The Illinois free trader. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1840-1841, 1840-12-18

father" said the girl, interrupting him,
as tears stood in her eyes; '.You must
be better-syou look better, for even now,
your cheek has glow upon it; do lei
me bring you something refreshing, fol
YOU have had nothing this morning, and
| am sure we will nurse you well again
$40 not deceive yourself, my love-" said
he, "this wasted form can never be re-
stored by human aid. From Heavens
mercy, alone, can | hope for succor and
it will be granted, Emile, in the time OF
my utmost need; yes, in the hour OF
death will claim His help, who is al
ways ready to aid those who trust in
Him; and soon, very soon, must this
mortal frame be laid in its quiet sleeping
place, and this restless soul return to
Him who gave it," The tender girl
stood in pallid, though mute distress
not sigh, not tear escaped her. The
idea of death broke so suddenly on her
mind, that it checked every mode of ut
terance, and she gazcd upon his counto-
nance as in Il dream.
Death, at any period of life, wears an
awful aspect, but never more so than TO
the youthful heart, whose every step has
been that of health and joy, and whose
bounding pulse, yet swayed by hope,
had never been chilled by sorrows, or
distracted by the doubts and fears that
hang over our earthly existence. Thus
it was with Emile; united by the ten
derest sympathy to her father, and living,
as it were, i'll world of music, no Won
der that she beheId death with terror, as
the destroyer of her all-of happiness
The dying father raised himself on his
couch--"You spoke of refreshment, my
daughter it can still be afforded to my
faining soul. Take these notes, the last
that | shall ever pen, and sit down to the
instrument. Sing with them the hymn
so beloved by thy mother, and let me
once more hear those tones which have
been my delight, my passion, since my
earliest remembrance. Emile did as
she was desired, and it seemed as if she
sought relief from her own thoughts for
after running over a few chords of the
piano, she commenced, i'll the sweetest
voice, the following lines -
Esprit! thy labor is DER
The term of probation is run,
Thy steps are now bound for the untroden shore
And the rae Of immortals begun.
"Spiri, lool: not on the strife
Or the pleasures of earth with regret
Pause not on the threshold of limitless life.
To mourn for the day that is set.
esprit no letters can bind,
No wicked have power to modest;
There the weary like thee, the wrctchcd shall find,
4 heaven, mansion of rest
Esprit! how bright is the road
For which thou art on the wing
Thy home it will be, with thy Saviour and God,
Their loud halleujahs to sing"
AS she concluded the last stanzas, she
dwclt, for few moments, on the low,
melancholy notes of the piece, and then
waited in silence for the mild voice of her
fathers praises. He spoke not-and,
with something like surprise, she turned
towards him. He was laid back upon
the sofa, his face shaded in part with his
hand, and his form reposed, as in slum-
Der, Starting with fear, Emile sprang
towards him and seized his hand; but the
touch paralized her, she sunk senseess
by his side. He was gone With the
sounds of the sweetest melody ever com.
posed by human thought, his soul had
winged its flight to regions Of eternal
bliss.