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Show 82(3 ROEBUCK. 'rhc earth is darkened and the heav' ns arc RS n. pa 11 ; In starless gloom we pray to Thee for light : Ont of the depths, while sorrow overshadows all, "\V e call to Tllcc, 0 Father ; all is nigllt. To prayer thiuc cn.r is ever open as the Sl{y- 1'o cries of woe or secret sighs of care : All tears are known to Him who deigned on earth to dlo ; T luoucrh llim his tears and blood, 0 hear our prayer. ~ ' Let there be light where crimo and fear and anguish fill 'Vith darkness nll the circle of our sun: Dnt if for sin our stricken hearts must suffer still, Tby name be llallowccl anc! Tlly will be done. When l\Irs. Fairfax became certain that she w:-ts n.bout to die she 'vas not only resigned, but wa~J nlmost cheerfn1. :Finally she fell into the sleep that knows no "~:1king, as gently as n. babe f.tlls asleep in a mother's arn1s. Julia, after fulfilling her last filial duty, accepted an invitation fron1 1\lrs. Fitzhugh to vi8it that lady at the cottage which she then occt;piecl ·with her sou. Before leaving the county, a natural feeling indncc<l Jnlia to vi~it noebuck, "·hich she had not seen since she was driven fro1n the house by fire, and snatched fron1 her parents by violence. She fonna n. scene of desolation where, according to her fond r<'collection, £:;he hnc1 known n. paral1ise. The grounds in 'vhich her chiltlhood hatl pbyed "~ere . trewn 'vith frngtncnt~ of their forn1cr clceorat.ions. 'Tho gan1L'n which she had left in bloorrting beauty ,vas covercJ. 'vith a 1nat of trampled stmns. Ilere nncl there scanty p:1tehe~ of corn 'vere lazily cultivated by the negroes ,vito retnained, but over 'vido fields the 'vheat, unhar- • ROEBUCK. 327 vested, ·was left to rot, and the corn 'vas overo-rown with weeds. Fences 'vm·o destroyed, barns.::> ,vere bnrnt, fruit-trees were cut do,vn. Blackeuetl, rootl8~S · walls were nll that remained of the elegant 1nansion in .' vhic.h. a hnppy fn.1nily had livecl so lono-, in the ~ nn1ty of love, and in the practice of every donH~st ic, every social virtne. There, whatever is admirable in refinement 'vns f:m1iliar as a houf·rho1d habit. There, a generous hospit:a.lity, atl<.l n1ore generous charity, were dispensed as duly as the prayer for daily br(l~d 'vns r eprated nt 1norniug and evening. \Vhen ..T ulia stoo(l alone, a solitary orplwn on the 1narble steps 'vhich had been trodden by so znany entering and departing- guests, she looked throu o·h the OI1Cuino- in ~ ~ b' which the hospitable door ha<1 stood, and saw n othing but a~hes. The sceucs of happine~~ within thoso 'valls 'vhieh her 1nen1ory now rcea11Pcl served only to deepen her sense of il esolatiou. .But n1ost sorrowfnl of all associations with the scene, were the recent snf~ ferings and death of h~r father and 1110Lher, and of nn nnclc whon1 she had loved almost as dearly as f'he loved her parents. As she sLoocl :unong the ruins of l1er hon1e, and 'vept over the ~a1nmities of her family, vi vid1y re1netnbering the dreadful scenes through 'vhich sl1e had passed, and looking forward to a dark fntnre, a feeling overc:uue her, not unlike the despairing sentin1ent of the Preacher:-" So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under tho sun ; and beheld the tear~ of such as were oppressed, and they had no conlforter; and on the Hide of their oppressors there 1vns power; hut they ha<1 no conlfortel'. Wherefore, I praised the dead which are al~ ready dea<l, rnore than the living which are yet ali\·e. Yea, better is he than both they which hath not yet |