Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1836-01-07
THE RUINED ONE.
BY w. IRVING.

IN the course Of an excursion through
one of the remote counties Of England, /
had struck into one Ofthose cross roads that
lead through the more secluded parts of
the country, and stopped one afternoon at
a village, the situation of which was beau
tifully rural and retired. There was an
air Of primitive simplicity about its inhabi-
tants, not to be found in the villages which
lie on the great coach roads. determin-
ed to pass the night there, and having TAX
en- an early dinner, strolled out to enjoy the
neighboring scenery.
My ramble, as is usually the case with
travellers, soon led me to the church, which
stood at little distance from the village.
Indeed, it was an object of some curiosity,
its old tower being completely overrun
with ivy, SO that only here and there a
jutting buttress, an angle of gray wall, or a
Enthusiastically carved ornament, peercd
through the verdant covering. 1t was
lovely evening. The early part of the day
had been dark and showery, but in the af-
ternoon it had cleared up; and though sui
len clouds still hung over head, yet there
was a broad tract Of golden sky in the west,
from which the setting sun cleaned through
the dripping leaves, and lit up all nature
into a melancholy smile. 1t seemed like
the parting hour of good Christian, smii-
ing on the sins and sorrows of the world,
and giving, in the serenity of his decline,
an assurance that he will rise again in glory.
/ had seated myself ON half sunken
tombstone and was musing, as one is apt to
do at this sober-thoughted hour, on past
scenes and early friends-on those who
were distant and those who were dead
and INDUCING in that kind of melancholy
fancying, which has in it something sweet
er even than pleasure. Every now and
then, the stroke of bell from the neigh
boring tower fell on my ear its tones were
in unison with the scene, and, instead Of
Earring, chimed in with my feelings and
it was sometime before I recollected, that
il must be tolling the knell Of some new
tenant fthe tomb.
Presently saw funeral train moving
across the village green; it wound slowly
along a lane /; was lost, and reappeared
through the breaks Of the hedges, until it
passed the place where ] was sitting
The pail was supported by young girls,
dressed in white and another, about the
age Of seventeen, walked before, bearing a
chaplet of white flowers token that the
deceased was a young aud unmarried fe-
male. The corpse was followed by the
parents. They were a venerable couple
of the better order Of peasantry. The
father seemed to repress his feelings /; but
his fixed eye, contracted brow, and deep
ly furrowed face, showed the struggle that
was passing within. His wife hung on his
arm, and wept aloud with the convulsive
burst of a mothers sorrow.
followed the funeral into the church.
The bier was placed in the centre aisle,
and the chap!ei Of white flowers, with a
pair of white gloves, were hung over the
seat which the deceased had occupied.
Every one knows the soul subduing pa-
thos Of funeral service for who is SO for
tunate as never to have followed some one
he has loved TO the tomb3 but when per-
formed over the remains Of innocenee and
beauty, thus laid low in the bloom Of exis-
tence-what can be more aiiecting7 Al
that simple, but most solemn consignment
of the body to the grave Earth to earth
ashes to ashes-dust to dust ! the tears
of the youthful companions of the deceased
flowed unresirained. The father still
seemed to struggle with his feelings, and TO
comfort himself with the assurance, that
the dead are blessed which die in the Lord;
but the mother only thought Of her child
as flower of the field cut down and with
cred 10 the midst Of its sweetness she
was like Rachel, mourning over her
children, and would not be comforted.'
On returning TO the inn learnt the
whole story Of the deceased. It was a
simple one, and such as has often been
told. She was the beauty and pride Of the
village. Her father had once boon an OPP
ulent farmer. but was reduced in cirsum-
stances. This was an only child, and
brought up entirely at home, in the simpli-