The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1852-02-04


she nursed him night and day until hi.
i, death.
"He had no medical advice, Alice al.
! ways ridiculing the idea OF danger; but
; she prescribed for him herself, mixed up
, his medicines out Of his own old stock oi
drugs, and administered them. Miriam
observed that after taking them he was in.
variably worse, and that he often objected
to do so; but the housskeepsr always pre-.
vailed, and by dint of scolding and coax
} ing usually carried her point. Ten days
before his death, Alice Introduced into his
; room cousin of hers, a lawyers clerk,
whom shs told Miriam that her master had
sent for; and will was then made and
signed. After this the woman bsoame
careless, and left the dying man almost
wholly to the charge of little Miriam, who
was alone with him when he died.
"The last act of his life was to give tho
child packet, which, after his death, he
bade her take to the Clergyman; it would
explain who she was, he said. And Miri.
am positively asserts that his last words
were, Bless you, my own child, my darl-
ing niece!'
"The packet, however, was lost; wheth.
er the child in her exceeding misery mis-.
laid il, or it was taken from her as she
slept, thers is no means OF discovering.
Alice Sharpe always asserted that the
whole tale was pure invention, and that
Miriam had never received any such arti.
clio; she, however, remained positive, and
so do |.
"Wsll. all was now changed. A will
was produced, executed two days before
the decease OF the testator, bequeathing
all his property to Alice Sharpe, and not
ono word was said about Miriam. People
talked loudly, but the heiress needed moth.
ing; she took possession of the property,
married her cousin, George Sharpe, (the
man who made the will, sent Miriam to
the work.house, and opened milliner's
establishment. ......
"Wheels roll within wheels; Mr.. Sharpe
was now large rate.payer, and once or
twice ovsrseer, and when his wife applied
10 the parish officers, offering to take
Miriam Lyndon as an apprentice without
premium, those fun ctionaries found it con-
venient to forget her previous cruelty to the
child, extolled her liberalty 10 the skies.
and without consulting the poor girl, bound
her Instantly.
Tho life she led in that house was hor.
ible. No African slave aver worked hard.
er or was more cruelty treated; but she
never repined; she had learned endurance
from infancy, and the practice was famil.
lar. AT last, however, she had another
and greater trial to boar: her beauty at.
tracted the evil eye of her wretched mas
ter, and her misery was complete. The
persecution she underwent from him, and
the jealousy Of his wife, made existence a
burden TO her, and many night she has
gone to sleep with prayer of death upon
her lips.
"One night, (that named in the indict-
ment,) Miriam was occupied in pressing
some straw-bonnets, when her master en-.
tered the apartment, and after a great
deal of impertinence attempted some "a.
miliarities. She resisted, and the noise
of the struggle and her cries brought her
mistress to the room; while the cowardly
assailiant, as soon as he saw his wife,
skunk away, leaving the poor girl alone to
bear the storm of her ungovernable rage.
Blows, oaths, and every description of
abuse were heaped upon Miriam, by tho
infuriated woman, and she left her with
dreadful vow to be revenged. Five hours
after, in the dead of the night. the house
was discovered to be on fire, the fire origi.
mated in Mriam's room, from which she
was absent. She was, however, soon
found in small clubhouse at the top of the
garden. where she was at work; as she
says by the order of her mistress, but
which that woman denies. She was given
into custody, and is prosecuted with 4 re-.
zeal that would do honor to a
fiend. A subscription has been raised to
defend her, and by Gods help she shall
be saved"
"Have you seen hsr?" | asked, after lis.
tening thoughtfully to his history.
"Yes, several times; she has been in
prison near four months"
Sand she presists in her innocence?"
"Yss, but there is little necessity to as
severate what to every one who sees her
must bs SO plain" 1 l
"Your suspicion then lies" e' s {
"Upon tho prosecutors wife, Alice
Sharpe. And more than this, am inclin- {
ID to suspect her Of using unfair means
with her late master, and of holding his q
property unustly."
"How?" i
VI cannot exactly tell, but | firmly be- I
ieve Mriam's assertion that the old man
gave her packet previous to his death,
ind that he called her his neice; and | also /.
believe that in some way or other Alice B
Sharpe has become possessed Of the Sc. \
,ret, and deeper motive than even jeal.
,usy urges her to destroy her victim" IL
"But the will-if that was fairly execu- '