The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1843-10-25

BY MRS. SARAH JANE HALE.
"a tale of the oldsn time
When he was rich who had happy home;
Aal love pure ,irtuous love, pearl OF price,
V,s ,l,csd above the show Of fashions gauds,
AL piety was deemed tbs crown OF lifs"
However much we may boast of our adj
rnnces in knowledge and improvements in
the arts. since the DAYS Of our fathers, the
Pilgrim settlers of New England, it is by no
means certain that we have advanced in
the knowledge of our duties toward heaven.
or in the art of living happily. on earth.--
Abundance does not bring content, nor Sc
rurilv insure us peace. The passion for
excessive wealth, always the ruling one in
an age Of speculation and trade has far
more wilhcring influence on the tender and
kindly feelings of our nature. those soft e
motions whose virtuous Indu gence make so
large a portion of the hearts pure happ-'
ness than have dangers, privatipns or even
poverty. That devotion to one dear object,
which constitutes the romance of love is
not cherished where fortune Is considered
an Indispensable Ingredient in the marriage
contract nor is the domestic union of such
couple cemented by that mutual conf
druce hose kind. vet unobtrusive atten
ions. and reciprocal sacr ifices 10 promote
the happiness OF each other, which confer
So much of the real felicity of welded life,
the felicity arising from the certainty oil
being beloved.
Our ancestors must have enjoyed this
ceria nty Nothing save the affection which
j. stronger than the fear Of death, that love
which 'wemen's own fond spirit can on
" feel. could have induced her 70 consent
10 share the dangers and distresSes of thu
wilderness. Her empire is the henrt; IL
rule thrre what will she not do or suffer =
The men had a wider sphere of ambition
They intended TO found nation whose
faith should be pure, and freedom uncon-
ouerahe. Yet even then their dearest
hopes must have entered into their own fam
lies. When husbands and fathers went
armed TO their labor. and darcG not venture
from the SIGHT of their homes. lest the saw
age enemy should surprise the helpless IN
males, could they fail in love and fidelity ia
those they guarded so sedulouslyl And
what sniIes of gIadness, gratitude and love
Must have welcomed their return from those
W6o we,c dependent on them. not only for
support but for protection, for life
Neither riches nor rank influenced the
choice of Robert Wilson, when he selected
Mary Grant for hts wife. Mary was poor
and an orphan. Her father died on his pas
sage from England, whether he was fleeing
from religious persecution that had cons
hscaed his property and for three long years
ncld him confined in prison. He at length
escaped and with his wife and child en-
barked as ne hoped and prayed for better
land His PRAYER was doubtless answered
IN mercy. for his was not constitution OF
mind that could long have struggled with
The hardships of the wilderness. he d.
ed the day before the vessel entered the
haIbor of Boston. His wife survived him
only two weeks, and the little weeping Ma
" was thrown upon the charity of strangers
IN a new world.
They had kind hearts in those old times.
and though their portion was ever so small,
our pilgrim ancestors always impaired a
share to the needy. Mary found many
wiling to wipe away her tears. and shelter
her in their homes, and finally in Captain
WaldIon and his amiable wife, protectors
lndulgent as parents.
Captain Waldron resided at Dover, New
HAMPSHIRE. then considered as belonging
TO Massachusetts. lie found Mary Gran
at the house of friend of his in Boston
and was so interested in her story and ap
pearance that he carried her home, and
having obtained the consent Of his wife, a.
dopled her as his daughter
Captain Waldron was a man of conse,
quence in Dover, and his wife was consid
cred one of the elite IT was frequently re
marked that they would make quite fin,
lady Of Mary. But the qualifications 70
ladies' were not at that period. graduated
on precisely the same scale at Dover, or in
deed in New England, as is now though
Indispensable. Mary was called well edu
Gated. and yet she had never been laugh
daucing or embroidery. nor had she eve
studied French. music, &c.
She could read English. however, as flu
entity as any modern fine lady. and read
'nH' with those tones of feeling which pen
e'raie the heart Of the listener. Her volc'
MAO music in its expression. and she sun,
10 s"eetly that no gallant amateur but mus
Aave preferred the warsling of "wood note
"io 10 the most scientific performance o
smodern bene or that much tortured in