Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-07-24
MONDAY. JULY "a, 1926,
THE SMUGGLERS.
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Il
broad respecting her son. His letter oil APP
pointment, it was reported, had arrived; but he
had rejected the situation, al the suggestion oil
Harrie, and her brothers He had been ire
ouently seen, of late, al the dead ofnlght on the
beach. and more than once he was known 10
have be,n absent from home for twenty-iour
hours successfully. The Dreadnought, which
had hitherto been navigated by stranger, was
called in. and who was 10 command her, or In
what service she was hereafter to be employed,
no one knew. Men whispered and smiled, wo-
men looked grave, and lamented-and all telt
pcrsuaded, that Will Brockman was entangled
in net from which he would never free himsii
Not that the good folks on the coast OF Kent
look with an evil eye upon an ordinary SNUG
elsr-yerv Ear from il; believe that not few
of the leading families in that part OF the king
dom. owe their rise entirely to what is called
free trade; but the party with which Will had
connected himself, or was supposed to have
connected himself, were so VIGOROUSLY bad,
that their very brother smugglers dared not
trust them. Even Of The little honor which be-
longs to thieves, they were known to be devoid;
and hence Brockman's ruin was predicted, not
so much on account Ut the danger necessarily
attendant upon his pursuits, as because 1t was
surmised, that his new associates would deliver
him over TO the officers of government, on the
very first opportunity which should promise 10
make it worth their while.
Of all this his poor mother was duly inform
ed. Her fears were accordingly excited beyond
endurance, and the more, that she knew not how.
to proceed in order TO save him. The effect OF
her personal rernonslrances had been TO drive
him almost entirely from his home. The spell
of the syren was over him, and TO her he He'd
for comfort and support. when the reproaches
and tears Of kind parent stung too deeply
This the latter saw, and, determined to risk eve
nv thing for his preservation, she Tell upon
remedy so desperate as only to be justified by
the desperate state Of his circumstances. She
resolved 10 become herself informer-she
made Nd her mind TO instructive Excise officers
when and where they might arrest he Peteys
in their illicit proceedings, and she delayed II
from day to day, only in the hope, the remote
and uncertain hope. of finding an opportunity
10 do so when Will might be absent from their
meetings; but that opportunity came not-Day
and nigh, they were together, and the poor wo-
man, worked up TO pitch Of frenzy, at last gave
information Of an intended landing OF smuggled
goods in which she had somehow discovered
that Will was 10 take part. The goods were,
in.leed, TO be brought over in the Dreadnought,
which her son was TO steer; yet, such was her
horror Of The proceedings in which he had en-
barked, and such the conviction, that 1t she did
not extricale him by desperate cnance ike the
present, he would undoubtedly tall victim 10
the interests Of his more crafty comrades, that
without hesitation she despatched an anony-
NOUS letter TO the Custom house, In which the
plans of the snngglers were, as far as she knew
item, communicated. The letter was not cast
aside because it bore no signature.
Ii was now the month Of August; had retir-
ed to bed one night at my usual hour, but, part
ly from the effect of delicate health, and partly
because my thoughts were still too apt to wan
der back into past scenes, felt no inclination
TO sleep. After yainly tossing about Tor some
time, rose, and, opening the window, looked
out The air was soft and mild, and the moon,
in her third quarter, shed faint and sil'ery
light over external objects. My little church,
with its neat church yard and white fences, APP
peared to peculiar advantage beneath her rays;
the sides of the green hills, and the bosom Of
the green valley before ME, glittered in the dew
drops, and the sheep either lay in groups here
and there, or rousing at intervals by ones and
rwos, sent forth short bleating, as ifin search
of some s,rayed companions. The roar OF
the waves, as they broke upon the distant shin
music. OF the sea itselfI saw nothing, for the
hill on the right OF the vicarage completely
shuts it out; but It's sound hoaled upon the
breeze, even more audibly and more harmon-
ously than was usual. In all still nights we hear
that sound, the. most deli ghtful perhaps of any
which inapimate nature produces; but tonight
il was more constant, and more cxQuisitely
sontbine. than had ever heard it. The con-
SEQUENCE was, that felt more than ordinarily
affected by it. The images which had occupied
nv mind before rose, were melancholy, and
painfully so; they lost much Of their agonizing
Character. after 1 seated myself beside the open
window. "Why should l complaint said l:
it is doubtless far better thus, than 1t would
have been had my wishes been accomplished
She is at rest-perhaps she is a blessed spirit,
iuhabi,ing that bright planet which IS sailing
overhead, and looking down with pity upon
me because am still tied to the earth AT all
events, it was the will of Him who knows VIVA,
is best for us, to remove her, and TO that VIII
submit"
Such was the train Of my thoughts, and such