Litchfield enquirer., 1831-10-27
THE BRlDEGRooM's PROBATION.


 joyments, had so nearly reached the dregs of his great grandfather's hereditary por- ton that he could calculate the departing hoursof his last guinea. As one evening he was returning home from one of those haunts of dissipation which he habitually frequented, feeble in body as in mind, and for the first time in his life casting firm look upon the ruin of his fortune, he could not we'll determine whether he should end his troubles by drawing trigger, or by throwing himself into the Thames.
 While he thus waVered between fire and water, the very profound idea occurred to him not to lay violent hands upon himself, but to allow himselfto be conducted out of the labyrinth of poverty by the fair hand of some wealthy bride. With this consoling thought he went to bed, and already in his nocturnal visions, the rapid racers flew, the fair girls frisked around him. both of which he was happy in thinking he might main- tain in future upon the dowry of his wife. On the following morning, he reflected while upon his plan, and found it unex- ceptionable in every point, excepting the very slight circumstances of not knowing when or where he was to find the rich heir ess he wanted. In London, where all the world regarded him as a spendthrift. it was not once to be thought of: he saw that for ] the future he must throw his nets out else- where.
 After much cogitation and searching he at last hit upon an old rich colonel, living upon his own estate, about twenty miles from the capital, who fortunately had no acquaintances in London, and was the fa- ther of an only daughter.
 Into the house of this gentleman, by means of a friend. to whom he promised half the booty, he got himself introduced and received. The daughter of the colo nel was an awkward country girl. and look ed particularly odd in the hand-me-down attire of her sainted mother, which did not at all fit her, and was of course not of the most fashionable cut. Her mind too. was as attractive as her attire 1; her conversa- ton was limited to a "yes, yes" or "no, no ;" all beyond this seemed to her sinful. She was indeed mighty contrast to the sprightly, gay, and lively nymphs with whom the young Briton had, until this pe- riod, been toying: but Ire carefully confin- ed to the solitude of his own bosom the dis agreeable feelings of this heaven-and-earth distant difference. His fattering tongue called the girls stiffness, celestial inno- cence, and her red swollen cheeks, he lik- ened to the beauty of full blown damask roses. The end ofthe song was, he turn- ed to the father, and sued warmly for his daughters hand.
 The colonel, during his sixty years ca- reer through the world, had collected this much knowledge of mankind, that however slyly the young man had masked himself, he could, nevertheless, discover the for- tune-hunter peeping through the disguise. At first, therefore, he thought of perempto- rily refusing him permission to woo his daughter, but on the other hand, he thought "the youth is fashionable, and perhaps l may be doing him injustice ;-he, as yet, betrays no anxiety about the portion, and why should the girl, who is marriageable,, remain longer at home. His request shall be granted,-but his apparent disinterest- edness shall stand decisive trial"
 The suitor was then informed that the father had no objection to the match, pro- vidcd his daughter would give her consent; and she, poor thing, replied as in duty bound" My fathers will is .mine." In- deed could any thing else be expected.
 In the course of few weeks the mar riage ceremony was performed at the coun- try house of the colonel, and he instantly made his son-in-law acquainted with his wife's portion, amounting to thirty thou sand dollars. The dissembler acted as if he wished to know nothing about the mat ter, and solemnly vowed that he had not, as yet, thought on such things, but had regar- ded only the noble qualities of his charm- ing wife, whose pure self was dearer to him than all the treasures of the world.
 Upon this they sat down to table, and the father-in-law urged and begged that they would make as much haste as possible, as it was his intention that the young mar ried people should set off that very after noon for London, and that he should ac- company them.
 The son-in-law was confounded, and be- gan to make some excuses about travelling on the first day of his happiness; but the soldier maintained that these were futile, assuring him that he had particular reasons for proceeding forthwith to the capital, and that his matrimonial joys would be as well realized in London as in the country. What was to be done :! Why the journey was immediately undertaken. The old man secured in small casket before the eyes of the bridegroom, the portion of the l..1 .~.1,, ;,, rold and narfIv in bank l