with her mother's permission she set out alone for New York, and arrived the day before, and as the afternoon was so very pleasant she thought she would take a walk on the Battery, and on the following Saturday she intended returning home. William listened attentively to the young lady, as she explained to him the reason he had not seen her since their first interview on the Battery. They remained there for some time in close conversation, and time passed away so pleasantly that the shades of evening began to thicken before Cordelia was aware it was so late, when she remarked that she must leave him, for she had promised Miss A. that she would return before sunset, and that she had staid longer than she intended. William accompanied her to Miss A.'s, and before leaving her remarked that as she intended leaving the city on Saturday for home, he would be very much pleased to accompany her. Cordelia replied that it would also afford her much pleasure, and accepted the offer. William went home with a buoyant heart, such as one feels when leaving the object of his love. After Cordelia left the young man, she began to reflect on what she had been doing. She had consented for William to wait on her home without her knowing anything about him further than his own statement. He had informed her that he was the son of a wealthy merchant living in Broadway, and doing business in Pearl street, and she thought she had been imprudent in accepting his offer. Yet she admired him, yes, loved him, and if he had an unblemished reputation, she would be happy in receiving him, and she was fearful, too, of introducing a stranger to her mother, and one

with whom she had had so short an acquaintance. Such thoughts occupied her mind during the few short days that she remained in the city. But the hour arrived. William, with a carriage, awaited her in State street, and they were soon aboard the steamboat sailing up the majestic Hudson.

It was a beautiful morning and the rays of the sun gilded the domes and spires that loomed up over the city, and it presented a beautiful prospect to the travellers, as the steamer ploughed her way through the water. Steamboats then did not sail as fast as at the present day, and they were usually six hours in sailing from New York to Newburgh, when the passengers for Fishkill were landed and conveyed thence by the ferryboat to Fishkill Landing. Time passed away very pleasantly with Cordelia and William, and they were safely landed, and a stage was in readiness to convey them to their place of destination. A short drive in the stage brought them to Mrs. S.'s and William was soon introduced to her. She gave him a cordial reception and he was soon seated in the parlor. William admired the situation, for it was one of the finest country seats on or near the Hudson. The parlor was most gorgeously furnished, and the sun shone through the large windows, and shot its fiery rays across the crimson carpets, and reflected upon the splendid mirrors and paintings that were suspended upon the walls. He had been accustomed to fashion-" able life, and he had seen the gaiety and splendor of both hemispheres, but he had seen but few situations in his own country that surpassed it. The beautiful view of the Hudson at the north could be seen to

High Point, and to the south the majestic Highlands, whose towering peaks rise one above another in grandeur. William was delighted with his visit, and everything, he thought, was there to make him happy. He thought nothing hindered him from securing Cordelia, for he knew she loved him, and they had formed an ardent attachment for each other. Mrs. S. had treated him kindly, and he promised Cordelia when he left that he would soon visit her again.

Mrs. S. was much pleased with William, and had no objection to his marriage with Cordelia, provided his character was stainless, and when she questioned her mother, therefore, 'respecting him as a companion for life, she replied favorably. As soon as William left Mrs. S., she immediately wrote to Miss A., in New York, relating all the circumstances of Cordelia's visit to her house, of her acquaintance with William, at the same time giving her the statement he had made respecting himself, and requesting her to get what information she could respecting him. Hardly a week had passed when she received a letter from Miss A., stating that she had obtained the information desired; that he was the son of a wealthy merchant doing business in Pearl street, and living in Broadway; that he was a dissipated young man, and that his parents had done everything in their power to reform him, but to no purpose; and as a last resort had sent him on a tour to Europe, with no better results. Mrs. S. had not informed Cordelia of her inquiries respecting William, and when she read the letter to her she burst into tears, and her agonies of mind were indescribable. She could not abandon the idea of marrying William, and she was greatly

incensed at Miss A. for writing such a letter to her mother. But she was fearful that it might be true, and she shuddered to think that he was immersed in dissipation, for the image of his loveliness was now stamped where no hand but that of death could efface it, 'and during her short acquaintance with him she had seen nothing to indicate the truth of such a report, and she thought his character pure and unspotted. But William was soon to make her another visit, and then she hoped that he could prove the report untrue.

William, on his return home, kept aloof from his old companions, and his mind was occupied in thinking of Cordelia, and he was impatient for the time to arrive when he was to visit her again. When the time came, he was soon again at Mrs. S.'s, and after he was comfortably seated in the parlor, he perceived that Cordelia was agitated. He thought she had been laboring under mental inquietude, and it alarmed him. She treated him with her usual kindness, and yet he thought there was something lurking in her heart which made her unhappy. Cordelia knew that her mother intended making known to him what she had heard respecting his character, and she hoped that he could prove it untrue, and this encouraged her; but when her mother introduced the subject, he lost his self control and frankly confessed it, and then Mrs. S. read the letter which she had received from Miss A. During the reading William was deeply moved, and the tears soon found their way to his cheek, and Cordelia was so overcome that she was obliged to leave the room. She soon returned, weeping, and resumed her seat on the sofa. Her face was suffused with tears, as she listened

to her mother, while she informed William that he must leave the house forever. When he bade adieu to Cordelia, the tears were rolling down his cheeks, and his heart was swelling with sorrow. He hurried to the city, joined his old companions in guilt, became a confirmed inebriate, dragged out a miserable existence, and died a wretched death. But the shock was too great for Cordelia. Isolated and alone, she shunned all society, and became melancholy. Her mother saw the fatal mistake that she had made, and she made every effort in her power to render her happy, but all proved unavailing, for she saw, when it was too late, that she had destroyed the peace of her daughter, and it penetrated the very chamber of her soul. She had inflicted a wound which no medicine could heal, no tears wash away! Secluded from the world, Cordelia's grief was unmitigated, and during the few short years that she lived, she was never more seen to smile. She died of a broken heart. Mrs. S. regretted very much the manner in which she treated William, and after the death of Cordelia, she had no desire to live. Her cup of sorrow was filled to the brim, and she was compelled even to drain it to its very dregs, for the trouble and mental agony that she endured soon terminated her existence.

Kind reader, Cordelia and her mother now sleep in the village churchyard at Fishkill Landing, beneath the stately branches of the cypress, and there will they slumber until the arch-angel shall lift his trumpet and sound the summons for all to appear at the Judgment Seat!