Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1824-11-04

FUOuf Oh my ItdtteE, t1pu-p nc NC vi" 4"
%credulous atheist or the devout believer.
Ir..n futurity and a God; whether he e.
ever knew crime which did not drag a
Eshadow Of sorrow at its side, or n virtue
ahat was not made up of happiness, like
ttl,e sun whose Lights created in and en-
senates from itseif' Look back upon
the long history of the world, and though
you may here find good man at the
stake. and there wicked one on a
throne. yet YOU will also be convinc ed that
the one dies more happilg than the %
ther lives. The flames wfHch consume
the martyrs body burn not so fierceI,
as thuse which torture the sinners soul:
and the axe that cleaves the flesh of the
one and leaves his headless trunk a qui-
vering mass of decay ing clay, bears no.
so terrible an agony upon its edge as tha'
miserable consciousness OF vice which
brushes dewe and dcsoiates the hopes and
affections OF the heart
The mad bull, delirious with rage.
THAT PUSHES ieadlong down aprecipre.
and is dashed into atoms, possesses Jus
dS fB'iIH IIuuGHGC anu Stuab 10 tb"' ~
dividual who. in early youth, prefers q
life of vice to virtue The farther we
pursue the course of the latter the more
delightful and easier it becomes; while
the more we labour through the gloom
OF the former, we are the deeper plum
ged in darkness and storm. and the less
able to turn back and ly. We tread the
fowery way of the one, and though few
trifiiBg obstacles may at first present
themselves before us, they fade away a.
we proceed, the roses wear a brighter
glow, and the rsinbow's hues that float
along the sky CLEAN with an increasing
brilliancy, softer breezes watt richer per-
fumes TO our senses, ill the very air we
breath. aud the earth on which we tread,
fhe landscape that stretches its waving
beauties around, and the heavens as it
lifts its high dome above, all seem to ga
ther a new charm from every gaze. But
mark the contrast:--a deluded wretch
strays along the path of sin, the z oom
becomes more shadowy in which he is
enveloped. and more dangerous and steep
the precipices, on whose very brink he
is doomed to tread--every moment strips
the artificial from some hideous object,
and promised pleasure mclts away at
every step. those alluring spirits,
whom from afar he had mistaken for hap
psness and content, howl horrible discord
instead OF the breathing mnsic which he
expected And does be revel in the for
hidden luxury of their voluptuons en-
brace? No. Not the victim sh:jeking
upon the rack; not the culprit when the
shining flames frs, curl around his shrink
ing flesh; not the maeiar tor in the act OF
being laun ced froea light and life con-
vulsed and shivering in the first cold
grasp of death; or drowning wretch,
cs,chng al every straw that seems mag
nifed around him in the frightful horrors
of the liquid waste, feel the pains of the
sinner in the last burnt z agones of re-
morse. Every JOY has vanished LIVERY
hope has faded away no redeemng
beauty shines upon his aching eye as he
surveys his rugged prospect lin its long
track Of ste rile desolation."
Such were the ideas that weighed up
on Harry's heart in his waking hours,
and gared upon him terrific in his trou-
tled dreams. He perceived with what
IAN accelerated motion he was passing on
10 ruin, but he cherished one dear hope
that lie conld for ever conceal his gull
marry Caroline G - be to her the
best, the fondest of husbands, and be
happy in the soothing sweetness of her
sNlle. His bosom was torn with mingled
emotions of hope and fear when he ap:
preached the Ggure of O'Fanagen, who
slapped him famiIiarly on the shoulders
as he addressed him on his rutiian de-
sign
''Ah ha! Here you are, my son o'wax,my
sprig OF shallaiay- here you are faith
we've hit the very forehead of old time.
and hope we've done the deeds the
bird caught"
my dear friend" said Henry KS she
not the loveiiest of human beings"
go she is, sure-ther"'s no mistake
there.-She's a smart creature, sure e.
neugh. She's what call mighty nate"'
Henry though he caught sympathet-
ic feeling in the tone of his voice, and
hope grew stronger in his bosom.
"Ncatr' he answered--"is she not
beautiful"
Faith, my dear duck, and so she Isl
but have you popped tho question:"
"Aye-is She not loo beautifully con-
tnued Harry, regardless OF the last in
errogatiOn-''is she not too lovely and