Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-06-09
MORNING, JUNE 9. 1851.
MISC EuLANEOUS
MEMORIES.
The Opal Ring.
BY A LADY OF VIRGINIA.
~He wrote amid the ruins ofhis hoar..-Fss,ys

rent Of waters, and from the pure sources
which have first flashed back the sunbeam
or quivercd with the moonlight. like {,
follow the devious windings of the nascen
brook, adorned with its tracery Of bloom
the tortuous pathway of the widening
streamlet, wearing lis fiinges of bending
boughs and blossoming tendrils-thc more
majestic, undulating sweep Of the erea
reservoir Of many tributaries, the rolling
rushing, broadening river, with its foamine
eddies and its sleeping pols--its Drawing
rapids, and its rpling tides. Thus, in the
moral world, | often revert to the fair he
glnnings of life's stream, and pursuing it.
after course, and marking the alternating
currents which hurry on its multitude O
waters, to the last great ocean, | deduce
therefrom, soul ennobling, spirt-strcngthen
ing lessons.
Ny heart Is one vast repository Of me
moriesi and it, oft times plcases me to regis.
ter, with my visible hand, those incidents
which Remembrance has cronicled, and
perpetuated, within my bosom. | now
bcthink me ofthcwarm and unclouded lghr
ofaJune sun, lolling in halfbreezeless in,
dolenceupon slopinglawn Scquestered
from theardor ofits hotnoo by the boughs
OF lnterlacing trees and clambering vines
whiled away the glowing hours with dean
and chosen companion. The chime Of her
gleeful laughter stirred the summer air. and
words Of music, sparkling with ioyousness,
came forth in hurrying sentences from her
roseate lips. She was the bright embodi-
ment ofgladness-the breathing imperson-
alton ofioy. The sunshine seemed to seek
her for lis kindred spirit, and as she Sat,
graceful as Dryad, among the dropping
boughs which formed her bower, Phasbus
had made trcasonablecompactwith Zephy-
rus, and the leafy portals gained, stole in
shyiy' and trlppmgly; now he kissed the
glowing check, which beneath such amo-
rous daliance put on deeper fush-now
he touched her long floating locks, so dark
and shadowy, until they caught some wan
dering ray, and imprisoned it within their
sllken tolls, when flying hither and thither,
TO escape captivity, the truant sunbeam
lostitselfin labyrintliian masses, and 50
turned the tresses to cleaning gold
Il could quarrel with tie sunshine for
thus usurping part Of my fairy domain" T"
spoke the laughing girl, "only that have
such an affinity with its brightness, in all
things else, | cannot now assign it limits
which it dares not traneress. We'll! | love
ITS beaming glories, confess, and in the
days of mythic worship | should have been
a devout adorer of the sun-clad Apollo
There must be sunshine for me in the skv
sunshine on the earth-sunshne in nv
heart-naught else in the fair outer, and
more mysterious inner world eschew
all things less bright, and | will not regis
ter aught upon my memory which wears
no rays. The motto Of the old Venetian
dial pleases me we'll
''ioras non numero. sine sercnas.''
Yes! ilaith, like thepoetic time -piccc,which
told its hours by the unfoldingand shutting
of bud and blossom, intend to note only
those moments which float through life in
golden vestments; and with fowery crown,
and as Prlestess Of such hours, herewith
proclaim myself" Thus halfsoliloquising,
the giddy girl plucked from theturfbesid
her, spire Of the "Naiadlike Lily cf the
Vale,' and shook its snowy bells ii playful
port
Prattle on, thou fair spirit Of JOY and glad
ness! Linger in the @primrose paths Of
early glrlhood, and daily with its aowercts
whilst thou mayl Though there may be
more radiant skies, and more alluring bios
SONS IN the way of womanhood which is
stretching beiorethc those skies now bath
ed IN thy iavorite sunshine may vet bring
forth the surcharged cloud, and those bios
within their painted chalices, may
yet bear the poisonous drop Yeti would
not disenchant thee! | would not blot out
the fair Atlantis, which thou scest gem
ming the dim ocean Of the future |
would not rife that orient isle ofits sumpt-
nous luxuliancc, and its summer verdurc!
! would not hang wintry icicles upon
Its Howery boughs! Too soon viii come
such darkened season for thy young life
the stern teaching, and rugged wisdom,
and chilling knowledge, which blot out the
lar romances, with which Hope hath be-
sulled credulous, trustful youth All! let
not the hand be morfdl, which shall erase
such heautious picturings! Let the teach
er be Hearenly, who shall show forth to hu-
man vision the 'airy notlings" on which
we have based 50 many gliitering fabrics!
Rather, let the desocrator ttcmble, who,
with unhallowed license, would profane
the Pantheon Of Youths hopes, and bear
thence the shrined Gods Of its idolatry,-
Let him pause, ere he distil the poison in
the golden censor, which makes fragrant a
hearts sanctuary! Let him deliberate, ere
hehushth dithyramLic songs, which would
make earth, and air, and life itself vocal and
glorious with harmony,
In following the after fate ofthe cornpan-
ion who shared with me the brightness of
that summer noon, and in sketching the out
line Of her destiny, I shall call her AletAe,
and thus give embodiment to that word,
which the ancient Greeks, in their classic
tongue named TrutA. It was the spiritu
al, urblemished truthfulness Of character
the spotlcss integrity Of heart and prin-
ciple striving to cast its ofulgence ovcrthe
grosser materialisn Of life, and to light up
It's shadowy masses with the radiance Of her
own spirit, which lent to Alethe her sweet
est charm. Her nature was guileless and
stainless, as though she had been nurtared
beneath an Angels wing, and the ineliabla
sweetness Of her countenance, scene ana
ndafen-lt' ne like esanIneFe :.wiiightproclaim-
cd the purity q ..Ae soul it rejected.
Eoc@.. Behold Ter, now! GirIhood has
shedlts bioq.n, and the ripe maturity Of wo-
m--nnood is resting on her. She has passed
into the charmed world Of which she has SO
long dreamed, and she is now trying its
bright realities! That witchery Of beauty,
so rarely encountered even in the fairest
phases Of humanity, that we are prone to
consider 1t ideal. and only the fruit of the
sculptor 5 vision, or the ofisnrito of tbe linn.