Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-11-15
Spirit Of tgs 9ge, 8deigB, ylrtB
Written for the Spirit ofde Age-Ra1eigh.
THE SOCIAL CIRCLE.
TO INEz IRVING, LoRA, MATTE MAY AND ALI
THE LENDERS OF OUR CIRCLE.

6OO41AA OA4AOAAs
TO INEz IRVING, LoRA, MATTE May AND ALL
THE MEMBERS OF OUR CIRCLE.
Dear Giis Very pleasant is it indeed to
hold conmnnionTn ourcircIe. Familiar names
call up familiar scenes, and faithful memory
leads us back e Gays byegnne-to the days OF
InnoreDt chlldhQ0d. whenlIfe was one perennial
%springtime and en- no cloud OF a moments
duration dark the bright sky that was
ours. do l0y wander back over the short
lapse OF years SINCE | bid adieu To the old
schsol-house, its green yard, its bright brook
and its cherished old wide hearthstones. We
all thought then that life was one continued
fairy scene on which no dark spot Of sorrow
could ever gather to dim its silvery brightness.
How sad was the mistake Some of us nave
seen sorrow, and felt sorrow, and had sorrows
ranking sting in the heart. | know full we'll
that some of our mates we loved so fondly
have had the cup pressed to the lip while they
slrank back from the bitter lees in its bottom.
Since lnez called to memory the fate of our
beloved Carrie Gwynn, | have laid open memo
RVS faithful book and called one by one the
names of those linked to our affections by
childhoofs endearing associations. Some yet
seem to revel 10 the same golden sunbeams
of Joy that gilded our pathway then. Others
have not been so fortunate, while a few have
been led unwillingly to the fountain of Mara
and forced to drink the wavelets of NORWOOD
and gall.
Prominently among all the rest stands the
: name of dear Mag Mabry. We all loved
: Mag. Wild, funloying, afIectionate, confiding
. Magi In all our sports and studies none
! seemed more cheerful than she, and we all re-
: member how we have sat together and listen
< ed to her as she built her fanciful castles in
= the air and tenanted them with the loves and
> the beautiful imagery of her young and ardent
! ! enthusiasm. 1t was a day of sorrow to many
= of US when Mag bid US a lifelong adieu and
: left her dear old hOme in company with her
! father and mother for the wilds Of the far
south west. Earnest prayers went up to heaV-
en- that she might be happy in the new home
: she sought. OF her virtues ] need not speak ::
T" they were known the best by those who were
! the longest with her. One fault she had
= who has not? 1t were well if there be not
more than one. She was obstinately self
wliled. In a thousand ways she displayed
! this trait in her character while at school, but
- she was so kind and possessed of so many re-
i deeming virtues that this popularity was over
looked, and she was still the loved of her
mates.
ii With a heavy heart l come to write of her
career in the new nome she found in Arkan-
~ sas. She was beautiful and lovely, hence, hel
hand and her affections were sought by more
than one. 70 the establishment of all, sAt
id yielded her affections to one wholly unwor.
IF thy of the rich boon. james BrantIy was thu
successful sutton at the shrine of her heart
n Of him ] need say but little. Suffice it tina
he was a lover Of the wine cup, mingled will
dc improper society. and was a gambler but b.
cd was handsome and possessed an insinuatin!
yht address and by these means he won the hear
1Id of poor, c~onfding Mag. Her father an,
in mother and the new friends her goodness ha,
won in a strange land, all persuaded her t
md Danish all thought of linking her destiny wit
cen Brantly. but her purpose was fixed and sh
vowed her determination to be her own cour
eed seilor in the matter. Her father would nc
Tas give his consent to the proposed union, and i
all kindness and parental love labored to dis
God suade his daughter from her purpose. He
ave mother too, with tears in her eyes, pictured b.
fore her the probable sorrows she would il
.pht herit and the wretchedness of spirit she woul
nor purchase by persistingi in the determination
but marrying n man who Had already taken I'll
first bold steps to ruin. They were united
ger. the sacred altar, but no parental blessing res
rea- ed upon them. They were united in II
ring midst of tears and prayers 10 Heaven that
ali might yet prove a happier union than tt
nile heart dared to hope. Thus they were unite
rose and thus they went out to struggle with Il
world.
The worst fears of friends were realized
I'M The curse of Heaven seemed to rest on q II
the ion so much at variance with parental wisht
nys- In W short years poor, lndlscreet Mays CT
and OF sorrow was more than full. Brantly,s ste
way. 10 rum were swift. Immediately after
and bound the fair Mag to his fate he gave Fl
we'd. scope to his morbid passions. He drank
his, drunkenness, gambled away his and her lit
bow. fortune and committed a deed for which
elor. flew the country. Two years more sped
that way, while the sorrowing wife felt her he;
10Th slowly breaking. She loved Brantly, UNIV,
her thy as he was, with all the intensity of her
cree dent nature and when she found herself f
sent saken and all prospects Of pleasure in
and hopelessly blasted, it is not strange that
r. felt the cords oflife growing slack and the
Oked tachments to earth giving way one by o
the One cold morning, about two years at
and Brantly left his home, a half frozen man v
hind picked up on the street. He was emacia
like and his pallid features bore the marks ofde
her " disease. None knew him. He fain
Innie whispered, : / am James Brantly-carry me
her. my wife, So he was carried there and !
before poor, half-frantic Mag. For long d
she watched, and wept, and heard his r
US to itcnt confession at his bedside, and then
was died. Poor Mag it was too much for
sleep, feebleness; her cup of sorrow was more t
grim full and she sank before the strong storm t
rave. beat upon her.
Isl For two sad years her home has been il
art pleasant room in-InsaneA Asylum, ahC
rest she watches the sunbeams that steal thro,
her window, she sometimes smiles and 81
for of the green slope, the blue bells and
.'the birds she once loved with us all when we "
together in and around the blessed old sch
house.
lhood Our little Episode is finished.
chill Sweet Mapoie. A tear drops for thee!
can Faithfully,
some FLORA FLAVILLI
ottage --Ae-o
some tn Doon 49, un.nu g Gu -
n4nnn lnnl n..on d. F.na-o--