Middletown transcript., 1869-08-28

am by birth Venitiln, of noble, bu
nearly forgotten ancestry-not forgotten
by myself, Oh no! But by those who nov
tread the Dogelcss Halls of the Bride O
the Adriatic | am the last of my House
and my own being is BY my coaat'y'nlez
unknuwn.
have outlived every tic that could
bind me to this world, but feel sweet as
surancc Of peace in the world to come. -
| believe not in fate, yet have been the
victim of ii strange and gloomy destiny
from very early life.
You, young stranger, have been kind
very kind to he" the Strange Italian
as some have called mc-and as tn,
sands of existence are fast sinking in the
glass, l have determined to rally the wan
ing energies of u brief, but eventful life,
by bequeathing you my history. Nay.
smile not, It's oH [ have to give in return
for your goodness. 1t may serve to
point a moral, and amuse you when
am gone, take it then-when you read it
remember the Strange Haiian.
am, as | observed, Venitian My
father was one of the few remaining des.
cendants of her nobility; and still retain
ed that lofty pride which had distinguished
his illustrious ancestry. He was poor,
yet he had managed to bestow upon me
good education. My mother | never saw
she died before memory had twined its
green garlands around the altar of the
heart. l had spoken to my father of her.
but | saw it gave him pain, and I called
her name to him no more.
Our Palace, was upon the grand canal
and not very far distant from that of
the Manfrini-yet their Lords never ex-
changed civilities and indeed, my father
never saw company, without indulging
subsequently in such gloomy revcries, that
by degrees, and finally, he absented him
self from all society; and in Venice, gay
and merry Venice, he was a hermit.
Not SO his son, chance had thrown me
into the society of Francesca Manfrini,
and I loved her wildly, deeply, passion
ately She would indeed have reconciled
the anchorite to the crowd, that fair in
spiration of all things good and beautiful.
You have aeen our Venitian maidens-
with their expressive liquid
eyes, and skins where the bright carna-
tion throws its softness and richness too.
Their long hair sometimes sportively
streaming on the balmy air that whispers
over the Laguna, or lying in dropping
loveliness upon necks too graceful for
aught but the sculptors dream of perfec-
tion-their chaste forms ?-Oh! Venice
Venice city of my birth, and birthplace
of my early love!
While my hand traces this blotted re-
cord, how memories of the past rise up
before me, and l see your Ducal Palace,
your Rialto--St. Marks with its domes
glittering in the hues of heaven and
Oh lone memory sweeter still, rises in
its beauty before my eye, I sec my Con-
dola,-l am in it--Francesca Manfrini is
at my side--my Gondoliers arc pulling
along the Laguna, humming a wild sweet
air, and-7-and--and-bnt my brain is on
fire It's mocking illusion and cheat
But to my story,
Count Manfrini was seldom at home.
so that ] rarely saw him and when | did. |
he seemed so abstrantcd, so wrapped up1
in self, that he noticed no e,--not even
his daughter.
His wife had died in giving birth to the
lovely francesca, and perhaps, it was a
Of situations, half orphaned
children as we weFp, that first led us to
those kindred sympathies which
grew into deep and passionate love-
Knowing the prejudice which MY father
for the House of Manfrini, the
cause of which | oonld not divine, had
never spoken to him concerning the re-
gard | entertained for the daughter, trus-
ing that time would by some tnlismanic
power work change in his feelings, and
he pnion and harmony Of the Houses be
,,rolght about by the pnl6N Of their
,hildren.
Time sped on, was nearing the, age
Fhen, as man, ] must clomc forward