The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1872-03-06

fcctionate and depending creature. al
ways looking for love in every owe
and us far rs c0nlJ learn, never find
ing it. Her family were cold. phlrg
matte, and coinmnIpiace. The striri
discipline Of reason was all they could
! exercise. and the Child hal grown stu.
rid in proportion as these means had
been exerted upon her. She had bee,
for three years in this state of imbecil
ity, and they had. now lost all hope o'
her recovery.
The next day again fnnnd her il,
the shruhtery. where she was allowed
to pass mucl, 1T lrer time. as the >ab-
sence uf all close rrstrai 4 and vigianc,
had been fonnd decidedly beneficial
Her joy at seeing me was rnlmun,led
and, thUwing herself ON the turf at my
feet, slle leaned her arms upan thy
knees, and, resting herh-ad upon then,
in an atthmle of etild-lika s4,pose, re
manned GAZING with sreeci'Iess tenders
ness up int" my face. She said little,
but could perceive that she WAS tilted
wi,ll5tumnltuous emotion. :nrdiiis l be-
held the workings of her heart ii he id.-;.
flashed through my brain that her soul
might yet be- awakened.
From that moment l determined to
make the ai,enlpt, and without dream
ing OF selfish passion, without one
spark of unh ~ love-, vowed ITO de
vote all the energies Of my nature Ia
the noble task Of enlighteni,is IL cloud
ell spirit. - ~. .
] can not now note all the details 81
my success. 1 cannntssst,ace all the
delicate links of that chain which con.
dncted my soul into hers, through the
medium of her affections. I watched
the lifting of the cloud from off Ile,
spirit, and l saw clear but brief
slimpses, If sunshine; aguin the
shadow would settle. with a deeper
gloom, and again CLEANS wonl1 i.teak
forth, giving sweet promise OF a
brighter day.
But the oileious interference Of thns..
VIII" could not comprehend either
Alice or. myself checked ali this grew
ing good. Oar frequent meetings
were discovered, ard we were Of course
separated. Alice WAS tuken home l,y
her family, and ! WAS denied I'LL atte>s
TO her presence. AT length heard
that Alice was much worst-that abe
was now a ra,inS maniac, whose nj
governed frenzy conid only le con
ftr"iIed' by personal violence. I-c.nld
not bear this; I went I" her father
explained TO him my hopes, and
begged to he permitted t" So. her f,i
n single honr: He was cod, prac-
teal, reasonable, man, and while he
gave me full crrdence for a disinttfres-
ted .lcsir to benefit his da!,gh'rf, he
evidently had little faith III hit antici-
paiions of snccrss. However,, he was
wiling TO try the experiment, and ac-
comlmnied 10y him | was permitted Ia
see Alice. She was flisil'ulI, charged.
Her eyes glarrd wildly, her hair
tangled aud dishcytl'ed frnm her in.
ccssant esilessncss hun. in mass S
about her face, and her nprcaIahc,'
was'tl'nt of one whom loss of reason,
had almost lrntaliz,d. | could have
cnrsed the blind recklessness which,
had SO tliwarttd me-. At fi.sf size did
not recognize ne, bnt my voice seemed
to awaken the vibration Of sn,,,e chord
whose music WAS familiar. She l,e-
came calImer. her ravings ceased, she
approached me, and ut lrngth seated
herself on a low stndl ut my FEET witt,
the gnietnde of IL living child. 1t was
the first time size had been 50 calm
siuce VIC were parted. The cold beings
around her perceived the beneficial
effect of my presence, and from that
moment was allowed to pursue my
t,'ah without innlestaliou.
T A year had passed, and Alice was
lingering on the very verge of tha.
inner SANCTUARY where reason dwells
She had TEEN awakened; intellect was
rapidly dawning into perfect day, but
there were stillraguc mists and broken
shitlows'iO be ilispetscd Ell. ti,e snn
could shinr Nitl, uncloaded spl..,dHr
1t was jnt ut this period liei
there was nothing td fe:ir for Alice,
bnt everything t." Hope that I wa,
Summoned to L"nd"n ~ my father,
illness. - l was stricken dnw,
to earth, as by giants hand, W il,
standing 10y my fathers grave, and
remember nothing more until months
afterwards. when / found IN, self III,
occupant ola ward in the asylum fol
the insane. had been mad-rayin,
mad.
! Nv reason. however, returned ~
suddenly as it had been impaited, an,
my recovery was very rapid.
4 As soon as had regaincd in,
strength, I hurried to Dnllim, and II,