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That spoke a peace of mind which blasted health

And meagre poverty, alike, know not.
But 'twas not here alone his treasures were;-
Round the domestic hearth a smiling train
Look'd up to him, the husband, father, friend;
And, as he met the warm embrace of love,
Each fond affection seem'd to centre there.
I look'd again.-But ah, how changed the
scene!

Where bloom'd the rose, the thorn now rankled bigh,

Order her flight had taken; and his cup,
With joy so lately fill'd, now overflow'd
With sorrow's bitterest dregs: for in the midst
Of all the blessings Providence bestows,
Intemperance came, and soon his serpent eye
Upon him fasten'd with a dreadful gaze.
In vain his victim fluttered round awhile,
And seem'd at times inclined to break the
charm;

For still in nearer circles he approached,
Until the monster prey'd upon his heart.
And first life's luxuries he sacrificed

Upon the demon's altar. One by one

Then disappeared his flocks and herds; yet still,

Insatiate as the grave, the monster cried
Give, give; till all that lends to life its charm
Had disappeared,— -nor was it yet enough.
I looked upon his children; once his pride,
His hope, and all a father's heart could wish;
Now destitute, forsaken, and the scorn
Of a cold world, which misery here forsakes,
Have no inheritance but want and wo,-
No patrimony but a father's shame.

One feature more the picture dark completes;
I saw his wife-his first, his only love,
Whom he had vow'd to cherish and sustain,
Whose warm affections, ardent love, were his ;
I saw her drooping, like the gentle rose,
When some cold frost hath stripp'd its beauty
down,

On the invidious room hath nipp'd its bud,
The rose of health, so late upon her cheek,
Had turn'd to deadly pale. Now, as she thought
Upon her little ones, despair, and want,
And shame, and misery, star'd her in the face.
She could have follow'd him she once had lov'd
(She lov'd him still; for there's in woman's
heart

A fount, the which prosperity's bright sun,
Nor yet adversity's chill blast dries up,)
Down to the grave, and something felt resign'd
To the sore chastening of her Makers rod :
But,to see him thus,-degraded, fallen,
Lost now to happiness, to hope, to heaven,-
It was too much. I saw the bitter tear
Steal down her cheek. 'Twas from a broken
heart.

I would have spoke her comfort; but her grief
Refused that last sad comfort of despair,
The soothing balm of sympathy's warm tear.
I turned away; and, as I left the spot,
I paid the silent tribute of a tear

To suffering virtue, love, and trust, abused.

C.

[FROM THE BOSTON STATESMAN.] WHATS THE MATTER? WHY

THE MATTER.

EDGAR "My cue is villainous melancholy,
with a sigh like Tom o' Bedlam."-Lear.
You may talk of the "Sorrows of Werter,"
And the devils" of Jean Rousseau ;
You may tell of the man that suffer'd thus,
And the maid that suffer'd “ so”—
But the sorrows I'm going to tell you of,
Are sadder things than these,
And Job's-but there's no comparison-
Were moonshine to a cheese.

I'm living, you see, in the country—
It's nothing to you—the why;
And I room in a certain story-

It's nothing to you, how high.
I've a bed, and a chair, and a table,
And a fraction of a glass;

And I write for a living, and read for fun,
And my name-but let that pass.

I eat my dinner at 12 o'clock-
It's mostly veal, just now;
And I drink my tea at half past four,
And the tea-kettle is a cow.

We sit till twelve in our quiet room-
My merry quill and I ;

And I tell him tales of my busy brain,

That would make you laugh " to die."

(I'll come to my sorrows presently.) I rise when the robin sings,

I have a slut of a country girl,

Who looks to my bed and things;
I take a bit of a willow switch
To emphasize withal,

And I walk and repeat my poetry,

With the leave of the stone wall.

But when I'm out, the slut goes in,

And she makes my bed-'tis trueBut she does some other things beside That I would'nt have her do.

I hate to have my papers touch'd,
Or meddled with a straw-
She calls it "slicking up the room,"
And stuffs them in the draw!

I write upon a slate, to save
My paper, ink, and pen;
And in the ashes frequently

Make Chateaux in Espagne,"
She swept my hearth to day-and there
A blessed dream was gone!

And wash'd my slate, when-bang her soul!
It had a sonnet on!

Oh scrape my boils with an oyster shell-
Bedevil me like Rousseau--
Love me and marry, as Charlotte did,
Who finish'd her Werter so
I'll go on peas a pilgrimage-
Sit all day on a stone--
But when I'm out, you Cicely,
Just let my things alone!

THE

Worcester Talisman.

NO. 6.

POPULAR TALES.

THE ICE SHIP.

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ing coal of our temporary gunner, was accom-
plished. We were however surprised, before
this feat was performed, at the proportional
rapidity with which we came up with the
stranger-he seemed under shorter sail than
ourselves, and when we arrived within hail,
we observed that some of his sails were very
indifferently handed, and with what few were
set, he was lying to-every piece of rigging
as high as the fore yard was swelled to an
enormous bulk by ice, and exhibited every
prismatic color as it quivered in the moonbeam.
The hull of the ship seemed to be encumbered
with quadruple the quantity of ice that loaded
us-and the ship resembled throughout, that
ship of glass which now decks my mantlepiece.
One individual stood at the helm with a chap-
eau that might have been of the shaggy fur of
some animal-but it now bristled in points,
like a chrystal hedgehog--our vessel was now
along side and within a few yards of her, with
our maintopsail aback--and our mate with his
bull voice hailed what ship is that?'-The
helmsman seemed deaf, and made no reply,
and the crew (what were on deck) appeared
not to understand the lingo of our mate.
again bawled in French-no answer-then
with a few English damas, in Dutch, Spanish
and Portuguese--but all to no purpose-the
helmsman of the stranger seemed too intense
on his own buisness, to regard such petty in-
terruption.-The mate went below to report,
and a long consultation was held, wherein the
officers of the ship conversed in under tones,
and the sailors turned their quids and looked
alternately at the stranger and at each other;
as for me I thought the silence of the stranger
to be uncivil, and was anxious to hear the
command to 'fill maintopsail,' and to run away
from a clime where I met with nothing but
cross words, hard duty, and cold fingers. At
last our mate appeared, and ordered the boat
hoisted out-and never did I witness a com-

6

He

FROM AN OLD SEA-CAPTAIN'S MANUSCRIPT. It was in the early part of my life, when ! was placed in that shuttlecock situation of Cabin boy, thereby being the thing on board ship which any and every one had a legitimate right to kick, that our vessel was engaged in a voyage in that worst of wintry seas, the Baltic. The difficulty of obtaining a cargo, had delayed our return until the season had advanced so far as to create peril from the ice, as well as from tempest. The suffering from cold I weli remember, though perhaps my young blood and the collective and disjunctive kicks and cuffs aforesaid, served to make its endurance to me less than that of others-but young as I was, my watch on deck came over often for my somniferous faculties, and the curtailed limits of a monkey jacket kept me dancing and kicking to prevent the freezing effect of the cold spray. Sometimes in the moonlight would be discovered the tall iceberg, moving with the majesty of death along the moaning deep, like some giant surveying the domain of his empire--again another, and almost level with the wave, but extending as far beneath as the other above its surface, would dash into foam the billow as it rolled again upon its glittering side-an accumulating rock, the contact with which was instant destruction. The severity of the weather was fast approximating our ship into a miniature resemblance of these Leviathans-the shrouds, gathering size each hour from the dashings of the sea, our decks loaded with an unprofitable cargo of ice, and our bows presenting, instead of the sharp angle of the fast sailor, the broad visage of a pugnaceous ram, fronted for the contest. It was on one of these moonlight evenings, during the severest intensity of the cold, that we made (in sailor phrase) a ship a-head. From a wish to ascertain the truth of his reck-mand on board that ship, so lazily and reluctoning, or from some other motive with which ||antly obeyed-but in spite of delay, the thing he did not see fit to entrust so important a per- was to be done, and our second mate, a real sonage as myself, our captain was desirous of dare-devil, was ordered to take a crew and speaking her and knowing the heaviness of board the stranger who now was very near us-his own sailing, he ordered a signal gun to be in the crew tardily creeped, and as I was lookfired, which after much hammering upon the ing and wondering, being in the second mate's tompions of our guns, and sundry scrapingsway, he tumbled me neck and heels into the

around our solitary piece of iron ordnance, to say nothing of the quivering hand and expir

boat, and we were ordered to pull away; in a short time we were at the side of the ship,

At the after part of the cabin sat the Captain with his arms folded; before him, pen, ink and paper, a thick fur cap on his head, and as the light shone full on his countenance, there was the most fearful look from him cast upon us that I ever witnessed. Years have since passed, but the remembrance is as though the event were but yesterday-it has visited me in my dreams. The appearance of his glaring eyes and distorted features were too much for our superstitious crew-

"Back rolled the tide."

I was thrown down in the turmoil, and no more notice taken of my situation than of my frozen brethren on deck-they ran over me like a flock of sheep. The second mate paused a moment, ascertained that the object of their fear had long ceased to exist-and took me by the collar and dragged me on deck, doubtless anxious to prevent his boat's crew from leaving him sole officer of the stranger in the extremity of their fright. He found them stowed away under the thwarts of the boat, pitched me in like a dead mackerel, and ordered them to cast off and pull for our own ship-great alacrity was shewn in this manœuvre, and a few moments brought us back, just as the moon was hiding herself behind a cloud and every thing wore the appearance of an approaching gale. Sails were handed with the utmost despatch, the decks cleared and things in order, succeeded, and we were driven at ten knots as the gale struck us. Egyptian darkness

and rowed for the shrouds, where a sailor was standing, apparently watching us-I was ordered to throw a rope to him, which I did with great precision and actually hit the fellow on his head--but still he would not nor did not take it, and I was d-d by the second mate for a lubberly fellow, with a superarogatory punch with the oar's end on my shoulder-again we rowed up and the second mate tried his skill with the same and no better success-and I have doubt he would have complimented the. boorish sailor in the same manner, if he had a similar proximity--a third time the boat was alongside, and the officer with some difficulty made the warp fast around the enormous shroud and stepped on board followed by the crew who shrunk to his rear. Among the last I clambered over the slippery side, and with due caution made a stand in the centre of the group who were listening to the colloquy which had commenced on the part of our second officer. I shall not attempt to give the precise language which he held towards the helmsman of the strange ship, but it was not the most civil, or such as is heard often in a lady's drawing room. The amount of it was "sailor's jaw" for not answering a hail, and for not taking the warp, and concluded by requesting to know his latitude and longitude, and how certain capes bore from their ships-to all of which no reply was made, when I was called upon for a lantern, which I had taken from the boat, and had snugly stowed away under my jacket, keeping both light and heat to my-under bare poles. Ever and anon(the sailors self-a thing by no means difficult, as the moonlight rendered its absence unobserved.— The second mate received it, and went aft to observe the countenance of the dumb gentleman of the helm. In his way he stumbled over one man, whom he thought was either drunk or asleep, but finally held the lamp to the face of the steersman, which was a shapeless lump of ice. The helm was lashed, his hand upon it, his feet fixed at some depth in the ice, and he himself frozen stiff in his upright position.-Near him were several of the crew in horizontal and various attitudes, from whom life had long since fled. The horror of the scene struck a panic among our boat's crew, and they did not wait for orders to make the best of their way towards the boat. The officer turned round with the countenance of a true sailor sang froid, wherein there was not a particle of alarm and ordered them to follow him below. The fear of his enormous fist induced all the rest, and much more especially myself, to obey the order, and we proceeded to the labor of removing the companion way.

In the mean time I ventured to look at my friend at the shrouds who would not catch the rope, for which I was punished by a sound blow on the shoulder-he was frozen stiff with his arms around the rigging. Not being fond of the spectacle, I kept close to the heels of the second mate as he descended the gangway -in fact we all went, "en masse," each being very careful to stick close to his neighbor.

asserted) they could perceive the strange vessel carrying sail under fury of the tempest, and maintaining her position on our weather quarter-and could at intervals hear her roaring after us as she ploughed through the billows. Death for hours stared us in the face, and his features never have been forgotten by me.

itude, on beautiful moonlight evenings, we At sundry times afterwards, during this latcould dimly distinguish the Ice Ships, steering in our wake, glittering in all the pride of awful pomp, apparently pursuing the same course lying to. Such a phenomenon was always the with us though her sails were trimmed as if prelude of a gale-it become with us a habit

to reef whenever her tall form towered beneath a moonlight sky.

In but one other voyage have I seen her, and then it was in the warm climate of the Indian Ocean many years since; it was on the cessful exertion at last secured me from situaevening before we were wrecked. But suctions wherein I might see her, and I now can at my own fireside tell over past perils, and wish all my brother sailors never to meet in any latitude with a full view of the Ice Ship. [Gloucester Telegraph.] ICHABOD.

THE RUNAWAY MARRIAGE. "Whose house is that with white-capped chimneys, black-sashed windows, and a nice little martin-box just an epitome of the State

House? It either belongs to a rich man with snug ideas of an establishment, or to some thriving carpenter. A man never built a house so well, unless it were for himself, or for money."

hair is no concern of yours, that I know of," replied the furious beldame. Human nature is certainly strangely perverse, in some cases. Had it not been for this uncivil answer, the young man would probably never again have thought of Susan Cromwell, and her beautiful hair; but now the thought just flitted through his mind, how delightfully provoking it would be, if he could get up an interest in the heart of this harshly treated daughter. There seemed, however, little prospect of his obtaining opportunity; for Susan was kept more closely imprisoned than ever,-and lest her hair should again attract attention, her father tied her hands behind her, while her mother shaved it close to her head.

A year passed, and Mr. Blanchard saw Susan only once and that at her chamber window. At the end of that time there was a school established, about a quarter of a mile from their dwelling, in which lace work was taught. Old Mrs. Cromwell had, as she expressed herself, long "hankered arter a white worked wail;" but it was contrary to all her ideas of economy to give the price usually asked at the stores. It was, therefore, agreed that Susan should attend long enough to work such an one as her mother desired.

"You have guessed right. It belongs to a young carpenter, who has one of the most capable, genteel wives in the world. In a quick perception of beauty, and faculty for tasteful arrangement, she is a trifle above him; but in mind and character, she is his equal-'tis a simple and natural superiority, never disturbing the harmony of happiness.-Her father was an odd, ill-tempered man, who grew immensely rich by the sale of flour, and lost it all in the payment of penalties incurred by his knavery. His wife was a coarse, ignorant woman and a termagant. Never was there a more singular instance of superfluity of wealth united with the most utter ignorance of its use.— Mirrors and chandeliers glittered in the parlor, while the family ate with their domestics from one common dish on the kitchen table; and artists were paid twice the value of their portraits by people who requested to be taken in a blue attitude. That their little daughter Susan should have been gentle tempered is not surprising, for the poor child had been frightened into meekness; but why the scion of such a stock should have been fair and graceful, it is difficult to say. Yet so it was-and the prettiness and timidity of the little creature attracted the attention of a maternal uncle, who being a childless widower, fostered her with a care of kindness to which she had been totally unused. When she was fourteen years old, her uncle died, leaving her a fortune of eight thousand dollars, to be paid on her wed-managed to see her, to inquire into the hardding day. About this time her father was discovered in several knavish practices, and began to tremble for his ill gotten wealth.

To avoid danger, she was never allowed to leave home until ten minutes before the school commenced,-a written account of the time she arrived was once a week demanded from her instructress,-and the horse-whip faithfully administered, was the sure consequence of a tardy return to her father's dwelling. How with all these restrictions, young Blanchard

ships of her forlorn condition, and to offer her his protection, is a mystery; but love is more noted than the Yankees for patient inventions and never yet was known to be at a loss to effect his purposes.

lapsed-and she was not seen in her homeward path. The horse-whip was prepared, and the loving parents sat "nursing their wrath to keep it warm," for a full hour. Still no Susan appeared! A domestic sent to the school house returned with the tidings that she had not been there. "The jade has run away,"

Worse than he dreaded came upon him; and the fortune of his little daughter seemed all that could save him from utter poverty.It was one bright Saturday in June-the Destitute as these parents were of natural af-appointed time of Susan's return had long efection, it is not strange that they should resolve to sacrifice the happiness of their child to their own selfish views. Lest her eight thousand should attract admirers, the poor girl was shut up in a chamber, and forbidden to read any books, for fear they should fill her head full of romantic notions. Fate, however, will sometimes over-rule the nicest calculations of man. Susan had a fine head of soft glossy brown hair, which she took much pleasure in arranging neatly. When she was about fifteen years of age, it chanced she one day left her comb in the parlor, and returned in haste to find it, with her hair falling almost to her feet, like an ample drapery of Persian silk. Young Mr. Blanchard, the best carpenter in our village, happened to be there, mending a door which Mr. Cromwell had broken in one of his fits of rage; he glanced at the blushing girl, as she darted out of the room, and by way of flattering the mother, observed, “your|| daughter has beautiful hair ma'am." "Her

exclaimed the mother; and forth the father sallied to wreak his vengeance on something. His inquiries were all fruitless, for so far did Yankee goodness of heart overcome their natural proneness to communicativeness, that no one would tell the truth though half the village knew that Blanchard's chaise had been standing at the school house door, waiting for Susan's arrival,-and that before the alarm was given, they were in all human probability husband and wife!

At last, one old gossip, who prided herself upon being the first to tell the news, placed her arms a kimbo, and looking up in his face with the most provoking air of exultation, ex

claimed, "La zur, Mr. Cromwell, what a tub of sudz you are in! Dont you know Susan has gone to Providence to be married?" "Gone to Providence!" shouted he. He said no more -but slamming the door after him, went to his own house, as if steam had sent him there.A large black pitcher, from which he and his laborers had drunk beer during many a haying season, was standing on the corner of the table. Cromwell in the blindness of his rage, mistook it for his wife's favorite black cat,and exclaiming, "s'cat!" he gave it a blow that shivered it to a thousand atoms.

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"What's the old pitcher done?" asked the virago, surprised at such an unprovoked display of his strength. "None of your business. It is broke, and I am glad of it—if it was whole I'd break it again. Here is a pretty spot of work-and it all comes of your d-n lace wail. Susan has gone to Providence, to be married!" "To be married!" screamed his mate-"let's be up, and after her!"

The horse was harnessed to the chaise with all speed; and in ten minutes they were on their way to Rhode Island.

Mr. Blanchard had forseen the probability of pursuit; and had therefore made arrangements that his wife should return with one of the young men, who attended as witnesses, while the other should ride with him, disguis

ed in her cloak and bonnet.

About half way between here and Providence the parties met. Old Cromwell seized the bridegroom's horse by the head, while his enraged wife proceeded to use the whip about her supposed daughter. In the mean time, the real bride and her attendants swept by and rode at a rapid rate, till they reached the residence of Mr. Blanchard's father.

The bridegroom's companion was a man of powerful muscle. While he kept his two furious antagonists occupied, Blanchard touched the whip to his father-in law's high mettled steed, which pursued the road to Providence as if he had been spurred by the evil one.

The Combat was found equal, and seemed likely to continue long; but the young men, availing themselves of a temporary pause, sprang to their chaise, and were out of sight in a tangent.

Few objects could be more ludicrous than Cromwell and his wife, thus left alone and exhausted in the middle of the road, far from their own home. Both looked heartily ashamed at their defeat; and there was a moment's silence before the termagant summoned heart enough to ask, "Where do you suppose our horse is?" "Gone to Providence to be married, you old fool!" replied he throwing his whip on the ground with a force that made the neighboring cows stop grazing.

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A passing stage took up our discomforted travellers; and Susan for many months found a happy home in her husband's family. Mr. Cromwell was very refractory about the eight

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thousand; but he was finally compelled to pay it.

Vexation and shame have induced him to leave the village for Kentucky; and Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have for several years occupied the neat dwelling you pointed out to me."

THE GAMBLER.

A dark cloud hung over the cedar valley, and a drizzling mist had watered the thick grass around the low painted cottage that stood high among the trees, at the foot of the hill. But the window that looked down the narrow road towards the village was open, though it was past the hour of eleven at night, and Mary sat pale and dejected by it, resting her cheek upon her hand, and looking upon the gloomy sky,and listening with all the deep and anxious expectation of a tender wife, for the approach of her absent husband. De Lancy had not always kept such hours as thishe was once fond, affectionate, attentive to her every want and wish, and as careful of her happiness as of his own life-when she married him, he was gay and cheerful, rich and virtuous, and she had joined her hand in his with the bright prospect of a long life of counubial bliss, full before her. But now his brow wore the aspect of deep and settled gloom--he seemed to be himself no more some secret disquietude preyed upon his mind, the springs of which lay concealed from her view. Sometimes she thought he loved her no longer--but the thought almost broke her heart, and she banished it—she hoped for the best; and waited now his return with all the patience of wronged, but silent unrepining aífection.

As midnight approached, the streaked lightning began to flash along the woodlands and at intervals the deep and hollow thunder rolled along the arch of heaven--the clouds dropped rain in large quantities, and the quiet of the night yielded to the stormy blackness of a coming tempest. She rose, and closed the window with a heavy sigh. At that moment a flash, unlike that of lightning,at the edge of the woods, directly down the road, and a report as of a pistol, alarmed her; she threw open the window again; all was silent -then a faint voice seemed crying in the wood; she listened, and thought she gathered the sound of "murder"-but the thunder rolled again, and again, and the red lightning flashed most angrily--and a howling wind rose up and rolled most dismally along the forest. She fastened down the sash, and threw herself beside her sleeping infants on the bed; clasping them closely to her bosom, while her heart beat most violently, and her whole frame trembled with terror.

A brief space elapsed, and the hurried tread of a horse was heard coming up the road; the gate creaked on its hinges; she heard De Lancy's voice, "wo, wo, Bob, let me get off: this is bad business; we are both crazy wo

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