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BY GOULD, ELWELL, PICKARD & CO.,
, Office , Fox Block Number 82 Exchange St.
' One Poller for Eight Mouthn, in advanoe.
: $1.50 P:
VOL. XIX.
ry
OCT. 20, 1855.
OE EY: jRDEPEUDENT FAMILY JOURNAL OR LITERATURE, NEWS, &¢.. -
PORTLAND, SATURDAY,
NO. 28.
Original. Poetry.
For the Portland Transcript and Eclectic.
RICHES AND POVERTY.
ae * * *
‘¥ Yahall not scoff and rail at riches,
|. ¢ Because I wear a poor man’s breeches;
Nor proy for vengeance on my neighbor,
Because he is not forced to labor
Ab, no, for in life's jostling journey, |
* Full well I know the worth of money?
(0s (And well, alas! I know the want of ’t,
-,j, And sore would pity one more scant of ’t!)
“04 Tis easy for the rich man’s deughtor ry
To sing of cottage rolls and wat
And him who shunneth all Tmployrente,_ t
To tell of labor's sweet enjoyments;;..., -
But heard they aye their infanv’s cry
> For bread when they had nought to buy?
"| And toiled they aye when fever'sflame )\! ?-|
wae bem scorching through the writhing frame,
0, poverty is heavy still,
_ Gila it and vaonish as you will.
Yet if T cannot wealth p tt
Unmixed with pride tnd sora sordness; :
Lf gold refuse its joys t? inper a
, Except in barter for my bi
V) qQhen let the shining ion stay,
{ Nor tempt me from the humbler way;
~ While Heaven vouchsafes my daily bread
\, ¢ Let not my soul with mammon wed.
uw!
:
ay
Ou
HJ. L.
= dete Stor at
Fae kas Tales
. BY ibs Me sets DREVOR,
o “My ioagings,” continued Master" Pierce
the Packman, to his gaping: auditors,: who
had teased him for a story, to wit, his land-
lady the ‘widow, and her three daughters—
“My lodgings in the ancient city of N:
did not, I confess, please me particularly ;
Thad been in others cleaner, more airy, com-
modious, and altogether more comfortable ;
“but, having them ona ‘pinch,’ and only for
‘three weeks, -complaint was idle. | Besides,
«Iwas then a very poor lad,’ traveling on an+
“other’s account, and not my ‘own, and durst
not exceed, ia hiring or purchasing luxuries,
the spare sum allowed me by my master for
‘board and lodging, in the various towns I had
“oveasion to visit. | Perhaps, ‘ladies, you are
curious to know in what sort of place I found
myself. .In truth, I was cheated ; and, as I
“hea little ‘doubt afterwards, “purposely, too,
he room, which I Toriginally hired of a wo-
‘man who ostensi!
dling shop for se
“was, though small, light and neat, and had a
window looking into the street.. Opposite to
“and separated from it but by a narrow pas-
Sage, was the shop—a complete lumber room
tha common sitting apartment, the kitch-
“€n, mine hostess’ chamber, and a few others,
“Wore situated on either side this passage,
‘Which was long, very narrow, as I have ob-
“&rved, and exceedingly gloomy, being only
“lighted at one end by the street door which
“opened from it, and at the: other by a back
oor, rudely glazed at the top, and which
,OPeued into the little court yard, round which
‘were ranged the domestic offices © | © i
“On the afternoon of the day when I ar
(Teed at N——,, having merely treepassed
pon ‘the time ‘and larder of Mrs. Hanson
‘for 4 couple of eggs and a glass of ale, I sal-
‘Tied forth to take a peep at the. < city,’ leaving
mr pack safely lodged in my new room, of
“Which I locked the door and ‘took the key
‘aray with me in my pocket. -I did not re-
fra to Mrs. Hanson’s till after dark, when
her family were assembled, ‘which ‘consisted
‘of herself, a ruffian son, an old serving man,
‘whose appearance pleased me not, and a cou-
‘le of gawky, saucy, slatternly’ maids, one,
Presumed cook, and the other a dolly
“ace of all work} these were all at tea
“When T entered, if so ‘aight be termed a meal
yfomposed of meat, bread, cheese, water-gru-
1, beer, and spirits {an ill-looking man and
“Avery old woman, also, made up the party }
Aud these, Ir was informed, were my fellow-
‘
“i Tonby the sugared wordst
Modgers,’ Thad not till this moment heard
of such; and great was my surprise when
told I could not have the room which I sup-
posed I had engaged, because Mr. Tyler had
previously hired it, which my landlady had
forgotten ; but Mrs. Hanson said, if I had
no objection to cross the court yard every
night for the short period Len remained with
her, I might Share” 5 Blenkinsop’ 8
chamber over “the” Gathooss which con-
tained two ort ds, and that her maids
and an old h4mas Spinks, would be
near me. PP a 4
This proposition, shocking, no doubt, to
the delicacy of those who are in circum-
stances to abide by its dictates, contained in
it nothing more objectionable to me, who,
poor myself, was accustomed to behold the
promiscuous haddling together of the poor of |
either sex, than the fail of not having a room
to myself, in which to stow my pack, filled,
asit was, with my master’s property in goods
and money.’ However, a3 my bargain, Mrs.
Hanson informed me, was for a bed, not a
room—a piece of casuistry ‘of which I had
not dreampt, I felt myself obliged to pocket
the affront and accept the bed offered me,
had it formed one in the ward of an hospi-
tal.” So I resigned the key of the best bed-
room, par excellence, to Mr. Tyler, got my
pack again into my own custody, in spite of
his civil assurances that it would be quite sate
in his chamber, would not incommode him
in the least, and that he was extremely ‘sorry
to have put me to the slightest i inconvenience ;
bat I was not raw enough to ho imposed UP;
strange!
The “ola won, ‘Netty? hleckinasp! with
her red and rheum-dropping eyes, ever and
anon cast significant glances at me from afar
which, poor creature, I then did her the in-
justice to suppose were malignantly intended.
The party sat late st their refection, which
apparently included dinner, supper and tea
in one meal, by the length of time it lasted,
and the quantity and quality of the pro-
visions consumed, and the various petty cal-
inary processes going forwards ; es toasting
cheese and bread, broiling and grilling bones
and meat, making tea, gruct, and various
stronger potations, with beer, ,epirits, &e.—
Boisterous mirth, of a gross description, was
the order of the night, mingled. with a pro-
fanoness which made my flesh creep to hear it;
and glad was I when, at 12 o’clock, the wick-
ed wassailers broke up, aad gael retired to
his own ‘dormitory. nai t
1, Mrs. Hanson, Tyler, 204, "Tom Spinks,
wanted tointoxicate the old woman and my-
self; but we were proof egainst their endea-
yors—Nelly, I believe trom real principle; I
[from suspicion that they wanted to rob me,
when in 4 senseless, helpless state.:; My ven-
erable companion now led me to the room I
was destined ,to occupy,? through the. little
court yard, which was filled with piles of
boxes, crates, packing cases, straw and mat-
ting. ‘ The wash-house door was closed, but
a broken, ‘unsafe ladder gave access to the
loft above it; and neither more nor less than
a loft was this chamber which had been thirst |
upon mein exchange for Tyler's, atthe same
cost ; bare rafters and planking for the roof :
a plastered wall,'so broken in many: places
as to display its skeleton laths ; two or three
props. and joists, and a dirty} uneven board-
ing,’ mis-termed flooring, (were ‘the general
features which this iniserable hole presented
to my displeased gaze ; but itd particular ad-
juncts were three: trucklé_ beds, with’ appur-
tenances disgustingly dirty; a great deal ‘of
Jumber piled up ‘in the recesses formed by
the sloping abutments of the loft ; in one of
these stood a bed; two" dilapidated chairs, |
an old chest, a three-legged stool, and a elam-
sy settle} by» wayvof table.’ The extreme
ugliness and infirmity of my aged compan-
jon; the melancholy light of the small, dimly
gleaming lantern she carried, and. the rain,
wind, and cold of stormy autumnal night,
added by no means to the ¢omfort of my sit-
uation; but as soon as webad fairly entered
‘| *
}
the tof, the old woman pulled ap’ ‘she indder,
took it within, closed the wooden | shutter or
door of the dreary roosting place, ‘and, plac-
ing the lantern on the settle said :
“Go—sleep, my lad; you must be weary
with your journey ; sleep, and I’tl watch. ”
“And why notsleep too, good mother ?”
Tasked. “I shall respect you as a grandmoth-
er, and I hope you will esteem and confide
in meas a grandson.”
“Child, I was—and I was not thinking of
you, when I said I would. watch. to-night,”
replied the old woman; “‘to-morrow—if, in-
deed, to-morrow arrives for either of us—we
will change ; you shall watch and I will slum-
ber.”
“But, Granny, what need of watching ?”
T inquired, “Can we not both sleep securely
in this lonely place, which~ now ‘that “you
have drawn in the ladder and fastened its
only door, cannot be entered but by. your
leave?”
“Hish! hish!” replied the ancicnt dame,
in a low tone and signing me-to silence,
“that’s more, my poor boy, thas, either you
orl ‘are ablé certainly to "Come, sit
down and let me have a word ahve
Tobeyed, and an awfal, undefinable feel-
ing possessed my soul, whilst the shadowy,
uncertain light of the lantern. half hid and
half revealed the old dame’s wrinkled, ghast-
ly features, who thus spake:
“My child, I am glad, very glad, ‘in spite
of that modesty of younger years, which
bath not yet forsaken me, that you are come
to companiun me in this lonely lair; for can-
dor sits upon your youthfut brow, and. kind-
ness dwells in your yet, uncorrupted heart,
and I feel that T may trust you, bereaved as
Ihave long been, in! my age, of husband,
child, friend and money. In this house I have
been seven days, but I do not like its people,
and fain would I take myself away, only that
she, and her lover Tyler, her old man Spinks
and her two twaddles of maids, won’t let me
go—I can’t think why. Perhaps you were
right, perhaps you were wrong, in taking
your pack to-night under your care ; I know
not yet; I only know that here the Sabbath
is never regarded, and that my fellow lodger,
Anne Brown, apretty, simple country girl,
who told me she was going to stay here a
fortnight, suddenly disappeared, some three
orfour days ago, and I have not heard of her
since; she vanished on the night in. which
they had succeeded in intoxicating her; and
let this be a warning, young man, to you;
though, from, what I gladly observed, this
evening, I hope and believe you: do not re-
quire it. -Poor, Anne, Brown! all conjec-
tures as to her mysterious ,fate, aro vain;
and yet, I cannot help fancying the people of
the house contriving her d.sappearance, and
some how or other turning it to account ; for,
unless they have some resource apart, from
that of their stagnant trade, I know not how
they keep the pot boiling. You understand
me?
Perfectly, I did not; but the very ambigu-
ity of the poor creature’s dark hints, filled
me with terror, and I looked puzzled, .
“Well,” she continued, “may experience
my lad, never throw the light upon my words
which they could bear. I will merely again
remark that Mrs. Hanson sells next to noth-
ing; that letting lodgings .to the poor is a
most unprofitable speculation ; that Tyler,
her lover, has no trade, that I¢an discover ;
that they yet intend, ere long to marry; and
that money, therefore, they.: must: by , some
unknown means, procure.”
“Suill, Granny,” I obseryed, “oy see not
what this has to do with the ,disa disappearance
of Anne Brown.” r s
“Now, the wash: chouse as they “call it, »
continued Nelly Blenkinsop, as if sho had
not heard me,“is,’ you know, immediately
under this loft; but, is it a. wash-house after
all?, It is never open by. day, and I would
not be bound. t say for whet purpose it may
be used. , By night, on ‘the..contrary, busi-
ness of some, sort, is transacted there, , On
the night at least, after Anne Brown's dis-
. ,
appearance, as I was ‘sitting in this desolate | The old lady groaned and sighed prodigious-!
place musing upon it—apon days of sorrow,
the like of which I can never see again—and
upon the eternity which must ‘shortly be mine,
Lheard the wash-house door cautiously un-
locked and opened, and some persons enter-
cd it; presently I recognized, with’ those of
other men, the, voices of Tyler and Spinks
though they spoke too low for me to distin-
guish the subject of their conversation, They
mnoved about several heavy articles, and I
was in such fear lest they should visit me by
some passage in the floor or walls of which
Inever dreampt) that I could not put out
my lantern, nor lay down in my bed, until I
heard the door re-locked, and the party fair-
>| Iy out of the court yard. Now, what have
men to do witha wash-house at any time, and
especially at night? O, my young man, re-
ly upon it, all night work looks bad.”
“Nevertheless, they might have wanted
some piece of furniture, or tub, perhaps,
which stood below. And, what, my dear
dame, should you fear? You don’t look as
if you had much property to tempt the mur-
derous hands of raffians.”
“Ay, ay, God knows!” Bi ighed the crone; ;
“Poor Anne Brown had not a penny scarce-
ly, in the world ; but that did not. save her ;
and, old or young, .’tis all one with such fel-
lows.”
“My good woman,” said ‘Y, “do you mean
to insinuate that Anne Brown has come to
her end? and by, them, too, nafairl: ay.
“Jadge of it as like,” said she; “I thought
Thad spoken plainly.’ But 0 you now, to
bed, and to sleep ; we wil’, a3 I said, take
our tum to watch by night, and hear, see, and
say nothing by day. Gé; take your choice
of those two beds; mine is in the recess.”
Iwas excessively fatigued, and slept well,
notwithstanding Nelly, Blenkinsop’s fright-
ful hints and suspicions ; perhaps the moan-
ing of the wind, and pattering of the rain,
helped to compose me ; or perhaps it was the
melancholy, monotonous, droning, nasal Ja-
ment, which the old woman chanted while |;
she rocked herscif to and fro ina crazy chair ;
but, at any rate, I slept soundly until the
dame woke me in the morning, by, the
noise she made unfastening the shutter of
the loft, and putting out the ladder, which,
as she cautiously let it slip through her fin-
gers, grated long and harshly against the win-
dow-sill.’ I bade her good morning.
* ©You man,’ said she, “down on your knees
if you please. and thank the God who made
you that you have slept in peace and safety |.
during the past night. Afterwards, if you
will, fresh yourself at the pump that you'll
find in the court-yard ; but I'll to breakfast.””
© A bright morning, but somewhat cold, had
succeeded’ to the storm of the night, and
tended materially to disperse the dark imag.
inations w ad overcast my spirit, an
were occasioned by ‘old Nelly’s night dis-
course; yet though the sun shone full upon
the party at the breakfast table, they did not
appear to me iu brighter colors than they
had done on the preceding evening. I spoke
little ; the old woman less; I perceived that
she feigned considerable deafness and blind-
ness before this amiable family, and I was too
cunning to take particular notice of her then ;
but, as soon as breakfast was over, I.went,
with my pack, about the commercial business | ;
with which I. had been entrusted, and did
not return to Manson's til after dark as be-
fore. . ' "ane feral,
That night, though the brutal. set could
not prevail on Nelly to drink more than one
lass of spirits and water, her allowed quan-
tum, I observed that when we retired to our
comfortlesa room she seemed perfectly stu-
pefied, tottered till Ifeared she would have
fallen, in mounting the ladder, and neglect.
ly, but did not utter a word ; and I heard le:
soon after we entered ‘the loft, fall upon one™
of the beds and snore in a sound sleep. I
pitied the poor granny’s situation from my
heart, and could not forbear thinking that the
wretches among ‘whom I unheppily found
myself, annoyed by her temperance, had suc-!
ceeded in their design of intoxicating her.
with narcotic drugs, and which were as spce-
dy in optration as she was weak in ana
constitution, and wearied with herlastnight’s 8
watch. °
* This painful idea kept me for some time’
on the alert, to discover what would be ‘the
result of their scheme ; but all continuing si-)
lent, and the glass of spirits and water I too’
had taken, with the darkness and silence, dis~
easy kind of slumber in my sentry box. an’
old arm chair Tn fact, Ihave no doubt but
that my own potation had been drugged also,
tance, during the perpetration of the dale
deed that night meditated.
When I awoke, the light of morning was
beaming through the cracks Ihave mention-
ed, in place of the moon’s rays; and I then
endeavored to collect my scattered ideas,and
recollect and arrange all the parts of the
frightful dream with which I had been . visit+
ed; but were they, indeed, only dreams?—:
For now, to my infinite horror and surprise,’
Ifound myself alone! the kind old Nelly,
was gone—and how? » The shutter was still
closed, and the ladder within side. Good
Heavens ! conld that have been real, which
I was but now endeavoring to remember as a
disordered vision of the night?: Had I in
deed heard, at the dead hour when. the city
was buried in slumber, voices imthe watch-
house beneath. me? A. noise of chains and.
pulleys? , Had the flooring beneath the old
woman’s bed indeed opened ? . Had I seen a,
flash of light, and felt a rush of air through
the aperture? Had I beheld the bed and its
inmate descend }—both, as_I thought, re-as-
cend and the chasm close? and all, after this
extraordinary incident, become silent, dark,
and close asever? These thoughts distract-
never speak again ; and that the events of the
past night were, indeed no dream; and that
I was captured by an enemy and doomed to,
inevitable death!
© I wept aloud for the love of life is strong.
in the heart of a boy, and I called upon the
Lord to: deliver me from a danger whica I
felt to be the more horrible bécause so unde-
fined.’ ‘I could conceive myself murdered for
the sake of the property I carried about me ;
but in my then ignorance of the atrocities
committed by some people, I could not de-
vise why two, poor, humble, friendless wo-
men, should fall sacrifice to these human.
blood-hounds. « I examined my pack—it had
not been touched ; and effacing at the pump
all traces of tears from my countenance, I
sat down to breakfast—dissembling, as well
as I was able, (and, with little appetite, fore,
and horror I experienced. I was sick with
terror and apprehension. » Mrs, Hanson com-
mented upon my: pale cheeks and heavy,
yes} and her son fiercely asked me whether
Tinta awake all-night,! The: sinister and
penetrating eyes of himself, Tyler and Spinks
were on me, 8s t Tpled, with tolerable o come
sure: 1 was!
/ Far from it¢ Y only slept tod well, since
I allowed ' Granny’ Blenkinsop to be up
before’ me; but that I believe taking a glass
of something hot before I went to bed, to
which I bare never been necuatomed, does
eg
ed to. draw it up after us ; she also forgot to
shut and fasten the window: -board, but these
precautions I took for her, and, letting | the
lantern fall from her trembling hand, we were
left in total darkness, save that a stray moon-
beam glimmered in at certain crevices and
fissures in the wall and shutter of the loft.
not suit me weed toa
' 0 nonsense !” cried Mrs. Hanson, noth-
ing in the world, child, is so wholesome asa
glass of spirits and water taken on going
to bed; and¥ shall always give it t you whilst
you're here.”
My reply, however, had -s sod the
posed me to sleep—I certainly fell into an un *
to ensure, on my part, silence and non-resis- ~
edme; Ifelt,as I called on the old woman ”
to answer me, that she, poor creature, would *
ing myself to eat,) the sentiment of disgust ,
a ee