Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-07-19
A WONDERFUL
Oh GID ALEXANDRIA,
OR THE
r,1eNFESSaDN 1E JOHN TRUST.
CHAPTER 4.

wrote to my guardian that night; went i'm
mediateIy to London, and finding there pack
ct for New York, just ready to start lWent on
board, aud after Il loug trip, ineSpressibly wea-
rsome to ME, anded, and in three days was
shrliug over the roa:! which connects Alexan-
drs and Washington Even at the thought Of
thGt road, my heart siokcns: but, thank God no
innocent blood then cried from its yellow sands
for vengeance. We soon stopped at the door
OF the 'Uity Hotel [ looked across the way
;1r ;he old stone house, which had once been my
;,u;ll during my absence-interposed other
nothing could be mere changed than [ years
before | had left the quiet toW0, seeking tor
knowledge, for power; now was | wandering
back. drawn By = poTer Of which none of my
studies had told me; Jut for which even Wroe's
cnchantments had no equal A few inquiries
at the hotel satisfied me that my sister lived on
Prince street, maintaining there quiet eStab
lshment, with no companion save old Lorentz.
hurried down Royal street, turned towards the
river, and, after single inquiry OF neighbor,
raped at plain door. Lorentz, | knew it
must be, answered NY knock. | made myself
known to him, and very soon | heard light
oot iali in the doorway [ saw HER. [ could
only cry, as sprang toward her, My sister !
Eh! my sister!-'when my brain reeled-l was
-'ailiug-tal!ing; then came quiet
S!umber, with holer dreams than ever passed
my brain before, and when woke, it was en-
tranced to gaze upon HER tace; for gentle
:Eorm bent over me, and there was voice ofmusc.
Many countenauce Of surprising lovelness has
rested meath MY gaze since; many a form oftault-
less symmetry, in grace has ghded by me, but
never until | see that self.same face shine
through the rlou'is at niy Judgment can l gaze
on such beauty again. Merely of feature there
7,as rohing, though raven tTeses curtalned a glO-
rious brow, and complexion, tinted at the south,
erew into radiance beneath eyes that were black
Is ight and glowing as its stars but upon all:
anG above all, there grew spirituality as il a
snadomy face were blended with the real one,
deeper loneliness that orershadoWed 1t. Words
are vain to describe that deeper beauty the
canva>s AID the chiscl can only tell how little Of
earth there was in her 10 copy even, the mas
Ter hand Of the light painter can but trace lln-
eameuts, which, beautiful as they are, only
suggest { higher and heller loveliGess, beyond
even the pencil Of the day god.
It vas twilight whea woke; charmed by the
greet melody of her voice, | grew into con
,ciousness, and realized al that had passed.
,!Aen my sis er told me that whilst slept in
2elirium my spirit half in the unseen world
:nv guardian hid, on his way to America. met
aeaih, and passed away from earth under a
stroke o. apoplexy This Intelligence startled
me- but under her gentle miulstratl0n sympoms
Of relapse gave away t. Il Quletuda that be-
spoke ? return TO health. As | slowly passed
through coDvalescencc iuto vlgor. she Was al
ways with me- For awhile an awe possessed
s.le as if I walked in the preseuce OF spirit,
tu5 gradually that feeling ripened into an aztec
ton, so tender and utterly unseltish that l feel
that it was but a foretaste of that perfect love
with which lay spirit shall tread With her
the pathways Of the skies. .,
She shared my sorrows, and was the COM
panion Of all my aspirations. The past, and,
IS we foDdly thought, the future, OF each of US
quietly revealed itself to the other until It
seemed as if our long separation had teen
dream, and We had grown up into life side by
side Indeed This was more than seeming
the paroxysm which had benumbed my facul-
ties passed away very slowly. and when came
first to consciousness | ha1 forgotten all my
learning. All the sciences, languages ana arts
grown with long use to second nature, YIELDED
TO the stroke, and left my mind almost blank;
vague idea that | had once known something
Of the kind was all of the minds hard-earned
wealth that was left me. At first L feared 1t
was gone forever but when NY sister sought to
teach NE, spark lighted the old fire. AID my
knowledge came back but it was many months
ere | rcgaincd even the half of my oHce spleudid
erudition Even now, [ sometimes find sug-
ges!ive association, like the gloss OF the Ara
bian tale, light up whole region Of long buried
treasure
Often my sister expressed socitude for my
religious welfare, and It was with great Difficult
ty that | prevented myself from ayoWing my
sentiments Thank God | never did tor it
would have given pain to gentle heart Not
withstandiDg all my knowledge had failed for
the purpose Of life work, and then ali left me
IL an hour only 10 Conie saunterlng and sullen-
Y back, still chung to my guardian Ideas
lis true that sometimes facts and arguments lE
favor Of revealed religion began to arrange
themselves in more iorcible forms than had
once given them credit ior. But here, as in
fari> one incident turned again the current OF
ny ltc
The will If NY guardian gave ne co,nle-
:eIcy-a!I that he had been able to save IN the
"recE OF the Empire. But health did not
come to my frame till hate was burning in my
1eart. stop my pen that seems in dreadful
haste to reach the fatal vord-Wbich my eve
balls write in blood on every line. =
was happy. Father, whom guilty. Inns may
yet IN penterce address, I thank thee, fer those
blessed hours! The Cd town although much
Changed sInce NY hoy bood had in nothing lost
rs rleasantness, and seems yet amid he worlds
@ldc waste like HOME. 1t is ju}l of spots,
..33Hghted 'y cherished recol ectonS--dull it NAV
- 10 the casuaI passer-by, out to me, night or
? Iay' SHINING like the golden pavements of the
"ropnets vision. Many Fri, nds | had there;
e3sy nTeSldes hat Sparkled anew 10 greeting to
~; saj stranger; frugal boards dainty wi h kindly
Sse!coUes; hard hauds, with blood in them
,o,'n ,oG YARN hearts, which never bell d their
SotulaI grasp; soft hands too, blessed that had