Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-05-02

'uotiiVt o WoS NJ SohhoA p"uS, oAsSh
pressed her to give up business, sell of
her stock, relinquish her house, and de-
pend on his labor for her support, but Of
this she would not hear. Many motives
mingled in her determination; a gener-
Gus reluctance to burthen her dutiiul s,'n
with her maintenance-a natural fear Of
losing Caste among her neighbours, a
strong lover Of the house which, for five
and twenty years, had been her home
a vague hope that times would mend,
and all come right again, wiser persons
than Mrs. Kent have lulled reason to
sleep with such an opiate )-and, above
all, want of courage to look her diff
culties fairly in the face. Besides, she
liked her occupation--its pretty conse-
quence, its hustle, and its gossipry; and
he had sense Of gain in the small ped
ding bargains-the penny-worths Of
needles, and balls Of cotton, and rows
Of pins, and yards of tape, which she
was acoustic med to vend for ready money,
that over-balanced, for the moment, her
losses and her debts; so that in spite Of
her sons presages and warnings, the
shop continued in full activity.
In addition to his forebodings respect
ing his mother, Robert had another mis-
iortune-the poor youth was in love.
About a quarter of mile down the
shady lane, which ran by one side OF
Mrs. Kent's dwelling, was the pretty
farmhouse, and homestead Of Farmer
Bell, whose eldest daughter, Susan
the beauty Of the parish-was the OBJ
ect Of passion almost amomounting
TO idolatry. And, in good sooth, Susan
Bell was we'll fitted to inspire such a
passion. Besides light graceful fig
ure, mouldered with the exactest SYM
metry, she had smiling countenance,
a complexion colored like the brilliant
blossoms of the balsam, and hair Of
shining, golden brown, like the fruit Of
the hOrse-chesaut. Her speech was
at once modest and playful, her temper
sweet, and her heart tender. She loved
Robert dearly, although he often gave
her cause to wish that she loved him
not--for Robert was subject to the i'll
tcrmitting fever, called jealousy, cause
lessly, as he himself would declare,
when a remission Of the disease gave
room for his natural sense to act, cause
lessly and penitently, but pertinaciously,
Jealous. l have said, that he was a
fine youngman, tall, dark, and slender;
| should add that he was a good son,
kind brother, a pattern Of sobriety and
industry, and possessed OF talent and
requirement far beyond his station. But
there was about him an ardor, vigor,
a fiery restIessness, commonly held
proper to the natives Of the south Of
Europe, but which may, sometimes, be
found amongst our own peasantry. All
his pursuits, whether Of sport or labor,
took the form Of passion At ten years
old, he had gone far beyond all his fell
low pupils at the Foundation School, to
which through the kindness of the squire
Of the parish, his mother had been en-
abled to send him, and had even posed
the master himself---at eighteen he was
the best cricketer, the best fute-player,
the best bell-ringer, and the best gard
ener in the country, and some old vol
umes of Shakespeare having come into
his possession, there was some danger
at twenty, Of his turning out dramatic
poet, had not the kind Encouragement
Of his master, to whom some of his ear
ly scenes were shewn by his patron and
admircr, the head gardner, acted as a
sautary check. Indeed, so strong, al
one time, was the poetical fisror, that
such catastophs as an entire play might
probably have ensued, Notwithstanding
Mr.. Lescombn's judiclous warning, had
not love, the master passion, fallen,
about this time, in poor Roberts way,
and engrossed all the ardor Of his ar
dent temperament. The beauty and
pIayfuness of his mistress, whilst they
enchanted his fancy, kept the jealous
irritability Of his nature in perpetual
alarm. He suspected "a lover in every
man who approached her; and the refu-
sal of her father to sanction their union,
till her impatient wooer were a little
more forward in the world, completed
his disquiet.
Affairs we're in this posture when a
new parsonage arrived at Hilton Cross.
In addition to her other ways and
ans Mrs. Kent tried to lessen her rent,
by letting lodgings; and the neat, quiet,
elderly gentlewoman, the widow of
long deceased rector, who had occupi-
| ed her rooms ever since Robert was born,
being at last gathered to her fathers, an
advertisement of "pleasant apartments
to let in the airy village Of Hilton
Cross" appeared in the county paper.