The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-20 00:00:00

sATUT:.LY, DEC. 20, 1879.

A DANGEROUS JOURNEY,

A CHRISTMAS VALE. _
Br W. C. hi.
. . .
80111 my parents died during my childhood, so that
• When I attained my majority, I came into possession
of the family estate, which consisted of freehold and
, copyhold property in the county of -
When, on my coming of age, my father's executors
relinquished their trust, it became necessary for me to
go over the various deeds and leases relating to the
estate, with them. After this business had been con.
eluded, Mr. Mason, the senior of the two, who was
also ray guardian, and in the library of whose house
this matter had been arranged, took from the box in
Which the documents were kept, a sealed paper parcel,
,
Which he handed to me across the table.
"Edward," he said, "I had nearly forgotten this
Packet; I do not know what are its contents, but it
Was the desire of your father that it should be given to
7011 when you reached manhood."
I looked at the packet; it was a rather thick one,
tied round with a piece of faded green ribbon, and bore
this Buperscription :
"Statement of the circumstances under which I
' came into possession of my inhe'iitance."
"W. G. S."
I did not immediately recognise the handwriting,
,
but on looking at it more closely, I conjectured it to
be that of my grandfather, with which, although he
had died before I was born, I was not altogether tui-
acquainted, having seen, among the family papers,
some letters written by him to my father when the
• latter was at college. I was confirmed in this impres-
sion by the initials appended, "W. G. 5.," which
would stand for William George Belden, my grand-
father's name. What could be the nature of the re-
velations contained in the document before me, I
could not even remotely conjecture; and Mr. Wheat-
leigh, my lethal's other executor, professed himself as
ignorant as Mr. Mason, as to the character of the
ecenraunication that awaited me. An unpleasant
susisiclon fleshed across my mind. Could it be possible
, that there was some flaw in my title to the estate I had
,
inherited, and that the paper written bymy grandfather
el:Valued the secret! I confess, as this thought pre-
sented itself, my feelings were not of the most agreeable
nature. Strong as was the desire I felt to learn the
°entente of the packet, I could not, of course, be guilty
of the discourtesy of opening and reading it in the
.Preeence of two gentlemen so much my elders, and I
'eared that I must, perforce, delay the satisfaction of 1
re 7 curiosity for some little time at least. Mr. Mason,
however, observing the shade of anxiety that had
°eine over my countenance, and conjecturing that I
wite desirous of perusing the document immediately,
said :-
"Edward, I see you are curious, and naturally so,
to learn the contents of the manuscript in your hands.
Ur. Wheatleigh and myself have a little business to
I trant_sact together, and this will afford you an oppor-
'en' an
, tY of doing so. It yet wants," he continued,
glancing at the clock on the mantel-piece as he spoke,
1 two hours of dinner-time, so you will have ample
eieure for the purpose."
T LitccePting these last words as a permission to retire,
7,A._- 'wed to both gentlemen and quitted the library.
~,„'• Mason's house had been my home, except during
;,.`e Period I was at school, since my childhood, and I
rs °nee sought the seclusion of my own apartment.
taming the key in the lock to secure myself
P 'rein interruption, I broke the seal of the packet, and
°Pk_
_teed out its contents on the writing-table at which I
_ leaci seated myself. The manuscript consisted of
'O
ye °era.' sheets of foolscap, and was written in a more
"'ale hand than was usual in the last century
alnongst the class to which my grandfather belonged
--it having been in that age, curiously enough, con-
sidered one of the characteristics of a gentleman that
he should write an almost undecipherable ER raw!.
The narrative, which was in the form of a letter,
Was addressed to my father. It bore the date of 1795,
and Probably had been received by him whilst he was
/.
,Perining his studies at Cambridge, It ran as fol-
lows
cw," lil7 clear Henry, - You have, on more than
~,,-I„oceasion, when I • have referred to incidents
sa""'cn occurred during the period I spent in the
slorth American Colonies, asked me to relate to
fijeA n, at length, the story of my life. Hitherto I
ve been reluctant to do so, for the record of my
l' tartlY, years is fraught with many painful memories,
ih en I have been unwilling to revive. If I now,
,erefore, accede to your request, I do so only in the
noPe that the lesson my narrative conveys may be of
service to you in your subsequent career.
ti "You have, my dear boy, a tendency to procrastina-
,7cti which, unless it be c orrected in time, may ultimately
g°,ve a serious bar to your advancement in life.
• Ls not a weakness of which, I think, I can, with
11
ia„tlB,,tice, accuse myself of having frequently been guilty;
yet my giving way to it, at one critical con junc-
bi-' el my fortunes was fraught with the most
i cenentous consequences -my life was placed in
e°PardY, and I came very near losing my inheritance,
- lou will presently find.
" There is no sounder maxim than that which says we
enotild not speak ill of the dead. 'De Mortuis nil
_ ....71: bonuni ' has ever been held to inculcate a proper
44
tum sentiment with respect to this matter. Above
, atti sid
hould we deal tenderly with the faults and frailties
More
0 those who are nearly related to us, when they are no
' ..
. see,- rotill, it would be impossible for me to tell the
l-t ',I ray life, without some reference to the treat-
-312;;: I experienced at the hands of my father, since it
' --:eerienalY influenced my future career.
4 Ws born in the year 1735, in this house, and was
t-r„.onir son, having one sister, your aunt Maria, some
sZtitl)e years my senior. My mother, to whom my
er was, I t believe as strongly attached as it was ossible for a man of his cold, hard, unsympathetic
02Jerateent to be to anyone, died during my child-
her ; Bo that as I grew up there was no one to stand
/ Was me and the severity of the paternal rule.
in 'l,_as by nature the very opposite of my father
Th'eLaPosition-being quick-tempered and impetuous.
,ccelsequence, was that as I advanced towards man-
Fa u, a, rooted antagonism developed itself between us.
lee was, in some measure, to blame for this I now
~, cLearly enough; but, at the time, it appeared to me
•Za_t the harshness and injustice with which I was
admitted of no palliation. For faults that
lees have merited at the utmost a reproof more or
severe, I was cruelly beaten; and, the more fre-
iilni_t InY punishment the more reckless I became.
I'''''K, when I was just turned eighteen, matters
lne to a climax between my father and myself. As
"I:l74ptutlernetijashappens the incident which led to our final
lit is the in itself of a most trivial character, but
1. e last drop that fills the cup to overflowing.'
ather had directed me to give orders to the farm
‘l7allw„ that t a certain field should be ploughed without
ha,i"J• -1. nalstinderstood my instructions (possibly I
an
,_ not given that attention to my father's words I
coould have done), and transmitted the order in-
hen the mistake I had made was found
a severe thrashing. I bore the punieh-
-I,7"te In received, as was usually the case whenever I
11,ta.i fault,
•
e7Z in silence ; but, when it was over, I said to my
er tinietlY, although my face was white with sup-
laZreased Passion :-
w 4. . ,
, - This la is the last time you will ever beat me,
. lad, huldeed I' was the stern reply. 'And pray, my
: meat °' do you propose in future escaping punish-
You have deserved it?'
! .vo .042__eatuie I shall run away,' was my quick response.
the A.l 'at me worse than the slaves are treated on
~._ orth American plantations. lam almost a man
"wor, and I will bear with your cruelty no longer.'
4" Yon
In the ~., are perfectly at liberty to seek your fortune
m, 0 uolonies or elsewhere,' retorted my father,
•e„zirzye . But remember tisk' estate is not entailed,
".L you leave my house now, do not think ever
agfen to re-enter it,
.___l sml shall never Beek to do so, unless at your request,
quite certain,' I said, with warmth.
you
ba. tirchimf istakce°nt,
!it upon that, you will find yourself
• 4 replied my father, in a tone of de-
-I:ithraillati?n ; 'but I will not bandy further words
ie
o_,_
cabinet As he spoke, he went to an old-fashioned
abinet which stood in one corner of the apart-
awl'
, unlocked it, and took from a drawer a leathern
' a able ..0..f aralneY• lie spread out the contents upon
. Illusd,Z""'" slipwlY Lad methedically counted out one
guineas,
he said, pushing the gold towards
for you; it is your sole inheritance,
h'ine, Pre Relate you are willing to barter away your
"4 right.'
r toir
co o
- the
You money' Baying, as I did so, • I am well
burst with the bargain. Henceforth I hall trouble
Ito more ' e
mat urjlo .
i..
v...
Itia
4412idt baecltnioailve
ythat my father, at first, imagined
fulfil my threat of leaving home.
not only raising no objections to my
e,4l;ttiticiebut even offering me the means of seeking
e, Beyer° ;a abroad was, doubtless, simply to give me
1. °salon. He argued, probably, that, finding
.... r..... 2
fail raseemit, he took me at my word, my heart would
in lelv ' _But, When he discovered that I was resolute
vaaeZarPose, pride prevented his making any ad-
. an,..___ War& a reconciliation. And so we parted in
ger. never again to meet in life.
ii 1 4_
cl Arab' en e d and left the room, and seeking my own
Proceeded to pack such of my clothes as a
N.rn_atl.lel,ealther valise belonging to me would contain.
:aittna.,atable Was a sorrel mare, a gift to me from my
ad% In" on my last birthday. I saddled the animal
~,,_7 _; naY own hands, strapped the portmanteau behind
,74,,
rand then, without further leave-taking-for my
7c702,_ was absent on a visit to a relative-I quitted
ref__,nelne, as I then believed, for ever. In this, in-
-4,$ I was mistaken; but many a long year was
sinW to elapse ere I saw it again I
Line
litlai Y u f t
re
. u course had aireaay shaped itself dia-
l? Itt my mind. The allusion my father had
0010_, Y made to my seeking my fortune in the
rhii,n!esliad not been lost upon me. Amongst the
a aril. i: had met at my godfather's house sas
teacuhr"ln Johneon who commanded a vessel
Ihad
heard
between Bristol
tol and Richmond, Virginia.
th
.au
him, on more than one occasion, meek of
...es
echatioes there were for a young man of spirit
.nterpriee to make his way
and I dete in the New World.
Ziejrw moaned to take passage in his ship (which I
, as then in port) for Richmond. On arriving
e.P,r1,1i.t91, which I did on the evening of the day I
onle, I at once sought Captain Johnson, and
Zadt.a_cl o him my intentions, The kind old gentleman
vete'', venred. at first, to dissuade me from my pro-
it4innffteinred an
g out
many Opportunities
although it was true that
opportunities for a man of ad-

1
i
1

1

venturous disposition to better his fortunes, still it
would be very foolish, on my part, as 1 was heir to a
good estate in England, to abandon a certain for aa
uncertain advantage. Finding, however. that I was
fixed in my purpose. he at last reluctantly consented
to accept me as passenger
" After a passage of nearly nine weeks, I landed at
Richmond, and through the recommendation of my
good friend the Captain, I succeeded in obtaining em-
ployment under the Colonial Government. The ap-
pointment I obtained, and which was one for which
my mathematical studies had well fitted me, was on
the staff of the corps of engineers employed in the
survey of the western territory of Virginia. I fol-
lowed this occupation for some time, until having
accumulated a little money, I was able to purchase a
small plantation and engage in the cultivation of
tobacco; then the staple industry of the colony.
"I prospered in my new avocation, and time rolled
insensibly on without any particular incident occur-
ring to vary the even tenor of my somewhat mono-
tonous existence, nntil a period of nearly seventeen
years had elapsed since I left my native country. Dar-
ing my residence in Virginia, I had never once heard
from home, and I was in entire ignorance of what had
transpired there since my departure. That Captain
Johnson had communicated to my father the fact
that I was in the colonies I did not doubt, for
he had distinctly informed me that on his return
to England he should consider it his duty to do so.
As therefore my father had made no advances towards
a reconciliation, I, knowing his disposition, had re-
garded it as useless to do so.
" One day, when business had required my presence
In Richmond, a copy of the Gazette, in which the pro-
ceedings of the Colonial Assembly were published, was
lying on the desk of the merchant with whom I had
dealings. Glancing casually over the paper, my at-
tention was attracted to an advertisement which, at a
glance, I saw could be only addressed to me. It ran
thus :--

If William George Belden, son of the late Charles
James Selden, of The Cedars, near —, in the
county of --, be still living, and will communicate
with Messrs. Epperton & Co., of Lincoln's-inn-
fields, London, England, he will hear of something to
his advantage. Should the said William George
Selden be dead, any person furnishing reliable informa-
tion with respect to the date and place of his decease
will be suitably rewarded.'
" So, then,my father Ni As no more; and in. my thoughts
I had, I could not help reflecting, done him some in-
justice—for it was evident that he had not carried his
resentment with him to the grave. That I benefited
in some measure under his will was obvious; although
to what extent the vague wording of the paragraph in
the Gazette afforded no clue.
" I at once wrote to the firm from whom theadvertise-
ment had emanated, furnishing them with satisfactory
evidence of my identity; and, in abou t four months
thereafter, I received a letter from them in reply to
mine. The communication was a long one, but the
gist of it was to this effect :—My father had—after
making ample provision for my sister, who had been
married Some years—bequeathed to me the whole of
his freehold property, subject to one rather singular
condition. It appeared that when executing his will,
he was doubtful whether or not I was still living, and
he had inserted a clause t the effect that, if within a
period of three years from the date of his demise, I had
not presented myself at The Cedars, and formally noti-
fied whosoever might then be in the occupation of it
that I was the owner of the estate, then my claim was
to lapse, the property passing from me to my sister
and her heirs.

"'Yon will perceive,' wrote my correspondents,
from the peculiar wording of the paragraph to which
we have more especially called your attention, that it
is absolutely essential, in order to make good your title
to the estate, that you should, on or before Christmas
Day of this year (your father having died on the 25th
December, 1768) have complied with the stipulation
referred to.

"'You say that you are under the impression that
your deceased parent was aware that you Were resident
in the colonies; but, if so, he neglected to inform his
executors of the fact, for it was only quite recently
that, after advertising for you in this country for a
considerable time in vain, that they learnt, acci-
dentally, from an old retired sea captain of the name
of Johnson, that you had gone out to Virginia in 1753.
Thus a considerable portion of the term of three years
has already elapsed ; but, fortunately, it is still not
too late for you to enforce your claim to your inherit-
ance.'This letter,' they added, 'will probably reach
you by the latter part of September, and if, imme-
diately on receipt of it you take shin for England, you
ought to arrive here by the end of November at latest
—thus leaving yourself nearly a month to spare.'
"As a matter of fact, however, I did not get the letter
in question until the first week in October; and per-
ceiving that I bad no time to lose, I entrusted the
management of my plantation to a reliable agent, and
accompanied by my negro servant George, sailed for
London, in a vessel which left Richmond on the 13th
of the month. We had a passage of nearly nine
weeks, the tedium of which, so far as I was concerned,
was relieved by the society of a Mr. Simpson and
his daughter, who were the only passengers besides
myself. Briefly: I fell in love with the young lady,
aid had the satisfaction of finding that my regard was
returned; whilst her father, aware that I was heir to
a good estate, raised no obstacles to our mutual at-
tachment.

"On arriving in London, I called at the office of
Messrs. Epperton & Co., and, in the course of
our interview, they strongly urged upon me the ad-
visability of my going down to -shire without
delay, as it then wanted only nine days of Christmas.
Your sister, Mrs. Williams, and her husband,' con-
tinued Mr. Epperton, the senior member of the firm,
'are residing at "The Cedars," and to speak candidly,
I have a strong opinion, from what I have seen of
Mr. Williams. that he is a man that would not hesi-
tate to avail himself of any legal quibble that would
enable him to dispute your claim to the estate.'
"Most foolishly I neglected this advice in my desire
to enjoy yet a short time longer the society of the
woman I loved. This procrastination cost me dear;
and was, indeed, the direct cause of all my subse-
quent difficulties. At last, however, on the morning
of the 21st of December, I set out on my journey,
which ought not to have occupied more than two
days, or two days and a half, at the utmost. I con-
sidered, therefore, that in allowing myself a margin
of a little over forty-eight hours for any unforeseen
detention on the road, I was doing all that prudence
demanded under the circumstances. But in this, as
events proved, I was most woefully mistaken. I had
been able to secure only one inside place by the
coach, and my servant occupied a seat in the rumble.
The weather was very severe, a hard frost having set
in about a fortnight previously, which still con-
tinued; and George, poor fellow, accustomed to a
warm climate, felt the cold severely. I would,
indeed, have changed places with him, had it not
been that my doing so might have been regarded by
my fellow-passengers as a discourtesy towards them:
The first day of our journey passed without the
occurrence of any unusual incident. On the second,
however, we had not travelled many miles before the
snow began to fall heavily, and continued to do
so without intermission until nightfall; so that
the coach got on but slowly, and when it stopped
for the night we had not covered anything like the
number of miles which under ordinary circumstances
we should have done. The following morning we again
resumed our journey; but the roads were so heavy
that we made but little progress, and, as the defy
advanced, although we changed horses at frequent
intervals, it became evident that it was not in the
power of the poor brutes to continue to force their way
through the heavy snow-drifts we every now and then
encountered. Indeed, on our arriving, about five
o'clook in the afternoon, at a small village where it
was customary to change horses, the driver of the
coach announced his intention of proceeding no further
that day; and the passengers, myself included,
alighted and sought shelter in the inn at which the
stage had stopped.

"My reflections, when I found 'my journey
brought to an abrupt conclusion, were, necessarily,
by no means of an agreeable character. Instead of
reaching our place of destination in two days, as usual,
we had already been three on the road, and were
still over forty miles from my journeys' end. In
somewhat less than twenty hours, too the time for
claiming my inheritance would have expired;
and bitterly did I now repent me of my foolish
procrastination, However, regrets were idle, and
it only remained for me to make every effort in
my power to retrieve, if possible, my error. I
might, I reflected, continue my journey on horseback
if I could obtain a suitable steed; and I at once
sought the landlord of the inn, and inquired if he
could furnish use with a saddle-horse. He admitted
that he had one, but appeared at first unwilling to
let me have it, alleging, and not without reason,
that the weather VMS such that there was considerable
danger of both man and horse perishing with cold on
the road. Even if this were not the case, he added,
no reasonable charge for the hire of the animal would
compensate him for the injury it must sustain under
the circumstances. I met this last objection by an
offer to purchase the beast outright; and finding
that I was fixed in my resolution to continue my
journey, mine host, with some show of reluct-
ance, finally agreed to sell me a dark bay horse
he had in the stable. The animal of which I thus
became the owner appeared to be a strong and
serviceable one, and would, I hoped, carry me
to my destination in the course of a few hours. I was
under the necessity of leaving my servant at the inn,
for, although it would have been possible to obtain a
horse for him also, he had caught so severe a cold and
was evidently so ill, that any further exposure must
assuredly have proved fatal to him. Previous to
setting out on my journey, as I was examining the
flints of my pistols, one of my fellow travellers
said:—

"'Whatever peril you may be exposed to from the
elements, Mr. Selden, I think that there is very little
likelihood of your meeting with highwaymen on such
a night as this.
"It was, indeed, a fearful night. The cold was in-
tense, and the wind blew in angry gusts, occasionally
almost with the violence of a hurricane. Nothing, in
fact, but the importance of the interests at issue
would have induced me to brave the dangers of
the journey. But it was not simply my inheritance
that was at stake, but what I valued infinitely more—
the possession of the woman I loved; for I had formed
a sufficiently accurate estimate of the character of
Mr. Simpson to be well aware that, if I lost my
estate, I must at the same time abandon all hope of
ever obtaining the hand of his daughter.
"Bidding adieu to roy fellow•travellers, I mounted my
horse and set out. For the first hour, or so, all went
well with me, my route lying through a cultivated
tract of country, and there being hedges or fences on
either side of the highway, so that there was no fear of
my straying from the right path. The snow, too, had
at la-4 ccaed falling, whilst the moon, breaking oc-
casionaly through the dense masses of cloud that
enveloped it, cast fitful gleams of light over the land-
scape. Presently, however, the aspect of the country
changed, the road traversing a barren moor of con-
siderable extent ;and, as the snow lay thick upon the
ground, it became extremely difficult to distinguish
the highway from the surrounding waste. I, there-
fore, slackened the pace of my steed, And proceeded more
cautionslythan hitherto. I had not, nevertheless, ridden