The Georgetown news., 1856-01-31

packet 1t was scaled with black and bore
my direction, with a line to the London
Post Office, requesting it to be sent to A
merlca. Finding my efforts Intellectual TO
persuade the woman that the packet bore
my name, | purchased it from her at the
price of a guinea; and leaving her a suf-
cient sum to defray the funeral obsequies of
Graham, and promising to call early the
next day, departed on the cessation of the
storm.
On reaching my Hotel, I dismissed my
valet from my room, and throwing myself
on a sofa, opened the packet and deyour-
ted; but l overcame the interlineations and
read as follows:
"LoNDON, Oct. IS.
To you, my dearly cherished friend, now
that all hope Of seeing you has passed away
forever, may | now confde the secrets Of
the last two years Of my awful life. shud-
der to look back upon them; but there is
no alternative If this family written re-
cord should ever reach you, let it be to you
the beacon of a mighty warning. | am dy-
ing in a foreign land, surrounded by many
to whom might apply for relief, were
not midnight murderer, stunning the day,
and an irreclaimable sOt. The weight of
my crimes has recoiled bgck upon my heart,
with keen and undying retribution. l
have sown the winds of intemperance and
unbelief-I am reaping the whirlwinds of
unutterable monition. The fires Of agOni-
zing remorse are burning in my blood; the
monitory voice of a struggling conscience
is laundering in my ears, and [ experience
the enkindled pangs Of a mental hell. Oh,
God! with what direful punishment have my
iniquities overwhelmed me! But | must
on.
You know the secret of my early love-
ton for England, and that / followed her
soon. Oh, that | could describe to you the
Eden of happiness that dawned upon me
the first summer that [ spent in England.
We were married. and time went by with
his wings glittering in the pearls of hope,
and his brow clothed in sunshine. Wemade
delightful tour On the Continent, and re-
turned with joyful hearts to our metropoli-
tan home; and lovely daughter was at
evil hour | surrendered myself to the demon
of drunkenness, and he bound my bosom in
fetters Of Iron. | became a frequenter OF
the hells in St. James's; tippler Of J Ohm
sons spirits at the Surry Theatre, and q
stranger to my home. / wasted all my pat
rimony. and the splendid estate of my kind
Emile, in one short week at the gaming ia
bic. reviled the Scriptures in her pre-.
ence; | neglected our darling child; in
short, | became Il madman.
lreturned home one night and found the
bailiffS at my threshold. Our mansion in
town was sold, and we rented a pleasant
cottage in Hampstead Here, if | would
not have been more remOrseesS than the
grave, should have paused upon my dark
career. But | was too much depraved l
became more and more estranged from the
angel OF my youth; l repulsed her overflow
ing affection, and saw her fading away un-
der the influence Of my cruelty. She had
renOunced fashionable life for my sake, and
it had been our intention to return to A
merica, whittier her parents had already
gone, expecting us soon to follow.
Let me be brief. AS opened. one bright
evening, the little gate that led up to oul
Hampstead residence, | saw my Emile
leaning npon the shoulder Of a young man
apparently weeping. A hellish suspicion
that she had dishonored me, rushed upon
my brain; and stealthily approaching, ]
drew a stiletto from my bosom and stabbed
her to the heart She turned and fixed up
on me look of alternate surprise, reproacl
and forgiveness-shrieked and fell lifeless a
my feet. 1t was her brother.
cannot long proceed. Since that fata
hour, | have been scorched with the light
nings Of reproachful thought; l have been
scathed and skulking fugitive in the house
of a miserable fish woman; | have quafe(
deeply Of the delirious cup of intoxication
| have found its dregs to be gall and worm
wood. My health is wasted-my hope;
are dead;-and the earth seems yawning tC
clasp me to its icy bosom. Would that
could find that annihiaton in which
once believed, but for which l have long
ceased to hope! Twice have | swallowed
poison; the potent drug has lain harmless
within me: and God still bids me live and
suffer My wife is buried in quiet church
yard at Hampstead; and my weakness has
at last prevented me from indnlging the
mournfui Office of weeping at midnight over
her peaceful grave. My child still lives and
is the fair and sunny image of her sainted
mother. Ifshe ever visits America, and
this should reach you, do notch! do not
acouaint her with the unhappy fate of her
narents; of that father who was wretch
of that spotless mother who loved me not
wisely. but too aceH.' can
Here the manuscript ended. I give it to
tbe reader as I received it. The next day
the remains of Graham were inferred in
Potter's Field of one of the Aims Houses
of Kingsland Road.
The little daughter of my lost friend is
with the parents of her mother in America.
She is counterfeit of her that bore her;
and like her mother in her youth, beloved
by all and caressed with enthusiasm. She