Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1854-01-27

"NS~s AAs"N. Nv" hstiC olA VIC hhN" VI
him when We made him welcome How
long We refused to believe the too we'll
accredited rumors We feared for him. We
thought him thoughtless, reckless Of appear
ances, too fond Of dubious associates, and
questionable amusements but we long
resisted the full proof of the depravi,y Of
one SO talented, SO pleasing, so attractive.
Oh, what more sad than the pervsrsion
Of such powers, the abuse of such talents
than the sight Of one whose course should
have been bright and glorious, like that of
the sun, shining more and more unto the
perfect day, leaving track Of blight and
desola,ion, to be lost in the b!ackness Of
the pit
Another bridal card. But a barter
rather than i marriage. The bridegroom
offered age and wealth, and the standing
wealth confers; and the lady brough; yonth
and pride and beauty, ye: Was it alone
pride, AMI vanity, and the love of display,
which led to this acceptance, We watched
the fair bride, with her varying color, and
lark, glancing eye, and compressed, firm
lips-haushty even while she tried to be
courteous and saw the ill.concealed dis
gust with which she regarded her fussy,
puffy, selfsatisfed lord, Is he talked of his
tine establishment, his new furniture, his
fine horses and carriage. She did not mar
ry for money alone. She too evidently
despised him who offered it. She had been
tried, 'rided with, forsaken-her affections
wrecked, her love despised and to revenge
she had sacrificed herself. Surely she was
to be pitied as we'll as blamed. What will
be her life, but one long penance Forced
to honor and obey-for proud aud defiant
as she looks, sue will find herself obliged
to oJcy-,o bow her stubborn will, to bend
her naughty spirit before him she has
made her lord-one she does not honor,
she eau not love, one whose very presence
excites loa,hing and repulsion
And here is card from one who will
leave 10 more. Aud we knew that it was
the last visit she could pay US when she
bade US farewell, as she was to leave 1s
for other lands, more in pursuit OF health
than pleasure. The last Of = family of
consumptives-:hssuccessive bereavements
which had desolated her heart, had added
to her fortune, and brought the wealth she
could not enjoy.
She had long been loved, but she knew
her days were to be few, and she hesitated
to marry one to whom she wished to leave
her estate But he urged that change of
climate, of scene, might eradicate the ten
dencies to the fatal disease seated on her
system, or at least avert the progress. And
she married There was a fearful lowell
ness of decay, Of consumption-around
the fair bride with complexion SO trans
parent, aud eyes so frightened, aud form
so delicate, yet not emaciated. And for
little time she strengthened in the fulness
Of her happiness, and Lope returned, and
she began to anticipate the future, and to
dream Of quiet years Of devoted love, of
happy home and children playing abou: it.
1t was a vain dream. The disease re-
turned, and then, as last resort, they
crossed the ocean. But she was too far
gone to enjoy, or to revive. She wearied
Of all sights and sounds. She sickencd Of
paintings and sculpture-and the grand
and beautiful scenes Of the natural world
but increased the longing for old familiar
places, for her carly home, her native land
She turned away from bowers Of roses and
groves of oranges, and longed, with the
homesickness Of the dying, for the hills
and streams where she was born. She
begged to return-to be brought back, that
she might be laid beneath the shadow of
the old meeting house, where her parents
had worshiped, where her ancestors had
and where she and her sisters
had been bap'ized-by the side Of those
who were so quietly sleeping there.
They landed in the bleak winter, while
the snow lay on the long, low mounds that
were so often before her eyes
But she did not die until the spring
rains had washed away the snow from the
sods that lay upon these graves--not until
flowers sprung up in the wildwood, and by
the stream-not until the lilac and prim-
rose had buddej 1t was balmy day Of
spring, when we carried her to the old
burying- ground, and We trod, as We fol-
lowed her, on the violets and anenomes
she had so often gathered there in her
childhood
She died while life in all its brightness
md hope lay before her. But she did not
lie until the chains that bound her to life
we're broken. Not until, in the fullness
IF the peace and joy that was poured upon
her soul, she was raised above all Of earth,
md the last link that bound her to life
was dissolved. Faith and hope illuminated
he dark valley, and dying, she supported
ind comforted, with the assurances Of her
ta;tb and trust. tho husband too unwilling