Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-04-08

desperate MISSION winch leu 10 MS arrest at
Hermannstadt, and confinement in the citadel
of Mantua, Orsini intrusted he education of
his daughters to his brother and uncle, and to
the former addressed the following letter. His
frame of mind at the time is thus depicted in
his memoirs. He says:
Before leaving for Italy was again over
come with melancholy. / was sick of every
thing; sad presentiment told me that should
see my Children. my uncle, my brother no
more. | wrote TO the two latter that | was
going into Asia. so that they should have no
suspicion that | was engaged in a new con-
spiracy. / sent the letters open to Mr. Col
jumbo, of Nice, to forward them. They were
dated from Geneva, so that the police. if they
opened the letters, should not know where /
was.
To Ernestina and Ida Orsini.
SWITZERLAND, Sept, %, 1854.
My dear Daughters.-These few lines, to-
gether with two little hearts, which contain
two locks of my hair, will be consigned to
you when am alive no longer; you will also
receive portrait greatly resembling me, and
have left the necessary instructions with my
brother Leonidas, so that you may have it,
and keep it in memory of your poor father.
left you in your tender age; you were
very little, and the last time that ever l saw
you was IN the prison at Nice. | was driven
from Piedmont because had conspired against
the foreigners who occupy nv country.
The vicissitudes of Italy do not permit me
to watch over your education myself, and
have not had the swe t pleasure to caress you
in your most beautiful period of youth.
In the lines which / have written to my
brother Leonidas and my uncle, have ex-
planned that leave everything to you. l
have begged them to transfer to you two
everything which they might have intended
to do to my advantage. / have recommended
you more than myself because l am anxious
| that they should love you, and take the
| greatest care in your education. 1 go to far
off lands embittered by everything. | carry
with me two thoughts-of you two dear chill
dren, and that of my dear country; and
| trust that my occupations, my sacrifices, may
be useful to both. If die soon, it will not
| be my fault that have not executed these
two objects; it will be that of death.
| Before concluding must give you some adj
| vice, which you will retain, my dear children,
as paternal memorial, and which may be a
valuable guide to you throughout your lives;
at least. hope and wish so. First. believe in
! God! have a firm confidence of His eXis-
! tence. Second, possess unalterable principles
| of honor. Mark! l do not mean malleable
| and material principles; no, but those which
| are universally recognized as such by all paO-
| pie and nations, which do not alter with the
/
| | mean those principles which are eternal
| truths, absolute, immutable, not depending on
| any ones caprice.
| Paw attention to this. Everybody considers
| himself honorable; but this is not always seen
| in his acts, but instead of it we find deceit,
| hypocrisy, equivocatOn, and cunning word5.to
| iniure others. That is what the greater part
| of men do, who regard the principles Of honor
| as piece of India rubber. When the true
| principles of honor have taken root in you. as
! | have explained, and that they are consider
| ed by you as the basis of public and private
| morality, you must necessarily be lovers of
| your country, honest, afectionate> towards
| your parents, pure in your youth, pure aud
| faithful to your husbands to whom you may
| be married. in fine, loving towards your chill
| dren. and adorned with the finest qualities
| which can be desired in women destined by
| God and nature to embelish the life of man
and to render his existence less miserable.
Gain as much instruction as you can and
| inform yourselves We II as to what belongs to
the familiar or domestic life, and recOllect that
the greater part of the crimes and errors of
men proceed from ignorance, that enemy to
| civilization, progress, honor, and the liberty
| of nations. Remember, that as soon as you
| can use your intellectual faculties the world
! will seem paradise to you; everything Will
smile on you; it will seem like a beautiful
| Spring, full of understanding and beautiful
| flowers, a Spring which promises everything
| lovely and dear that the Imagination can con-
| ceive All that is lovely will smile upon you,
and your hearts will expand with sweet hopes
and affections towards whatever fascinates
you towards the ideal-beauty, goodness and
| love- which. alas in reality do not exist.
| My dear children, do not believe in or be
| daZZled by the appearance which this world
| will at first present to you. Be careful. 1t is
! but the appearance, the external surface which
facinates, and if you are dazzled by its witch
craft. disappointment must come-and then
| and then-you will find an immense void;
| "A void which You would never have expert
| enced if you had looked upon the world as il
| is; void that will show you but too plainly
| that the world is full of rOttenness, deceit and
ngratitude; that we must not here seek the
summit of felicity; bat tempered content
me1t.
You will fall into despair-into tears-you
| will wish TO rctrace your steps, but you are
| too late. Give ear to these words which your
| father compOses with tears in his eyes.
hope you may never suffer the lightest of the
misfortunes experienced by me, the least Q
the dsappointmcnts in friendship. # you
marry, be careful how you make your selcc-
ton: let him he honest, honorable, a lover OF
his country; let his heart be large, and let
him be capable of true friendship, and be
careful to return it on you part with conduct
| equally nome ana affection tltliliy pure. DE-
| faithful 10 the husband you select for your
| life companion; let the very thought of inf,
deity strike YOU with horror? destroy your
| self father than fall into that fault; an error
like that nothing canr eve remedy; the par
don which might be conceded does not remedy
| the evil; in you remains an eternal stain. IN
the husband an eternal rancOr-an eternal
remembrance of your guilt, of your dishonesty
| remember that such an action on the wte's
part posons the husbands existence, ifhe has
a heart or feeling of honor; that it eXtin,
cuisines domestic peace forever; that il
destroys domestic tranquility, that it causes
the love aud sweetness which should exist
between husband and wife to cease, coOls and
abatcs the love of the parent for his child
that it in fact casts dishonorupon the husband
upon you, upon all the family. Take care OF
yourselves, and keep this general maxim
| that the greater part of men are bad and
wicked; and lastly. in leisure moments cult
waite your minds with pleasing and mora
reading, which will have the effect of guild
ing your minds early towards good. and
nourishing youTwith the fruit of wisdom. Dc
weary you with this long letter? Pardon me
| | must have written to you even If had not
wished These lines have been the first and
| may be the last | shall ever address TO you
| and, as you perceive, they are written by che
hand of your unhappy father.
May you have u serene and long life! Take
! thousand and a thousand kisses from youI
father, who carries with him the pain of not
being able to embrace and see you, impeded
by the infamy of men. Receive the paternal
! benedction of your FELICE 0RsINI.
Farewell, farewell. farewell from my heart