Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1860-09-05
SIIHIT or THE AGE.
LEOLA FAIRFIELD.
THE VICTIM OF SORROW
BY RANSOM GuLLEY,

y eI the chords OF the youthful heart. 4
Sees the visions Of fT,%e Se wl.a strange weeping, I
A Ard ,he p.oom OF young feeling is dying.
When our sad days ops w wa.a passions fierce strife, {
"hothen can lind sweetness in life f''
Mrs. EMBURY. I
Inc howllng winds Of an autumnal night
echoed through the glen and vale. and fhe J
leaves, dry and scar, the mcurnful relics &c
departed summer, few on the wings of tho
gushing blast like fairies fickering around
the weird remains Of Alhambra, durine the
middle ages. Pale Cynthia, struggling amid
the stormy clouds, would anon throw q
tiood OF silvcry light on earth, and then con-
ceaing herself, darkness profound would pre-
vali. Along the northern horizon clouds
black as the ebon brow of night were Graded
ana the storm-king seemed marshaling his
hosts Tor a fearful tempest. The night.Rawk
new screaming on the blast and sought his
nome IN the dllapidated trunk of the forest
OAK, which had withstood the fury of winter
Tor generations past. A storm was ineyita-
Die! Not a star with twihkling radiance
decked the space Of immensity-no voice
could be heard without but the melancholy
shrieking of the gushing wind, and the dis
tant roar of the approaching tornado. The
opulent, surrounded by the pleasures and
l%uxuries of life, listened with joy
At the shrieks of the bafied 6and..
sIAs his sounding Wings went bys-F
but with the unfortunate and lowly OH such
a night as this, many a tear glistens in the
eye OF sorrow, and many signs escape the
bosom filled with painful apprehensions.
Twas SO with Leola Fairfield. Yes, the
gifted Leola of former days, whose voice was
once as sweet and p~laintive as the distant
murmurlngs of the gentle rivulet, and
whose eyes sparkled with brilliancy indica-
tive ola heartfree from fortunes v~icissitudes
but now indelible traces of grief were visible
on her brow, and despair was depicted in her
countenance. She had been weeping. Alone
she had listened to the bowling storm -
Alone, detected and miserable. she sat, a
wreck Of former glory for with the excep-
ton Of her innocent Alice, whose angel-like
being had only thrice seen the flowers bloom
and fade, and who was silently sleeping be-
meath her mothers vigil, she was the only
occupant OF that miserable howell.
1t required but a cursory glance at the sor-
rowing woman, to tell that she, now the vic
tim OF unrelenting dependency, had seen
better days. queenly form, once the
concentration OF feminine graces, was bent
with premature age and detection that arch
ed brow which in life's sunny morn was par
tally concealed by clustering ringlets, black
as the ravens wing, was now furrowed by
the ills of time; those eyes of deep and hal
lowed thought, whose former lustre a fairy
might envy, was now dimmed and rayless.
With her, hopes bright star seemed gone
down in endless night
The lire was burning low, and gazing in
its Wondering embers she tried to picture 8
bright scene in futurity-an oasis in this
desert pilgrimage of life but alas dark ant
foreboding clouds seemed to canopy her very
existence, and woe and misery seemed he
only destiny. Her mind REQUIRED to the past
she thought of the time when the man o
God pronounced a benediction on her uniol
with William Fairfeld-the future was thel
laden with joyful anticipations she was hap
py-yes, very happy, and though the storm
oflte might assail her-though angry billow
might lash her life-bark as down the river c
time it glided, she then felt that in him, tn
talented, the noble and manly, she had a RI
fuge-a rock beneath whoseshelter she coul
: rest havnn invelnor~1ivl to the thunder
> ing tempestS and the wrath ofthe fiery storm
: king. IT'S thus with earthly treasures
: like spray upon the ocean, or the Lowell
. flowers OF the field, they glitter awhile i
; their transitory being, but soon pass away.
While thus meditating, each transactio
> Of her life seemed to arise wildly before he
+ she thought of her kind mother whose silel
urn had often been moistened with her brin
#, tears-of her father who had also long bee
sleeping in the cold embrace of death. F.
during their stay on earth, she Icing an on
child was the recipient of all their parent
, affection; and now their memories were elm
l. ing around her soul like ivy around the to
V tering walls of an accent and forsaken castl
Though thnU had tpaccnJ tba ho,pdc &C AoY
ing space Her mind diverted again to h
husband. She followed his career in imae
z nation from the time when she first hear
e from his lips an eloquent tale of love, to tt
- unfortunate present. Rerniniscence ALL
:. awakened shadows and sunshine, which
u the onward revolutions of Time had be-
buried in Lethean forgetfulness.
It But a few years since, in the beautiful v
g lage of s., in Western North Carolina, whe
:, we now find her, none were more highly {
|, teemed or universally admired, than w
M liam Fairfield. A lawyer by p~rofessio
Il naturally gifted with exalted talents, and
fable IN disposition, he soon rose to eminen
> in his profession and to a conspicuous po
y ton in the minds of all who knew him; b
% like a transient satellite, he twinkled
h while in his brilliancy, shot athwart the t
mament ofhis greatness, and was soon an
ject of contempt and misery, Yes, he plac
the wine cup to his lips, it fred his bra
and ere he was aware, the nefariouS practi
claimed him a victim his course from tt
time was only downward. Day after d;
and month after month, he rushed wildly
ward, in the delirium of his passion, to
drunkard's grave. Friends had given up
hope of his reformation, and his wife,
theme of the present sketch, was an obj
OF universal pity and commiseration.
The rain now commenced falling in t
rents the storm which was soon raging
all its frenzy, aroused the lonely won
from her ~reverie. She bent ~silently4o'er
sleeping treasure, and found it yet repos
sweetly with an angel smile illuminating
face, and while gazing on its lovely 70
seemingly immaculate as the driven sn,
her soul in prayer went up to God for
future preservation. Suddenly she excla
ed, Why docs he not come ? it is past n
night-oh! l fear he has again yielded to
seductions of his drunken associates.
promised me this morning ere he left,
would drink no more; he said, he VIC
strive to restore his fallen fortune and
trieve his ruined fame-but alas | tren
for the frailty of man. He has often pied,
and as often done inju: y to his sacred he
by a violation of his covenants my h
seems burdened with fear for his safety
he yields again to the tempter's wiles, a
lost lost forever. He knows | remain
loneliness to watch for his return-he KIN
what l have suffered, what | have cndu
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