The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-16

apart. Now all promised well In that
scene or beauty, where culture and ma
tive simplicity went hand in hand;
where the words Of Homer and of Solo
mon We're carved on the trees; where
nature was beautiful in supplying all
that was needful, life would be filled
with happiness for both. But it was not
to be-. Alfalfa one day sought the priest,
to unburden her heart. He was absent
and she yielded to despair. Returning,
ne found her deathly sick at the mis-,
sion, and to him and to Chactas she re-
lated her story. At her birth, when She
solemnly vowed her to perpetual vir-
ginity. The mother had died when Atal-
Ia was seventeen years of age, and ON
her deathbed she had demanded that
her in her infancy
The dying woman felt that failure of
the daughter to fulfill the pledge would
cause the souls of both to be eternally
lost. The maiden had complied, and felt
now bound by the cruel VOW Chactas
on learning the secret, burst into a tor
rent of invective against religion, which
hCrrlfted the venerable and sanity priest
Inc words of the latter brought quick re-
pentance to the unhappy youth The hojy
man seemed to see a solution Of the diff
hculty. He would write to the bishop
OF quebec and secure an absoIution from
the naldens vows, and the lovers should
pc happy. Alas, 1T was too late. Atala
mad taken polson-a poison which the .In-
dams had prepared, and for which there
was no remedy in all the world.
Her death is touchingly described bv
Chateaubriand, and the great sorrow of
the life of Chactas, with the consultations
which religion offered to him. are pre-
scented IN the words of the good priest
Inc reader of the story is made to pause
and to study the philosophy of life.
| have omitted to mention that Alfalfa
proved to be the daughter of LOPEZ. the
iodi 21 of Chactas. This fact She had
ddeEe td 10 MN sometime before her
death, and 1T had served to increase his
passion for her. She was a fair tYpe of
the Creoles sprung from the Iawless union
OF proud Spaniards with the best repre-
SSenta1tlVes OF the aborigines of the
South, possessing the virtues of both the
races from which she sprang.
In an epllogue Chateaubriand tells how
the story of her life was related to him
ny seminole but the narrator was I'M
aple TO give any further account of the
other characters of the story. Later, when
at Niagara Falls, the author met some
INDIANS from the South, who gave lin
Lurthef information. One of their number
proved to be the granddaughter of Rene.
It was learned that Chactas and Rene
mad both persisted in the dreadful massa-
ere cree on Natchez, in which the French set
llerS OF Louisiana wrought a terrible ven
geance upon the tribe of that name for
some supposed wrongs
father Aubfy was sought out by the
whites, and was offered his life, but pre-
1erfed to remain and die with his con
verts. setting an example of faithfulnesz
unto Death. He was burned alive; but no
lndignlty or suffering could move MIN
from his lofty Christian manhood. and
he won martyrs crown in glorious
heroic death. Such was the story which
Ilrst caught the attention of the French
nauon, and then led the people to foIi5W
the author in his argumentative appeal
Tor religion. In its influence it NAV be
compared to Uncle Toms Cabin With
az us SADNESS 1t possesses a charm which
holds the reader, and it comneIs him ~
think deeply on the lessons of life. For
what it has done. and for what it pos
sesses of innate beauty, after the lapse
place among the great books of the world