The Litchfield County post., 1826-12-19


However, at last mustered courage, when
good opportunity offered, to break TO him the
whole affair, aud asked his attendance, with
the rest his family, at my wedding. 'sWelI,
guess we must come then, Charles" said
he, in tone very much contrary to my ex-
pectatiOn. So you are about to take upon
yourself burden of new obligations Eyes
Sir,' replied, most happy that the thing had
taken so well, :" | feel that am" Eyes, a
great burden" he continued, g and ifyOu have
ever been given to trifing before, you must
henceforth triRe no more He paused a.
while, and went on again. :. You are then to
become husband, and to your care your
wife will itffrust herself. On you she will en-
tirely lean. Her destiny win depend very
greatly upon your character. and, Charles, If
you betray that trust, ''--heEe, the old gen
tleman seemed good deal I'd, -. if you
betray that trust, wo, wo,-but stop. have a
case in point, sit down Charles, you shall
have it all. 1t will take sopetime to give you
the whole but it may IMPRESS upon you the
importance of duty from which you may
not relax till you are laid in your grave
Hear me, Charles, sit down.
My uncle waited till had become seated
in good situation to listen to him, took
his snuff box in his hand, and then began his
story. 4
In the village where my childhood and
early years We're passed, there lived an ex-
cellent couple, whose family consisted of two
sons and daughter. Their lot was not cast
in the higher walks of life, but the place they
filed, was filed honourably, and respect fol-
lowed them in the path they trod. The daugh-
ter seemed the centre Of affection to the
whole family. 1t is common for mother to
cherish most fondly an only daughter, but
here she was not the mothers pride alone
She was looked upon by each one as the Pc
culiar object of their hope and love. The
parents soughtfor all the means in their pow
er to make her accomplished. They could
not do much, but what they could give her
was given witha most cheerful will. The fa-
theirs labor was lighter and easier as he tho't
of his daughter and a great part ofthe moth
er's happiness grew out Of the assurance that
her Anna was beloved, and worthy of being
beloved by the whole village.
She was indeed lovely girl. There was |
something so perfectly amiable in her whole
Character, SO soft and engaging in her man
ners, that am sure no one could see her and
know her, without being delighted with her.
| have seen some females, and she was one,
who, one wouldsthin from an acquaintance
with them, never entertained thought of
the treachery and false heartedness, which
are sometimes found among men, nor ever
imagined that the gift affection could be
sighted or treated unkindly. Alas that she
should have experienced, In its bitterness,th that
passion aud vice can destroy all sense of du-
ty, and root cut from the heart even the no.
blest principles of our nature.
- Years rolled by, and used to think, i'll
parents were ever happy, the father and
mother of Anna were certainly so. Though
a favorite of all, yet Anna could only be the
wife Of one. She become engaged to a young
man of gentlemanly department, of Il respec-
table family in the same village, who with his
brother was engaged in business in a distant
part Of the country. Although generally of
steady habits, yet at times he was addicted to
that vice, which ruins the fair prospects OF SO
many promising young men, fine habit Of in
temperance. Cut off your right hand, Charles
said my uncle, nterrupting the thread of his |
story, pluck out your right eye,-but by all
You love and value-by the trust which shall
be reposed in you by the friend Of yeur bo-
som, and the wife of your affections, become
not the slave of this monster Of vice. He Of
whom | speak was caught in its snare, even
before Anna pledged her heart to him. But
his character was as yet unsullied by its accur-
sed influence. How cruel to seek to gain a
heart when under the dominion of principles
which shall make that heart wretched. Anna
loved him for what she found in him was
manly and good. She little thought how
deadly cankef was at the root of her hopes,
and how much misery was to be her portion
when its poisonous influence should become
widely diffssed.
Anna was married, and the parents reioi-
ced that she, who was their greatest comfort
in this vale oftears,' was likely TO be SO hap
py herself. In Annals mind there were con-
fictiDg feelings. The walks of her childhood
were now to be left; all the friends she had
lived with there, and among whom she had
been yalued--her home and the associations
connected with tall that had made her in
FAINT days happy, must be exchanged for the
intercourse OF strangers, and for scenes, which
so far from being in themselves interesting,
could only serve to remind her of family and
home. and Of the distance which separated
her from the land she loved. To do this
seems hard but she had brought herself to
feel powerfully, that she must be devoted to
her husband, and that his home must be her
own. The language of the maiden Of old was
but the tttterance of the dictates of her own
heart -" Whittier thou goest, I will go; and
where thou lodgest, will lodge; thy people
shall be my people. aud thy God my God"
There is In woman devotedness-one of the
happiest ordinations of Providence, which
helps her to cut asunder the ties of early asso-