The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-10-01
"THE DREAM OF MY LIFE.v

In recounting what I may safely call
the dream of my life, do not propose to
speculate on the origin of dreams IN gen.
eral Whether those mysterious agencies
known under the names of mesmerism,
odic force, OF animal magnetism which are
said to hold certain temperaments Zen
rapport" with each other, influencing the
sleeping thoughts and every day actions OF
life, had anything to do with my particular
case, Twill not pretend to say; others
must Judge, if what happened was attrib-
utable to such causes, or if it was merely
series of curious condolences. AL
know is, that at Lucerne, some years ago
dreamed dream which, hcralding as it
did, the most important epoch in my ca
reer, and foreshadOwing my subsequent
fate, l am fully justified in looking upon
as q most unmistakable portent, and the
remarkable circumstances under which it
.ocafrG leave Il very open Question
whether it was the result of mere chance,
or whether there are not, indeed, certain
unknown and unmeasured influences at
work surely but silently around the web of
every humen existence. tia ftiit .
When, at the age Of eighteen, I was on
the point of commencing college educa-
ton, my father died, and to the surprise of
every one, instead of leaving me hand
some independence, it was found his assets
were next to mil" IT was an ordinary
case, supposed affluence proved to have
been absolute poverty, q fair position only
upheld, until the desperate struggle with
Overwhelming odds To keep up appear
ances was put An end to. BY death Natur-
ally, my plans and prospects went with
the wreck; must abandon every scheme
of ambition which had ever Eursed, and
must earn my bread. So, instead of GO
ing to Oxfsrd, L went into a merchants
counting house.
T. l should not perhaps have realized Sc
tangibly this change of fortune, had it not
been accompanied by a misery which, to
an'carnest disposition II the outset of ffe,
is almost overwhelming. I had formed an
attachment to the only daughter of the
tutor in whose house was living, whilst
being prepared for my Alma Mater. 1t
could scarcely be called an engagement
inasInuch as, although our parents were
not aEefse to the affair, they yet reason.
ably maintained that we were too young
and it had been settled that if, at the ex.
piration Of five years, We were still both
of the same mind, no objection should be
offered to our union. My father quite sp
proved of my marrying early, saying that
~ my prospects were good, If l could FIND
a girl whom l really loved, it mattered Lit
tie whether she had money or not, and
the Rev. Hugh Mollett saw in the alliance
/ all thst he could wish for his pOrtionless
daughter. Beyond an occasional visit on
my part, no communication was to be per
1 mitted, and all parties seemed quite salts
fed with this arrangement. which had
hoa, arrt vaH of it1sf / 1hOIlt ff
leave my tutors house, and when my IA
ther's sudden death shattered the whole
| fabric ,e'l Hf
Many long months elapsed, and still the
grief and disappointment, consequent
chiefly, as have limited, upon the tcrmi
nation which was thus put to my love-af
fair, were unsubdued. Mollett, who was 8
sufferer financially by my family troubles
! naturally insisted that the slight inter
course proposed should be, together with
our future plans, entirely cancelled He
argued, reasonably, that my prospects now
no longer warranted the contemplation o.
matrimony; it was a great question
! whether should be able even to keep
myself much less a wife and family. He
was deaf to all my appeals and ayowals
of answering fidelity; and gave me
no credit for the determination which
/ l declared, il he would only give me the
time, of yet being able in some degree tC
retrieve my lost fortunes. If he would
only, I urged, allow me still to look for
ward to the possession of his daughter
hand, II should have @ motive for exertion
which nothing else could supply. LIN 3
word, l used every argument which my
sincere affection for Bertha prompted, and
which can be imagined as coming from :
lad in the passionate enthusiasm of hi!