Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-01-14
G, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14hh, 1859.
THE FOOL OF LABoUDIE---A Tale
of sETrue Love.''

THE FOOL OF LABoUDIE---AT Tale
of HTrue Love-"
Some people are all hand, and some all
heart. The first do, and the others feel.
The one is always at work, laboring, Gre
ating, producing; the other spends his
life in deploring the miseries of humanity,
its sufferings, its wrongs; but there he
stops. The same in private life A man
of hand supports his family, gives them
good beef and mutton, dresses them well,
and proves that he loves them by making
them happy. The man of heart feels in
tensely if they are sick, has tears for the
slightest i'll that happens, deplores their
want of luxuries and necessaries, sits by
his chimney corner and talks, but does
nothing; proving, after all, that he loves
but himself He is the most amiable man
in the world, q general fsvorite in society,
an outwardly affectionate father and hus-
band; but his children are half starved,
and his wife goes about in an oil gown,
which the man of hands wife would give
away to some beggar, to whom it would
be useful and welcome. Not that we OBJ
ject to heart-far from it. A man cannot
have too much feeling, if he allies with it
the head to conceive, and the hand to ex-
ecute. A man wholly without heart is a
monster, and the great defect of Napo-
Icons character was that, with mighty
head and stupendous hand, he had scarce
ly any heart. 1t is the union of hand and
heart, with head to guide both, which
makes man a useful member OF soci-
ETY..
Ernest DelaYigne was the only child of
widow. His father had been superior
farmer of considerable property, and had
died leaving the land to his wife and son.
But Ernest, though fond of the country,
aspired to be something better than the
peasantry around him. He lived in part
of France where ignorance prevailed over
knowledge; where bad roads and impen-
etrable bogs retarded the progress of civ
ilization and where the people were in
that happy state of ignorance which pre-
vailed over most parts of Europe some
two hundred years ago where agricul-
ture caused twice the labor and gave hall
the returns which it afforded to the more
enlightened; and where no one had ever
yet attempted to penetrate the crust OF
barbarism which generally prevailed
Ernest had been educated at a town
school, and when young man compile
ted his education at a provincial college.
Though acquiring all the general knowl-
edge which was conveyed by the profes-
sors, he devoted himself particularly is
chemistry as applied to agriculture, and
to the formation of new cratorial instru,
ments. He returned home at twenty-one
full of magnificent projects. He would
effect revolution in the land-he would
teach them the advantage of all the new
instruments of draining, of manuring; and
above all he would effect complete al
teration in the dwellings-close, dirty,
unwholesome, and comfortless now
Admirable and praisewOrthy notion was
that of Ernest Delavigne. We shall see
how he carried it out.
Ernest had, as he thought, very plain
way before him. He set up as lectu-
rer, with the honest design of instructing
his less intelligent neighbors. Unfortu.
nately, however, nobody went to his lee.
lures; and all his solicitations met with g
polite but temporary rebuff. The people
in fact, liked their own way best, and
would believe nothing to the contrary or
mere hearsay. He was generally spoken
of as fool for his pretentions-the Foo
of Laboudie.'
The manner in which Ernest was trea.
ted at length induced him to abandon al
attempts at reformation and he betook
himself to Paris somewhat wiser man
Experience had cooled his ardor for i'm
proving mankind. Arrived in Paris, he
took up his lodging in the quarter Latin
and went to see NJ, Benoit, notary il
high reputc with the old aristocrcy, who
conided to him the management Of theil
pecuniary affairs with confidence and
security which spoke volumes for his hon
esty and honorable character. He recei
we'd NJ. Ernest kindly, listened to what he
had to say patiently, and then gave hin
advice.
He approved of his selecting medicine
as profession, and promised, if he plea
sed him, to introduce him into good so.
ciety, that the intervals of time between
his studies might be we'll spent. Ernest
accepted gladly, and at once began the
study of his new profession. 1t suited his
character, his feeling for suffering human
ity, to be the healer of the sick, and the
prospect cf associating as student with
the upper class of society was pleasant
and agreeable. He went to public lee
lures he read hard, and in the evenings
he visited one or two salons, which were
freely opened to him on the recommends
ton of NJ. Benoit.
He found this way of passing his time
vastly agreeable. He liked the conver-
sation of ladies; for they, as he abstain
ed from politics, sympathised with his
views, approved of his humanitarian prin'
ciples, and proved always an attentive
audience. One evening he was speaking
of his old and favorite topic, the introduc'
+;o,, of .rrricult,,ral inoDrOyementS into the