Alvira: The Heroine of Vesuvius

d in the Way H

mor

od nowhere

hoary regis

nce, in the fo

s the word, no

ose who

hild, and Foll

tuff as dreams ar

tic visions o

ult

family is a strange exception of heroic virtue in the midst of a school of seduction. The saints were never exotics in their own circle. The

father's impiety; of a Stanislaus pursued by brothers who thirsted for his blood; of a Damian who nearly star

was early sent to the care of the Jesuits. Under the direction of the holy and sainted members of this order he soon gave hope of a religious and virtuous manhood. Away from the scoffs of an unbeli

ridiculed his piety was very disagreeable; hence, under the guidance of a supernatural call to grace, he longed to be back with the kind fathers, where the quiet joys of study and solitude far outweighed the short-lived excitemen

e soul and the vanity of all human greatness. In his frequent meditations he became more and more attracted towards the only lasting, imperishable Good which the soul will one day find in its possession. "Made for God!" he would

r on the stage of life. They grasped for a moment the gilded bubble of wealth, of glory, and power; but scarcely had they raised the cup of joy to their lips when it was dashed from them by s

enial to his convictions or more encouraging to the deep resolution growing in his heart could be selected. The p

rica, homeless and friendless; in cold and hunger he sought shelter amidst the ruins of Carthage. Carthage, whose fallen towers lay in crumbling masses around him, was once the rival city of imperial Rome herself, and, under the able leadership of Hannibal, threatened

sad tale of disappointment felt by those who seemed t

," said a sage on the death of Alexander the Grea

o his honor!" sighed a philosopher on viewing a mean monument on the sea-sho

e," was announced by a courier who carried the gr

ng Philip II. of Spain, "washing the plates in some obsc

he streets of Paris. "And then?" asked by another saint of an ambitious youth, did not lose its force with the h

nd there, with eyes fixed on the blue vault of heaven, he would sigh: "Oh! qua

ng the angry temper of his father and the bitter sarcasms against the faith Louis loved had embittered everything around his home. In tears, but with the fearless ABANDON of the true call, he resolved to quit his father's home that very night, and to break his purpose to his mother. She was

rls, dressed in extravagant richness, are hurrying off to the fashionable rendezvous of the city; mildly ref

know those interesting children bursting like fragrant flowers into the bloom of their maidenhood; they are the sisters of Louis, Alvira and Aloysia. R