Year: 1872

| We print in another column letter from
our correspondent In Switzerland which tells
strange story. It has many Of the features
Of Romeo and Juliet-the same old legend of
love, disappointment desperation, suicide |;
the loving not wisely but too well which we
have had from the beginning, and shall prob
ably continue so have so long as our poor
human nature is what we find 1t. There
would be nothing however, In what our cor
respondent writes but twice-told tale were it
not that it comprises lesson to parents and
guardians in America that cannot be too
thoroughly and promptly learned W


An American maiden, scarcely more than q
child. daughter Of an American lady Of for
tune and social repute, is sent out to Europe
to learn the languages, under the care of "a
competent governess' living in Zurich, who
has also the supervision of two or three others.
This maiden is about sixteen, and while at
Zurich she makes the acquaintance of young
man, scarcely more than q lad. native of
Poland, residing in Switzerland to acquire the
art of medicine. In time an arrangement is
made by which the maiden is to teach the lad
English, while he teaches her German. Our
narrative is somewhat obscure as to the nature
and the origin of this arrangement; but we
suppose 1t was approved by the competent gov
erness." At AL events, the 'sstudies' began and
with q result that our readers may fancy.
Romeo and Juliet spoke the same language;
but we question if things would have turned
out differently had he spoken German and she
English; for love hath q language Of its own
apart from the grammar and glossary. There
were long walks by the brawling brooks,
under shady old trees which may have
sheltered the. hosts % Of julius Caesar,
IL sight Of the love-inspiring Alps
those palaces of nature where eternity
sits enthroned in icy halls of cold sublim-
ity-frequent communions q persistence in
the new study that quite drove medicine out
Of the young mans mind and the finer accom-
plishments out Of that Of the young lady. for.
as we have said, she was sixteen and he
twenty. In time the mother came from
America with three other daughters. She
discovered the nature of the ssstudies''
that engrossed her child's attention,
and instantly forbade them. To make
the prohibition effectual, a she left
Zurich with her family for Lake Lucerne,
leaving the young Pole to continue his study
of medicine, and to find his happiness in
other eyes than those of Miss Juliet. .la


But love, as Madame Mother might we'll have
known, is not to be dissolved or defeated by
seas, or streams or even the wild Swiss noun
tains. The student followed the maiden to
Lake Luoerne, decorated himself in wig and
false beord and other mystifying toggery, and
took apartments in q small hotel near his be-
loved's new home, telling curious landlord
not without suspicious we would think in these
Commune times as to the rig and whiskers-
that he was in love and that cruel
parent stood between him and everlasting
peace. Then came little notes for the student,
timidly handed to the hotel porter by maiden
hands, and hurried meetings and strolls by
the banks Of the lake, where Tell is said to
have split the mythical apple and to have de-
fed Gessler's imperial chapeau. BUT Madame
Mother in time discovered this, and announ-
ced that she would leave Switzerland and
Europe even to prevent the relations which
had fascinated her daughter. This cruel
mandate was announced to the student, and
it moved him deeply. He asked for one more
interview The next day his beloved would
leave Lucerne and go to distant lands. The
meeting was permitted '.for twenty minutes"
says our correspondent care you
afraid to die?" said Romeo. ''No,"
said Juliet, s'when the time comes"
And in fash the student drew small pistol
and fred it at her temples. She fell upon the
ground, apparently dead. He then put the
pistol to his own forehead and fred, and fell
by her side. It was thought, when assistance
came, that both were dead. The maiden,
however, was severely but not dangerously
wounded, and is now free from danger. The
student was more seriously injured. It is
thought, however, that youth and health will
save his life; but he will never again look
upon his beloved, for the shot which was to
have taken his life has robbed him of his
sight, and he lies in the Gersau Hospital hope
lessly blind. udT.


This can scarcely be called tragedy,
although it has the elements of tragedy.
If Romeo had simply shot his sight away,
instead of taking the fatal drug, we are bound
to believe that Juliet would have loved him
just as fondly when she recovered from her
potion, and that in time even Old Capulet
would haye done the handsome thing and
made his peace with the Montagues. The
bloody little drama on the banks Of this Swiss
lake may have in time another and happier
ending, We pass from that however. This
maiden is Of American birth, and what
happened to her may happen in hundreds of
American families Steam, telegraphic cables,
advancement in navigation and engineering,
all tend to narrow this wide Atlantic Ocean
and bring Europe and America close together.