Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1839-12-24
From the Nelo York Mirror.
MARY LIVINGSTON;
a TALE OF REAL LIFE.
BY JAMES ALDRIcH.

Most likely some radient cloud ofmorning dew,
Which wanders through the waste airs path
less blue,
TO nourish some fair desert she did seem
Beside me, gathering beauty as she grew,
Like the bright shade of some immortal dream
Which walks, when tempests sleep the wave
Of LIES dark stream"
In one ofthe loveliest spots on the banks
Of the river Rhine, beneath the ruined
castle Of Eisleben, which hangs like a
dark cloud over the waves, are the re-
mains ola Roman fountain, the design of
which is lion reposing on a massive mar
bic pediment. The pediment is elabor.
ately and exquisitely adorned with appro.
pirate figures in relief-the subjects taken
for the most part from the heather mythol.
ogy. For ages tradition has awarded
to the fountain its Egeria, and travellers
passing up the Rhine seldom fail to stop
at the little hamlet Of Urloff, hard by, to
visit the castle, or to consult if possible,
the divinity Of the place. But neither the
divinity nor the castle had induced the
young sculptor, Earnest Warnlander, to
visit the fountain /; he was attracted by its
fame as a work of art, and come to study
and copy the reliels.
Warnlafider had been educated in one
Of the best German universities at times
he had givsn up his whole soul to the stu
dy Of chemistry, astronomy and poetry /;
these he left in disgust for the chisell Of
the sculptor; he DID not lack, genius nor
ability, but that resolution and frmncss of
purpose, without which mental power is
ever unproductive. His character was
an anomaly not infrequently observed in
young men of genius he was misan-
thrope, and had lived twenty-three years
in the world without loving any one; at
times he doubted the existence Of virtue
the truth Of the revealed religion, almost
his own being, and was forever signing,
an ideal good witch never existed except
in the Imagination; yet no base thoughts
nor passion found home in his heart,
which was ever alive to noble sentiments
and tender sensibilities; with truth he
might have SAID Of himself:
ITO me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears"
Il has been well observed by the author OF
Christabel that the best way to bring q
clever young man, who has become
Skeptical and unsettled, to reason, is to
make him feel something in any way.
Love, If sincere and unworldly, will, in
nine cases out Of ten, bring him TO sense
and assurance Of something real and nc.
tual and that sense alone will make him
think to a sound purpose, instead of drea-
ming that he is thinking.
In the autumn Of 49,, an American
gentleman, with his son and daughter was
making pilgrimage up the Rhine the
father was an invalid, and on arriving al
Urloff, the party stopped partly to recov-
er from the fatigue of travelling, and
partly to enjoy the beauty and sublimity
ofthe scenery which there met the eye OF
the traveller at every turn.
"The day was in the golden West,
and the dark shadow of Eislcben lay upor
the river and valley, making on agreeable
twilight, when Mary Livingston-lor sucl
was our fair travellers name-tempted b.
an adventurous spirit, and anatural fond
? ness for solitary musings, wandered alone
] to the haunted fountain. Mary Livings
$ ton was then in her nineteenth year, o
f that delicate figure characteristic OF al
0 American lady; the curved lines Of he
G fine form, the beauty Of its flexible sInuos
II iiy, il were difficult 10 portray in word:
/ her countenance, though inexpensive
e Observation-Disclosures, was marked wit
i tender and pathetic beauty harmonizin
/. with the spirit within her, and expressin
n at once innocence and sublmity Of soul
5. her eyes were large and full, ola dark lu:
is trous brown, telling of tender feelings an
ST a constant serenity of mind but the mo-
ut beautiful feature Of her face was her lip
is around the tremulous curve of which
Mt faint smile Of indescribeable sweetness e.
o. or circled.
4 In the dark shade of some linden ire
he beside the fountain, his head resting u
of on his hand, lay Earnest Waralander; b
DR. side him wore his unfinished drawing
" which the gathering twilight had caus
s. him to lay aside, and he was lost in d
ID dream in which visions Of the past, pre-
OF ent and the future, were all indlstinci
So blended. On the approach ofhis fair v
IL tier he started in astonishment from
nd reverie, half believing in the traditi
us which assigned to the fountain spirit
IT'S attendant.
ID, "Gentlc lady," said Warnlander, 81
Sc may be pardoned in addressing one
Q. whose presence nothinga certainly,
Ir- the most fortunate chance could have br
hit poor artist-there is a legend "
M which YOU are doubtless well acquaint
no that an attendant spirit presdes at I
asst fountain, whose only employment IS
nd doing acts Of charity to the pilgrim q
va uay-farer; forgive me for saying, wi
err first | saw YOU, the fiction--for such
TO sober reason we must regard It-seen
Ike reality nor without cause, for none
&C. one Of gentle heart would, unattend
will seek this lonely recess at such an hour
10. "The hour is later than deemed
nd, said the fair visiter, with tImidity, 80
me should not have ventured so far with
rho the attendance of my brother, who, v
use my father, is at the inn in the hamlet
Of low"
for uFear not LADY," replied Warnlan'
her afor such poor attendance as can affo
shall be too happy in granting.
i. MARY Livingston, gathering confide
from the kindly tones and demeanoT
yea Warnlander, said, Il would the twill
ies. were not so deep, for much ofthe deli'
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