Winyah Observer

              Ami
te. WATEiiMAN, Jr., J. \V. TARBOX.
Proprietoks.
Devoted to News, General Inteliigence, Miscellany, &c
B. II. WILSON E
DITOK.
ter^
VOL. XI.
Georgeto'wn, S. C, Saturday, November 16, 1861.
NO. 40
The Three Brides.
A thrilling story. "Do you see," said the Sexton, "those
there was a time when lie dieametJ (vain    heavens, andihe moment this bride pro-1
tokeep alire the waning flaineof patriot- i from ihis number the j^ood Eugene and
ism   in   the  hearLs of  the   inhabitants. I yourself.    Adieu!   my clear Josephine.
Binding his men to h'm by love, rather I Be resigned, as I am, and never forget
Ibol) ofimmortality.    Someof his  pro-J nounced her vow, a clap of ihunder shook | than by commands,  he  wouid let them t hiin who never forgot, and never will for-
ductions came belbre the vvorld.—They i the building to its cenlre.    All  the  fe-1 disband lo (heir homes, wilh no securily | get you.    Farewell, Josephine.
j were praised and circulated,  and inqui-1 males shrieked,   but the   bride   herself 1 but their sinirle promise to relurn.    Yet | 'Napoleoh."
ries sel on foot in the hope of discover- j made the response with a steady voice, | that promise was never broken ; and the |     Upon reading tiiese tidings solerrible.
W2MTA1S   ©IBHI<IE.¥l§!Eoi Po^^'^'"-    ^^S^ after page came from his j lect il well.    During the ceremony, the
prolific pen, almost  wiihout ellort, and | blackest cloud I ever saw overspread tho
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ing the author.    He, wrapped in the veil of impenetrable security, listened  lo ihe
three   hillocks  yonder,   sido by  side ? | oij^cm-iiy „f yon^igr lone mansion, and ij llie maiden.
There sleep three brides, whose  liislory I am about lo reliile.    Look lliere, sir— on yonder hill you may observe  a litlle desolate house,   with  a little straggling fence in front, and  a fevv stunted  apple trees on the ascent behind it.     Ilis sad¬ ly out of repair now, and   the garden is now overgrown wilh weeds  and   bram¬ bles, and ihe whole place lias a liesolatc appearance.    If the   winds   were   high now, you mighl hear their crazy sluiltcr.s flapping againsi their sides, and the wind tearing the grey  shingles oft  the   roof Slany  years ago,   there    lived  in   llial house an old  man, who cullivated   the few acres of ground that belonged   lo il. " The father was  a  self-taught   man, deeply versed in the mysleries of science, and as he could tell   the name of every flower that blossomed   in  the   wood   or grew in Ihe garden, and used to   sil   up late at night al lii.n books, or reading the
from that region, send forth lays which aslonished the world, was indeed a Iri¬ umpli lo llie visionary bard.
"Ilis thirst for fame had been grali- 'icd, and lie now began to yearn for the conipanioiisiiipof some sweet being of ihe softer sex, lo share wilh him the lau¬ rels hc had won, and to whisper consola¬ lion in his ear in the momenis of despon¬ dency, and 10 supply the void which the death of a father had occasioned. He would refined
leclual and beautiful woinan, and as he had chosen for liis motto, " Whatever has been done may be done," he did nol despair of success.
" In the village lived three sisters, all beautifuU and accomplished. Their names were Mary, Adelaide and Made¬ line. 1 am far enough past the age of enthusiasm, bul I never  can forget   the
and her eye glistened wilh a wild fire as | love those stern hearis bore him, is ono " Josephino was overwhelmed wilh grief,
she gazed upon her bridegroom.    When | of the most touching incidents in his ca-J and   immediately answered   iiis   letter,
voice of applause, more delicious because ii arrived al his house, she sunk upon the i reer. | breathing the same spirit of devotion to
lit was obtained   by stealth.    From   the | threshold ; but this was the   timidily  ofj     As a partisan  leader, Marion had no ji him,  who  was  once her husband, that
equal.    One cannot point out a defect | had always characlerised her noLlo heart, " When lliey were alone,  he clasped | ;„ |,jfn_ „p,. suggest a single good quaiily f and entreating him but to say the word, I her hand, it was cold as ice !    He looked | which he did nol possess.    To sleepless,    and she would fly to liim.    Tlie remain- iiUo her face.    'Maiden, said he, 'what J tireless, vigilance, he added an energy i ing circumstances conected vvith her ill- means this ?    lour cheek is as  pale   as | and   perseverance   that  nothing cou'd | ness and deaih we give in ihc language your wedding gown.'   The bride uttered jj shake ; and lo bravery, which never de-    of Mr. Abbott.
a frantic shriek. ' My wedding gown!' | serted him, a prudence unmarred by a A few days after ihis lelter was wrii- exclaimeashe; no, no—this is my sis-1 single rash act. Provoked inlo no haste, ten, the Emperor Alexander, with a ter's shroud! The hour of conlession | beguiled into no procrastination, unela- numberof illuslrious guests, dined willl has arrived. Il is God that impels me | ted by success, undiscouraged by deleat, Josephine alMalmaison. In ihe evening lo   speak.    To   win   you,   I   lost   rny | ijoballled every plan olhis pursuers to lake | twilight, tho  parly went  out upon tiio
ovvn soul.    Yes, yes,—I am  a  murder-    him, and kept the field in every midst of
picture lo hiinself the felicity ofa   ^^*'    ^''^ smiled on  mo  in the joyous j his foes.    For a long lime the only pal-1 : intercourse wilh a  hit^lily intel-    'I'l't'Ction ofher young heart—but I gave    riot who dared to lifl the standard of frce-
myslic story of the starry heavens, men l.,^^^^y ^^ 51,^53 y^ung girls. Mary was tliought lie was crazed or bewitched, and ,1,^ youngest, and a fairer haired, more avoided him as the   ignorant ever shun    laugj.ing damsel never danced upon the
ihe gifted and the enlightened. A few lliere were, and among others, the minis¬ ler, the lawyer, and the physician of the place, who showed a willingness to af- (iord him countenance, bul they soon dropped his acquaintance, for they found the old man soiiiewiiat reserved stnd mo¬ rose, and moreover thair vanily was wHttided on discovering the cxlent of his Knowledge.
" To the minister, he would quote the . fitthersand the scriptures in the original tongue, and showed himself %vell armed , wilh 4he weapons of polemic conlro¬ versy.—He astonisned the lawyer wilh his profui^d acquaintance with jurispru¬ dence, and the phy.sician was surprised at the extent ofliis medical knowledge. So .ill of tkem deserted him, and the min¬ ister, from whom he dill'cred in some trifling point of doctrine, spoke very lightly of him, and by and by looked on the self-educated farmer wilh eyes of aversion.
"lie instructed his son in all his lore; •—the languages, lilerature, history, phi¬ losophy, and science, were unfwided, one by one, to the enlhusiasiic son of the sol¬ itary.
" Years, rolled away and the old man died.    He died when a storm convulsed the face    of nature;   when  the   wind howled   around   the sheltered dwelling, and the lightening [ilayed above the roof, and though he wonl lo heaven  in faith and purity, the vulgar ihoughl and said that the Evil One had claimed his own in i the elements.    I cannoi paint to you the j grief ofthe  son   at  this  bereavmcnt.— He was for a motnent  onco distracted. I The minisler came and muttered a  few hollow phrases in his  ear,   and a few neighbors, impelled by  curiosity, to see the inierior of his dwelling,  came lo tho j funeral.    Wilh a proud and lofly look,! the son slooil   above   the dust   and   the ' dead, in the midst of the  band  of hypo¬ critical mourners, with  a  pang at his heart, but serenity upon his  brow.—He thanked his friends   for their  kindness, acknowledged their courtesy, and   liien
green. AdelaiiJe, who was a few years older, was daik-haired and pensive ; but of the three, Madeline, thc eldest, pos¬ sessed the most firc, spirit, cultivalion, and intcllectualily. Their father, aman of laste and educaiion, and being some¬ what above the vulgar  prejudices, per-
beautiful lawn in front of the iiouse for
recreation. Josephine, vvhose he.-^lth had become exceedingly precarious ier the fatal drug. Adelaide twined her |j dom in his native State, he became the I through care and sorrow, being regard- while arms around my neck, bul I ad-i objoct against which the Brilish direc- less of herself in devolion to her friends, ministered the poison! Take me to jed all their eflbrt*. Yet they never took a violent cold. The ne.xl day she your arms; I have lost my soul tor you, j disbanded his corps, or broke power. I was worse. Withoui any very definite and mine you must be !' The name of Marion   became a spell- I form of disease, she day after day grew
" And then," conlinued he, in a hollow | word wilh which to conjure up the re- B '   ''
voice, " al that moment camo the ihun-1 publicans, and frighten the lories.-Seek- dor and the guilty woman fell  dead on   jng the recesses of the swamps by da}',
ihe floor! The counlenance of tho nar¬ rator expressed all he felt.
" And the bridegroom !" asked I, "the husband of the deslroyer and the vic¬ tims—vvhat became of him ?"
" He stands before you I" was the liirilling answer.
Character of Marion.
In personal appearances, Marion pre¬ sented a striking contrast lo most of tfie oflicers in our army.    It is  a curious
milled,lhe visits of the hereof my story, j fact, that the generals   ofthe highest
Slill, he did r.ot encourage the afleciion 5 grade, in  both armies, during the Uevo-
he found springing up beiween Mary | Imionary war, averaged nearly tvvo hun-   Neitlier the barbarity  of his enemies.
more feeble, until it vvas evident that her final change was near at hand. Eu¬ gene and  Hortense, her most afleclion-
anij Bleaiingon his foes, like the panther, j ate children, were with her b\- day and by nij^ht, his swift horsemen came and | by night. They communicated lo her went like the invisible siroke of fale. | the judgement oi her physician that No precaution could escape his penetra- j death was near. She he.ird the tidings ting glance, and no concealment furnish | with perfect composure, and called for securily against his deadly rifles. lie j a clergyman to administer to her the last seemed omni-present to the enraged, tor-    rites of religion.
ror-stricken byalisls; and when they deemed themselves saftest, he was often nearest.—And yet, not a vice sullied " hia ermine characler." No ferociiy was mingled vvith his courage, and no cruelty accompanied his fierce onsets.
and the poet.    When, howover, he found j died  pounds in   weight.    But  Marion that her afleciion was  engaged, he did! was a very small man, and of diminutive
nol withhold his consent from their mar¬ riage, and the recluse bore lo hi's man¬ sion ihe young bride of hi.i afl^eclions. O, sir, the house assumed a new appear¬ ance within and vviihout.
'Hoses bloomed in the garden, jessa¬ mines peeped through the lattices, and the fields about il smiled wilh ihe eflects of careful cultivalion. Lights vvere seen in ihe [)arlor in the evening ; and many a lime vvould the passenger pause by the gate lo listen to strains of the sweetest music breathed by chora! voices from the collage. If the mysierious student and his wile had been neglected by the neighbors, whal cared they ? Their en¬ during mutual afleciion made their home a liltle paradise. But death came to Eden. Mary s^v|enly fell sick, and af¬ ter a few hours' illness, died in the arms ofher husband and her sisier IMadeline. I This was the student's second heavy ( afliiclion.
" Days, monihs rolled on, and the so
proportions every way. He was not only short, but remarkably thin. His counlenance was swarthy, and grave in its exprcssioB, and his eye dark, solemn, and poetic.   Exiremely plain in his dress.
nor the treason of his friends could pro¬ voke him to injustice—even the clam¬ ours of his ovvn followers were unable to swerve his just soul frotn the path of in legrity. Given to no excess, he asked no share of the plunder, and never used
Just after this solemnity the Emperor Alexander entered the room. Eugene and Hortense, bathed in tears, wero kneeling at their mother's side. Joseph¬ ine beckoned lo the Emperor to approacli her, and said to him and her children, "I have always desired the happiness of Frai\ce. 1 did all in my power to con¬ lribute toil; and I can say with truth, to all of you now present, al my last mo¬ ments that the first wife of Napoleon never caused a single tear to flow." Sho called for the portrait of the  em-
and with still plainer manners, he did not    S'" selfish p.ission
strike a stranger very favourably.    Re-       I^'s patriotism   was pure   and lofty
the ptjvver he possessed to gratfy a sin- j peror ; sfie gazed upon il long and ten¬ derly ; and then, fervently pressing it in
served and silent, he seldom spoke, ex¬ cept when necessary, and then express¬ ed his ihoughts in the most direct and simple languige he could command. These peculiarities increased the myste¬ ry which his actions threw around him, and doubtless ndded much to the influ¬ ence he held over his band. Cool and quiet, he went on the most desperate missions vviihout excilement—as calmly stormed througii the fight, and then, in the same composed manner, drew of his men to their dark and lonely encamp¬ ment. He seemed ullerly destitute of passions. He possessed neither revenge, j nor thirst for glory, nor love of excite ment,  nor desire of money or povver,
as his character; and for his sufferings and losses he neither asked nor ex¬ pecled remuneration. His counlry he loved better than his life, and liberly was dearer to him than all ihings else ou earlh beside.    Wealth, rank, ease, safe-
her clasped hands lo her  bosom,  faintly articulated the following prayer:
"OGod! vvatch over Napoleon while he remains in the desert ot this world. Alas! ihough he has committed great faults, hath he not expiated them by great sufferings?    Just God, thou hast looked
laceof the bereaved was lo sit  vvith the [ He showed no fondness  for the   table, sisters ofthe deceased   and   talk of the | but was abstemious as a hermit.    Even
ty, all sunk beneath his country's claims,    jmo his heart, and hast seen by how ar-
and he seemed to aim at nothing but its interests.    His like is seldom seen.
His followers were worthy of him. Bold, fearless—true as steel in ihe hour of danger, they closed round him vvith a faith and devolion that excite our admi¬ ration, and claim our love.
lost one. To Adelaide ho oflTered his widowed hearl. The bridal was nol one of revelry and mirth. Yet ihey lived happily, and the rose again blossomed in the gaiden. Bul it seemed as if fatality pursued this singular man. Whon ihe rose withered and the leaf fell, in the mel-*-! low aulumn of the year, Adelaide too sickened and died, like her sister, in the arms of her husband and Madeline.
" Perhaps you will think il strange,! young man, that after all, the wretched I survivor slood again al the altar.    IMad
The Death of Josephine.
Darkness and clouds surrounded the pathway of Napoleon. In vain he itrug- gled to retrieve his fortune. Thc last engagement at Loipsic decided his for¬ tunes for the time, and consigned him to Elba.
Napoleon was an exile, but in his re¬ tirement he did not forget the  only be¬
strode away from the grave, to bury his gline ! I well remember her. She was a I grief in the privacy ofhis deserted beauty in the true sense of the word—i, ^:,,    *     °' I she mighl have sat upon a  throne, and
" He fouud, at last, the solitude of the I th^most loyal subjecl, the proudest pear.
mansion almosl insupportable, and  he [ paced the ebony floor from morning lill i rjiyhl, in all the agony of woe and desola¬ tion, vainly importuning heaven  for re¬ lief.    It came to him in the guise of poet-
would have sworn the blood in her veins descendetl from a hundred kings. She loved ihe widowed for his fame, and she wedded him.
" They were married in that church—
the woman had no influence over him, and he moved amid the turbulent scenes around him, like one whose mind is wholly aksorbed on one great object, yet to be accomjilished. Drinking his vine¬ gar and water-enough to keep any man j! ing i"^' ever really loved, his Josephine, thin—ealing his course hominy, or rice \ He immediately addressed a lelter to her, —with the trees for his shelter, and the    breathing the same  sjiirit towards her
that ho had always manilesled, rather congratulating himself that his head and spirit were freed lrom that enormous weight of care, and intimating that here¬ after his pen should be a substitute for the sword.
"The world,"  said he, "bas as yel, only  seen me in profile.    I   shall now
swa.mps for his retreat, he fastens him¬ self upon our aflections and inleresl, with a firmness nothing can shake.
Living in lawless limes, and among rough and boisterous men, he retained all hisdellicacy of feeling, refined tastes, and scrupulous virlue. Moving in an orbit of his ovvn, he, like Washinglon. vvas beyond the influence of others, and seemed free from the common frailties of man.
Wilhoul pay—vviihout even the hopo of victory—hunted from swamp to s'vamp,   and   chased   the   length   and
shovv myself in full.    Hovv many ihings have I to disclose!   hovv  many aro  the [dies   regretted   by men upon whom a false estimate   has been placed! I have heajicd benefils up¬ on millions of wretches!   What have I! shrouded in slalo Ibr its burial. they done  in   the end for me?    They I this time more lhan tvventy  thninand of
dent a desire for useful and durable im¬ provemenls he was animated. Deign lo approve my last petilion. And may this image of my husband bear me wit- ness that my last wish and latest prayer were for him and my children."
Itwas the 26th of May, 1814. A tranquil, summer's day, was fading away into a cloudless, serene and beautiful evening. The rays of the selling sun, struggling ihrough liie foliage ofthe open window, shone cheerfully upon the bed vvhere the empress was dying. Tli^ vesper songs ofihe birds which filled the groves of Malmaison floated svveellv upon tho ear, and the gentle spirit of Josephine, lulled to repose by the sweet anthems, sank inlo ils last sleep. Gazing upon the portrait of thc emperor, she ex¬ claimed, '• L'isle d'Elbe—Napoleon and died.
Alexander, as he gazed upon Iter life¬ less remains, bursl inlo fears, and uttered the following eilccting yel just tribute of respect lo her memory; " She if no more; that woman whom France named the beneficient, that angel of goodness is no more. Tliose wlio have known Josi'jilii.^e can never forget her. She ber oflspring. her friends, and her coiemporaries."
For  four »liiy.s her   body    remained
During
icin.'spiration.    He wrote with wonderful I il vvas on a summer afternoon—I rocol- J breadth ofhis State, he slill struggled on | have all betrayed me—yes, aH.    I except | iFie people of France visiteil hei beloved