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' i ..... "i Ml PI V.J i if ' m WILLIAM D. COOKE, A FAMILY" NEWSPAPER NEUTRAL IN POLITICS. TERMS, EDITOR i'MOPRIETOE TWO DOLLIES PES ANSI'S J II Befcotett to all tije xi tmste of Sije Souti), Citemture, (Stout ation, :&jjroultui$, ifes, tfc tarfetts, &t. VOL. IU.-NO. 37. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1854. WHOLE NO. -14( - - SELECT POETRY. : THE LORD'S PRAYER. Tbk following beautiful poem is said to have been writ , toil by Kinj James L, though by some it is. ascribed to Bishop Andrews If any be distressed, and fain would gather Some- comfort, let him, haste unto Our Father, For we of hope and help are quite bereaven Except thou succor us VVh art in Heaven. Thou showest mercy, therefore for the same We praise Thee, singing ,;. : Ihdlowcd he Tliy name-. Of all our miseries cast up the sum, Shovv us Thy joys, and let " Thy kingdom come. We mortal are, and altar from our birth. . Thou constant art, Thy will be done on earth. Thou niad'st the earth, as well as planets seven, Thy-name is blessed here As 'tis in Heaven. Nothing we "have to use, or debts to pay, Except Thou give it us ; Give us this day . ..' Wherewith to clothe us, wherewith to be fed, For without Thee we want ; Our daily bread. We want, but want no faults, for no day passes But we do sin ' Forgive us our trespasses. No man from sinning ever free did live, Forgive us, Lord our ins As we forgive. If we repent our faults, thou ne'er disdainest us, We pardon them That trespass against us ; Forgive that is p'ist, a new path tread us ; Direct us always in Thy faith,. And lead us - ' We, thine own people and Thy chosen nation, Into all truth, but Not into temptation. : Thou that of all gojul graces art the giver, ' Suffer us not to wander ' - But deliver Us from the fierce assaults of world and devil, And flesh, so shalt Thou free us : From all evil. To these petitions let both church and laymen, With one consent of heart and voice, say Amen. SELECTED STORY. .ETNA; A THRILLING TALE. 'Amniig list'.' 'won .Irons ; the earth, tlw alwavs i) a jut preseht 1 by jVi-t an . . ..l.-vatioii. Us i Ti k vv i terror t'"i'in. and - which lie -V -mi, the Si. -ilia'!' volcano w iiii the deepest, tiie most n. and with such 1 began to ascend the ..f the lii':h of May. IS 4 ft. he .lav hi-foiv, in order o ii. I 'ii 1 nvi wi-h to it :io ; t'.r to tn' tliore lcvertiu:, sail--I hi nix i'R '.'iiu ibis Li'cat mass i ln'c to look eanit'st I wi!i d to :ieend. to .i : :iMC" r ;l i ill l MtWaVs :u ;hiii-. !. i-i: vi:i oj u j ii i-i-;: v-e. 1 !v :i it - rug U iU-i ava, w'eel i..",y-i'n :n i i sumi ui.i the t'aif.'-t r -to giriuee down, d"wn into tlios ;ums on earth ; liiit'athoinal'le depths wh'-ro tire, fire in ail its terror, for ever dwells, for ever st rubles ! ' . It was with slow steps' that T ascended the cone, after tin patient and hardy ponies had been dismissed. 1 had been an invalid, and the fa .tlsrue of climbing up the steep and rocky de- ,.K..rf,- ,.,t,l.t 1 1 leu-. .1 .111.14 ...1 liii T'.lli 'ltVor many restings and many ballings, I was able to attain the summit. The summit! Good heavens! can I ever for get the- delirium, the transport of joy, which ; the boundless prospect there awakened within me ? Can I ever forget the glimpse which I first caught of all the glories and all the horrors of ' nature mingled together in such fearful unison Far away on oue side spread the fertile plains, the creen meadows, and the o-enple valleys of Sicily. There were streams glancing and flash ing iti the sun as they wandered to the sea, with ten thousand labviinthiau turnings ; lakes whose glassy surface showed nut a ruffle, not a ripple ; there were terraces upon the sides of adiundred hills, where vineyards were planted, and wher$ : the trellised vines passed ilong, all green, ail bksimng; there were groves of .orange-trees, amid the dark-green foliage of which the golden oranges pa -ped forth like the flashes of phospho rescent light in a mid-night sea ; there were long avenues of cypresses, of acacias, of noble trees of many kinds, amid which kingly assemblage at times could be seen the noble summit bf some stately palm, as it towered oti high above, the others. ', And the sea the wide, the boundless, the deep-blue Mediterranean there it spread, away . on the other side, as for as the eye could reach, spreading away as far as the thoughts could run 'giorioUs as . . ' The dashing, y - Silver-flashing ' ,r Surges ol San-Salvador.' But turn aside---and there, beneath, far be neath, lies, an abyss like that of which Milton has sung in sublimest mortal strains. I paused upon the brink, and, shuddering, I gazed down down ! The thick and funeral volumes of tortuously-ascending smoke came seething toward as "from a cauldron. It escap ed from a myriad crevices in the rocky, precip itous sides ; it poured forth from behind projec- tions, and united with the vast mass which came sublimely upward from the unfathomable depths. Here, upon the sandy, rocky edge, where sul phur, and crumbled lava, and pumice-stone, were all mingled together to form a horrid soil, here I sat, and looked down. From the scene beyond, from that glimpse of earth, "which made it seem like heaven ; from that vision of all that was most lovely and all that was most overpowering; to turn and gaze into a volcano's awful depths what a change ! Involved in a thousand thoughts I sat there, thiuking jnyself alone, when a sudden grating struck my ear. I was startled exceedingly, and turned around. The place where I had been sitting was a peninsular projection of the cliff which formed part of this infernal chasm. Upon the narrow strip of land which joined it to the other cliffs upon the isthmus I saw a mild looking, middle-aged gentleman approach me. He was dressed in plain black clothes, and in Kis hand he held a light stick. : ' I beg your pardon, Signor,' said he, in a po lite manner, and with great softness of tone ; ' I beg your pardon for intruding myself npou your company. But it is not often that I see any visitor so far up.' My dear Sir! I beg you will make no excuses,' I replied ; 'I was just admiring this scene be low.' ' All ! yes, 't is a glorious siglit ' Glorious ! say, rather, a terrible one.' ' Terrible, perhaps, to you ; b'ut do not be sur- -prised if I say that to me it is lovely, absolutely lovely!' And as he spoke, a smile of bewitching beauty crossed his features. ' I suppose your tastes are different from those of many peop'e, Signor. I have not such feel ings. But may I ask you if you are often here V 'Oh, yes ! I live here,' he replied, waving his stick around. 'I live here.' I thought that he meant me to understand that his home was on the mountain, where very many villas are situated. ' And I should suppose,' I continued, ' that you are often on the summit.' lOh ! yes, I am here always.' 'Always! what a strange fascination it lias for you '.' ' It has ! it has !' said the gentleman. ' Oh ! , a fearful ' and his voice grew low and hollow ' ii terrible fascination !' I was silent. " 1 will tell you, said lie, sitting closely by hit side, and turning his eyes full toward mine. ' I do not wish you to inform any one. Promise nic that voti will not.' 1 had not noticed his eyes before, but I saw now that within their depths there gleamed a strange and sinister l'o-ht. T promised him; and at the satue time I un ensiiv drew back farther tVota the edo'e. Well then, Signor,' said lie, 'I am king here ! I rule Mount .E'na !' I answered, a little alarmed at his anl ati'-nipnug to smile. Ye,; 1 am king here. In" me you see the icing who causes the lava to pour forth, and overwhelm the regions for centuries. The spirit elow. I have lived of the deep obey me : see lie leaped up from tin ground nostrils There was a tearlm lire in Ills eve le were Mated, lns pale bloodies face became as white as marble, and as save that on either.clieek there ylowed a deep led spot. 'See!' he shrieked wildly and loudly; 'spir its of the d.ep arise ! Ha ! yonder s-e them ! they at e coming in clouds enrobed in thun-der-irannents see !'' I leaped up from the ground : I gazed at him lie threw off his hat wildly, and it fell jar divn in the abyss. ' lie Hung off his coat and threw it away. ' Signor,' said I, in hopes that a mild lone might make him calm, ' Signor, the winds obey you. . Let us go.' 1 ' Go ? Where ? Is not this my home ? Is not this my palace ? Saw you not my servants? You are my guest !' , ' AVill you not sit down and tell me about your home V said I, shuddering. 'Xo! there are secrets that can never be spoken. Can you understand them ? Who are you, a mortal, that you dare to ask ?' " I walked slowly toward the narrow passage of land the bridge. But he faw me, and stood upon it. I could not go. ' Can this all be pleasantry ? thought I. An awful thought passed through me, which froze my heart's blood. Pleasantry! The e he stood, my wild com panion, his eyes blazing, fixed piercingly on me, his hands clenched, his mouth foaming, every sinew in his body worked up. He stood, scream ing, laughing. O God! I was alone with a maniac . ' You are to go with me,' he cried. 'Where?' 'There. I have come to carry you to my home.' He pointed with a cold, snaky smile down toward the unfathomable abyss whence ascended the terrible column of inky and suffo cating smoke. I gazed at, him : for there was some element of fascination in his glassy stare, which forced me, compelled me, to gaze. There was a cold smile upon his lips, which were all bloodless, and disclosed, as they parted, his mouth and tightly-shut teeth. 'There is my home there ; and I have come to take you with me. Ha ! ha ! how happy you will be! Come!' Still I gazed ; while my heart throbbed with slow but terrible pulsations. He advanced one step towrard me. I looked all around. ' The spell was . broken which enchanted my gaze. I looked all around : at the blue sky above, at the scorched earth around, at the horrible chasm beneath. There was no hope. Oh ! could I but leap the space yhich separated me from the main cliff! Could I but do it but I could not ! There was no hop ; ' "What ! do you not answer ?' he cried, sud denly lashed into fury by my silence, and stamp ing his foot in frenzy upon the rock.. ' Do you not answer ? Then I must carry you with me !' The maniac sprang toward me ! )Vith all my energies roused into frantic ac tion, with every sinew braced, and every muscle contracted, I placed my foot backward, against a small angular rock which projected above the loose, sandy soil, and endeavored to meet the shock. "With a wild scream, which arose thril lingly into the air, his eyes all bloodshot, his mouth foaming, on he came. Ho struck me his arms surrounded me in a fearful embrace, his hot breath came burningly upon my cheek. I stood firm : for despair, and all the bitterness df death, had given no place to fear and timidi ty, but had bestowed upon me the coolness of one in an ordinary situation. I threw my left arm beneath his, my right I passed over his neck and around upon his back, thus seeking to press him to the earth. It was a moment of horror such as no mortal tongue could ever tell. A struggle with a ma niac ! To be on a small surface of a rock, while, three thousand feet beneath, lay the abyss of untold horrors ! At, this hour, my heart beats more forcibly oven as I think upon the time. Thus we stood, breast to breast, face to face- the madman and I he with his arms encirclin"- me; I seeking so save myself. He pressed me toward the edge of the cliff. He plunged his feet deep into the around ; he laughed mockino- ly, and screamed, as he tried to destroy me. But against that rock my feet were firmlv brac ed ; and I held him tightly, and I pushed him and 1 sought to hurl him from me. Hurl him from me '.as well might the hungry tiger be hurled from his prey. Oh ! the agony of that struggle ! I know not how long rt was, but to me it seemed likemanv hours. .The wild eyes of the madman glared at mine all the time, and I found it impossible to look away. His. fearful face, all white. :dl ghast ly, was upturned toward me, as he shouted in his fiendish, mocking laughter. 'O Hkavex! Ohi honor! Can this, will this endure for ever V cried I in the ag.nv of my fear. The maniac howled with derisive shouts. I felt that 1 was growing weaker. But he was a madman ; aud would he grow weaker also? A thousand thoughts lied through me. Suddenly the maniac gave one fearful plunge. It was with the strength of a giant that he seiz ed me. He raised me from my feet. The rock, (he saving rock I had lost it : I was gone. I threw my arms high into the. air, and mv scream of terror ascended in unison with the maniac's mocking yell. 'lown ! down ! to the bottomless pit ! To the lroine of fire and brimstone ! To the endless horrors of burning lakes !' he screamed, as he gave a bound toward the edge of the cliff. 'Inspired by a sudden gift of superhuman strength, by a partial possession of even a mad man's power, I caught him by the throat, and even on the very .edge, even when in sight of the abyss, I sprang back, I bore him back; I brought him to the ground. Falling heavily upon him, I held his throat stiil in a fierce grasp, while his own arms were wound tightly around my neck, and his legs around mine. 1 felt his hot breath from his open mouth as my cheek lay pressed against his face ; I heard them grate harshly, and drew my head violently away, as he sought to seize me with his sharp teeth. In our frantic struggles on the ground, we rolled wildly about, and the dust from sulphur aud from pumice-stone ascended around us in suffocating clouds. I was half-insane. I was struggling for life. I caught up a handful of the fine choking dust, aud rubbed it violently over his opeu mouth. It went into his nostrils and lungs. He gave a jerk forward in agony. Amid the clouds of dust around, I could not see where we were. He held me by the hair as he sprang ; a moment after, and a fearful force was straining there, holding my head down with ir resistible force.' Another moment, and I arose; while wild and high arose, the shriek of the maniac, as he fell down down into the abyss. "I'm See that one axd go Five Better P If the following, which we clip from the last " Spirit of the Times," is not from the peu of the author of " The Arkansas Gentleman," we lose our guess : D being in the "West and short of cash, could not tell where to get the necessary W7ilmot proviso for internal improvement, but finding a widow who had shot one husband dead, and wounded several others, he concluded to marry her in order to get a boarding house. Shortly after the yellow garlands of Hymen were faded, D came in one night slightly muggy, as the Choctaw poets express it, and found his new spouse awaiting his arrival. She pitched into D., like a thousand of brick, and spread herself like a fan tail pigeon, drawing a single barrelled pistol upon D., who instead of travelling, pulled out a revolver, and remarked, as gently as the sigh of an Eolian harp : " Mrs. D., I see that one, (hie) and go five better!" . . MISCELLANEOUS. A CLEVER ANECDOTE, THE EMPEROR AND HIS DAUGHTER. (Translated for the Pennsylvania Inquirer from the Ga zette Francaise. by o. e. turner.) j A few years since, there was in the city of St. Petersburg a young girl, so beautiful and so lovely, that the greatest prince of Europe had he met her, even in a peasant's hut, might well have turned his back upon princesses to offer her his hand and his crown. i But far from having first seen the light in a peasant's hut, she was born in the shadow of the proudest throne on earth. It was Marie Kico- lcewna, the adored daughter of the Emperor of Russia. As her father saw her blooming like the May flowrer, and sought for by all the heirs of royal ty, he cast his eyes upon the fairest, the richest, and the most powerful of them, and, with the smile of a father and a king, said to her : "My child, you are now of an age to marry. and I have chosen for you the prince who will make you a queen, aud the man who will render you happy." j ' The man who will render me happy," stam mered the blushing princess, with a sigh, which was the only objectiqu to which her heart gave utterance. " Speak father,' she said, as she perceived a frown gathering upon the brow of the Czar. " Speak and your Majesty shall be obeyed." . " i i " Obeyed !" exclaimed the Emperor, trembling for the first time in his life, "is i then only as an act of obedience that you w ill receive a hus band from my hands ?" The young girl was silent and concealed a tear. " Is your faith already plighted 2" " The young girl was still silent. " Explain yourself, Marie : I command you." At this word, which sways sixty millions of human beings, the princess fell at the feet of the Czar. " Yes, father, if I must, tell you, my heart is no longer my own ; it is bestowed upon n yOung man who knows it not, ana wno snail never know it, if such be your wish. He has seen me but two or three tinio at a distance. Hnd we ne ver speak to each other if your Majesty forbids it ! " " The Emperor was silent in his turn. ! He grew pale. Three times he made the circuit of the saloon. He durst not ask the name of the young man. He who would have braved, for a caprice, the monarehs of the world at the head of their ar mies he, with his omnipotence, feared this un known youth, who disputed with him the pos session of his dearest treasure. " Is it a king V he demanded, at last. " No, father." " The heir of a king, at least V ",.o, father." . " A Grand Duke ?" . " No, father." " A son of a reigning family ?" " Xo, father." "At each step in the descending scale, the Czar stopped to recover breath. " A stranger V ' ' " Yes. father." '. The Emperor fell back into an armed chair, and hid his face in his hands, like Agamehon at the sacrifice of Iphigenia. ' " Is he in Russia ?" he resumed, with an ef fort. " Yes, father." j " At St. Petersburgh 2" ' Yes, father." And the voice of the young girl grew faint. " Where shall I see him V said the Czar, ris ing with a threatening aspect. " To-morrow, at the review." " How shall I recognize him V repeated the Czar with a stamp of his foot. " By his green plume and his black steed." " Tis well. Go my daughter, and pray God to have pity Upon that man." The Princess withdrew in a fainting condition, and the Empe ror was soon lost in thought. j " A childish caprice," he said, at length. " I am foolish to be disturbed at it. She will for get it. She shall forget it !" and his lips dared not utter what his heart added. " It must be ; for all my power w.ould be weaker than her tears." On the following day, at the review, the Czar, whose eagle eye embraced all at a glance, sought and saw in his battalions, nought else than a green plume and black charger. He re cognized in him, who wore the one and rode the other, a simple Colonel of the Bavarian Light Horse, Maximillian Joseph Eugene Au guste Beauharnois the Duke of Leuchtenberg, youngest child of the son of Josephine (who was, for a brief time, Empress of France) and of the Auguste Amelie, daughter of Maximilli an Joseph, of Bavaria, an admiral and charm ing cavalier, in truth ! but as far inferior then to Marie Nicolaewna, as a simple soldier to an emperor. ' j "Is it possible," said the Czar to himself, as he sent for the Colonel, with the design of dis missing him to Munich, , But at the moment when he was about, to crush him with a word, he stopped at the sight of his daughter fainting in her caleche. " There is no longer a doubt," thought the Czar : " tis indeed he." And turning his back upon the stupefied stranger, he returned with Marffe to the Imperial Palace. For six weeks, all that prudence, tempered with love and severity, could inspire, was essay ed to destroy the image of the Colonel in the heart of the princess. At the end of the first week, she was resigned ; at the end of the se cond she wept ; at the end of the third, she wept in public-; at the end of the fourth, she wished to sacrifice herself to her father ; at the end of the fifth, she fell sick ; at the end of the sixth, she was dying. Meanwhile, the Colonel seeing himself in dis grace at the court of his host, without daring to confess to himself the cause, did not wait for his dismissal to return to his regiment. He was on the point of setting out for Munich, when an aid- de-camp of the Czar came for him. " I should have set out yesterday," he said to himself; " I might have avoided what awaits. At the first flash, save yourself from the thun- derbolt." - TI, t.U; .-,'.... f.-. 1,: 4-l, CM : I alic ooit 111 lesei e 101 111111 as me ionowii". 1 He was ushered into the cabinet, where kings only are allowed to enter. The Emperor was pale, .and his eves were moist; but his air was firm-and resolute. " Colonel Duke," said he, enveloping and pe- netrating him with his glance, " you are one of the handsomest officers in Europe.- It is said, also, and I believe it true, that you possess an eievaieu miuu a uiuiouwu euueauon, u lively i . ii 1. - 1:. 1 taste for the arts, a noble heart, and a loyal character. What think you of the Grand Duchess, my daughter, Marie Nicolcewna ?" This point blank question dazzled the young man. It is time to sayT that he admired, adored, the princess, without being fully aware of it. A simple mortal adores an angel of Paradise as an artist ares the ideal of beauty. " The Princess Marie, sir !" exclaimed he, reading at last his own heart, without daring to lead that of the Czar ; "your anger would crush me if I told you what I think of her, and I should die of joy if you permitted me to say it." " You love her; tis well," resumed the Czar, with a benignant smile; and the lxyal hand, j from which the Duke was awaiting the thunder- bolt, delivered to the Colonel the brevet of Gen- eral Aid-de-Camp of the Emperor the brevets who dated his note from the bottom of the riv of commandment of the Cavalry of the Guards, er, had skilfully adopted the allegory, and intro- vnd of the regiment of Hussars of Chief of the Corps of Cadets, and of the Mining Engi- neers of President of the Academy of Arts, md member of the Academy of Sciences of the Universities of St. Petersburg!!, of Moscow, of veasau, of the Council, of the Military Schools, etc. All this, with the title of Imperial High- ness, a net several minions or revenue. i 1 ? n ? . . - jf . "Now, said the Lzar to the young man, who was beside himself with joy, " will you quit the ervice of Bavaria and become the husband of the Princess Marie '" The young ofiicer could onlv fall on his knees, and bathe with his tears the hands of the Emperor. " Ypu see that I also love my daughter," . - i ''-f?; rl -.. 1.- : 1 . 1 saiu uie lauiei, iiess,ni ins on-in-ia in uis irms. The 14th July following,, the Grand Duchess! was restored to health to life and the Duke ed in face of that strange mystery which capti Beauhornoise do Leuchtenberg espoused her in vates her imagination. the presence of the Representatives of all the The second letter was more tender, more pas royal families of Europe. sionate, more chaining than the first. Mme. D. Such an act of paternal love merited for the Czar and for his daughter a century of happi- ness. Heaven, which has its secrets, had order- ed otherwise. On Tuesday, November 5th, 1852, the Duke of Leuehtenburg died at the age of 35 worth' to the last, of his brilliant destiny, and leaving to Marie Nicolcewna, eter- nal regrets. All the young Princes of the world will again dispute the- prize of her hand; but she has been too happy as a wife to consent to be come a queen. From the. N. Y. Evening Post. ANGLING FOE A HUSBAND. FROM THE FRENCH. Mme. D- i - l j , rn i who rosirlen ax. ( hruon wns a i i ,i . . . i . i e ' i . lad v or the strictest, character and ot a. heart. c i it ii . , ci -i.il iJ prooi agauisL an auuiemem. one priueu nerseu urinnher -reat. insensihilifv. and her Wound j-a- ii ii "il .1 n , i indmerpnee had renn spd al those o-.o hints who 13 i, ,i ii m had ventured to offer their addresses. The coun- p i ., ii , . i i i try was for her a veritable retreat ; she shunned J . 7 i ii ., i rri reunions and was on v hannv in so htude. I he i e i , i ,i i f ,i , charms of a pleasant, circle, the pleasures ot the 1 1 ' j i l. , , -i i c i ti r i iv r world had for her no attraction, and her favorite v . , ii recreation was angling an amusement worthy p c v of nn unfee hnor woman. r,, . , i i. j She was accustomed evew n ensant. dav to station herself at the extremity of the onelv kIqtiiI nt I linton anrl thprp with a. hnolr in fine hand and her line in the other, her time was passed in fishing, reading or dreaming, A lover who had always been intimidated by her coldness, and who had never ventured on a spoken or written declaration, surprised her at her favorite pursuit, one day, when he had come to the island for the purpose of enjoying a swim ming bath. He observed her for a long time without discovery, and busied himself with thinking how he might turn to his advantage this lonelv amusement of angling. His reveries were so deep and so fortunate, that he at last hit upon the desired plan, a novel expedient indeed yet they are always most successful with such women as pretend to be invulnerable. The next day our amorous hero returned to the island, studied the ground, made. his ar rangements, and when Mme. D had resumed her accustomed place, he slipped away to a re- mote and retired shelter, and after having di- vested himself of his clothing he entered the stream. An excellent swimmer and skilful di ver, he trusted to his aquatic talents for the suc cess of his experiment. He swam to the end of the island with the greatest precaution, favored by the chances of the bank and the bushes which hung their dense foliage above the wai ters. In his lips was a note folded and sealed, and on arriving near the spot where Mme. D. was sitting, he made a dive, and lightly seizing the hook he attached to it his letter. Mme. D . perceivino- the. movement her line, supposed that a fish was bitim X " 'v ---- V4. The young man had returned as he came ; he had doubled the cape which, extending out into the water, separated them from each other, and -had regained his post without the least noise in ms passage under the willows. The deed was done. Mme. D , pulled in her line, and what wnc har suvnrica t -vVi.,..t j' i: ... .1 uuwns uaugiing upon Uie barb of her hook, not the expected shiner, but au unexpected letter ! This was, however, trifling, and her surprise became stupefication when, on detaching the transfixed billet, she read upon the envelop her name ! So. then, this letter 'which she had fished uj was addressed to her ! ' , , i.a .1. , 0.10s, its somewnaL miraculous. one was afraid. Her troubled glance scrutinized the sur rounding space, but there was nothing to be seen or heard ; all was still and lonely both on laad and water She quitted her seat but took away her letter As soon as she was alone, and closeted with her- self, and as soon as the paper was dry a paper perfectly waterproof, and written upon with in delible ink she unsealed the letter and corn- menced its perusal. ' A declaration of lo've ! cried she, at the first words. What insolence ! Still, the insolence had come to her in such an extraordinary manner that her curiosity would not suffer her to treat this letter as she had so many others pitilessly burn it without a reading. Ao, she read it quite through. The lover duced himself as a grotesque inhabitant of. the waters. The fable was gracefully managed, and with the jesting tone which she had adopt- ed was mingled a true, serious, ardent sentiment, expressed with beauty and. eloquence The next day Mme. D returned to the island, not without emotion and some trace of In .1 1 t .t , 1 1 tear. Mie tnrew tier line wuii a trembling hand, and shuddered as, a moment after, she perceived the movement of the hook. Is it a fish? Is it a letter? It was a letter. Mme. D was no believer in magic, still there was something strange and supernatural in all this. She had an idea of throwing back the letter into the stream, but relinquished it. . The most stubborn and haughty woman is always disarm- re-read it several times, and could not help thinking about the delightful merman who wrote such bewitching letters. On the subsequent day she attached her line to the bank, and left it swimming in the stream, while she withdrew to a hiding place upon the extremity of the island. She watched for a 1 long time, but saw nothing. She returned to the place, withdrew the line and there was the letter! This time an answer was requested. It was, perhaps, premature, yet the audacious request . obtained a full success. The reply was written after some hesitation, and the hook dropped in to the stream charged with a letter which was intended to say nothing, and affected a sort of badinage, which was nevertheless a bulletin of I vieiu v uaiiieu. utei uie iieusu seventy ui a I Jo J : i l v. ..t ..f woman until then inapproachable, 11 Mme. D hd too much shrewdness not to SueSS that her mysterious correspondent em- ployed, instead of magic, the 'art of a skillful I'Ji " v fo ' diver. Scruples easily understood restrained . " her from that portion of the bank where she was 1 .11" 11 j! i sure uie uiver wouiu ciueriie uuiu me tvoji. I -r... ,c i i, , jjul luis ijauie ui leuers amueu iici. insu & , ' 1 ' i - 1 T ! x .11 x 3 a1. 1, 1 . i it Pieaseu iier mceiiecu anu uieu uer neaiL was ' . interested: finally her feelings, and her curios- . ' J to I nv uecaiije bo iiveiv mat siiu n iulc J ' Let us give up this jesting, which has I o J ' pleased me for the moment, but which should & J t gies to Chaton." The lover answered: " Yes, if you will add : Hope." The inexorable lady replied : " If only a word is necessary to decide you, be it so ! " And the word was written. The young man appeared, and was not a los- er. The gift of pleasing belonged to his person as much as to his style,' and had made such rapid progress under water that it was easy to complete his conquest on land. Thus Mme. D caught a husband without wishing it, and in spite of the vow which she had taken never to re-marry. Holding the line, she had been caught by the fish. An old lady in Cincinnati, who sells eggs, has over her .door " New laid eggs every morn- j ng, by Betty Briggs." FASHION AT WATERING PLACES. The Chinese do lo-tou in their faces in the presence of their superior, and the benighted Africans worship a fetish made ' of old j rags ; b'ut neither the Negroes nor the Mongolmp are a bit more absurd than Americans, whei they prostrate themselves to the thing called fashion. And of all follies connected with fashion1, that of fashionable watering places is the mjst su perlatively ridiculous. 1 j 1 Mrs. Nervous, for example, wants change of air. But, unfortunately for the dear ladjy, she cannot consent to be cured except at the most tonntsh watering place; and accordingly her husband, though he can ill afford any extrava- .i!i.i ,i i . i gauces, is compelled to taKe tier sucu axeson. What matters it that the rooms are close, the table scantily . provided, and the proprietor ex- 1 tortionate in every way ! This fashionable kv dv or that, boards there, or has boarded; there. leaving behind her an odor of gentility to all time. It is amazing what inconveniences, and even insults, Mrs. Nervous, and hundreds like her, will put up with, in order to eat at the same table as the " upper-ten," and be bullied by the same landlord. . Nor is this all ; for at fashionable watering places one .would think that health was the last thing they sought. Mrs. Manceuver has gone there to marry off her daughters. Mrs. Ephe sian has come to catch a second husband. Miss . Flirt is there to coquet with the gentlemen? Miss Dash to raise a sensation by her oddities. In the little world of five hundred boftrders, temporarily inhabiting the hotel, there are a3 many cliques, intrigues and rivalries as at the court of a Louis XIV. Mrs. Tallowchandler turns up her nose at Mrs. Soapfat, because the husband of the latter retails his goods, while her own sells out whole-sale. Mr. Drone will not speak to Mr. Useful, because the latter works for his living, while the former speiids in idleness the fortune acquired by his fatjher. Even the " gentlemen and ladies of colojr who, according to their Own account, partly forj recre ation, and partly to oblige the fashionable jworld, consent to wait at table, make beds anal black boots, partake of this exclusiveness ; and one professional gentleman " boasts to anothef , with pompous self-satisfaction, of Lis tonnish mistress, and pronounces the employer of another f " no account," because he made his money iin salt- pork instead of in sugar. j ' Thousands of dollars are annually sacrificed at these fashionable watering places by families really unable to afford it. While husbarjds arc borrowing money in the hot town at two per cent, a month, wives are sporting lace caps that cost a hundred dollars, at hotels where the fam ily bill is another hundred per week. jWhile fathers are trembling with the fear of failure in fall, daughters are flaunting at watering 'places m the costliest jewelry, or sons are sportiig fast horses, giving champagne suppers, and perhaps gaming and drinking half the night. Deliver us from fashionable hotels at the sea shore or the springs ! They would swallow up tho purse of a millionaire; and destroy the health of a Samson. They would teach airs to, the girls of the best mother, and make the sons of the thrift iest father improvident. - Ostensibly people go out of town for health. Buf how many are better for a sojpurn at i fash ionable watering place ? Instead of returning w ith blooming cheeks, ladies come back! faded with late hours; and gentlemen, instead of be ing more vigorous, are paying the penalty of wine suppers. A fortnight at some quietjplace, w here the air is fresh and the hours edrly, is better than a month at one of these scenes of fashionable dissipation. In the one cas, you get what you contract for, and at a modorerate price, too ; in the other, you pay six dollars for board and six for fashion, and are cheated in both. Philadelphia Ledger. A SILENT MAN. Capt. Stone, of the steamer Canada, nbw in this port, is probably the most silent man Sailors who have been with him ma)iy months say they never heard him speak. He writes his orders to his officers, and if they fail in cartying them out, he reprimands them in writing Yet he has the reputation of being one of th most skillful and prudent captains of the Cunard line, and remarkable for his powers of personal endur- ance. Wdien at sea he rarely leaves the deck, night or day; more than an hour at a time, and nothing appears to escape his notice. Still he does not speak, either to his officers or passen gers. On a recent passage two wags, whp were passengers in his ship, noticed this peculiarity, and at dinner one day were quite eloquent upon the blessings of speech, and by way of cobtrast, expressed their deep commiseration for dummies One of the wags was so overeotne by his feelings that he deliberately took an onion ftom hislpock; et and applied it to his right tree, while helgazed at Capt. Stone with the left. "Poor, dear gentleman," he sobbed, as the tears followed the onion, "I wonder if he is deaf as w;ll as dumb." This was too much for the passe ngers, . who burst into a roar of laughter, in which Capt. Stone joined as heartily as the rest. When order1 was restored he said, "Gentlemen, adies, -or ladies and gentlemen, I acknowledge that I appear to a disadvantage, by not sneaking more than I do ; but what would you hajre me to saj ? It is my constant care to see thai you are properly attended to in every particular." What more can you desire V. After this 'effort ; he resumed silence, and has' not been known to epeak since. Boston Atla. -'is; M -"$f i : "iUi - i ,il . i ii -if- r bp 11 urn m I i WJt- ii -I -si ( 1. i I .Mi - 3 1 " ' I
Southern Weekly Post (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 19, 1854, edition 1
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