The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1870-06-03


gardless of the feelings of others. 1
suffered myself to use intemperate Ian.
guage to my wife. At length, / even
| offered her personal violence. NY pets,
| OF course, were made to feel the change
in my disposition. | not only neglect
ed, but illused them. For Pluto, how.
ever, / still retained sufficient regard to
restrain me from maltreating him, as /
made no scruple of maltreating the rab.
bits, the monkey, or even the dog when
by accident. or through affection, they
came in my way. But my disease grew
upon me-for what disease is like Alco-
hol land at length even Pluto, who
was now becoming old, and consequent
ly somewhat peevish-even Pluto be.
gan to experience the effects of my i'll.
temper.
one night, returning home, much in
toXicated, from one of my haunts about
town, fancied that the cat avoided my
presence. seized him; when, in his
fright ut my violence, he inflicted
slight wound upon my hand with his
teeth. The fury of demon instantly
possessed me. Iknew myselfno longer.
My original soul seemed, at once, to
take It's light from my body; and
more than fcndish malevoence, gin
nurtured, thrilled every fibre of nv
flame. took from my waistcoat- -pock-
ct pen-knifc, opened it, grasped the
poor be asst by the throat and deliberate
ly cut one of its eyes from the socket!
l blush, burn, l shudder, while pen
the damnable atrocity.
| When reason returned with the
morning--when had slept off the fumes
OF the nights debauch-I experienced
a sentiment half of horror, half of re-
morse, for the crime of which l had
been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble
and equivocal feeling, and the soul re.
mained untouched. l again plunged
into excess, and soon drowned in wine
all memory of the deed.
In the meantime the cat slowly recoy-
cred. The socket of the lost eye pre-
sented, it is true,a frightful appearance,
but he no longer appeared to suffer any
pain. He went about the house as us.
ual, but, as might be expected, fed in
extreme terror at my approach. l had
SO much of my old heart left, as to be
at first grieved by this evident dislike
on the part of creature which had
once so loved me. But this feeling
soon gave place to irritation. And then
came, as if to my final and irrevocable
overthrow, the spirit of PERvERsE.
NESS. OF this spirit philosophy takes
no account. Yet l am not more sure
that my soul lives, than am that per-
verseness is one Of the primitive i'm
pulses of the human heart-one of the
indivisible primary faculties, or senti-
ments, which give direction to the char
acter of Man. Who has not, hundred
times, found himself committing vile
or silly action, for no other reason
than because he knows he should not /?
have we not a perpetual inclination, in
t he teeth of our best Judgment, to Vio-
late that which is LdaC, merely because
we understand it to be such? This
spirit of perverseness, L say, came to
| my final overthrow 1t was this I'M
fathomable longing Of the soul to UeG
| itSeif-to offer violence to its own nature
to do wrong for the wrongs sake only
that urged me TO continue and finally
to consummate the injury had inflict-
ed upon the unoflending brute. One
morning, in cool blood, l slipped a
moose about its neck and hung it TO the
limb of a tree hung it with the tears
streaming from my eyes, and with the
bitterest remorseat my heart hung it
because l knew that it had loved me,
and because felt that it had given me
no reason of offence hung it because /
knew that in so doing was committing
a sin-a deadly sin that would so jeop-
ardize my immortal soul as to place it
if such thing were possible-even
beyond the reach of the infinite mercy
of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible
God.
On the night of the day on which
this cruel deed was done, was aroused
from sleep by the cry of fire. The cur
tains of my bed were in flames. The
whole house was blazing. 1t was with
great difficulty that my wife, a servant
and myself, made our escape from the
conflagration. The destruction was
complete. My entire worldly wealth
was swallowed up, and resigned my
self thenceforward to despair.
l am above the weakness of seeking
to establish sequence of cause and ef-
feet, between the disaster and the atroc-
ity. But am detailing chain of facts
and wi sh not to leave even possible
link imperfect. On the day succeeding
the fire, L visited the ruins. The walls,
with one exception, had fallen in. This
exception was found in compartment
wall, not very thick, which stood about
the middle of the house, and against
which had rested the head of my bed,
The plastering had here, in great meas
ure, resisted the action of the fire--a
fact which | attributed to its having
been recently spread. About this wall
a dense crowd were collected, and
many persons seemed to be examining
a particular portion of it with very mi
mute and eager attention. The words
"strangel" "singular !" and other SINH
lar expressions, excited my curiosity.
L approached and saw, as if craven in
6as reliJ upon the white surface, the
figure of gigantic cat. The impres.
sion was given with an accuracy truly
marvellous. There was rope about
the animals neck.
When first beheld this apparition--
for could scarcely regard it as less
my wonder and my terrorwere extreme.
But at length reflection came to my aid.
The cat, remembered, had been hung
in garden adjacent to the house. Upon
the alarm of fire, this,garden had been
Immediately filled up by the crowd