Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-01-27

was one-atM-twcnty, woman eight years older
than myself in great measure fixed INV destiny,
and entirely formed my character.
Louisa Saivni was eight-and twenty wears of
age; Siolian by birth; full of the climate of
her country. Hers WAS the Spanish, or Italian,
style Of 6cau.y,-slnIll rather Us to figure, vet
ofcx1ui-i;c proportion. She has shape which,
but to hchol,, was passion "a carriage, such
L; nothing bat the pri'a of her own loneliness
could have s,i;,ycstcd:--r EYES their s,iacc of
crcou Tae 'cncni vas tIscin,ton her lips con-
fused the scnsc TO look upon thcui and her
VOICE Iii Uicrr be (pass,ug attraction either
of face or foru) one Chlrfn about vo,non moro
irresistible than every other, it is ti,at soft
that r,ld. sayce., liquid toac, which soo;hs even
IN oicndins:h aud whc:, i ushs, coninsssslSs /;
which shakes cor ,,ioi with its weak, ST word,
and can make fli>ch0.ri lay, though iho.vu for
such) SO sweet, that &c .sgard the ruth with
| loathing. Oh nelvsti.'t have iieariened to nc
dolicions accen,s OF such voice, III, had nv
souls hope been asked from rno, IL would have
been surrendered without struggle TO
night, at midnight, shall hear such voice for
the last timc shall hear il whiie gaze upon
features Of 'oveliness !; while my soul is iulled
with music, and when my brain is hot with
wine; and the mere melody of that voice will go
father to raise the deliriurn look for than ~
But enough of this now. My tale should be of
that which was. Let that which shall come
hereafter give some other historian material.
My acquaintance with Louisa Salvini was of
her seeking rather than Of mine. Accident
| threw me, under favourable circumstances, in
her way; but it SO happened that, at the mo-
| ment, did not perceive had excited her at
tention. The manner of our subsequent intro
ducdon was whimsical. / was not man tat
| twenty to decline an adventure blindfold a
well played upon old lady carried me- as d visit
Or, to Salvini's house; and my fate was decided
| from the first moment that entered it.
| Gracious Heaoes when l reflect that the
woman of whom speak ;---whom / recollect
one of the loveliest creatures that nature ever
formed Whose smile have watched, for its
mere beauty, even in the absence of passion ;
lat whose feet have sat for hour after hour
intoxicating myself with that f1attery which is
the only f1attery true manhood can endure -
| When reflect that this woman, at the moment
while write, is a Observation-Disclosures
creature of fifty !-Madncss-annihilatio
refuge from such thought. met her, scarce
a month since, after an absence Of years. Those
eyes, which once disconrsed with every rising
emotion, retained still something Of their origin
al brightness, but il now only added horror to
their expression. That hand, which had press
| cd for hours in mine, wac now grown bony,
shrunkcn, and discolcured. Her once cloud
| less complexion reehcd with paint, through which
the black fiIrrow Of time showed but more deep
| and ghasty. Her hps--Oh! they were the
| same lips which-The voice too more dread
| ful than all That voice which had once been
sweetest music to my soul that voice which
memory still is sounding in my ears ;-thatvoice
! which md loycli--iiaG worstippcd;- voice
vas gone 1t was no more and what re-
| ;nainei was haTsh, us,--broken,-dis-
! >ordalt !-Anl this tho woman whom SO a.
;'orcd 1t is she, and she is unconscious of
| change and | shall bc-must be--the thing
that she now is Hold, brain The blow of
his night saves me from sucl n fate
Nv love for Louisa Saivini endured two years
without safety. AT attachment of equal dura-
| ion has never bGfall1n me since. But, at the
| :ine 10 which | refer, all circumstances
| "ere in my favor. was glowing with all the
| ;,;rvour o. you;h IN with al the vigour of I'M
| waited u3:.,titu:i3n Nv ,nistress's beauty de-
| ijgi,;ei my senses her ayo'ved preference gra-
tiled my vanity; she was charming to me, (love
- 3ar;) taken merely as companion and, what
couduccd sill farther to the keeping alive our
passion, she ,ras not constantly in nv presence.
Contentment however, is not the lot of man.
live Mahonetan his paradise and in six
~eclls he would be disguised with it. NY af-
| lection for my charming mistress was Just begin
| ming to pc endangered, when the regiment to
| which belonged was ordered to the Continent
| The fact was. that met in Louisa's society a
"a-fey OF women, of principles as free as her
| pwn; and the very jealousy which each lady
| entertained of her friends, made success with
| herself the more easy and certain. A little
| while logger, and Louisa and | had severed {;
nv cmba"'lation, parting us by necessity saw
| cd rs probably from parting by consent.
1 left England very poor as to- pecuniary
| means; but rich in every other advantage
which Ito rnc,) made life desirable. Youth, .
youth , could, but recall the years that have
lived III would rather stand now upon the bar
| renest plain in Europe, -naked-friendless-
pennyless--but again sixteen, than possess, as
the thing am, the empire Of the world.
Is there fool so besotted as to trust the cant
he uttcrs,-to believe that MONEY can really
purchase all the blessings of this life !, Money
can buy nothing ,-t is worth nothing. have
rioted in its abundance have felt its total de-
rrivation and | have enjoyed more, believe,
of happiness in the last state than i'm the first.
| Shall forget the first event of my career on
| the Continent,-that event which, in the end,
| led to its premature termination ?--Shall for
get the insolent superiority with which looked
down upon my brother officers,-men to whom
! play, excess of wine, and mercenary women,
seemed, and indeed were, delights sufficient
| Wine, until after thirty, from choice, | seldom
tasted. My spirits, when sober, were too vivid
for control wine only troubled their serenity,
without heightning their level. Of pIay,-I
TOUCHED it once and shall speak of it hereaf.
ter. But women, such women as these men
could admire ? Even my more cultivated sense
rejected them two years Of intimacy with
Salvini and her companions had chasteued nv
! taste, and made delicate my perceptions. Can
| / ovp 4 hot cite