The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-04-07
For the National Era
tcoPYRIGHT SECURED BY THE AUTHoR.l
MARX SUTHERLAND:


OR,
POWER AND PRINCIPLE.
BY EMMA D. +. n. soUTHwoRTB.
CHAP VIII
Fdret1eH
Fair vert thou in the dreams
OF early life, thou land Of glorious howcrs
And summer winds, and low-toncd svery s1ea.rs
Dim with the shadow Of thy laurel bowers
Fair vert thou with the light
On thy blue hills and sleepy waters cast
| From purple skies soft deepening into night
Yet slow as If each moment WeFo their last
OF glory waning fast
/ Fade, Dream Of Beauty, fade
No voice resounding from thy sunny sky.
No gentle breathing through thy fragrant shade
Comes Ger mans path. and whispers Liberty"
| Fade. land Of visions, fade EivsiUIu
The sun was rising in cloudless splendor. on
the morning on which Mark Sutherland
paused upon an eminsnee, 10 throw a farewell
glance over the beautiful scenes Of his child
hood and youth-the fair valley Of the Pearl
East lay the dark boundary of the pine forest.
pierced by the golden, arrow-like rays of the
level sun, or casting long spear-like shadows
athwart the green alluvion-south and west,
belts of forest alternated with gaudy cotton
fields, and rolling green hills interspersed with
graceful groyes until in soltlv-blended hues
they met the distant horizon From this beau.
tfully- variegated circumference his eve re-
turned to gaze upon the centre Of the scene
the Pearl--the lovely river which took it's name
| from the semi-transparent hues Of clouded SAT
| ron, rose, and azure, that seemed not only
caught from the glorious sky above, and the
gorgeous hills and fields and grove around, but
| flashed up from the deep channel of the stream,
| as if its clear waters flowed through a bed Of
opal.
AT some distance below him, encircled by a
bend of the river lay-like some rich mosaic on
the bosom of the vale" Cashmere" the almost
| Oriental scene of his youthful love dream
There was the pebbly beach, with its minia-
ture piers and fairy boats-the lawn, with its
! Towering and fragrant groves, its crystal
founts, its shaded walks and vine-clad arbors !;
and nearer the house. the rose terrace, with
| its millions of odoriferous budding and bloom
ing roses surrounding as with crimson glow
that white villa and its colonnade of light Ionic
shafts At this distance he could SEQ distinctly
the bay window, with its purple curtains, of
midas boudoir; and ut its sight, the image of
the beautiful India arose before him. Again
he saw her in that poetic harmony of form and
the slender yet well-rounded fgure--the warm,
bright countenance, with its amber-hued ring
lets, and clear olive complexion deepening into
crimson upon cheeks and Gps-a beauty in
which there was no strong contrast, but all
rich harmony--a form that he once had fondly
thought clothed q soul as harmonious us beau
| tful. They were lost all lost-home, and
bride and lovely dreams of youth! Do not
dcspise him, or blame me, when tell you, in
the touching words of Scripture that no lift
| cd up his voice and wept" He was but twenty
one, and this was the first despairing, passion
ate sorrow of his youth.
|. 1t is very easy to talk and write Of the ere
wards Of virtue" the comfort of a good con-
science, the delights of duty Alas! am afraid
the delights Of duty are seldom believed in, and
schooner experienced. Be sure, when great
sacrifice of interest of affection, of hope, is
made, and great sorrow is felt--nothing-
no,hing but allowing Christian faith can Don
sole.
And Mark Sutherland was not a Christian
man.
Here, then, even philanthropst might rea-
sonably inquire lphy all this was doue2 Why
youth born and brought up STAKEHOLDER,
should, against preconceived ideas, against pru-
denco, against self.interest against hope with
doubtful good even to the bene6ciares of his
selfdevotion, beggar himself for tho sake OF
their emancipation? Why he, being no Chris
tan, should make such an immense sacrifice of
wealth, position, affection, hope--in short, of
all temporal and earthly interests
| We are able TO answer, that, had a scientific
phrenologist examined the moral organs of
Mark Sutherand's head, he would have found
| his answer in the predominant CONSCIENTIOUS
NESS. II was, therefore, only severe sense of
Justice that laid its iron hand upon him. obi
ging him to do a. he had douc--a single sense
Of justice, such a. might have influenced tho
actions of Pagan or an Atheist hard,
stern sense of justice, without faith hope or
love-an incorporating sense OF justice, with
out selfhattery, promise, or comfort.
| He is not as yet Christian, but he may be.
come one he must become one, for no great
sacrifice was ever made to duty, without Christ
| claiming that redeemed soul as his own.
| After all, perhaps there is but one sin and
sorrow in the world-lDoLATRy-and oil forms
of evil are comprised within it. IL includes all
shades of sin, from the lghtest error that clouds
the conscience, to the darkest crime that brings
endless night upon the soul and oil degrees Of
suffering, from the discomfort that dlsturbs the
passing hour, TO the anguish and despair that
overwhelms and swallows up all the hopes of
life. We are all idolaters. Some god-passon
of the heart is ever the deity we worship. Am
bition, avarice, love-"the world the flesh, or
the devil" in some form, is always the idol
Perhaps love; the first, the most disnterested,
selEdevoted, Of all the forms of idolatry, comes
nearest to the true worship But it is not the
true worshp-by all the anguish that it brings,
il is not the true worship.
OH if but for o moment we could raise our
souls TO God in all the self.surrender where
with in passionate devotion we throw our hearts
beneath the feet of some weak and perishable
form of clay-hat were conversion-that were
regeneraton-that were = great deliverance---
that were life eternal, and full Of joy!
And are there not moments when We catch
glimpse of such a possibility when brain
and heart stand still, thoughtless breathlessi
when life itself pauses in the transient rcyela-
ton Of such unsufierablc light And We
know that some have entered in and lived in
this light all the days Of their lives To many
of us, alas and in most Of our moods they
seem TO live in an unknown world-to speak in
an unknown tongue.
Who of us has not occasionally experienced
these thoughts and emotions, in reading and
meditatng on the lives and characters of Chris
tians of any name-it matters little what for
there is q unity of spirit in all regencrated chi
dren Of God, Of every nation, rank, or sed
Fenclon and George Wbitefeld--the French
man and the BritOn-the mtred archbishop
and the poor field preacher--the Roman Cath
olic and the Methodist dwelt in the same
light, spoke the same language, because both
were one in spirit. What if through the me-
dun Of each separate brain, the Theology look
diAercnti The heart is greater than the brain;
or, in other words, the affections are higher
than the intellect "Out Of the heart are tho
issues of life" and tbs is life eternal, that we
should know the true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he hath sent With their hearts, their
L IA. L.. l;nnarnad Him "A L., lo,.a