LOUISA SANFORD ; OR , THE EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE.
Every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a devil."
THERE is a deep, unpleasing melancholy in the toll of a bell ! how it harrows up our feelings, and makes our hearts ache ! That doleful sound is the messenger of the departure of some spirit to "that undiscover'd country from whose bourne no traveller returns," telling that some form once filled with life and vigor, and blooming with health and beauty, is about to be consigned to the cold and silent tomb. How many eyes are streaming with tears ! how many hearts are left desolate ! What a sound for reflection ! perhaps, ere long it may sound our funeral knell !
" There is in souls a sympathy with sounds, Some chord in unison with what we hear Is touched within us, and the heart repliesWith easy force it opens to the cells Where Memory slept."
How fraught with misery is that mournful sound falling upon my cars, spreading far over hill and dale, telling that some friend is gone, and associating in my thoughts the recollection of a sad event with which that sound is connected, wafting me back to a far- distant period, and arousing in my heart sensations which have long lain dormant. I have often heard the toll of the church-bell, yet it has ever produced a feeling of awe in me, since being connected with an event which I shall here narrate. Louisa Sanford was the only child of Colonel William Sanford, one of the wealthiest and most respectable planters in the South. He had devoted the earlier portion of his manhood to the practice of law in the city of Augusta, and possessing a superior intellect, and considerable talents, both legal and literary, he soon became eminent in his profession. Having a handsome appearance, and above all an unblemished moral reputation , he had little difficulty in engaging the affections, and obtaining the hand of Louisa Styles, one of the most beautiful, wealthy and accomplished young ladies in the city ; a circumstance which placed him far above the world ; and being regardless of fame, he, shortly after his marriage, abandoned his profession, purchased a plantation a short distance from town, and removed to the country to obtain that repose and retirement his nature loved. Mrs. Sanford, being an orphan, had no fashionable mama to urge her stay in the city ; and having an affectionate and conciliating disposition, it was with pleasure she renounced all the gaieties of town for a life in the country. They had been married but a few years before Mrs. Sanford fell a victim to consumption, leaving an inconsolable husband and Louisa, the
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subject of this narrative, an infant about one year old. Colonel Sanford was, for several years, a prey to the deepest melancholy, and frequently subject to alienation of intellect ; but time, the assuager of all griefs, gradually restored him in a degree, though he never entirely recovered his former gaiety of spirits. Louisa was now the only being on whom he could bestow his affection and care ; and as each succeeding year made her more interesting, how plainly could her father see all the beauty and loveliness of his dear lost wife concentrated in his child, How kind and devoted a father was he ; not even neglectful of those delicate attentions which mother's bestow on their children. Having nothing to occupy his time but the improvement of his beautiful residence, he superintended the education of his daughter. Possessing a mind of the first order, and having omitted no opportunity of improving it, he was well calculated to impart to Louisa that instruction so necessary to the adornment of a young lady ; not neglecting to have her taught all the minor accomplishments. Louisa possessed a sprightly intellect, and having so competent an instructor as her father, she had acquired more useful knowledge at the age of fifteen than young ladies, who are sent to boarding-schools, usually do at twenty. When Louisa had attained her fifteenth year, her father concluded it was time for her to see a little more of the world, and forthwith made arrangements for making a tour through the Northern States. It was in the pleasant month of April, 18-, that Colonel Sanford and his daughter set out on their journey, in their own private coach, so as to jaunt leisurely through the States they intended visiting, make observations on the country, and if they took a fancy to any particular spot, to sojourn there so long as suited their inclination ; a mode decidedly preferable (to one who travels for pleasure and information ) to being whirled along on a railroad at such a rapid rate that you have no time to view scenery, for every thing seems blended into one ; or travelling on a steamboat with the constant dread of striking a snag, and sinking, or getting blown up. Colonel Sanford travelled as far north as New Haven, and he was so charmed with that beautiful town, that he concluded to remain there some length of time. A few weeks after his arrival, he visited various female schools, and finding one, the discipline of which pleased him so well, that he entered Louisa, resolving if she would consent to a separation from him, he would leave her and visit England. There was an attraction and a charm in the society of Colonel Sanford, which, notwithstanding his habitual reserve and melancholy, won the hearts of all those with whom he became acquainted ; so that it was not long before he had a circle of admiring friends. Intelligent, and well-bred, and having almost constantly by his side his beautiful
