Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1853-10-13
miscellaneous.
From the Knickerbocker Magazine.
LEAVES FROM MY NOTE BOOK.
BY a NEW CONTRIBUTOR.

come sweeping on before the wind, and o.
little barks that dance merrily upon the
water and let fall their loosened sails, a:
though defying the aid of any wind tC
bear them on their way [ can sit anG
overlook their coming and their going. un
til they seem as friends to me In my lone
| illness
read their names upon their sides anc
call them by them. grow impatien. i
the hour of departure or return passes
without their presence and sometimes
watch in vain for name that has grown
familiar to my sight, and know in the
| gloom that broods upon the deck of other
ships, that [ shall no more behold the YES
sci that once so proudly bore it.
But 1t is not of the sea, but my cham
Der L would write. 1t is spot sacred to
myself and my own fancies No guest
! enters here that comes not from the lano
of Imagination. Men, l cannot bring to
brain, or turn with sneering tones to ques
! ton Of the authors who here delight me
But though all this be true, and | am
sure no other hand than mine ever turns
the key that opens this apartment, few
days since, when | returned from a walk
upon the beach, | found that some one
bad intruded on my sanctuary. Twas nc
longer secure.
No papers had been touched, no sketch
displaced but among them all, lay roll
OF tapestry, strangely woven, and of great
length. Ii was wondrous work and bv
its delicacy and marvellous execution led
me to believe that fairy hands had blend,
ed its colors and woven it's beautiful scenes
together. None could tell me whence it
came. No one had been seen near my
apartment; and at length | grew asham-
ed to question more concerning it, but
treasured 1t as fairy work and fairy gift,
and day by day amused myself with un-
ravelling the history it unfoded
This history was divided into seven pc
rods, each one characterized by pecu-
liar flower: of the first. the Lily was the
chosen emblem of the second, the Vio-
let; the third was marked by the Rose
the fourth by Ivy and the Oak; the fifth
by the Aloe the sixth by the Heath
and the seventh aud last by the Passion
Flower.
| am no skilful artist, or [ would at
tempt at least sketch of the arrange
ment of these periods. All that | can do
Is to attempt description of them. and
to decipher as | may, the story hidden un.
der their mystic characters, aud show a
united whole of parts somewhat broken
and separate. The Lily is the first whose
meaning L shall attempt to read
There is a small dwelling with shade
trees mbracing it, and before it mother
of youthful appearance with her boy, whose
look entlt!cs him to the name Of Earnest
his beauty is angelic, and in the gaze OF
his large grey eyes there is more of sad
ness than of hope. The mothers hand
betrays the secret of his mournful. face
she seeks by it to show him the meaning
of some object, of which no word may be
TO him a swift Interpreter. The child is
mute, born deaf aud dumb. so that no
sound has ever thrilled his soul He gath
ers flowers and filings them in his moth
er'S lap, and looks the question that bis
voice cannot utter their perfumes delight
him and become to him language easily
understood The mournful look dwells
less heavily upon his countenance, and the
world around seems less painful in its
stiffness. His mother, too, looks more
cheerful. but still her hand is often the in.
terpreter Of sight unto her darling's mind
The silence that usurped the throne OF
speech could not hush the mind, and a
world of thought dwelt in the boys heart,
while Fancy led him through her realm
and be grew to fnd joy in his existence
and to smile gaily when the unbeams
rested upon his favorite blossoms, or the
dews of night waited their voices to his
soul Flowers became his alphabet, and
perfumes the language in which his tho'ts
moulded all images, that answer In our
grosser world to words
Although the taint of sin vas in the
boy, yet he seemed far more pure than
those to whom words are but too frequent.
ly the suggesters of evil Innocent be
seemed, and years changed but slightly
the beauty of his coUnteuance. Flowers
he ever carried in his hand, and among
them Lilies still bloomed fresh, fragrant
and pure. No knowledge reached his
mind through books, but in the hero
glyphic volumes of nature he was deep
and constant student No brook wound
through the woods beyond his home that
his hand had not measured no spring
bubbled up above the earth without his
eye tracing its course, beneath the moss
aud closely planted underwood, Ear off
even to its birth place. Birds built theil
nests before his watchful eyes and gather
ed food for their young from off his deli
cate hand Tall trees were oracles to him
of the journeys of the breeze and tender
herbs and grasses gave forth their healing
virtues to his touch He knew the stones
that moss plants love the best and watch
ed the growth that shade and damp fos
tered upon the branches of some ancient
forestking. But IN the school of worldly
wisdom be was still child
So passed the years OF Innocence The
period characterized by Lilies was finish
ed. The second, with its beautiful EN-
blematic Niolets, now began to unfold
and with deepening interest l pursued its
history.
The soul of Earnest longed for anoth
er language than that his childhood had
- y