STANLEY'S ROMANCE.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2973, 26 August 1878, Page 3

STANLEY'S ROMANCE.

How a Geeat ExpliObee's Life Was Made Meiancholy. There are few men in the world to whom life should apparently be so pleasant as to Henry Stanley; there are few, however, to wnom it seems to be so bitter. AH England is ready to do him honor; he has been overwhelmed with praise and congratulation ; the Queen has received him; Parliament has thanked , him; the two great journals for which he has made his explorations have amply rewarded him. But he is sullen, morose, discontented and savage; he seems to enjoy nothing save occasionally making himself intensely disagreeable at a ,;,t'>publi(s' dinner or meeting, where . i every one ia anxious to do him Iwhbtior.. This is. strange; Mr -. Stan- ; ley.! i» yet a young man, and life should still contain much joy for him. What is the explanation of this mystery ? * -Mr Stanley has had a romance; it ended r unhappily for him,'and this has soured him to the heart. . Before he went upon Ins second expedition' to Africa he met . i. and fell madly, in love with a charming r (young lady, the daughter of a wealthy citizen of Jewish extraction, whose name ; -is, perhapsibestknpiii'n incOnnißctionwith V 1 ; the .fere'etipn of an extensive but unfortunate opera house. 1 Mr Stanley's passion , was deep and violent, but he was told '' that at.least he must wait, and that an immediate marriage was out of the ques-.,,-tion, He, was anxious to win even „ greater,,fame and fortune and lay them at the feet of his beloved. It was ■ at this moment , that the ,second African expedition was proposed- to him. In it he saw the coveted oppor--u i tunity for. distinction and' reward, and he eagerly embraced the perilous commission. '-'Throughout the whole of that terrible journey through the jungles of Africa, amid all bis toils, dangers, sickness and disappointments, he w*s sustained by-the - thought 'of his love and by the confident hope of receiving the reward whioh was dearer to'him(tlian,the applause of the !' ■' world or the riches of Goloonda. He gave the name of the young lady to the most beautiful lake which he discovered, as he gave it afterwards to the handsome boat in which he made a portion of his exploration —the Lady Alice. At length the r .source - of the Congo was found ; the great .deed was accomplished, and Stanley returned with a proud and happy heart to the coast. At Zanzibar a packet of letters was awaiting, him, and he hastened to open them, hoping to find some message of lore and affection from the mistress of his soul. A fatal blow struck him. One of the letters contained the intelligence that* Miss Alice —— had been married sereral months.' From that moment > ■ Stanley-wai a changed man. His delight ; is life was wholly lost. His natural good htimbr and buoyancy of spirit gave "place to long fits of melancholy, alternated with violent outbursts of petulance and,anger. The plaudits with which he was received upon his arrival in England .were distasteful to him; he revenged himself by attacking with unreasonable 'iage r every one who ventured to differ on even the slightest subject with him. This, however, was Mr Stanley's second love affair. He had experienced a previous disappointment, but it. had not deeply wounded him. Chancing to be spending some time upon the island of Crete, he saw from his window a young Greek maiden in the garden of the opposite house, and he at once felt that his fate was sealed. She was about fifteen years old, and Mr Stanley has since declared that never before nor since has he , beheld so sweet and beautiful a creature. He at once sought out the American Consul and revealed to him the state of his .heart. The Consul, who had himself married a Greek lady, bade him not despair ; took him forthwith to the house of his inamorata and presented him to her. mother, who was a widow. Stanley could , speak no Greek ; the mother no English ; the Consul was the interpreter. He did his work so well that at the end of half an hour the young lady was sent for. Stanley was forbidden even to touch her hand; but he conversed with her by his eyes, and they soon understood each other well. At the end of a week he was an accepted lover; at the end of a fortnight the day for the wedding arrived. All this while be had seen the young lady once a day, always in the presence of her ' mother. On the day before the wedding he had been permitted for the first time to take her hand and to imprint upon it; a chaste salute. The morning of the wedding arrived. Stanley ' was dressed for the ceremony and was awaiting the happy moment. There entered to him three Greeks whom he had never seen before, and an interpreter. They are introduced as the brothers of the bride, and they produce a parchment which the interpreter explains. It is a deed of settlement which binds Stanley to pay so much a year to.the mother, so much to each bro- \ ther and so much to his wife, and to plank H down the first instalments on the spot. Tn vain Stanley explains that he is worth nothing and cannot pay; the ; brothers * look daggers, the interpreter frowns, and the scene closes by the arrival of the Consul, who with difficulty gets Stanley out Of the clutches of his tormentors and ships him off to Athens. He never saw his beautiful Grecian maiden again.—New York Graphic. \