Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-01-03

| 7 saw him. I trembled-if heard his voice. | felt
inclined to fly to the other end of the house and
at last if heard any one else speak little louder
than ordinary, was fan to betake me to some dis
tapt room or even hide III tangled plantation cal
led the Wilderness, at the other end of the park.
The hose immensely large, or rather the prop
ertv Gas immensely small; farm after farm had
been sold By great grand fathers and grandlathers;
but as they had not the sense to pull down side
of the mansion for every estate they parted with,
| it had at last grown al encumbance There was
residence fit for man Of ten thousand ayear,
and rental of about eight hundred the helmet of
Otranto on the head of Sir Godfrey Hudson.
IF | could have been bishop or even a dean,
and laid by four or five thousand year were
my fathers views Of me, and of ecclesiastical pre-
ferment--l might buy back some of the ancient
land and repair the house, and that was the reason
he determined should 60 into the church for it
is to be Observed that fathers have extraordinary
eyes when directed to the future fortunes of their
sons. They seem 10 have no power of seeing
small cy-houses filed with twelve children, and
butchers and bakers walking down the avenue in q
melancholy and desparing manner at Christmas
time but have pertinaciously before their sight
superb mansion in Jamess Square, with n steady
old couch ana two fat horses at the door q fine
old turreted palace at Lambeth, with five or six
chaplains conesting the honor of the last lick of
the plate. Not glimpse can they discover of the
cold rldes-the miserable scenes among the dying,
euclCTTeu-STengtn
caying--the proud mans contumely the rich vul-
garian's scorn-struggle, struggle toll and troub
| lie Blessings say ], on the outspoken head of St
Johns and the lmpenetrabiity of Euclid, that kept
a blue coat on my back, and disappointed my ia
theirs expectation of seeing me Lord Bishop Of
Durham. | should have been chaplain to a poor
house to a certainty, and have envied my parishon-
ers; but doubt very much, in the mean time, if
the chaplain of poor. house would have envied
me, imprisoned and pauperized in Rayleigh Court.
Luckily there were books--whole shelves Of
them-loaded with rich morocco bindings, and
pecks enough Of dust Gf distributed through the
month of March, to have ransomed all the Phara-
obs. passed over the Dugdaes, and even the
Gwyllins in despair; and lay whole days on the
floor surrounded by FAIRY Queens and other anti
utilitarian publications, sometimes fancving myself
a Red-Cross knght--though considerably at loss
to devise a substitute for the heavenly Una. But
by some strange caprice of fortune, hoard was
opened to me in one of the lower shelves, beside
the orie window, which was more valuable than
Potosi and Golconda-a complete set Of the Wa
verify Novels there they were-all incuded-fronl
the great original to Castle Dangerous As my
fathers retiring habits prevented me from knowing
human being in the neighborhood, | made up to
my hearts content for the want Of living friends
by forming the most enthusiastic attachments to
Dandie Dinmont, and Henry Morton, and Jonathan
Oldbuck not forgetting the excessive love enter
tanned for Rose Bradwardine, Di Vernon, and q
few others; so that altogether, think | may say,
that no young man of my age was ever blessed
with such large and enchanting circle of " friends
and sweethearts." In the mean time the external
world was moving on, troubling ITSELF in all likeli-
hood, as little about me as did about it. We had
la newspaper once week; but | never it, l
knew that our gracious sovereign lady, Queen Vic
torla, had Just succeeded to gracious sovereign
lord, King William-but to that great and import
ant fact in constitutional history, my knowledge OF
AL =. 1
about Pees or Melbournes, when could enter the
ccuncil-chamber Of Louis the ElevoLth, or pas5 q
pleasant morning with Queen Elizabeth at Kenil-
worth Castle? My father lay-lke a snake sur.
rounded by fre-in the centre of what had once
been his family estate with purchasers gathering
closer and closer round, TILL like the snake of the
above similitude, he was inclined to sting himself
to death to avoid the increasing horror of his sua-
ton. From strange muttered grows and deep i'm
precautions when we met, gathered that the las
faggot had been lighted, in the shape of PROPOSE
tion>by some Eastern nabob, that he 'oud sell the
remaining portion of the land. He, Weigh o
Raleigh Court-to sell to stranger tn, *, the
fields, the house He would have died first. An(
the reason for wishing to buy, which was assigned
by the intending purchaser was worst of all tina
he had already made himself owner of every othe
farm which had once belonged to the Raylegh ma
nors, and desired the family mansion to make thu
estate complete--and his name was Jeeks- Jeek.
him if he had come within his reach but as Mr.
Jeeks kept at a respectable distance, the over
charge of indignation was poured forth upon me
and the opinion so obliglngly given of my abili
ties and probable success in life by tho Master O
St Johns, was never for an hour forgotten. 1t wa
very evident that there was no hope of family res
tora'ion to be founded on so profound a blockhea
an ass that could not get into the church-tha
moped and wandered about the woods-that trem
bled when he was spoken to and so far from push
ing his way in the world, and acquiring a forum
by running off with an heiress, had not courage
look mikmaid in the face. kept out of hi
sight more thsh ever and read Ipanhoe for the fit
teenth time. oh, Frar Tuck Oh Brian de Boi
Guilbert What did care for Mr.. Jeeks and hi
offers for Raleigh Court?
Twas now twenty years of age, with the fgur
Of a grenader and the courage of boarding
school girl; and every day my fathers indignato
seemed to increase, when he saw such a fund {
marketable qualities lying useess-my quietnes
and decorum would have done for the church; m
= height and broad shoulders would have qualified n
for Gretna Green. But such a chicken hearte
fellow, he well knew, would sooner die than mer
it ton post chaise; and so the old gentleman, ha
ch ing ceased for some years to express his content
Ill for with the aid of his walking stick and PR
ly fusion Of ephets unheard Of in Johnsons Dictol
id AIRY, took now to the easier method Of dignife
10 and unbroken silence. 1t was charming chang
of and was as happy as Robinson Crusoe in the de
n. ert island before Friday made his appearance o.
a day in June-"it was the poets leafy month
We June"-I took my way, as was my won't throgh II
en- park to the Wilderness The shadows of Il
n broad thick-foaged oaks lay in gigantic masses
es the smooth turf, (of which the gardeners were
ut few relics of the former herds Of DEER in the shaI
m. of wild-antered stays and dappled roes y all ii
in sights and sounds Of summer beauty were unite
ed III that solitary greensward and for the first tin
ny in my life felt regret pass over that the graz
lid deur OF my family had decayed, and faint flute
:s ing became perceptible to me, round my heart
1t wish to restore our fortunes But the inten
3D. appreciation OF my own Deficiencies in which he
IS been educated soon dspeed any pleasing illusic
Ii that the self love Of twenty years of age mig
IS have cxcited and fell into the opposite exrem
ito and rejoiced to think that in me the family trt
lis would lose its last branch and that the old hou
would crumble into actual ruins instead of holdir