Litchfield enquirer., 1838-01-25

well as he could, adjusted the bell, and wendcd my way home, with nil my sins H. gainsi inc old man in full bosson. At an early hour the mex. mornine, calIei! at his shop and found him seated in his arm chair, with his violin in h,nd, as happy and ioy- GUS as if he never bad known one hour Of pain. Peace to tho ashes of the good old man. Never lhrohbcd kinder heart, or nobIcr blood courscd through mars veins. Wyoming RepuJ.
 Ihe Seol-A Pathetic Stcry.-About 40 years ago, young sea! was taken in Clew Bay, Ireland, and domeslicated in I,e kitchen of a gentleman whose house was situated on the sea shore. It grew apacc, became familiar with the servants and fam lily; ifs habits were innocent ard gentle. il played with the children, and came at its masters call. and as the cid man described him to mo, was fond as dog, and pla vful as kitteu.' Daily the seal went tn fish, and after providing for his own wants, Gre- q"en,Iy brought in a salmon or tnrboi to it's master. His delight in the summer was 10 l'ask in the sun, and in winter to lie down before the fire, or, ifpermiticd, 10 creep in the large oven, which at that time formed the regular appendage of an Irish kitchen. For four years the seal had thus been do. mesticated, when. unfortunately, .a disease existed in this country, the chippawa--a kind of 'paralytic affection of the limbs, which generally ends fatally, attacked some black cattle belonging 10 the house; some died, others became infected, and the cus- tomary cure produced by changing them to dried pastures, failed. A wise woman was consulted, and the lag assured the credulous owner ,Ga, the mortality amoug his cows was accustomed by his retaining an unclcan beast about his labitalion-the harmless, | amusing seal. It must be made away with directly, or the chippewa would continue, and the charms be unequal to avert the mal- ady. The superstitious wretch consented to the hag's proposal; the seal was put on board boat, carried out beyond Clare isl- and, and committed to the deep ,o manage for himself as he best could. The boat re- turned, the family retired to rest; and the next morning the servant awakened his master to tell him that the seal was quietly sleeping in the oven. The poor animal had oyer night come back tu his beloved home, | SsNRt "bbAo" VII" 'N"N possession of his iavorite resting place.- Next morning another COW was reported to be unweIl. The seal must now be finally removed; Galloway fishing boat was leaving Westport on her return nome, and the master undertook to carry off the seal, and not put him overboard until he had gone leagues beyond Innis BoiEan. IL was done; day and night passeu--tnc secOnd evening closcd-,he servant was rakng ihe fire for the night, something scratched gently at the door, she opened 1t, and in came the seal! Wearied with his long and unusual voyage, he testified by a peculiar l cry, expressive of pleasure, his delight to l find himself at home, then stretching him self before the glowing embers of the hearth, he fell into deep sleep. The man of the house was immediately appriscd of this unexpected and unwelcome visit. In the cxigency the beldame was awakened and consulted she averred that it was un- lucky to kill n seal, but suggested that the an:mal should be deprived of sight and a third time carried out to sea. To this pro- position the dcspotic wretch who owned the house consented, and il,c alTectioiiate and confding creature was cruelty robbed of sight on that hea rth for which he had re- signed his native element; next morning, wriihing in agony, the muiilaicd seal was embarked, taken outside of Clarc Island and for the last time committed to the waves A week passed over, and things became worse instead of better; the cattle of the truculent wretch died fast, and the internal
 hag gave him the pleasurable tidngs that her arts were useless, and the destructive visitation upon his cattle exceeded her skill and cure. On inc eighth night after the seal was committed to the Atlantic il blew tremendously. In the paoses of the storm wailing noise at times was fainily heard at the door; the servants who slept in the I kitchen, concluded that the banshee had come to forewarn them of an approaching death, and buried their heads in the he'd covering. When morning broke, the door was opened the seal was there lying dead upon the ,hreshhold!
 The skeleton of the once plump animal, (poor beast, it pershed of hunger, being incapacitated from blindness to procure ifs customary food) was buried in sand hill, and from that moment misiortunes followed Inc sbetiors and perpetrators of this inIiu- man deed. The deiestable hag, who had denounced the inoffensive seal, was within a twcve-mon'h bahged for murder. Eve ry thing about this devoted house melted away; sheep ro,ted; cattle died. and blish,ed was the corn.' Of several chil- dren none reached maturity. and the saw age proprietor surveyed every thing he loved Or cared for. He died bIind aud mis- erable.-L'aglish paper.