Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-02-25
For the Spirit of the Age.
The Social Circle.

Inc SOCIAL Circle.
DEAR CIRCLE Again / come, as in DAYS
OF yore, to take my accustomed seat in the
corner, with your permission, andhold sweet
converse with the gifted members of our So
ciai band. Will you, can you, restore me to
my former position in your sanctum, as we'll
as IN your hearts 1t is true, my pen has
Oeen silent for many a long and weary
month"; but my thoughts have ever been busy,
tWlnlng themselves around each and every
nembero OF our band linking my heart to yours
IN the strongest ties OF spirit unions |: and
my eager eye has ever turned with a prm
light in its inner depths to the .corneN
good Editor has assigned us. MANY than
to thee, dear friends, for the kindly remem.
brance In which you have held me.
MINNIE" you must never cease writing.
though others may thus advise you for your
CLEANS OF sunshine have often stolen DER
my spirit lIEe a fairy SPELL" charming ma
away from rhe Stern realities of life, to the
snadowy realm of dreamla i'd and 1 have
sighed to wander with you upon that enchan.
ted ground and drink in the music of thy
voice and gaze upon the beauty of thy soul
lit features. But, alb!
" know not if thy features be akin
10 thy bright thoughts or if thine eyelids
fall
Yer sparkling orbs. only sigh to win,
Ihe soul that speaks and sparklss through
them ALL"
feel proud of the elevated position our
Circle" occupies, and would freely emulate
the example of some of its most gifted men,
bers, such as Lora, Moliie, Esther, and a
most OF others, but be that the work of a
nobler pen than mine tits enough for me to
sit at their feet and learn wisdom from their
exalted precepts and examples.
How my rebellious heart was subdued.
and Its murmuring hushed, as I read Lora's
article on the subject of Death (! l felt that
could lay my head upon her bosom, and
weep with her tear for tear; for / too have
lost g friend. Yes, my aged and venerable
Urand-tather is no more; he died the 4th
uIt.' without a struggle or a groan, and his
napplhed spirit winged its fight to a purer
ana nobler cline, where he is no doubt en-
Joylng the rest that awaits the finally faith
1ul. 10 the unlnterested, the announcement
OF Col. JAMES LowRY's death will awaken no
pang OF sorrow or tear of regret; but to the
circle OF friends in which he moved. a star
OF the first magnitude, whose mild rays OF
love and religion ever shone with a softened
light. his loss is irreparahle. He was borr
and partially reared where the CITY of Ra
leigh now stands, and near by. unon tht
lands belonging to Gov. Manly, is a spring
trom whose clear depths his W sainte11
mother often dipped the cool beverage of life
with her W hands and in his last visit t.
MS chlldhoods home he visited this spring
and with the feelings of boyhood stealing owe
MIN, fingered long about the loved spot tina
was dear to memory and to him. But tn
nails OF Legislation called for his return
and waving his hat high above his head. witt
one long farewell he left the spot forever
lie soon after returned to his mountain home
where he lived in peace and tranquility t
the day OF hhs death. Often in our childhood
happy days have we played around his kne
and smoothed back the snowy locks that fal
in profusion over his aged brow and beneat
the old ancestral roof time seemed to paus
In her busy flight, lest her hoary footfal
might break the golden spell that ~lingere,
around the scene.
but years have sped by since then, an,
changed Is the scene around the ~"ingle
size. First she angel mother laid her dow,
TO "sleepthe sleep that knows no waking, saw
III the resurrection morn and then the your
gest brother went forth from beneath tn
parent root only to find a grave in a distan
land, where no friendly tear can ever fall q
kindly hand plant a Towering shrub to mar
his last resting place. But he sleeps well !
that lone land of strangers, for nightly a IA
arch-angel bends Ger his tomb and watcbe
Ger his sleeping dust. And now the yene,
able father has left the shores of time an
gone TO JOIN In a glorious Reunion with tn
loved and lost" He was stricken wit
apoplexy, and for hours before his death wa
unable to speak a word of comfort to hi
weeping family; but as he had lived. so h
died. Not struggle or a groan marked h
passage over deaths cold river: Int camI,
peacefully he closed his eyes, and "all ";
we'll" Adieu, dear sainted Grandfathe
till we must meet again, high on the "hank
of sweet d~eliverance."
only'a small remnant remains of VIII,
was once a large and happy family, an
mourntully will their footsteps echo throug
the long passages, and deserted rooms of +
old homestead, and long years will roll roun
ere the light of JOY or the song of mirth wi
be reawakened around that lonely hearth
stone. May kind heaven bless them ar
suit this dispensation of his Providence
their future good.
Dear, dear Circle, forgive me that | ba,
permitted this sad theme to absorb nv eve,
thought on this occasion but when the 70,
sprlng-tlme comes, to gladden. the earth vii
her birds and flowers, l shall com agai
with your permission, to lay the first swe
flowers that bloom around nv mounta
nome, upon the shrine Of Friendship. 1T
then, adieu. AS ever yours,
CARRIE CLINTON.
Glen Vale. Feb. Ii. 1857.
For the Spirit of the Age.