Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-08-11
Written for the Yorkvi1le Enquirer.

Written for the Yortville Enquirer.
p. ALEAF FROM =
THE JOURNAL OF A sEAMsTREss.
By MAUD IRVING. -.. !
I hardly know why I write my bitter ex-:
perience; but tonight I've wandered in
memory's halls; 1 have again lningiedint the
scenes of my youth, Isee our beautiful,
homestead, where I2was reared in Injury ).
the pride and ambition of a father who lis
sleeping quietly beneath the cold sod, the
dear object of mothers love, carressed by:
her smiles and kisses, the joy and compau:.
ion Of her lonely hours. But they have gone;
gone to a better land. am left alone. ..,
! love to sit in the twilight, by the win.
dow of my study, and suffer my thoughts TO-
stray musingly over the varied scenes which
tempt their wanderings. Our minds are:
restive-a spirit is within US that "will not
down." but, rising snd struggling with its
trammela, longs to range theSast fields that
stretch out temptingly before its vision, and
soar "untrodden' heights, .whers angels bash
full look" = =
The first prompting is to the, days and
scenes Of the past as with magic power, the
magnificent panorama passes before. U.s.
Home, parents, childhood, assoeiates-all
these are there. o.. how the heart beats,
when we think of those whose forms were
once SO odear whose eyes flashed back to ours
the'hopes rising within p Then this was the
world to us-the horizon that limited our
view wastba boundary of the universe. But
now how changed; the righteousness ofyouth
has passed away.
A mother, too, was with me then. O.,
yes, I seem to see her now-that lovely
form, whose gentle eye beamed On me with
such deep unutterable tenderness those
lips, that SO often imprinted upon my cheeks
the kiss Of maternal love; that sunny brow,
calm, tranquil and heavenly! In the stern
conflicts Of life, my spirit sometimes sinks;
and then I turn, for consolation, to those les
SONS impressed upon my infant mind by her
gentle love. She guards me still : the agis
of her heavenly counsel defends--the poi.
soued shaft of the foe falls harmless at my feet
1t is no longer twilight. The moon is
beaming gently down on lake and hill--the
light clouds are fitting slowly across the sky.
Pwasjust such night, when ERNEST Mon
ton told me of his love, and asked me to be
his bride. I was but girl of sixteen SUM
mers then, and Iloved Ernest with strange
a wild devotion. I promised there beneath
the gem-eyed watchers Of the night, pale
beams of the silver moon, to be his bride.
Years have passed since that time in the
long ago; years Of cares and sorrow. When
the storm of misfortune lowered darkly above
my young head, he left me. With the gun.
ny hours of prosperity he fed, when my
heart was slowlysaddened by the dying fare.
wells of my parents. Obi when I-found
that ALL once thought dear had fed, my
home, my parents, my wealth, my position.
in society, and above all, thelove Of. Ernest,
how lonely, how sad was ]. tIsfelt, how vain
it is to build up hopes,for che future. The
,glitteriug bopesof youth will fade ;thescenes
of joy and happiness that are spread before
our admiring gaze will vanish while the
dreams of peace and contentment, in which
the aged often indulge, will fee away
Disappointment is ever near us. In the
hour of joy and dfestivity, when all around is
light and song he comes and blights our ex-
pectations and brushes our hopes. When high
asperations are on the wing, and our lofty
desires soar far in The future-when fancy
has adorned our pathway with flowers, when
imaginations fairy fingers have traced, inlines
of light, our title 10 fame, we know that
dark and sad shall be the reality.
When our heart is full of mirth and mel
cd y-when the bright beams of joy play
around US; when the sunlight of happiness
rests upon the brow, and earth seems washed
in the golden sea of bliss, then be assured
that soon the sunlight and the sunbeams
shall be quenched in gloomy night, and the
dark pail of sorrow shall shroud the earth.
How chilling is disappointment-how se-
we're the dart of sorrow! When our fondest
expectationshave been destroyed, and the
sweet flowers of hope withered and blighted,
how changed the aspect of every thing a.
round us All that was bright and beauti-
full has fed. The summer day is tinged
with: gloom, and the rainbow of heaven is
bathed in the tears of anguish. The silvery
stream that wandered, in strange beauty,
within its banks, and sweetly sang of mirth
and melody, as its sparkling waters 'broke
into dimples, and laughed in the sun, now
whispers only of blighted hopes and bitter
disappointment. Earth is clothed in sad
ness, and life is yelled in misery.
Icannot help shedding bitter, bitter tears,
when think of the happy past, and COM
pare it to my purest condition, alone-friend.
less, and seamstress. Yesterday I went
to return some work to Mrs. Davis, and on
my way home I was startled by the voice of
a man
whittier so fast my pretty one? Pray
come with me you'll suit me nicely! Do
you know your eyes are worth fortune p
and the vile man threw his contaminating
arm around me, and stared impudently in.
to my face.
william ? I cried, and with mighty ef-
fort I released myself from his polluting
grasp, and looked up into his handsome, but
crime-stamped face. Heavens! Twas