The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1851-04-16

itnct III Deh, IKE an oyster III IT'S sncii, COH-
tent with the sluggish ecsiacy of inacton,
and drowsily conscious of nothing but deli
cious warmth, such as you now feel again.
All that idea has brought bdeohs one in
its train. You think how the dead are lying
in their cold shronds and narrow collins,
through the drear winter of the grave, and
cannot persuade your fancy that they never
shrink or shi,cr, when the STOW is drifting
over their little hiilocks, and the bitter blast
howls against the door Of the tomb That
gloomy thought will collect gloomy multi
tude, and throw its complexion over your
wakelul hour.
In the depths of every heart, there is a
tomb and dungeon, through the lights, the
music and ,cvelry nbote may cause us to
forget their existence, and the buried ones.
or prisoners whom they hide' But some.
times, and ottcncst at midnight, those rccrp
taclcs are flung wide open. In an hour like
this, wien the mind has passive sensiLiily
but 10 active strength when the Imagination
is a mirror, inpar,ng ,ividness TO all IDEAS
without the power of selecting or controlling
them; then pay that yodr grcis may slum
Der. aud the brotherhood Of rcmorse no
break tler chain. Ii is too late A Iuncr
nj train comes gliding by your bed. in which
Passio and Feeling assume bodily shape;
and things Of the mind become dim spctics
to the eye. There is your earliest Sorrow.
Il pale young mourner, wearing sisters
likeness to first love, sadly beautiful. with n
hallowed sweetness in her melancholy fea-
turcs, and grace in the flow of her sable robe.
Next appears shade of ruined loveiness,
with dust among her golden hair, and her
Lrighl garments all faded and defaccd, steal
ing from your glance with dropping head us
fearful Of rcprosch she was your fondest
Hope, but delusive one so call her Disap-
pontmcnt nov. \ sterner form succeeds,
with brow Of wrinkles, Il look and gesture
of iron authority; there is no name for him
unless il be Fatality, an emblem of the evil
influence that rules your fortunes; a demon
TO whom you Subjected Yourself by some err
ror at the outset of life, and were bound his
slave forever, by once obcying him. See
those fendish lineamenis craven on the dark
ness the writhed lip of scorn, the mockcry
of that living eye, the pointed finger, touch
ing the sore place in your heart DO you
remember any act OF enormous folly at whirh
you would blush, even in the remotcst cav.
ern Of the earth? Then recognize your
Shame.
Pass, wrclchel band Well fot the wake
do not surround him, the devils of guilty
heart, that holds its he'll within itself What
if Remorse should assume the features of an
injured friend What il the fend should
| come in woman's garments. with pale beau
~ amid sin and desolaion, and lie down by
your side What If he should stand at
your beds foot, in the likeness of corpse,
with bloody stain upon the shroud? Sulli-
cient without such quilts this night-mare Of
the soul; this heavy, heavy sinking of the
spirits; this winIry gloom about the heart !;
this indisiinct horror Of the mind, blending
itself with the darkness of the chamber.
By desperate effort you start upright.
breaking from a sort of conscious sleep. and
gazing wildly round the bed, as if the fiehds
were any where but in your haunted mind.
At ;he same moment, the slumbering ombers
ON the hearth send forth alcam which pue-
ly iuminates the whole outer room, and
| fickcrs through the door OF the bed.cham-
Der, but cannot quite dispcl lis obscuiiiy
Your eve searches for whatever may remind
you of the living world. With eager min
uteness, yon take note of the table near III,
fireplace, the book with an ivory knife be-
tween its leaves, the unfolded letter. the hal
and the fallen glove. Soon the flame van
ishes and with it the whole scene is gone
though its image remains an instant in yon
minds eye, when darkness has swaliowe,
the reality. Throughout he chamber ther,
is the same obsculi,y as before, but not III,
same gloom within your breast. As you
: mead falls back upon your pillow, YOU thinl
in whisper be it spoken-how peasan
in these night solitudes, would be the rise AM
fail Of softer breathing than our own, tn
f slight pressure Of II tenderer bosom, the qui
ct throE OF purer heart, imparing its peace
iulness 10 your troubled one, as il the fon,
, sleeper were involving you in her dream
Her influence is over you, though sh,
1 have no existence but in that momenlar
) image. You sink down in fiowerv spot, OF
, the borders of sleep and wakeiulness. Will
your thoughts rise before you in pictures, a
disconnected, yet all assimilate1 bv perva
ding sladsomeness and beauty. The wheel
: ing of gorgeous squadrons thar glitter in tn
q sun, is succeeded by the mrrriment of chile
: rem round the door of srhoolhouse beneai
. the slimmering shadow Of cd trees, at ih
/ corner ol rustic lane. You stand in III
their last and merricsl dance, in a splendi
: ballroom and find yourself in the brillar
c circle of crowded theatre, as the curtai
falls over light and airy seene.
L With an involuntary start, on seize ho
= on consciousness, and prove yourself but ha
i awake, by running doubtful parallel b'
IS tween human life and the hour which hu
now elapsed. In both you emerge froI
l. mystery, pass through vicissiiude that yo
: can but mperfectly control, and are born
T. onward to another mystery. Now cones III