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P418.3

1867. Aug. 31.
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Gon, thas, Lummer. (4.6.1630)

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THE

Worcester Talisman.

NO. 1.

APRIL, 5, 1828.

ORIGINAL TALE.

FOR THE TALISMAN.
THE ORPHAN.

"AND I am then alone in the world," said Jane Smith, a solitary unprotected orphan; "Oh my brother! the bitter cup which thy hand has prepared, has been quaffed to the very dregs. Oh Charles-my father, my mother, the grave has closed over you, and I am alone in the world." There was another name entwined with every fibre of her heart, but she spoke it not, and every nerve thrilled as she faintly ejaculated, "Gracious Father!" be merciful to them who go down to the sea in ships.-Hers was a simple tale; perhaps her sufferings did not greatly exceed the "common lot ;" but they had followed each other in such rapid succession, that those who.now marked her wasted form, her tuttering steps and her unearthly countenance felt a mournful conviction, that though the pale messenger who had so often entered her dwelling, had spared the loveliest plant for a while, he would ere long claim her as his victim.

VOL. 1.

sonable, an immortal being; he therefore endeavored to blend in her the requisites of female perfection in such a manner as would best qualify her for a dispenser and sharer of human happiness, and an inheriter of eternal life. While a certain portion of the day was devoted to assisting her mother in domestic duties, and another granted to her for relaxation in innocent amusement, the solid branches of English Literature were the principal objects of attainment, and while he unfolded to her the principles of such sciences as he considered best fitted to expand and strengthen the female mind, in those branches peculiarly feminine, he found an able assistant in his wife.

But his greatest care was to bring up his children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord;" to impress on their tender minds a due sense of their responsibility to him, and to excite towards him the emotions of love and fear-the love of obeying his law, and the fear of displeasing him. His anxious hopes and fears were realized-his hopes in his daughter -his fears in his son. While Charles remained in the bosom of his family he was a dutiful son, and affectionate brother; his disposition Jane Smith was the daughter of a country inclined him to virtue rather than vice, but he Clergyman, who had early in life been united wanted that firm manly independence which to the wife of his choice, and settled in a flour- would have preserved him from the snares of ishing village in Massachusetts. The birth of insidious profligates, and when his virtue was a son, while it awakened new emotion in their put to the test, he fell. The only intimacy breasts, bound them yet more closely to each which he had formed was with a youth other, and when a daughter was added, the two years older than himself, who had been good man exclaimed, "Heaven be praised, my placed by the death of his parents under the every earthly wish is granted." The happy guardianship of Mr. Smith. He resided in the parents beheld in their children a reflected im- family, was the constant companion of Charles, age of each other, and saw with grateful hearts, and so firmly were their hearts knit in the as their dispositions were developed, the bud- bonds of fraternal love, that the name of brothdings of genius and virtue. Mr. Smith's offi- er alone was wanting.-But the day of separcial duties left him much leisure for social and ation arrived. At the age of seventeen Alfred domestic enjoyment; he therefore resolved to Manton entered Harvard University: the undertake the education of his children. In pangs of parting however were mitigated by his son he anticipated a successor to his sacred the reflection that his vacations would be office, and had only to follow the path which spent at home, and that when one year had custom had sanctioned. But on the subject of expired Charles would again become his comfemale education, he entertained an opinion panion. This second breach in the little famwidely different from those which but too gen-ily circle was heavily felt. The parents tremberally prevail. He wished to see his daugh-led for the safety of their child, but, as Alfred ter an accomplished woman, but not a painted bauble; learned, but not a literary prodigy; a good housewife, but not a good housewife only. He viewed her not merely in her subserviency to creation's tyrant, but as a rea

had escaped from the fiery furnace unhurt, and returned to them after a year's trial with a character yet more decidedly virtuous, hope whispered peace to their bosoms. With implicit confidence Charles committed himself

to the guidance of his friend and passed through || self-command and quiet resignation, she was the first year with honor to himself and joy un- the child of Grace. As she seated herself, she speakable to his family. But he had now com- perceived from the door of the summer-house, menced an intimacy from which Alfred dread-that the cloud still lay black and heavy in the ed the most fearful consequences; though he still hoped to maintain the ascendancy which he had acquired over him, and preserve him, if possible, from the rock on which so many gallant barks are foundered. Charles's new associate attempted to sap the foundation of this long standing friendship. He ascribed Alfred's brotherly care to the love of power, and rallied Charles on his lack of independence. This last charge he felt to be too just, and though in his better moments he knew that this yielding disposition was all that arrested his wild career in the path to ruin, he, at other times, condemned himself for his want of spirit, and his friend for exerting his influence over him.

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Another year had gone, and left him still veering between the two courses followed by his two opposite friends, and they were again to visit the parsonage. It was at that laughing season, when Summer, as if conscious that she must soon resign the sceptre to her sober successor, seems to rict in all the luxury of absolute power. The rich foliage of the season was scarcely ruffled by the breath of heaven; the mid-day sun, rejoicing in his might,' darted his fervid beams with intemperate heat into the bosom of the earth. Low in the west, the cloud, no bigger than a man's hand,' gave sure indications of the approach of one of those tempests so peculiar to the season and climate. Now the faint moanings of the distant gale were heard; the dense cloud spread itselfrapidly as the sailor unfurls his sheet; the thunder reverberated along the distant mountains, and the big solitary drops began to fall with ominous force on the earth's parched surface. In a moment, the sky was involved in gloom; the lightning's flash was followed by the ratling report, and the rain fell in copious showers. But the bolt passed harmless; the blast spent itself, and in one hour no traces of the tempest remained, save the glittering bow in the east, and the cheerful invigorated aspect of the scenery. Jane had cultivated her flower garden, during the absence of Charles and Alfred, with unusual care. It was situated at the end of the house, and in its most retired stood the summer-house, almost concorner, cealed by the entwiaing fibres of the grape and woodbine, and the drooping branches of the willow which hung over it, as if in parental protection. The appointed hour for the arrival of the students approached; and Jane, eager to breathe the pure air exhaled from her flowers in their freshened state, and anxious to pass the intervening time calmly, repaired to her favorite retreat. Her temper was ardent, her feelings intense-but they were under the influence of a regulating principle which prevented them from running to excess. In the pure unsophisticated affections of her heart, she was the child of Nature: In all her actions, she was the child of Reason: In her

east. A momentary pang chilled her bosom, as she thought that the storm might even now be spending its fury on Alfred and Charles.But as the majestic arch of the rainbow divested the cloud of its gloom, so did hope and confidence restore tranquillity to her breast. She did not consider herself a favored votary of the Muses-she had no ambition to be sobut for her own amusement, she embodied some of her present sensations in the following stanzas, according with her favorite air on the guitar:

I.

Why lingers my brother?
Oh! why this delay ?
Thy sister impatiently
Mourns for thy stay.
Gone is the whirlwind,

The tempest is past,
Mild beams the sinking sun,
Haste thee, oh! haste.

II.

I've gathered my flowers-
The rich and the rare;
I've woven a garland

To bind in my hair:
I'll bind up another,

Another I'll bring

To thee, my dear brother-
A love offering.

III.

"The last rose of summer"

Shall yield its perfume;
The shade-loving violet,

And daisy, their bloom,
The bright Globe Amaranth,

An emblem shall be

Of my friendship unfading-
My brother, for thee.

IV.

Each delicate blossom
Shall in it unite,
Whether prized for its odor,
Or fair to the sight,—
All the pride of my garden
I'll bring unto thee;
And the band that enwreathes it
A myrtle shall be.

V.

Now as the sun sets,

The moon rises pale-
Shedding her pensive light
Over the vale;

Sweet smiles the evening scene-
Still must I mourn-
Anxiously waiting

My brother's return.

"My Alfred's return would sound more interesting," thought she. But though she loved Alfred as well as Charles, yet when he was at home during the winter vacation, he had treated her with unwonted reserve: when they

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