The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-03-29
Essiie Seymour,

originally fashioned simply and added to
from time to time as the taste or conven-
ience of the owner prompted Its pleasant
piazzas andnumerous cosy inches and hooks.
gave an appearance of comfort and content.
1t was charmingly embowered in one of those
delightful gardens of which eastern Massa-
chusetts boasts 80 many. Cultivated with
the greGtest possible care, its flowers, fruit
and shrubbery evirced that rare perfection
SO very seldom observed, because so seldom
earnestly striven for.
Col. Seymour, his wife al two daughters,
composed the family at Poplar Glen-the
name of this charming country retreat.
The gentleman and lady were truly deserving
the epithets by which I designate them.
Intelligent, refined, courteous and warm
hearted, they were truly respected Ey those
equal in wealth and position, and loved and
reverenced by the poor
Essie, the eldest daughter, at the age of
nineteen was one of those exquisite crea-
t,lres, whose beauty, instead of being ex-
ternally developed merely, seemed to radiate
from within; the soul, attuned to fine
Iarmonies and perceptions, gave glow of
fascination to the delieate-but to ordinay
observers-somewhat plain casket which
enshrined it, Thus, while a few whom
Essie should meet in her lifetime would
appreciate and think her beautiful, and love
her as only kindred souls can love, the
many would turn from her to the more
brilliant, more blooming younger sister,
Mary, whose radiant complexion, dark eyes
and abundant black hair, possessed greater
charm because more plainly discernible to
the outward eye. At the age of fifteen her
girlish grace of manner, and airs that gave
| token Of more than incipicnt coquetry,
were more noticed and applauded than the
more enduring charms of the reticent Essie.
And yet the older sister, with all her finer
organization, her poetic, dreamy tempera-
ment possessed that self reliant spirit, that
frmness Of purpose, which would enable
her to enact well her part upon the stage
of life, how lofty or how lowly soever it
might be. For hers was that rare, yet hap
py combination of qualities that constitute
the true nobility of nature, and that, under
certain circumstances, reaches the heroic
and sublime.
Col. Seymour had q brother of great
business character, who lived in a neigh
boring city. In the integrity and reputed
wealth of this brother, the colonel had such
unlimited confidence, that upon being ap-
piled to for his signature as boudsman he
gave it readily, not realizing at all that
should he by some fatality be called upon
to pay dearly for that once thoughtless
writing of his name, it would be by the
sacrifice of all his worldly possessions.
Thus thoughtlessly, wickedly, has many a
family been ruined; and thus, alas, was de-
stroyed for them the happy home of the
Seymours.
The weet deliciousncss of the perfume
of flowers, and the soft fragrance of the
southern summer breeze, foated through
the French windows into the drawing room
at Poplar Glen, where were assembled few
invited guests. Poplar Glen never looked
SO beautiful as now, bathed in the golden
glow of an August afternoon. Time passed,
and as Col Seymour did not make his ap-
pearance, Essie knocked at his study door;
receiving no reply she knocked again,
louder and louder still, till, urged by
a sudden and startling fear, she ent
tered
Father !"-she stopped. That loved
form sat rigid and cold in its armchair an
open letter still grasped firmly in a death
clasp Of his right hand. We will no.
depict the CONSERVATION and grief that
followed. The doctors pronounced his
death to have been occasioned by disease
of the heart, hastened by the contents of
that fatal letter, which had revealed to him
Il terrible consequences of becoming Sc
curity for more than he possessed.
Mrs. Seymour, after some weeks, with
resolution and energy characteristic of
New England women, had made arrange
ments for supporting her family in the city,
when sudden attack of typhus fever,
consequent upon grief and over exertion,
rendered the sisters motherless as well as
fatherless. In this emergency, Essie, who
yxceled in musical talent and requirement,
through the aid Of friends, obtained a
situation as teacher of music in the
seminary of H. Size wns offered home
in the family Of II gentleman who had
formerly been intimately acquainted with
her father. This generous offer of Mr..
Coburn was the more willingly and fully
accepted, since it was profered in rsauta,