Sarah E. Wall

“ How is it that so many sects, as wide apart as the poles, all claiming the Bible on their side, preaching that there is no Other way but their own through which we can expect to be happy, can all be right, or any of them wrong?"
"Oh Rosa," said Walter, "you are a genius certainly! It would take more than a philosopher to understand you. There are as many sides to your character as a cameleon has colors, and as many oddities in your brain as a monkey could act out in six months. I suppose it is on the same principle you draw your comparison between Robinson Crusoe and Pilgrim's Progress. ”

“ I am here to speak in the name of woman for all that she holds dear and sacred in the heaven of domestic life;—to plead for the rights of innocent childhood, which have been violated by those who, in assuming the highest responsibilities God has imposed, have turned traitors to the holiest instincts of their being, by consigning Ao a life of misery and degradation, those immortal germs which they had no right to accept from the Father's hand, save to train them in the paths of virtue, purity and love, that they may be shining stars in his diadem forever. ”

“ There was too much clashing of the elements, too much of the restless spirit of enquiry for the meek, sustaining eye of Faith, calmly to steer her course in such a complicated organization as Rosalind's.
It was not thus with Walter who resembled his mother. Nature seemed to have cast him in an even mould and bestowed on him her rarest gifts. Rosalind excelled in intellectual capacity; he, in intuitive knowledge. The truths others gained by reasoning, he knew by intuition. The triumphs others won by continued effort and stern self-denial, were but the natural unfolding of his own character. ”

“ Carleton was about to turn away somewhat disconcerted at the moment he hoped to win, but not in the least disheartened. Miss Blanche could not doubt the real, confiding friendship of the one and she dared not insult it by bestowing on the other those approving smiles prompted by the occasion and the lingering breath of his own words, which, with that delicate tact a woman so readily understands, she knew he would appreciate more than popular applause. He read her soul, being as quick an adept in the science of human nature as Mr. Livingston. ”

“ Then come the longer autumn evenings, and the hour of pleasant chat beside the cheerful winter fire before the usual avocations are resumed, all these being just as novel and susceptible of fresh enjoyment in every different situation of life, as if they had never come within the range of our experience before. So a newly wedded pair finds in every day's occurrence a fresh sensation of delight, so different from what they have ever known before, even as lovers, and on the real blending of their souls at that period depends much of their future happiness as husband and wife. ”

“ Startled from her motionless attitude, the lilies dropped from her hands upon the table, and she gave him a look of surprise, saying, "You, Ernest?"
"Yes. I had a mother once, as kind, as devoted as yours, and I loved her as intensely as a child could love a parent, which she returned by treating me as a companion, rather than as a son over whom she might exercise a parent's control. Our lives in this matter very much resembled yours here, and perhaps my youth was as blameless as Walter's. My mother's health was always delicate, though never such as to excite alarm. ”

“ At length she hit on the idea of writing a novel which furnished amusement enough for Kate, who had no sympathy with abstract theories and metaphysical speculation, and yet liked to hear Milly's views, which gave her something to criticize and dissect. Enjoying new ideas which she chose to embellish in her own careless style, her impulses came out in a rough diamond way; sparkling, uncouth, yet vigorous and racy. Above all was that dominant love of fun which appropriated every thing to its service, no matter how serious, with which was mingled no small share of good sense. ”

“ Do we not feel the responsive echoes of the eternal harmony of nature, as soul speaks to soul in a language no tongue can express; and the law of affinity running through all human intelligences which makes the eye the heart's best interpreter and most eloquent logician? The consciousness of this fact ought to make the humblest and most barren life rejoice that it has this power to confer happiness which no outward circumstance can take away; sometimes proving more precious to the friendless one than gifts or gold, because freighted with the richer sympathy of the human heart. ”

“ Astronomy being Rosalind's favorite science, was a subject which called forth most the brilliancy of her intellect. The wonders there unfolded were adapted to her ardent thirst for novelty and grandeur, and sufficient to engage the intense activity of her brain. She was fascinating to observe, when, on a keen frosty night, she came in with her father after they had been out to trace the constellations, her eyes beaming with delight and her cheeks glowing with the rosy hues of health, a good model for a picture of youth and happiness.
She never possessed the quiet beauty of her mother ”

“ There are as many different kinds of affection in the world as there are different mental organizations. One kind is strong, ardent, full of enthusiasm and demonstration, like Rosalind. Another kind, just as strong, just as ardent, but so quiet and undemonstrative, as scarcely to reveal its existence until some shock threatens to rend asunder the very heartstrings of life, was illustrated in Milly. Isolated as she was in every human tie, her affection for Lilly had stirred her soul's depths as they were never stirred before. ”

“ It is well human nature is so constituted that one's joy is not banished by another's sorrow, otherwise there would be no enjoyment in this life. To every individual, sooner or later, comes his own trial-hour, and that is sufficient for himself. The world may not know of it, but no matter, the purification goes on, and the inaudible sigh is net unheard in heaven's chancery, whether surrounded by the music and mirth of loving friends, or the thoughtless indifference of those who are incapable of extending the cordial grasp of sympathy. ”

“ While desperation had driven her to the vagrant life she led, it was evident that the publicity of being arrested as a criminal was so much of a shock to her nervous system, in addition to the powerful reaction which took place when Walter appeared in her behalf, that her mind lost its balance; the rigor of a prison life having rapidly undermined the health that had previously begun to fail.
At set of sun her spirit passed away. It is impossible to describe the sensations of Rosalind as she gazed on that motionless form, looking even beautiful in death. ”

“ I suppose it is all we can expect of a theatre since it professes to be only a place of amusement, totally indifferent to the moral or immoral influences engendered, farther than to ensure a successful patronage from the community. I was thinking of the good it might exert, calling into exercise our highest and noblest feelings by arraying in equally attractive colors the triumphs of virtue over vice, instead of displaying so much that is bloody and revengeful, to kindle the passions. Love of the dramatic is implanted within us which it is lawful to gratify within certain limits. ”

“ It will know and feel only the power of that love which is stronger than death, broader and deeper than the perversities of human nature, and capable of diffusing its own immeasurable greatness over the remembrance of the errors of this life.
Beyond the objects of our outward sense, stronger than any tie of earthly recognition, deeper than any other emotion of the soul, stretches this invisible bond, invisible because immortal, and immortal because divine. The object of love may be taken from us, but the power of loving is increased thereby. ”

“ She had not seen Ernest, nor heard anything of him since that eventful morning. There could be no doubt then that she had banished him forever from her presence, and perhaps also broken the friendship existing between him and Walter, the thought of which alone oppressed her. There was just as much reason to fear that the bond of affection between herself and her father would be dissolved as the link that bound together those two loving souls.
There is a peculiar sacredness in the term friendship, a something essentially holy in its character which belongs to no other human love. ”

“ Claremont in this work, was a young lady whose overflowing zeal in all those tender charities that constitute such a charm in budding womanhood cast a beneficent halo around her presence in every circle, and commanded the respect of the most thoughtless by her unaffected interest in the lowly and unfortunate. As beautiful in person as she was lovely in character, she might have been envied as a rival but for the entire absence of self consciousness and the unobtrusive manners and sprightly conversation which won all hearts. ”

“ No unimportant personage in the household of the Claremont's was Kate Drummond, the cook. Of Irish descent, she was full of the mirthful humor of her race, with which was combined much of the sober, solid sense of the Anglo-Saxon. Never given to fine-spun theories or useless regrets, she turned every accident into a joke, and practised the philosophy others spent their time in preaching. Having talent that would ennoble any occupation, if it had been developed and cultivated, she never subjected herself to the discipline of a thought that would check the wild exuberance of her nature. ”

“ Milly felt unusually languid that day, and scarcely noticed Kate's merriment. For the last few moments she had been watching Rosalind who went to a white rose-bush as if to pluck a rose, then suddenly changing her mind, returned to the house. She was now pondering why she did not go to ride with her mother and Walter. Half mentally she said in a low voice, which Kate's quick ear readily caught. "So true it is that the lips may be wreathed in smiles while the heart is torn with anguish. One would think Rosalind might be perfectly happy." ”

“ Amelia watches her with a half resolution to intercede in her behalf, or plead with her to tell the truth in the matter; but while debating within herself and halting at the door, she loses sight of the girl, and stands there regretting her own want of decision in not seizing that opportunity for effecting some good, thus perhaps, missing the slender thread on which hangs the reputation of many an individual whose name might never have been remembered, but for some trivial occurrence which first opened the way for other deeds which have won the gratitude and admiration of the human race. ”

“ There is scarcely a man so depraved that he has not a redeeming trait somewhere, through which he feels instinctively a certain degree of reverence for a noble and virtuous woman. While one scrupled at the thought of violating what was left of his dim perceptions of honor, the other justified himself by indulging that spark of manly feeling which really glowed in his bosom at the thought that he might win the love of so pure a being, which ought to refute the charge his friend brought against his character, and which had really incensed him to persevere. ”

“ And the garden; O Earth, how canst thou smile on in such bitter mockery of human wo? Ah, it is a decree of God's own ordination, whereby, if a seed die it shall rise again and put forth new verdure, prophetic also of the resurrection of every joy in that immortal sphere toward which all are hastening.
There was another upon whom Lilly's death fell as a heavy stroke of affliction, to whom Mrs. Claremont sought to administer all the consolation feeble words could convey; feeble indeed, for they fall so far short of what the soul craves at such times, that it is almost a mockery to utter them. ”

“ His voice faltered, his hand dropped from the curl that had twined itself around his finger, a smile of ineffable love, joy and peace passed over his features, and his spirit crossed the portals to the unseen world. He had gone to his Thanksgiving feast in heaven.
There is something deeply significant in the placid serenity of the death smile. In the tumultuous rush of emotions that crowd upon us at such a moment when every careless word and thoughtless act come like so many accusing spirits, we feel that all is forgiven, and nothing can disturb that peaceful repose. ”

“ Stung with reproach at the thought of what he might have been, tortured by a raging thirst beyond human power to assuage, life presents a fearful precipice, whence, to look back is misery and woe; to look forward is the ghastly blight of immortal powers and aspirations destined for the development of godlike capacities, which, from their perversion, goad him with a double edge in those momentary gleams of reason and consciousness, when, in utter despair, he strives to drown them all by plunging into still greater excesses. ”

“ There are ten chances to one that a man will fall back into his old habits when the restraint is gone, and he has gained the prize he sought. And now James, as I shudder to think of the possibility of such a thing, if I shall be in the least instrumental in effecting your union, do you pledge yourself here in the silence of this wood with none but God to witness, than you will never bring that reproach upon yourself, such an unfailing source of regret to me, and such life-long misery to your angel wife. ”

“ This slave had just enough of the negro blood in her veins to ripple her hair slightly, which was of the glossiest black, and impart to her countenance that doubtful hue, which puzzles the beholder to know whether the flesh and blood he sees before him is an unmixed specimen of the superior race, and thus entitled to the rank and privileges of a human being, or whether, owing to the vices of that superior race, sanctioned by the existing laws of the land, a chattel slave is the highest rank to which this immortal soul can ever aspire. ”

“ I have been called to administer consolation in desolate homes whence the angel of love and charity seemed to have departed, when I have almost involuntary whispered to myself, 'Surely there is not music enough in life.' And again I have been the witness of joys that seemed all too holy to be of mortal birth, when I have felt that the melodious harmony of heaven was reflected on earth in strains of sweetest music. ”

“ Sorrow had no power over a love and faith like hers;—it was only the heavenly dew-drop to quicken their celestial growth. In witnessing her daughter's bridal, she lived over again her young days without a regret to dim their radiance. Her passion for orange-bloom was not abated, and as it had presided at her own marriage festival, she wished it also to grace Rosalind's. She had then three trees laden with blossoms whose perfume filled the rooms. ”

“ To some it is given to reach the haven of domestic peace and happiness through troubled seas and stormy winds,—to others, is appointed a stern life-work as rich in experience, as susceptible of infinite joys, as keenly alive to the sorrows of the human family, as if they had lasted all the varied emotions of bliss and pain that lie within the charmed circle of home. ”

“ To his hopeful, trusting nature, sorrow was a stranger. Life was a perpetual joy, springing, not from boyish thoughtlessness or youthful indifference, but from a maturity of mind, which with the growth of years, accepted its vicissitudes of good and ill as alike blessings sent by a Father's hand. Even death was but the birth of a new life, the blessed Liberator bringing to thousands the first great joy of existence.
When Rosalind's emotion had subsided, nothing seemed real. ”