The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1835-02-18

been. There were moments, too, when / woulo
gladly have paid the price of all my future life (,
redeem and cancel the past for | already shrunlS
with prophetic fears, from what was to come. No
could the intoxicating anticipations of that ampl,
wealth which awaited me, when another year shoulc
eIapse, make me forget that was doomed to enjoy
il alone | felt, too, that l shonld enter upon my
inheritance with a tainted name, feeling which til,
falsehoods and fawnings of the parasites who sur
rounded me could not obliterate.
"Time, however, rolled on; and grew caous
if not reconciled. l could not disguise from myself
that the select circles of society were CLOSED
against me or, if | found my way into them, some
blushng whisper was quickly circulated, which cre
ated a solitude around me. For several years
strove to bear down this ostracism of fashion, as
considered it, rather than of morals by the imposing
influence of money. There was no equipage-no
establishment in the capital which surpassed my
own there was no patron of the arts, of literature
or of science, so munfcent there was no benefac
tor to public charities so liberal there no dis
penser of private benevolence, whose aims were 81
osentatiously blazed forth. My name was on ev
cry tongue; my movements, and my actions, were
the daily theme of the newspapers lived in tn,
general eye; but could not level the barrier which
excluded me from the region | sought.
Z" 1t was during this period, and while was thus
squandering thousands to achieve the conquest o
shadows that l succeeded in fixing intimacy
with family equal to my own in station, and SUI
peror to it i'm fortune. The eldest daughter wa
an heiress of large expectations, and my proposal
of marriage were favorably received. l might al
most say that Matilda mine when one day
received letter from her father peremptorily forbid
ding my visits. was thunder-struck. hasteneo
to the house, and demanded explanation. L
was given in few words. 4 was referred to mJ
uncle for any information required.
"This blow struck me down. had run through
my patrimonal estate; but hoped, by my marriage
with Matilda, to repair my shattered fortune. Thre,
weeks after it was known that the match was bro.
ken off, i was a prisoner for debt in the King.
Bench l breathed no curses upon the cause o.
this sudden reverse of fortune butt swore revenge
in silence and kept my oath. languished away
six months, captive debtor; and then, taking tn,
benefit of the act, walked forth beggar, to prey
upon the world at large had studied, during tha
time, in admirable school, where | found pro-
fessors in every art by which fools gued, and
knaves foiled with their own weapons. l was an
apt scholar, and returned to the bosom of society
an adept in the science of polished depreciation
Translate this into the language of the Old Bailey
and became a swindler by profession. Like the
eagle however, was bird of prey that scared in
to the higher regions, and rarely stopped to strike
the meaner tribes of any species. l had not lost,
with the rappngs of my birth, the manners and adj
dress of the sphere in which | had moved; and
these were now my stock in trade for carrying on
my new vocation.
Among the children of misfortune with whom l
associated in prison, was Charles Fitzroy; bank
rupt in every thing but exhaustess invention, and
unconquerabe perseverance. Give him free use of
his limbs, and with matchless dexterity he would
make the contributions of the morning furnish out
the riotous expenses of evening 1t was his boast,
that he would breakfast with empty pocket, and
dine with purse that should defray the carouse of
dozen friends. And have known him fulfil his
boast, with heart as light, too, as became a man
who thus made the credulous fools of the world his
bankers.
81 was needy desperate, and an outcast and
linked my destiny with Fitzroy's. He had my con-
hdcnce; such confidence confederates in knavery
can bestow. When he obtained his liberty, which he
did shortly after my own accomplished, he in
troduced me to to his companions men who, like
himself, lived by pundering the unwary, and who
looked up to him their Mdgnus apollo. | was
initiated in all their mysteries and played my
part to admiration at the gaming table, on the race
course and in the ring
Fitzroy master of the secret that festered
near my heart; the increased and increasing hatred
towards my uncle. | regarded him as my evil ge-
MUS; for not only had he thwarted me in two of
the dearest objects of my life but his prediction of
my boyhood had clung to me like poison garment.
could not shake 1t off, and now, more than ever,
it seemed accomplishing itself with rapid strides. It
made me mad when reflected upon the polluted
channels through which my precarious means flow
ed, and thought of the luxurious enjoyments which
his opulence commanded 1t was true, had DASH
ed his cup with bitterness; but it was no less true,
that 1t still flowed with sweets, while mine was brim-
ming with gall. Fitzroy would often talk to me on
this subject, and devise schemes for successful
nroad upon his purse. At length plan was ma
tdred between us, in which could not appear, but
which Fitzroy, and picked few of our associates
undertook to execute.
My uncle had always been passionately fond of
the course, and prded himself upon his stud of ra-
GERS He betted largely, and was generally fortu-
nate, probably because he selected his men with
wary eye. The race course, then, was the arena
chosen for the enterprise hut admirable as were
the projected plans, and skfully as they were ex-