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^( iT1* "ffiTftTT j^IITillUIU
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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THE UNSEEN WITNESS . ( LEAVES FBOM A JOUKNAL KEPT BY No . 3 IN OUH STREET . ) By CATHERINE CROWE , ATJTHOB , OP " SUSAN HOPLEY , " " LILY DAWSON , " " NIGHTSIDE OF NATURE , " &C
Part II . August 1 st . Mr . Joddrell started this morning at six o ' clock . My poor mistress cried sadly at taking leave of him . She says she shall be so dull ; everybody they know is out of town , so that she can hardly hope for a morning visitor to vary her solitude . Poor young thing ! I am really sorry for her—I feel the dulness of the season very much myself . Mr . Leslie called as he came from the office , at five , and left a card of enquiry . Mrs . J . desired that if he called again he should be requested to walk in . I ' m sure I hope he will .
2 nd . My mistress sent Ann to the circulating library for some novels . Mr . Joddrell has a great prejudice against novels ; but , as she said to Ann , what can she do lying here on the sofa all day . About four o ' clock there was a double knock at the door , and my mistress rang the bell to know who it was . I suppose she hoped it was a visitor . Ann said it was only a runaway . 3 rd . My mistress suddenly fell a crying to-day ; her cambric handkerchief was wet with the tears she shed , and she quite sobbed again . I am afraid her leg must have pained her ; or , perhaps , it was something in the book that affected her . She certainly looks pale , and her eyes don't look so merry
as they did when first I saw her . Five o'Clock . There ' s a knock at the door , and Ann begs Mr . Leslie will walk up . I am really glad he ' s come . He regrets her disappointment very feelingly , and Joddreil ' s too ; he is really a kind young man , and seems to have a fiiendship for my master , which I almost wonder at—they are so different . But he says they were at school together ; and then , getting into the same office , they have been companions all their lives . He makes my mistress laugh at the eccentricities of one of their brother officials , a very comical fellow . After sitting with her an hour he departs , leaving her much more cheerful . I hope he'll call frequently .
4 th . A letter from my master this morning . He wants all his silk stockings , and desires his wife will order him a pair of pumps from Godfrey , and send them off as soon as possible . He says Margate is very gay , and wishes very much Mrs . J . was with him . So does she , poor thing , no doubt . When Ann went to order the pumps my mistress desired her to buy her some worsteds . She is determined to work an ottoman , or a footstool , or something of that sort . Ann told her that the people next door had lost their cat , which led to a great deal of conversation about cats and the habit they have of straying from home ; but Ann says they always return . 5 th . Mr . Leslie called just when my mistress was winding her worsted off the back of a chair , and , as it got entangled , he very kindly offered to hold it
for her : he is really a very obliging young man . 6 th . Sunday . My mistress read the service and the lessons for the day , and afterwards one of Blair ' s sermons . Just as the tea was coming up Mr . Leslie called , and she asked him to take a cup with her , which he did , and staid chatting till near ten o ' clock , which made the evening pass off very pleasantly . 7 th . At five o ' clock Mr . Leslie called ; he had not intended to see her today , but he had got a letter from Joddrell , and just dropt in to show it her , thinking she might like to hear how he was getting on , which was very considerate of him .
8 th . This was a dull day—nobody called , and nothing happened . Ann told my mistress that the chimney at No . 9 had been on fire early in the morning , which led to many enquiries on the part of my mistress on the subject of fires in chimneys , and Ann related many instances where she had known that sort of thing occur . 9 th . Mr . Leslie called in the evening to say that he was just sending off a letter to Joddrell , and wished to know if Mrs . J . had any message ; but she had written to Margate herself . However , he staid tea , after apologising for intruding on her ; but my mistress told him how very lonely she was , and how very welcome his visits were . He must have been too late for the evening post , for ho did not leave till past eleven .
10 th . Another letter from master . He says he is living in a boardinghouse , where there is a great deal of fun going on . He sits down to dinner with fifty people every day , and they are going to give a ball . My mistress worked at her ottoman all day , till her eyes were so tired that she dozed away the greatest part of the evening . 1 lth . Mr . Leslie called to say he had heard somebody mention that pouring cold water over the leg was very strengthening ; but he by no means advised my mistress to do it , unless the doctor recommended it ; but the doctor says there is nothing to be done but lay it up and keep it quiet . He calls every now and then to tighten the bandages .
12 th . Mr . Leslie called to beg my mistress not to use the cold water , as , if the hone had not united , it might bo very injurious . Whilst he was here Mr . Page called . Mrs . Page is at Highgate , and ha comes to town daily to attend to his business . He is evidently a great admirer of my mistress , and overwhelms her with compliments ; but she does not like him , and seemed hardly to know how to be civil to him ; for his own visit was not agreeable ,
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BALLAD . " Have you seen her ? " he cried ; " Have you seen her ? " he cried . " Ycstereve , " I whispered . " To-morrow my Alice , my bride , Must not grieve . " She stood in the cornfield , all sprinkled with dew , Twining flowers ; But they were not so fair as her eyes of deep blue , Watcht for hours . " I saw in the morning , " a neighbour replied , " As I past , A stranger , who called a fair girl to his side . They rode fast ; " On their bonnio white steeds thro' the flowers , thro f the corn , Did they ride ; But they soon reacht the sea , and their vessel was borne O ' er the tide . " He sought her in vain , —she was gone , she was lost ; But old ways Led him forth to the fields that the maiden had crost , Many clays .
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and he spoilt Mr . Leslie ' s that was ; for he sat him out . "When he went away he kissed my mistress ' s hand , which I thought a great liberty—so did she , I suppose , for she desired Ann not to let him in any more , unless Mr . Joddrell was there . 13 th . In the morning my mistress read the service and another of Blair ' s sermons . In the evening , about seven o ' clock , Mr . Leslie came to the door , but , just as he was going to knock , he turned away again , and I was afraid he had recollected some engagement , and that my mistress would have to spend the evening alone . However , after walking to the end of the street , he returned and knocked gently . By-the-bye , I observe he does knock more gently than he used to do . I suppose it is because the street is so quiet that he
is afraid of disturbing it . They talked over Mr . Page ; and my mistress observed how excessively offensive his compliments and familiarities were , and told Mr . Leslie that she did not intend to admit him any more ; a resolution which Mr . Leslie seemed highly to approve . He told my mistress a very touching story about a friend of his that had become attached to a young lady he had met at Ramsgate , and she to him ; but she confided to him that she was engaged to a cousin of her own , whom she liked very well , but did not love . She had accepted this cousin because her friends wished it , before
she knew what love was , and they were to be married in a few weeks . At first , she had refused Mr . Leslie ' s friend without giving any reason ; but when she saw how deeply he was affected , she was won to confess the truth ; indeed , she was so agitated that she had no power to conceal it . He urged her to renounce the engagement and marry him , but shame and pride withheld her . She married her cousin , but fell into a consumption and died within the year . This led to a great deal of conversation about love and marriage , the pangs of disappointed affection and the misery of being wedded without love . My mistress observed that she should not wonder if many
young women engaged themselves , knowing as little of their own hearts as the poor lady that had paid such a penalty for her inexperience . ' Till a person has been in love how should she know what love is ? She may mistake liking for love . Mr . Leslie agreed that this was extremely probable ; remarking how very little opportunity young women frequently have for selection . " Or comparison , " added my mistress . " In some country places young men , except the working and farming classes , are rare—one scarcely ever sees any thing like a gentleman . " Mr . Leslie described the sufferings of his friend very pathetically—he had been so much affected by the lady ' s marriage and subsequently by her death , that he was ordered to travel for with hithis
the recovery of his health and spirits ; and Mr . L . had parted m morning , as he is to start to-morrow . Mr . L . said that it was doubtless a very condemnable and selfish feeling on his own part , but that he must confess the marriage would have been to him worse than the death ; for that he thought no agony could exceed that of seeing the woman we love in the arms of another . At this last expression I observed my mistress blushed ; which Mr . Leslie perceiving , his own face became crimson ; and , taking out his watch , he said he was afraid he was staying too late ; so he started up hastily and took his leave , before my mistress knew well what he was about ; for after all it was only half-past ten . Perhaps , he remembered some engagement , for he ran down stairs , and was out of the street door before Ann could
get up to open it for him . 14 th . The ottoman does not get on to-day at all . I think my mistress is tired of it ; or , perhaps , it ' s the book she has got which interests her more . It is called " The Life of a Lover , " by Miss Lee . Mr . Page called but was not admitted . 15 th . Still the book . I am glad she has got any thing to amuse her , though she shed a great many tears over it to-day ; but I suppose these are tears of pleasure . There was a letter from Mr . Joddrell this morning , giving an account of a ftte champetre at Dandelion , concluding with fireworks wishes my mistress had been there . I wonder what has become of Mr . Leslie that he has not called to-day !
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We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself .-CjOKXHK
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404 © !> * & t a JT t X . [ Satouda * ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 20, 1850, page 404, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1847/page/20/
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