True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1855-07-25

plishing more than the majority of my
SEX .
"But Laura, if you accomplish all you
wish, attain all you desire, though you and
Hattie may stand possessed of all that
earth can give, yet earth without Christ
will afford no rest to your spirit, when
most you need rest. This will tell you
whether you do right to glory in your gifts
of beauty, wealth Or talents She open
cd large Bible on the table and pointed
to one of its pages.
"Thus, saith the Lord, let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might, let not the
rich man glory in his riches; but let him
that glorieth, glory in this, that he under
standeth and knowCth me that | am the
Lord which exercise loving kindness, judg-
mcnt and righteousness in the earth; for
in these things delight, saith the Lord.
The sister read the passage silently, and
the conversation ended. twenty years
had passed away, and the cousins were
again met in that same pleasant breakfast
room, two of them as guests, one an in
mate of the dwelling. Laura, left an Or
phan not many years after we last saw
them, had accepted, though with some re-
luctance, the home offered by her Uncle
Edward. Her reluctance was owing to
the religious character of her uncle's fam
lily; though she loved them all, especially
Mr.. Graham, she sympathizcd but little in
the pursuits most dear to all its members.
But the marriage of Hattie to man whom
she felt she could not like, left her no op-
tion, as, though possessed of wealth, she
needed home and a guardian.
Changed indeed were those fair girls,
but the change in Grace was but the full
and perfect development of the beautiful
flower Trials had been hers, and joys
also. She was wife and a mother; the
heart of her husband safely trusted in her,
her children loved and contided in her
the poor and the fathcrless, when they saw
her, blessed her; and with her own stores
of knowledge and the talents given her,
she had fed some minds, and gladdened
and comforted others. She also had laid
father and mother in the grave, and from
her own bright circle, one after another
sweet bud Of promise had been transplant
ed to bloom in fairer climes. Other trials
too had been hers, but she had so learned
to trust in the Cross, that she could say
with the poet: Earth without Cross, is
earth without rest
Upon Hattie the eye looked with sad
ness, for her anxious brow told too plainly
the unrest of her SOUL Traces of that
once matchless beauty were there indeed,
but there was nothing of the calm dignity
so beautiful in the matron. A brilliant
career had been hers; the star of the
gay throng of fashion, 'thc cynosure Of
all eyes, she had revelled for time in
the worship her beauty and her wit had
attracted. At length her beauty began to
fade, her worshipcrs tired of her wit; and
in terror of an old age of loneliness, she
married one who sought her for her wealth.
As might be surpassed, she married form
without q heart. Had children been Civ
en- her, she might have learned from them
to be happy; but childless, unloved and
chcerlcSs, the world was one dreary blank
Despising her husband, she would not
stoop to win his love, and while the world
envicd her as the mistress of a princely
mansion, splendid equipages, and unboun-
ded wealth, she was more wretched than
the lowest mcnial of her household.
Laura had found, like the holy Angus
tine, that the vain glory of this world is
deceitful sweetness, fruitless labor, a
perpetual fear, dangerous honor, r,-her
beginning without Providence, and her
end not without repentance,-but like
him, had not turned to seek true sweetness
in the Cross, and the honor which cometh
from above. All that she had craved had
been hers-honor and fame, beyond the
widest dreams of her ambition-but whom
had the brilliant flights of her imagination
benefited? whom had the treasure of her
learning instructedY She had looked
down upon the less gifted with contempt,
glorying in her superior intellect and at
tainments, thus isolating herself from the
sympathy of her friends, while her wo-
mans heart craved vainly that love which
she yet disdained to see. To thataspiring