Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-17

usaa ssvrs quito broke the old mans spirits
whils il fractured also . couple Of his ribs.
Ny m Hhsr was from ths emerald Island
ons tbs advantage that she had gained from
the waters Of the Lidoy was The only inhsri-
tanee Of her son.
u features, I rssem5Ied my sire, whose face
was considered hard. and I rather improved
4 bis ci,<ra cter Of countenanco by the cultiva-
tiou of a formidable whisker have felt Dat
Tered whsn the ladies have sailed ms ''ho
In youth nv education was neglected. and
this I have had reason in after life TO lament.
\ little carly scquaintaocs with books would
have advanced my scbemes upon society, by
giving that knowledge Of evidence and ah6i,
which | have moro ex2onsively acquired, at
intervals from the County Attorney.
In arithmetic, | could never get fairly beyond
Swbfraefioa t; though | have had many battles
with my Cont. rs'es IN support Of my WI rule
ri DieisiOn. Yet l am not so ignorant OF num-
bsrr, as il was once my i'll fortune 10 pretend.
rhis was at Auburn, where there is Q largo
~cs!lagc, in which all are professors. Tho
president (blast his eyes for he brought the
wsisss -, mine, } directed mo 10 measure a
slab of granite, and also 10 saw il of. at tho
le'gt, OF thirty-one inches but US l disliked
thu ~problosa. ! severed the block a few inches
shori. saying in excuse. that | bad never been
good At figures.
"Givc hnn tbirty-one Stripes" said tho pros.
idcnt, ''and lot him keep his own account.
Thin proposition was q poser but II gave a
BIN inpaisc to my mathematical talent for
whsa ihs lash was raised the thirty second
Tia lt,il my instructor, that l had already
counted thirty-one.
II WAS at nm early sga that | enrolled myeelf
IN oss ~ the two classics INTO which phiioso-
eacrs divide mankind. My early tastes ieceiv-
cd wueb encouragement from the theatres, from
which I Was never absent when the play was
the Bssgsris Opera, or the Forty Thieves.
Tie fano Of Tom and jerry has reached me,
s,s~ here, for in our fraternity it is a ~favOritc
PLAY. Bat as il did not come out till l my
self got in. I can only describe it as il has
kcon described 10 me; that is. as a faithful
mirrsr t. hold up to a gentleman Blackleg.
had, from youth upwards. a taste that is
mid 10 a,,rS q e~cntleman,-I hnd a passion
f~r wearing white and fns linen; and this it
was that dtow me 80 often, at evening, 10 tho
h~drsss's lines. I had also a singular reycr-
swes fsr tho beaver, and collie cted a great
m,ny memorials Goth in skin and fur) "fthat
amphibious animal; for when I did the gon-
esl thing and frequented polite assemblies, I
&cuid o. ~,t In a hat Of feh, upon which, OIL
ny rssura. was sure to find a nap from the
tsavsr, and in tho crown a pair Of his gloves.
This | snpPese is the reason Why tho doctor
once said when l slammed sickness and chalk
ed mr. toAyuc) that I had bcch too long en-
gagged in the fur trade.
Bat those adventures were in what the his
tory calls the golden age for now | have
fallen upon iron times. In that age Of gold, ]
was an m,,ed by the heroic passion, and tod
INV cravai al the sister of a school-E llsw; but
when ] called upon her, she directed u servant
land q ,rueulent fellow he was,) 10 allow me
the chsico between his oudgel and the win
do = :,nd as he stood directly before the door.
In obIigs the lady, raised the sash. This
vas, las they say at the Theatfe,) but max
ing an exit, as l had often elsewhere made an
entrance.
I now boc,me very diliaent in my vocation.
I read in my book, of an Emperor who piqued
himxelf on boing the benefactor. as ho was
called the Delight Of. Mankind.'-This weak
prince, when tho sun had set and he perform
oil M worthy action. would exclaim, Il have
lost a day. aud I have made the same remark
when the day has closed, and as little had
been performed in my own line.
'. My present situation is so little 10 my mind
that, II 1 have deserved it, my tastes and mer.
its are mach at variance. The rations in Our
corps are not devised TO encourage the en-
listmont Of r~ccruits, though the ranks are well
flied by conscriptions.
almost blush to state, that l am sometimes
flint to suspend my cap by a p,ckthroad, and
draw up through the wires Of NY cage the lew
cnppers tina, charity throws 10 the unfortunate
This gives me a resemblance to Belisarius; but
at other tunes. if Allston should behold me,
with my iron sisage, sitting upon a.granlte pill
lar, (an1 shaping it with hammer and drill y
-, -,:n.,-o sho a,orII xyo,ld kava nf ma
rus amid the ruins Of Carthage!
Reader! thus have l sketched my life, and
with hat a seeming levi,y; for the reality ]
could not feel: and the levity has been feign.
ed but To keep awake your attention, which, ]
have assumed only for your advantage. IT
haze grown gray without becoming good, one
good action | will do, in giving my example as
a warning 10 sons, and my advice as a legacy
In fathers.
- II you have an unduliful son. bring him TO
my cell, and I will say TO him-"Bchold an
aged sinner, who has human blood in his veins,
and sho once had human tenderness in his
heart = confined, and justly, like a beast that
ravages and kills. Mark hs hair, shagged as
a hyena's, and shudder at his wolfsh eyes. |
was in my youth a child, like you, but there
was no example such as is now before you, TO
warn me to fly from evil nor was there any
kind hand 10 restrain mo in its downward
course. Nov look upon those c~onvicts in tho
yard, aud SEQ the savage sneors, with which
malice and haired have distorted like a dc.
mons the human face! II what you now be-
hold, canno, divert you from evil, as hopeless
10 yonr case, as that Of the wretch, who hai
lived for sixty years, with no other advantage
70 his race, than that Of his appalling exc mple
Mr.. .fdams-is to be tho victim Of party
and sectional violence Of feeling but lie hal
--.~l ...c~,.;,~lv sb.o.ch Ill sL,o oQ.... A.