The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-02-18 00:00:00, page 1

WHEELINGREPOSITORY.
(Vol. i.) Thursday, i8th February, i8c8. (No. 41.)
M IS C E L LAN r.
From the Port Folio.
To Laura.
Exterior Beauty is a fruit tvhich can
not be preserved.
Beauty, Love, is but a flower,
Born to bloom its transient hour,
Like the fragrant venial rose,
VV hile the zephyr gently blows ;
flu. when storms and tempests rise,
Sec ! it withers, droops and dies :
So the cruel hand ol Time
Scatters Beauty ere its prime.
J iwuk, O think, how swift away
i lies each fairy-looted day.
Soon, too soon, the cares of age
Ail our feeling must engage.
V* hy then waste the moments now 9
Vv h\ defer thy lover’s vc w ?
For the lustre soon shall fly
From thy mildly beaming rye ;
Soon thy svfhinp coral lip,*
Age shall ol its litshtiess strip j
Soon thy glowing cheek shall lose
Modest Beaut\’s roseate hues;
Soon thy polish’d ivory brow,
Time with furrows deep shall plough;
Soon the snows ol age shall shed
Tints of silver o’er thy head ;
Soon thy beauteous fi rm decay,
All thy beauties fade away;
Soon the universal doom
Must conduct us to the tomb.
Vv hy then waste the morning now 9
W hy defer thy lover’s vow i
Acrosi ick.
Saw ye yonder nymph so gay,
As she wander’d o’er the plan:
I. ove and Beauty led the w ay,
L ove, bewitching every swain :
-Y oiith and Innocence, delighted,
f F ancy’s fairest angel forms,)
t) n the maiden blushing waited,
U nconscious of their heav’tdy charms.
L ove at that moment seized my throb
bing breast,
K indling affect on not to be expressed,
t ndearing, ardent, oe’er to be sup
pressed.
From an English publication.
Hours of Leisure;
Or, Essays in the manner of Goldsmith.
Imagination is another fruitful spring
of futse judgments. Dr. Watts.
A stranger, well mounted, and at
tended by a servant in a rich livery, one
morning in the month of July entered a
market town in Somersetshire, where
the assizes w ere then held ; and having
put up at one of the principal inns, in
quired of the landlord as to the curiosi
ties and amusements of the place. Lo
niface, who was extremely well qualified
to answer these inquiries, assured him,
with a low bow, that there was no want
of entertainment, as the players were in
town, and moreover that it was size
f ?'me;accompany ing his remarks wi th a re.
commendation that the gentleman should
j by all means go to hear the trials that
\ morning, as a highwayman was to be
brought up. The stranger made some
objections to this inv tation, upon the
ground of his being iiunown, and the
little chance he stood of meeting with I
proper accommodation. This difficulty
was, however, removed by the loquaci
ous landlord assuring him that a gentle
man of his appearance would be readily |
admitted. Indeed, to make it more
certain, he attended him to the court
house, and represented him in such a
wav to his friends the judge’s clerks,
that he obtained a seat at a little dis
tance from the judge, just as the poor
highwayman was about to make his de
fence. The appearance of the stranger,
w ho was of elegant person and polished
manners, arresti d lor a moment the at
tention of the court, until the prisoner
wras asked if he had any thing to say.
The poor culprit assured the judge, that
he was not guilty of the robbery, and
that, if he knew where to find them,
there were people who could prove a
clear alibi. At this moment the poor
wretch happened to catch sight of the
strange., when he exclaimed with a de
gree of frantic joy, “Can it be possible!”
and fell backwards on the floor. He
was, however, with some difficulty re
covered. When the judge humanely
inquired into the cause of his extrava
gant behaviour, the poor wretch answer
ed, with tears in his eyes, “Oh, my lord,
how providential ! that gentleman, on
your left hand, can prove my alibi.”—
“Howl" replied the judge, “ is this true,
or is it merely a vain pretext to procras
tinate the justsentenceof the law? Pray,
sir, let me ask you, (continued his
lordship, addressing himself to the stran
ger,) do you know any thing of this
man?” Upon this the traveller surveyed
the criminal with the most scrupulous
attention, and then said, “I am sorry to
assure your lordship, that I do not know
the prisoner.” “ 1 thought as much,,,
replied the judge : “ it is mere trilling
with justice.” The prisoner, however,
still insisted that the stranger knew him,
and the stranger again as positively de
nied the assertion j till the judge, dis
pleased at his presumption, w as about
to receive the verdict of the jury. The
culprit now, on his knees, entreated per
mission to say one word. “Indeed, my
lord,” cried he, “ the gentleman does
know me, though he may have forgot
ten my person. Only give me leave to
ask him three questions, and it will save
my life.’* The judge humanely con
sented, and the curiosity of the whole
court was excited. “ Pray, sir,” cried
the prisoner, addressing himself to the
stranger, “ did you not land at Dover
about a twelvemonth sinci ?” “I believe
I might,” replied the gentleman. uAnd
pray, sir, do you not recollect that a mam
in a sailor’s jacket, carried your trunk
from the beach to the tavern ?” UI
can’t say that I remember it,” returned
the stranger, 11 but it might possibly be
so.” At these words the prisoner, not
disheartened at the difficulties he had
met w ith, pulled off his wig, and again
interrogated the stranger: “Do you not,
sir, remember that the man who carried
your trunk on that day, showed you ft
scar he had got on his head in fighting
for hi*s king and count! y, and that he
relatui the particular ox tike action m