The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-12-19

HOW
Richard she continued, thou lidst once
WOO me for thy wife, and vert rejected by my
fathers commands Circumstances have brought
about change in his feelings Must speak
it p and slight smile, passing away in an in
slant. illumined the bright flush that rose into
her face. Vert thou to ask again, dear
friend, the answer might be different
So long silence ensued after this speech
that Martha at length raised her eyes sudden
", and fixed them in alarm upon Richards
face. In that face there was no joy, no thank
fulness, no love; nothing buta blank and
CHASTITY stare. He was as white as corpse,
and large beads of sweat stood upon his brow.
Mani what meaneih this 2 cried Martha,
rushing towards him !; but he threw out his
hands to prevent her approach, while the an
swer came hoarse and broken from his bag
gard lips.
n-misery-horror But not for you,'
added Richard, cold and beautiful statue =
Not for you, beneath whose lovely bosom there
beats not woman's heart Pass on, your
way, calm, stately, and alone; softened
by no grief, touched by no love, and leave to
me my despair. Martha, am married ? And
so saying, he rushed out of the room. Mrs.
Hargrave had Just entered it unobserved, and
now stood beside her daughter Martha re-
manned in the same attitude, leaning forward,
gazing intenty at the door, till the noise of
the street door shutting smoie upon her ear
and her heart, and before her mother could in
terpose, she fell senseleSs on her face.
1t is said, and said truly, that men recover
more speedily than women from love disap-
pointments. The reason is, not that they feel
them less deeply, for the converse is the case
the strength of the male character running
through all its emotions-but that the cares
and struggles of life, and even the ordinary
contact with society into which they are fore
cd, serve gradually to detach their thoughts
from the sorrow over which they would other
wise continue to brood. Women, at least in
the class affected most by such disappoint-
ments, have moro leisure than men. The
world has fewer demands upon them and they
can only exhibit their mental power and lofti-
ness Of resolve by making wholesome occupa-
ton for their fevered minds. OF, these wo-
men was Martha Hargrave. Although stunn-
ed at first by the blow, its very suddenness
and severity compelled her to reflect upon
her position, and summon up her energies
! She did not permit her sympathes to lie buri-
ed in one absorbing subject, but cast them a
broad upon the face of society ) and wherever,
within the reach of her influence, there was
ignorance TO be instructed, vice reclaimed, or
misery relieved, there was Martha ready, a
minstering angel at the moment of need
| Under this moral discipline she recovered her
bodily health. The fresh roses of youth con-
tinued TO bloom in her lovely cheeks long at
ter her hair had begun to change its hue and
so the gentle Quaker commenced her descent
gradually, gracefully, glidingly, but still de-
murely-into the vale of years.
The process was different with Richard
| Temple !; but still of kindred character. To
say that he did not repent his marriage would
be untrue but still he had honor and integri-
ty enough to cherish the wife he had married
in return for her love. He devoted himself
to business, and to his rapidly increasing fami-
| ly prospered in both and in due time arrived
at the enjoyment Of at least ordinary happi-
ness. But at length period of commercial
calamity came, and Richard suffered with the
rest. His fixed capital was still moderately
good but he was embarrassed, almost rained,
! for want of money. One day during this cri-
sis he was in his private room in the counting
house, brooding over his difficulties, and in
the least promising mood that could be mag
ined for sentimental recolections, when 4 let
ter was placed before him, the first two lines
of which informed him, in a brief business
like manner, that Martha was dead The pa
per dropped upon the floor; and covering his
face with his hands, he abandoned himself for
long time to the deep and painful memories
of his early years
On emerging from this parenthesis in the
commoner cares of life, he took up the letter
to place il on the table; when, on glancing o.
yer its remaining contents, he found that poor
Martha had bcqueathed to him her watch, and
the whole of her original fortune of 10000
This completely unnamed the man of bust
ness and throwing himself back in his chair,
he sobbcd like child. Although the money
was of infinite Importance to him at the time,
freeing him from his present endorsements,
and paving the way for the splendid fortune
he afterwards acquired, he attached a far high
err value to the personal keepsake. When he
had become quite an old man, it was observed
that, as often as he opened the drawer in which
the relic was kept, be remained plunged in a
deep reverie, while gazing earnestly upon his
Unsatisfactory token of Quaker Love.