The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1851-08-16
PA RI | |.


Byron.
DAYS, weeks and months rolled bv.
A year had L I'D away s,n:c the part,
ing, and another must pass before the
reunion, for they had separated with
the understanding that in two years Ar
thur was to return and claim Lilly as
his bride. But she was not drSolate-
for l.ttcrs from Arthur, filed with glow
ing pictures Of his success, had reached
her often, and gIaddcned all her being,
and tc her view the star Of the future
shone re>pten1cnt. A distinguished
author says there is "a life within life
which two persons know together
which one knows not without The other
which ceases 10 10th the instant they
are dividcd.' With Lilly it was not so.
Her affections clUng so closely around
Arthur that that life when they were
divided did not cease. So completely
was her whole existence absorbed by
her passion, that she lived in world of
her own-a world without inhabitants
save Arthur and herself, and though
thousands of miles absent he was to her
ever present.
But she now received letters from him
less frequently, and the tone OF them
was altered. They did not breathe the
same devoted carnestnesS and feeling as
formerly. A woman's heart is more
acute in its perception of an estrange-
ment in the affections ola lover than a
| :, # Il L. =,
instrument. The slightest change is
perceived. Often word spoken thought
le>sly or in jest goes home with the
keencst anguish-ofIcn tone altered,
not in reality, but for the moment by a
rude intercourse with the world,
"a trihe light as air-a look"
is treasured up and pondered on, and
wept over, as those only who have truly
loved can know. Then beware, O be-
ware, how you tritlc with the heart of a
woman; for it is one Of the finest and
most perfect pieces of mechanism that
ever came from the hand of God, and if
rude y iarred-ifo one Of its finest chords
is disarranged-a life is forever after
rendered miserable.
And then came report that Arthur
had been led astray-that he had for
gotten promises and his vows--that
he had pressed the wine cup 10 his lips
and was to be found nightly at the ac-
cursed gaming-table with the worthless
and the vile. What rtuintelIigence
was this to poor Lilly! Yet it could
not bet was a slanderous report. Ar
thur could never so far forget himself,
and so far forget her, as TO act thus. No
she would not believe it. Thus reas-
oned Lilly with herself; for the last
thing woman will believe is that the
one she loves has become degraded and
proved unworthy Of her love. She will
continue to doubt the truth Of the intel
liSence long after doubt has been redu-
ced to certainty, and to hope on; and
wien at length she ceases to hope, the
thought will come clinging to her heart
that he was once pure and free from ev-
cry blemish, but became corrupt and con-
taminated in his jostlng with the world.
And when al! the rest OF the world have
forsaken and forgotten him she will,
when no eye is on her but the eye OF
God, weep over his dereiction, and Of
fer up a prayer for his welfare; and if
he repent Of his errors, and like the
ptodigal son returns, she will forget his
faults and his follies, and love him more
intensely than ever.
For long time did Lilly turn a deaf
ear to the reports that reached her OF
Arthur's derelictions, and strive to cher
iSh the belief that he was still uncorrup
and faithful. She knew too we'll that
the tenor of his letters had changed
that his last, (and she had not received
one for some months,) breathed to her
soul different language from his first.
But bic strove to excuse his changed