Poetry. THE EFFECTS OF SEDUCTION OR, THE Fair Outcast. A WINTER-PIECE. From the Lady's Magazine. 'Ah! little think the gay licentious proud.' THE night was dark, the wind blew cold, The flaky snow came drifting down, She clasp'd her infant to her breast, But, ah! no kindly aid was nigh, No homely cottage cheer'd her sight; Her frozen limbs began to fail, Her infant's cries were fainter grown; Why did I leave my native vale, Why did I leave my aged sire To weep the fate of Magdaline? My youthful inexperienc'd heart He He prais'd my beauteous shape and face; My foolish heart believ'd the tale, To weep the child they so ador'd. But when I found his vows were false, Too soon I reach'd my native cot, My freezing heart forgets to beat, My child, my child! thou too must die. Thy little limbs are stiff with cold, And thou hast no more strength to cry; I'll lay thee on my aching breast, And on this snow-clad heap we'll die. / She press'd the baby to her heart, Take heed, ye fair! who read this tale; He only flatters to betray, And poison lurks beneath his smiles. Ye, too, who rich in fortune's gifts, The Old Man's comforts, and how he gained them. 4. YOU are old, father William," the young man cried, "The few locks that are left you are grey; You are hale, father William, a hearty old man ; "Now tell me the reason, I pray." "In the days of my youth," father William replied, "I remember'd that youth would fly fast, And abus'd not my health and my vigour at first, "That I never might need them at last." "You are old, father William," the young man cried, "And pleasures with youth pass away, And yet you lament not the days that are gone; "Now tell me the reason, I pray." "In the days of my youth," father William replied, I thought of the future, whatever I did, "You are old, father William," the young man cried, "You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death; "I am cheerful, young man," father William replied, NOTES TO CORRESPONDENTS. The favours of H. and JUVENILE, are received, also, the hints from BENEVOLUS, but the latter has forgotten to pay the postage. PHILO JUVENIS, we have no doubt, will be gratified to observe that we have anticipated him in some of his hints. HADDINGTON: Printed and Published, MONTHLY, by G. MILLER & SON "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, They kept the noiseless tenor of their way." "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the END of that man is peace." .. ONE day, toward the approach of winter, a gentleman, by name Mr EDWARDS, happened to be passing through a desert part of the country, on his way to a town at some distance. He was overtaken by a storm of snow, and observing a cottage not far off, he rode up to it for shelter. The door was opened by an old man, who taking the bridle in his hand, led the horse to an adjoining shed, and desired Mr Edwards to go, in the mean time, into the cottage. There was a small fire of peats on the hearth; Vol, I. E hearth; near it, in a corner, was placed an ancient elbowchair; a plain fir table stood in the middle of the floor, and the dwelling, though one of the meanest, had over the whole of it an air of decency and good order. An old family bible was lying on the table, open, and with a pair of spectacles beside it. When the old man came in, he added a few peats to the fire, drew a chair towards it, and invited Mr Edwards to sit down. The latter thanked him for his civility, and while he enjoyed the shelter and the cheerful blaze, could not help reflecting how many of the real comforts of life may be enjoyed under the humblest roof. The storm continued with unabated violence, the wind howling along the waste, and the snow drifting against the walls of the cottage. Mr Edwards, glad of the covert, was in no haste to remove, and he felt a growing attachment to the cottager, whom he found to be a plain, cheerful, and intelligent old man. His name was John Meadows. He was upwards of seventy years of age. Through the greatest part of his life he had been a day-labourer, but being now infirm, he was able only to cultivate a small piece of garden ground which lay at the back of his cottage. His wife, to whom he had been married near forty years, was still alive, and was his sole and faithful companion in this retirement. At the time of Mr Edward's arrival she happened to be from home, having gone to purchase some necessaries for the family at a village about four miles off. You must find your situation here very lonely, said Mr Edwards. It is a lone place, replied the old man, but we are both of us well up in years, and we like a quiet life. We have a house that shelters us and keeps as warm, and the young folks are now and then step |