Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1851-12-26

excellent father.
As soon as | arrived at Greendale, fount
there two other gentlemen quite as much il
love- and quite as much enchanted by the fas
cinating young lady, as | was. | ptied the un
fortunate youths, because they had infatuated
themselves with the hope of happiness which
no one, believed, should aspire to hut myself
We were all old acqualntances and as it is
not our habit to put our light under a bushel,
was determined to give my rivals little hint o
my advantageous prospects.
raised, therefore, somewhat the veil which
had concealed nay modest confidence. Bu
then came curious revelations My rivals, an
imated by my example, lifted likewise the vel
from their respective prospects, and, behold
we all three stood in precisely the same posi-
ton. We all sighed; we all hoped we all
had souvenirs that we kissed in secret. and they
all were, as it were, serpents, and bit their owl
tails.
At these unexpected revelations, we all ex.
clulmed "Ah!" and left Greendale together
each going his own way. My father was 1t.
tie surprised to see me return so soon.
my dear Constantine" said he, " thought
you intended to stay at Greendae much lon
ger time y
"les," replied, with a pensiye air, taking
at the same moment large mouthful of bread
and butter. yes but | had altered my mind
when | got there
With this the conversation ended, and the
charm was broken once and for ever. Bul with
it was also broken one link out of the rosy time
Of my lf, began t. regard all roses, wheth-
er real or typlhed, with angry or suspic iou1
looks, and to speak of the "illusions of life, '
and of "glvinG them up &c, &c made a
solemn vow with myself that the next object Of
my affections, the next choice | would make
for 'my WIFE, should in all respects, be the We
ry reverse OF the asclnating but traltorous Rose
had been deceived, as | magned, by the DO
etry of life; now | would keep to the sober
prose.
All in what noble form did my new ideal
present herself to my eyes, as one evening
entered the hospltable saloon Of Mrs. A., the
wife of the celebrated Judge. Alba her daurh.
ter, stood ready to oiclate at the tea-tabe; her
features, her figure, her manners, were dirnihcl
and full Of propricty, She looked like personi.
fed ruth, in contrudistlnction to the flntasti-
cal bewitching Rose. Instantly fell in love
with this beautiful image Of Minerva, and
thought Of "my wife"
Aola, however, seemed only to think Of the
tea, and looked neither to the left nor to the
right When tea was poured into III the cuoS
sne slowly turned her splendid head, and |
heard, at the same moment, bass voice excam
"Sundholm" !"
An, Heavens! was that her voice Was i;
not rather that OF the angel Of Judgment who
in tn. middle Of Mrs A 5 evening purity, sum
moned the sinner Sundholm to hear his final
DOOM ] could have believed anything rather
than that such voice could issue from the beau
tiful lips of y bin. But, when behed Sunl-
holm advance to the tea table and receive the
tea cups on his tray, saw that the rcsounding
bassoon voice beonged to no other than the
sweet lady whom had Just adored, and whom
Ihad, in my heart, already called 'my wife
| inquired some little time before could
reconcile my mind on this point. "Sundholm"
sounded awtully through my ears for many a
long hour. begun to reason on the subject
If, said |. Nature has bestowed a bass-yoce on
this beautiful young lady, is 1t not noble ami
excellent of her not to try to conceal or EN-
b9IIlsh II? Does 1t not prove her love OF
truth; her strength Of character ana her gleat-
ness o.: soul: How easy 1t would have be.n
for her to cry, "Sundholm." IN taIsctto but
she would not be fItSr even in this Not will
ing to assume a dis rulSe even for the sake of
winning admiration, she summons SundhOim
IN the voice which God has given her. Is
there not something Grand in al this; One
who thus calls ont "SundhUm,' VIII not de-
celve an honest fellow with hollow words or
pretenied feeling, but will play an open game
with MN, and let hlm understand the truth at
once.
was itroduced to the handsome Abba. There
was no denying that the voice was not ilnc {:
bul when you were accustomed to it, it ceased
to be dsagreelble: besides which her words
were SO simple and candid, and her face so
lp1 Il hv 1 a.
zled. My ears crept, as it were, into my eyes
ana gazing, day after day, on Ablas tuuitess
profile, was conveyed at once into the realms
of love, and, ravshed by my sense Of sight
asked ABA if she would be "my wife" She
answered "YEs," with force of utterance that
nearly frightened me. We were betrohed
and the nearer | gazed on her fine profile the
more was satisfied. This, however, dld not
last very long.
he period Of betrothal is a very singular
one; penod Of htIfne,S and ncompetenesS :;
nevertheless 1t Is a sensible INSTRUMENTATION
1t does not continue too long. II is the prelude
to union that nothing but death ought to DIS
solve and, II 1t shoull appear impossible to
execute harmonl0usy the duet which has now
commenced, there Is yet time to break it Oft
calmly.
The first discord that disturbed the duet be
tween "iny wife elect and myself, was-not
her deep voice, but alas that very thing which,
! At first, had rec"ncilcd me to it. viz, her love
otruth, or rather, | should say, her unmcrciiul
way Of uttering 1t.
! That we are all sinners, in thought, word.
nn1 deed, Is lnrtter Of fact, and nobody was
more Will nT to admit 1t than myself; but to be
reminded OF 1t every moment by ones best
| friends, Is by no means agreeable nor does 1t
do any good, especially when the plain speak
ing friend never tancies himself or herself, ca
/ paO OF slaning or being faulty in the slight
est degree. And the worst of it was. that ap.
pirenty Abba had no faults. All! if she had
had but one; or, better still, if she would but
have admitted the possibility of it, then should
have been ready to throw myself at her feet
But she was III temper and IN character unm-
peachable as regular, as perfect as she was in
hIure; she was so correct and proper, that, SIN.
ner as was, It drove me into a rage. felt
that Abla's righteousness, and especially her
mode OF educating me, would, in time, make
me prodgluuS sinner; more particularly as
she would never yield to my wishes It dawn
ed upon me, before long, that her selfnght-
eousness and want of charity to others, was IN
IL - A