Even with the faith that she had, the thought of being left with a man such as my father was would have made me sad.  You will wonder, perhaps, that I had not learned from such a mother as mine a clearer faith than that which possessed my mind at the time of her departure; but I had not.  It was impossible for me to accept a truth with that amount of evidence which satisfied her mind, and I doubted, at times, a future existence.  But I do not doubt it now.  I have had proof,—­abundant proof; and, O, the joy that fills my soul is unfathomable.

“My father now became more tyrannical than ever, and everything tended to destroy whatever there was of my mother’s disposition in my character.  But nothing could force it from me.  I was sensitive as ever to the remarks and the looks of all with whom I came in contact, and the severe and unmerited reprimands of my father almost crushed me.

“Several years passed by.  I wasted them in a retail store.  It was, however, not a complete loss to me, for there I formed an acquaintance with a young lady, the daughter of a poor collier.  Our friendship ripened to mutual love, and we were happy only when in each other’s presence.  Our interviews were frequent, and unknown to any one but ourselves for a long time.  At length my father became acquainted with the facts.  He called me to his room one night, and scolded me, threatened to disinherit me, and treated me as though I had been guilty of the most heinous crime.

“‘You miserable, good-for-nothing scamp!’ said he.  ’Why do you seek to lower yourself in the estimation of every man, and bring disgrace on the name and fame of my family, by associating with the poor daughter of a worthless laborer?’

“This fired my brain; but I was timid and dare not speak my thoughts in his presence.  I listened.  He showered upon me all the evil epithets his tongue could dispense, and, raving like a madman, he pushed me to the door, and told me to cease my visits upon Evelina or leave his house forever and change my name, for he would not shelter me, or own any relationship to me.

“Poor girl!  She little thought how much I that night endured for her, or how much I was willing to bear.  She was a beautiful being,—­so much like my mother, so gentle, and loving, and benevolent!  We were one.  True, no earthly law recognized us as such; but God’s law did,—­a law written with his hand on our beating hearts.  We had been joined far, far back, ages gone by, when our souls first had their birth,—­long ere they became enshrined in earth forms.  The church might have passed its ceremonial bond about us, but that would have been mere form—­that would have been a union which man might have put asunder, and often does.  But of a true union of souls it is useless to say ’what God has joined let no man put asunder;’ for he cannot any more than he can annul any other of his great laws.