Litchfield enquirer., 1833-06-20
Fro,. I', t1. ". E: Doilv Reviav.

nf this unfortunate young lady is fan1iliaFtO
 rha Duhliu. vet knowledge of her origin, ear
 IV history, and the incidents of her life. is linn g tied to a small circle Of friends and acquain-
 tanees. Though there is nothing very r"maO-
 tic in her life, yet it has been Chequered and
 pventfll, and her death tragicah Descended
 tn a maternal line, from one Of the 'nOss oPu-
 lent and respectable families in C"UnectIcntS
 and favored with an unCcmmou drgree "a per
 sonal beauty and viVacity, witf me well Im-
 proved advantages Of educatson' sne mignt
 Ravchacome respect table and even distinguish.
 cd in inc higher walks of lite, had she escaped inc artfnl and jnsidions snare 0fihe enemy of
 her Deacc and adversary of heEsoHl.
 A very brief memoir ofher lie and glance
 at inc fatal mistake which, probably, laid the
 foundation other miserable life, and violent
 death, may be both interesting to the public. and warning to others, alike exposed, lo avoid the rock on which theunfOrtunate Ma ria peTished.
 Sarah Maria Cornell was the daughter and youngest child of James and Lucreiia Cornell of Providence, R. I. and was born about the year 1908. Hcr. mother was the daughter of a respectable and wealthy gentleman of the City of NorwichS The early history of her father is unknown; but, at the time Of his marriage, was in the employ of her father, as journeynaan paper maker, and the marriage was clandestinely solemnized without the con- sent, and probably the knowledge of the la- dy's parents. The opposition of the gentle man to the marriage of his daughter with MT. Cornell, was considered by him, as sufficient reason apd justification for excluding her from 1, his family, apd partially from his bounty Alter the marriage, Mir. Cornell moved his wife into the western country. The precise length oftime they remained in the country is Mnknown, but they subsequently, returned and took up their residences in Providence.
 Before the birth of Maria, MT. Cornell sep arated himself from his family, andle them dependant far support upon their own feeble exertiOns and the kindness and charity Ofther connexions and friends. The desertioD Ofthe :; husband and father, in a great degree broke up the family, scattered them in different di- rections, and drove them for shelter into diff. ferent Benevolent families in Norwich and its vicinity. The want of parental care and in- struction, which this unhappy event occasion ed, may have contributed to form the charac- ter and habits of Maria; but there is no evil dence of the least deviation from the moot ri- gid rules of female propriety prior to the year 1928. During that year the town in which l Maria resided was visited with revival of re- ligion, and she, professedly. became subject of the work.
 With temperament naturally ardent, and a high flow of spirits, it is not surprizing that she should be wrought up to high degree of feeling and excitement on all subjectsi in which she might take deep and abiding interest, | particularly in the all.absOrbing subject of the salvation of the soul. But lhele is a line where religion and piety terminates and en- l thusiasm hegins; andit is supposed, by those most convershnt with the facts, that Maria overstepped this line and wandered away in- to the nnazy and unexplored regions of reli- giOus fanaticism. Having lost sight of the simple precepts and spirit of the gospel, and committed herself to the guidance of vivid and perverted imagination, 1t is not irrational to suppose that the most extrayagant notions and conduct would follow.
 Soon aiter this she became wandprpr, and is known tO have sacrificed her chastity and not improbably. in the first instance, on the al- | tar of heated and misguided zeaL There is n degree in religious fanaticism at which vir. tue loses its beauty and crime it's horror, and at this point Maria is supposed 10 have arri. we'd before the foundation of her virtue gave way. The reins of moral and religious re- straint being ioosened, and the mirror of ima- ginaiiOn haviag ceased to reflect the defOrmi- ty of vice, nothing was left to regulate her connaxions and associations in the world, hut the impetuOsity of her passions, unrestrajned even by the tender warnings aud entreaties of mothers lose. Away from her friends, TO- ving from place to place without the pole star of virtue to direct her course, it is astonishing that tho evidence of her infamy was SO long concealed from the public view and that she no sooner fell victim to her vices. But kind providence followed her to most of the manufacturing villages and towns of New England, and at last to FaIl River. where, in | retired place, she found "thc bounds she could not pass." Nothing is farther from us, and those from whom we have derived our knowledge of the facts, than to impute the l misfortunes and death of Maria to the spirit 1 and tendency of vital religion, or the legiti- l mate influence of revivals but to that fanat- 1 ical and enthusiastic spirit, which though no part of revivals of religion, is Often found ob- trudiDg itself upon them, and endeavOring to eptice away the young convert from the sim | pHeity of the gospel.
 The person and address of Maria, at the ! age Of ofsixteen, was unusually fascinating. She | was of naiddling stature, of dark complexion. with dark hazel eyes, and black hair. In her
 address and manners she was easy, unassu- ming and familiar perhaps to fault. In her
 conversation she was intelligent, sprightly and
 Interesting. and in every other respect admi- rabIy fitted to secure the esteem and friend ship of her associates. At the time of her death she. might be called faded beauty.--
 Her dissoluts life, and it's exposure to the