Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-07-21

D cherished. Yet her lofliness was not tn,
D OF pride; it was rather the elevation Of
2 heavenly nature, the nobleness Of sou
which retain too bright an impress of il
, immortal birth to beur one stain of earth
) And then she was so beauliful! Good heay
en-! when l remember that glorious coun
tenance lighted up with all the splendor o
such mud and heart-when | recall tn
image oil that stately and gra ceful crentur,
whose footsteps fell upon the earth like tn,
snow fake upon wool-when live Owe
these blissful hours in which her voice wa.
idaily music fmy life, and her smiles il.
sweetest light. wonder that am yet q
denizen Of this dull earth, when its melody
and it's sunshine have forever vanished.
"Yct Helen shared not knew not nv
feelings. Devoted to her failing brother,
she seemed TO have no room for another
affection in hsr heart, and dtred not dis
iurb the pure current Of her feelings by
the shadow of a less holy love. She re
garded me as her brothers friend, she wns
grateful tor my attention to the invalid,
and the smile, the kindly clasp Of the hand
with which she daily met me, were but
emanat ol,s OF her sislerly tenderness.
sis she not a noble creature?" said
Charles Mord aunt to me, one day, as she
glided from the, room in search Of some
flowers to decorate his apartment. '-Oh,
if you but knew half her devotion, half her
goodn ess! beautiful as she is and God
never madesa lairer being-her spirit is
more angelic than her .seraph body"
Il know no, what power impelled me,
but at these words, the fountain Of my sym.
pathy we're broken up, and 'ur, d
forth the resistless torrents Of my long re.
pressed feelings. | told HIM Of my frs,
meeting with his sister in the picture galle.
ry-of my vain search for them-of my
visit TO their ancestral home-of my quest
through italy-and finally, in the eloquent
words OF passion, told him of nv wild and
earnest love. | had no. yentured to look
toward him while uttered my confessi IN,
but when he still remained silent, raised
my head, and observed spot Of red in his
lhln cheek, while tear gathered in his
unnatural bright eye. For moment he
hesitated, then grasping my hand he said:
81 will not disguise from yeu my friend,
that the time acas when my ire would have
risen to a lever heat, had any but the scion
of noble house sought the hand of Helen
Mordaunt. Ny family have fallen from
their high estate, YET cannot forget that
the blood of princes runs in the veins of the
TWO last defendants of race once lofiiest
in my own proud lana You, as oil Amer.
lean can share! zone of this feeling, and can
sympalhize little in this vain pride, yet tits
inborn in the child Of noble liennge, and
can easier part with any other prejudice
than that which places me beyond tie reach
of fortunes frowns. Yet this objection to
your suit which would not, perhaps, be in
surmounsable in Helen's mind, (who shares
none Of my weakness, mt even that of
family pride. is not the only one. We
are q singularly doomed family, you know
that we hold the ancient faith, and my
mother, was one Of OF the most rigid Of de>
voices, had early destined Helen and my
death Of an elder brother and sister had in.
duced her to relinquish her res ,lution, but,
when the sudden death Of my father was
followed bv my gradual decline Of health,
she remembered her broken pledge TO the
church, and bowed down in the dust be-
neath the judgement which her i'll kept
faith had brought upon her. My grand
father would not consent to immure in a
clois,er the only heir TO his fading honors,
and my mother went down to her grave
mourning over her broken vow, and pray
ing her darling Helen to make expiution
for the sins Of oil, by the devotion Of her
life TO seclusion.
Helen knew that my mothers wish
would consign her to q convent, but from
this her enlightened piety revolted. She
was sincere Christian, but she saw more
duties in the world than the dull round Of
monastic rites could embrace, and in deyot
ing herself to the last years OF her aged
grandfather, and now giving up her whole
thoughts 10 me, she feels that she is fulfill.
ing the spirit ifnot the letter Of my mothers
vow. But in one respect she has religious
ly obeyed my mothers desire. She has
kept hers elf sunspo.ted from the world,
never mingled in its nmusements, never
sharing its vanities never yielding her heart
TO its affections. Perhaps the conscious
ness Of her own feeble, hold on life has
made the task one of less difficulty, and
has assimilated her pure and noble nature
TO those angelic beings whose company
she may be called to join at a moments
warning.
Horror stricken at these last mysteri.
Gus words, which reminded me of some
vague hints uttered by the old housekeeper
of Mordaunt Hall, | forgo, my mingled
feelings Of pride and disappointment, mud
only thought of the doom which seemed to
impepd over Helen. Eagerly demanded
an explanation, and it was given in few
words. From childhood she had been the
subject Of an organic disease Of the heart,
which shows itself only in increased pulsa.
tion, and the rapidly changeful bues of her
complexion, inflic,iug no print, and scarce
ly making itself felt yet destined to be fa>
tai at some sudden and unexpected moment
"She has long known her fate" said
Charles; s.she lives as one who may be
summoned to the world Of shadows without
hearing single football of the King Of