308 Reminiscences. (Ser. 
i nthe: faltering! accents of his, last-farewell—the anxious gaze) of, his)filmy 
jeyé—+-the convulsive heaving iof his heart, when, his, spirit was,struggling 
for its) flight;,and sundering the manacles,that bound itidown,to,earth, 
~Wenremempber,;the;deathful .stillness of the, house of mourning we 
watch, for thejdastofitful flash , of life’s wasted.|lamp,. and -eatch, the! last 
isigh, that .ever will-be heaved ; and we. start from: our long reverie jas if 
the; moan,,of- death; were that moment, passing by,{and the, shades,ef 
dissolution flitting over the countenance of our friend... Abt, years;on 
years have gone since this scene of sorrow, and-he,, who sleepsbelew, 
1s. remembered. but. by one heart in the wide, world... His. body /hath, gone 
‘down:jto,its mother earth, and his. spirit. to, the Deity from, whom, it 
9EAMCa yar | t ; svg Wl 
v Qn; the confines of our youth we meet, with, yet sadder scenes. There 
sstands,the sepulchre of all our gayest hopes and. choicest loyes; there 
slumbers,the idol of our visions—the fairy one whose beauty transcended, 
even thejideal loveliness of which :' At abled 
ail 
ii “Youthful poets dream {Gis 
anids At Hallowed Eve by haunted stream,” 2 ATONE 
(and whose’ misfortunes added sanctity to her charms like’ that which 
“surrounded ’ Eloisa in the convent of the Paraclete.’ We: trace’ each 
lineament of her soul-breathing countenance ; we follow each motion’ of 
her moulded form ; every word of love rises fresh and glowing from the 
unclosine sanctuary of the heart; every scene of blessedness gradually 
unfolds; ‘and the fountains of feeling gush forth again like waters in the 
desert: There are eras in life which cannot be forgotten; scenes’ which 
are imagedin ‘the depths of the bosom, impenetrable to the eye of nian, 
but’ radiant’ over’with the colouring of hope, blighted-ere fruition; ‘yet 
retaining ‘the hues, without the fragrance,’ ‘of its! first | all-matchless 
‘beauty: Such is the remembrance of our first love—a'time; a feeling, 
a ‘bewildering glory, which ‘dwells awhile’ in the’ radiance of) its’ “own 
‘divinity; and then: sinks amid the dusky clouds of fate, a mass of) lurid 
grandeur, portentous of despair. Though many years have fled,’ and 
many events’ transpired, still while hanging over the grave of her we 
loved but too well'in early days, the parting scene, the last' farewell will 
recur, ‘and’ all the ‘agonizing passions of the hour will awake from‘their 
slumbers im|the bosom, and riot once more on their consuming sacrifice. 
We! lookback upon‘ the scene and it is present—bold interest forbids 
alliance+unfeeling power dooms two fond hearts to misery. They meet 
for the last time'in silence—the silence of despair ; words, eloquent as a 
bleeding spirit’ can utter, have been wasted in’ unavailing deprecation, 
and why should the tongue ‘strive vainly to impart what'a ‘pierced ‘and 
broken heart alone can feel? There is a close linking of the arms'as 
they walk sa still but dreadful ‘communion of tearful eyes; a' long’ and 
close embrace ; a last grasping of locked hands} ‘a ‘warm,'/a farewell kiss 
—and ‘all’ is: over!» A’ few ‘years pass and the° lover weeps! over’ the 
: Sepulchre ‘of her who died (as the’ world avers) by’some of the’ casualties 
“of mortality, but whose’ death-blow' was’ inflicted *by a ‘parent's hand. 
Such is' the history of ‘true love“ It never did run smooth.” 0" 
>'There are others, whom ‘we knew inthe days of youth, who-have 
left ‘us for foreign climes, and become’ strangers in strange lads. '(“At 
Jong ‘intervals in our distant dwellings, we have ‘heard chance'news of 
them. Their afflictions: had been manifoldthey’ had’ been chastened 
‘by the rod of adversity, and the iron’ had entered into their'souls. "Sethe 
“had perished in’ the first days of ‘their rejoicings “others ‘had *heaped!up 
