The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1865-01-14
COUSIN LUCY.
OR THE
OLD MAID FROM PRINCIPLE.
OR THE


lie no; that old crouch1'
"Yci love" replied tho n 4 Legged coas.a Luc7i
"you are. think, cid enough an ,bou-htfu.
enough u spp'y my tale to useful purpose 50
viii defer 1t no niger. Let us ~ - nv favolru
seat under the dr-rccs anil we csn then watch, The
sun act while you listen 70 the 5li maids prosy
story. Come, tho sha lows arc s'ro;ch.n, nearly
scross the lawn, an have he story o1alife,s
rclsp "
Inc hr-trees crowned the brow - gentle vest.
ern "e'liviiy, a,u, which ran tho miniature mon
snH pal.sadeT which formed the boundary Of NJ.
Pheasant fIr'len. The slope below wss ron With
waving corn mcIlowiny in the trcath Of a warm
! jug. Farther still 'lc " hcdgerowelms' were
hero gathered into rsc-;c groura. and Their.
stretched away in Ion, irregular Ines enclo.ny
h"lis ~ every hue, presented by arch country in
high cultivation. There was tho bright tender Green,
whore the Young grn's was =, ringing up tie h.,
harvest the luskicr shac OF tie pastures the vel.
low bar ey The fenthery oats, AMI tue .orsro bean
'c Z all studied here AM there Nth patches OF Nh,
brilliant scarlet poppy. Bnuniins the r-psrect
the night nigh, tc seen portion Il the park.like
moadow belonging TO tho house, dotted With enor.
nous oaks and becchcs vhllr on the extreme lea
Law vi lie extent Of moor auds glowing with How.
ering groce aul heath flowers The rich landsc,u.
sw " away, diversified by an occasional y.ll.,.
spre, mass Of dsrser wood. the picturesque gable
OF some farmhouse, or TIE sve.y winding Of a small
river AMI was terminated ty - chain " lofty hills,
towards which the sun vas Just sinking ia 8 blaze
Of golden and crimson light The "sme Of lsiry
farms ming Ell with the thousand luscious per.
fumes that hang about the s'r u summer even.
Ing snd tho ear was soothed by the cooling Of tho
wood pigeons, tic uuklnr Of sheep bells from ito
heath the evening song Of the black -. and the
ceascless murmur Obi 'lcu brook rustic bench
ofunJarAod wool extended beneath IL. ancientars,
an on this Cousin Lucy and Der youthful auditor
sat for while, watching IN 81 euce the sunse,
changes o. the Eor eous landscape.
Now Cousin Lucy vaa by no means the yeuera.
bic perIonagc she seemed to tti1' herself She wa,
not forty and looked considerably younger: nc,
complexion was pale and clear; her f.,ure sigh,
and graceful ant although the ugua expression
Of her face, and her fine full ewes, was thoughtful
almost 10 "A luess, sweet hri.hi smile wss ever
ready to Light them MP she witnessed the enjoy.
men, Of those around hey
There Is no romance In nv narrattsSs sb. 10
gan, after pause $50 YOU must not cvTs-t snv
stirrin' inc ent Citing ghosts, or mvster,ou.
warnlngs have had my trials, It's true; but /
been much more useful and h,r hspper than IA
would nave been hai not borne item with a pa.
ticrt spirit
"wel," exclaimed Msrg.ro,. "t IL A cortor,
10 know n, tho beginning thrt, whatever troubea
AM miseries you describe 1t will si eui happily
Of last"
"Not Sccrrl,nr to the sense you generally civ.
10 those words my wildiny, responded her cousin,
corcFsnF the vouur girl's redundant tresses
"since that implies that tho lovers are married,
and live happily al the rest Of their lives. NJ story
fTIl len. ia an tn,
an odd maid'"
Yet you seem happy,"
May know not seems am happy :sni thcre
Is no happiness equa g. that which 10 inspired by
he cousciousuess II having acted rightly Bun
your question reminds me that l must begin my
story W ~ 'it viii ovcrtake us before Il IL ended.
You lpls; know that my mother died when WA
quite an infant She bad had many children, bun
OF tho whole Plumber, only the eldest am the young.
etgrew up 10 womauAooi Now pray Ubserv.
bow many circumstances ~ sin, chiefly from iruo-
rance couspirod " bring my Ioor mother to he,
grave At the axe Of twenty seven. So was natur
ally delicate, and this dclcscy was increased by
boarding school education, where the confined pol.
lu'cd air, the want Of exercise, the tgnt stf s.yS
ant the unceasuy mental eNcrtiou, con pletei dos.
trucdon OF ne little yisour snr once possessed.
Ncyerth, 'DsL like forced flower. sho hourished
preco0ously Tor a time A. sixteen, she was a
woman In app arsnce and manners and she had
only left schoo. few months when she married "a
man as ignorant AZ fcr8ef - the graye error they
were committing within wear, she gave birth
10 daughter Six years more passed away, each
beng marked by the birth Of aChill. Twas the last
and, with the exception ~ my eldest SISTER the on.
ly one who survived the age OF eighteen All tho
others sank under some form OF consumption, that
iel disease to which my mother mad strong cou-
sJitutu AL bias Shortly after my firth, she, too,
she Oh symptoms Of this disorder, AMI m 4 few
months she was laid bcs.ie her cAilIr,u"
"Ah then, see why you would not marry;
you feared that oil your children migat de u cons
SUMPTION
"Exsctly But vss not so fortunate as to learn
my danger At your early years, In my young dawn
such subjects as physolngN or anything reistiuk
10 H. were secuted, eyon by those who recessed
htcralty, a. quite unuocessary, n not iiuur1uer
m female ciucauon. Aud sJ, icr tie wan, Of tue.
merest elementary kuOwleIF. OF these importAng
sciences, mothers, with the best Intentions, bound
UP their laugh ers' figures in unyclding web aud
whalebono, compressed their tu - Vt stortcI their
spihes, impe led the action # their hearts, shut
them safely up nom tie breath " nature,
taught them ass.duously every fashionable accom-
plishluens AID every artificial grace, bat would
have fauted at The WI larity OF morning run over
a br'e1y hit had common sense NcntLieI - pros
pose such remedy Tor th, poor creatufei' pALl
cheeks aud vast NJ iurms And hs Tor Rejecting
on tie elect Ih.s alse system mus, have on tLeir
ChlIreu's children, that Il eourne they never lid
Women did not reflect At IL al time, EXCEPT upou
tire characters Of their neighbours. IL has Often
struck me as o s.us ulGr anomaly, that we calculate
tle extent VI land OF the AAuuLt Of money We shall
bequeath 10 our Offspring, tuI never bragow
thought on The health they Will Inherit from
us'
well, ignorance OF such matters was TrevSleut
when my sister, then about ei-htccu, Iuarr.e4 .
young man Il good family, tuI no wisc- cha hor-
self Ny iathtr reluced NJ the uutX Hcptlonhb.
match, and pleased L.IuHif with tstttrluS yison.
Of her future welfare, In sior, ryGrytt. NJ seemed
W me TO smile upon their uuiu until one eyepiu,y
| happened 10 o'traesr u conversation that mai.
strong Impression upon me- though | lid not IN
az F.