The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-01
NOW FIRST PUBLIsHED.I
az Ion CrawIey.

band and wife; break up the peace of
homes and perhaps reduce the mesmerlst
himself to the madhOuse. 1t IS a fearful
power 1t can rout Christ from both
! heart and life. ~
He spoke calmly but as one who had
felt deeply upon the subject, and while
he spoke, observed him narrowly.
His was very strong face-the fore
head was unusually broad, and the close
cropped hair gave it hight as WELL I'M
derneath it were those strange eyes.
They were neither gray nor brown but
somewhere between the two, and the pu-
pills were large and seemed to dilate as he
gazed at me. The nose was slightly Ro-
man and the chin heavy. Not at all a
beautiful face as you may Judge from the
description, but the mouth redeemed IL
! from plainness-so sweet in its curves and
| yet so strong.
Icould see every movement Of the lips
for the man was clean shaved, and as l
noted that fact / glanced at his clothes
1t was strange l had not observed it be-
| fore but he was evidently priest.
Have you ever known instances of
what you state2'' / asked him, land also
were you closely connected with the
| cases2"
He hesitated moment before reply
! ing.
! eyes. " he said at length and his brow
! darkened. 81 could tell you of several.
| One was so terrible that 1t made meregis-
| ter a vow never to use the power ] pos
! sess again except in slight cases like the
one to which ] treated YOU
do tell us about itl' cried Rivers 81
am sure that it will shorten the way to
| London by many minutes. We are all
attentive"
Again that odd half smile quivered
about the priests lips.
"You believe the church to hold such
marrow views that / wonder you wish to
hear priests opinion! My dear sir, our
views should be broader than those of
any other class, for who sees life as we do,
with all its sin and sorrow and in all con
ditions. Still will tell you this instance,
for the truth of which you have my word
! as servent of God. Perhaps it may show
YOU why the church considers animal
magnetism as a gift of the devil. But
had better inform you that though
it may manage to shorten your
Journey it will certainly not brighten it.
for the story is very sad However, it
may widen your views and he glanced
| mischieviously at Rivers, lit may pre-
vent you from condemning the church so
utterly another time, because it de
| nounces this strange force known as ami
NAL magnetism or mesmerisp, whichever
| you prefer to term it,
81 have charge of church in Rome
and If you know anything of Catholic OBJ
| servances you are probably aware that
priests are required to be in the confess
! sional every Saturday afternoon. ! had
| Just finished this duty on the day refer
| to- and was about to leave the church
| when [ noticed slight figure in black
| heavily yelled, kneeling in front of One-of
| the affairs Her form was cOnVulsed with
| sobs and every now aud then she would
wiring her hands as If in despair. For a
moment / hesitated. She evidently did
not care to consult me as priest, and
| thought perhaps | should add to her dis
tress did l let her see that had observed
| her But there was something so hope
| less and despairing in her attitude, that
| felt compelled to speak
so see you are in great trouble, said,
| touching her gently on the shoulder and
| speaking as calmly as | could. 4 wish
| could help you bear it, but we must all
suffer here on earth; only Christ can lift
our burdens, and bring us to the place
where there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither any
| more pain
"She struggled to her feet and stood be-
| fore me, her bosom still heaving with
emotion, and l continued;
He will give US perfect Joy hereafter
| in this world he commands; Take up
| thy cross and follow me" That is all we
| have to do, whether the road be dark, or
| rough or stony-whether we stumble and
faint--ever follow, follow the way of the
| cross
She toreoff her veil and seemed to echo
my words with almost a Shrek.
! ''Follow the way of the cross I
| You do not know me, or you would
see the impossibility of it! and then she
| laughed.
Il have heard many a laugh from
maniacs and condemned prisoners
laughs that made one SILVER:
! laughs whose very sadness was
worse than any sob-yet never a
| laugh which rent my soul like hers Sc
hopeless it was, so fraught with misery,
and, through it all, making such an effort
at mirth.
II looked at the woman before me--she
was young, scarce more than 30, and
| beautiful. But there was on her face the
saddest expression a human being car
| have-an expression that only comes wher
| the heart has lost every hope, and the SOU
has abandoned faith. l longed for the
power to comfort her, but the words
| seemed frozen on my tongue.
1.-The command is for every one said
| almost mechanically, and God never
| gives us more than we can bear
stopped short, arrested by an indefnablt
| look IN n6r eyes she appeared TO De listen
ing for something. Suddenly she raised
her hands to her head with frightened
air.
"'Hush he wishes me, she murmured
ooh, what shall Ido} He does not Xix,
me to wear blackn She moved slowly
forward, totally forgetful of my pres
ence.
Il made no effort to detain her, and 81
she glided through the door and disap
peared
Il felt completely bewildered. Do wha'
l would that wOmans face haunted m,
for days | blamed myself for not having
tried to find out her history, so that
could Judge whether help were possible
However, as / could discover no trace o
her anywhere in the city, I concluded
she must have gone away, and stroye I,
Danish the thought of her from m,
mind.
Some weeks later ! had occasion to at
tend a reception at the house of a frienl
of mine, well-known in all circles of so
ciety in Rome.
After little I found myself beside
large bay window. There were but few
persons near me, and those l did no
know; so | was about to make my way I,
some friends l saw at a distance, whel
my attention was arrested by tn,
glimpse of a wOman's dress between tn,
curtains. She was alone and evidently
weary, for she was sitting in droopin.
attitude, with her face pressed agains
| the glass