Minnesota weekly times., 1856-10-11
ALONE.


tained window, ths suppressed breathing, and the
gentle Footsteps falling with velvet touch on
the carpet, inform us that the earth has q new
inheritor. a babe is born. The spirit Of tho
young mother has taken its departure 70 another
home, whose apartments are lighted with the
beams of heavenly radiance, and whose songs arc
borne on the lips Of an angel choir. And the
new conner is alone.
Days pass. He has entered the fowcry paths
Of youth; he secs fair galaxy Of stars in the
zenith of his life; he finds his foot-way lined
with flowers, and the horizon of the Future
stretching far away and beyond. The hours
drag heavily, and lying under the old elm upon
the gowans, he sighs: ,ssOh, this hateful boy
hood would that / were man; think these
tedious hours will never wear away" y,"-and as
he stretches his little vision into the long future,
Fancy takes him upon her wings, the kites and
rattles of boyhood are laid aside, and he seems
surrounded BY the rush and hustle of the busy
world. He is alone! s"n .'HA
Years pass. He Heisapproaching manhood. The
FIRE Of youth is in his eye; the elasticity Of youth
is in his step; the conscious hopes and prayers
of youth are in his heart. He stands on Life's
threshold and looks out" New England is vir-
tuous and moral, intelligent and free, ,-she has
everything but Opportunity necessity whose
want has starved the world. A new, young ter.
rtory on the far frontier, shows him her activity,
enterprise, and future greatness, and beckons him
to come. Will he leave his loves and attractions,
his home and friends? Yes, he will A nest.
he reasons t, himself, is a very good place to be
born in, but the Aedgeling must sometime quit
his forest cradle, and bid sdeu to the zephyrs
that have luled him with their leafy murmer, if
he would ever learn to scale the thunder's home
in his eyrie, and ride upon the rocking wave
And so the youth goes forth. His heart throbs
fearfuily, as he faces the iron world. A tear
tremhles under his eyelid,- as he looks back. The
old homestead, which has been the spectator of SO
many hopes and joys, looks more solemn as he
turns away the wlde-opened meadow where be
has chased the painted butterfly in his happier
days, seems to wear mournful silence; the old
elm waves a last mute farewell from it's bending
branches; and the bright rivuet where, with his
little hand for cup, he used to bear its sparkling
| waters to his lips, and where the wrecks of his
boyish mill even now remain, seems to whisper
q fervent 4" Good Bye" as it turns from the sum
light, and buries itself among the tangled grass.
Now nerve your quivering heart, young adven-
| turer Complain not because you imagine that
| the world is ungenerous. Quail not because
Fate has a spite against you. Mourn not that
you were born SO date, or that you were born at
all. Stand up, stand up! The crown of earth
are not get all claimed, ,-the trophies Of earth
are not yet all bestowed. There is world to
! redeem-a world of darkness, ignorance and
crime, greater than ever Alexander conquered -
| there are diadems of honor in every days expe-
rience, brighter than ever Caesar won
And now he has arrived at the growing city in
| the distant North-west, will he turn back? Not
he! He is alone. Alone on a waste of woods
but in the spotess marble of his future, there is
destiny already sculptured, it only needs 4
| touch of his unerring chisel to remove the vail
Yet he feels that he is alone. q ~ ava
| Years pass. The infant town has strengthened
into city of magnificent wealth and greatness
| The homeless adventurer has made many friends
but just as these are ready 20 love him, Deatl
| has placed cold a kiss on his forehead, and q
new grave is rounded upon the hillside yonder
| He is alone. iaA3o be- l--h1 la7 %
| Nay, not alone; for thousand friends have
clustered to receive him, and beyond the celestia
battlements he lives, to hope, and rejoice, anG
watch his earth children, as they gather mourn
fully above those humble mounds where scer
"the loved and lost.'' -" ~ -"a