Year: 1859





from all who ever known tn@ How
ever" he continued, 'you e|.0 bear the
m ain features of my sorrow, a44 do mot
fail to say openly your opln'o.4 of my
conduct. I


L promised to do so, and h roceeded
/ with his story.
| "a few years ago. / vas l'>'r Rith my
uncle, a clergyman, in the Wee' England,
had been brought up at bi4 tH pse. and
well educated. He had dsa.I1 me for
the church; but the restrif| life OF
country minister being NOT H|h to my
taste at that period, bad con 1ted my
self with rambling abonl he open
country, reading. fishing dal4s4 0eca-
/ sionaliy at the county balls, and. as had
some faculty in scribbling, writing maya
zine article from time to time. The sue
cess of one or two OF my little pieces had
almost turned my head, and l began to
| indulge in fantastic visions of fame and
fortune, to be won only with the pen. l
wrote necessarily, and went backward and
forward to little town, about three miles
distant from the village in which we lived,
to see the periodicals as they were pub
lished, and to glance eagerly over their
pages for my own lucubrations. One
evening, however, as l was returning
from one of these expeditions, an incident
occurred which, from that time to this,
changed the whole current of my exist
ence.


! "My nearest way home from the :own
led in one place almost directly under the
windows of antique mansion, that had for
many years been ruinous and uninhabited;
but it had lately been taken by a French
family, and repaired and beautifed. 1 had
always taken fancy to this old place, it
was so very quaint and picturesque, and
commanded one of the lovliest landscapes
that could be found in that part of Eng
land. Often, as l passed by the old
house, l had speculated on the character
and tastes its inmates.


"The particular night speak of the
moon shone brightly as l was just emerg
ing from little wood near the house,
when was startled by an unexpected vis-
ion. From beneath the drawing room
windows balcony projected; standing on
this balcony l now observed a beautiful
female figure. Had the form been the
glowing creation of Greek sculptor it
could not have been more perfect, or have
stood in a more exquisite attitude. ap-
preached little nearer to the spot, so as
| to obtain a view of her features, yet so
softly as not to disturb her meditations.
| [ was indeed surprised at the marvellous
beauty of her counteuance. A fine oval
face with deep lustrous eyes, a command
ing yet perfectly womanly brow, was sha-
ded by pro(usion of dark hair, forming a
strong contrast to her brilliant complexion,
which told as plainly as verbal description
of the sunny south of France. The dreamy
gaze of those large liquid eyes, and the
ideal expression of her countenance, told
! how forcibly she was struck with the
beauty of the moonlight view. What
wonder was it that l worshiped the un-
known divinity from that moment-could
L help it, when upon the dimness of a
country life face and form now rose be-
fore me such as we rarely see save in
dreams! Thinking only of her transcen-
dant beauty, l was utterly lost to every
thing else, and gradually wandered nearer
and nearer to the balcony, until at length
l became aware that l was distinctly seen,
and the young beauty, suddenly aroused
from her reverie, retired into the house.
What could her dream have been? l asked
myself thousand times Had she been
thinking of some absent lover, far away
among the vineyards and hills of her ma
tive France? Or had his spirit taken flight,
and was her gaze directed toward the il
limitable expanse, as though to pierce the
starlit canopy, and descry him among the
white robed worshipers? Or was it only
the glad communion of youth and beauty
with the spells of nature? These and
many other theories occupied and banished
sleep from my eyes that night. For sew
eral successive days passed and repassed
the mansion, but without seeing my ina
nsroatG. But did not give up, though.
Love is fertile in expedients.


"Among my other accomplishments,
was great love for, and skill in drawing.
This faculty l now determined to bring
into full play. l knew how common il
was among the cultivated French people
to find a taste for sketching and drawing,
and little doubted but that the beauty of
the balcony had also sufficient love of art
to appreciate my efforts. So l procured
materials in abundance, and in spite of my
uncle's misgivings, who began 10 fear in
the variety Of my tastes and pursuits that
1 should never do much credit to his
teaching or example, frequently paid a
visit to any spot commanding view of the
old mansion, and sketched, as we'll as my
| impatience would allow me, some of
the prominent features of the beauti-
full scenery around. 1 had tried this
ruse for several days without effect, when
one day handsome man, little past the
prime of life, but still light and active in
his manner, came down to the spot where
L was sitting, and after looking attentively
at my sketches for some moments, and
throwing me into an agony of wonder as
to the possibility Of his being the father
of my unknown divinity, accosted me in
broken English: