Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-05-27

feature frequently TO be detected III
these occasional drunkards, that when
sober q more amiable or gentlemanly
man it would have been difficult to
meet with, or a greater rufian and
blackguard Yhen In a drunkenti fit. His
violence wotfld then, however, be Fe-
strained by his parasitical friends. SO
that he was seldom allowed to make
himself publicly obnoxious, or at any
rate not to a greater extent than to call
down on him thecourbeous remonstrance
Of the police. - = XII ..f-. ......
Although the city of X was my
headquarters in Italy, was frequently
obliged to leave it on matters of bus
mess for three weeks to a month at a
time. On my return after one of these
absences, Smith paid me visit He
appeared in much better health than
usual, and in good spirits. Moreover,
there was a remarkable change in his
dress, which, although it could hardly
have been called slovenly, had gener-
ally IN it all affected air Of carelessness.
as if he were totally Indifferent to what
others thought of his appearance. He
was now, on the contrary, remarkably
well dressed, in excellent taste, and his
clothes, it was easy to perceive, had
been made by an expert tailor After
conversing together on Indifferent sub
jects for some little time, he said to me:
CT have at last determined to break
myself OF my unfortunate habit, and
have no doubt shall succeed
81 am glad to hear you have come
to that conclusion" I replied. "You
may depend upon it, it will contribute
greatly to your happiness /; but it is no
use having come to the conclusion if
you do not resolutely abide by it.
You must remember how often you
have already come to the same decision
on the subject, and never had the con-
stancy ty keep it"
"My dear fellow" he said, "the
present case is quite different. [ have
now stimulus which [ never had be-
fore. To make long story short, [
have fallen desperately in love, and am
going to be married. l am sure you
will admit that whatever my failings
may have been during my bachelor
hood, things will be very different with
me as married man."
81 congratulate you on your deter
mination, and sincerely hope you will
keep it, I said. "And now tell me
who is the young lady -. ~.
Smith told me she was of q highly
respectable family, the daughter of a
widow, and that she was very pretty
and amiable girl, very intelligent, and
would no doubt make him an excellent
wife. They had applied for dispen-
sation from the Pope for Catholic to
marry Protestant, and hoped it would
soon arrive, and Immediately after
ward they would be united. In fact,
he hoped in the course of fortnight
all would be over, and that he would
be a married man.
The next day Smith introduced me to
his future bride, who was about as fine
a specimen of italian beauty of the
Leonardo da Vinci school as lever saw.
[ must say that as [ gazed on the poor
girl | did not look on has future pros
poets without some misgivings. The
marriage had been concocted no doubt,
by her friends from the worldly advan-
tages union with SO wealthy a man
would bring with it, rather than out of
any consideration for the poor girls
happiness. Should Smith, after his
marriage, again return to his drunken
habits, what life would she lead-if,
in fact, she could live under the treat
ment she might possibly then receive.
The affair was, however, concluded, and
all interference on my part would have
been useless, so remained silent on
the subject.
The dispensation at last arrived /; a
brilliant marriage took place in one Of
the principal churches Of the city and,
the ceremony over, Smith started on a
wedding trip forVenice. About aweek
afterwards left x for Rome, where
[ remained without receiving any intel
igence of the bride and bridegroom for
more than three months. [ then re-
turned to X, and made inquiries of
a mutual friend respecting Smith, how
he had conducted himself during my
absence.
"Oh it's all over with him." he re-
piled. "He behaved very well for the
first five weeks, when his old habit
broke out again, and he committed
more than one terrible assault on his
wife. Her family were at last obliged
w 1AUSIISIS, 6tul tIle.y WSIo PAL dUCll.
She has returned to her mother, and
they are now living in Turin and
Smith has been informed by the police
that if in any manner he attempts to in
terfere with her, or annoy her, he will
be arrested"
I now called on Smith in his new
abode, and found him at home His
appearance was very different from
what it had been at the time left him.
He was then in good health and spirits !;
but now, on the contrary, he appeared
low-spirtied and miserable. Pretend
ing had heard nothing, I inquired after
his wife. For some moments he made
no reply, and then, the tears starting to
his eyes, he said to me-
My dear fellow, it's of no use my
concealing matters from you. My wife
has left me-"
r