The Whig standard., 1843-12-19

| and calling us back to the past--back 10 the dim
sepulchral images of departed time-0pening
anew the deep fountains of early passion-the
thrilling aspirations of after years !! While the
present is dark with anguish, and the future
gladdened by no sunbow Of anticipation, / invoke
thy spell Of power. Unroll before me the chart
OF vanished hours; let me gaze once more on
their sunlight and shadow.
| am an old man the friends Of my youth are
gone from me- Some have perished on the great
deep, others on the battle field, afar off in the
land of strangers; and many very many. have
been gathered qrietly to the old churchyard OF
our native village. They have left me alone,
even as the last survivor Of fallen forest. the
hoary representative Of departed generations.
The chains which once bound me to existence
have been broken--Anbiiion, Avarice, Pride;
even all that wakes into power the intolerable
thirst OF mind. But there are some milder
thoughts-some brighter passages in the dream
of my being yet living at the fountain Of Mem
ory-thoughls, pure and angelic communion
linked by thousand tender associations to the
Paradise Of Love-
There was one-a creature Of exalted intel
lect-a being whose thought went upwards like
the incense Of flowers upon Gods natural altars,
they were so high and so unlike to earth. Yet
was she not proud of her high gift. With the
brightest capacities of an unbodied spirit, there
was something more than woman's meekness In
her demeanor. 1t was the condescension Of Sc
raphic intellect-the forgiveness and the tea tears
of conscious purity extended to the erring and
passionate of earth. fsea3l.gg e
She was not being to love with an earthly
affection. Her person had no harmony with her
mind. 1t bore no resemblance to those beautiful
forms which glide before the eyes Of romance in
the shadowy world Of dreams. 1t was not like
the bright realities of being the wealth OF beau
ty which is sometimes concentrated ia the match
less form Of woman. 1t was deformity strange,
peculiar deformity, relieved only by the iiellec-
Iftual glory Of a dark, soul-like eye. frs2 sg
Yet, strange as; it may seem, loved her deep
W. passionately as the young heart can love when
il pours itself out like an oblation to It's idol.
There were gentle and lovely ones AROUND me
creatures Of smiles and bushes, soff tonesGand
melting glances, but their beauty made no lasting
| impression on my heart. Mine was an intellec-
tual love--yearni after something invisible and
hoy--so something above the ordinary standard OF
human desire, set apart and sanctihed as IT were,
| by the mysteries of the mind. "a r.s.
Mine was not a love to be revealed in the
fhronged circle Of gaiety and fashion, IT was
| avowed underneath the bending heaven; when
the perfect stars were alone gazing upon US. i
was rejected but not in scorp in pride, nor an
ger, BY that high h-thoughted girl. She would
ask my friendship-my sympathy; but she be-
sought me--aye, with tears she besought me, 10
speak no more of Love--I obeyed her. He'd
| from her presence. | mingled once more in the
busy tide of being, and ambition entered into my
soul. i. w ealth came upon me unexpectedly; and
the voice of praise became familiar sound |
returned at last with the impress Of manhood on
my brow, and sought again the. being Of my
Dreams
She was dying. Consumption pale ghastly
consumption, had taken away her hold on exist
ence The deformed and uniting tenement was
| yielding to the impulses of the soul.
Clasping her wasted hand, | bent over her III
| speechless agony She raised her eyes 10 mine,
and, in those beautiful embems Of the soul, Tread
the boarded affection Of years-the long smoth-
/ cred emotion of smothered heart, :. Henry"
she said, and bent lower to catch the faltering
! tones of her sweet voice" have loved long
and fervently. / feel that am dying. Irejoicc
at it. Earth will cover this wasted and unseem-
ly form, but the soul will return to that promised
| and better land where no change or circumstance
can mar the communion Of Spirit. Oh, Henry,
had it been permitted but 1 will not murmur.
| You were created with more than manhood's
beauty, and deformed-wretched as / am,
have dared to love YOU
| knelt down and kissed the pale brow of the
sufferer A smile of more than earthly tender
ness stole over her features and fixed there, like
an omen of the spirits happiness. She was
dead And they buried her on the spot which
she had herself selected "a delightful place Of
slumber, curtained by green young willows. 1
have stood there thousand times in the quiet
moonlight, and fancied that heard in every
breeze that whispered among the branches, the
voice Of the beloved slumberer.
| Devoted girl thy beautiful spirit hath never
abandoned me in my weary pilgrimage Gently
and soothingly thou comest to watch over my
sleeping pilIowto cheer me midst the trials OF
humanity-to mingle thy heavenly sympathies
with my joys and sorrows, and to make thy
mild rcprovings known and felt in the darker
moments of existence; in the tempest Of passion,
in the bitterness of crime. Even now, in the
awful calm which proceeds the last change in
my being, in the cold shadow which now stretch
es from the grave to the presence Of the living,
feel that thou art near me
"Thyself a pure and sainted one,
Watching the loved and frail OF carthn