The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-04-05

ouueu W cup aheaoy Drlmmlng with anguish
Attempting to rise, the widow tottered, and fell
PROSTATE upon the floor.
Mrs. General Carroll. who had great horro,
| of scenes, wished the child was in Joppa She
! always thought twould be so and she hoped
the General would get cured of his wbims.
Ibid you mark the language of the man
| reader? The ,coman's consent ,oas scholty un
necessary 10 the ualidity of the contract! Lei
| us draw nearer to our cradles, mothers, fol
| they may DE legally robbed The little Annie
| that lies In our bosom, she around whom clus
ter the fondest associations of home, may, with
out our consent, and contrary to nature and to
| natures God, be transferred to another, and
| surrounded by influences that we 1eplore
Our companion, in his hour of weakness, in
| his hour of temptation and of trial, i fit o.
caprice, for purposes Of revenge or mai &c, may
bequeath, may contract for anothers fdoption
or bind by indenture, not only without sur con
sent, but in despite of our opposition, that be-
ing for whom we suffered whom we send&1 y
watched over in infancy, and led through the
| unequal paths of childhood that being who is
a part of our being, and in whom is centred
more than in any other earthly venture, the
hopes and bright anticipations of coming years
And this, too, in an age that boasts of Its ad
vanced humanity! This, too, is legalized nv
banquets, the inspiration of their songs, and a
theme for their eloquence
The distracted mother uttered no words OF
reproach, but, in tones of melting pathos, be-
sought the restoration of her child She
entreated her brother, by his hope Of happiness
here and hereafter, to relnquish his claim upon
her, urging a mothers tenderness and respon-
slblhty as most potent reason why he should
do so. Finding the man memorable, she beg.
ged to take Annie home for few days; but.
no! it wasn't best. Then she besopght her
presence for a few hours, and even that was
denied. "For a few minutes, then, for the
love of heaven, let me see my child" she ex-
claimed.
At this iuncture Annie burst into the room,
and, with a cry of JOY, sprang toward her moth
er. The servant from whom she had escaped
seized her, and, at the low, stern words, Take
her away" she was carried screaming, from
the room,
The mother then dashed aside the last tear
she had 10 shed; despair settled down upon
her marble features; and, gathering her wild
ow's robe around her, she staggered into the
street, and started for home.
Seeing but this one phase Of the Generals
character the reader will deem him relent-
less, selfish man. But not so. He was
esteemed for his kindness, his geniality and
benevoleAee. In this case he thought he was
doing right. He knew it would be a. severe
trial to the woman, but like the surgeon, who
performs painful and dangerous Operation
with good rather than bad intention, so he
did, with no desire to create suffering, what he
deemed it best to do. And then he fancied, as
man often does, that the mother might forget
her child. He goes abroad and the voice of his
little one is lost in the myriad sounds that come
surging up from the busy maEts of life; but
woman forgets not thus the being that thrilled
her heart with the joys of maternity.
General Carroll told the mother that her
child was well, and indeed she was not alarm
ingly indisposed, but was suffering from the
change through which she had passed. Things
so new, and strange, and inexplicable, opera
ting upon an easily excited system, threatened
serious illness. The grief eccasioned by the
forcible separation from her mother, added to
the former irritation threw her into a fever,
and, ere the day had closed, physician was
called 10 attend her. General Carroll gave
himself no rest but nursed her increasingly,
both day and night. She grieved continually
for her parents, and, in her paroxysms Of flight
mess, screamed for protection from the evil
beings with which the servant had filed her
Imagination.
"Now, take this medicine, my child, and
then you'll get WE'LL" entreated the distressed
uncle.
81 don't want to get well, cause you wont let
let me go home" replied Annie.
"Why, my dear little one, don't you want to
get well, that you may ride in the carriage, and
go and get new dress, and gold chain, and
all the pretty things that you want?"
"No; want to go home to my mother.
Wont you take me home, Uncle Will?" asked
Annie, with her lip all made up for crying.
Perhaps so, some time but want you to
live here with me, my precious one, and you
shall have beautiful doll, and some birds in
a cage, and whole room full of toys"
"No, no, don't want to- cried Annie. as
tears ran down her face, and sobs convulsed
her. 81 want to go to my mother"
"You are sick now; you must wait till you
get WELL"
The idea of waiting overwhelmed her with
deep distress, and then succeeded violent cry
ing, which made her worse and worse. Scenes
similar to this were enacted and re-enacted
every day. After fortnight, spent in fruitless
longings for home on the part of ADhe, and
attempts at reconciliation on the part of her
uncle, the physician expressed it as his opinion,
that the presence of the mother was indispen-
sable to the recovery of the child She was not
very ILL., but she pinned for her natural protector,
her cheek grew pale and the buoyancyof child
hood was gone. Break the flower from its
parent stem, and it matters not how tenderly
you watch over it, how pure the water, and how
chaste and elegant the vase in which you place
it, still it withers-ts wealth of beauty and of
fragrance exists no more.
The General found himself in a very awk
ward predicament. After making such an eff.
fort to secure his prize, should he give her up?
That would be too much like begging pardon
of the world for having found treasure. Re-
traction was not in his vocabulary. STILL after
mature elaboration, after measuring again and
again the probabilities of recovery, and feeling
the impotency of medical aid, and of his own
strong will that made him declare it should be
So he must have concluded that acquiescence
IN the Doctors proposition would be the child's
only salvation. Then, his wife had not taken
the interest in his charge that he anticipated;
and that was a source of modification. No one
with him his best friends shrug-
ged their shoulders at the wrong. The mother,
whom he had called upon once or twice since the
was laboring under settled melan-
choly, not really amounting to- but threaten
ing, mental alteration. These things must
have conspired together, without doubS to make
him question somewhat the expedie,cy of the
step he had taken. "But it was legal" he
would say to himself Legal and so is DO
lygamy in Utah. Howard gave her to me"
was another attempt at consolation. Gave her
to you, General! What were the ciscunstan-
ces? You proposed to adopt Annie, and he
promptly rejected the offer. You spread be-
fore him the allurements of wealth, and sur
rounded his child with regal splendor, and yet
he spurned the proposition. You. limited that
she might have a step.father who would not
deal gently with her. and still the DIVING man
yielded not. 1t was only when you impeached
the ability of the mother to train her Alright,
when you based your proof upon the deformity
of Nall fhaf orainad a hoarinx Ax,d T.