The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-09-18
LIFE AMONG THE LowLY.
BY MRS. II. b. STOWE.

T1o,S other matters
Since the thread Of our humble hero's life
has now become interviewer with that Of high
er ones it is necessary to give some brief intro
duction to them
Augustine St Clare was the son Of a wealthy
planter of Louisiana The family had its orr
! gin in Canada. OF two brothers very similar
in temperament and character, one had settled
ON a furnishing farm in Vermont and the 9TH
or became an opulent planter in Louisiana.
The mother of Augustine was HuguenOt
French lady, whose family had emigrated to
Louisiana during the days of its early settle
ment Augustine and another brother were
the only children of their parents Having in
herlted from his mother an exceeding delicacy
OF constitution, he was at the instance Of ply
slcans during many years of his bOyhOod sent
10 the care of his uncle in Vermont in order
that his constitution might be strengthened by
the cold of a more bracing climate In child
hood he was remarkable for an extreme and
marked sensitveness of character, more akin
To the softness of woman than the ordinary
hardness Of his own sex Time, however, over
grew this softness with the rough bark Of man.
hood, and but few knew how living and fresh
it still lay at the core. His talents were Of the
very first order, although his rNiM& xa.DT-2S
I prafeee~>s elAEeys Cor the ideal and the asthet-
u, and there was about HIM Hiat repusnA,,S;,
10 the actual business of life which il the COM
mon result of this balance of the faculties
Soon after the completion Of his college course
his whole nature was kindled into one intense
and passionate eferveseence of romantic pas
sion. His hour eame--the hour that comes
only once his star rose in the horzon-that
star that rises 40 often in vain, 10 be remem-
bered only "a a thing of dreams-and it rose
for him in vain To drop the figure he saw
and won the love of high-minded and beautiful
woman in one Of the Northern States and
they were afhanced He returned South to
make arrangements for their marriage, when,
most unexpectedly, his letters were returned to
him by mail, with a short note from her guar
| dian, stating 10 him that ere this reached him
the lady would be the wife of another. Stung
TO madness, he vainly hoped, as many another
has done, to fling the whole thing from his
heart by one desperate effort Too proud to
supphcate or seek explanation, he threw him.
self at once into whirl of fashionable society
and in fortnight from the time of the fatal
letter was the accepted lover of the reigning
belle of the season and rs soon as arrange
ments could be made he became the husband
of Il fine figure, a pair of bright dark eyes
and a hundred thousand dollars-and of course
everybody thought him happy fellow,
The married couple were enjoying their
honeymoon, and entertaining brilliant circle
of friends in their splendid villa near Lake
Pontehartrain, when onearday letter was
brought to him in that well-remembered wri-
ting. 1t was handed to him while he was in
null tide of gay and successful conversation in a
whole room full OF company lie turned deadly
pale when he saw the writing. but still pre-
served his composure and finished the playful
warfare of badinage which he was at the mo-
ment carrying on with lady opposite--and, a
short time after, was missed from the circle.
In his room alone he opened and read the
letter--now worse than idle and useless to be
read II was from her, giving "A long account
of persecution TO which she had been exposed
by her guardians family, TO lead her TO unite
herself with their son and she related how for
| q long time his letters had ceased to arrive
how she had written time and again, till she
became weary and doubtiul-how her health
had failed under her anxieties-and how at
| last she had discovered the whole fraud which
had been practiced on them both. The letter
ended with expressions of hope and thankful
ness, and professions of undying affection, which
were more bitter than death 30 the unhappy
young man. He wrote to her Immediately:
~ have received yours-but too late. | be-
lieved all | heard | was desperate. ] am
married, and all is over Only forget-it is all
that remains for either of us"
| And thus ended the whole romance and ideal
of lite for Augustine ST. Clare But the real
remained-the real, like the fiat bare cosy
tde-mud when the Incorporating wave, with
all its company Of gliding boats and white
| winged ships, its music Of oars and Ginning
waters, has gone down, and there il lies fiat
| Shiny, bare, and exceedingly real
OF course, in novel, peoples hearts break
and they die, and that il the end Of il; and in
a story this * exceedingly convenient But in
real life we do not die when all that makes life
| bright dies 10 us There is most busy and
important round Of eating drinking, dressing,
walking visiting, buying, selling, talking, read
| ing. and all that makes up what is commonly
called living, yet TO BIO gone through, and this
yet remained TO Augustine Had his wife been
| whole woman she might yet have done some
| thing-as woman can-to mend the broken
| threads Of life and weave again into tissue OF
| brightness But Marie st Clare could not even
| nee that they had been broken. AS before
stated, she consisted Of fine figure, pair Of
splendid eyes and hundred thousand dollars
and none Of these items were precisely the ones
| TO minister TO mind diseased
When Augustine, pale as death, was found
lying on the sofa, and pleaded sudden sick head
ache az the cause Of his distress, she recon-
mended TO him 10 smell Of hartshorn and when
| the paeness and headache came on week after
week, she only said that she never thought Mr..
| st. Clare was sickly: but ii seems he was very
| liable 10 sick headaches and that il was a very
unfortunate thing for her Der, because he didn't
enjoy going into company with her, and it
seemed odd 10 go 10 much alone, when they
were just married. Augustine was glad in his
heart that he had married 40 nndiscerning
woman but IA the CLOSES and cvilities Of the
honeymoon wore away he discovered that
beautiful young woman, who has lived all her
| life 10 be caressed and waited ON, might prove
quite hard mistress in domestic life. Marie
never had possessed much capability OF aifec-
ton or much sensibility, and the little that she
had had been merged into most intense and
unconscious sefshness--a selfshness the more
hopeless from its quiet obtuseness its utter ig-
norance Of any claims but her own. From her
| infancy she had been surrounded with servants,
vino lived only 10 study her capriees the idea
that they had either feelings or rights had never
dawned upon her, even in distant perspective.
| Her father whose only child she had BEEN had
never denied her anything that lay within the
compass Of human possibility; and when she
entered life, beautiful, accomplished, and an
heiress, she had Of course oil the eligiblos and
non-eligbes Of the other sex signing at her
feet, and she had no doubt that Augustine was
most fortunate man in having obtained her. II
il great mistake TO suppose that woman
with no heart viii BIO an easy creditor in the
exchange Of affection. There is not on earth a
more merciless exactor Of love from others than
a thoroughly selfish woman--and the more
unloyely she grows, the more jealously and
scrupulously she exacts love- 10 the uttermost
farthing Whom therefore, ~ Clare began 10
drop or those gaiantries and small attentions