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pcuotcb to £itcrature, Science, aub tlje Sons of temperance, ©&i> jfelloiuslffi), ittaoonrn, anb General intelligence.
Slume I.
s!S!B ©Kll*iUfc * A Ibß
For A Friend of the Family.
SELF DEVOTION.
nr miss Susa* a. stuabt.
Continued from our last.
CHAP. 111.
“ Luxuriant joy,
pleasure in excess, sparkling, exult
A f\r hrnvv, and revel unrestrained.”
On e ve, 7 uru
„ „ don’t tease Mr. Percy,” said Leila as
* the breakfast room of the cottage —
:hc enter y ence of p orrester ’ s —“ Come,
hCS |'| , m’t vousome flowers for papa before break-
Will g C „
u \n,l I will help to make Miss Fanny’s boquet,”
Vthe youth as he followed Leila into die por
iU t i iro Vh the French windows, and stepped
,‘ r into the garden in front. “ May I assist
Miss Leila in your selection ? Oh ! look at
■ -beautiful moss rose-bud. Do you know Le—
r pardon Miss Leila, you must blame Gus
familiarity. Do you know that I never see
rose-bud but that my thoughts fly off to
o a t once. I have a dear little sister that al
ls reminds me of one in her gentle loveli-
This one 1 beg you to take trom me as a
i,!verv daguereotype of Nannie, hoping one of
iifise Jays to introduce her to you in reality.”
“ Ishall like to know her very much. We always
tel a desire to be acquainted with the other mem-
Ktrs of a family when we know intimately one
f them. Don’t you ? ”
“Yes when 1 know them to admire and es
een, as vou ladies say. Now I knew you long
,eforc lever saw vou. Gus, whom 1 rescued
iron.some scrape, and with whom 1 afterwards
jecame hand and glove on board ship, Used to
iia/te vou his constant theme, and it the shoies
)f [he .Mediterranean and all other places a
thick ire touched, could speak, their echo would
*, Leila! Leila! Leila! I therefore must plead
„r pardon beforehand should 1 make the lapsus
■
imi. . i
■‘Not much of an oflence,” said Leila, though
brushed.
The breakfast bell now called them to the
wise, and re-entering the room which they had
eft,they found all the family assembled. After
itibhad kissed her father, she took hei usual seat,
be head of the table, around which the others
anged themselves.
James the novelist may speak as be pleases ot
lothing being equal to an English breakfast, but
rather calculate, as the Yankee says, that it he
nddeigned to peep into the breakfast room of
lie cottage, he might add in Ins next , by way ot
lariotv, a Virginia one, as a set off. The exqui
uielyclean, white damask, with its covered tray,
mwhich in all their gloss and polish, glittered the
service of French china, whilst the smoking and
lusciousheefstakes,cutlets and oysters from famed
Lyndhaven ; and the whitest of all white breads,!
varied with the brown, and crisp-looking Jolinny
vake, muffin, waffle, the usual appendage ot a
breakfast. The castors, napkin rings, were all so
bright and shining, contrasting so beautifully with
fie snow white cloth and serviettes . And then the
Lees too, around that abundant and peacetul
board, so loving, so beautiful and fresh that I
question if England, or indeed the world, could
bent it, The perfume of flowers came voluptu
°usly in like sweet messages, from loved ones,
a nd the laugh and light jest were passed around
■ w merry table, for Algernon Percy had been
* ’‘re the hte of the circle for four weeks, and was
considered part of the family, so much and so de
servedly popular had he become.
Leila sat at rhe head as I before said, dispen
! r>g tea and coffee, and smiles and kind words
/ llh a ? ra ce and a manner which made her more
1 uitul th a n when in costly garb she decked
|/ lae . ma gnihcent entertainment. Her simple
_ • orning dress of white muslin, confined at the
InrTp l a * ri bband of pink, with its knot
i„ Y , lr ; * mce ty fitted her slight figure ; and her
proudh^! ma '? eso * ba i r i handed around her small,
Tr h#>r” lea d, were her sole adornments,
tbc hottn^ 11 J ai ,^ rs * Alton, on her left Percy, at
GusonlV 0 the table was Mr. Forester, with
wf;i| ( , , ann . v > whilst the intermediate seats
iLv l b . v A |ina ami Mary,
eatinn. ‘ , P P y they all looked, as they thus sat
*>cvanr? • • Gus was relating with buoy
to hj 3 f fP lr,t > s °me frolic of the proceeding day
sWinT’- r, M ryin S U P his own prowess, and
whil 3t 4‘ n ridlcu louß colors Leila’s timidity ;
self sat laughing, not caring to defend her
nd th e chdd RCe WaS PreUy WeU fiUed by PCrCy
emit k sister one more cup of coffee, to re
% bn., w- my I'a’-igues, and I shall have finished
‘I and fast .”
more/ lls ’ * not tb * n k y°d deserve any
* Cr I have listened to the riduclous ac-
count given of our yesterday’s walk in which I
figure so well. Shall I give you another cup,
Mr. Percy ? ”
“ Thank you, no more. But I have one favour
to beg of you, instead, ” and his voice lowered,
“ call me Algernon. It seems so cold, to have
one whom we love, to call us Mister.”
The young man blushed even as much as Leila
at his impromptu declaration, made so injenuously
by him ; but it was unnoticed by the remainder
of the party —unless indeed Mrs. Alton saw and
heard, but she had turned to address a servant
behind her, and their embarrassment passed
without comment.
Such had been the happy estate in which they
had been passing their time for the last few weeks;
and Leila and Algernon began to acknowledge to
themselves, but not to each other , that so would
I hey be content to glide on through life for they
loved . Percy had come home with Gus on a visit,
and had become, as I before said, one of that
happy family. But nineteen years of age he had
not yet added the star to the anchor, which pro
claimed him Passed Midshipman ; and his castle
building had fixed upon that period for which he
was now studying, as a time when he might say
to Leila, what he dreamed of by day and by
night. At the present he was happy, ever by her
side, either as an escort, or tendering some slight
service, living only in her presence:
“ He had ceased
To live within hitnself; she was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts,
Which terminated all; upon a tone,
A touch of hers, his blood would ebb and flow,
And his cheek change tempestuously.”
The day however was drawing near for depar
ture. And yet, he had no thought of telling
Leila the tale of his love. She was young, and
he thought, though not sure that she loved him.—
What need he say anything until he passed his
examination—a year at most —and then he would
ask her to be his. He was certain she knew that
he loved her ; and with youth's hopefulness, that
lives only in the present, he deferred binding
her by any engagement, until he could honorably
ask her hand from her father.
Well! as I have said, the day for his departure
drew nigh ; and Leila in her inmost heat felt it
most sensibly, yet on that calm, placid brow, still
was placed the seal of peace unruffled, tranquil as
that of the smiling and sleeping'infant, for it was all
hidden in its intenseness of feeling in her heart
like those volcanic fires which burn and feed
most deeply when hidden from all eyes.
Gus, poor fellow, felt this second parting more
acutely than the first; for he had tried the world
and found it not quite as beautiful and bright as
he had imagined it in his castle-building.
Imagine to yourself that three months have
passed since Gus and Percy set out in the Sara
toga, for their cruise ; and that Leila and her sis
ters were studying and making his hearth still
happy for Mr. Forrester. But woe is me ! my
tale is o’er true and life like—after one bright sun
light of happiness must come the cloud of sorrow.
Mr. Forrester was suddenly and fatally seized with
an affection of the heart, and notwithstanding skill
ful and almost immediate assistance, breathed his
last, without word or sign.
Now indeed, came the trial. What was to be
done, for the news came full-soon, that his affairs
were entangled, and that every thing was to be
sold to pay his creditors. Too true the report;
and poor Leila was roused from the stupor of
grief, to listen to the plans suggested by her kind,
faithful friend Mrs. Alton, who only clung the clo
ser to them in their misfortunes. The dear cot
tage must be sold, and Mus. Alton determined,
with her small means, to rent a bouse in the ad
join” town, and live there with the family, increas
ing her income by a little school.
She did so, and, kind creature that she was,
found ample recompense in the love, and almost
veneration with which she was regarded by the
Forresters. They, poor things, meeting bravely
and lovingly every privation, to which they were
unused. Some kind friend had purchased and
presented to Leila, her maid Ro&a, who had
nursed her, and ever loved her devotedly; and
never did the heir of Ravenscross have a more
devoted servitor in old Caleb, than Leila I orres
ter found in her nurse Rosa.
chap. iv.
“ When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions.”
“I a m about to tell you something quite a se
cret, but you must promise me not to say I told
you,” said Miss Stella Lustrington toElla and Lu
crece Lustrington, her young neices. “1 heau
from good authority that your father was about
to be married, and to a young thing not much
older than yourself, Ella! How wi you ive
having a step-mother ?” ~ ,
“If she lets me alone, I care not, said the in
dolent Ella “ but who can it be, any one we
know.
SAVANNAH, GA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1849.
“ For my part,” said little Lucrece, “I shall
like it very well. If she is pretty and good
I will love her and become —”
“For shame Lucrece ! ” said Miss Stella, and
she drew her rather thin person up, and gave such
a look with her eyes as nothing but such stony
ones could give, “ for shame ! Your own dear
mother has scarcely been dead two years and
could you call another mother, or even tolerate
anyone who should come into her place, assume
her name, use everything that belongs to her,”
and the crocodile took out her handkerchief and
applied it to her dry eyes.
“Yes, Lucrece you ought to be ashamed,” said
Ella, “ I know I shall hate her, and will tell Pa
so, may be he will not marry, cousin.” No, dear
Ella, it is alas too late, for the marriage will take
place next week. Be assured that everything
has been said to your Pa by kind friends that
could be said, but in vain. He will rue, when
too late, that be did not take their advice. Your
new mother is none other than that stuck up doll,
Leila Forrester who, when her father lived, was
actually considered too good to mix with common
folks, and now, that she is poor, must needs come
to disturb our happiness by’ marrying, for nothing
on earth but because your father is so wealthy,
that she can flaunt about and bring her pack of
beggarly sisters to lord it over you all. Oh ! yes,
lean see an inch beyond my nose. But I’ll tell
her for one she will never crow over me ! I prom
ised your mother on her death bed to slay with
you, and I’ll let her see she shall not impose on
you.
By this time she had worked herself into a con
siderable degree of anger; imbuing the facile
minds of those children with her own uncharita
ble and prejudiced views, till they began to
look upon Leila, as their greatest enemy and their
cousin Stella as the warmest friend they had on
earth.
Stella Lustrington had passed the muster list ,
and withall the drawbacks of those stony eyes,
tawney skin, and a nose, whose sharpness, I
actually believe, would have split a rain-drop
should it chance to fall on it —had in her own
mind, claimed William Lustrington for her own
especial property : and the loss, of what she had
so firmly believed her own, had sharpened the
edge of a temper, by no means angelic.
At this crisis, William Lustrington enters, to
announce his approaching nuptials. Shall I
describe him to you my reader, the husband
elect, of our Leila, our queen-like, gentle hero
ine, the beloved of an intellectual father, the
idolized of her dear, little sisters. Picture to
yourself then, a short, thick-built, man, whose
head always brought to your mind, the ideaof his
having swallow’d his throat —if it were possible
to perform such a seat —with a florid compleclion,
rather heavy look, and altogether presenting the
appearance of one, who did not care to be looked
upon as a French petit maitre .
He seems at a loss how to break the subject to
the family; but when, at last he had screw’d
his “courage to the sticking place,” he was total
ly unprepared for the tears, and entreaties, with
which he was assailed. In fact being rather a
silent, diffident man, and by no means gifted with
eloquence, he became quite embarrassed. He
disliked and shrank from speaking of his love
for the beautiful girl, she being but seventeen, and
lie not quite a youth , as he had had the happiness
—misfortune he now thought—in former days, to
have been groomsman for Mr. Forester. So, as I
told you, he knew not very well what to say, but
sat twirling his fingers and thumb, looking with
a blank face first at one and then the other mem
bers of the family conclave, until he became an
gry, and his vulgar nature got the better of his
politeness as be rose to leave, saying positively—
“ I don’t care how much 3 r ou may say or dislike
it, lam my own master and I’ll marry who I
choose, and when I please and if you don’t like
it you may lump it.” Ah poor Leila, what a para
dise is in prospect before you, and what a guardian
angel you are about to take. Can you truly be
lured ou by love for the “ vile yellow dross,” as
Heber call's it, to marry this creature ? Must
there not be another motive to urge on the pure
hearted, self denying girl, whom 1 have endeav
ored to paint in the preceding chapters. Step
behind the scenes with me dear reader, and we
shall see for ourselves, about a fortnight prior to
the conversation between Miss Lustrington and
her cousins.
It is a small chamber, but neatly furnished with
some of the loved cottage furniture, bringing as the
eyes rest on them, sad feelings, lor they were as
sociated with otherdays and persons. The blinds
are closed, for Leila, who is reclining on the couch,
has been suffering acutely with the headache, and
she cannot bear, as she was wont, to have the
sunbeams come dancing into her presence mock
in” her with their gaiety as they did in happier
days. Her pale cheeks betoken her sufferings, for
a blush may be called up by anything, but when
the warm blood curdles around the breast, leaving
the cheek wan and cold, rest assured that some
thing ol deeper moment is at play within.
Near the head of the couch sits Mrs. Alton
with Fanny leaning against her, looking with the
tenderest compassion. on her darling sister. In
the background stands the faithful servant,
\vatching as a mother her young mistress.
“ My darling Leila, I do not know what to ad
vise,” said she, “ I am afraid you will think I
speak from selfishness, .1 know you are well
aware, how gladly I share what little I can com
mand, with you and your dear little sisters. But
dearest, none ot us know how long God in his
mercy may spare my life, and then—l shrink from
the future. 1 have always heard Mr. Lustrington
spoken of as the best of husbands to his first wife,
and I have no doubt, wealthy as he is, your sis
ters will, when they need it, find a home and a
protector. But I cannot advise, may God direct
you.”
“And pity me,” sobbed out the suffering girl.
“Oh! my Father ! What shall I do,” continued
she, clasping her small hands and lifting her eyes
“direct me, merciful Parent, for I know not what
to do.”
Those were sobs indeed of agony, that echoed
round that chamber, and the trembling lips and
tearful eyesofthe little Fanny, showed how fright
ened she was at this unwonted display of grief, as
she glanced from her sister, to Mrs. Alton, and
anon at the weeping nurse.
“ Do you think, my dear Mrs. Alton,” at length
gasped out Leila “ do you think under all the cir
cumstances, my dear mother and father would
wish me to make this overwhelming sacrifice I
must call it so, dear friend, this once. Say is it
my duty to my sisters that I should marry Mr.
Lustrington ? I will do it—whatever it may cost,
if God will give me strength.”
Mrs. Alton could not at first answer this appeal.
She saw the agony, the pleading look for mercy
in her decision on that voung, suffering face.—
She knew what made the sacrifice which Leila
truly called so overwhelming, for she had wit
nessed the young love springing up in the hearts
both of Percy and Leila, and could sympathise
in this dread
“ Grief, beyond ull other griefs, when fute
First makes the young heart lone and desolate
In the wide world, without that only tie
For which it loved to live or feared to die.”
At length she said slowly, yes dearest Leila, it
is our duty ever to consider the young, the help
less, innocent beings conjidcd to our care, even
beyond our own temporal happiness. Be assured
God will not allow this union to be without some
share of comfort to you if it only be such as is
the reward of your own conscience, and in hav
ing procured for even this helpless babe a home
and protector.” She placed the fairy-like, beau
tiful child in her sisters arms, who pressing her
almost convulsively to her said, “Yes, for their
sake will I sell my own happiness —write at once,
lest I am again a coward, and take back my word ;
Yes, write to Mr. Lustrington that I consent to
be his wife, he knows that I do not frr/n him ;
and now good, kind friend leave me to myself
this evening, for I need strength from Him who
alone can give it to me now”
Concluded next week .
Paper Maclie. —There are two distinct sorts of
what is called maclie ; one is made thus: the rag
of scrap paper is ground, then couched in layers
and placed one upon the other until sufficiently
thick, when it is put between two flannel felts and
submitted to a violent pressure, and afterwards
placed in the mould by manipulation, a counter
mould is then placed upon it and then submitted
to a general pressure and confined in its place by
iron cramps, afterwards dried, then saturated
with linseed oil, but great attention is required or
it will take fire.
There is also a peculiar paper called Makeing
paper, fabricated at Bolton le More, in Lancashire,
with this article the more elegant and costly spe
cimens are made.
It is wonderful how well the human mind rea
sons upon its own side of the question, when, on
the one hand, is the prospect of an ignominious
death, with but the remote hope of our innocence
working a miracle in our favor ; and, on the other,
are presented the ready means of escape. Every
one knows too well that the law is not one of those
lions that invariably lie down at the feet of virtue,
and that, had poor Una, with such suspicions
against her, met in the desert a law lion, instead
of a real one, the beast would infallibly have torn
her in pieces.
Cities are just as conceited, if not more so, than
men. There is scarcely a large or small town
but what has called itself, at some time or other
“The Capital of the Civilized World.”— Punch.
NUMBER 35