Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-09-21
&aNies' department
A vornU Wifi Dies Broken Hearted.

A Young Wife Dies Broken hearted.
In the obituary department Of the Journal,
published at Palmer, Mass, we find the fol-
lowing announcement:
.Dnp.-Mary, aged 20, wife of De Witt
Clinton Packard, of Providence, r. l."
In the editorial column there is sad and
touching story, relatingt to the announcement,
which we annex below. 1t is a lesson from
the tomb, to the young and t~houghtless, and
told so ~eloquently, that !: cannot fail to make
an impression for good on readers Of every
age. 1t says:
aIn another column we record the death
Of a Young lady who died of a broken heart.
We do not like to trespass upon the sacred
ness Of domestic grief to unfold the details
Of her sad story but when the privacy of
affection becomes public feeling, it is not i'm
proper for the Press to place the events on
record. 1t is not necessary to repeat names
or relate minute particulars. 1t is enough
that we draw the outlines Of a picture for the
reader TO paint with appropriate colors. Many
months ago, III the n~eighboring town of Belch-
ertown, n young man sought and received
the promise Of the hand of a young lady,
whose home was in the lap of luxury, whose
mental and personal attractions made all
pleasant around her. Like too many conf
ding ones Of her sex, she trusted mans I'M
halIowed promise, and yielded all to him.
"a Rrau tbpt hon1. he AstlaNpsd q ft1Ifhscif
to the penalty Of the law, at the request Of
her friend he returned TO her to fulfill the
vows he had long before made. They were
married in one of those hasty,
ways, which occupy but little time or atten.
tion. Late in the evening they returned to
her fathers house, where he left her in the
street. promising to return in a short time
But that promise was never fulfilled. She
wrote to him, and received encouragement
that he would soon provide q home for her.
but delay followed delay, till her letters and
entreaties were unheeded and unanswered
AT length q pledge of woman's love for her
husband came into the world to open new
fountains of affection to the young wife
Still the husband and father came not.
The mother recovered from confinement.
but after repeated letters to her husband
found no answer, the idea that she was de-
serted by him forced itself upon her, and she
gave way to dependency and despair. The
child, partaking Of its mothers grief, soon
died. There was nothing more that she
could live for, and though suffering from no
disease, she sank upon a dying bed. Then
the swift wing of lightning bore to the distant
husband the intelligence that she was dying.
lie still hesitated, but at length set out to
meet his expiring wife. Conscious that her
hours were few, she only wished to live long
enough TO see her husband he was still all
to her. Her last words to her friends were :
Tell him that | still love him-that l died
Tor him" When evening Swallowed the
earth the husband came. As he approached
the bedside Of his injured wife, he was recog-
nized, and the words He's come burst from
her lips. Already had the wing of the death
angel cast its shadow over that dwelling, and
she was entering the dimness of the dark val
ley. Next morning, in that room, lay the
corpse OF a beautiful young wife, on which
the husband had looked for the last time, and
departed.
last Sabbath afternoon, the funeral Of
the young wife took place under her fathers
roof Her ~neighbors and friends, to the num.
per OF i've hundred, were present; but the
husband who mad leTt her TO die for him war
not there. A deeply affecting address was
made by her former pastor, and just as the
sun was sinking behind the western hills,
four young ladies Of her acquaintance, clad
in garments of white, bore her to a grave in
the garden, where the green turf was laiC
gently over her. Such is the story of one
who died Of a broken heart. The grave is Q
quiet place for the injured wife, but where
in all the world can there be peace for him
who would thus bring sorrow and death upor
herr The story has its moral, but we will
leave the reader to apply it; it is full of warn
ing, and We leave the young to heed it"