Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1843-02-23

het separator from him. and for such We
ry long periods. To his objections, how
ever. his wife did mt listen. for a mo.
ment, but met them all with the decIara-
ton that it would be cruel and unjust to
their daughter, from personal considera-
tions, to deprive her OF the advantage of
such an institution as that under the sup
erlntendence of Mrs. Finish, to which
there was not another in the country in any
way comparable, and of course he had to
give way--for, not having given the suhieca
OF education any thought at all, he was
not prepared to gainsay or controvert his
VIE position. Like TOO many others,
he suffered himself to make the acquire.
ment OF wealth an end, and business
SIMPLY means to that end. OF course
business was made to supercede every
thing else. All day long his mind was
absorbed IN the details Of a large estab
lIshment, and too frequently the leading
thought during the evening was in relation
to some scheme of profit. AS "A natural
result, there was no room for a calm and
philosophical consideration Of the best
means Tor educating the mind that had
been entrusted to his care. Leaving al,
to weak and vain woman, whose station
IN society had turned her head, as Uncle
Peter used frequently TO tell her ia plain
terms, no wonder that Cecilia sprung up
INTO premature womanhood, with obscure
and~salse views of the world and the po-
sstlon SIZE was about to assume.
Up to this time, Uncle Peter had la
bored hard for the sake of his niece. to
correct his sisters erroneous ideas; and
had frequently tried to arouse in the
mind of Mr.. Howard a Just concern for
his daughter, but in vain and he now
saw Cecilia about to take that plunge in
to the glddy whirpoel Of fashion antl4foi
~ which he had so long foreseen aud so
long dreaded. Once more he felt con-
strained to speak out strongly and plain
~: III the feeble hope that better counsel
might prevail with the parents. Accor-
DINGHY, he dropped in at Mr.. Howard's
one evening ill October, aud found the
father and ,aother alone.
'Where's CeciIia?' he asked. after the
passage of some ten or fifteen minutes,
during which time she had not made her
appearance.
she is spending the evening out, so ne
where Mr.. tIowart.. said in q tone of in
difference.
'Somewhere!.' returned Uncle Peter,
with a strong expression of surprise
And you do not know, really, where she
is.?' ~.
No, not exactly. She went out witt,
Ciementine Garland, and said she didn't
think she should be home until after tea.
as they were going to make some calls a
good way up town.
'Humph? CALCULATED the old man, and
/ then followed silence of some moments
This was interrupted by Mrs. Howard,
whom his remark had chafed into ii(-hu
NOR. She said with much warmth:
Il DOM see, Peter, why you shoald
make yourself so officious about Cecilia
1t is very strange if her father and can.
not take care of her! You seem to talk
and act as If you thought we hadn't natu.
tural affection for cur chiId.'
Come, come, Hannah! Don't give wa
so,' Mr.. Howard interposed, in sooth.
ing tone. " our brother of course means
WE'LL
'Of course do. And we'll she Knows
it,
lie may mean well,' Mrs Howard re
piled, still with warmth-'but his inter
ference in regard to Cecilia has always
been out Of place. unreasonable and un
ca He'd for, andI do not see that | am al
all bound to put up with it eternally. Il
ls.very unlikely that l, as her mother
should not have just as tender regard
for her welfare as he possesses
There is one thing very certain Tn
Gle Peter responded in IA calm tone o
voice and that is this. Ny regard is
so strong. that would no more have per.
united her at her present tender age,
beautiful .anH attractive as she is. to be
away from home, in city like this, .un,
attended by any of the family-and
worse than all, remain in passive, indf
ferent ignorance of the company or place
in which she may he-than | would put
poison 10 her food!'
Il hardly think it right myself, now
reflect upon it, Mr.. Howard said.
Right? No! Its piece Of blind, uu.
natural folly! if must speak plainly.
Is it to be supposed that one like Cecilia
will not at once. attract to her side young
men who look at beauty and wealth as
the only accomplishment desirable in a
wife? How do you know, but at this We
ny moment, some specious, lunprincipled
fellow, who has already marked her for
his prize, is whispering bis honied. de-
celtful batteries in her ear, aud so win
ming her young and guileless heart to him
self, that no power Of yours can hereafter
bresk the spell'e Are you prepared thus
to sacrifice her Surely not !. Then lie,
me coDjure you to guard hel more careful
ly! Consider her in the light of a pre-
clous jewel, Of which, you may berobbed
IN careless. moment. Have you never
seen unhappy marriages. Have you ne
yer known an instance where young
innocent, Understanding maiden has
pledged her love TO one all unworthy u