Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-09-26


Say, can thy pulse, with equal cadence beat,
Canst thou know peace! is conscience mute within?
That upreh, delegate FOR secret sin:
| Is nature so cxtinguishcd hy heart
That not one spark rem to take my part?
Not one repentan. ,hr ne grateful sish'
Thy breast unrufiledy "a unwet thy eyoa
Thou cool bc,rayer, temperate in III!
Thou nor remorse, thought humane can'st feel
by Tight or wrong, disdainng to be mov'd.
Unprincipri, unloving, and unlov'd!"
LoRD HERvEY.
The story Of Mary Falkner is easily told it
| comprises brief history Of the suherings of
betrayed and desolated limo cence-of the vii
lany ofman, and the cold ingratitudc of sun
shine friends.
Well was Mary known to us; she was one
of the companions ofthosc guiltlcss days, when
the young heart beats with extacy; when the
mind dwells on nothing but the pursuit of hap
piness, and dreams not of the SORROWS and az
flictions, which ever attend the subsequent
days of the earthly sojouiner. She was the
pride Of the young society, through which she
roved tho hope and solacc of her parents
for fondly they looked up to her, as the sooth-
er of their sorrows,-a the pledge Of their uni-
ted loves, as their joy on earth, and hope be-
yond the grave. They doated upon her with
| a misguided fondness, bordering on destra ction,
and if the winds Of heaven blew too rudely
upon her gra aceful form, they would weep for
her as if the idle blasts Of an autumnal day,
spoke in foreboding terms OF the desoation of
their offspring; for she
"---was her parent only joy,
They had but one, one darling c.ild."-
The father of Mary, was a ship-master, and
following his vocation with indcfatigible indus
try, was often absent year at a time, yet
though distant from the land of his nativity,
still was he near to his loves, for when lulled
to rcpose, as lie rcclined upon his sea rocked
hammock, in his dreams, he visited his home,
felt the warm pressure "oflovo's honied kiss,' -
and cnrapturcd, gazed upon the dawning beau
ties of Mary, and was happy.
IT was whilst Captain Falkncr was absent
! on a voyage to the Indian Ocean. that the
charms of Mary, arrested the attention of Da-
mon Harroby. young gentleman Of rank and
u
declared to the innocent and unsuspecting girl,
his attachments; protested, that without her
| the world were a wilderness, and solicited her
hand in wcdlock. Unused TO the arts and
wiles ofman, Mary listened to his tale Of love
and whilst crimson blush suffused her check,
acknowledged the reciprocity of his ardent
fame. -
| Pleased with the manners, the rank and for
tune Of Damon, the mother, encouraged his
addresses, and fondy thought she was sealing
the happiness Of her daughter. Honorable
in all her views, she believed others equally
honorable, and dreamt not, that whilst she
encouraged the visits of Damon, she cherished
| viper, whose poison, was far fnorc deadly in
its influences, than the salava !of the tabled
Upas of Java. The loves Of the young couple
| now became a matter Of public notoricty, and
whilst the friends OF the family rejoiced at the
prospect Of so happy and important union,
the cnvious crowd, the idle gazer, ard the
busy tongue Of scandal wcro eagerly engaged in
| attempting to cut off the consumma,ion OF the
early hopes of Mary Falknor. Rumors Of inn
proprictics and acts of imprudencc wcro dai-
| ly circulated, until tho whole community was
engaged in the common discussion Of tales of
scandal-reported of the then innocent, but
alas, in the end, proved too true.
| A: this period, Captain Falkncr, returned
from the Indies;-yuccess had crowned his
eifors-fortune had smiled upon his labours-
and bringing with him an abundance Of this
worlds goods, he flattered himself, that now,
relieved from the cares, and vexations, and
dangers ofthc soas he could sct himself down
Tor life, by his own domestic fire-sido, and en-
JOY the carcsses Of his family, and never wan
der more! But alas! ill-iatcd man! he return
cd, only to partakc Of the bitterness Of atflic-
ton, to draw from the poisoned chalice of hu-
man woe, its last dregs Mary, in the fulness of
choices and enrapturcd, saw her father smile,
with an emotion of delight, as he gazcd upon
the graceful form of Damon Harroby, and
! dwell with rapture on the manliness his Ian
euage, and the gracefulncss of his pcrson;--
and as sigh escaped from her surchargcd bo-
som, she said TO herself, my happiness is COM
plcted-I ask for no orc!-But ill-fatcd girl.
at that very moment she stood upon the para
pet Of ruin.
The family of Damon reared to the indul-
gencc Of aristocratical ideas, fancying them
selves elevated far beyond the humble estate
Of Mary Falkner, now bccsmc clamorous at
/ iho f,f tho iinnn and nYcricd lhcfn-