Blue-Stocking Hall, (Vol. 1 of 3)Scargill, William Pitt
General
Blue-Stocking Hall, (Vol. 1 of 3)
Scargill, William Pitt
Epistolary fiction; Women -- Conduct of life -- Fiction; Women -- Education -- Fiction
from the moor, which is filled with sweet, but common flowers. The
family have been set to spin, and are already clothed in their own
manufacture. Frederick has given poor Tom a cow, to which I have
added half a dozen sheep; and such a scene of contentment above,
and of beauty below, it would be difficult to equal: at least so
_we_ think; and when we contemplate the entire as a creation of
our own, Frederick and I certainly do confess to some degree of
self-complacency. But as far as I have hitherto narrated, only
relates to the _body_ of our exertions. I must now describe the
_soul_ of them. In the back part of our rustic temple, is a door
so completely concealed by the matting of reeds, as not to be
discernible to ordinary observers. This door, upon being opened,
discovers a little cell of just sufficient size to admit of one
person's sitting in it without inconvenience. Its furniture
consists of a small pedestal of delicate workmanship in white
marble, upon which Frederick has placed the exquisite urn that
you may remember, of alabaster, found at Pompeïa. It belonged to
my father, and has been kept in a closet, hidden from every eye
since the time of his death. Upon the front of the pedestal which
supports it, we have had engraved the following lines:--
Bless'd refuge of a sad and broken heart,
Soft soothing solitude, thy balm impart;
Come with thy gentle train, thy peaceful rest,
Thy tender stillness to this grief-worn breast.
With thee, how sweet to climb the craggy way,
And o'er these rocky cliffs in silence stray,
In Nature's temple to expand the soul,
While tears distil refreshing as they roll,
What fond deceit the present to beguile,
And bid the shades of past delight to smile.
Call back the dreams of youth, and hope, and love,
And 'mid the dear aërial phantoms rove.
But hush! too sharp that pang, my heart gives o'er,
Invoke the memory of thy bliss no more!
Raise up to heaven thy soul, quit earth, and fly,
Go seek thy refuge in yon azure sky;
Ask mercy's aid to shed celestial light
Upon the dismal gloom of sorrow's night,
And God's own spirits of the mountain air,
Shall waft on high the deep unuttered prayer,
While filial love shall consecrate the scene,
That gave a mother's tears for hope serene.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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