Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. II.djvu/173

Rh believed him innocent, have behaved most admirably. They work for their maintenance, and have declined the pecuniary assistance which the widow of the murdered man had most nobly offered to them. One of the daughters is married, and resides in Madeira, another is engaged to be married, and it is said that the whole family will leave America for Madeira. I rejoice that they are able to leave the country.

Spite of this murder having been clearly proved, and of the low tone of morality in Webster, yet is the feeling in these Northern States so strongly opposed to capital punishment, that it has expressed itself even in this case by various protests. One family, residing in a house just opposite the prison, within the inner court of which the criminal suffered, removed during that time from their house, and left a placard on the door, with these words—

Again by the sea! Again I inhale the fresh breezes of the great sea in company with my excellent friends. Marcus is well, and enjoys life here. Baby improves every day. The place is solitary, and has a wild charm. The moon shines magnificently over the sea, which roars loudly, agitated by the wind. I walk on the shore in the evening with Marcus, and indoors, Rebecca tells me in the clear moonlight occurrences in the history of the inner light, which prove the wonderful life and guiding of that inner light, where the soul truly waits for it with quiet introverted attention.

Small fires in rows and circles shine out on the sands by the sea, or among the trees on the shore. There are brushwood fires in which the “clams,” a kind of large mussel, are roasted for suppers on the sands. They are delicate in flavour, and to my taste superior to oysters.