Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1844-11-30
From the Philadelphia Dolla, Newspaper
The Old Door Nail.
BY MRS. LYDIA J. PEARSON.

drcn had wcaried of their gambols, the
prayers were said. the good night
snokcn, and they were wrapped in the
downy wings of sleep. My husband
had finished his pipe, and sat doing in
his corner; the garment on which l
was sewing was finished, and the can
die was Just expiring in its socket
l thought would hang the finished
garment on nail that stuck in the
wall just opposite, and on which turn
ed my eyes, when, 10! they were facin-
ated by strange and intense bright
ness playing about the head of the nail.
Twas surprized, for it seemed no earth
" light, so pale it was, and yet so daz-
zleing in its whiteness. ! drew my
hand across my eyes, for | had been
weeping, and though the halo might be
only a reflection through the lens of a
tear, of the light Of my expiring taper.
But as | cleared my eyes. the brilii.nce
only increased, and the old nail might
have shamed the richest diamond pin
of Queen Victoria. The candle went
quite out, yet still the nail shonc on,
and now | distinctly heard low mu-
steal sound like the bass of some soft
toned instrument. ! arose, and me-
chanically approached the nail, when
it said distinctly =" Sit down and l
will give you my biography. | have
seen you weep many time when you
deemed that God only could see you
through the darkness around you |
have seen many others weep also. and
perchancc the story Of their gricls will
shame you of your own; or, if you scrite
my biography, it may bring you that
which will, in measure, alleviate your
present distresscs. Know, then, that
although ] have been acquainted with
mankind more than two hundred years,
that period is but a small part OF my
existence. Centuries | lay passive in
the bosom Of the eternal mountains
With all his pride of research, man
knows nothing of the mysteries of those
su5teranean palaces. where the free
and mighty spirits Of darkness congre-
gate, where metal, mineral and fossil,
is each represented by its own proper
spritc and the angels Of the diamond,
the opal, and the carbunklc. brood
over the treasures which it is theirs to
guard. Where there are often fearful
sound. and shrieking voices, and earth
quake rushings, and brillianoies that
emit no light, and are intense in the
SURF oundlng darkness. There is gran
deur, aye, and beauty, in those deep
palaces, where stand the strong found
atoms, of the mighty bases of the ever
lasting hills. There is grandeur and
beauty wherever nature dwclls alone
with God. But there came or the sa-
credncss Of our repose a messenger,fa faint
he was with the distance he bad sped,
and he told that man was borrowing
in our Observation-Disclosures man, the
robber, prompted by the passions of
his evil nature, was forcing us from our
temples, in order to make US slaves 20
hit vice, or ministers to his prcposter-
Gus pride. One messenger followed
fast upon another, each announcing the
nearer approach of the marauder.
Sturdily did he deal his iron-armed
blows, and at every wound, the shud
dering spirits shrieked defiance, yet he
deemed our voices natural answers Of
dead masses to his blows. And still,
as he let in the light upon US, the VIOLA
tile spirits mingled with its essence,
and the treasures of that change be-
came hard-earned prey. And then
hrst met the human face. More ter
rible was it in its expression than the
features OF the most hideous spirits Of
the fossil caves, which watch by the
petriiactions of animals, huge as the
islands of the great sea, and dreadful
as the pictures which superstition draws
OF wrath. Monsters so terrible that
their maker suffered not their race to
survive the universalh food. You won.
der to hear me speak of my powers of
perception. But we are mighty in the
magnetic properties. We not only
discern the face, but we mix intimate
ly with the soul, and feel out its most
secret workings, and most earthly
guarded propensities. He who | first
met was a criminal. condemned by the
laws Of Sweden to endure for weary
years the living death, in the iron tomb
Of the dark gloomy mine. He was