Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-01-28
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Widows Son.

h'he 10 Il btdNlltul oJltnElu WHICH IL ShlhF
ed through tears ;lbut how severe the lesson
which teaches us patience and forlitude un-
der trials. The Widow Mellan learned this
lesson early in life, and bore on her counie-
nance the stamp of calm resignation when
trials nobly borne were calculated to give
] have her face before me now. as she nsed
to look when she walked into the village
church on Sunday; a pale, sad face, II was
but with not enough melancholy TO destroy
the effect of a smile that ever rested there
with so much holiness in it that one wonder
ed how sorrow could have dimmed her beau
ty, and yet give her such a heavenly grace
The becoming black bonnet of the wIdow'
the rusty Grape shawl, worn in summer over
a black silk gown, and in winter over a pc
lisse, were as well known and as duly eNpec-
ted as the iime-worn suit ofthe minister MN
self. She was always an object OF attraction
and sympathy, and many a time strangers
would turn their eyes over from the preacher'
to gaze at the faded lady in the corner pew
Every body knew her, all the nelghbors
could tell volumes in her praise, for who was
so ready for a good deed as the Widow Mel
Ian? Who knew so well how to cheer the
afflicted, for God bless her-she had met
with so many Affections herself. what SICK
bed was there, she did not prove q KIND ana
faithful nurse? And for chaTity-Chrlstlan
charity, who had so open a hand, though how
she managed with her small means, 10 keep
even her W little house so tidy and COM
Portable, was a mystery to all. That little
house nestled pleasantly at the foot OF the
hill by the church, and half hid in a wilder
ness of sweet. briars and locust-trees, had no
inmates but the widow and her orphan niece,
Fanny Grey. But all the elder people in the
village could remember the time when a
Young thriving couple-no other than honest
John Mellan and the now lone widow-dwelt
there surrounded by a troop Of as lovely chill
dren as ever made two, hearts glad. But there
came a sad change over them. Poor Mrs
Mellan had sometimes said, in the iulness OF
her heart of Joy, yet with a kind OF PRESENT.
ment of coming i'll which so frequently in
trudes itself in the midst of happiness-"my
life is as glad as a burst Of sunshine-as for
care and sorrow, | never knew what they
were-and we seem 10 be blessed now, | al
most fear it will not last"
And it did not last. There came sorrows,
one after another, ill from her crushed and
burdened heart she cried, alt is enough!
in mercy spare me no longer!" But
she was spared-as if to see how much one
heart might bear without breaking. 1t was
bitter trial to feel a mothers first grief,
when she pressed her hand on the i%ce-cold
BROW of her frst-born boy; but bitterer still
when the yourg husband who had Just be-
gun his life with her was laid in the grave,
and she was left, with the wretched helpless
ness of one who has garnered her earthly
happiness in a form Of earth, and the burden
of caring for and training up her little father
less flock.
But these left her soon-one by one the
bright buds were severed from the stem, till
she the mother of the beautiful stood alone,
with all her household gods shattered around
her-all but one; and that one, the youngest
and %fairest of all, was a fragile thing that
seemed destined to share the same fate ofhis
fallen playmates. But his very weakness
gave her strength, for with the consciousness
that he needed a cherisher and protector,
came a wish TO do her duty, and a sense of
her life's value for his sake. So she nour-
ished the bud, and when it expanded, she
found a thorn to pierce her.
She toiled morning and night for his sake;
she denied herself to give him luxuries; she
watched over him as none but a mother can
watch, until all her hopes and wishes were
centered in her child. And he was the sun
light to her dwelling; he kissed away her
tears and encouraged her and told her how
happily they two might pass their lives to-
gether. His smile lightened her sorrows,
and his glad, cheering mirth through the long
day beguiled her WEAKNESS; and when veal
after year rolled round, and she saw his good
and generous feelings developing, she priced
too highly the treasure, which like one droE
of mercy in a cup of sorrow had been Civ
en- her, and thanked heaven that she had
been spared to guide one lamb to its eterna
home. He was a bright noble, boy, anC
promised to be a blessed support in her ad
vancing years. 1t did her good to hear tn
neighbors talk Of him; her eye would ligh
up and her cheek glow with unwonted lus
ter; and, alas for her, she woke from he
dream to remember that earth's perishabl
idols are of clay. The boy-little Ned Mel
Ian, as he was called-bore as good a hear
as ever beat-a heart guarded all around b,
a tallsman, and that " as a mothers influence
and exulting in her power, she did not be
lieve that he could fall. But his frank an,
unsusplcious nature rendered him an cas-
dupe to those who love to take advantage {
viz 1OubS olh uthiu Al ulCuiioCAOuoi
to her, and almost so to himself, he connet
ted himself with bad associates, and that to
at an age when temptations are strongest
They gained him first by rousing his prid,
and, yielding to impulse, he joined them b.
cause they said he dared not. After that the
tried other means; by flattering and praisir
him they won him, ill he felt a pleasure
the society he had before shrunk from. TT
progress in guilt was gradual but sure, ar
so imperceptible, that it was long before h
mother was aware OF it, bat by and by, wht
she perceived a strange flush OF his chez
and an unusual brilliancy in his eye, she W
troubled. She felt that something was wror
with him, and yet hardly knew what to fea
but at last friends who learned the truth, b
feared to speak it, told how he had been wa
ting his time and money, with a lot of wi
young men; and she drew him to her side Of
evening and questioned him kindly and ger
ly of the wrong he had done.
The boy was touched to the heart, and
barred his whole sonl to her as he would
Haavan and on hiS Enaao in tho s,iII,,ee