The Northern star, and farmers' and mechanics' advocate. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1830-1834, 1830-06-05
fto. ,Aeherman's I" Forget Ne Mo-"
THE TEMPTING MOMENT.

LIE xCVlx AkNo -
Gilbert Chrimes, man Of no contempt
ible genius in his way, was the son OF rep
utable parents, who were, to use the sig
nifcant expression ofa certain sect, "tol
erablv we'll to do in the world" A small
market town in Kent, If not the place of
bis birth, was the theatre Of his achieve
ments.
In tae Uranium Of Gilbert Ghrimes, the
organ Of appropriation was very early and
prominently developed. His infancy ev-
en- was fruitful in evidences Of this fact.
Among his brothers and sisters he was
constantly effecting transfers of property,
chiefly invested in sugar plums and ginger
bread,-fom the elder by stratagen, and
from the younger by force. His genius
continued to unfold itself as he grew into
boyhood; and, accordingly, we find him,
at the early age Of seven, the ringleader
of q conspiracy for the abstraction Of GER
tain apples from the al frsseo bazaar Of a
female fruit-merchant, who, having been
ground into forgetfulness by an itincrant
professor Of the organ, afforded to the ju-
venile depredators their opportunity, and
to the world an example of the disastrous
consequences Of taking Morpheus as a
sleeping partner in the concerns oftrade
In order to dissolve certain assOcia-
tions in which feats Of u similar kind had
involved him, his parents determined on
sending him 10 a boarding school in a re-
mote country; measure, however, which
rather tended to foster the talents It was
designed to discourage. He early dis
tinguished himself by sallying forth from
the window Of his dormitory, one noon
light night, with his pillowcase a. sue
cedaneum for sack, and returned loaded
with the spolls Of . neighboring garden
This notable foray was followed by COM
plants from the proprietor, for the spoil
ing Of his garden, and from the schoolmis-
tress for the spelling Of the pillowcase.-
He was mulcted Of six weeks pocket-lnon
ey to indemnity the one, and soundly fog-
ged for the satisfaction fthe other. The
hogging was, of course, set down to the
fortune Of war, for which there was no
remedy but patience and beef brine. Not
10 the mulcture; for a second and undis-
covered attack upon the apple orchard, re
duced the cost Of his former booty fifty
per cent.
As he could not be kept at school all
his life, it became necessary for his friends
to determine on his future path in the
world. 1t was, therefore, at last resolved,
that, in order to secure him against a pre-
mature acquaintance with the practice OF
the law, he should devote few years to
the study of the theory; and he was sc-
eordingly articlcd to Nicholas Nightshade,
apettilogging attorney in his native town.
Nicholas had sliddcn, will not say ris-
en-, into considerable practice and COM
parative wealth, undertaking business with
which no respectable member of the pro-
fession would pollute his hands. He was
of rather frugal habits; wine he never tast
cd; il had, indeed, been too generous a
liquor for him,-in vino ver;tas. Porter
was his nectar; but, though he quaffed It
freely, it never muddled his brain, the
narcotic and deleterious ingredients Of his
potations appearing to have been absorbed
by his heart, for it was poisoned to its very
core.
Gilbert Ghrimes's friends, who wero a
worldly and far-casting set, in placing him
with such man, had speculated upon his
discovering, in his new profession, a field
for leg allied depreciation so extensive, as
to leave him but little inducemcnt for ex-
ploring any other. But they calculated
not upon the forco Of genius; for, before
the term Of his probation had expired, he
eloped with his masters only daughter;
and it was, doubtless, in the hurry and
confusion attendant upon their flight, that
he happened to pack up in his portman-
teau few more ofthe alchemiscd rags Of
Thread-needle-stre than, in strictness,
belonged to him. Nightshade could have
well spared his daughter; but the loss Of
his money touched him, and he vowed re-
venge. The newspaper which announc-
;. ed the marriage Of Gilbert Ghrimes con-
tanned IN advertisement offering reward
for his apprehension.
Gilbert, who had no notion Of so much
money passing out Of the family, quietly
surrendered himself before his father-in-
law, the following morning at breakfast
time, and claimed the reward. This
piece Of assurance would have astoundsd
any other than Nightshade, who was a
wholesale dealer in the article.
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