Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-03-18

| upon Irish chastity were prrln-lc.d 3no
/ prooticss; that ia tive wreck Ot al else,
we had retained our honor that though
the nationaf iuminary had descended lOi
a season, the streaks ofiis loneliness still
| fingered OH its horizon; that the nurse OF
| that genius which abroad has redeemed the
name and digniied tie nature of man, was
| to be found al nome IN The spirit without
stain, and The purity without suspicion /;
/ he might have told them truly, That this
| did. not result, as they would intimate,
from theabsenCe of passion, or the want
| of civilization that ii Was the combined
consequence of education, OF example and
OF impulse, and that, though III oil the
revelrv of enjoyment, the fair flowret Of
the Irish soil exllaled its fragrance, and
expanded its charms, III The chaste and
blessed beams of i Nirtuotis affection, still
II shrunk with an Instructive seEsitiveness
from the gross pollution of an unconse-
Grated contract
Gentlemen, the common articles of
the seducer failed; the syren tcnes with
which sonsuality awakcns appetite, and
iuiis purity, had wasted themselves i'll air,
aud tile intended victim, 81 af TO the fas-
cination, moved along safe and untrans-
formed. He soon saw, that Young as size
was, the vulgar expedients of Vice were
Intellectual; that the attractions ola gilt
tering exterior failed; and that before
she could be tempted to her sensual dam
nation, his tongue must learn, If not the
words of wisdom, at least tire speciouS-
ness of affected purity. He pretended
an affection as virtuous as IL was violent;
he called God 10 witness the sincerity Of
his declarations; by all the vows which
should forever riyet ihe honor '', and
could not fail to convince ~,e.. are incre-
dulous, he prom iseu her marriage over
and over again he invoked the eterual de
Dnnciation il it was pertidi0us-to her
acknow lodged want of fortune ins con
slant reply was, that he had an independ-
ence; that all he wanted was beauty aud
v;rtue; that u saw she had tue one
that he had proved she had the other.-
When she pleaded the obvious disparity
of her birth. he answered, that lie was,
himself, only the son # All English farm
cr-that happiness was not the monopoly
of rank OF riches-that his parents would
receive her as the child OF their adoption
that he would cherish her as The charm of
his existence. Spacious as il was, even
this did not succeed she determined to
await its avowal TO those who had given
her life. and who hoped to have made ii
Immaculate by tie education they had
forded Some DAYS after this, he met her
in her walks; for she could not pass her
parental threshold without being inter
copied. He asked her where she was go
ing She said, friend, knowing her
fondness for books, had promised her the
loan of some, and she was going to- receive
them. tie told her he had abundance
that they were just at his house that he
hoped, after what had passed, she would
feel no improperly i'll accepting them
| She was persuaded to accompany him
| Arrived, however, at The door of his lodg-
| ings, she positively refused to go any far
| Their; all his former articles were redou-
! bled; he called God to witness he consi-
dered her as his wife, and her character
| as dear 10 HIM as that of one of his sisters
| he affected modification at any suspicion
Of his pnrity-he told her. il She refused
| her confidence TO his honorable affection,
| the little infant who accompanied her was
an inviolable guarantee for her pTo'cc ion.
| Gentlemen, this wrett1led child nd suf-
fer her credulity 10 repose OH lis proies.
| SONS. Her theery tau1.t her to Tespegf
4, the honour OF soldier; her love reneiled
the imputation that debased Its direct ;
and her Youthful innocence rendered her
! as IHcredulOus as she was unconscious OF
crimlnalltY At first MS behaviour cor
responded with his professions he wei.
coined her to fhe home of which he hop
! ed she would soon become the insepara.
ble companion he painted the future
! joys of their domestic felicity, and dwell
With peculiar complacency on some he
radio ornament which hung over hi.
clnmney-plece, and which, he said, was
the armOrlal ensign of his family Oh
nay Lord, how well would it have been Ina,
he but retraced the fountain of that do
cumcnt; had he recalled to mind the vir
tues it rewarded, the pure train of honor,
1t associated, the line OF spotIess aBcestr,
II distinguished, lie nigh ambition its be
quest inspired, the moral imitation ii i'm
peraiivcly commanded Hut when gull
once ldndcs within the human heart. al
that Is noble i'll our nature become.
parchcd and arid the blush of modest,
fades before IFS glare; the sighs of yiriu,
fan its lucid flame, and every divine cs
senCe of our being but swels and eXas
pcratcs us Internal conhagration.
Gentlemen, will not DISGUST This an
dlence ] will not debase iyself bv an,
description Of the scene tiri followed
will not detail the arts, the exciienents
the promises, the pledges, with which de
liberate lust iuhamed The passions an,
finally ovcrpOwered the struggles of inno
cence and of youth. II is loo much I,
know, that tears could not appeasc. tha
misery could not affect that the prcscnc
and tlie prayers Of an infant could no, a,y
HIM and that the wretched victim. be
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