Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1854-08-03
How hath he fulfilled his nissionl
Fora thousand years hath hl{aery breath,
Smote the wide earth with criie and death,
And furnished men, as daltick fgod
For the red 1esh-wom's sliinybrood
From fetsrson's Magazine.
THE FlsHERm ANS Nat.

| THE FlsHERMAh'sH HAT.
The awful winter of l8- was very similar tc
that which has just passed, Fhc newspapers
were filled with tales of shipwreck and. loss Of
life, the consequences of the terrible tempests
which swept tie ocean. 10y
1t was towards the close oftAe winter, one
morning, that little child totaled towards a
wild beach, in one Of the sea-bsaten States oil
New England. The sky was dark and lowering
for the storm, which had shak9ga the cabin all
night, had not yet entirely blown away. The
waves thundered on the rocky pronontory within
sig t, throwing their spray olte4 clear nye' ~
and surgcd and restrgvd, in tumhltous flow, up
and down the narrow strip OF land that afforded
a landing spot in the little bay before the fisher
mans cabin.
A superb Newlol ndand dog accompanied the
child, now frolcking around it, now scampering
geily away, and now returning again to It's lit
tie charge.
Suddenly the child paused in mingled wonder
and terror, for the receding wave had just bro't
to its feet large felt hat, which seemed, even
to its almost infant mind, not total y strang,
AMERICANS TIE TRUE OLD Romans" 1t is
singular" says the Neward Daily Advertiser.
yet it has been remarked by persons Of ohser-
walton, that the old Romans seem not to have
bcqueathed their phsiognomy to the Italians of
the present day, but that the Americans, espoc-
tally of the Northern States, resemble them
most of any other people now existing, in the
general features of the face Judging from well
authenticated statues of Cicero, Tacitus, Senc-
ca, and other men who Inhabited Italy sixteen
or eighteen centuries ago, they had not only a
general Am rican cast Of countenance, but pos
scssed some of the particular features considered
of great Importance by physiognomsts, such as
the forehead, and that most prominent and en-
platic of all, the nose Of our country At any
rate, travellers have said, that a most pleasant
home feeling always came over them, when sur
rounded by the statues of great forefathefs of
the present Roman race. They were used to
such faces at home, claimed immediate acquain-
tancc with them, sympathizcd with them, and
seemed to understand them They were no lon
ger strangers in strange land, as they felt they
were in going from their ideal society to the real
living population in the drawing-rooms and
streets. Whittier has the old Roman likeness
gone, then, if not to America 1t is not in It.
ally at this day"
The dog, also, on perccivng the hat, drew back
uttcring low whine.
1t was at this crisis that the mother, in the
cabin, first missed hss ssfild. She
had left the boy a few minutes before, sitting
on the floor and playing with the Newfoundland
dog. Bat happening now to look up from her
work, she gave slight scream to s,e the child
missing, and, rushing to the door, heard stimuli
taneoasly the melancholy whine of the dog. AS
the spot to which her little one had gone WAS
invisible from where she stood, the worst apprc-
hensions took possession of her, and she rushed
frantically towards the sore, shrieking
"My child my child >Oh, God, is my
child lost, tool"
For, in truth, she had been all the morning in
a state bordering on distraction. Her husband,
who was a fisherman, had been absent for two
days, period far longer than he had intended !;
and the frighttul gale, which had ragged for the
last twenty-four hours, rendered the cause of
this delay only too clear. During the preceding
night she had not slept monant-indeed, had
not even undergone the mockory of gong to
bed bat, keeping light barningat window,
that could be seen out at sea, had watched and
prayed t,roug all the weary hours. Often in
the momcntary lulls Of the gale she had cheated
herself into the fancy that she heard the halloo
of her husband, and more than once had actu-
ally flown to the door to admit him. But when
morning broke at last, without bringing him,
she had given up the hope Of ever seeing him
again.
I" lie will never never come back" she said.
" If his boat had lived, he would have heen here
before this"
She almost let the child fall. Indeed, only
the instinct of the mother saved the boy, for she
sank at once on the wet sand, with groan, her
eyes fixed in CLASSY stare on the hat, and on u
bit of boats mast and sail, that had been
washed up with it. For well she knew the bat
tered hat to be her husbands, the very hat she
herself had placed on his head two days before,
when he babe her farewell, '--+
Sense and feeling left her, indeed, for while.
How long she lay there she never hnew. But
she was reused at last by the cry of her child,
and recovered to find the dog pulling at her
dress, lor the advancing tide was almost ut her
feet. She arose, and, taking mp the hat reve-
rently, moved slowly towards the cottage.
The day wore on The sun finally succeeded
in breaking through the clouds, and all without
doors was bright but nothing brought com
fort to the heart of the widow. Seated in a
low rocking chair, she remained for hours in a
state of stupor, from which she was only aroused
by the cries of her child, when the little one
woke from its sluinbers. Or, with the boy in
her arms, she would pace the cabin floor, mur-
muring wild words to soothe him to sleep. Oc-
casionally she would pause and look out of the
window. But she saw not the golden sunshine,
nor the bright waters; all seemed to her black;
for the blank despair Of her heart communica-
ted its own hue to every thing in Nature
The cottage was situated nearly mile from
any other human habitaton, and therefore it is
no wonder that, for hours, she was alone. But
little village lay on larger bay, around the
promontory, and us her husbaad was in the
habit Of visiting 1t frequently, she began to
think, as night fell, that it was singular his
long absence was unnoticed, and that no one
came to inquire what was the natter At thi,
hought, which increased her feeling of loneli