The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-09 00:00:00

,c OUR FIRST---S—W-.:-ETHEART-lz

area
j "You
few
am_Wahas.e.tnhptrah.vv,e?aretaßcYb aEn7eZ,Aa COOS,de ei(l e d change of air and
scene,",tiaid our kind erofseiltal daeulttelas; "so just
Ipack tip your portnicititeau, enlist your t.-evi.llieg corn-
Nnions; and start as soon tia possible." We heard
I the sentence of transportation with as much pleteure
as our state of suff ring would permit, end formed a
small, but active "committee of management" imme-
diately. Being of the happy disposition that can
feel quite at home, at any hour of the day, in a grey
tweed or striped gingham, theTwardrobe bOOll yielded
sufficient -support fur two moatha'_ vanity, and as' we
frequently incur a serious expostulation from divers
friends, whereby any listener might learn that on the
ephlihaeoisaensdkiovednftsetlisspeunibdt,je,ect we are somewhat indifferent as to
whether our ribbon is worth a straw, or our straw
worth a ribbon, why it may be easily divined that
Atcylaeunemero
head.
th'ertlaeyuhdr ge.
ongqfau-, cea' t' i
farmhousewo na, was
'r'e Where9iedyD ri tbhy shallab muchjr., we, g "fans;"vvo ?e' '
ah aunedk then
e e "Supposer
w:Aceoorinsai Dale and the lovely
tolint:een- uts.r.,o,te
„il
Well
aerall liar of
s'4,tircental-steezas while our companions devoured cold,
what do you thiuk of the Lakes?" Another shake of
decidedtrbe y
ippcehdoa
fraet LordWhcohDt tihtees;horeircievr, charms
.w'u'uo:na‘ reus"tvi
rreugheyi l g4hie:vrhlaater'frnsd among
I : forgan theasdde°a 1
yellow
r wisdom,
eyl i fields
a ofoet Kvdaee
hop-
vineyards verye'the' .
vihvstnierto,
irngpuineitsicoyser
,tkrosasgerptb
edbso
too-close
though
gol dh;
W ea
al a n c e
_theybetw
ea
er are nowth
ei
ri i :
interestcore
a Ne,"e,
and remembrancevraitedb
cn horseback
oo
Wrf
anothercold and p
proposal,
mercenaryposal,
d o that' 1
that tdfbeeeliineinlit.r.snt with a very significant
fashionablell sea-
s
gsiti
vo.o:rionnlit
dit
gentlemen
pep brieeeun
compound
trotters,amlii 0
w ai
tniwdo
afps
re
.1
taaterh:r,
eheecwaie
hgaisetieuhetileagashdt
mhetadoteoparonptrfodel
:tee;
dappled
are
fdmput
letreosi
roans, and
Fat na .
ladiestn.d
upon
the
say to Brighion p
to this
place;
home. The
• g at the reins with
There
innumerable
Master.-crr }flung-row
nwa dt!ardd:
u32ls. Billy'si
tnuheei sgeCPhs -,:rrteaaeundpsde:
dear
rand littlerd'
bhwPtgheeichvPs
hi s fatigue(bLuat
i siuent thatrpaesr:etsirton II
"sapphiresaegwdi
third:eaaddl goat-carriages,
ha
t ler h o p - vr i n limbs
d shop-window, wr
:rie es, smacking thetr whips and
fonedxumbearmarentaseaneiregrry,rathieounigha
tallaetress.
tugging
and
thoughtheyta a
more
e*aerrreee toosiude
it. exhaustedd ,aai n g
ll
otia.regrd:
"—all. the old men look-
tahlieyt.
ewoerlde trying to be and
women dark rig
g
jewel box of a third-rate
young,were
try-
ing
the
areso telicOroculihstilymP"tbi Vie
WearminAgnnding one
of
then the
rie-
a lookingghaelnt letm ee
na as
white, and the
yionunEgurowpcenthetrailof
lets, which carry trbeeaonleanniteof
the unhealty regal per-
of " Trnefits" in their—
very gloss; and .
of having exposed their beauty carrying
all the young
feverish influence than. the "moon's;" somehow, the
the gorged serpent seems. over the place still, and we
that there is a want of freshness of soul and
often fancy
symptoms
warmth of heart in the majorityefof the people we run
• Then
against. at Brighton one is sure to meet the very
folks we care least to know, and one is asked to dine
Purse-proud Harleys, OP to spend an
with the prosy,
• with the rude, shallow Hobsons, when we would
evening
much rather exist without the flattering notice of either.
twehmoeleepflathcee o,:efimrast
a No, we wen% go to Brighton in the height of the sea-
son--eio that's settled. Dover, Cheltenham, Hastings,
and Torquay,
were all objected to, and we suddenly de-
termined to abandon all famous Hy geian places of
0.0 and hearts look at our first rural home, in
resort, and
one of
the
wbildest pof Sussex. We had often seen
our second country locality, but had never revisited our
earliest
paths among heath and forest, where we pos-
sessed our first ponY, and met our " first sweetheart."
Away we went, forty miles of rail, and five of a crossroad, took us to our olden haunt; and we will just give
a few hasty reminiscences of our incipient life that ran
over our brain during the journey.
Our home at St. Leonarda had been a nondescript
sort of domicile--hall an English farmhouse, halt a
Gothic villa—situated in the neighbourhood of a
amid a vast range of hilly
rabbit-warren,and woody
country, intersected with gurgling streams and large
patches of cultivated land; sheets of golden wheat
flashing out between dark brushwood slopes, and
emerald fields of turnips, spreading at the feet of the
A noble espalier pear tree, and
tall frowning trees.
truited all over the white fronts, and
a luxuriant vine,
bunch of luscious purple fruits
many a clustering
might be seen in the autumn sunshine i ;
r.penzg on
the gabled roof, resting its juicy weight on the
patches of stonecrop, and causing divers speculations
household
among the juniors of the as to whether
there was a possibility of reaching thaw from the top
casements; and occasionally they did disappear in a
most
miraculous wanner. There Was a rude sort
of garden spreading round, where carnations and
cabeages, laburnums and lettuces, scarlet beans and
sweet-williems, brocoli and black curran's, rosetrees
and radiates, sprang in plentiful and brilliant con-
tiguity; and there was one little corner where
some moss covered flints, a spontaneous profusion of
deckleaves, and an overhanging elder, afforded an asy-
lum fur a couple of pet frogs, to the dismay of certain
boarding-school-herd cousins who visited us in the mid-
summer holidays. One side of this Eden wilderness was
bounded by a broad thread of lucid water, known as
" Miller's Brook," across which, close by the frogs' her- '
mitage, were a couple of rough planks, forming a bridge,
leading on to a fresh grassy bank, where flax, and
rushes, and forget-me-nots, grew thick and odorous,
under the shadow of poplars and alders, and beyoad lay
the " Long Water Meadows," with Dives's farm in the
distance. On the other side was an ancient rambling sort
of .sabaea,iuuloacd with old grey paling, all covered with
yellow lichens, and welted- with wiry ivy, with an coca-
sional azure periwinkle and red dot-rose peeping out, re-
minding one of Infancy's blue eyes and ruddy cheeks
playing with the wrinkled brow and silver hair of grand-
father. Ay, that was an orchard! where bouncing
eat's-head apples shook their fists in the nigger-faces of
muscle-plums; where greengages, bursting with sugary
juice, tumbled into the cool grass, and gipsy filberts
rattled down about our ears with very gentle assistance;
then the mulberries and the " swan's-egg" pears, and
the damsons and the cherries—oh, such cherries:—
May-dukes and bigaroons, and blackhearts and morellos,
hanging like coral and jasper wreaths from the droop-
ing boughs, propped up here and there by a broken
rail. Ah, what mouths, what pinafores, what bands,
used to be seen in that old orchard during the
cherry season; what morning gluttony, what evening
excesses, were carried on in defiance of all paternal au-
thority and serious prognostications of cholera and sud-
den death. We taught the very sheep-dog to mumble
the delicious food, and old " Watch" was often seen
with his grizzled muzzle deeply stained with the for-
bidden fruit—to say nothing of the pony having real
nonpareils handed to him by dozens through a gap in
the paling, and whole capfuls of the finest " Orleans"
being bestowed in munificent generosity on any ragged
wayfarer who looked with longing eyes on our depreda-
tions. This paradise of an orchard led through a
gate into a lengthy sort of copse, the copse led
into a clover-field, and the clover-field skirted a lane

with luxuriant hedgerows, where bees, butterflies,
and grasshoppers, made assignations with the
honeysuckle and sweet-woodruff; where the in-
fant stragglers laid hid themselves among the wild
briefly and tall foxgloves, and sat threading "cheeses"
from the mallow, or flinging ox-eye daisies at each other
by the hour together. About a quarter of a mile down
this lane, just at the commencement of the village, was
the blacksmith's rustic forge and thatched cottage,
where the ringing hammer made cheerful music, and as
happy a family dwelt as one might meet in a day's
march, and with whom we scraped an enthusiastic and
immediate acquaintance. Widow Hewitt was a de sr
primitive old woman, with only two faults in the
world. The first, and by far the most terrible in
our estimation, was art inveterate prejudice Li
favour of camomile tea, and the strength of her
prejudice was only equalled by that of the decoction.
Her preserves were superb, and her applepies—
her real " apple-pies"—were something to talk about,
putting to the blush the make-believe fashion of
trumpery tarts, where an ounce of fruit is spread
over any quantity or quality of crust, with prison I era
laid across, as if to protect the beggarly th,f g m in-
vasion; her cake was equal to her pie, and her home-
made wines were equal to her cake. Somehow we sou
got on such terms with the old lady that we had the rut,
of a certain corner cupboard, and revelled in raspb, rry-
jam, greengage marmalade, and sparkling gooseberc) ;
but alas! there was a "bubbly jock" to our gastric f -b-
-etty in the form of that horrible camomile tea which tie
dear old lady insisted on administering in the full dose
of half a pint to every luckless being within retie° of
her prescription, no matter what was the ailment,—
toothach, sprained uncle, or neuralgia,—it couai
only be cured by camomile tea. Camomile !ea
was her " life- preserver:" it was necessary t_osesxl:ld
eurffc
on once, in her opinion, as the air we breathe; d
Gimble the wheelwright said, "It wur.goaann.l3:
providence she didn't take to quack pi _ t
bribed the Sunday-school
the same scale." She
children into its bitterness once a month; she persuaded
the landlord of " The Chequers" that it would remove
his grog blossoms; she made the dressmaker believe
that it would "clear her complexion; and it was ae.
aerted that she had attempted to dose the old foxhound
"Music," when he came to them a puppy with the dis-
temper. Certain it is that old Music always displayed
active signs of disapprobation whenever he caught sight
of the huge brown pitcher that held the elixir, and it is
also certain that he scratched up the camomile flowers
on the common with a force that savoured more of re-
venge than mischief. Dame Hewitt's other fault was in
thinking that her son Ben, who managed the business,
was the only son in the world worthy of a mother. Cer-
tainly, Ben was a fine-hearted, handsome young man; he
was seldom seen at the Chequers, and played the fiddle at
church every Sunday; he knew a good deal fiddle
at
and Goldsmith; always had a flower in his jacket
button hole; managed to shoe the most vicious horses
without difficulty, and had a knack of quieting obstre-
perous babies in a magical manner. Ben's eyes and
whiskers were enough to disturb the peace of all the
Phillises and Daphnes in the neighbourhood; and when
his mother declared that the Baronet's son was not to be
compared to him, there is little doubt that her onion
was fully corroborated by more young ladies than Poe.
It was our fortune to captivate Ben's affection:
a ur.
a very serious extent. His youngest pi:4er au
and
selves had exercised the freemasonry of chil
accidental
grown very " thick " during two or three
meetings in the lane. We bad given her a volume
of Fairy Tales, and she had bestowed on us a pincushion
of her own making. Our approbation
do! each other was
fully established over a private rea log.
eorf
home
eisoiri
Crusoe, and eieled in our being taken to 13
Good Dame Hewit
see a lifter of wolieerful par.".
took infinite melee of our " tine coupte.,-, and sae
all sorts of kind things; but
we recollect ttpi,t, she iuse.
nuated a few revaarko as to the ""ca'Y of Camomile