Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-08-26
MISCELLANY.

dents and acts of atroeity, to that depictedn the
| little efuson of Mary Davis are common in En-
gland, where poverty and distress drive the unior-
tunate and oppressed to the perpetration OF the
| most unnatural crimes.
On the evening of August 25, 1912, a
poor, yet Interesting Dung woman, with an
infant about six weeks old IN her arms,
came with q pass-biiet to remain all night
at the Greyhound-lnn, at Folkingnam, in
Lincolnshire. apparently sinking with
hunger and fatigue, she unObtrusively seat
ed herself by the ktchen-tlre, to give that
sustenance TO her child, Of which she APP
peared i'll equal want herself Silently
shrinking from observation, she neither So
llcited nor obtained the notice Of any one
The sons OF Intemperate mirth never ceas-
ed their rio,ous tumult, nor relaxed their hi
larty to soothe her sorrows. The busting
servants brushed past without regarding her,
and the rustic politician continued to spell
over again the thrice-conned paper, with
out casting his eyes upon her.
There Is, however, an eye that never
slumbors there ls an ear that is ever open
to the supplication Of the afflicted, and
there is a hand which is ever ready to be
stretched out to succor and support them in
their necessities
That eye now beheld her unobtruded sor-
row that ear was listening to her silent
prayers, and that hand was supporting her
apparently sinking frame, and preparing for
her the cup Of consolation. Hers was in
deed tale of many sorrows this, the fol-
lowing slight sketch Of her story, previous
tn hn,. nj nj Ill rbnr mill 10
evince Her name was Mary Davis she
resided with her husband and one child,
boy about seven years of age, in the city Of
Westminster. Her husband, who is pri-
vate in the second regiment of foot-guards,
was compelled to leave her in the begin
ming of the above year, to accompany the
regiment to- fight the battles Of his country,
under the gallant and victorious Yelling
ton. Impelled by poverty and maternal af-
fection, poor Mary was under the neces-
sity of leaving her darling boy, now her
only remaining comfort, to the care Of
strangers, whilst she went out to wash for
his maintenance and her own.
She, however, repined not ; her toll was
lcssensd, and her cares were enlIvened by
the reflection, that she could, after the la
bors of the day, return to her beloved boy,
gaze on the feflected features "c his father,
give him smile for smile, press him to her
maternal bosom, join HIM in his sports, en-
Tighten his understanding and teach himto
know, To fear, and to love his God With
these delightful enjoyments, even the poor,
labor,ng, widowed Mary could not be term
ed unhappy; but these were the only sweet
in her cup of bitter sorrows.-
Let those, then, who have feeling hearts,
and know the force of parental affection,
when confined to one object, judge, if they !
can, what must be the agonies of poor Ma
ry, when, on returning from her daily task,
only eight days after the departure of her
husband she learned that the woman (if she
deserve that name) in whose care she had
left her darling boy, had absconded with
him, nobody knew whittier. Now then, she
might indeed be termed unhappy, for hope
itself could scarcely find admittance to her
bosom, so entirely was it occupied by af-
Fiction and dependency.
Soon after this event, she was informed
that it was discovered that the wretch who
had stolen her child was native of Leeds.
This truly, to those who bask in sunshine,
would appear feeble ray, yet this on Ma
ry's midnight gloom, shed glimmerng,
cheering light. This, faint as it was, arous-
cd and animated her soul it seemed to her
as sent in mercy to direct her to her son,
and she lost no time in taking the path to
which it pointed. Five weeks after the
birth of her child, did she set out in her
weak state, without money, on foot, to car
ry her infant nearly four hundred miles
(thither and back AGAIN. on road, and to
a place, with which she was totally unac-
quainted.
And yet, with all these aggrayating Cir
cumstances, poor Mary was, in reality, per-
haps less miserable than many, even of the
sons and daughters of afflucnce. So little
does happiness depend upon external cir
cumstances so comparatively impartially
has God distributed good and evil among
his creatures, even in this life, that the most
miserable are not without their consultations,
nor the most prosperous witaout their sor-
rows. Labor and sorrow are the lot Of hu-
manity, and they must be unhappy indeed,
who, from mixed company, cannot select
those with whom they would be unwilling
to exchange situations. So perhaps thought
poor Mary, as she sat by the side Of the
kitchen fire of the inn at Rockingham, re-
garding with looks of attention and pity,
two poor chimney sweeper's boys, who were
eating their frugal supper before the same
fire. They had been sent from distance,