hild. It is not strange
that he should marry again; for the grief of man seldom survives the
allotted period of mourning, and it was natural that he should select a
gay and brilliant woman, for the second choice is generally a striking
contrast to the first. My mother, I am told, was one of those gentle,
dove-like, pensive beings, who nestled in her husband's heart, and knew
no world beyond. My step-mother loved the world and its pleasures better
than husband, children, and home. She had children of her own, who were
more the objects of her pride than her love. Every day, they were
dressed for exhibition, petted and caressed, and then sent back to the
nursery, where they could not interfere with the pleasures of their
fashionable mamma. Could I expect those tender cares which the yearning
heart of childhood craves, as its daily sustenance? She was not harsh or
despotic, but careless and indifferent. She did not care for me; and
provided I kept out of her way, she was willing I should amuse myself in
the best manner I pleased. My father was kind and caressing, when he had
leisure to indulge his parental sensibilities; but he could not
sympathize in my childish joys and sorrows, for I dared not confide them
to him. He was a man, and, moreover, there was something in the gilded
pomp of his martial dress, that inspired too much awe for childish
familiarity. I used to gaze at him, when he appeared on military parade,
as if he were one of the demi-gods of the ancient world. He had an erect
and warlike bearing, a proud, firm step, and his gold epaulette with its
glittering tassels flashing in the sunbeams, his crimson sash
contrasting so splendidly with the military blue, his shining sword and
waving plume,--all impressed me with a grandeur that was overpowering.
It dazzled my eye, but did not warm my young heart.

"As I grew older, I exhibited a remarkable love of reading, and as no
one took the trouble to direct my tastes, I seized every book which came
within my reach and devoured it, with the avidity of a hungry and
unoccupied mind. My father was a gentleman of pure and elegant taste,
and had he dreamed that I was exposed, without guardianship, to
dangerous influences, he would have shielded and warned me. But he
believed the care of children under twelve years of age devolved on
their mother, and he was always engrossed with the duties of a
profession which he passionately loved, or the society of his brother
officers, us