Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1829-12-03

Tue most brilliant man that was eyer vel
born, might hope, in vain. to secure A perrna
nent and respectable footing in lie And
what had he gained by all his generosity aud
good heaIfedaesse-why he had been prais
et,d-p,tied-laughed st--and despised. Was
ms ali'-No; he had gained the pleasure oil
hFh's, or rather breathing, for forty wears
d. u.s mercy OF has creditors; he had worn
dia ms hie, The CHAINS of the most abiect. The
most norlisyin ing, the most humilia;ing ,lepcn-
uence on Nose whom, instead OF leaninr on
them, nature had formed him 10 s,,st,;ss az, "a
10 control; he had gained, too. the cheerful
prospect, not only of diving In this con,I;f;an
himself, but Of entailing the same boneless
want and misery on the wife OF his bosom
and the children of his love.
Here my mother paused TO aslmonisb me-
,iat nlueh OF TINS was sound and wholesouae
doctrine; that she had, herself, known more
elah one Vlctlin to the same vanity for which
Old Morton reproaehed himself, that genera.
sity anu goodness of heart however. afniabla
ana winning when fed and regulated and
graeed by prudence, lost. nevertheless. All
Their attractive character and forfeited MI
title TO the very name of goodness. when in
dulged at the expense Of the seterer yi,b,es.
especially at the expense of that n,stiee
which every man owed both al home oui
abroad. Old Mortons fault. she sai3 con
sisted IN this, that he sought to exlinguish MS
sons generosity, altogether, instead of seek
nag to guide il BY the rein OF prudence.
Ihen returning TO her narrative, She said
that old Morton having appealed 10 his sons
Independence OF spirit by the excruciafing
picture oil his own poverty and wo, reversed
the piece aud drew linn as the founder, anew.
Of his lamily. lie showed him that it was in
hrs To. ft,fe -
ITS hereditary oaScurity, to cncircle II with Il
blaze of glory, and, in the language of Cice-
70, to make ii moro famous TO poster,ty than
those OF the Scaur and the Catui. To effect
this, however, he apprized him that it was
Indispensable to lay vast and solid basis of
wealth IN order to support and transmit his
family honouise-1Such an estate, he said was
necessary to give his talents their proper
rank IN society, and to shew even his virtues
IN their true lastfc: 1t was necessary as a DO
iitical engine to give force and power TO his
enterprises and to ensure them success: il
was necessary as monument to sustain and
eternize his name and achievements aud
without It, let his virtues be what they might.
they would soon vanish from tie ,neraory
and affections OF his coantrgmcns then
sketched with bold and striking pencil. a
picture Of Henry Morton in the midst off
wealth and glory. the object of universal adj
mlfatlon and respect, and the first ornament
and honour Of his country.
Through those splendid portals and in this
Elusive robe OF heavenly radiance, did the de-
mon OF aYaiice arst gam admission into the
bosom OF Henry Alorion.---Nor was there a
NY thing in her first movements 10 unmask
her character. The father, when satisfied
that he had sufficiently attuned Henry's mind |
HE zaJ II. ,Ci
which he made him present, aud advised
HIN to invest il under the advice OF his mas
fer, the sage and experienced Launcelot Sur
rebuttef; lnan who although not very pro
found or eminent In his profession in other !
respects, was sngulally skille i IN that branch |
OF legal learning winch treats Of the doctrines
OF fraud and usuly. NO man knew better /
than Mr.. SurrebUtter how near one might |
sail to The winds eye, on those subjects with !
out being taken atsiek--no one knew better
when ana now il was best to beat 10 wind
ward or to bear away. In short, he was one I
of those men who Ret having talents to as
cend TO the higher regions of the profession,
are satisfied TO employ their industry in its
dirt; and who can rum fellow. creature with
az Ii1lie ceremony or emotion, as they can
calculate sum in the rule of three. Ii was /
long, however, before he could prevail on
Henry TO draw blood, although he himself
like q vampire, was continually sucking it |
from the human heart. Young Morton's first
essays were not only within the pale Of the
law, but OF morality and feeling. In his first
he saw oaly pledge of indie
pendence to his mother aad sisters; and per
baps the germ Of future glory TO hnnseE. BY
degrees he began to be satisfied by acting !
within the pale of cold and rigid morality, |
leaving The question OF feeling TO shift for 1T |
seif--then he began 10 be astute in finding
out arguments to prove. that he was within
the pale of morality and to draw by force
cases within it which at the nrst view, he was |
conscious seemed far wIthout-by inperccp- |
tible gradaiions, he Sided from the moral
ground into the mere question OF law; aud as
the pile increased, his solicitude, his affec-
tons shifted from the consequence TO the
cause; it was no longer the effects, but the
money itself that he loved; and all the open
ING blossoms of his youthful heart and mad
withered and icll. Before he was i've and
twenty lac had married very silly and dis
gushing g,rl with gre and twenty thousand
pounds, and being web prepared Tor both bis
professions, returned to establish himself IN
bis native village. In the mean time, sad my
mother. had married your father and reno,
we'd TO Virginia: and It was not until several
wears afterwards, on visit to my relations,
that saw The once gay, and elegant ana
noble Henry Morton. Alas how ltde dld ne
now resemble that beloved youth 70 whom
about twenty years before, the whole Viiiasc
had spontaneously flocked out to bid adieu.
whom even the children followed with clasp
ed hands and eager eyes, to the bend Oh the
road, and when they could see HIM no long
4 reatsf hf.