Richmond palladium., 1845-04-16
v0L. XVI

ted like sunbeamS over the of memory.
thought Of these and onged to return.
with such disposition during my absence.
you will easily believe that after my return was
not long in visiting the plantation of Pierre La
salIo. | rushed through the par.erre-tho old
man was on the piazza; He shook me warmly
by the hand ..Where," shouted |, ..where is
my little Marie?'' "Little Marie,'' repeated he
laughing, and entering tho house;--ho returned,
not with the pretty child of ten years that was
wont to gaze upon with boyish emotion, bu. a
lovely girl approaching the full deveIopenen,s Of
womanhood, still it was Marie Louise | had
never before looked on such loveliness. She was
perfect! In stature goddess-nn angel in fea
turc, with eyo that created love wherever its
gIances fell. | need not tell you Of the strange
emotions then experienced. | loved, doubted,
and feared; for until this moment it had never oc
CURED TO me that Marie might, in my absence,
have been wooed and won by another-and ano-
thcr was present. A certain Count D'OrvilIo, n
Frcnchman, introduced to He seemed
to be great favorite with Marie's maiden aunt.
sBut few days passed before found an op-
portunty Of conversing with Marie Louise alone
for visited the house of Pierre LasaIle daily
|. rs had wished and expected She loved
me-l hoard the thrilling confession IN her sighs
i it in her looks md blushes. Mark nc.
, Francis, do not mean to say that we had yet
made any formal avowal of our loves, bu. deem-
cd that she showed me plain partlallty, and the
day was not distant when | should require the
confession from her lips.
Time, like a sweet s.roan fringcd with lovely
flowers. glded smoothly past, aud ! was no lon
ger Jealous even Of tho noblcman who still con-
tinucd TO frequent the mansion OF l.aS5ciIe.
During my stay in Paris, among other evil
practcos had acquired tho habit Of lnduj@lng
in drink. 1t a college acquaintance that first
led me into this evil. ana 1t had grown upon me.
The swcetened liquors and fancy drinks that the
rcstoura,eurs Of the French Capital know SO well
4 i,,l Il ITO for ff,rr
stmulants. and had acquired the habit Of BRAN
DIV drinking. although only III small quantities. as
YOU drink now. Pierre Lasallc, above all other
things on Garth, dreaded drinkcr. His father
had died from the effects of drink.
/ Returning from Ibcryillc ono evening. stop
ped at his house. had mover passed it since
my return without stopping, and could not on
this occasion. had met number of my carly
companions in lbcrvilc, and during the day we
had drunk much winc around the billiard table.
| was somewhat intoxicated but not SO much as
not to perceive that tho old man received me
rather uncourtcouslv. Stung with his harsh
treatment, | did not visit his house for several
days. aud then only under tho influence of bran
! dv. Ny desire TO SEQ Louisa ovcrcamo my pru-
donce, and my nice sense of honor was blunted
/ by ntoxication. | can scarcely tell what passed
upon the occasion. Ny conduct, however, was
gross. demanded in angry words, an cxplana-
ton of his former treatment. and endeavorcd,
(monster that | was. to scizo Louise III my arms,
but prevented by the interference OF the
French nobleman, who at tho same timo rccclvcu
n blow from that fced HIM to tho earth. A
duel was the consequence. The Frcnchinan was
wounded but a far deeper wound given TO
mo by tho contents of noto which received
from Louise. | need not tell you all that tlls
noto contained; it forbade mo any further ac-
quaintance. From that moment | became re-
gardless of everything; and report that Marie
Louise about to bc married to the Count,
iphte poisn ha
am about to relate. II was too late to apollo
gse-to promise reformation. | flung myself on
board passing boat, and in n few hours was IN
tho city Of New Orleans. Now Orleans was at
this time wealthy and wicked, and presented al
most rs gay a field of dissipation Paris itself.
Il was not long in finding drain fer my re-
sources Night aftor night sleeping up
on drunken couch. | plunged into gambling
with n perfect rccklessness, and the excitement
of this for time pleased me- | was not tho on
ly one, by hundreds. of our young planters, who
was then spending his thousands nightly upon
faro and roulette. Tho city seemed to be one
huge gambling house. | had seen such high
gaming oven in tho hollis of Paris. In nigh,
alone lost upwards of twenty thousand dollars
upon another, moro than half that amount
Sometimes won largely, but the sharks taking
advantage of my recklessness and frequent lntox
ication robbed me-sometimcs Ly talso dice
and often as found by absiracting money from
my pockets.
ON ono occasion, a faro dealer, thinking ms
intoxicated, attempted, though in most slowing
lv manner, to cheat me out of thousand doIla
bet. | was not too drunk to perceive his trick
but enough to make mo regardless of what
did, and drawing my s.iletto | pinned his hant
TO tho table. | shall never forgot the uproar ,ha
followed. / was much abused, and IN tho even
was compelled TO pay 4 large sum of money t
stop prosecution that had beon entered agains
me. In this way my fortune melted, unit
finally obtained fifty thousand dollars by mort
+, gage on my plantation Ihis went like the rest
: and in less than year found myself beg
CARED. and without credit; for | had even OK
. hausted this and what worse than all, ha,
: become drunkard!
.You p,nv thinl, II stronoe my younp friend