Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lonely Grave,
solitary tombstones . The spirit of destruction passed over the land , and in its pestilential path , swept into the grave , ivith the exception of An-« rew Harrowlea , every living creature of the house of William Skirving . Theold man was the last survivor ; and when there was none to be found who would venture near his habitation , or assist him in performing the last duties to the dead , with the help of his servant Andrew , he constructed rude coffinsin which laced the bodies
, they p , and deposited them , where they still lie , on the banks of the little streamlet which ' is very near the door of the modern farm-house . " It is said that William Skirving , feeling his oivn end approaching , assisted m making the narrow bed into ivhich he was shortly after laid by the faithful and honest hearted ploughman , who , in memory of his kind master , and for the love he bore his beautiful but ill-fated daughter , erected that mouument which points out the spot where his remains were interred . "
A Dream.
A DREAM .
BY THE AUTHOR OP " THE EMPRESS . " I nREAiiT I was standing among the broken walls of an unfinished mansion , built for the residence of that Lord Strafford , who , was beheaded in the reign of George the First , for high treason . The ruin was of considerable extent , situated about two miles distant from the town of Naas , in the county of Kildarein IrelandMfriend and his amiable
, . y M . lady were admiring with me the quietude of the scene , at times lifting our eyes to view the shadowy clouds as they passed over the face ofthe moon , or watching the effects they momentarily produced upon the timeworn buttresses , forming a thousand various shapes as they swept over them , and yielding an ample field for the imagination to wander in at liberty .
The foundation of this building consisted of Gothic arches , forming an extensive range of vaults , similar to those which excite our wonder an the secret passages of ancient monastic edifices , which the external walls ( perforated by the indefati gable hand of time ) partially revealed to us as the moonlight penetrated through their countless apertures . Ihe flitting form of the bat was seen at intervals ; and the long-drawn sigh of the joyless owl , gave an additional solemnity to the surrounding hts of Auld
scene . . Thoug " lang syne" came thronging upon our minds , when ' Monks , and Lords , and Ladies bright , " formed that glowing picture m the history of Europe which may be truly designated the era of romance . Our minds were so completely absorbed in reflections on the past , and the beings who existed in those chivalric days , that visions glided before our eyes like Banquo ' s issue—with this difference , howeverthat ours were the semblance of the departedwhereas the Scottish
, , monarch looked into " the womb of time , " and saw the visions of futurity . After meditating for some time in this manner , we felt a desire to penetrate into the recesses of this gloomy Hades—this realm of shades ! and leaving Mrs . M . to enjoy her solitary reflections , we scrambled through an arch nearly closed up with rubbish , and , before we could save ourselves , rolled into the centre of the vault beneath . Here we
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lonely Grave,
solitary tombstones . The spirit of destruction passed over the land , and in its pestilential path , swept into the grave , ivith the exception of An-« rew Harrowlea , every living creature of the house of William Skirving . Theold man was the last survivor ; and when there was none to be found who would venture near his habitation , or assist him in performing the last duties to the dead , with the help of his servant Andrew , he constructed rude coffinsin which laced the bodies
, they p , and deposited them , where they still lie , on the banks of the little streamlet which ' is very near the door of the modern farm-house . " It is said that William Skirving , feeling his oivn end approaching , assisted m making the narrow bed into ivhich he was shortly after laid by the faithful and honest hearted ploughman , who , in memory of his kind master , and for the love he bore his beautiful but ill-fated daughter , erected that mouument which points out the spot where his remains were interred . "
A Dream.
A DREAM .
BY THE AUTHOR OP " THE EMPRESS . " I nREAiiT I was standing among the broken walls of an unfinished mansion , built for the residence of that Lord Strafford , who , was beheaded in the reign of George the First , for high treason . The ruin was of considerable extent , situated about two miles distant from the town of Naas , in the county of Kildarein IrelandMfriend and his amiable
, . y M . lady were admiring with me the quietude of the scene , at times lifting our eyes to view the shadowy clouds as they passed over the face ofthe moon , or watching the effects they momentarily produced upon the timeworn buttresses , forming a thousand various shapes as they swept over them , and yielding an ample field for the imagination to wander in at liberty .
The foundation of this building consisted of Gothic arches , forming an extensive range of vaults , similar to those which excite our wonder an the secret passages of ancient monastic edifices , which the external walls ( perforated by the indefati gable hand of time ) partially revealed to us as the moonlight penetrated through their countless apertures . Ihe flitting form of the bat was seen at intervals ; and the long-drawn sigh of the joyless owl , gave an additional solemnity to the surrounding hts of Auld
scene . . Thoug " lang syne" came thronging upon our minds , when ' Monks , and Lords , and Ladies bright , " formed that glowing picture m the history of Europe which may be truly designated the era of romance . Our minds were so completely absorbed in reflections on the past , and the beings who existed in those chivalric days , that visions glided before our eyes like Banquo ' s issue—with this difference , howeverthat ours were the semblance of the departedwhereas the Scottish
, , monarch looked into " the womb of time , " and saw the visions of futurity . After meditating for some time in this manner , we felt a desire to penetrate into the recesses of this gloomy Hades—this realm of shades ! and leaving Mrs . M . to enjoy her solitary reflections , we scrambled through an arch nearly closed up with rubbish , and , before we could save ourselves , rolled into the centre of the vault beneath . Here we