The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-01-11
LOVE AT A GLIMPSE

whose lntellects had been unsettled upon 4
very strange account. When a youth. he
han happened to pass a lady on "a crowded
thoroughiare-a lady whose extreme bean.
V, though dlmmed by the intervention of a
Veil' and seen but for a moment, made an
lndelibie Impression upon his mind. This
lovely vision shot rapidly past him, and was
IN an instant lost amidst the common place
crowd through which it moved He was so
ronfounded by the tumult of his feelings
that he could not pursue or even attempt to
see 1t again. Yet he never afterwards for
got it. "
With mind full of dstracting Thoughts,
and heart filed alternately with gusbes OF
pleasure and of pain, the man slowly left
the spot where he had remained for some
minutes as it were thunderstruck. He soon
after, without being aware of what he wish.
cd. or what he was doing, found himself
again at the place. He came to the very
spot where he hal stood when the la
passed, unused for some time abou: if. went
to-a little distance, and then back as he bad
come when he met the exquisite subject of
his reverie-unconsciousl deludinG him
self with the idea that this might recall ber
to the spot. She came not--be felt disao-
ri
from passing. He continued 10 traverse
the place TIL evening, when the street be-
came deserted. By-and-by, he was left
altogether alone. He then saw that all his
iond efforts were in vain, and he left the
silent, Lonely street, at midnight, with a soul
as desolate as that gloomy terrace.
FOR weeks afterwards he was never off
the street. He wandered hither and tbith-
er throughout the town, like forlorn- ghost
In particular lie often visited the place
where he had first seen the object of his
distracted thoughts, as if he considered
that he had better chance of SEEING ber
there than any where else. lie freouented
every place of public amusement to which
he could purchase admission; and he made
a tour OF all the churches in the town.. All
was in vain. He never again placed his
eyes upon that angelic countepance. She
was ever present in his mental optics-but
she never appeared in tangible FORM
Without her essential presence, all the
world besides was to him blank-a wil.
derness.
Madness invariably takes possession of
the mind which broods over-much or over
long upon the expressing idea. So did it
prove with this singular lover. He grew
innocent, as the people of this country ten
derby phrase it. His insanity, however,
was little more than mere abstraction
The course Of his mind was stopped at a
particular point After this he made No
further progress in intellectual attainment.
lie acquired no new ideas. His whole
soul stood still. He was like clock stop
ped at particular hour; with some things,
too. about him, which like the motionless
lndIces OF that machine, pointed out the
date of the interruption. As for instance.
he ever alter wore peculiarly long ba, ked
ana nigh necked coat, as well as nee
cloth OF particular spot, being the fash
ION OF the year when he saw the lady. IN
deed he was sort of living memorial of
thedress, gait and manners of former day.
1t was evident that he clung with degree
OF fondness TO every thing that bore relation
to the great incident of his life. Nor could
he endure any thing that tended to cover
up or screen from his recollection that ple-
rIous yet melancholy circumstance. He
mad the same feeling of veneratian for that
day-that clrcumstance-and for himself.
as he then existed-which caused the chiv
alreus lover Of former times to preserve
upon ms lips, as long as he could, the mag-
mary delight which they had drawn from
the touch of his mistress's hand.
When last saw this unfortunate person
he was getting old, and seemed still more
dcranged than formerly. Every female
whom ne met on the street, especially if at
all good looking, he gazed at with an in
curing anxious expression, and when she
had passed, he usually stood still few mo-
ments and unused, with his eyes cast upon
the ground. 1t was remarkable that he
gazed most anxiously upon women whose
ages and figures most nearly resembled
that OF his unknown mistress at the time
he had seen her, and that he did not appear
to make allowance for the years which he
h had passed since his eyes met that vision.
Tins was part of his madness. Strange
power of love Incomprehensible mech.
ansm of the human heart
Edinburg Literary Journal.
Extract from Professor Hitchcock's Prize
Essay on alcoholic and Narcotic sub
stances.
RUN FROM BLOOD. If you disti drunk
ards blood you will obtain pure alcohol :;
indeed, it has been found in the ventrcles
of the brain. Now alcohol in tho blood