river, there formerly stood a little chapel and a tomb of which every vestige is now removed. While we are riding I will give you the story as it was told some years ago, in the New York Knickerbocker.

ADELE BARRON.

A NARRATIVE OF REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES IN REAL LIFE.

The custom of depositing the dead in tombs, however sanctioned by the precedent of Machpelah, has always appeared to me unnatural and inexpedient. There is a seeming attempt to make death comfortable, to enlarge the bounds of our last house, and evade, for a little time at least, the inevitable law of "dust to dust." In some countries it is necessary, as in Egypt, where the sandy soil exposes the corpse to the liability of disinterment by wild animals or the force of the winds, and where there seems to be, in the caverns and rocky hills, a sort of natural provision for the purpose; but where no such difficulty exists, the grave in a rural cemetery seems to present far more pleasing associations than the whitened sepulchre or the vault concealed from view by a grassy covering. Either of the last two presents to the mind the idea of a gloomy cellar, full of dead men's bones, or rows of dingy coffins bursting open with pes

tiferous odors. The thought of decay is in itself bad enough; but when that association is accompanied with the "horrible conceit of death and night" which belongs to the charnel house," to whose foul mouth no wholesome air breathes in," we feel somewhat the same horror and dread which possessed Juliet at the thought of waking in such a place. How much more satisfactory the thought, that as the work of decomposition advances, the earth will close around and conceal forever from exposure, or at least from recognition, the remains of those we love, until at last, mingling with the dust around, they may nourish the turf and flowers which we plant above.

Nor is the tomb as secure from invasion as we are apt to suppose, especially in this country, where families so frequently change their residence to a point far distant from the burial place of their ancestors. We have seen doors rusted off from their hinges; vaults which have caved in, in consequence of the sinking of the earth around, the crumbling of one or two imperfect keystones, or the loosening of perhaps a bad cement from the constant dampness occasioned by a heavy overgrowth of moss and creepers. Truthfully does the clown in Hamlet say, that the houses made by the grave maker last till doomsday!

I never shall forget the emotions with which I listened some time since to the details given by the sexton of one of our New York churches. He had visited the tenements of the dead at almost all hours and seasons, and seen corpses in almost every state of decomposition, and spoke of it all with as much professional coolness as does the gravedigger in Hamlet. Although to the philosopher it can matter but little what becomes of his useless and soon-to-be-forgotten dust, a thrill passes through every sensitive mind at the thought that a stranger may lift the coffin lid, and gaze upon the mouldering remains with that morbid curiosity which some people possess ; and especially must this feeling prevail in a populous city.

Mr. Barron was an Irish gentleman, of a family of some distinction, who about the year 1788 removed to the United States, and, having settled in the city of New York, conducted an extensive commercial business with England and France.

His high character as a merchant and his superior attainments secured him the esteem and confidence of the public. No one entertained with more hospitality, or used wealth with more reference to the real refinements of life. New York was at that time the political as well as commercial metropolis of the Union, and under the

administration of WASHINGTON, with the eminent men in his cabinet and in Congress, there was more of the polish and gayety of a court than has been exhibited at any time since. In the circle of fashion, Mr. Barron's only daughter Adele, just blooming into womanhood, was the reigning belle; her exquisite beauty of person and sound good sense attracting the admiration of all the gentlemen, while her perfect simplicity of manners, unaffected modesty, and obliging disposition disarmed all envy on the part of her own sex. Two gentlemen had been universally regarded as rivals for her hand; the one an English gentleman, who had been acting as a diplomatic agent of his Government, the other a young merchant in New-York, and one of her father's partners; the former of whom we shall designate as Mr. Welden, the latter as Mr. Carleton. For a long time their attentions were unremitting, and it was considered doubtful which would secure the lady's preference. Carleton, by reason of kindred pursuits, as well as the fact that he would reside in this country, was thought to be more favored by the father and mother; while Welden, more polished and intellectual, was regarded as the lady's choice. Meanwhile, the two were constant visitors at the house, and, while Mr. Carleton was received with all the politeness due to a friend of her father's,

she strove to avoid in any way giving what might be construed into encouragement. But Carleton was not one to be rebuffed by trifles; and with that astonishing blindness to all ideas of dignity and self-respect which so often characterizes the passion of love, still cherished hopes, although it soon came to be known that the fair one had pledged her hand to his rival, and that he was about to return to England to attend to some family matters, and endeavor to complete arrangements for thereafter making the United States his home.

Mr. Barron had enjoyed the pleasure of a personal intercourse with Washington, during which he had become warmly interested in the President's favorite scheme for the establishment of a seat of government on the Potomac; and, in his contemplated retirement from active business, had thought of the future capital as a place for pleasant residence and society, and safe investment of his funds in city lots; the highest expectations having been at that time formed of the rapid rise of a magnificent city on the waste fields of Carrollsburgh and Hamburgh. He had accordingly purchased, at considerable cost, a large tract, and put a part of it under cultivation; taking up his residence in Georgetown until his plans could be completed and a suitable residence built on the Capitol hill.