Year: 1864

man of education and refinement, sur.
rounded by all the agreeable influences
that wealth and cultivated taste can af-
ford. Fortunate in his domestic and So
cial relations, with an interesting family
of educated children growing up into wo-
manhood and manhood, connected with
the best families in the place, respected
by his fellow citizens, having received sub
stantial evidence of their confidence and
esteem by being entrusted with several Of
fees Of trust and responsibility--one
would think his life could only be one OF
unalloyed pleasure and happiness.


But it is not so. Some strange and
mysterious influence; some dark and un-
natural onchantment of spirit or fend
seem to be harrassing his life, poisoning
his cup Of happiness, and rendering life
Itself miserable.


For more than twelve months past he
has been the victim of some tiend, who
pursues him with deadly hate, and evil
IDENTITY seeks favorable chance to take
his life. Scarce day passes that he does
not find in or about his house, on arising
in the morning, letter full of invective,
declaring the intention of the writer to
murder him as soon as an opportunity
shall offer. These letters are generally
found at the front door. They nre evil
IDENTIFY written by an illiterate person, un-
less disguised, by a desperate character,
and are full of bitter oaths and vulgarity.
They are always written by the same per-
son and bear the traces of mind scarce
ly human. Satan himself could not con-
ceive of anything more deliberately fend-
ish and diabolical than these epistolary
illusions.


What adds not little TO the marvel
BUSINESS of this affair is the fact that all
efforts 10 discover the author of the mis-
chief have thus far proved entirely fruit
less. This phantom, " bird or devil" that
is pursuing the man, in addition TO his
maglgnancy, seems to be possessed of all
the artifce and cunning attributed TO the
evil one in his methods of concealment.
A guard has been stationed around the
house, or rather concealed about the lawn
and ia the shrubbery adjoining the house
for weeks at time, and invariably there
would be found the next morning from
the same mysterious individual, dropped
on the verandah, showed in at the window,
and in some instances placed in some in
terror room of the house. On such occa-
sion the letter will describe minutely all
efforts made for detection, in many instan-
ces giving the names of the parties, even
telling where concealed for the night,
laughing with demoniac glee at their eff.
forts at discovery, and declaring that
his time for revenge has not yet come, but
that no amount of vigilance can drive him
from his deliberate and set purpose TO
take the life of his enemy. On one occa-
sion the gentleman's wife and her broth
er remained during the night under the
porch for the purpose of detecting, if pos
sible the being who was the author of all
this mischief. Nothing unusual howev-
er was noticed; but the next morning at
tho front door the inevitable letter was
found, the writer even going so far as to
declare he was under the portico at the
time and knew all about their attempts
at discovery On another occasion the
gentleman was returning from aNneigh-
boris house accompanied by his wife and
daughter, (the gentleman had not gone
out for the last twelve months after dark
unless accompanied by female members
of his family, or by guard we'll armed),
when the next morning another letter
was found declaring it was the intention
at that time to shoot him but fearing he
might do some injury TO his wife and
daughter, he was induced to desist. No
reason is assigned for this persistent at
tempt to take the mans life OF course
it is natural to suppose that il is the work
of some convict of the Penitentiary, who
fancies that he has been wronged bv this
gentleman 10 the discharge of official du-
ty in years gone by.--Dt. Free Press.


The above is supposed to have reference
to some transactions which have been 90
ing on in this village, and we will add
that the last act Of the "he or she
fiend," above mentioned, was to notify
its victim by letter that its programme
OF persecution should be changed within
a week, and sure enough, before that
time expired, the beautiful residence Of
! the victim was burned to the cround.--