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CONSTANCY MISPLACED. 33
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
. . Wildl It Were Was Y Past Along A ; G...
All these years lier life had been as still and lonely as before ; only to one friend had she confided the deeplonely agony of her
, grief . When this friend was betrothed , and she dared no longer claim her complete sympathyshe withdrew herself entirely from
her friendship . Every recreation , , even the most innocent , she considered a crimeand yet she found it more and more difficult to
, live for grief alone . She had wept herself tired ; she had never sought and never found those spiritual consolations which , although
they cannot remove sorrow from us , yet transform it into a blessing for time and for eternity ; the exercise of daily duties , which she
performed with indifference , and without either love or faith , brought her neither comfort nor joy ; intercourse with the young
people of the town , above whose level she considered herself so greatly exalted , was to her insupportable ; she did not understand
how to give love , she did not seek it , and that heart must become dry indeedwhich is neither loved nor cherished _hy any one .
Stern had , visited her mother from time to time , and Elise had so far overcome the coldness and contempt which she entertained
towards all men who had not sought death in the cause of the Fatherlandas to remain in the room while he was presentand to
, , join in the conversation with more interest than was her wont * After some time he was appointed to a good living ; and although
he certainly might have hoped for a more friendly and kindly reception from many other maidens than he could expect from
Eliseit was with him , as with others , the difficulty of possession enhanced the value of the prize—he could not endure the thought that this
beautiful and highly endowed being should waste away her days in obstinate griefand he ventured to ask her to give him the right
to be her friend , and protector through life . The maiden never lived for whom the earnest , devoted
attachment of an upright man has no attractions . Not long before , Elise had herself overheard the pert remark , of a young girl :
'' Although she carries her head so high just now , in the end she'll just be an old maid like other folks . " Who knows how far
this homely remark may have penetrated into her high-minded souland smoothed the way for the gratification of Stern's and her
mother , ' s wishes ? Elise wrote to him : _"I understand the noble feeling which is contained in your proposal _; my mother seconds
your wishes , but my heart rests in the grave ; what I can offer you—my esteemmy fidelity—that is not sufficient to satisfy a
human life ; consider , well what you venture , and choose rather some one who can bestow upon you a whole heart . "
( To be continued . )
TO ! . XI . »
Constancy Misplaced. 33
CONSTANCY MISPLACED . 33
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 2, 1863, page 33, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_02031863/page/33/
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