Litchfield enquirer., 1841-12-02
From the Np,Dark Duly Advertiser. A PASTORAL, BELLE.

From the NenDark Duly Advertiser.
 A PASTORAL BELLE.
 From our attachment to simplicity in wri-
 ting, we read Sterne more attentively than
 Scott, and prefer story in Genesis to vol
 ume in Gibbon. It appears to me, notwith-
 standing all skeptical sarcasms, that the
 mode of writing which finds ready way to the heart was never more successfully achie- 1 ved than by the Oricntals. On turning over.
 agreeably to usual practice, the pages ot
 scripture, the other evening, dwelt with in- 1 cescrbable pleasure upon certain passages
 in the life of !he patriarch Abraham. We
 had passed the afternoon in what is called modish company, and yet could not avoid
 remarking that the extreme selfishness ot
 men and women of the 'corld led them. even l at a moment when they had assembled tor 1 ostentatious civility, to behave discourteous- 1 lv. If such rudeness, murmured to my. self, can he tolerated in refined age, let
 me contemplate the behavior of those ot old
 time, before dancing masters were discover 1 ed, and when message cards were not sent
 from one Patriarch's lady to another. and shepherds had as much genuine polite. ness as Lord Chesterfield, and that coun. I try maiden, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, could behave with as much pro- priety as though she had been educated in a 1 boarding school. The story of this pastoral girls conduct wish to tell at large, and that ! the deicacy of fashionable readers would allow me on this occasion so much pedant- ry as to quote the original. But, as whole chapter in Genesis might appear too long, let us briefly rehearse the story in modern phrase.
 Abraham, a most affectionate parent, per. ceiving that his life declined, and zealous, with the anxiety of age, for an establishment for Isaac, entreats confidential steward of his household that he would not suffer the inexperienced heart of his son to be captva- ted by the Canaanitish beauties. At the ear nest request ot the Patriarch, the servant binds himself to solicit for Isaac wife of his own rank, religion. and country. After sanctioning this promise by one of the most tremendous oaths among the Jewish usages, he harnesses his camels, and departs for Me- sopotamia. On his arrival at the suburbs of Nabor, a city of that country, fatigued with a tedious journey, and tender of his trudging camels, he makes them kneel by well of water, to take their necessary refreshment. In this weary moment Rebekah appears 1; and the first accents that fell from the parch- ed tongue of the traveller were to solicit u little water from the pitcher which she car. ried. "And she made haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said drink, and will give thy camels drink al- so." Let us now gaze earnestly at these simple, yet beautiful, features.
 The female, whose courtesy is thus recor- ded, was woman of some distinction in those pastoralstim Her father was of stock abundantly respectable, for he was allied to Abraham, and her brother was the opulent Laban, whose cattle strayed "on thousand hills." Engaged in domestic duty, she meets a stranger, in the garb probably of hire. ling, for he is called servant" begrim- med with dust. and having no claim to her favor. She is asked for water, which she cheerfully gives, and the careless reader will not be aware of the extent of the obligation, if he has not surveyed map of Palestine. and adverted to the sandincss and thirst of the soil. In that arid region, brook was more joyous sight to a painting shepherd. than a bumper tothe votary of wine; the in- valuable well-spring, eagerly sought and ob- stinately contended for. by different tribes, was, from the nature of the earth, at such a distance below the surface, that to obtain water, was work of both toll and time.-I But, forgetting her home, forgetting herself, only of the sufferings of the way faring stran. ger; and with that "kind charity" which tke Apostle emphasizes, with that genuine, disinterested civility beyond the court ot Versailles, the tedious descent of the we'll she repeatedly tries, and the cooling pitcher imparts, not only to man, but to his unpcti- lioning beasts.
 "Drink," says the generous girl, and trust me, can feel likewise for your burdencd companions, "for I will give thy camels drink also." This was benevolence! such as is not generally found. Itwas eminently. disinterested, prompt and ditfusive. It was disinterested, for the tongue which she cool ed was not that of a youthful gallant. troll- ing the oily phrases of flaltery. He who drained the pitcher which the assiduity ot Rebekah filled, was an old man, a servant, and stranger. It was prompt; for she " hasted," and she "ran" to do good, and drew water e. tor all the camels;" though the troop consisted of ten. It was diffusivc, for they were minutely regarded no less than the proprietor.
 warmly wish that the manners of many who deem themselves polished. were, at the present day, as excellent, as those of this primitive well bred woman. FreQuenting no assemblies but those of the next green, or meadow; receiving no lessons of good breeding but those which her own warm heart dictated we find her department graceful, though she never paid dancing master; we find her a maid of honor, though she never saw court
 True politeness, unlike that of men of the mode, consists in actually rendering little services to our neighbor, rather than in the ostentatious promise of great ones. Indifier- ent to its own ease, it thinks much of anoth- CTS, discerns the latent wish, and supersedes the necessity of asking favors by seasonably bestoWing them. SCRIPrURALIS.