Year: 1870




'I wish that Emma Walford wa
less interesting, or that was less sus
| ceptible," was the involuntary eX
preston of Warren st. Clair, as h,
was holding a familiar conversation
with college friend.


''Is that what has been distractinl
your brain for the past month? ?
knew some sort of tempest was rag
ing within, but thought you were no
the man to become disconnected a.
sight of pretty face; and then, ris
/ ing above these pretty ditficultie:
which so often disturb other minds is
one Of your favorite hobbies, be
| lieve.n


"Self government is the great bust
ness of my life, and shall finally tri
umph over this weakness. None bu
the irresolute and effeminate are ev-
er decoyed by such silken meshes."


Certainly you would not place
yourself among that class"


mo, for I can and viii. This hear
work is something 1 don't believe in
1t is only a feverish state of the imag
ination produced by dwelling on
some ideal subject until it seems 6
reality"


at appears that you have been
dwelling upon it till your imagination
is quite delirious."


al have betrayed a weakness oi
which l should be ashamed were il
known to any other than yourself
even YOU shall hear no more of it,
Yes, I'll Danish forever this idle
dream - and Warren st. Clair stood
proudly before his friend, very exul
tant at the thought of the great con
quest he was about to make, bu
which was as yet very far from being
ACCOMPLISHED.


f'I am sorry to hear you say so, fOl
I am going to be married, and hav'
Just come to ask yOu to my wedding
and expect you and Miss Walford t.
share the first hOnOrs of the Oecas
ion"


'FThank you for the invitation, anC
should be happy to do you a favor
but nv views on a certain subject viii
forbid. But, by the way, allow me t.
say that you are walking deliberately
though blindly, into a snare from
whose meshes, when once entangled
you can never become free; snare
too that will totally fetter all ambi-
tious aspirations"


1--WE obtain different views of the
same scene according to the different
positions from which we behold it.
think you have a very one-sided view
of the subject, looking upon it from 8
very unfavOrable situation"


"Perhaps have only seen the dark
side of the picture, but l believe II
the side most frequently to our senses.
That it is less regular in its changes
than luna. Not so often or so long
does it present the bright rays Ofcon-
nubial bliss, as it exhibits the cold ster-
lie soil of poverty and winter of dis
content. Look at Henry Eastman,
whose father died, leaving him sole
heir of a hundred thousand. He
married at the age oftwenty-two, and
now in the space of ten years is reduc-
ed to a rented house, and l heard him
yesterday asking for a situation as
clerk in banking house"


"But you surely cannot believe that
that vast fortune was spent in the hon
estsupport of his family? He entered
the marriage relation feeling conf.





sustain him through any emergency
or extravaganza, and there was moth
ing for him to do but lavish it upon
his lusts. Let me present ycu anoth-
er picture. Think of David Palmer.
When he came to our city he was not
worth enough to pay weeks board,
and now he is worth five hundred thou
sand. He married when but twenty.
one and has three beautiful children
and charming wife. They help him
both in the accumulation and enjoy
ment of his money"


"Oh I see; there is no useof trying
to argue with a man that's in love-
So l will try no further to persuade
YOU to abandon course which you
will believe better when you have
learned it by experience than if ]
should tell you it is attended with
many difficulties. Now that 1 have
cleared my conscience by giving you
fair warning, and just for once will
waive my good resolution and do YOU
desire.n With kind good night, the
two friends parted, one to join his so
ciaI companions around the gaming
table, the other to spend an hour with
one whose very presence incited an
ambition for higher excellence. The
evening was spent very differently by
the two young men, and very differ
ent results were wrought upon theil
characters.


The young man last introduced
into this collOquy was the son of q
wealthy merchant, living in New
York; as was also the friend with
whom he was conversing. He had
formed an early attachment for a
Miss Maria Ethridge, with whom he
had been acquainted from childhood.
Miss Ethridge was young lady oi
unimpeachable moral character ano
high Intellectual attainments, and
no one ever enjoyed her society with
out feeling its refining and elevatine
influence and this influence had not
been been lost on Francis Raymond,
Warren, on the contrary, affected To
despise Woman's influence, and sought
for amusement at the gaming-table,
/. or some Of its kindred associations
This almost always brought him into
the society of the unprincipled anC
not unfrequently the dissipated. A:
we cannot long mingle with the vic.
iOus and not be affected by their in,
fluence, it Is not strange that Warren
st. Clair's principles soon became con
taminated, and the evening afterpart
ing from BIr. Raymond, for the frs
time of his life, he required the assis
tance of a friend to convey him to his
fathers house, being in a state o
helpless intOXicatiOn. The following
day he awOke from his stupOr witt
chagrin and remorse written upOT
every feature. A new resolution wa
form ed, and for a while he was KEEP
from the power Of temptation. Dur
ing which time the nuptials of Fran
els Raymond aud Maria, Ethridgt
were celebrated. Miss WalfOrd haC
looked forward to this period as {