American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1827-05-22

dressed, with sprig in his button-hole, accompa
MED by little girl, who wore gay bonnet, and
long dlmity cloak, as white as snow, on whom h
often cast looks of tenderness and pride. Sh
was, indeed lovely child his first born and hi
darling.
But the time came, when the landlord of tn
6 Rising Sum- ceased to occupy his seat at church
to saunter about his door when the hours Of Iabo
were over, and (what excited still more attention il
50 industrious many to rise with the lark, ant
partake the tolls Of his plOugh-boy. He sat il
silence one seat, and when reused by the reiter
ated demands of his temporary guests, would
start as from the reverie of the studl0us, or thu
slumbers of the lethargic.
The chance passenger would naturally condemn
the lazy landlord, who sat in apparent stupor, a,
an inebriated suggard; but the unhappy wife and
the curious neighbor alike knew that he was al
this time temperate to abstemiousness, that his
manly form was wasted, his ruddy complexion
changed to cadaverous paleness, because all appe
tite had forsaken him; and that his nights were
subject to restlessness which medicine could not
jquell, entreaty sOothe, nor resolution CONTROL
Hay-tim and harvest passed. unnoticed by the once
active farmer; and the wife, reduced almost t.
despair by the melancholy supineness of her hus
band, became unable to avert the ruin which hung
threatening around her. Their guests forsook the
house, their servants ruled, or deserted it and the
curiosity. busted themselves with investigating the
cause of change 50 entire and SO unaccountable
They recollected, that although sober in his habits
and orderly in his conduct, the landlord was wont
to sing song on hunting and tell merry tale To
the circle he liked but it also certain that he
was both proud and passionate to others; that he
had an aversion to coarseness of manners, which
they held to be ridiculous in his station, and ar
objection to drunkenness. which, in landlord, was
E,,t ,.f
SO far operate as to render him melancholy, OF, az
they termed it, crazy I?
| The wife turned deaf ear to such suggestions
to he, he was always kind, and at period of suf
ferng she could remember no faults. Driven from
the idea that the evil arose from bodily disease, by
the assurance of several medical men whom sht
had consulted, she listened eagerly to the adyc.
of those among her neighbors who had lately join
ed the Wesleyan Methodists, and more especial
| to one good old man whom she had long respected
| for his piety. But alas no suggestion or exhor
tation, no example of sinners turned from the er
ror of their way, of the conscience-stricken sou
finding peace, and the mourner learning to rejoice
lhad any effect as offered By this humble teacher
The invalid heard all he said with patient bu
distracted air, and in perfect silence, and at enst
arose, saying, " You are a good man, and thanl
you sincerely; but you are not the man to he
me-" " | must get clergyman, really tcarne
man, said the wife, not without recolecting Ger
tain stories Of witchcraft, as told by her grand
mother in her days of childhood, which resemble'
this extraordinary case.
| A gentleman for whom her husband had Away
shown much respect, gladly obeyed her summons
He was an elderly man of benign countenanc
and kind manners, and in the soothing gentlenes
of his address, for few moments the impertur
bty of countenance assumed by the invai
gave way; tears came into his eyes his hear
throbbed with agitation but when he spoke, it wa
only to say, as before g Sir, you are very good
hut, dear heart you are not the person who ca
help mes 1t was in vain to inquire who that per
son was for determined silence now sat on hi
lips, and, with the exception of the words /"
lwish,'' which seemed to burst from him involun
tary and to be checked the moment he hear
them, many weeks succeeded in which he ne,e
spoke. Yet even then his countcnance shove
that his mind was perpetually employed; Their
was an inward muttering, as Of thought too teri
ribe to be uttered, and an apparent intenseness {
meditation on some awful subject, distinct from re
leion, since it evidently admitted of no cOnsola
ton, and could be blended with no other oblect.-
In the autumn he began frequently to leave hi
t own house, and go out to walk alone, more espe
ciallv during tempestuous nights, TO which h
seemed to listen with kind of desperate pleasur.
Never did his feet turn toward that path wnlc
led to the habitaton of man, but with quick stride
he fastened to lose all traces Ot his fellow crea
lures, on those wide heaths AM. rocky glens wher
his strange gestures, or his incoherent colloquie
/; we're necessarily unnoticed. Often would hi
a wretched wife follow him at a distance, ak
: moved by fear of the danger he might encounte
0 or that which he might intend against himself; an
as often would she return in the utmost easerncs
1 to elude discovery, since he forbade her interfe
e ence in terms of teiror.-He would come bac
, before day break exhausted, but calm; cree
j to his bed, and, if he believed her to he ASLEEP
bend kindly over his wretched wife, and sometime
:, shed scalding tears upon her face: often would b
e kneel and then deep groans burst from his bosou
hut NJ, artinnlata ,unrds IL nra upr nscannI him