The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1851-09-23

age, Of light, charming figure, aud rather gen
! teel manners; ,lhich lalter qualify, by the BY,
must have con. by nature, FOR but little edu-
cation Of any kind had fallen to her share
She was, Il mas be supposed the belle ofihe
place, and very numeaous were hei rustic adj
miners; but they all vanished in twiokling.
aweslfuck by my onform, and especially by
the dangling dirk, which I occasionally han
died in very alarming manoer; and /, senti-
mental moon-calf that was, felt, as IL isterfn-
ed deeply aud earnestly in love with the vii.
lage beauty! Ii must have been her personal
grace aloDe--her conversation il could not ho
which thus enlranced me; for she seldom
spoke, and then IN reply only, and 10 mono
= syIabl5s; bot she listened diviDely, and as We
! siroEed inthe evening through The fields aud
woods between Itchen and Netley Abbey,
! gazed with such enchaoliug eloquence in my
4 face as poured forth The po pular love aod
nonsense poetry Of the time, that il is very pos
sible might have been sooner or later enuap-
ped ln'o ruinous marriage--pot by her poor
( erl! she was. am sure, as guileless as infan-
cy, but by her parents. who were scheemng.
arful peope--hsd not my father discovered
what was going 90, and in his way dspelled
\ my silly day dreams al once aud forever.
/ The chui uichyard at the summit Of Pear Tree
! Green, il used TO be commonly said, was that
10 which Gray composed his famous 'Elegy,'
or AT all events which paitly inspired il.
know not ifihis be correct; bntl femne mber
thinking, as | sat one fine September evening
by the side OF Ellen Dible upon the fiat wood
en- railing which then enclosed IL, Thar the ira
dilon had grea, likelihood. The broad and
tranquil waters flhe Southampton add Ichen
fvers--bounded in the far distance by the
New FOresb with ITS wavy masses OF VARYING
light and shade, aud on the left BY the leafy
A. A A.
gray ruins of the old abbey must ia these DAYS
look grinly and spectre like forth upon the
teeming, restless life which mocks its hoary
soltude-where At the full Of a sprng-tde. IL
was, just, two, the hour of parting day: and
The sun-tipped spires OF the Southampton
churches faded gradually into icdeslloctness,
and the carrier stars looked out. the curlew,
melowed by distance into music, came 10 us
upon The light air which gently stirred fair Ell
lens glossy rpglets, as she, with her bonnet ia
her hand-foS our walk had tired her-looked
with her dove.innocent, transparent eyes in
mine, while repeated Grays meodious lines.
The Elegy was concluded, and was raptur-
Using even more vehementy than vas my wont,
when, whackl l received a blow on my
shoulder, which sent us both off the trail; for
Ellen held me by the arm, and il was quite as
as much as I could do 10 keep my feet when
TO eGcounter The angry and sardonic counte-
nance Of my faiher. I'll have no more of this
uonsence, Bob he grnffiy exclaimed Be off
home with you. and TO morrow III see you
safe on board your ship, depend upon il As
fpr this preIiy MINK he continued. addressing
Ellen, who so trembed with confusion and
disrHaS that she could scarcely tie her bonnet
snings. / should think she would be better
employed in NEEDING her fathers shirts, or
datning her brothet's stockings than in gus
sping her time away with brainless young
lubber like you. was of course awfully IN
cens"d, but present resistance knew, was use
less; and after coDiriving to exchange mute
gesture with Ellen Of elenLal love, constancy.
and despair we took our several ways home
wards. Before twelve o clock the next day
was posting 10 Gosport. accompanied by my
father, but not ill alter had obtained, through
the agency Of my soft hearted sister, a farewell
interview with Ellen, when we of course made
lerveui VOWS of mutual fielity-sffrmed and
consecraied, at Ellen's suggestion, by the mys-
tical ceremony olbreakng crooked sixpence
in haives-a moiety to be worn by each Of us
about our necks. as an eternal memorial and
pendant protects against the hinly hearts OF
fathers.
This boyish fancy faded but slowly and lin.
gering away with the busy and tumutnous
years which passed over my head, till the
peace OF i5l5 cast me an almost useless sea-
waif upon the land, to take root and vegtate
There as best might upon a lieutenant half |
pay. My father had died about two years be- !
Tore, and the hundred year he lett us was
scarcely more than sufficient for the support |
of my sister whose chances of an eligible mar
riage had vanished with her comeliuess, which |
a virulent attack OF smallpox had utteraly de-
s,royed, though il had 10 nothing changed the
patient sweetness Of her disposition, and the |
gentle loving spirit tha; shone through all It's |
scars and SEAMS. | had never
heard directly from Ellen Dible, although du-
ring the first months Of separation had written
to her many times: the reason Of which was
partially explained by few lines In one OF
James letters, announcing Ellen Dible's mar
rage-it seemed uuder some kind OF moral
compulsion-to person other own grade, and
their removal from Iichen This happened
about six months after my last interview with
her. made no further inquiries, and. Jane, /
thinking the subject might be painful one, il |
il happened that. by kind Of tacit understan-
ding, il was never Afterwards alluded TO be-
tween US.
The utter WEAKNESS ofan idle shore life soon
became insupportable. and determined to SO.
licit the good offices of Sir Joseph Yorko with
the Admiralty. The gallant admiral had now
taken up his permanen residence near Hamb'c.
a village on the river of that name, which issues
into the Southampton water not very far from
opposite Calshot Castle. Sir. Joseph was
drowned there about eight or nine years after
left tho station. A more perfect gentleman, lot
me pause moment to say, or better seamen.
than Sir Joseph, never. believe, existed; and
Of handsome, commanding presence too-'half
way up hatchway' at least, to use his own
humorous self description, his legs scarcely
in vigorous outline to the rest of
his person. He received me with his usual
frank urbanity, and left him provided with
bett,r to the secretary Of the Admiralty-the
ultimate and not long delayed result of which
was my appointment to the command of the
Rose, revenue-cutier, tho duties attached to
which consisted in carefully watching in the in
terest of His Maesty's customes, the shores of