The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-10-29
From he Lights md .Sadors Of Scottish
e. .
THE FoRGERS.

asst inhabitants al ADrdrr @btdfy Hous'i
iI.t visible on the hillside, through The
gloom of those melancholy pines. Ten
years have passed away silee the terrible
catastrophe of which am about To speak )
and | know not how II is, but methlnhs,
Whenever come into this glen, there Is
something ruelih IN lis silence, While the
common sounds of nature seem To iny
mind dirsslike and foriorn. Was not tils
very day bright aud musical as We walked
across al thu other bills aud ydlleyes; bnt
nov a dim mist osersrreads the sky, aud,
beautiful as this lonely place must IN truth
be-, there Is want of life IN the Nerdure
aud The flowers, rs II They gre" beneath
the darkness of perpetual 5hadows.'
A. the old Inau Was speaking, female
fg;.rc, bcnt with aye and lnfrnl'y, came
slowly up the bank below rs with pitcher
In her hand, and when she reached little
we'll dug out of low rock all covered WIN
moss aud lchees, she seemed 10 bx her
eyes upon il as in dream, and gave a long,
deep broken sigh.
1.-THE nantes Of her husband and her on-
" son, both dead, are chisellcd by Their
eHn hands on smooth stone within the
arch of that fountain, aud tine childess Wi
dow at this moment sers nothing on the
facc Of the earth but few letters not yet
! o,crgrown with the creeping time stains
Seei her pale lips are moving in prayer, aud,
old ~ she IS and long resigned IN her utter
hepelessness, The tears are not yet all shed,
or dried up within her broken heart, few
biz drops are On her withcred checks, but
she feels them not, and is ANONYMOUSLY
weeping with eyes tina, old age has Of IL
self enough bedimmcd."
The figure remained mofOnless beside
the we'll aud, though knew not. the his
tory ai the griels that stood all embodied
81 monrniidly before lie, felt that they
must have been gathering together for
many long years, and that such signs as |
now heard came from the ulicrmost desc
latlon Of the human heart Al last she dip.
ped her pitcher in the water, lifted her eyes
10 Heaven, aud distinctly saying, 40 Je-
sus, Son of God whose blood was shed
for sinners, be mercfQl 10 their souls %
She turned away from the scene of her
sorrow, aud, Ike one seen in ,sion, dis
appeared.
al have hcheld the chidlpss widow hap
py,' said the pastor, seven her ho sat
alone, with none 10 comfort hcr, on q lloor
swept by the hand Of death Of all its bios
SONS. but her whom "" have NOW seen
dare not cali happy, even though she
puts her trust in God aud her Saviour.
Here IS an allliction which faith itself can
not asstngr. Yet religion may have s0f-
tened even signs like those, and, as You
shall hear, il was religion that set her free
rom the h0rrid dreams Of madness, and
restored her 10 that comfort which il al
ways found IN the possession of reasona-
Bile soul %
There was not a bee roaming near US,
nor bird singing in The solitary glen, when
The old man gave IN" these hints of me
ancholy tale. The sky was black and low
ering, as IL lay on the silent hills and en-
closed us from the far of world, in sui
len spot that was felt to be sacred unto
sorrow. The figure which had come and
gone with a sigh, was the onl, dweller here;
aud was prepared To hear Il dolciul histo-
ry OF one left alone 10 commune with
broken heart IN the cherries solitude of
nature.
"That house, from whose chimneys no
smoke has assembled for ten long years.
continued my friend, "uacc showed lis
windows bright with cheerful fires aud
her whom we DOW Jaw 50 wo-b, gone, |
remember brought home youthful bride,
IN all the beatty of her JOY and innocence
Tweniy years behold her wife and mo-
Their, with all their most perfect happiness,
and with some, too, of their inevitable
giief. Death passed not by her door with
ont his victims, aud of five children, all but
onedled, in infancy, childhood, orbloomiRg
youth. But they died in natures common
decay; peaceful prayers were said around
the bed Of peace and when the flowers
grew upon their graves the mothers ewes
could bear To look on them, AS she passed
on with an unaching heart inlo the house of
God All but one died--and better had
II been II that one had never been born.
Rather, mother, and son now come to
mans estate, survived, and in the house
there was peace. But suddenly poverty
fell upon them. The dishonesty of kins-
man, OF which need not state the parti-
ealars, robbed them of their few hereditary
helds, Which nov passed into the posses
SION 9l stranger. They, however, re
malned rs tenants IN the house, which had
been Their own, and for while, father and
son bore the change Of fortune seemingly
undlsmaycd, and toilcd as common labour-
ers on The soil SO dearly beloved. At the
dawn OF light they went out Together, and
at twilight they returned But il seemed
as their industry was in vain. Year after
year the odman's face became NOR. deep
y iurrowed, and more seldom was he seen
To smile; and his sous countenauce, once
bold aud open, was now dafkened with an
ger and dissatisfaction. They did not at
tend public worship so regularly as they
used to do; when met them in the fields.
or VISITED them in their dwelling, they
looked ON me coldiy, and with altered eyes
and grieyed 10 think how soon they both
seemed to have forgotten the blessings Pro-