, 1842-05-14
VOL. l.-NO. 28.]

~ I" " III
ways characterizes the single lady Of
n certain age, and rs Ellis compared
her present appearance with that Of
her blooming sister, who bore a most
singular resemblance TO her, he was
tempted to feel Il secret satisfaction
in the belief that her heart was as
much changed as her person.
And what felt Edith at this meet
ing? She had lived on one sweet
hope, and had borne absence, and sor-
row, and the wasting of weary exPcc~
fancy with the patience Of a loving
and trusting heart. 1t is true that, as
years sped on, she lost much of the
sanguine temper which once seemed
to abbreviate time and diminish space.
1t is true that as time stole the bloom
from her cheek and tho brightness
from her eye, many a misgiving
troubled her gentle bosom, and the
shadow of a settled grief seemed
gradually extending its gloom over
hor feelings. But still hope exist
ed,-no longer as the brilliant SUM-
shine Of existence,-no longer as the
only hope which the future could af-
f~ord,--but faded and dim-its radi-
ance lost in the mist of years, yet still
retaining Z spark Of its early warmth.
She had many doubts and fears but
she still had pleasant fancies Of the
future, which, cherished in her heart,
were the only fountains of delight in
the dreary desert Of her wasted feel
ings. But nov all was at an end.
They had met, not as strangers, but,
far worse, as e~stranged friends. The
dream Of her life was rudely broken;
the veil was lifted from her eyes,
the illusion which had given all she
knew Of happiness, was destroyed
forever. in the words of him who
has sounded every string Of loves
sweet Tyre, she might have exclaimed
in the bitterness OF her heart:
''lIad We but known, since first We met,
Some few short hours of bliss,
We might, in numbering them forget
The deep, deep, pain of this;
But no /. our hope was born in fears
And nursed mid gain regrets!
Like winter suns, it rose in tears,
Like them, in tears it SETS"
Mrs. Pemberton at first formed
some schemes, founded on the re-
membrance OF Edwards former lik;
ing for Edith, but when.she learned
his error respecting Margaret, she be-
gan to fancy that if her eldest daugh-
ter was little too old, the younger
was none too young to make a good
wife for the rich merchant.s She ex-
pressed her admiration of his expand
ed figure, extolled his fine hair, which
happened to be a well made wig, was
in raptures with his beautiful teeth,
which owed their billiancy to the skill
Of a French dentist, and, in short, left
no means untried to accomplish her
But she was doomed to disap-
pointment. 1t is not easy to kindle a
flame from the ashes of an ex-
tinguished passion. There was a Sc
cret consciousness, a sense ofdissatis-
with himself, that made Ellis
-ather shrink from Edith's society,
md threw m air of constraint over
lis manner towards the whole family.
He was not happy in the presence Of
Ter who appeared before him as a
of the past, bearing reproach-
IS in its melancholy ~countenance,
md after few embarrassed attempts
IT carelessness in his intercourse with
lcr, he ceased entirely to visit the
No one cvcr knew what Edith suf-
for no one suspected her long
cherished attachment. Her step be-
:amo languid, her cheek sunken, her
Eye unnaturally bright, and when at
ongth, 4 hacking cough fastened it.
self upon her lungs, ever body said
hat Edith Pemberton was falling into
/ consumption. Some attributed it
o a cold taken when Nursing Der Sis
Ter through a dangerous illne.s-oth.
,rs thought she had worz. out iaer
iealth amang her numerous zephews
md nIeces. But the worra lay at the
'oot of the tree, and though the storm
md the wind u'y,.,t work its final
overthrow, the tue cause of its fall
was the grawng Of the secret de-
'troyer. Gradually and quietly and
she faded from among the
Friends gathered round her
Couch of suffering, and the consola-
ions Of the Book of all truth smooth
her passage 10 the tomb. With a
world OF sorrow and care sinking
rom her view, and an eternal life Of
happiness opening upon her dying
Eyes, she closed her useful and blame
ess life.