Part 31 (2/2)
The Maniac.
”The wind at my cas.e.m.e.nt scream'd shrilly and loud, And the pale moon look'd in from her mantle of cloud; Old ocean was tossing in terrible might, And the black rolling billows were crested with light.
Like a shadowy dream on my senses that hour, Stole the beautiful vision of grandeur and power; And the sorrows of life that brought tears to mine eye, Were forgot in the glories of ocean and sky.
”'Oh nature!' I cried, 'in thy beautiful face All the wisdom and love of thy Maker I trace; Thy aspect divine checks my tears as they start, And fond hopes long banish'd flow back to my heart!'
Thus musing, I wander'd alone to the sh.o.r.e, To gaze on the waters, and list to their roar, When I saw a poor lost one bend over the steep Of the tall beetling cliff that juts out o'er the deep.
”The wind wav'd her garments, and April's rash showers Hung like gems in her dark locks, enwreath'd with wild flowers; Her bosom was bared to the cold midnight storm, That unsparingly beat on her thin fragile form; Her black eyes flash'd sternly whence reason had fled, And she glanc'd on my sight like some ghost of the dead, As she sang a loud strain to the hoa.r.s.e das.h.i.+ng surge, That rang on my ears like the plaint of a dirge.
”And he who had left her to madness and shame, Who had robb'd her of honour, and blasted her fame-- Did he think in that hour of the heart he had riven, The vows he had broken, the anguish he'd given?-- And where was the infant whose birth gave the blow To the peace of his mother, and madden'd her woe?
A thought rush'd across me--I ask'd for her child,-- With a wild laugh of triumph the maniac replied--
”'Where the dark tide runs strongest, the cliff rises steep, Where the wild waters eddy, I've rock'd him to sleep: His sleep is so sound that the rush of the stream, When the winds are abroad, cannot waken his dream.
And see you that rock, with its surf-beaten side, There the blood of my false love runs red with the tide; The sea-mew screams shrilly, the white breakers rave-- In the foam of the billow I'll dance o'er his grave!'
”'Mid the roar of the tempest, the wind's hollow moan, There rose on my chill'd ear a faint dying groan; The billows raged on, the moon smiled on the flood, But vacant the spot where the maniac had stood.
I turn'd from the scene--on my spirit there fell A question that sadden'd my heart like a knell; I look'd up to heav'n, but I breath'd not a word, For the answer was given--'Trust thou in the Lord!'”
CHAPTER XVI
Provincial Agricultural Show
”A happy scene of rural mirth, Drawn from the teeming lap of earth, In which a nation's promise lies.
Honour to him who wins a prize!-- A trophy won by honest toil, Far n.o.bler than the victor's spoil.”
S.M.
Toronto was all bustle and excitement, preparing for the Provincial Agricultural Show; no other subject was thought of or talked about. The ladies, too, taking advantage of the great influx of strangers to the city, were to hold a bazaar for the benefit of St. George's Church; the sum which they hoped to realise by the sale of their fancy wares to be appropriated to paying off the remaining debt contracted for the said saint, in erecting this handsome edifice dedicated to his name--let us hope not to his service. Yet the idea of erecting a temple for the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, and calling it the church of a saint of _very doubtful sanct.i.ty_, is one of those laughable absurdities that we would gladly see banished in this enlightened age. Truly, there are many things in which our wisdom does not exceed the wisdom of our forefathers. The weather during the two first days of the exhibition was very unpropitious; a succession of drenching thunder showers, succeeded by warm bursts of suns.h.i.+ne, promising better things, and giving rise to hopes in the expectant visitants to the show, which were as often doomed to be disappointed by returns of blackness, storm, and pouring rain.
I was very anxious to hear the opening address, and I must confess that I was among those who felt this annihilation of hope very severely; and, being an invalid, I dared not venture upon the grounds before Wednesday morning, when this most interesting part of the performance was over.
Wednesday, however, was as beautiful a September day as the most sanguine of the agricultural exhibitors could desire, and the fine s.p.a.ce allotted for the display of the various objects of industry was crowded to overflowing.
It was a glorious scene for those who had the interest of the colony at heart. Every district of the Upper Province had contributed its portion of labour, talent, and ingenuity, to furnish forth the show. The products of the soil, the anvil, and the loom, met the eye at every turn. The genius of the mechanic was displayed in the effective articles of machinery, invented to a.s.sist the toils and shorten the labour of human hands, and were many and excellent in their kind. Improvements in old implements, and others entirely new, were shown or put into active operation by the inventors,--those real benefactors to the human race, to whom the exploits of conquerors, however startling and brilliant, are very inferior in every sense.
Mechanical genius, which ought to be regarded as the first and greatest effort of human intellect, is only now beginning to be recognised as such. The statesman, warrior, poet, painter, orator, and man of letters, all have their niche in the temple of fame--all have had their wors.h.i.+ppers and admirers; but who among them has celebrated in song and tale the grand creative power which can make inanimate metals move, and act, and almost live, in the wondrous machinery of the present day!
It is the mind that conceived, the hand that reduced to practical usefulness these miraculous instruments, with all their complicated works moving in harmony, and performing their appointed office, that comes nearest to the sublime Intelligence that framed the universe, and gave life and motion to that astonis.h.i.+ng piece of mechanism, the human form.
In watching the movements of the steam-engine, one can hardly divest one's self of the idea that it possesses life and consciousness. True, the metal is but a dead agent, but the spirit of the originator still lives in it, and sways it to the gigantic will that first gave it motion and power. And, oh, what wonders has it not achieved! what obstacles has it not overcome! how has it brought near things that were far off, and crumbled into dust difficulties which, at first sight, appeared insurmountable. Honour to the clear-sighted, deep-thinking child of springs and wheels, at whose head stands the great Founder of the world, the grandest humanity that ever trode the earth! Rejoice, and shout for joy, ye sons of the rule and line! for was he not one of you? Did he not condescend to bow that G.o.d-like form over the carpenter's bench, and handle the plane and saw? Yours should be termed the Divine craft, and those who follow it truly n.o.ble. Your great Master was above the little things of earth; he knew the true dignity of man--that virtue conferred the same majesty upon its possessor in the workshop or the palace--that the soul's t.i.tle to rank as a son of G.o.d required neither high birth, nor the advent.i.tious claims of wealth--that the simple name of a good man was a more abiding honour, even in this world, than that of kings or emperors.
Oh! ye sons of labour, seek to attain this true dignity inherent in your nature, and cease to envy the possessors of those ephemeral honours that perish with the peris.h.i.+ng things of this world. The time is coming--is now even at the doors--when education shall give you a truer standing in society, and good men throughout the whole world shall recognise each other as brothers.
”An' o'er the earth gude sense an' worth Shall bear the gree an' a' that.”
Carried away from my subject by an impetuous current of thought, I must step back to the show from which I derived a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure. The s.p.a.ce in which it was exhibited contained, I am told, about sixteen acres. The rear of this, where the animals were shown, was a large grove covered with tall spreading trees, beneath the shade of which, reposing or standing in the most picturesque att.i.tudes, were to be seen the finest breeds of cattle, horses, and sheep, in the province.
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