Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-02-19
WHOLE NUMBER AIS.

Once, during such prolonged CONVERSE
tion, 1t happened that they slid unawares
into the familiar thee and Mon. IL came
so naturally, SO entirely Of ITSELF that
though both crimsoned, Nordin exclaimed
with enthusiasm
'Ah, let it be SO Il Is inst as it ought
to be- Are we tot on the familiar fhss and
thou terms In our feelings, our views. our
aspirations Why then should We not be
so in reality 1t was not mere accident
which made the little word escape our lips.
1t was necessity il was truth
BE thou my good, my stern friend, con-
tinued he with emotion. I have never pos.
sesscd such a one, but need it. MY IOve
my endeavors are pure but do not find
in myself the earnentness and the steadfast-
ness which wish for. have been TO q
certain degree, spoiled by prosperity, By
too partial friends, by q mother who has
been, perhaps, too tender and afectionate.
am too desirous Of praise and easy success
too much afraid Of offending or running
against the prejudices of others, even for
the sake Of truth. / would become differ
ent, would become Q man such as you
could highly esteem. Help me to be such,
Hertha never spare that which you re-
gard as weak or blameable in me be al
ways honest toward me, and thus you will
become my friend and 5enefactor'
| This pleased Hertha right well. She
besought Nordin to perform the same kind
ness to her in return, and thus was formed
bond of friendship between them, the
soul of whieh was to be an incessant en-
deavor after the highest purity and Iove
of truth, together with the most unainch-
ing candor.
This gave new impulse and renewed
| life to their intercourse. Hertba had long
since been accustomed to a certain indepen-
dent mode Of speaking what she thought,
without regard to its offending or ex-
citing an autagonistic spirit in others
She had done it In bitter dissatisfaction
with every day-life and in deep conscious
ness Of her own superior power. But in
| Nordin she had met with kindred soul,
and if she in her expressions also treated
him, ss she did her sex, with a certain un-
sparing severity, it was because she main
tanned that men in general were spoiled by
the weakness of women toward them, aud
by the laxity OF public opinions which TINS
gave rise to. She maintained that they
needed strong purifying bath Of truth,
and this she, from time to time, gave 10 no
sparing measure.
\ Nordin took 1t in good part-partly because
in many respects he participated in her views
partly because he was young man ,of more
than ordinary nobility and excellence OF char
acter, and, besides it was very interesting 10
him to hear young woman, taking her stand
on pure womauliDess express herself freely on,
a number of subjects, which are commonly ban-,
ished from the conversation between gentlemen
and ladies. Besides which he heard and saw
Fthat, during her severe criticisms she exhibited
so great q love of truth and the highest expe9g6
lence, and took 50 high aview of the destination
of the human being as witness to The truth OF
the Most High, that he felt himself Se iEwere,
TO grow in mental stature, whilst listening 10
her. His contempt for the mean and deprayedf
increased, and his love for the elevated and the
noble increased likewise. He often felt himselfi
in high degree animated by the ideal which
beamed so beautifully 10 the soul Of his stern.
but noble friend, and sometimes, on the other
hand, depressed, dissatisfied WITH and rnistrust-
| ful of himself But never so as regarded her.
He felt deep conviction that she was a noble
minded woman. 1t, then, was not his fault II
he and others appeared to her eye, yearning as
it did after perfection, to be weak, imperfect.
human beings And If it appeared SO to her.
it was right in her to say so, and it was good,
for him to know it. i
Besides, Hertha was beautiful when she gave
vent to her noble indignation against what sp-
peared to her unworthy, either 10 meu or 10 So
ciety. Her demeanor was always calm but
lightning flashed from her eyes. And however
severe she might be as judge. she was always
gentle and excellent as nurse OF the suffering
young man, and tended his injuries with hands
as slillful as they were singularly beautiful
| Nordn had. in the beginning. regarded her
as a sort of moral phenomenon, which was very
interesting TO him as study. But the power
she exercised over his soul increased daily He
allowed himself to be- as it were. Bagnesisedby
her, and he would have suffered himself to have
been taken captive by her, like new Telemachus
by new Calypso, il her Influence had not been
Of that kind which aroused instead Of lulliug to
sleep his spiritual power.
The subject Of conversation on the occasion
OF their first meeting, was often resumed by the.
two friends, and canyassed In manifold varia-
tions, nor was Yngve always as gentle as he was
then toward the weakness and frailties Of her
sex. Neither did Hertha attempt 10 defend
these; still she passed milder judgment upon
them than on those of men
Women she used to say, ARE not yet all that
they might be. Their full day is not yet come
Wait till then before you pass sentence upon
them
One day she spoke with such bitterness Of the
lcnty with which public opinion regards the or
fenses Of men, il comparison with the severity
with which il treats those Of women especially
if they be young unprotected, and poor. NJ
Many would have fancied that Hertha's beha-
yior aud conversation might have awOke dislike
in Yngve and made love impossible. Yes, GER
tainly that love which is pictured as driving In
the cloud In the effeminate chari0ts Of Venus
or Freja But there Is love Of higher char
acter, which human beings veHerate and pay
homage to.
Besides, persons Of strong and independent
character. like Hertha, might very easily offend
both ladies and gentlemen. especially such gem
tlemen as are more versed in drawing-soom life
than in LIES most holy saetuaFy; but they ez<
ercise powerful influence on all such charac-
ters as feel an impulse toward the morally pure
aud strong When such as these meet with .
soul free from human fear. loving 70 live in those
regions where unveiled truths dwell in her eacred
light they Are enchanted BY il, even II IL should
appear under the form OF Eumenid
The Eumneides were women. and secrct
love was Mingled with their ehastislng, scourgs