aeto, “ AIany tilings happen between
the cup and the lip.”
1 here is another light in which this
story is entitled to notice.—The cele
btated Povr. assorts that “every woman
is at heart a rake;” anil another inalig
naii. despiser of tiie ladies, iloes not
hesitate to say that «<■ women’s smiles
aj c hke w ai m weather in winter, not of
long duration.” 'Phis story shews that
these assertions are mere slan.ltrs. 'The
illustrious instance of female cons tancy
which it records, is a triumphant ex
ample to the contrary. Id, Repos.
- A N T11K S A X D A S P A SI A.
A van this was son to the Oovcrnorof
oncof the Mediterraneanislands,and fa
voured with all the advantages ofnature,
fortune, and education. Aspasia was a
Cjieek lady, heautitul hetond expressi
on, and admired by all ol the youtli of
Athens, which was then the place ol
concourse tor all the polite of the Ko
rean empire.
I neir mutual merit soon produced a
mutual esteem, and this was after some
tiiiu* converted into th • most ardent
passion. Tla y both indulged the hopes
or being happy in each other tor life,
v’ion Aranthes, returning home to ob
tain his father's consent, was taken by
a pirate, sold into the internal parts of
Airica, and there condemned to toil
vhh the most unremitting severity.
In the mean time Aspar.ia felt all that
love and impatience could inspire; one
year passed away without hearing from
her lover—another came, but still the
same silence: at length an account ar
rived that Aranthes was no more, so
that Aspasianow lost her love in despe
ration.
Time that obliterates every passion, bv
jlegrees assuaged the pain which was felt
by Aspasia; site w as at last brought to
listen to new addresses, and so far pre
vailed upon by the admonitions of hex
parents, that she consented to go into
France with an old merchant who de
signed her for his son, then in Africa,
trading with the natives of that barbar
ous region. 1 ler voyage was successful;
and ii her rt lined manners charmed the
old man, the son, who soon after return
ed, was not less enchanted.
-tl u:.\ was n:;ai ;or tnur nuptials ;
and as he w as the most opulent man in
the country, all the inhabitants came
successively to offer th< ir congratulati
ons,—and in order to add still greater
splendour to the solemnity, the young
merchant, who was to become bride
groom, made her a present of. fifty slaves,
who were at that time just landed and
within half a day's journey, to attend
her.
As the presence of such a number of
slaves, it was thought, would add still
to the magnificence of the entertain
ment, they were led up to the mer
chant’s palace loaded with merchan
dizes, as was then the custom, bending
beneath their sorrows an.d fatigue. A
spasia felt nil that humanity can inspire
upon the sight of distress, while th y
passed on before her. Jlut what could
equal her emotions, when among the
hindmost ol those unhappy wretches she
beheld her own Aranthes, emaciated
with labour and affliction, and with his
eyes unalterably fixed on the ground /
She gave a loud convulsive shriek, and
I fell senseless into the arms of her attend
. : i )<i
ants. As her situation naturally drew*
the eyes of all upon her, Aranttics sah
once again the dear object of his earliest
passion, and flew with haste to her assis
tance. Their story and his misfortunes
were soon made known to the company;
and the young merchant, with peculiar
generosity, resigned his mistress to the
more early claim of Aranthes.
Were this story a novel, it would end
with the greatest propriety in this place ;
hut truth disagreeably prolongs the ac- '
count—for one day sitting at a window
of one of the apartments, happy in each '*
other, and flushed with expectations of
still greater rapture, a youth, who with
a how had been shooting at birds in a
neighboring grove, drew it at random,
and the arrow pierced both lovers at
once. Thus a life of misfortune was ter
minated by as unfortunate an end. They
were both laid in one grave, and their
epitaph still continues legible (at Lyons,
in France) though erected more than a
thousand years, a monument at or.ee both
! of the caprice of their fate, and of their
mutual fidelity.
PR ESI DEN T'S MESSAGE.
lo the Senate and House of Representa
tives of the United States.
Circumstances, fellow-citiZens, which
seriously threatened the peace of our
country, have made it a duty to convene
you at an earlier period than usual. The
love ot peace, so much cherished in the
bosom of our citizens, which has sv
long guided the proceedings of their pub
lic councils, and induced forbearance
under so many wrongs, may not insure
our continuance in the quiet pursuits of
industry. The many injuries and depre
dations committed on our commerce
navigation upon the high seas, for years
past ; the successive innovations on
thrtse principles of public law, which
have been established by the reason and
usage of nations, as the’rule of their in
tercourse, and the umpire and security
of their rights and peace, and all the
circumstances which induced the extra