Semi-weekly Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1851-1852, 1851-06-13
ELLA MASON;
Or, the Bomaure of Second Marriage.
By HFFIE EVERGREEN.

q
riage :" And the speaker, fair and gentle
looking woman, no longer young. but with
countenance whose placid beauty lime could
not destroy, looked pleasantly INTO the bright
eyes of the lovely girl who sat On low otto
man beside her.
"Not one particle Of romance, Aunt Hctty,
either in the marriage itself or i'll the hearts OF
those who contract it. All freshness Of feeling
must be gone before such thing can he Thought
of; and believe a second marriage is always
mere matter either OF calculation or conrenl-
encc"
But even allowing the unfortunate indiVidu.
al, who second time enters the married stale,
to have lost his freshness of feeling, rs you call
it, and to be incapable OF loving again with all
the ardor of his first love, may not be twice
loved! Aud may there not he as much roman.
tic devotion to him in the heart of his second
partner as in the first :"
1Impossible, aunt! "A heart requires a
heart, ror will be satisfied with less than what
it gives He would only have the shadow OF
love to OFFER and therefore could not receive the
substance in return.
.And SO poor Sidney, rich handsome, accom-.
plished, aud agreeable as you own him to be,
has been rejected simply because he has loved
before 1t is hard. indeed, il he must pass the
rest of his life alone, because he had the mis-
fortune to loose the object of his first choice,
10 whom he was united when little more than u
how. Dying, as she did, in less than month
from their marriage, that early attachment must
seem to him more like n pleasant dream than
!, reality"
"It is a dream to which lie still clings most
fondlv, aunt. | have seen him show lar more
emotion when speaking of his dead wife than
he ever did in expressing his love Tor me-"
"And that emotion, Ella should have thought
YOU how deeply he can love, and the worth OF
the heart you have thrown from you. lear
me YOU may live to repent this foolish fancy
Never never, aunt could not love 'ir.
Sidney and would sooner die than marry
one Idid not love. respect aud esteem hIn;
bat never will accept divided heart-one
filled with the memory Of u former affection.
shall never love but once and if cannot re-
ceive in return the freshness OF Il first and only
devotion, will doas you have done aud remain
single" IS. n
1--WE shall sec" replied her aunt, smiling
though half sadly. "iou know but little o
life vet. Ella. |, for one shall not be surprised
il, after all this roniancej You commence the
realities oflle BY uniting yourself to wldoweF
with halfa dozen children, not half so attract
i've or interesting as George Sidney"
Aunt Iletty" commenced the girl indIg,
nant; but she loved her aunt dearly, aud meet
ing her now playful smile, the angry flush up
on her cheek. sni,sieL, and, tossing the curls
hack from her fair brow, she concluded the
| conversation with. "You are too bad, aunt l
will 90 and talk to Fido: really believe he has
more sentiment tan YOU And she was soon
bounding through the garden with her tavorlte
! spaniel at her side.
! Ella Mason was the eldest daugb gbter OF
wealthy and iuduigcnt parents. Lovely and
Interesting, thougiinot strikingIy beautIlui' she
! had many friends, and had as yet known moth
ins of the realities of life. The pride OF her
parents, ard Of the aunt who had superintendent
her education, aud the. idol OF her younger
brothers and sisters. she had guided through
the world for eighteen years, sheltered from It's
trials, withSo wish ungratified, nor fancy cross
cd. Suitors had gathered round but she was
still, "in maiden meditation, fancy free, Geo
Sidncy whose offer aud rejection gave rise TO
the conversation with which our tale begins
was the only one whose attentions she had ever
encouraged, and this was bnt from her isno
rance OF his true feelings towards her. Che es'
trented him as friend, almost as brother
but to think Of him us lover aud n'iSbann--
oh no she would be no G,an's sernnu wiie
aud, with this firm resolve, she turned To lie:
| birds and flowers, and dreamed ol 4 ihta'e lis
as bright aud cloudlrss rs the past ii'ld raei'.
But clouds were gathering IN her SKY al,
though she saw them not and before she had
passed her nineteenth summer, the sun OF world
" prospprit, was shining on her way no more
One OF those sudden cnnvulsons which some.
times shake the commercial world, destroyed
brr fathers fortune in day. Everything was
swept from them their beautiful house passed
into the hands of strangers; and they touno
themselves dependent upon their own exertIons
tor suppor.. It was a terrible blow, and al tirsi
seemed more than they could bear =; ana' ou'
for aunt Hettv. a sister Of Mrs. Mason, whe
had shared their prosperity, aud still clung t.
them in aclvcrsty, they might have sunk into
homeless poverty. Her cheering words rouscc
first til. pareuts and then Ella, from their stu
por and a little cxertion procured Tor mr. ma
son clerkship, which would secure them Al
least from absolute want while his daushte
sought, and by the assistance other friends, Oh
tanned a situation as governess in the family o
q Clergyman in the neighborIng city:
1t was q sad trial to the young girl to leave
those whom she loved so dearly, and 60 ou
among strangers ; but she knew it to be neces