THE FIRST MURDERER.

BY J. II. A BONN.

I,

SILENT and still the bleeding body lay,
The earliest victim to Death's fatal shaft;
Earth from its contact fain would shrink away,
And shuddered as it drank the gory draught.

11.

And one stood by the corse, as in a dream,
A hideous dream, foreshadowing years of woe;
His 'wildered stare lit with a frantic gleam,
As on the lifeless form it seemed to grow.

III.

The jagged staff clutched with convulsive grasp,
His sinewy limbs defiled with drops of blood,
Thick-breathing, like a man at dying gasp,

With horror numbed, the PRIMAL MURDERER stood!

1V.

Silence was on the earth and in the air;

The breathing world in terror held its breath;

Life trembled the unnatural blow to hear,

And cowered at the sudden reign of Death.

V.

An awful silence reigned; but demon cries,
Unheard by mortal ears, were ringing out,
And ghastly forms, unseen by mortal eyes,

In gladness danced the blood-stained earth about:

VI.

For Crime led on Remorse and fierce Despair,

And Murder stalked around with blood-stained face,
While black-ribbed Death sat in his ghostly chair,
And seized the first-fruits of the human race.

VII.

The weapon dropped from his fear-palsied hand;
His ears were tingling with a voice of dread,
Proclaiming him a wanderer through the land
An outcast, with no place to lay his head.

VIII.

The scathing fingers of undying Crime
Traced an enduring mark upon his brow,
And forth he went, a wanderer, till Time

Should bid his head upon the green-sward bow.

Cleveland, (Ohio,) June, 1853.

THE

STORY

O F THE

РЕАСН.

As I was on my way home to-night, I was tempted by the sweet looks of the fruit, and purchased a peach. A noble specimen it was, too; red, ripe, and rosy, it projected its round and inviting sides as if desiring nothing so much as to be eaten.

I took it to my room, and, placing it on my desk before me, I contemplated it with much satisfaction. At last, in my pleasure I apostrophized it thus:

'O thou most beautiful fruit, my heart yearns toward thee. I worship thy sweetness, I adore thy loveliness. How long hast thou been preparing thyself for my lips. Ever from thy birth hast thou been gaining in size and sweetness, and the labors of thy life-time are devoted to me. But perhaps I should not show thee gratitude; thou art insensible; thou canst not appreciate it.'

And then, suffering myself to gaze dreamily at the peach, I wandered off, imagining its history, and thinking of its education, habits, and way of living, until, at last, I was interrupted by a tiny, but clear and sweet voice, calling me by name. I looked around to see who called me in such unwonted tones, and discovered the peach nodding pleasantly at me. So soon as it saw that I was attending, it commenced:

'You would know my history, and you shall be gratified. In accordance with the custom of all biographers, I must first give you a sketch of my parentage. I am of a good family; one that has been long celebrated. My mother was taken from her home just as she had arrived at maturity, by an urchin who, being discovered in the abstraction, (I will not call it robbery, for such was my mother's beauty, as she has often described it to me, that she might well have tempted an older person,) was fain to drop his ill-gotten booty, and seek safety in flight. As she had fallen in a grassy spot, she remained for a long time undiscovered, but was at last found, one morning, by the proprietor of the farm upon which she was born. But her beauty was gone; from long exposure to the wind and rain she had wasted away to less than one sixth of her original size, and what little remained of her was rough and hard; and, from what she has since told me, I should judge that she must have been a pitable looking object indeed. But the good old man saw the germ of good that yet remained, and carefully placed her in his pocket, saying that, although he could expect to derive no benefit from her, yet his children might, and, therefore, she should be placed in a good soil, and every chance for improvement should be given her; and she was accordingly transferred from his pocket to an appropriate corner of his garden, a space of ground allotted for her especial benefit, and the hope was expressed that she might improve it.

Grateful to the good old man for his kindness, my mother made every effort to meet, and, indeed, exceed his wishes, determined, if possible, to bring him a suitable reward. Thus, putting forth every effort, she soon became a comely tree, and in a few years had the gratification of presenting the old man with her first-fruits, and hearing him praise the beauty

and sweetness of her children. Nor were her children totally separated from her, for the good old man gave them a place near her, where she could be gratified with the sight of their growth, and where she soon had the pleasure of seeing some of them about to become heads of families themselves. But, alas! the good old man died, and his son succeeded him. My mother's grief was great at the loss, but oh! how much was it enhanced when she found how different was her new master! The demon of avarice was in his heart, and thus, year after year, did she find herself stripped of her children in their early youth. Long ere they were arrived at maturity, they were taken from her, and packed in baskets, to be bruised and torn in their journey to a great city, where they were to be sold in the markets, to be handled by rough and dirty urchins, to suffer every indignity. She clung to her children with all her strength, and refused to let them go. But, alas! she was weak; and when her master took her roughly by her arms and shook her violently, she could retain them no longer, and was forced to drop them one by one.

'Once, after she had been treated in this manner, she was grieved almost unto death, and for a time in her sorrow refused all sustenance, and thought she would never recover from the chilling blasts of winter. But with the spring came refreshing dews and pleasant zephyrs, and once more she rejoiced, put forth all her strength, and bloomed again. At this time I was born, and as I looked around me, I was rejoiced by the sight of many brothers and sisters. We passed the time pleasantly and grew rapidly; we dallied with the soft winds, and the sweet night-dews came and kissed us. But, alas! there was soon to be a change. There came a few cold nights, then a frost. Our master, who was careless as well as avaricious, had left us exposed to its full fury, and all, except myself, who chanced to be snugly ensconced between two leaves, were killed. I here learned a lesson of patience and contentment; for, but the day before, I had been complaining of those two leaves as obstructing my view and shutting me out from light and warmth, and now they had saved my life. I soon had the grief of seeing my brothers and sisters wither and fade away, dropping off one by one until, at last, I was left alone. Although I felt keenly the loneliness of my situation, yet my grief was comparatively light, for I was yet too young to receive very lasting impressions. Not so, however, with my mother; her constitution suffered a shock from which it could never recover. She put on her mourningrobe of yellow, and seemed fast pining away. Perhaps she would have died then, had it not been that she yet had me to live for, but she never forgot to furnish me with sufficient food. I soon forgot the death of my comrades, or, at least, so far chastened my sorrow as not to neglect my own well-being. I lived only on the purest substances; I drew strength from the pure air and refreshing dews, and my mother furnished me with the purest juices of the earth.

'This was the happiest stage of my life, for though somewhat sobered by the evident sadness and sorrow of my mother, yet I had no positive pain, and was far from being unhappy. One morning, I was startled by the sound of our master's voice, complaining, in high tones, of my mother, and evidently working himself into a passion, until, finally, he cursed her for her barrenness, and threatened her with being burned. This unkind

Attracted

ness plainly cut my mother to the heart; I felt her tremble violently as a sudden gust of wind swept by. Such unkindness from one whom she had so long and faithfully served, must have served to hasten her end; it is certain, at least, that from that time she pined away, until it seemed as if she could not hold out long enough to allow me to attain my full growth. 'We were in this state when I felt that I contained within me the germ of a new life, which would enable me to continue my race, could it only be brought to maturity before I should leave my mother's arms. I at once informed her of the fact, and was rewarded with new supplies of nourishment, which soon made a vast difference in my personal appearance as I grew apace. About this time, I came near losing my life, and for a short time much regretted my beauty, as it was that which came near bringing me to an untimely end. One day, when I had become abstracted in regarding my own beauty as reflected in the little stream upon whose bank my mother stood, I was aroused by human voices talking loudly, and, as I thought, mentioning my name. I glanced around and saw two boys: they were, indeed, talking of me. by that very beauty which I had been admiring a moment before, they were now devising means by which to become possessed of me. I was soon assailed with a volley of sticks and stones. I clung closely to my mother, who, though unable to defend me, yet held me as tightly as she could, and, when it was possible, interposed her own body and limbs as a shield; and so, at last, the boys became tired of throwing stones, which were aimed with too little skill to bring me down, and thus one of them decided to ascend for me. Seizing my mother around the body, he soon raised himself to a level with me; then, placing himself upon one of her arms, he endeavored to reach me; but just as I was giving up my last hope, my mother's arm, weakened by age, fell broken and lifeless to her side, precipitating the boy into the stream below; and, thus discouraged, they left me once more in peace. I had suffered but little, although I received one wound, the scar of which you can yet see'—and the peach turned her rosy cheek to give me a view —‘but that soon healed, and I was profoundly grateful that it was no worse.

'But let us pass over a time. I was now arrived at maturity, and began to feel an inclination to leave the maternal arms. Ere I left her, though, my mother gave me much advice for my future government, which it is useless for me to repeat, as it would be of but little interest to you, after which, gently loosing my hold, I fell to the ground. Here again I had a narrow escape, for I fell upon the bank of the stream, and should have rolled into the water, had not a friendly bush stopped my descent, and afforded me a shelter. I laid in this situation until the next morning, when I was aroused by the voice of my master, exclaiming: 'What a fine peach! will bring three cents in the market!' And, so saying, he at once transferred me to a basket which was filled with others of my species. We were covered tightly, and soon placed in a wagon, and started for the city. On the way I suffered terribly, for, beside receiving some severe bruises myself, I had the unhappiness of knowing that by my weight I was assisting to crush my fellow-creatures beneath me, and thus becoming an instrument — although an innocent one-of their destruction: indeed, it was a great wonder that we were not all

suffocated, such was the heat of the day, and the tightness with which we were covered: as it was, when we arrived at the wharf, and a new master removed the covering, he found nearly half of us so bruised as to be unfit for his use, and all such were unmercifully thrown into the river. I felt sorely bruised, and momentarily expected the same fate; but it appears that I imagined myself in a worse situation than I really was, for my master soon took me up, exclaiming: 'What a beauty! it will do to put on the top of the basket.' We were soon packed up in baskets again, and I observed with surprise that those among us who were suffering the most from bruises, and consequently least able to bear such a fate, were placed at the bottom of the basket, while those who were not at all, or at least but slightly bruised, were placed at the very top, where there would no weight come upon them. I was wondering at this strange disposition, when I heard one man call to another:

I say, Jack, be sure and get the very best ones at the top, for it will make them sell at least a shilling better.'

'I blushed with indignation at finding myself made an instrument of deceit, but was forced to submit to the degradation, for, as you see, I am entirely helpless.

'We were again covered and placed in a wagon, and when I next saw the light, the basket in which I lay was standing in a place that seemed to be filled with different kinds of fruit, but in which there was a most intolerable odor. There was a bloated and odious-looking old woman looking at us, and after she had talked a while with our master, he drove on and left us with her. I was beginning to feel quite badly from the dirt I had contracted in my journey, and therefore could but feel grateful to the woman when she took me up quite tenderly, and with a brush cleaned me very nicely; after which she placed me in another basket which was already nearly filled with my companions who had undergone the same process. We were left but a short time to rest, however, for a man soon came and placed us on his shoulders, which we only left to be transferred to the board from which you purchased me. I here observed, too, that our master was very particular to let us show our best side outward, so placing us that our bruises should be unseen by those passing. And here I must confess I could not restrain a momentary vanity at finding myself placed alone, and seeing by a card over me that I was considered worth twice as much as any of my companions. But this vanity was but short-sighted, for on looking around me, I was reduced to a despair that I had not before felt. My whole life had been passed in fitting myself to continue my race; and thus, when I looked around me and saw nothing but stones upon every side, and when I considered that I should probably become the property of some of the many thoughtless urchins that I saw passing and glancing at me with wistful eyes - boys who, after gratifying themselves with my sweetness, would doubtless cast me carelessly upon the pavement-then my fear and suspense were horrible. I can bear to die, so long as I may hope to live again in another shape, but to die and have that the end, is terrible.

'Of the many narrow escapes that I had during the day I will not speak, as I fear I am already tiring you with my story; but at last I saw you looking at me. I examined you closely, and thinking I saw that in