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NUMBER 390-—NEW’
No
.xnnoAZE
Published Every Vvcdnesqlay Morning, by JAMES REED, at Two Dollais Per Annunn in Advance.
SERIES.
l
VVill doubtless be referred to in coming time as :1 year of
/\/\f\/\/\r-\/\_r
NORVVALK, CT. VVEDNESDAY. ‘MAY 5, 1847.
r\
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"\/\.-
VOLUME 30—NUMBER 18..
POETRY. ‘
TI-IE SI-IEPHERITS COT.
I-lard by I’ve a cottage that stands near a wood——-
A stream glides in peace at the door-
\‘v'licrc all who will tarry, ’t.is well understood
Receive hospitality's store.
N U 5 U A L B U S I N E S S A C T I V I T Y To cheer that the brook and the thicket afford,
IN nonwanrs, ;
Eff GEE S'§'.!§.f-231% QF
filfifiléldfiill %s"fIS, kiklll SST. l
W1-IAICII has :-.lre.id become so no noted for R:-:.\L 1.~ioUci~::~Ii:.\"rs ii-offorcil to, and ac- ' -----~---~~—-—
.Y . _ I
copied by its numerous customers.
l
l
l
2
l
I
It is with feelings akin to pride, but with more of gratitude, that the subscriber. here ten-l
ders his thanks to those friends who have helped to sustain him in this enterprise, by their lib-,
oral patornugo and good will———(iu the abscence oftlie fii'st, the lattcrgoos far.) for the short. tiinci
he has been :1 candidate for their favors, mo-.lcst.ly continuing his solicitations for their:'l'iborality I
- writing fiction.
in the future.
It is perhaps :1 misfortune that this stand has not the advantages (1) of oiio of the miinyliigh
sounding cognomens so much in vogue—“Ili-ad Quartei's,” &c. yet "what virture is there in :1,
name.”
upon finding iitfai/‘prices, nearly every thing to
DRY
April 1st, I8-I7.
GOODS at \VAR.l)‘S.
For. sjieci/icafioizs of Goods see inside a¢lL'cr[iscnicnl.9.
‘ . . . . . , I
\Ve must needs be content with seeking a reputation for cli:ii'acter. integrity, true merit, by
which we expect to stand or fall; be judged by the people.
New Spring Goods
are being almost weekly added to the already large stock on hand, so that purchasers may rely
satisfy their wants in the line of
sannnns, iiii..i..ra.v1«:ssiss,
E) UBLIC Attcntioii is invited to the large and
0lCfI?lYlI'llSS0l'tlllcl1t of Harnesses, Saddles,
B1-idles, \V’liips, ’l.‘runks, &c. to be found at thel
establishinent ofthe subscriber, embracing, as it
does every variety of article and style of inanu-l
faeture. Among the lot are several sets of
double l-Iarnesses, which are worthy tlic atten-
tion of those fititng out pleasure equipages.—
There are also several very light and airy single
liariiesses, designed forncatness but manufactur-
cd oftlie bost m:it.ei'ials, and embracing the double
&c.
merit of security and tastefulness.‘Eve1‘y article
needed in the line, may be foliilu here. Of the
best quality, and on very moderate terms.‘ Re-
pairing as usual. \VM. B. SWAN.
Norwalk, July 29, 1846. 18
BRUEN’S
« ' LIVERY STABLE
‘HE undersigned would respectfullyinform
his friends that he has on hand a few choice
Ilorscs & Cal‘I'inges which he will let on
very reasonable terms. I-le intenils to keep
none but the best kind of horses, and having pur-
cliased a number of New Carriages and Harnes-
ses of fashionable and genteel styles. he would
invite those who may want an establishmenta
little superior to those usually kept in a coininou
livory stable to give him :1 call. _
MARCUS BRUEN.
Norwalk, Nov. 2, 1846. 44
For New York.
REGULAR TRIPS FOR THE SEASON.
HE Sloop MARY \VILLIS,
Capt. \Villis J. Merritt, hav-
ing commenced her regular trips
. . , for the Season, will leave Norwalk,
East side the Bridge. every Tuesday Evening,
and New York every Saturday.
Any one having business with the Packet
Office during the absence of the vessel, may
apply at the Cabinet Shop of \Vaterbury &
Quintard, on the Dock. ~.
\VlLLIS J. MERRITT.
Norw,alk, March 29, 1847. 13
Now cnocxnnv _
AT PECK’S BRANCH STORE,
UST Received a large and splendid assort-
ment which will be sold cheap for Cash.
Oct. 13, 1846.
Wanted Immediately
2 More Shirt Hands. The highest
prices in CASH or trade will be
paid on delivery of the work at
M. \VAKEMAN’s
In the store formerly occupied by J. A. VVoed.
Norwalk.
: -- -;:---.-.r --
—”SP.RING ARRANGEMENT-
Commencing Satui-day, Jlfarc/L 6th, 1847.
PORT CHESTER, ROCKY NECK,
CATALINE, Capt. Curtis Peck, Jr.
Will leave New York from the Pier east side
Catharine Market Slip, as above every after-
noon, at two o’clock, Sundays excepted. Re-
turning will leave Norwalk at seven o’clo:k,
Stamford at 8, Rocky Neck at half past 8, and
Port Chester at quarter before 9.
Stages will be in readiness at the Landing to
convey passengers to \Vestport. Southport, Fair-
field, Bridgeport, Danbury, Ridgefield, New-
Canaan and Wilton. _ . _
' lfi-?‘ All persons are forbid trusting any indi-
vidual on account of this boat or her owners.
New York, March 6th, 184 '7.
NOTICE.
public are notified that the deeds and
other papers in possession of the late Benj-
Isaacs. Esq. are left in the care of Doct. SAM’L
LYN ES at his office, opposite the N orwalk
Hotel, and can ‘be had on application to him.
:Pl°ws'—IIAL L’S ‘Premium Plows’
-and Castings for sale by S. E. Or.iv1s1'E‘AD., _
BLACEC l'lIl'I‘HI’S COAL
at the Siomilii Boat Landing
SOUTH NORIVALK.
T L. 8:. J. R. PECK will be discharging
0 this week a cargo of Superior Black-
smit.h’s Coal ; those in want of the above Coal
will do well to call iind examine the same.
a 7 I
Fselleck s Lane.-
\Ycst side he IE1-idgc.
TI-IE Sloop Dlary
)1 A. Selleck, Capt. Gru-
V , man, will commence _,
__.,,__., ,_. ., her '\Veekly Trips for .74” .
N cw ‘York on Tuesday the 16th of March, and
the Domestic, Cu pt. Merrill, on the Saturday
following N. SELLECK.
Norwalk, l\Ia1'ch 9, 1847.
New York!
THE sloop JULIA liiis coin-
menced her regular trips and will
leave the Landing at Five Mile
. . River on Tuesday evening, 30th of
i\'Iai'ch, and New York on Saturday, April ‘2d,
and will continue to sail on Tuesdays and Sat-
urdays of the season. Frcightand produce will
be conveyed as usual on the most farorable terms.
For freight or passage apply to the captain on
board or at the store on the landing.
‘V. C. SAMMIS.
Five Mile River, Nfarcli 29th, 1847.
Byers Pills.
THE AMERICAN IMPROVED
H ygeian Vegetable Illeiliciue.
THESE Pills are one of the best Medical Com-
pounds in use at the present day. As a coiiiuion
family pliysic, for adininisiraion in all temporary
complaints of the stomach and bowels, head-ache,
colds, &c. they may be fully depended upon, and a
prompt use of them on the first appearance of indis-
position will invariably save much sickness. They
are peculiarly adapted to all cases of weakness and
general debility-—any derangement of the system,
and especially with feiualcs—mid a steady, uninter-
rupted use of them, in strict conformity with the di-
rcctions will very soon restore the organs of the
stomach to their natural tone and action, and regu-
late the bowols,and renovate the whole system.
There is no dispositton to give extravagant coni-
mcndzitions of them. VVliat is here stated, is the re-
sult. ofaclual experience with them, and that through
a period offifteen years. It is not supposed.or pre-
tended,that they will raise the dead! neither are
they designed to be used as we use our food! Such
is not the true purpose of medicine. Its only op-
proprialc office is to assist iiatiir_e in restoring the
system to a proper tone and action, when unavoid-
ably. or through carelessness or excess, it becomes
deranged. Many are careless and hence need this
aid. And the most careful areliable to irregularities
oflhe system It is needless almost to say, that a
prompt use of safe and effective remedies, on the
first appearance of illness, is the part of wisdom.
Such a Medicine the Proprietor knows these
Pi lsito he. And he is certaiirthat iii tony nine ca-
ses out offifty, where a fair trial is made according to
the direclions,tliey will be used again as a standard
medicine. He has never knownan instance, where
they have been thus used, in which they have not
met with ii nqnalified approval!
Numerous testimonials may be seen at the general
Office of sale, and references will be given to sub-
stantialliving witnesses of their valuable curative
properties. _
The Pills are purely vegetable, are of two kinds.
stimulant and purgative, purifying the blood, and
producinga he-.iltby action through the entire sys-
tem; are" a valuable Anti Billions Medicine, and
eminently useful in alllingering complaiut:--—VVeuli-
ness, General Debility, Dyspepsy, Pulmonary Af-
fectious, Liver Complaints, Rheumatic iind Spas-
modic Affectioiis. Female Coinplaiiits, Palpitations.
No family, after a /‘air m'.al,wz'.ll bewz'thoutth.am.
They are putup in FIFTY CENT &. DOLLAR
packages, each having a phamphlet embracing a
valuable 'I‘re:itise on Disease, with full directions for
use. 'I‘hc Dollar packages are the cheapest to the
purchaser.
As you value FIo.altl|—'R‘I'y Them 2
Sold Wholesale and Retail at No. 140 Fulton
street, 2d floor, N. York, between Nassau and
Broadway, N. Y- 4
" ” From a personal knowledge of, mid use
of the above Medicine in my famil_v.for about I5
years,I can commend it in the most unqualified
inaimcr. P- PRICE-
Sold by NOAH S. BAILEY, west side the
Bridge, Norwalk; B. J. Daskaui, Stamford, and
J. Beach, _VVall st. Bridgeport. 48
INGI-IAlVIS.—Some choice styles of
‘ Scotch and French Ginhams are now of-
fered to the Ladies of Norwalk, also a beautiful
article of Ginghams at 12 1-2 cts. the yd. fy'ai;d
wide, by -1- MALLORY 6: LO. ..
13-.
The str:ingei' we ever invite ;
You're welcome to freely partake at the board,
And afterwards rest for the night.
The birds in the morning will sing from the trees
And herald the young god of day,
Then with him uprising, depart if you please,
\Ve’ll set you refreshed on the way;
Your coin for our service we sternly reject;
No trnffic for gain we pursue.
And all the reward that we wish or expect,
\Ve take in the good that we do.
Mankind are all pilgi'iiii’s on life’s weary read,
And many would wander astray
In seeking Eleriii‘iy’s silent abode,
Did Mercy not point. out the way?
If all would their duty discharge as tliey should,
To those who are friendloss and poor,
The world would resemble my cot near the
wood,
And life the sweet stzreain at my door.
BHSCELLANY.
THE CASKET OF JEIVELS,
M y readers know well that I inn not given to
There is, in truth, no species of
composition against which I have spoken so fre-
quently and so freely. My early habits, my
taste, my judgment, and my inclinations, go
against it ; and my strong argument in opposition
to it is, that truth is not only more useful, but
decidedly more interestinv. There have occur-
red, and there are daily occurring, so many
strange events in this strange world, which are
[to pay me ibe money for it. ’So I don't
want any of your trinkets.
What a fool man sometimes is, said my
friend, as we were walking-‘to the eastern
Very true, Bill; but then I thought tliis,railroad depot. While that poor druukard
ring‘ would be just the thing for you to!
;give to some fair lady as a wedding day
present.
'l‘lie wood siiiver heaved a sigh, but re-
_mained silent.
l Besides, added the shop keeper, by buy-
ing this ring, you will do more than one
lgood office. You will turn your money
‘into something more lasting, at least, than
‘a mug of rum; and you may furnish bread
to tl poor girl and her widoued mother,
who are on the point of starving. Come,
buy it, Bill; I can sell it to you for one
fourth of its value.
Be short, if you please, Mr. Miller: this
{is no time for long speeches, said the
'drunkai'd.
You are rather ill natured to day, Bill,
replied the jeweler, but could you have
seen the girl herself, who piiwned this
‘ring, and heard her pitiful story, you might
be more willing to make the purchase.
There are a great many pitiful stories
told now a days, rejoined the inebriate,
bending down again to his labor.
\:Vell, bill,I think Miss Margaret Willis
will have no great debt ofgratitude to pay
you, in that day when the Almighty gath-
er up his jewels, muttered the seller of
gold and silver trinkets, as he turned upon
his heel to resume his place behind his
shop window.
Miss who’! stammered the drunlard.
Miss—l\’iargaret—Willis, replied Mr.
Miller, as he read the name from the en-
raving round the signet.
VVil| you let me see the ring,Mr. Miller’!
O, yes, Bill; I thought you couldn’t
be quite so ungallant toward a lady. But,
Bill, bless me! what is the matter with
as yet unwritten, that there is no need of our
resorting, for entertaining and profitable les-
sons, to the imagination.
It is true, when the minute facts in any unoc-
date or story have been partially obscured by the
lapse of time, it is always allowable for the nar-
rator to fill up the cliasms by asort of combined
effort of his memory and invention. This li-
cense is even given to the" historian, whose de-
tails are of vast moment to states and empires;
and it is 21 privilege under which alone things
long Iince passed can be recovered. -
\Vith these introductory reflections, rendered
necessary by my known hostility to works of more
fancy, I will proceed to sketch the outline of :1
little piece of history, which at different times,
I have told as a temperance story; and I inn
you? What on earth makes you so pale
and deatlilv!
It is true, the wood sawer, drunlcard as
he was, did turn pale, when, with his own
eyes, he read the engraving. His saw fell
from his left hand; and he almost sunk
down on the pavement. Mr. Miller, who
was not a hard hearted man by nature,
rendered him such support as he needed
for the moment, and even advised him
against continuing his work longerin such
bad weather. . The poor inebriate, finding
his strength did not recover as soon as
might ordinarily be expected, consented
to relinquish h-is occupation till next mor-
ning.
Having followed the jeweler into the
shop, he sat a few minutes before the large
specially induced to write it out myself, because
under circumstances which I need not now ex-
plain, it has been, in other days, imperfectly
copied from my lips, and with many faults giv-
en to the public. Deferenco to the modesty of
the characters referred to, however, nearly all
of whom are yet living, forbids any great explic-
itness as to times and places.
For several weeks the weather had been
foul and extremely unpleasant. The rain
had been falling, for a number of days, in
torrents; and, at the moment when our
little narrative opens, it was pouring down
like another deluge. The streets of the
city, running from the Capitol in all di-
rections, were almost as many rivers—
such a rush of water was passing down
each one of them to the ocean. The va-
rious articles, commonly exhibited at the
shop doors, were all taken in, the drays
and wagons had sought their respective
shelters, and the side walks were almost
clear ofpeople. Had it not been for the
the occasional dodging of an umbrella, or
the rattling of a stray back with a drench-
ed driver, the city might have been sup-
posed to be almost without inhabitans.
Ill luck to that poor wight yonder, said
my friend, crowding up a little closer un-
der my umbrella; or, rather, said be, ill
luck must have happened to him, if he is
compelled to saw wood in the streets such
a day as this is.
A sad lot certainly, said I, for it scarcely
ever rained harder.
How strange it is, rejoined my friend,
that there should be such distinctions in
the condition of this world’s inhabitants"!
Among the hundred thousand citizens of
this great city, that poor fellow seems to
hold the lowest and worst position. You
and .I, though in the street, are well enough
protected; the few coachmen who have
passed us, though wet and cold, are to day
monopolizing their whole business, and
are almost warmed and dried by the re-
flection that they are making money; but
that poor wood sawer,tbough toiling in the
rain, gets no more for his work than if
the day were pleasant. However, added
my philosophic companion in a sort of
whisper, for we were now within a few
paces of the unhappy fellow, I see he is a
good for nothing drunkard, and may have
ruined the happiness of his wife and chil-
dren, and is now suffering the just penalty
of his transgressions. .
This last remark did not mend themat-
ter much in myjudgment; but an incident
just then occurring, cat slfort my reply to
it. -
What will you give for that, B_ill .7 said
the shopkeeper, for whom the wood was
being sawed, as he stepped out upon the
pavement, covered closely by his umbrel-
:1.
Nothing, sir, replied the wood sawer,
I want the money for my work, I work
for money, sir.
Yes, and what is poor money good for,
the way you spend it! "
That is my business, Mr. Miller. I a-.
wood fire in the front room, with his head
lfallen down upon his breast, in deep and
apparently painful contemplation. His
clothes smoking in the beat, and large
drops of perspiration rolling from his
face, and his heart evidently racked with
some powerful emotion, he presented a
picture worthy of an artist’s pencil.
How came you by that ring’! feebly
ejactulated the poor drnnkard, with a dis-
tressed look turned toward Mr. Miller.
IVhere did I get it? Why, I suppose,
certainly, of its owner. Miss Margaret
was here herself not three hours since,
and pnwned it to me. This is not the
first jewel she has sold to me, reserving
the right of redeeming them, if, in :1 rea-
sonable time, she should find herselfable.
But, then, she never will be able; for the
first one she brought me more than two
years ago, ha; been lying in my case
ever since. So I‘tbink I shall sell them,
and get my money back again.
W"éll, perhaps that is right, Mr. Miller:
you know the terms on which you bought
them. But. how many have you of that
gii-l’s trinkets’!
See for yourself, Bill. Here they are.
Look at them, and I will perhaps tell you
the girl’s story, when lam not so busy.
The drunkard rose up, and, walking
tremblingly to the counter, examined the
jewels at his leisure. His face, habitually
blue and bloated, had become suddenly
pale on reading the inscription; but it
now flashed and burned as if by internal
passions. After looking them all over,
and over again, he resumed his seat by the
fireside.
' On one condition, Mr. Miller, said the
drunkard, after along silence, I will buy
that ring of you.
What is that, Bill’! responded thejew-
eler.
That you will sell me all of them, and
any others which that girl may bring here,
said the wood sawer.
Sell them! Cei'tainly——tbat is just what
I proposed to you; and you, Bill, could
not do better than to turn your labor; into
something more substantial than liquor.
True, as you have neither wife nor chil-
dren to trouble you, you have a right to
do as you chose in this free country. But,
Bill, I have felt interested for you before
now; and yet you may think I have a
very rough way of showing my good
wishes. '
I will certainly do so, Mr. Miller; and
from this hour I want you to abide as
faithfully by your promise. And, besides,
I want you to get the whole of them; rm‘-
and bore the poor apostate apparently la-
bored to be a little witty-—I have taken
up your notion of giving them I0 50319
fair lady, as a weddipg (I037 P"eSe“t'
Is my watch nowin perfect ordei.-, M_r.
Miller’! said my friend, as he ,too.c his
gold lever from the shop keeper s hands.
Yes, sir, Iwarrant her tp run a year in
perfect order, replied the jeweler.
Upon this, walking out upon the. pave-
ment, we bade adieu to the interesting lit-
tle scene, which had accidentally taken
greed to saw this wood, and you agreed
place in ourpresence. ,3; ~
was bargaining for those jewels, evidently
excited by some strange impulse," but
probably without any rational motive for
thus spending his hard earnings, I confess
I was engaged in nothing else than con-
':einplating his miserable condition. Poor
outcasl! 'l"liat jeweler will get off a few
brass t.rinkets on him by that I ctitious
story of the little girl and her widowed
mother; and then the unhappy drunkard,
goaded by his appetite, will soon pawn
them fora trifle to get the means of anoth-
er season of beastly intoxication. O, what
a world is this, where the apparently re-
spectacle are as base as the lowest are un-
fortunate !
Suppose we callupon that jeweler, on
our return, said 1 to my feeling compan-
ion, and see how he wil-l straighten up his
conduct in this matter. You can make
an errand with ggliiin about your watch.
These impositions are certainly getting to
be so common in this country, that they
deserve a rigid and general examination;
and these robebrs of the poor ought to be
brought to justice. But, in this day, who
will take the trouble, if ministers of the
Gospel neglect so plain in duty’!
True enough, rejoined my friend; and
thus the engagement was quickly settled.
But circumstances afterward rendered its
fulfilment needless. ‘
A railroad is a rapid means of travelling.
Yoiirun from village in a moment. The
fences seem to be flying in one direction,
while you are rushing on in another. You
can scarcely read the figures on the mile-
stones; and luckless I.) that poor mortal,
who, by his poverty, is forced to creep
along on the track of a railroad, and com-
pare his groping with the steam propelled
chariot. But miserably unfortunate that
little girl, the daughter, perhaps, of some
day laborer, who, wbile.her father toils at
home, walks down to the city, to sell, for
any thing she can get, her poor motlier’s
earnings. Doubly so When, like the im-
happy little creature yonder, she is weigh-
ed down by a large basket, though her
slender frame seems scarcely able to lift
its own weight from one cross timber of
the railroad to another. _
0, said my big hearted friend, looking
out upon the little girl, as we passed her,
why didn’t our conductor pick up that
poverty stricken little beggar’!
Because said I, he imagines, if he should
get the reputation of carrying such per-
sons free of cost, half the world would turn
beggars, especially when they desire to
travel. ‘
Well, rejoined my companion,I wish
Iliad a railroad: I would carry the poor
for nothing.
Yes, but you could not expect all the
poor would, therefore, come and settle on
the line of your railroad, was my meta-
physical reply. I" »
No, but I would carry all that did live
on it; and by that means; I should set. a
ood example to other owners.
I had hardly time to express my respect
for the young man’s generosity of feeling;
for, next moment, the car ceased its mo-
tion, and the passengers were all astir,
crowding their way along to find a place
of egress. '
You see now, my friend, that your rail-
road would not accommodate every body.
You and I have four miles farther to trav-
el, and our only chance is a private car-
riage.
But can we get any at this by station’!
O, yes, a stranger here says he will have
one ready in about thirty minutes.
My friend was a great horseman, and
protested that he would not ride unless he
could be the driver. Knowing his skill, I
could make no objection, though I can-
tioned him against breaking the vehicle by
his rapid movement.
Thirty five minutes, said be, are quite
eu ugh to carry us to Granberry; and
then there is such exhilaration, in flying
over the ground, to one’s ideas.
But stop a moment, if you please, said I
to this modern Phaeton, your railroad
morality can now be fairly tested.
0, there is no great use of it now, re-
plied the charieteer, a little impatiently;
she is now, no doubt, near home; for she
couldn't expect to carry such _a load as
that many miles farther. _
So much the more need of rendering
her assistance, was the reply. _
Very well, be it so, if it is your will. I
never knew you to give up a notion; and
I might as well command it to stop rain-
ing, as to try to change your ‘head, when
it has fairly settled on any thmg. 'Little
girl, would you like to ride a piece in our
carriage’! _ _
0, yes, sir, said the little pedestrian,
though her face was now flushed by ex-
cessive exercise; but then, sir, I am too
wet and muddy to sit upon those clean
cushions. Besides, I am almost home
now,’ and my task is nearly over-
Just as I told you, sir,”.said my impa-
tient brother.
Where is your home, little girl’!
O,I live about a mile theother side of
Granberry; but it looks. as if it would not
rain much longer; and I shall enjoy the
rest of the way in thinking of my mother-
It will be difficult for the reader to up-‘
preciate the sweetness‘ of spirit which
showed itself in the utterance of this sen-
tence.
free, but you can think of your mother
just as well while riding; and by this time,
my friend was putting her basket into the
ggrriage.
That will do, kind gentleman, if you
carry my basket, I shall soon be home to
comfort my poor sick mother.
But you will now be homeall the soon-
er, said my friend, who had opened and
carried on the dialogue; and‘ the next
moment, striking his horse, he pushed on
with speed to the foot of a long hill,
where he was compelled to move more
slowly.
What is your name, little girl, if I may
be allowed to ask you such,a question?
0, yes, sir, you have a right to know
the names of those you bless and benefit.
My name is Margaret. My mother’s
name is Willis—-Mary VVillis.
I And your name, then, is Margaret Will-
is’! '
Yes, sir, that is the namelmy dear father
Gave me when l was an infant. The day
was born, he brought to my dear, good
mother a little box of jewels, with my
name engraved on all of them; and he
said that it was to be kepttill l W8$gl'OWn:
up, and then given to me as my father’s
present. As my father, at that time, was
a very lively_and happy man, he amused
my mother, by telling her it was to be my
wedding-day gift; but—”
Her voice was now choked for :1 mo.-
ment; and we waited in silence to hear
the conclusion of her last sentence. But,
after composing her feelings, and wiping
ofl'a single tear that trickled down her
cheek, she sat without speaking. Though
she seemed to have too delicate a sense of
propriety to evade our inquiries, she, nev-
erthless, answered them in a way that
only increased our desire to hear more»
from her. After several entreaties, du-
ring all of which sl.e conducted herself
with extraordinary good sense and prudence
she consented to give as much of her do-
mestic history, as could be told on our
way to Granberry.
This is the house, sir, said Margaret,
pointing out her widowed moth.ei"s low
dwelling. _
lt is no more than just, that her story
had awakened an intense interest in our
feelings for her poor mother. Vlfe resol-
ved, therfore, u long time before the tale."
was finished, to take her all the way home,
and see the Verification of it ourselves.
Please to walk carefully, gentlemen,
said Margaret, as we entered, for my
mother is very ill and nervous. ..
Is that you, dear Mindy’! said n'low,.
feeble, broken voice from behind a loosely-
drawn curtain.
Yes, dear mother, it is I; and are you
as well, mother, as when I left you '!
Not any better, my darling; bull am
thankful it is no worse with me. But,
what a dreadful time you have had of it,
Margaret! I told you not to go this
morning; and I am fearful you have
made yourelf sick by this day's effort. If
you should fail me, what would become
of me and youi four little brothers and
sisters! Be more careful, Mardy, in
future, and if we must all die, the Lord,
I hope, will take us up to heaven.
Yes, mother; but_ while I have a hand
to work, anda foot. to carry me to the
city, you shall not starve, if I can help it.
Providence is merciful, indeed, in pre-
serving us.
Yes,“mother; and Providence has been
kind to me on my journey. These two
gentlemen have brought me nearly all the
way from the railroad station.
Mrs. VVillis was bolstered up in a rude
easy chair, procured, in some way, by
little Margaret. Her pale cheek and di-
minished form, and lustrous eye, gave
ominous proof of the state of both her
mind and body; and it was with a most
tremulous voice that she undertook to
satisfy our inquiries respecting her former
life, and the causes that had reduced her
so very law.
You must know, then, gentlemen, in :1
few words, thatl am the widow of Mr.
VVilliam Willis, son of the late Judge
\Villis, of Coventry. My father-—-peace to
his blessed memory !——lies in the parish
church yard. My mother having died in
my infancy, and being myself an -only
child, I am left entirely without connec-
tions. My husband, soon after our mar-
riage, settled in Ganberry as a lawyer.
Inheriting his father’s estate-—for be was
his only son—we began life with the fair-
est prospects. The world smiled upon us,
and we were happy. Mr. VVillis, though
in every way qualified for business,did not
feel the necessity of exertion, and so made
none. His time was devoted to amuse-»
ment, to reading and to company. In the
birth of his first-born, this dear girl here,
he was the happiest leingl have everseeu
among mortals. Time wore on, and our
other four children were added to the fam-
ily circle. Although Mr. Willis was fre-
quently from home, for several years I
suspected no evil; but, gentlemen, how
slialll express the anguishjthat. pierced
my heart, when, late om;"\_'V_intry night, a
few of his comrades brought him to his
door in a state of dreadful intoxication.
From that hour, peace fled for ever from
our dwelling. He soon ran through with
our inheritance; and when he had made
himself a beggar, he could no longer on-
dure the sight of his old neighbors and
compaaions. The scenes which before
gave him pleasure, now only increased his
mental torture. Plunged to the depths of
wretchednes, and ashamed to meet the
ing us, promising, however to retain a
remembrance of us in his abscence,,a_nd
to 1-etum whenever he could do so with
propriety. But alas! {what do we know
eyes of his children, be resolved on leav-.
Norwalk Chronicler