The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1837-09-22
A PASSAGE IN HUMAN LIFE.
BY WILLIAM HOWITI.

Ia my daily walks inlo The country
was accustomed 10 pass certain cottage.
IL Vas no cottage OrRe---il WAS 30 cot
Iage Of romance. Ii had nothing parli-
eulahy picturesque about IL. II had rs
little garden, and it, vine spreading over
rs front, but beyond these il possessed
no feature likely To fix Il ~ the mind nf
poet or novel wrller. and which might
induce him 10 people Il which beings Of
his own fancy. In fact. il appeared 60
BE- inhabited b. persons a. liIIle exlra0r-
binary as itself. A gOod man Of The house
Il might p0ssess. but he MAS never yisi-
bic. The Only inmates ! ever saw were
a young woman and another female in
the wsne Of life, M duubi lhr mother.
The damsel wss eNmely, fresh, mild
looking cottage g'rl enough, always seat
ed "n one spni. near the window, intent
on her needle. The Did dame was a. re-
guiarly busted To aud lrd, IN huusshuld
Affairs She appeared one ii those good
hnnse-aives aho never dream NJ rest sx.
ctlh N -lrtp. The cottage s'nod 50 near
the road thai lhe fire al the father end If
the room shaved ynu. without being
rudels Inqui-itisr. the whole inlerror. 10
the single mnneai II passing. A riran
hearth and q cheerful tire shining upnn
hnmelt but neat aud orderly furniture,
spoke II comfort. bat wheIher the dame
enln,e I'd or merely dIfD,ed that Comfort
was a pruhlrm.
passed the house MANY successive
DAYS. IL vas always alike. the fire SHIN
ing bnghlly and pfArrfuli' the gIrl seat
ed al her pns, by tie Nl"dnw. the house
wife gotta. TO and fro. catering aud con-
Invng. dusung and menagIng. One
morning - wenl by there was change;
the damr vas seated near her dsugh,rr.
her arms laid upnn the table, aud her
head reclned upon her hands was
sure ina, u Sas sickness which had COM
| PEELED her to tina, attitude of repnst; nn-
thing less cOuld have done II iell that
! knew exactly the poor woman's feel
Ings. She had fell a WEAKNESS steal up
on her; she had " onderrd al IL. aud strug-
gled against II. and borne up, hoping II
would pass bv, ull. lnaih a. she was to
yield, u had forced suhmisslnn.
The next dav wheu .,as- i. tie room
appeared as usual, the lire b1ra,ng. lie
girl al her needle, but her m"'l"r vas
not In be seen: aud, glancl#g m' exc up
wards. | perceived the blnG close drawn
I in the window above. I, Us 80, said to
nyseli---dlsease Is in rts progress. Per-
hsps IL occasions no gloomy fear Of con-
sequences, no extreme cu'c Germ; and yet
VINO knows how Il ma, end! II j. thus
that begin those changes thai draw out
the eternal bolt which holds together Ia
mites, which steal away our ii'--sIde IA
ces and lay waste our dearest affections.
| passed by DAY after da,. The scene
was the same, the fire burning, the hearth
betDIng clean and cheerful; nut the mo-
thrr as nn, tn he seen; the blind was
still drawn above. Al length missed
the girl, aud in her place appeared ano-
ther woman, bearing considerable resem
blance TO the mother, but Of qu,eter ha.
bn. Twas easy To interpret this change.
Disease had assumed an alarming aspect;
the daughter was occupied III inlense
watching and caring for the suffering mo-
ther, and the good woman's sister had
been summoned to her bed side, perhaps
from distant spot, and perhaps from her
family cares, which no less an important
event could have induced her TO eIude.
Thus appearances continued some days.
There was a silence around the house.
and an air Of neglect within il, ill one
morning | beheld The blind drawn in the
room beIO'r, and The window throw open
| abOue. The scene was over; the mother
was removed from her family, aud one Of
those great alterations effected in human
life, which commence with so little OBJ
servauon, but leave behind them such
lasting effects.