The Columbia Democrat. (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, June 24, 1837, Image 1

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    HQ - m SSI "M A
I liayc sworn upon the Attar of God, eternal hostility to every 'form of Tyranny over the Mind of Man."
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. INGRAM.
Volume I.
A WESTliltJJ STOnY.
roUNllF.I) OX FACT.
The state of Georgia is one of those warm
rcotton-planting regions where negroes live
Rnd labor. The white population, ofcoursc,
fill the offices of Church and state, and
attend to the merchandise of the land. Mr.
HIcnry Losslcy was the son of a gentleman
who Wan in but moderate circumstances.
He was raised in the general custom of rais
ing children among the Southron planters;
c received a tolerable education and some
knowledge of book-keeping, having spent a
few months in the house of N , in the
town of A -. in the nineteenth year of his
ngc, ho tormeu an attachment lorMiss wary
iansing, a lady of some accomplishments
and personal beauty but her patrimony
kvas small. Mr. J.ossloy and Miss Lansing
kvcro frcqueniy in d:lch other's company,
& every time they met their mutual attach
mcnt increased. They often spoke of their
affection for each other, and lamented that
their prospects were not such as to justify
their connection for life. Thus matters
ivcnt on with them fdr several years, till,
at length, finding it impossible to be happy
unless in each other's sodictyi they dctcr-
lincd to cast their lots together and if they
should not be able to move through the
world in the 6tylc they could wish, at all,
ivents, they could siirip'rtrt themselves do-
Econtly; sd they were united by that tie which
is the most sacred and enduring that can be
formed in this life.
For sonic months after their union they
did not seem sensible of their want of pecu
niary means; but it soon became evident
that they would have to gain support by their
actual labor and it was also certain that
in Georgia they could not do more than ob-
Itaih a mere subsistence, and at last mold age
Ibc without any settled home to which they
did not seem willing to submit. It was
thought best that Mr, Losslcy should travel
(into some new country, get a piece of land,
and make some little improvement on it,
land then return to carry on his companion.
Many wdrc the anxious thoughts that
filled their bosoms the husband had his
fears lest he should fail in obtaining a pleas-
lant home! for his beloved one, whom ho was
about to leave behind; and the wife already
began to count the weeks, and even the
days, she should be left as it were, alone in
the world while, on the other hand, they
both looked forward with pleasure on the
j time, when, in anew country, growing with
I its growth & strengthening with its strength
they should rise to a state of inrportnncC in
tho world.
Tlio time of separation at last arrived; and
j Mr. Losslcy, after embracing tho best of all
earthly friends gave tho parting hand, took
this journey not knowing certainly whither
lie was going. He travelled to tho state of
Kentucky, and was about to contract foi a
' piece of land in the neighborhood of where
the town of II is .now built. He availed
himself of the first opportunity of writing a
few lines to his beloved one, in order to let
flier know where ho was and what he was
doing.
This letter nevor reached the beloved ob-
ject for whom it was intended, but foil into
the hands of one, whose name shall be1
f revealed on thai day." Suffice it to say,
that there was one with whom Mr. Losslcy
h ii ...
tnau ucen a compotitor. An answer came
i but not from Mrs. Lossley, but apparen
tly from her father, with whom ho had left
liter during his absence. 01 horrid letter,
never shall I forget its language:
"Dkau Son Your wife took sick about
week after your departure. At first wo
Wu not entertain any fears concerning her.
After some days her brain becamo affected,
arid she lost her reason, and while in this
situation she called every person who was
in attendance upon her and came to sco her
"Henry!" A short timo bofore her death
she camo to herself, and scorned to have but
one desire to live, which icas to see you!
mid her last sentence was, '0, mu dear
Henry! and shall I never see him more in
this life!" and breathed liar last."
M,OOMSBURO, COIiUMBIA COUNTY, FA 'SATURDAY JUNES 24, 1837.
On the reception of this letter, Mr. Loss
ley became almost desperate. His whole
amount of earthly good seemed to be cut off
at dnc stroke. Ho made several attempts
to answer tho letter, hut found it impos
sible to write on such a painful subject,
lie became a solitary man being in a land
of strangers he had no person to whom he
could unbosom himself; and though grief is
fond of company, yet ho had to share his
alone. The thoughtbf returning to the place
where he had so often beheld the face and
lovely form of his now lost Mary, without
being able to sec her, he could not bear;
and having left
but little behind,, save his
companion
that was of any consequence to
him, he gave up tho idea of returning. Nei
ther had he any disposition to settle himsclfi
and finding that he could sustain his grief
better, When travelling, than in any other
way, he Wandered off without any settled
point of destination. At length he found
himself at the lead mines in Missouri. But
ho yet beheld objects that reminded him of
his loss, which induced him to sink still
deeper into the bosom of the great forest;
so hejerfied himself to a company of fur tra
ders, aiuJ shaped his course to the Rocky
Mountains..
tt vi?sffhc custom of the company to post
a watch at nigflt, which was agrccd'to be
taken by,turns yet, foromejtime, Lossley
volunteered his 'services every night, so
that when his companions were asleep, he
would look upon the moon and stars, which
once shown on him, when he, with his fair
one hanging on his arm, used to take their
little evening excursions. The scream of
panthers did not intciupt him, while for the
lamentations of the owl, he had a particular
fondness, and rarely for months, did he take
his departure from a camping place, with
out leaving the letters, 'M. L.' on some of
the hitherto undisturbed trees of the forest,
lie passed nearly two years among the
North Western Iudiansi The hardships he
endured the dangers through which he
passed all had a tendency to call off his
mind from former sorrows, and the females
which he soriitimcs looked upon, were so
unlike his Mary, that by the time he had
returned to Missouri he had in some degree,
obtained his former cheerfulness. But no
soondr did he enter tho former settlements
where ltd again beheld the fair faces and
graceful forms, than a recollection of his
departed MarY returned. But the roll of
years at length wdrc away his grief, and
finding at last an object of which ho could
place his affection, ho again entered iuto a
married concction: From the timo that he
left his companion in Georgia, till he marri
ed his second wife, it ivits about five years!
But what shall wo say about Mrs. Lossley
for strange to tell, sho yet lived! Weeks,
months, and years' passed by, but had
brought her no tidings of her absent hus
band. Post offices were examined but no
letter came. Ilis name was looked for in
the public prints but could not bo found
Travellers were inquired of but of no avail!
not a word could she hear of him. Atlengtl
she gave him up as dead, and conceived of
his death' in many ways; at ono timo site
would fancy she could sco his bones at the
bottom of some stream, in which he had
been drowned, by attempting to cross; again
she would seo him in some lonely spot
murdered by robbers, or destroyed by In
dian violence ; & at other times sho would
fancy sho saw hint languish on some foreign
bed, and after a long and lingering illness,
fall into the grave among strangers? A
thousand times she looked outtho way she
saw him depart, and mourned him dead till
time dried up her tears.
After a lapse of soven long years and more
since the departure of Mr. Lossloy, Mr.
Starks offered his hand in marriage toMre.
Lossloy; and as it was firmly believed by
horself and friends that ho was dead Mr.
Starks being a gentleman worthy of her,
she accepted the offer, and they were mar
ried. At this timo Mr. Losslevwas living with
his second wife, in the State of Missouri?
where he continued to live for sometliing
like eighteen years.
About fourteen years
after his marriage, his second wife
died
and ho was left with two children, a son
and a daughter. Tho daughter was the
eldest and took charge of her father's house
but little more than three years, after the
death of her mother she married and moved
to North Alabama, and her father and broth
er went with her.
In the moan timo Mrs. Starks had lost
her husband arid father, and having but one
child, and that a little daughter, she remo
ved to North Alabama also, to live with an
!iged uncle, who was living in that part of
tho country &ojhat Mr. Lossley becatnc
ueighbor6aituOicy5lbecame
with cac
aclr'other sSlColZoxsir.uf tfiisitiUfi
iiu jiuu uuuiiuuu wueu among
h among thofuritral
dcrs) and Mrs. SldrkcW TlToVformcd'an
attachment for each other, and Mr. Lossley
evcniuatty oiicreu ins Hand in marriage
which site accepted. It is to be observed
that during the whole of their intercourse
they took great care never to mention any
circumstance connecting itself with their first
marriage, and both passed as bavin? been
married but once they had both been so
very cautious on this subject that the slight
est trace of their former acquaintance was
not discovered until the night before the
marriage was to have been solemnized.
Perhaps tho sacred fount of theii former
sorrows was sealed too deep to be readily
broken up again by cither of them.
The night before marriage, as they were
conversing alone, the Colonel remarked
that he expected to be a little agitated the
next evening while attending the ceremo
nies of the wedding "for,' said he, "when
I married the first time I was not so much
embarrassed as when I married the last!"
to which Mrs. Starks replied; "You have
been married twice, then, it seems?" The
Colonel at first, tried to change the subject
of the conversation, but soon found that
would not do and knowing it would have
to come out sooner or later, he went into a
detail of all tho circumstances connected
with his first marriage, giving names and
dales. This was a subject on whicji the
Colonel was eloquent. He remarked that
his long lost Mary was never out of his
mind for one hour at a time; owing to that
fact, he had often spoke of her to those who
had never heard of her, and could not enter
into the conversation with him. He went
on to state that sho was his Rachel his
first choice the companion of his youth;
having taken hold of his feelings at such an
early age, tho impression was indelible, i
recollection of her namo could never be c
rased from his mind, "and though" said
ho, "I have passed through the town & the
country, the dreary wilderness; through
winter, through sumi.ier; amid friends and
foos! through health and aflliction; through
smiles and frowns; yet I have borne paint'
ed upon my imagination the imago of my
beloved Mary. 1
Hero the mists began to gather in tho eyes
of tho Colonel, and for a few moments a
death-liko silence prevailed. At length
looking upon his intended bride, ho saw
that she had taken more than usual inter
est in tho relation ho had been making.
He then broke the silence by saying, "you
must forgive mo for the kind rcmcmberanc
I bear for the beloved companion of my
youth." While ho was uttering this sen
tence Mis. Starks swooned away, fc would
have fallen from her seat, had not the Colo
nel supported her. While sho lay in this
death-liko state, many were tho reflections
which passed throughthe mindof Col. Loss
loy. First supposing as ho had for a time
kept this secret from her, and atlastdivulg
ed it without intending to do so, it might
have a tondency to destroy her confidence
in him, or cause her to fear that his affec
tions vcro so much placed on the motnory
of his first wife that it would bo impossible
for him tolovo her as he ought; these and
many other thoughts of a liko kind rushed
through his mind, and ho but awaited tho
powerofuttcrancoon tho part of Mrs. Starks
to hear her renounce him forever. But,
oh! how mistaken were his fears! No
sooner was site roused from her swoon
than she threw her arms around his neck,
and resting her head upon his bosom, sob
bed like a child crying out, " Oh, my hus
band! my husband!" The Colonel being
much astonished, inquired rather hastily
what she meant? With her hands still
resting on his shoulders, with a counte
nance beaming with joy and suffused with
tears she exclaimed with a half choked
utterance, "I ani your Mary! your long
lost Mary, and you are my Henry, whom
I mourned as dead for these twenty years."
Tho joy then became mutual. That
night and the next day was spent in rela
ting circumstances which had transpired
Avith them during their separation, and ad
miring the providence that brought them to
gether. On the next evening those bidden
to the marriage, attended. The Parson
came but there was no service for him to
render. The transported couple informed
the assembly that they had been married
upwards of twenty years before, and gave
a brief outline of their history, and entered
into the hilarity of the evening with a de
gree df cheerfulness unusual to them both.
RAGE FOR SPECULATION.
The following amusing anecdote is ex
tracted from a forcible article of the Now
York Evening Post, designed to arrest the
late prevalent rage for speculation:
A traveller, once in the West, on setting
out early one morning from the place where
he had passed the night, consulted his map
of the country, and finding that a very con
siderablc town, called Venice, or Verona, or
by the name df some other European city
beginning with a V, occupied a point on his
road, but some 12 or 15 miles off, conclud
ed to journey as far as that place before
breakfast. Another equally extensive town
bearing as sounding a name, was laid down
at a convenient distance for his afternoon
stage; and there proposed halting for the
night. He continued to travel at a good
round pace until the sun had attained a great
height in the heavens, and until ho comput
ed that he had accomplished more than twice
or thrice the distance which he proposed
to himself in the outset. His stomach had
long since warned him that it was time to
halt, and his horse gave indications which
plainly showed that he was of the same
opinion. Still he saw no town before him,
even of the humblest kind-, much less such
a magnificent one as his map had prepared
him to look for.
At length meeting a solitary wood-chop
per, emerging from the forest, he accosted
him, and inquired how far it was to Vien
na! "Vienna!" exclaimed tho man; "why,
you passed it five and twenty miles back.
Did you notice a stick of hewn timber and
a blazed tree beside the road? That waS
Vienna."
Thd dismayed traveller then inquired
how far it was to the other place, at which
ho designed passing the night.
"Why, you are fight on that place now,"
returned the man; it begins just on tho other
side of yon ravine, and runs down to a clump
of girdled trees, which you will sco'aboitt a
mile farther on the road."
"And are there no houses built?" faltered
out the traveller.
"Oh, no houses whatsomcver," returned
tho woodman, "they hewed and hauled the
logs for a blacksmith's shop, but before they
raised it, the town lots were all disposed of
in tho Eastern States; and every thing has
been left just as you now seo it over since."
What is the matter with that man,' ask
ed a passor-by as ho recognized a fellow ly
ing in a gutter. "Ho is slewed." "Who
slow him?" "Old Jamaica."
Every body, says the New-Bodford Ga
zette, is beginning to believe that the best
Bank is a bank of earth, and tho best share
a plough-share.
A friend says he is growing weaker and
weaker every day. He has got so now that
he can't raise five dollars.
Number 9.
WHIP BEHIND.
Going along the side-walk the other day,
our attention was arrested by the endeavors
of a couple of lads to overtake a pleasure
sleigh for the purpose of stealing a ride by
hanging on behind.
One of them being somewhat lighter of
foot than his companion, was successful,
while the other despite of all his efforts,
w;s compelled to see the distance between
him and the vehicle on wIik"' his more
nimble playmate was seated japidly in.
creasing. Chagrined that the other should
enjoy what wiuYnll his efforts he could
not, and determined to make his triumph
short, he vociferated at the top of his voice,
Whip behind! Whip behind!" Whip
snugly seated on his boxt was too full of
the milk df human kindness not to obey sd
reasonable a requisition, and with a back
handed cut peculiar to his craft, ho whip
ped behind, dislodging in a trice his extra
passenger, who was soon rolling in the
snow. A shout of triumph burst from the
lips of him who had been distanced in the
race, as the other gave evident tokens of
being 'whipped behind.' This simple in
cident wa3 eloquent of human nature.
How many are there, who, when they
seo their companions outstrip them in the
reach of honor and wealth will not call on
fortune to "whip behind!'
The politician, whose aspirings are for
eminence, when he sees a competitor out
stripping him in tho race how ready is he
to exclaim, 'whip behind.'
The sparkling eye of beauty is lit up with
unwonted fire, when a rival appears to con
test the throne, and she must be noblo
minded, whose heart on such occasions
does not, through the promptings of envy
whisper to the tongue, 'whip behind.'
In fine, vc may wander through all ranks
of life, and rarely shall we find one who is
not envious of his neighbors superior suc
cess; and who does not mentally, at least
invoke the power that is bearing his com
petitor above hini to "whip behind."
Whence all the backbiting and evil speak
ing against one another, too often witness
ed in society. Nine times in ten, were it
correctly traced, its origin would be found
in nothing but envy, the same principle
which induced the boy to request the dri
ver to 'whip behind.'
The order of the day is to 'whip be
hind,' and happy the person who receives
not nor deserves this chastisement. Ro
chester Hep-.
A pretty cxlemive Library requiring
1000 caincls to draw it ! There was once
in a certain part of India such a voluminous!
library, that a thousand camels were requis
ite for its transport, and a hundred brah
mins had to be paid for the care. The king
felt no inclination to wade through all this
heap of learning himself, and ordered his
well-fed librarians to furnish him with an
extract for his private use. They set to
work, and in about 20 years' time they pro
duced a nice little encyclopedia, which
might havo been easily carried by 30 cam
els. But tho monarch found it still too
large, and had not even patience enough to
read the preface. The indefatigable brah
mins began therefore afresh, and reduced
the SO cargoes into so small a substance,
that a single ass marched away with it in
comfort; but the kingly dislike for reading
had increased with age, and his servants
wrote at last on a palm leaf, "The quintes
sence of all science consists in the little
word, Perhaps! Thrco expressions con
tain the history of mankind: They were
born; they suffered and they died. Love
only what is good, and practice what you
love. Bclievo only what is true, but do
not mention all that which you believe."
Wo arc ruined, not by what we really
want but by what we think wo do; therefore
never go abroad in search of your wants;
if they be real wants they will come home
in search of you; for he that buys what he
does not want, will soon want what he can
not buy.