The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1849-10-11
A Chapter ON Witches.

Undpttf Oil WttcutS
Grace Greenwood discourses, In the
happiest vein of humor and philosophy
combined, upon Witches, in the paragraphs
which follow. They are from a recent
letter in the National Era, TO which Grace
is contributing a series of most delightful
epistles:
1--WE also visited Salem last week
What substantial, stationary, self-satisfied
aristocratic look there is about this fine old
town. How unlike any other place in
this changing, hurried, ambitious, advan-
cling, levelling, new world of ours. But
Salem is modern enough TO be beautiful
and elegant, and evidently rich enough TO
dispense with the noise and hustle and
mad hurry of money-making.
After Execution had been pointed
out to me, my mind was thronged with
sad and awful memories, and looked in
voluntarily about me as l walked the
streets, for weird sisters, among the pas
sers by. / saw no wrinkle faced, sinister
eyed old women, but saw plenty smiling,
blooming young girls, who could not deny
their own aOitchiug beauty, were they
hanged for it. All. ii would have gone
hard with them in the good old colony
times! Neither trial by fire nor trial by
water would have saved them, for the name
of their victims would have been legion.
After all, are we wiser in our day and gen.
Grafton than our forefathers! They hung
such ar were fairly proved to be witches,
and condemned as such, but, doubtless.
many escaped through cunning or bribery,
or the pity of others. But, in our time, all
possessing, or suspected of possessing, or
thinking they possess dangerous charms,
are Immediately immured In close ball
rooms, concert rooms, school rooms, kitch-
ems and nurseries: deprived of proper air,
exercise, aims and comforts; forbidden to
ramble and climb, laugh loud, wear thick
shoes; compelled to waltz into the morn
ing, and sleep into noon; to subsist on
French novels and French cookery; to
embroider blue-black brigands and pink
cherubs in worsted; or, even worse, TO toll
day after day in noisy factories and mill
nary shops! Thus are our aoitcheS speed.
lily and effectually deprived oftheir mighty
spells, the wicked entertainments, which
for brief while, held in their thrall the
. souls of men. Thus, from bright eyes
grown dim, from rosy cheek grown pale
from the plump figure grown spare. from
the neat dress grown careless, from the
low, sweet voice. grown sharp and petu
liant, goes out the strong my sterious charm
forever.
Oh, mournful fate of womankind! Jus
at this moment, healthy, glowing face
t was turned toward me from only the othel
side of the table, and pair of aoitch-haze
/ eyes met mine, and smiled as IN uncon
scious defiance my fancy's sad prophe
cy. To her, and such as her, would say
if one has a corps de reserUe of menta
| resources and heart-riches, to step in ane
, fill up the ranks, as the blooms and attrao
tons of youth give way, why is all very
t well, and shows good generalship in thi.
/ short struggle with time, which poets have
f named 'the battle of life,' but which with
, many of us only amount to little sklr
2 mishing, with no glory and no spoils, ant
followed with endless marching, till som,
: morning, when revellle awakes US, ant
: there is no answer to our names in the rol
: call.