Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1850-12-20

40 otAtVfl4 0oNti AAtu hiSoCu iiCA triIucttl .
and then Caroline. still weeping, rushed from
the room.
But was il to think, as her father desired, of
her duty
Alone, in her chamber, she recalled. al alter
nate moments, the words Of her parent, and the
insidiuus persuasiuns sf her lover and alas lhe
latter had most influence with her.
Caroline was not exactly weak giFl, but she
had fallen into bad sei at school, and derived |
from il many lurtful noli0ns Of ehild's duty /
TO its parents, especially in case Of supposed
affection. She had read, not good novels, but
visionary romances andthese had strengthened
her mistaken ideas. Her present suitor was a
handsome libertine who knowing her father 10
be rich, desired TO possess The daughters hand,
as with It went large fortune. The finished
maners Of Collins had easily won her liking
for we can not call it love-and imagining her
self to be in similar situation to her favorile
heroines, she regarded the opposition Of her fa-
ther as oppressive and unreasonable.
That very day her suitor had urged her to-
elope with -, and she had consented to do so
But her parenEs kind expostulation had now
for time shook her purpose. Finally, how
ever, the vanity Of being the heroine Of run
away match, as well as her ili-based views re-
specting the supposed injustice Of her father,
induced her to fulfil her promise and at the
dead of night she left her home forever.
We say left her home, for she never had
another. Mr.. Warren proved true to his
threat, and was the more inhexible because
Caroline had eloped on the very night he had
pleaded so earnestly with her. she left ms
with my kiss still warm upon her check, he
said; she preferred another, and stranger, to
me; she treated me, not like her best friend,
but like an enemy, and henceforth she is ban
ished from my heart z
Yes! she never again had a home. Her
husband took her to a hotel, where they re-
NAMED several weeks, hoping daily to receive
summons from her father; but as none came,
they were forced at last to retire to cheap
boarding house. Here, amid Indifferent socie-
tv, Caroline, who had been tenderly nurtured
learned soon to feel acutely the advantages of
which she had deprived herself, and learned to
long for her old home. -
If her husband had really loved her, or If
she could have continued to persuade herself
that her father had been unjust, she might have
found some alienation in her altered fortune.
But her husband, angry that her father was
inexorable, now began to punish Caroline for
her fathers frmness, by negecting her and
left her, evening after evening, to amuse her
self, while he spent the hours at the billiard ta-
bic, in the theatre, or with some gay friends
over bottle or two of wine. 1t was now that
Caroline saw the correctness Of the Judgment
which her father had expressed respecting
Collins. She not only learned that he was
both idle and spendthrift, but discovered that
he was Incorporate, passionate and unpFin-
cipled. 9s
| Often when he came home excited by
wine, he would address her in a most
cruel manner, charging their present
poverty on her, or rather on her mig
gardly father,' as he called Mr.. Warren
to her face. At last one night he re-
! turned in state of violent excitement
from the gaming table, where he had
lost largely, and finding Caroline weep
ing. struck her blow in fit Of passion
J that felled her to the floor, where she
lay bleeding. af - 8 ~
7 And this was the end Of her dream oi
romance! Into this slavery, into this
( deep degradation had her vanity led her.
! Ashamed to tell the truth and throw
{ herself on her father for protection, she
: endured for more than year, every va
: siety of insult from her. husband shel
health. meanwhile, consuming away
: and her spirits, which had once been SC
high, utterly broken.
r oh, how often She repented her folly
e How, when she heard Of others Of hel
S sex forming clandestine marriages, she
5 would Sunderland exclaim, Alas The
Z chances are that they will be miserable
!. as am. Can they not see that tht
a man who persuades them 10 disobes
i their parents, shows in that very ,thins
I want Of principle that promises little
e for their future happiness 2
: But The cup Of her misery was not ye
n full. She had been married little o
I yer year when her husband left her I,
Q visit a neighbosiug city; and though sh'
q waited his return long after the promises
day, he never came. At last Iette
d from him was put into her hands. an,
e the missive announced, in the most un
e feeling terms, that lie had left her forey
!, er.
" She sank into 4 swooR and la7 70
= hours before she recovered. Whel
m she regained her CONSCIOUSNESS, it wa
to shudder at her condition, for sheswa
p pennies. with board for many week
I due, and not friend on whom she coul
n call for the slightest loan. Suddenly tn
3 parableof ihe Prodigal Son came up i
a her memory.
" II win arise and go tofnIy father sh
n. said, humbly, in The words OF that beau
re tiful storys and, with the exclamatio
lie she went forth, 10 seek her. home an
" sue forgiveness, heartbroken as she wa
ur II was showing fast, but she did nc
heed it. she had thrown on a bonnt
ar and light shawl; but had forgotten
~ change her thin shoes, or to assume
~ cloak. The melting fakes penetrate
~. - lhar sl;nht attire hnt she hnrried q