American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1844-11-12

'''' ''N an CNC lIp'li llDillt, WIFI ITO
but man whose crime proclaimed him an out
law. The grass was that night our couch; the
! heavens drew their curtains round us, and God
from on high watched over our slumbers-
Happy is the rest of the innocent, happy indeed
the repose OF those who can look beyond the
worlds cares and strife to heaven as final
resting place. Who wonld not prefer a cold
bar-door-stcp, with tranquil conscience, to a
| bed OF down and an aching heart! Our sleep
was sweet; for, although trouble and sorrow
I encompassed our path, love threw its light be-
fore and guided us forward. Yet we were both
III universal estimation, criminals; he had quit
ted his duty was amenable to his countrys laws
and ] had left my parents, and forfeited all
right again to claim their protection. But is
/ their no claim, no tie on mankind superior to
these conventional rules Of right and wrong?-
Is nature to submit to the dictates of cold repu-
latons, or fly, on her own warm impulses, an
aerial spirit Of good in world of sin! Give me
/ the unshackled freedom of natural ideas uucor-
rnpted by evil connections or bad education;
let us rather regard our own feelings, than the
code by which our compcers are willing to be
guided. Read-and He who has given the
words of inspiration for our benefit and control,
will not allow us to err in our conclusions if
we sincerely ask his assistance.
AS soon as IT was possible 10 do so, we were
married, and slowly pursued our way towards
distant part otlhe country, subsisting on the cha
rlty and hospital y Of free, warm-hearted pco-
pie, for, whatever have been the mistortunes of
Ireland, however low she may have sunk in the
scale OF nations, she is still most conspicuous in
these Christian virtues, and her honest, frank
peasantry she may well be proud Of
We struggled through every difficulty; my
husband too much occupied with me, too full
OF love to let either poverty or any apprehen-
SONS for his safety interfere with our happiness
in each other; and the holy name of wife had
gwen to my decreasing strength fresh energy.
Thus we travelled on until We reached the lit
tie village where, | scarce know why, we had
agreed to rest, and seek to live by the eXertion
Of our hands. Morgan, young and active, was
not long before he obtained very good employ
ment We earned subsistence, and required
not more; we enjoyed riches III ourselves to
which those clad IN purple and fine gold are
often strangers. What visions of hope then
dazZcd us, and alas, how cruelty have we been
deceived
/ The clergyman of the parish was Morgan's
master. He was man considerably past the
middle age, and was married TO n very beauti-
tul young lady, who with, her two little chill
dren, not unirequently visited our poor hut,
and, by her feeling generosity, often added
much to our comfort. The first time saw
her husband hated him; in his presence my
blood was chilled with fear know not wheth-
er such hasty impressions may gradually be-
come a settled conviction, or if there be feel
ing wisely implanted within, to warn US even
iiom the approach of danger, and which every
day cries out more loudly to beware. IIowev-
er, the rector was my aversion, and my hus-
band sought in vain TO combat with what he
called my prejldices. | shrunk from his APP
proach, and stunned his presence when posi-
! bic, but ths'l was seldom able to do; for, under
the pretence Of pastoral visits, and with the
| Bible as a cloak for his schemes, soon dlscov-
cred that he sought to corrupt my mind
aud undermine my virtue. And so precious
was his reasoning, and so apparently honest
and holy his motives that was almost con-
WINGED against conviction that had suspected
without cause, and condemned hastily and UNI
/ Justly good man and Gods minister. Bot the
veil was speedily to be removed from my eyes;
his own wife warned me of my danger! She
told me her own sad story; how that she,
the daughter Of an English peer, had been de-
ceived into marriage with this man. who, the
moment he had thus secured her fortune, for
got his VOWS, added cruelty TO infidelity, and
even attempted to sell his wife's honor to
lIcentlous patron, as the pr; of church prefer
ment.
4 Such Il confederation OF crime is horrible,
even in contemplation but how awfully ap-
pallng in the reality A servant of the Most
| High, sworn to preach religion and inculcate
morality breaking his oath, and himself in
citing to sin; making the very office to which
lie has been ordained his passport to debauche-
ry, and the inspired volume foundation for
his Internal sophistry; prostituting the sacra-
ments and altars of his church to the vilest of
purposes, and heaping full to the brim the moi
some compound of atrocity, which will, in the
end, ignite the eternal fires to devuur his mise
rable soul
My prosecutor, finding that | was proof
against all his insidious arts, and that my vir-
! tue would not be surrendered TO his iascina-
! tons, threw off the mask and openly assailed
me with menace and threat. He told me that
my husband had confided his secret to him,
and that my chastity must be the price Of his
silence; dared refuse, prison should that We
ry night close on the man most loved, and
destitute and unfiiended, he would compel me
to satisfy his lusts, and then throw me on the
world debased and miserable outcast Bred
up, from my earliest childhood, in the prnc
Piles of a religion which inculcates the strctest
morality, and in country where the marriage
bed is guarded by the honor OF brave men and
the fidelity of honest women, shuddered at
his very words. Taught from infancy to re-
gard the priesthood as examples of all that is
good and pure, as servants of our Saviour, |
could scarcely believe | heard Alright the bold
bad words which this man had uttered; and,
falling on my knees before him, prayed, in
all the earnestness of terror, for mercy-for
protection. But in vain: the hot blood Of pas
sion was now even more StrOnU than his for
mer base intentions, and rushing on me with
brutal force, might have succeeded where So
phistry had failed; but the door quickly open
! ed nd The ininrad wife cnnfrnnted her recre-