A VISION
Dark and tempestuous was night. Around the throne on high not a single
star quivered; but the deep intonations of the heavy thunder constantly
vibrated upon the ear; whilst the terrific lightning revelled in angry
mood through the cloudy chambers of heaven, seeming to scorn the power
exerted over its terror by the illustrious Franklin! Even the boisterous
winds unanimously came forth from their mystic homes, and blustered
about as if to enhance by their aid the wildness of the scene.
At such a time, so dark, so dreary, for human sympathy my very spirit
sighed; but instead thereof,
My dearest friend, my counsellor, my comforter and guide
My joy in grief, my second bliss in joy, came to my side.
She moved like one of those bright beings pictured in the sunny walks
of fancy s Eden by the romantic and young, a queen of beauty unadorned
save by her own transcendent loveliness. So soft was her step, it
failed to make even a sound, and but for the magical thrill imparted by
her genial touch, as other unobtrusive beauties, she would have glided
away unperceived unsought. A strange sadness rested upon her features,
like icy tears upon the robe of December, as she pointed to the
contending elements without, and bade me contemplate the two beings
presented.
This nightmare occupied some ten pages of manuscript and wound up with a
sermon so destructive of all hope to non-Presbyterians that it took
the first prize. This composition was considered to be the very finest
effort of the evening. The mayor of the village, in delivering the prize
to the author of it, made a warm speech in which he said that it was by
far the most eloquent thing he had ever listened to, and that Daniel
Webster himself might well be proud of it.
It may be remarked, in passing, that the number of compositions in which
the word beauteous was over-fondled, and human experience referred to
as life s page, was up to the usual average.
Now the master, mellow almost to the verge of geniality, put his chair
aside, turned his back to the audience, and began to draw a map of
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