The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1837-08-23

necessary, and the surgeon who was calle,
informed William, that in consequence o
strong excitement, incipient symptoms o
BRAN fever had made their appearance
The utmost quiet was prescribed, and bloc,
Withdrawn from the temples in considerabl,
quantity. For time, these and other rem
dies seemed to give relief, and the poo
husband never left the side of the sufferer
Indeed it seemed as if she could not beal
him 10 be absent; her mind always revert
ing, when he was out of her sight to tn,
idea that he believed the charge which hac
been made against her, and had left he
forever. The oft-repeated assurances ts
the contrary, from his own lips, seemed a
length to produce conviction, for she at las
was silent on the subject. But the charge
the blow-had struck too deep. Jeanie
Ansle-if we may call her by name she
was desned SO short a time to bear-fell af.
ter two or three days illness into state Of
stupor, which continued with short and rare
intervals, and on the eighth day after heI
nuptals, her pure spirit departed.
William Ainslie had shown OH many oc-
easions In life, great timncss and self com
mand and now, thougl, deep suffering was
written on his brow, he made, with at leas,
external composure, the requisite prepara-
tons for laying in the grave the remains OF
her whom he had loved SO long and SO tru-
ily. As TO retrlbutIon upon the person who
had been instrumental through inconsider-
ate hastiness only, it is to be hoped, in pro-
dacing his misery, the beresved husband
thought not of calling for it. Yet it did
come, to certain extent; for our errors
seldom pass, even in this life, without pang
Of punishment and remorse.
Several days after charging the nnocen at
Jeanie with the abduction of her flowers,
Mrs. Smith of Drylaw, found, by dscov-
cry OF her new servant, that one of her
younger children, impatient for the flower
ing OF a rose-bush in the little garden nigh
farmhouse, had GIFTED upon the artificial
bouquet in her mothers dressing room, and
had carried it out and stuck it upon the
bush. There tho flowers were accordingly
found, and Mrs. Smith, who was far from
being an evn-intentioned woman did feel
regret at having charged the loss upon the
guiltiess. lgnoraat of all that had passed
at Elsington in the interval, she determined
to call at William AinsIie's on her first vis-
it to the village, and explain her mistake.
That call was made two days after jean.
les death and on Mrs. Smiths entering
the room she fosnd William sitting by his
bereaved hearth, with his sister-in- law, and
another kind neighbor bearing him COM
pany. 'Oh-by the bye-those flowers y
said The unwelcome visiter, in tone and in
a manner which she meant to be condo
scendlng and iusinuatng, how sorry am
for what happened about those flowers
Where do you think found them, nfter all
in a rose-bush in the garden, where Jeanie,
hnd put them. And now come to say
am sorry for IT, and hope that it will be all
over.
William Ainslie had risen slowly during
this extraordinary speech and nov, rais-
ing his finger towards his lips he approach
ed and took Mrs. Smith by the hand, beck
oning at the same time to the two women
who were seated with him. They seemed
lntuitively to comprehend his wishes, and
rising, moved towards the bed, around which
the curtains were closely drawn, William
leading forward also the unresisiing and
HC WVncti uTeW IUC
curtains aside, and William fixing his eyes
on Mrs. Smith, pointing silently to that body
of his wife, shrouded in the cerements of
death lying with the pale uncovered face
upturned to that heaven for which her pure
life had been II fitting preparution.-ThoI
wretched and false accuser gazed with
changing color on the corpse ofthc dead in
nocent, and, turning her looks for a moment
on the silent faces around, that regarded
her more in sorrow than in anger, she Ut
tered groan of anguish as the truth broke
on her; then bursting from the hand which
held her, she hastily departed from the
house.
There is little now to add to this melan-
choly story, which, unhnppily is but too true.
The little we have to add, is but in accord
ance with the tenor of what hns been told.
After the burial of his Jeanie, William Aims
lie departed from Elsington; and what were
his future fortunes, no one can tell, for he
never was seen or heard Of again in his ma
tive place. As for the unhappy woman,
the occasion of the lamentabe catastrophe
which we have related, she still lives to de-
Plore the rashness of which she was guilty.
Lot us hope that the circumstance will have
an influence on her future conduct, and not
be without its morel efficacy in the minds Of
our readers.
a