MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AN!) FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
€\}t Hnrul |l«ti{} 36onk. 
THE ELOPEMENT. 
BY HENRY G. LEE. 
“Young man, it is useless to urge this 
matter. In declining your otter of an alli¬ 
ance with my family, I am in earnest.” 
“ 1 am not concent with a simple rejection 
of my suit, Mr. Carlton. I give reasons for 
my own conduct, and like to have reasons 
for all acts affecting myself. Will you say 
why i am not deemed worthy to claim the 
hand of one whose heart I already possess ? 
Is not my family as good as yours ? ’ 
Tne young man spoke eagerly, while his 
brows were kn.t anu ms eyes firmly ttxedon 
those of the person he addressed. 
“William, said Mr. Carl ton, manifesting 
a good deal of excitement as he spoke, “ i 
do not recognize your right to demand of 
me reasons for my conduct. I will say, 
however, that the happiness of my child is 
in my keeping as a natural right, and I am 
bound to protect her m every possible way. 
1 regard only her happiness when l decline 
tiio oiler made lor her hand. I know tlio 
heart of Jcssm well, and know that, if com¬ 
mitted to your keeping, it will be a broken 
heart in less than live years—it may be in 
less than one.” 
"1 love your daughter, Mr. Carlton,” re¬ 
plied the young man to this. “ Why shou d 
1 brea.c tho heart ot one I love ?” 
'“William Levering, such love as yours 
falls upon 1 1 io heart its a blight, not a bless¬ 
ing. i know you well, your principles and 
your life—botli are bad.” 
A red spot burned on tho young man’s 
check, and nis eyes Hashed. But Mr. Carl¬ 
ton looked calnny at him. 
• Think he added; - picture to yourself 
one of your companions in vice apj.reach¬ 
ing your own sister, and ottering the love 
of ins corrupt heart. Would you not step 
between, abandoned as you are, and risk 
your very life rather than permit tho sac¬ 
rifice ? 
Mr. Carlton,” said Levering, “I cannot 
perm.t \ou nor any one else, to insult and 
outrage me in this way.” 
‘ As you like, returned tho other coldly. 
“ You ask reasons tor my conduct, but are 
not willing to hear them?” 
For a snort tune, there was silence, the 
young man standing in an attitude of irres¬ 
olution. Then muttering something in an 
under tone, lie retired from the presence of 
Mr. Carlton. 
A few hours afterwards, a servant tapped 
softly at the chamber door of Miss Carlton, 
the young lady referred to in tho brief con¬ 
versation just given. 
•• What do you want, Philip ?” asked Jossie, 
as she opened the door. 
Tne servant slipped a sealed note into 
her hand, with an air of secrecy, and then 
retired. 
Quickly re-entering her room, and tuni¬ 
ng the key, Jessie broke the envelop of the 
Ciinet sue iiad received, and read wiiat was 
written within. Tne communication was 
from her lover. 
-1 have seen your father,” said he, “as 
you so earnestly desired and tho result ot 
tho interview is just what 1 oxpected. He 
was not content with an angry denial of my 
suit, but cl yew me off with a smarting in¬ 
sult. He says 1 cannot make you happy. 
Heaven knows how ardently I desire to fill 
your cup with joy, even until it overrun the 
brim. If the passionate love of a sincere 
heart can make you happy, Jessie, then 
your whole life will be blessed. I cannot 
imagine tiie grounds of his dislike towards 
mo. I have never injured him nor his.— 
Tnis opposition on his part makes me 
wretched. Are we, then, to remain ever 
separate? or wiil you leave all and throw 
yourself into my arms ? I shall await your 
answer to this in tho wildest impatience. 
When you have made up your mind, place 
your answer in tho hands of Philip. Ho 
will keep our secret inviolate; for he is un¬ 
der obligations to mo of the strongest 
character. ’ 
“ My heart is wholly yours,” wrote Jessie, 
in reply. 
“ Shall heart and person bo longer sepa¬ 
rated ? answered Levering. “ To-morrow 
week your lather wiil leave home, to be 
gone several days. This l learn from Phil¬ 
ip. What better opportunity to pass from 
his protection to mine ?'” 
Two days elapsed, and then tho maiden 
wrote— Lot it be as you desiro.” 
Weak and foolish maiden ! In that de¬ 
cision how much was involved! Not the 
happiness of a day or a year, but it might 
bo, of a whole lifetime. 
What Mr. Carlton had said to Levering of 
his principles and his life was true. Both 
wore bad, and very bad. lie did not truly 
love Jessie for of that he was incapable.— 
No man who lacks virtue can love a woman 
truly. It is a moral impossibility. 
Levering had first turned bis thoughts to 
marriage because it was necessary, as ho 
said to himself, to form such an alliance.— 
Ho belonged to a wealthy family, and, by 
marrying into a family of equal wealth and 
standing, he would take proper care of the 
future. Of course he must have a beautiful 
and accomplished wife. In looking around 
him, no one struck the young man’s fancy 
so strongly as Jessie Carlton; and, after 
weighing ail in favor and against an alliance 
with her family, decided to storm the cita¬ 
del of her heart. Handsome, intelligent, 
and with a good address, he was not long in 
making the impression he desired. Jessie 
Carlton’s young heart was quickly won. 
Philip a servant in the family of Mr. 
Carlton, whom Lovering had secured to his 
interest, was informed of the intended elope- j 
meat, and employed to give such aid as his j 
position would afford. Of courso, the ut- j 
most secrecy was enjoined upon him; and 
his faithfulness was sought to be secured by 
threats as well as promises. But Philip 
found it hard to bear up alone under a se¬ 
cret of such great importance; lie wanted 
some one to share with him the heavy bur¬ 
den. So. confiding in tho discretion of an¬ 
other servant in the house, a female, he di¬ 
vulged to her. alter first obtaining her 
promise not to betray what ho was about to 
communicate, tho fact of Jessie’s intended 
flight. 
On the night previous to tho day on which 
Mr. Carlton was to leave home, he sat up 
late, engaged in writing. It was past eleven 
o’clock, when there was a light tap at his 
door, which was opened immediately, and a 
female servant glided in noiselessly, closing 
softly the door after her. 
“Well, Hannah t said ho. in a voico of 
inquiry, as she approached him, in a some¬ 
what agitated manner. 
Hannah sank into a chair, so much dis¬ 
turbed that it was some moments before 
she could speak. 
“Mr. Carlton,” she at length said, “Oh, I 
have something dreadful to tell you.” 
“For Heaven’s sake. Hannah, speak out 
quickly, then. What has happened ?” ox- 
ciaimod Mr. Carlton, agitated in turn. 
“Nothing lias Happened yet; but if you 
go away to-morrow it will happen. Oh, sir, 
do not go away.” 
“Hannah, what is tho moaning of this? 
Speak out plainly, at onco.” 
“Miss Jessie-” 
“Jessie! What of her?” 
“She is going off with Mr. Levering.” 
“When ? Where is she ?” Tho father was 
on his feet and moving towards tho door. 
•• Speak girl! ’ 
•• Oh sir, don’t be frightened,” said Han¬ 
nah ; it isn t to-night. Miss Jossio is in her 
room. I have only come to tell you about 
it in timo.” 
•• Ah ! thank you, my faithful Hannah.” 
Mr. Carlton spoke in a calmer voico; and 
returning to the secretary where ho had 
been writing, sat down again. 
“Now, ho added, “tell me all you know 
about this matter.” 
‘•All I know,” replied Hannah, “ I got to¬ 
day from Philip. He told me that ho has 
been carrying letters from Mr. Levering to 
Jossie. and back again, for some time, and 
that it is all arranged for her to go off with 
him, just at daylight, the morning after you 
leave home.” 
“Can it be possible? Mad girl!” exclaim¬ 
ed Mr. Carlton, passionately. “ And you 
are sure of all this Hannah ?” 
“ Philip told me, and I’m afraid its all 
true.” 
“Very well, Hannah. I thank you from 
my heart for this act of duty. You have 
saved Jossie, it may bo from a life time of 
misery. Mr. Levering is a bad man, and if 
she marries him, ho will make her wretched. 
Foolish, foolish girl ? Could she not beliovo 
her father ?” 
After soino further conference, the girl 
left the room; and Mr. Carlton, closing his 
secretary, walked the floor for tho space of 
an hour ere retiring. On the next day, 
greatly to the surprise of Hannah, ho loft 
home at the time previously appointed. 
No sleep weighed down tho eyelids of 
Jessie Carlton, during the night that suc¬ 
ceeded. Through tbe long hours that in¬ 
tervened from the time the family retired, 
until the hand of Aurora gently raised the 
curtain of darkness from the east, she either 
walked the floor of her chamber or lay 
wakeful upon tho bed. At the early dawn, 
she was to pass from beneath her father’s 
roof and from under his protection, commit¬ 
ting unto another her destiny. Well might 
her heart tremble and grow faint as she 
tried to look into the dark future; well 
might she shrink back, half repentant, and 
hesitate about the step sho had resolved to 
take. The silent midnight, gives to tho 
wakeful, solemn thoughts. Such thoughts 
came to Jessie; and, as tho winds sighed 
through the trees or moaned beneath the 
eaves, it seemed as il a spirit were address¬ 
ing her in tones of warning. 
At last a fooblo lino of light was soon up¬ 
on the horizon; and it gradually widened 
until the dawn appeared. Hurriedly throw- 
ing a shawl around her, Jessie stood for 
some minutes near the window, as if await¬ 
ing an expectant signal. Presently a hand 
was laid upon the lock. Silently crossing 
the room, she opened the door. Philip 
stood there with his finger on his lip. 
Is all right ? asked Jessio, in a low, agi¬ 
tated whisper. 
All is right, ’ returned tho man. “Be 
quick ; bo is waiting for you.” 
Gliding through tho door, Jessie went 
noiselessly down stairs. As she passod into 
the open air. Levering received her. band¬ 
ing. as he did so, a purse of money to tho 
treacherous servant as bis promised reward. 
(See accompanying illustration.) 
A few minutes prior to tbis, a scone even 
more exciting took place a short distanco 
from tho mansion of Mr. Carlton, whore a 
carriage stood in waiting for tho fugitive._ 
Ihe driver bad lott Ids box and was stand¬ 
ing near bis horses, when, suddenly, a man 
was by his side, pistol in hand, uttering in 
a low proremptory voico, “ Silence, and vou 
are safe !” 
1 ho driver started back a few pace in 
alarm ; while the stranger who had present¬ 
ed his weapon, kept it directed towards him. 
" Now leavo these grounds as quickly as 
you can go,” said tho intruder. 
The driver hesitated, when tho sharp click 
of the pistol lock was heard. 
"‘Go instantly!” repeated the man.— 
“Your horses arid carriage are safe. You 
will find them at the Stag and Hound in an 
hour from this. Now go, if you sot the. 
value of a hair upon your life.”' 
The driver, by this timo thoroughly alarm¬ 
ed fled. As soon as ho bad left the ground, 
the stranger mounted the box and grasped 
tho reins. Hardly had ho taken iiis place, 
ere Levering and Jesse appeared, and hur¬ 
riedly entered the carriage. 
“Where did you sav 1 must drive?” in¬ 
quired the man. leaning over from the box. 
“To Mr. Liston’s. And see that no grass 
grows beneath your horses feet.” 
The man spoke sharply to the spirited 
animals, and away they dashed, at full 
speed. Liston was a minister, who had been 
engaged to perform tho marriage service 
for Levering and Jessio. Ho lived in the 
town which lay a short distance from the 
beautiful country residence of Mr. Carlton. 
In a few minutes, the horses were reined 
up at tho dwelling of tho minister, when 
Levering sprang from tho carriage; and 
lifting Jessie, as she attempted to descend, 
actually bore her in his arms across the 
pavement and into tho house. Just as the 
fugitives disappeared, another vehicle drove 
up at a rapid pace. Tho self-constituted 
driver of Lovering’s carriage left his own 
horses, and hurrying to the door of the sec¬ 
ond carriage, spoke rapidly a few words to 
someone within;’and then turning away, 
entered tho minister’s house, and throwing 
off his rough hat and coat in the hall, pre¬ 
sented the figure of a well dressed gentle¬ 
man. For a few moments, he stood, as if 
awaiting some one, while his ear was bent 
towards the door of a room that opened 
from tho passage to hear what was going on 
within. Then he placed his hand on this 
door and gently pushing it open, entered. 
The young couple were already on the floor; 
and the minister, in his robes, stood before 
them, ready to begin tho coremony. So 
softly had the stranger entered, that no one 
perceived his presence but tho minister, who 
did not permit the intrusion to interfere 
with what lie was doing. lie began, and 
progressed until he came to that part of the 
ceremony in which it is demanded of those 
present to show cause why the parties about 
to be joined in holy wedlock cannot lawfully 
enter that state, when the door of the room 
was thrown suddenly open, and a woman 
rushed in, exclaiming “ I forbid the banns !” 
“ Who are you, and by what right do you 
forbid them ?” inquired tho minister, in an 
agitated voice. 
Levering and Jessio started at this unex¬ 
pected interruption; and. turning, looked 
in astonishment both at the woman and at 
the man. 
“ Miss Carlton,” said too woman, coming 
up to Jessio and grasping her arm, “you 
have no right to this man, ho belongs to me 
!>v a prior claim, that I will not see canceled. 
There is your natural protector”—and she 
drew her, with a sudden jerk, across the 
room towards the man who had entered just 
before her—•• your father. And. in Heaven’s 
name, let not a man like this tempt you thus 
madly from his side again !” 
Jessie scarcely heard tho closing words of 
the sentence. Overcome by so dreadful a 
termination of her elopement, she sank into 
the arms of her father—for it was he who 
had driven her to the minister’s. 
Before the vile companion of his un¬ 
bridled hours, Levering stood for a few 
moments, overcome with shame and con 
fusion. 
“Now go, young man,” said Mr. Carlton, 
sternly, as be supported the form of his 
child ; “go with this frail, unhappy creature, 
whom you havo reduced from virtue to a 
level with yourself. Go, consort with her 
as your equal; but dream not again of an 
alliance with the pure being 1 havo saved 
from your unhallowed grasp. She can 
never be yours. If, before you could de¬ 
ceive her into tho belief that you were an 
angel of light, the power of deception is 
now gone, for you stand before her in all 
I your native corruption and deformity.— 
Go. sir !” 
Confounded by a denouement so painful 1 
and humiliating. Levering as soon as he j 
could collect his bewildered senses, sprung 
from the room. As he gained the open air, 
the driver who had been so suddenly de¬ 
prived of iiis carriage, came up. Levering 
hurriedly entered tho vehicle, exclaiming— 
“ Drive me home!” 
Tho man needed not a second invitation 
to mount his box. Quick as thought lie had 
tho reins in his hands, and the horses wore 
soon springing before him at a gallop. 
The reader doubtless understands all this 
without further explanation; and Levering 
had but few inquiries to make ere he com¬ 
prehended the whole affair to more than his 
entire satisfaction. As for Jessie, she too, 
understood enough to make her heart sink 
in her bosom and tremble, whenever she 
thought of the narrow escape she had made 
from an alliance that could only have pro¬ 
duced wretchedness, if it would not nave 
borne her down to the grave, in a few short 
years, with a broken heart.— Lady's Book. 
A HAPPY HOME. 
A correspondent of the Ladies’ Repos¬ 
itory, under the cognomen of “Minnie.” 
gives in a recent number of that publication, 
tho following illustration, which contains a 
power of significance: 
Tho first year of married life is a most im¬ 
portant ora in the history of man and wife. 
Generally as it is spent, so is almost all sub¬ 
sequent existence. The wife and the hus¬ 
band then assimilate their views and their 
desires, or else, conjuring up their dislikes, 
they add fuel to their prejudices and ani¬ 
mosities forever afterward. 
I have somewhere read, says Rev. Dr. 
Wise in his Bridal Greetings, of a Ijride- 
groom who gloried in his eccentricities. Ho 
requested the bride to accompany him into 
the garden, a day or two after the wedding. 
He then threw a line over the roof of their 
cottage. Giving his wife one end of it, lie 
retreated to the other side and exclaimed, 
“ Pull tho line.” 
She pulled it at his request as far as she 
could. lie cried, 
“ Pull it over.” 
“ I can’t.” she replied. 
“ But pull with all your might,” shouted 
the whimsical husband. 
But in vain wore all the efforts of the bride 
to pull over the line so long as tier husband 
held on to tbe opposite end. But when lie 
came round and they both pulled at one 
end. it came over with ease. 
“ There !” said he, as the line fell from tbe 
roof, “ you see how hard and ineffectual was 
our labor when we pulled in opposition to 
each other; but how easy and pleasant it 
was when we both pulled together ?” 
It will bo so with us. my reader, through 
life ! If wo oppose each other, it will be 
hard work; if wo act together it will be 
pleasant to live. Lot us always pull to¬ 
gether. 
In this illustration, homely as it may be. 
there is sound philosophy. Husband and 
wife must mutually bear and concede, if they 
wish to make home a heaven of joy and bliss. 
One alone cannot make home happy. There 
must be unison of action, sweetness of spirit 
and great forbearance of love, in both hus¬ 
band and wife, to secure tho great end of 
happiness in the domestic circle. 
Broadway (New-York) never is, but al- 
! ways is to bo, finished ; and never since it 
! was a cow-path was it farther from com pi e- 
| tion than at the present moment. As in tho 
t tropics tho orange-tree bears at the same 
| time buds, blossoms, unripe and ripened fruit; 
so in Broadway there are always “improve¬ 
ments” just completed. improvements in pro- 
gres, improvements projected, improvements 
talked of. and improvements desirable.— 
Home Journal. 
\ Never open tho door to a little vice, lest 
a great one should enter also. 
XqMm' Jqiarttnraf. 
For the Rural New-Yorker. 
StY NINETEENTH BIRTH-DAY. 
Kv mother woke me from my slumber sweet, 
And bade me rise and look abroad on earth ; 
The bright green grass was springing at my feet, 
Tbe violet rejoicing in i s birth 
Upturned its tearful, trembling eye to the bright gaze of 
heaven, 
As il in grateful praise to Him by whom its life was given. 
Sin; bade me list the robin’s joyous song, 
To breathe the fragrance of the opening day, 
To ne:e the streamlet as it danced along. 
To feel the sun’s all-cheering genial ray, 
1 know that what my eye beheld was beautiful and fair, 
That freshness, balm and melody were filling all the air_ 
Then sof.ly whispered, “ nineteen times my child 
Have Spring’s cool zephyrs played upon thy brow, 
As oft have April’s sun and flowers smiled, 
And birds returned to make thee glad, and now 
Wlrile all that's good and beautiful has ever strown thy 
way. 
What hast thou done for nineteen years, such bounty to 
repay 
Aye what ? thought 1: my soul grew sick and sad, 
At thought of many useless, idle hours— 
Of grieving hearts 1 might have made all glad, 
Of planting thorns where I might scatter flowers, 
Of hitter thoughts and angry words where all might have 
been love,— 
Ingratitude to friends below—neglect of Him above. 
Yes, as I backward gaze, unnumbered wrongs 
Stand out’in bold relief amid the past; 
But not unto the present time belongs 
The mourning over shades my sins have cast: 
I'll only glance at them he i.nes t at 1 may not again 
Pei firm the errors of a life which seems almost in vain. 
Carlton, April, 1862. Kate VVoodt.and. 
“THE FIRST BABY,” 
Maternity is the perfecting not only of 
womanhood, but humanity. And to thejirst 
baby, has God given the sacred power to 
complete the circle of human sympathies, 
to waken the conscious soliditary ot human 
interests. Every mother that is a mother, 
pictures the whole troop of loves, joys, and 
sorrows hovering around ” the first baby.” 
She lays every mother s baby in the cradle 
which held her own first baby, andlistens to 
the songs that gush forth, or as they are soft¬ 
ly murmured in the mother-heart. To a 
mother's heart, every mother’s baby is the 
representative of inestimable treasure: it is 
an estate held in “fee simple;” a littlo sub- 
soiler that leaves no affections fallow, no 
sympathies isolated from the claims of a 
common humanity. 
The first baby!—why, it brings treasure 
with it! True its littlo hand is empty ; but 
then it brings to light and activity unreveal¬ 
ed capacities, looses tho sealed fountains, and 
assays tho unwrought treasure of the hu¬ 
man soul. It is not all joy—that baby-gift; 
—if it were it could not be a joy forever.— 
It is not all sorrow ; if it were, the fountains 
of the heart it stirs, could not grow pure to 
reflect the heaven above,—would not flow 
down the stream of time, bearing rich freight 
for unknown and unborn posterity. 
But see, it lays its tiny hand on the heart, 
and it forgets to beat for self. It pillows its 
soft cheek on the bosom that, hitherto, had 
looked out upon the struggling world—all 
unlinked to its wants, all unmoved by its 
destiny—and henceforth that bosom is the 
asylum of the orphan, the refuge of the op¬ 
pressed. the sanctuary which invites a world 
lying in wretchedness to the banquet of love, 
to the smiles of a common Father. 
And why ?—Ah. that baby is the medium 
through which tho helplessness, the wants 
and tiie promise of humanity havo appealed 
to the woman. In behalf of tho race, it has 
whispered mother! and looking into its trust¬ 
ing, worshipping eyes, she accepts the con¬ 
secration, answers the appeal with a deep, an 
eternity echoed—my child. — Mrs JYichols. 
A SPLENDID WOMAN. 
A Recent private letter from Buenos 
Ayres, thus speaks of the daughter of Gen. 
Rosas: 
“ There is one redeeming, purifying spirit 
about him—his daughter Manuelita Rosas, 
a noble, graceful, accomplished, splendid 
woman. She alone can exercise any sooth¬ 
ing influence over her father—if a good act 
be done by the government, her hand and 
heart is there. If a life is spared it is only 
by her interposition; and if rumor bo truo. 
she has exposed herself to blows, and even 
death, to save others. The admiration, the 
homage, tho universal deference paid her, 
oven by tho bitterest enemies of her father, 
will be enough to stamp her as no common 
woman. Sho receives the legislative bodies, 
foreign ministers, and almost, if not entirely, 
the whole diplomacy goes through her 
hands. She lias her clerks and her secre¬ 
tary, and all foreign agents negotiate with 
her. The co-ordinate branches, if thev, 
mero cyphers, can be go called, once or 
twice a year go out in a body of two or three 
hundred to pay their respects to her. it is 
universally conceded that if her equal bo 
living she can havo no superior.” 
Repose ok Manner. —Gentleness in tho 
gait is what simplicity is in the dross. Vio¬ 
lent gesture or quick movement inspires in¬ 
voluntary disrespect. One looks for a mo¬ 
ment at a cascade—but one sits for hours, 
lost in thought, and gazing upon the still 
water of a lake. A deliberate gait, gentle 
manners, and a gracious tone of voice—all 
of which may be acquired—give a mediocre 
man an immense advantage over those vast¬ 
ly superior to him. To bo bodily tranquil, 
to speak littlo, and to digest without effort, 
are absolutely necessary to grandeur of mind 
or of presence, or proper development of 
genius.— Balzac. 
Many families havo owed their prosperity 
full as much to the propriety of female 
management, as to tho knowledge and ac¬ 
tivity of the father. 
