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Show , - EN WO H A N;! S, ,E X P.P ...... ?, To the stream of life eternal ft i J 'V -- - & "Howinc frpta iheihrene.of Cod':; fTtr- - 7 burned them all up. Nancies - mother used to write to, lDUT:dohH:th ink she ever had '"' To sTbVliollftl appreciatcrd by those around her,I will detail part of a conversation I had witn one Iwho vorked with her at the paper: mill. I am told you knew Miss Priest, author i n Author of "Over - beWver''Sball each other there?' &c we'tnOWf I T How matiy hearMiaifc bdenj touched by the pbbs'atia beauty Of the .anffliar. poem , Qver the river they Reckon to me!" Jil though these lines are known and cherished as household words, in thousands of homes, where the English language is spplrqn anjLl, ' though they; hVvo awakened sawchord bf ' Sympathy in so many .sorrowing hearts, yet any thing ot .Xhe hardly any bddy;!-knowauthor, who, like many others of the world's choicest spirits lived and died in poverty and obscuriiyy not even understood and appreciated by those who knew her best. It was my good fortune last summer, while iingeriugamong the beautiful bills of Kew England,-tpass a few hours in the lovely and picturesquevillage of Hinsdale, N. H., where thes lines were; written,? 1 visited the. cottage where she lived, a small, but neat, white cottage,, Weriooking the beauti(u.lhu"elot river that, foams and frets as it rushes in headlong haste, ?over the rouh rocks and stones that impede its progress; and, as I looked at the dark grove of pines. beyond, that t'3end to itand in calm unruffled peace ever pointing up- Wards, I thought how:naturaUy, while looking at these, as .she must haye done, so often, she, would think of rthe peace tjeyond the river, andj could better understand the image in her mind when" she wrote: ofiOveif the Riveir, Whisperthat the hearts pow-riven- ..Why ; . -- theml: are tended, When tbey come from pastures chill,' EleatmgpthQfolo'rshiirerT 1 He JPi5f p .x to stop when operatives ' .and 1: longed,". whoseiife.wap1 arrnost afjperpeful ;jitaeof;thelove r ? '.struggleand . w ' they laughed at what ' by. face crushed ah i : e?: ,j!B-cot-jriavpTt- -- ! f ; her sensitive - jro-i-ctir- ed ndeheart poor aridfloriely, grlffT6 and bopes looked 'forwardsearly; fend , oinicn f rconstantiy to , tha.ijOf-gniewor- .';iKp7tMulit'and.wr , ' '. it sometime? U9, and hear ts'fitted,' el.;rirt by' naminds' 'that tive genius," or superior 'cultltlpjij; Jo do great good in the world around ther,should ; Jivend dieifl7pbscarity7fettered by prevented from using those jlfts; but ourminds are too little to J un,defstand- (Jtpd'a plahl We ;0nlyi know ;: ihat He is perfect' tove andWhat we ' knpw'hot now we shall ?naw hereafter." d After all, this life r is n the -- beginning. - 1 J 4 -- Nothing in - the pivinpewnbm bulost. He.sows the gck'see, ries it deep Iii" darkness; but "to;: bringrit Jhese were signed, Nance.T, J ijlfejtiadja great deal; of', fuh about her," remarked her frieiid; but' shov would not " l!ermpltQ'tipK ypu th eseV for she' did not ' think anything o them herself. Sne had" , almost enough written 'to make a book, and a. took-sadden fit. and t ' then one:day:she 1 i a .4 . 1 v -- L 'raU.. erv!$piely Wounded ; oc-casl- qn , 1 spirit with taunts and jeers?Tand, when she " sought a little time - to fee"d - her itarvlng soul with intellectual food,Ki sho .waar scouted as la?yj r Thus was she despised au'iOha- ted'for: the very .traiWi tlmtjonderiirriore ' favorable circumstances, ."Would havefdr hcriovo and praise. There is something extremely touching in the gljmpses we, , are abletQ obtain of the life pf , this gifted but to herself ibyliss' Priest; full" of affection.-i- 7 She aUo showed me an iinpablished joem of a humorpu character! descrlptiyedf her adventlures ,by : railway upon a cerjaln -.-r Vom the bare and frosty hill, L, By the ribbon, red or azure, That we tied loir mfmths before: i ; And we'lof t ihe gate wltb pleasure. T To receive them home once more. so snau iney, wbenre gone before us, Ope for us the gate of life, Ktes away our fears and tremb lng, 4 of white,, Lid m through the pastures verna', ttOSf thi Wt: of jel trbd. - tiad ia. very singular disposi'iion. She never seemed to care much about the other girls. Sho was one who ihacl a few friend that she was; strongly attached to, and she did' hoi WenVtb care much for anjv body else; and then she was apt to be quick and lake offence if the girls laughed at . vWTekrKw are promising boys. Their; father hasmar- ried again. ; mo oiThus ended the earthly, life of .oneai who knew, few friends, fewJoys;1 whp had but i Sensitive I suppose. ' "r: Yes, Veryf ralways gotaIogi "well with her though,' and hero ttho , speaker - kindly showed rne6mo lines j bf; poetry addressed t,."-t- . of: the life.of their- - motheratid herinfant. These sons, lam toldj are still living, and 1 'i-Oliy-siti ' ,- In'thatworldhaiireuirfte. -' many papers? Yes, they were copied and recopid, that she published.,, everywhere, the-fe- ' Shall we, in their angel plumage, Know the. loved o( many rear?, Lips that smiled, when we were happy, TEjes that wept for all our tears? Ah! how flrear would be e'en Heaven , Did not hope, with dances briehr . - 1 '- - ' :" er.Jpain ! No, I dourthink sHeever haoTa'cent for any of them," Yet some of them Were published in' iad ''Shall we know euch O 1 When we meet Iq fle.ds Elrdaiil Freed from this world's pain and care, - Shall MfF) hour jSirit-visio- n, ." See and know each other there? Can it be.that death will sever in All life's dearest, holiest ties? Do we look farewell forever, 1 the amount was but tho for or week, paid day, of work she did' Was she not paid for her vri tings? ' ; ' ''Whyyes, she wasn't working other there?" which, it seems to me, gives us so good a picture of the, inner unknown life and heart of the author. ' 1 .' -" they choose?3 ; , nt - - ."-''- - . i;;allow Dolhiy' ollku A few rrnore- years!: bf her weary factory " life, and then her parents renioved to Massachusetts, where she soon married, and, in r thdeourse of a few years, became the mother of two fine boys; but during: her cdnfirie-meat thebirth of a third child, her husband faiUngJto .procurersultable help, her t wo little boys' were taken very ill. Her ... true mother's fyeart( "could not endure thelr ;arid weakness , sUfferingV;.' rid.! were' forgottenl rising from "herbld she "ministered to their' wanfsHyith'tnat tenderness and love that only' a mother can givev IThey, recovered, ut. atthe exfj ense v - t It mightihave been.n ';..'. writc.- sad-'heai- y; How so? I asked. 4Well, Jn iho firtplace she was . what I should call. fazy. -- Her .father and mother were poor; but, instead of working hard to try to earn something to help them I don't believe she earned much more than enough V4eh sh6 worked to pay, her board, in tlie mill vitlrj.tre;t have often seen her stop work for an iour,, or. more at .a time, and sit' down1 some whero and , reiid or- tl to read the following, , interest, lierlquondanVrJen'd remarked, "She was 4 very odd girl j not a great favor- ' ' d. 3 " jDOi wise dishefacaiq pleasing to mo, and, while looking at it with Itseoms she1 wrtfe-reaJbut dai, ofmany her poems were never offered for publication and'others," had only a limited b-g- beldis-appointe- henfriendd J ? . -- rected my. Bteps.. u Kif. i . 7 It was a paper mill, and her work was usually folding paper. From the windows of the mill tHo sam0 ipw presented itself as from the cottage,, arid th ere,, as; one yho worked witlr hertold me, she' sai 6 wn one day upon a pile bfraindwrote this poem. and$ddres3 . d p ireuktior-m-ure-many-will " heart and strong attachments, I concludde it was this feature of the lower part of her condemned her in the eyes of face that-ha- the river, little c way-uttrethe factory; where' she used tgl wor, ad. ljither I di- ia finding 1 in a poorly executed photograph, a face that showed deep, intense, feeling and sensitive nature "with longings for a1 "higher spiritual and intellectualliCer ; Herrhair seemed to bo a mass'of luxuriant soft, brown curls, her eyea dark and" expresssve, the mouth rather large, arid though only showing to the eye of tiie physibghomist a Warm - at last ad, the name: -- , This 'cottage M now, occupied , byan aunt f Nancle;by marriage, but stio could tell me little. about tier)- except to point but to -i- - ite." y of, the authors She said she yhad learned that she had long been desirous of obtaining a better education, and she; now invited her cordially to come and take the place of her daughter, offering her, her, love arid every- - advantage that, liiojiey eouldlhuy. Nancie r.cad the letter with" a" full heart. At first it seemed to her that the 'desires of her heart were to be granted,; and i that her mind might feast to its content upon the treasures of knowledge for which it Ahad longed. But, as she turned suddenly fehe saw her own face reflected in a sinall mirror opix)slto.; A suddeu shadow fell? Over 'the bright animated fdbeV and iheVexclaimed, 'Oh, when they saw metheyvoultf They could riot love me. I should - never 'take their daughter! place:-:N- or I will stay." :And so, with a; she took up the burden of herJife agaih,ctbink-ing-onl- - "Over the river, they becken to me, Loved ones who've crcssed to the further fide, The gleam of ihetr snowy robes I Bee, ::TfiittEelr voices" ure Tost in the 'dashfntide':'? zr. t succeeded -- her nge? No; 1 think she must have been, over thirty, Syhen she died, that was three or four year ago." , of her? Have you any picture "Yes, I have one,- but slie was very ;:y r homely.' Q At- my request she brought it, and I saw, , '' that she had made enquiries, Do ypu know . L ': 1 o - One day a letter wa3 received" from a lady who said, that, after the death of ia beloved i daughtcr,she had acideutilyread the pqem, iOver the Biver,11; and wa3r touched; by: it, knew Nancy Priest well, 1 worked with her in the mill a long time." s; Whether she -- was born at "Doydd knbvf ; '. Iiins.dale? '0he' was born in Massachusetts, but her father and Smother moved to Hinsdale, when she was a young girl." ' : . - anythingpriated." - &c.' Yes, 7" 1 forth again in due time, enriched" and lureu W4iu itruia uuu iiia.isf' iu"cpau rlneri tb!a!lcrrioTu3Jperfecti6 mer-lari- d ofpurfc wa- - u |
