Delusion; or, The Witch of New England

age built of s

, and walled w

h did dwell, in

t, all careles

rie to abide. Far f

en

e beloved, or sorrow to be soothed to rest. It was a small cove, sheltered on the north by high, overhanging cliffs, that ran out into the ocean in a bold headl

hung half way down the cliff, and were reflected, like a double landscape, in the water. At sunset, the entire glassy surface was burnished with the red and yellow

-grown, that it seemed a part of the rock against which it rested. It consisted of one room: a door and single pane of glass admitt

the soft beauty of the weather, to visit the cove. It was a walk of two miles, but the inhabitants of

ing sun. The ocean, as far as the eye could reach, was smooth as glass. It was not then, as now, white with the frequent sail: a solitary vessel was then a rare occurrence, and hailed with rapture, as bringing news from home. Th

; and, indeed, was sometimes thought insane. Although Edith's moral courage was great, she possessed t

every mind perhaps came to hers, that thus succeed and are scattered the successive generations of men. No; she was thinking that thus arrive and depart the days of her solitary ex

ant you the happiness to weep?" said th

very wild, but she answered mildly, "Is that so gre

and whose heart is like lead, what she would g

e old woman's countenance, was now lost in pity. She knew that the poor creatu

come on purpose to visit you. Let us go into the house, and you shall tell

der birds that are hovering with white wings in the blue sky. What do you know of sorrow? but you wil

and said, soothingly, "I came to talk with you a

ith sudden flushing, withers soonest; not with age, no, not, like mine, with age, but blighted by the cold hand of unkindness; and eyes, like you

peaking in a tone of great excitement, now turned and looked full

th and health. Her dark hair, which contrasted so beautifully with her soft blue eye, had los

might once have been fair; but it was now deeply wrinkled, and bronzed with smoke and exposure. Her teeth were gone, and her thin, s

w long, think you, before they will be like mine? But mine

d it over her breast. It was dry and coarse, and without a sing

aid,-"not time: it has been o

so much?" said Edith,-and

and a more gentle expression came int

of all that are twined with our own souls, old age, solitude,-all but rem

ith; "cannot you pray? God has invite

r own insufficiency to admin

sinner?" said the old woman, all he

abashed by the old woman: she said only timidly and humbly, "Why will you not confide in

e green lanes of England, or the blessing of my poor old father?" And, while an expression of the deepest sadness passed over her face,-"Can he bring back my children, my beau

she tried in vain to suppress f

ughters of Eve: you will soon weep for yourself. With all your proud beauty and your feeling he

ance of the most abject poverty. The few articles of furniture were neat, and in one corner stood a comfortabl

not want something to make you comfortable for the wint

"at least for myself. All your blanket

on the cliffs above the house. Edith was well known to her, as she was to all the children of the parish. The little girl went up to

, a softened expression of deep tendern

eel that I shall soon be there,"-and she pointed tow

her feet and legs were bare, and her dress was ragged and much soiled; but covering her eyes and forehead was a profusion of

rphan for the old woman; and the contrast, as they thus lea

spirits saddened by the mystery and the grief that she could not understand. As she walked home, she thought how little the temper of the old woman was in harmony with the external b

nfinite capacity of loving, and she had few to love, Her heart was solitary. Her affection for her father partook too much of respect and awe; and that for Dinah had grown up from her infancy, and was as

yet learnt its power to create for itself an infinite and immortal happiness; and the

ted us, that we go back to the beautiful teachings of natur

e never d

t that l

. I have planted an acorn by a beloved grave: in a few ye

; the soft and purifying winds visit all equally; the tenderly majestic stars look down on him who rests in a bed of

down to shelter her young from the night air, the same instinct that teaches her to cherish the child of sorrow. He who addressed the poor and illiterate drew his illustrations from nature: the

haps my readers will wish to know m

as entirely reserved as to her previous history, and was irritated if any curiosity was expressed about it, though she sometimes gave out hints that she had been an accomplice and victim of some deed for which she felt remorse. As she was quite harmless, and the inhabitants were muc