Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-11-17
MISCELLANY.
THE HIDDEN TREASURE.

| IHE lllDDEN IREASUNE.
! The u,zn that wOIiJ successful bs ~ ni,scni-
VI st oy S'ne mean., ar other, hook / woman.
Great public excitement, of any kind
Is generally followed by moral und m,tei
iectuai waste, as troubled waters ncces
sariiy leave behind them u long wake d
irotn and iosnI. The good seed whici
J nature sows IN the mind oi youth, ne, d,
"A still, sunny per,od to rIoen; and lhousi d
violent winds may strengthen ,he plant,
| across winch. they sweep II, fury. they
leave them liked ~ IA thousand distorted
aud fantastic iornIs. Thus the war Oi
10 thrcw abroad, upon the land, Innu.
| incrable varnics Of all that Is reckless,
sensuai, weak, depraved, and tcceutric.
However, society did not appear as IN
France, after It's tremendous revolution,
like body broken and d.soca,cd on the
rack, still twitching aud heaving with the
fearful remains oi vItaIuy. Here, there
was more maiter Tor uIerriinent thar
mourning, and though human nature was
often degraded, 1t was usually ia such a
form that The sierncst philosopher mus,
have laughed, though reason bade hii,,
weep.
One of the most singular samples of
humanity which the new states csuld
furnish, was Anthony Slack. lie lived
IN the pleasant valley Of W cstminster, ,on
the Vermont side of the & niieciIcut, ,and
owned Land enough to have made hmm the
wealthiest farmer III New England, but
Anthony had been in the wars, aud had
acquired there 4 gentlennanly love oi
ease. The fa,tcned pig might as well
have been set TO plOuEn the fields, as his
obstinate master induced to work. ie,
Anthony was not fat. On the contrary,
hts bones might be seen AS plainly as the
gaps in his owH corn-hOIse, land II SEEM
cd as IT the wind might have whisth d
through them as well. The jaundlcc
bad gwen a saiffon hns to his clap-boa.d d
vlsage, and his long. white HAIR, uncu,
for many year, Tell in perpendicular az
prOiiis,on, like the rows of candles, winch
ornament the rods OF a taliow chandler
l never heard Of but one thing, winch re-
sembied Anthony SIack's face, and that
was bright yellow squash, whicl MIS-
chievOus urchin hung round with the
s'Iken t'esses OF the corn field, aud then
called it Aathony's statue. Yet within
this shack:ed and antIquated form was
enshrined IA soul full oi modern ideas OF
repubiicanisn On this subject Antlo.
ny wa. as learned, and as rational, as the
savants of France, aud the orators o.
America; and, better than either Of his
modeis, ,he exrmpl,fied his theory in prac-
tcc. Buttons were cf English manuiac.
ture, and II would have been highly RI
dlculous f,r a glorious son Of liberty to
have been made comfortable by the
naughty uphoIders of crown and mitre,
therefore, his thick, home.spun clothes
were fastened together with thorns, winch
grew IN great abundance around ms gar
den These garmrnts were originally
white, but IA snuff happened, uniortu-
na'ely, to be- an American luxury, their
color soon became Us dubious as the
cOnplexion Of the owner HIS shoes
were his own handiwork, except indeed
the occasional assistance he received
from notable niece. No consanguinity
would have been suspected between this
girl aud her uncle. Her brown cheek
had slight flush ia the centre, like the
G ,lor which sometimes n,antles one side
of a bouncing russet apple; and her stur-
dy arms and ancles ed we with the trees
which bear tnat golden fruit. Her eye
was ns blue as Lake Cha'npla,n in IL clear
cold winters m'rning, and IT. roguisb ex-
preston WAS in excellent keeping with
the upward quirk Of the full, red lip She
was the reigning belle for IN .nya mile.
though the rus,ics could give no better
account OF her fascination than that
there was something, some how ur other
more taking about Betsey Slack, than ali
the girls OH the Connecticut. No one,
however, appeared to make any abiding
impression on the light heated dan,sei.
She laughed with all her lovers. and she
quizxed them all. Yet her indifference
did NOT seem allied to coqu-try. It wa.
simply ON over-running love offun. She
never asked tho phIIosophic question,
what was probably the end and aim al
mans existence, bot her thousand mis-
chicvious pranks, and her loud laugh, I'm.
petuous and sizzling, ns the eruption Of
CIDER from newly tapped barrel, proved
that she thought they were all made for
joke. Not 50, thought Jacob Little the
least 'sveursd Of I'll her kniShts In