The Columbian fountain., 1846-09-28
sneral intelliseufe
Rev. j. I. WARD, Assistant Editor.
PRICE ONE CENT.

man with only aspider for his compan-
ion, and he will become Interested in il,
and il SO happened one day, by some unac-
countable accident, that Ned made remar-
kable discovery, which was, that his cou-,
sin Mary possessed peculiarly sweet
voice, that most excellent thing in wo-
man, and soon afterward he came 10 the
conclusion that she had pair of soft blue
eyes, full Of truth and goodness. Whether
it was that he was removed from all other
young ladies--that Kate and Fan, and Car
ry, and hundred more Of his divinities
were out Of the way; or how it chanced ex-
acdy, j know not, but so it did occur, and
he could not help wishing, that some clever
fellow would offer himself, for Mary would
make such sweet little nurse, and notable
house Keeper, and all that sort OF thing; me-
yer dreaming that he might perhaps secure
such a treasure, to tighten with her pres
sence his own fire side; and when his mo-
ther talked of Mary's good qualities, aud
said in return for all the kindness they had
received, she should invite her neice to
spend some time with them in New York,
Edward gravely answered,
Very well, ma'am, shall be glad if you
do and returned to his book again. Cou-
sin Mary was nothing more to him than
kind relative that was cetain. yaotu !. t.n.
. By an by our invalid was enabled to
leave his room and get into the parlor ,----,
How delightful it was to be once more one
of the family circle, to meet them all at their
merry evening meal; when uncle Nealand's
mirth-inspiring laugh was awakened by
Tom's jokes, or Ned's witticism- where
aunt Nealand poured out the tea in large
generous cups, and little Sue dropped in
the sugar, by way Of helping along Ned
began to fancy he should Ikea country
life almost as well as he did country fare.
Here, too, our hero, made still further dis
coveries in his cousin Mary's ,charater. He
saw her with her parents, such a dutiful
daughter; with her brothers and sisters, SO
kind and gentle with her friends, so cour-
teous and attentive. Every day brought
some, new excellence TO light, which far
outweighed the want of personal charms.
Personal charms why she wasn't plain
looking girl after al--Ned's opinion was
changed she blue eyes and white
teeth? and if her mouth was rather large,
was it not garnished with smiles and was
not her hair smooth and glossy What
sophist had Ned become. But there was
one thing which annoyed him little tho
he could not exactly tellwhy, and that was,
the frequent visits ofjust such clever fellow
as he had wished his cousin Mary might
fall in with A handsome fellow, too, who
bore the stamp Of natures true nobility in
form and feature, with well lined purse
to boot; desideratum in those days as
well as now. These visits decided the fate
Of our hero. A man can stand any thing
better than a rival, and so one morning,
when his mother and aunt were out visiting,
and he and Mary were left tete-a-tete in the
parlor, Ned popped the question. He did
not 60 down on one knee, because he could
not, but he just told her that he loved her
better than any thing else in the world, and
could not be happy without her. e. a..s
| believe ladies seldom make any
response upon these interesting occasions,
at least Mary did not, but she suffered
him TO retain the hand he held, and when
she looked up, those gentle blue eyes were
full of tears, and Ned kissed them away,
and Mary did not forbid him.
"What strange things come to pass,
some times," said the fair Cary Lindsay,
as she and Fanny Leland were strolling
down Broadway, about six months after
this. tsWho would have thought, Fan,
that cousin Ned, with all his boasted
love Of beauty, would have married such
a plain grip"
z ao"Who indeed ?" said Fanny. "He who
was such worsbipper OF female charms,
and once declared that his wife should be
the most beautiful creature in the world"
"All men are alike" said Miss Lindsay,
with toss of her pretty head, "and are
sure to do the very thing they once alb
iured. You never heard man rave about
beauty in your life, who did not in the
end marry fright" G th1 ina
"And Ned has not proved an exception
10 so general rule," replied her cousin,
laughing. Snow if Mary had been rich,
we might perhaps say he had found some-
thing better than pretty face"
And Fanny Nealand was right, though
not exactly in the sense in which she IN
tended, for Ned acknowledged that his
plain little wife is worth dozen sparkling