Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-07-15

! could the world and the church look
: within the cherries chamber of tie
actress, when weary and faint she lays
her aching head on the pillow, and
kncels by the little bed Of her sick
child, disappointed, heart-sick, and
longing for the companionship of the
pure minded and holy, they would stay
the anathema that trembles on the hal
lowed lip of religion, and would let
her, in the hours of affection, hide in
some unclaimed cleft in the Rock Of
Ages.
l played again, but it was without
aim, soul OR ambition. The house was
full, but | was like spiritless statue !;
the ords were spoken, the gestures
made, and the gay actress smiled on
the gaping, wondering crowd, but the
heart of the vonaam was heavy and
cold as the slcet- coated rock of Labra-
dor. My pet who used to sleep behind
the scenes, and whom l used to kiss
tcnderly and joycusly as q mother
could, when my heart was swelling with
the brief sovereignty Of the stage queen,
was gone. There was not one on all
the earth whose words could start the
u2gushing fountain of affection like
Mary's half articulation of "mamma"
as she reused from her bed when we
were to 60 home.
Rest thee, sweet little founding!
thou, who with thy sweet angel face
contest to me through the drapery of
dreams the curtains which rose at thy
boundary of time revealed glorious
stage, where archangels, and the sane
tilted of all time came to the foot lights
to welcome thee in, and to put upon
thy sinless tongue the familiar melodies
of Heaven. knew, if children there
are permitted to look from the watch
tower down the narrow avenues toward
the confines of Time, there is one little
angel, who now and then leans from
the parapet with her wings aplume,
waiting for some one to rend the MUIR
ky clouds that hover over the valley of
sin.
Again l sought among the dwelling
places of the lowly and the poor, and
found another to replace my lost pet.
| Oh, how tenderly 1 nurtured that neg
lected child, until she began to look up
in my face, and clasping her tiny arms
abe ut my neck would call me "Mam-
ma"
They would have taken her from me,
but chung to her with the desperation
Of one going mad and grasping tho
last shadow of gone-out hope. But in
a place Of strangers, hunted down to
that city of refuge which lies behind
the strong arms and generous hearts Of
people too chivalrous to deny woman
sanctuary, 1 forgot my mistrust of the
world, and felt the ice fetter falling
from about the fountain of life.
Let the fugitive, tired of life, afraid
Of death, distrustful of human sympa-
thy or consolation, 60 down among the
cottages Of the people. Let her not
sit down to rest on the door sill of the
: rich or great ; let her not lay her vast
ed hand on the altar of the church, or
look for moisture under the eyelids
that weep ostentatious tears for sin
stricken world. Rather let her sit down
3 by the door sill Of the lowly; let her
lean on the strong arms that are bronx
ed to labor, which strike impulsive
blows in defense Of the weak, and
which gather the strength of iron sin
ews at the touch of appealing helpless
ness.
! Under the shadow of little tree,
beyond the reach Of all but the occa-
,, sional recollection Of the demon haunt
ed night of the soul, I look back on my
professional life not without discerning
here and there new pictures that | would
not have blotted out. None but an
actress can understand how she looks
4 back-back to the hours of triumphs,
forgotten by all but herself, as queen
dethroned loves to think Of the tri-
umphal professions in which her young
heart beat at the homage Of the multi
tude. l am proud Of the profession
which false and uninstructed morali-
ty would prescribe and blot from
among the Arts. What art is nobler
than that cnnobled by the greatest poet
Of our tongue? In what is he, who in
living pictures successfully represents
the dead heroes of past time; inferior
to the great masters Of painting and
sculpture J?
THE SIMPLE SECRET. Twenty clerks
in store twenty hands in printing
office; twenty apprentices in ship
yard twenty young men about q vii
lage-all want to get on in the world,
and all expect to do so. One Of the
, clerks will rise to be q partner and
make fortune one Of the compos-