The Columbian fountain., 1846-01-28

be fully displayed, in proud comparison of
Margaret Green, and those who now des-
pise her, Your ttgenteel society,"" Hary,I
fear, will be lowered in estimation, and the
gay apparel, and affected mincing and non
sensical rhodomantade, give way before the
lofty sentiments Of virtue, and the bright
glance Of Margaret Green. tremble for
The issue. Good morning. MI ast ggg
n The above dialogue with which we have
seen fit to open this sketch to the reader
was conducted between two youths, who
resided in the same village, and who had
graduated at the same Institution of learn
ing. James Gordon was. the son of re-
spectacle clergyman, who, though he pos
sessed sufficient quantity of wealth, to
entitle him and his family TO the respect ge-
nerally heaped upon this evil and blind
god by the world 1; yet taught, and imbibed
into the hearts of his children sentiments Of
virtue and religion. To them he taught a
proper respect for all men--a due apprecia-
ton of the good--and cordial hatred for
vice and It's concomitants. No matter
whether virtue appeared in the gaudy tinsel
of the court, or in the homely and tattered
garb Of the beggar, to his children, this pi-
Gus father had given the lessons of charity,
love, and respect Upon the wealth of the
world, they were taught to look, as upon
the great and powerful demon which allie
mated the heart and its loftiestaspiraton, and
dearest affections from family, kindred, and
friends-as also from the Almighty God.
Upon the other hand they were taught to
despse and eschew the evil, no matter in
what shape, or under what garb itpresented
itself. Whetheritwa the lowly artizan or the
powerful ruler of state, who was the medi
um through which approached, both alike
were condemned, and both alike met with
the just adherence which inspires virtue,
when it comes in contact with vice. Mo-
ney, the powerful god ofvice-that which
blinds justice, degrades the poor, and sa-
cri6ces God to mammon was looked upon
as the greatest of evils-and used by them
only where good was to be the result.
They felt, with golden key, they csuld
unlock the secret channels Of the heart
throw a veil over the eyes Of humanity,
and wiring to the core, the hearts OF the suf-
fering poor---that they could corrupt the
church and stay the proceedings Of the bar
could prompt the passage Of heinous and
immoral and nhuman licences by the coun-
Gil of the city and the nation--open wide
the doors of crime and murder, and they
abhorred it as they would the features Of
the king ofdarkness. They looked to God,
and to Him alone for support, and correct
principles; and avoiding the haunts of vice,
sought the paths Of rectitude and righteous
ness. Such were the principles which in
spired James Gordon-and such the princi-
Piles he would fain have inculcated into
the bosom Of his young associate.
Harry Bertram, was directly the opposite
of his young friend. Gay and thoughtless,
he rushed heedlessly into all grades of crime
and dissipation. His father was rumsel-
Ter, who, by close attention 10 his accursed
traffic, had amassed considerable property,
and who was looked upon by his fellow
villagers, notwithstanding the base and
damning means he was known to have pur-
sued in the acquisition Of his property, and
the daily course of drinking and gambling
which he assiduously carried out, as re-
spectacle and honorable citizen. From this
man, Harry had imbibed thorough course
of lessons in all that characterizes DANCE
rous member of community He despised
poverty in every shape, no matter what
might have been its cause; but W when drunk
enness was attached to it, his disgust be-
came almost insupportable. Wrelched, in
fatuated mortal In denouncing the drunk
ard and his family as the accursed OF God,
and the despised Of man, he did not for a
moment think that those he was then de-
nouncing were the victims Of his own pa
rent--he did not stop to think that the
wealth he was enabled to lavish upon a life
of splendid misery, was wrenched from the
mouths of weeping mothers and starving
children-and that as he pronounced them
the a.cursed Of Heaven, his own parent,
their destroyer, stood before God in the
double light Of robber and murderer-a
murderer of both body and soul! Such an
idea never entered his mind, and reckless
of consequences, he rushed heedlessly on to
his ruin But an hour was before him-one
fraught with intense pain, and helpless re-
morse--one in which the images of his
youth would be fearfully recalled, and
groaning out an existence of loathsome de-
gradatioa, meet the Judge of Holiness steep
ed in crime and niamy. But will not
anticipate, suffice it to. say, that where