AUNT PHILLIS S CABIN.
Chapter I.
There would be little to strike the eye of a traveler accustomed to
picturesque scenes, on approaching the small town of L——. Like most of
the settlements in Virginia, the irregularity of the streets and the want
of similarity in the houses would give an unfavorable first impression. The
old Episcopal church, standing at the entrance of the town, could not fail
to be attractive from its appearance of age; but from this alone. No
monu-
ments adorn the churchyard; head-stones of all sizes meet the eye, some
worn and leaning against a shrub or tree for support, others new and white,
and glistening in the sunset. Several family vaults, unpretending in their
appearance, are perceived on a closer scrutiny, to which the plants usually
found in burial-grounds are clinging, shadowed too by large trees. The
walls where they are visible are worn and discolored, but they are almost
co-
vered with ivy, clad in summer's deepest green. Many a stranger stopped
his horse in passing by to wonder at its look of other days; and some, it
may be, to wish they were sleeping in the shades of its mouldering walls.
The slight eminence on which the church was built, commanded a view of the residences of several gentlemen
