The Sun.
London, England, 1824-10-07 00:00:00

JENNY 'KELLY.

[From the European Magazine.]
How many an affecting narrative might be
drawn from the stories which the CC simple an-
nals" of humble life supply ! How many a tale,
the circumstances of which may have been known
only to few, and soon forgotten by all, would
awaken general sympathy, if some friendly hand
had been found to record it ! in the town of
Newry, in Irela►►d, lived Jenny Kelly, the sub-
ject of this little narrative. At this distance of
time not any thing material is known of her pa-
rents; it is only known that they were honest
and industrious, and that they brought up their
daughter according to their means. Before she
attained the age of eighteen years, she became
the object of affection to two suitors. This dis-
tinction, which would have been flattering to the
vanity of most young women of her age, proved
to her the greatest misfortune. She had a fine
countenance, an elegant figure, an amiable dispo-
sition, and was of singularly industrious habits.
Iler voice was moreover uncommonly fine.—
Poor girl ! when I think of her fate, a tear of
pity falls to her memory. Yet Jenny did not
become a prey to the arts of a seducer; she
was reserved for misery of a different kind.—
The two rivals who sought her affections were
brother clerks in the firm of Messrs. Ogle and
Thompson, well known merchants in Newry.
The circumstances of each were nearly equal,
and they were generally regarded with a degree
of respect, little short of that shewn to the part-
ners themselves. Kays was the name of one
lover, M'Evoy that of the other. Kays was a
very handsome young man, tall, well shaped ;
his rival had not the same advantages of person,
and was conscious of the superiority of Kays in
this respect ; but this reflection only caused him
to redouble his attentions to Jenny ; and to do
every thing in his power to ingratiate himself
into her esteem. Whether or not Kays was less
ardent or persevering in evincing his attachment
cannot now be knows ; but after much persua-
sion and entreaty, Jenny, though her heart owned
a preference of Kays, yielded to the importuni-
ties of M'Evoy, and was married to him accord-
ingly. Jenny was young, and probably scarcely
knew her own heart at the time, else she ought
not to have given her hand to one lover, and her
affections to another. It was a weakness on her
part, and she bitterly atoned for it ; yet who shall
blame her ?

" Women are not,
" In their best fortunes, strong,"
and might there not he some neglect on the
part of Kays ? When Jenny became a wife,
osibleligawtiaogns fuwillylichsenislieb of th
rle
new
ceoni.dluittiioeisi and
im.
ll in
ori ofe sreidipeorownehrlui es
husband
slblyiuet t do
teot er
er nirieedatsheteo
adh
freoer
cat
inc
own
towards him. With these feelings they might
have been happy ; but connubial bliss was not
to be the lot of this young creature. It mny be
easily imagined that Kays, who was not less fond
of Jenny than his successful rival, was plunged
into a state of distraction as soon as he knew of
the utter ruin of his hopes. In the first parox-
ysm of his rage, he threatened destruction to
both ; but becoming more calm, he conceived a
scheme of revenge, which he determined to carry
into effect. He began to affect an indifference
upon the subject ; then to utter innuendos flint
could not but create strange conjectures ; and
at last he did not scruple to insinuate, in plain
terms, and in such a way that it was sure to
reach INl‘Evoy's ears, that he had previously to
her marriage had an illicit intercourse with the
young bride. Such reports were not slow in
finding circulation ; they speedily came to the
knowledge of M'Evoy and his wife, and their
feelings on the occasion it may be easily sup-
posed though very differently effect-
ebecame melancholy ; her appetite
(t Jenny were
deeply
failed her, she grew pale and thin, and was fre-
quently caught in tears. The cruelty of Kays cut
her to the heart. M'Evoy, though he did not ab-
solutely believe hi the rumours of his wife's ills-
honour, was not certain that they were altogether
false. Kays and M'Evoy were still placed near
each other, and there were mutual heart burn-
ings and bickering betweeni)ttellielemrie:sreoineStemotteolnri,tol;fotwahne-
e ifngtotobe°
ouivi'leeforl v
uciniaudweodilidigecdahliunenlositerinyl —the other being loth to
render more public than it was the reported dis-
grace of his wife. Poor Jenny bore up against
the influence of her feelings as long as she could ;
her home was wretched to her susceptible and
artless mind, for doubt and suspicion hung over
it. Her husband's eye no longer beamed on her
with the soft light of confiding love; in a few
weeks she fell ill, her brain became delirious,
and tier medical attendants desparied of her life.
M'Evoy was in a state to be pitied. The effects
of Kays' perfidy now stared him in the face,
and for the first time made him sensible of his
baseness. He was not naturally of a bad dispo-
sition ; and his passion for Jenny revived in all
its force ; he would have died to restore her to
her senses, and to repair the wrong he had
done her. He hastened to her mother's house
to confess his guilt, and to ask her for-
giveness ; but lie was denied admittance.
Again he begged to be admitted to see the
poor girl ; he appeared almost broken hearted ;
his request was again refused. Unable to retain
himself any longer, he confessed that the story
he told conceruing her was a wicked fabrication.
Good Heavens !" he exclaimed, raising his eyes
and clasping his hands, " could I but hear her
say she forgave me, how happy should I be! but
now I am miserable." " You cannot, you must
not see her ; my poor child is dying ; the sight
of you would be too much for her—she is dying !
—do not ask it !" lie bade the disconsolate mo-
ther faren el, and hurried away overwhelmed
with grief and horror. He could not rest ; all
did, solicited was dark and gloomy within him ; agonised and
scarcely knowing what heon
the following
of Newry a luwhigdayantwoenle meeting
of the
lie
principal
in-
habitants
of the inns, and openly
declared to all present that every word he had
said against Jenny was false, and that the cause
of his malignant fabrication wits his excessive love,
and his madness at seeing tier possessed by ano-
ther. He was iu consequence dismissed from his

situation. Still, however, lie did not despair of
seeing his unfortunate victim, and of confessing
to her his villany. With this intention he again
repaired to her mother's residence, but it was too
late ; her spirit had fled to that world where the
praise and censure of mankind are equally indif•
ferent, in six weeks after her bridal day.—KaYs
shortly afterwards left Newry for America, end
tered into the American army, and was killed.