Litchfield enquirer., 1845-09-04
FOR THE ENQUIRER,
THE FORGER.
BY J. B. HARRISON.

A"'S St'ONeH oI, was SdrrOuhoed Oy lovely circle of agreeable and influential relatives. His early ] training had been of that description wherein we ind mingled, ten grains of parental fondness, to one of strict parental discipline and whose early associations and habits were of nature we'll call culated to produce unfortunate results The cir cumstances of his parents were such as to render 1t unnecessary for him to labor, and consequently, he came upon the stage of action, unprepared for its difficulties, and poorly fitted for its duties His parents, in the exercise of their fondness and n- dulgence, had allowed their son to grow up with out directing his thoughts to any particular branch of study or business and with mind undisciplin- ed, and with purposes unsettled, he was ushered upon the theatre of life, necessarily exposed to ev. cry danger thronging its strangely chequered path way. desire to be or do something, prompted the inexperienced youngster to embark in cer- tain speculation; field that required tact, to which he was stranger, and an application of thought and action, to which he had been wholly unaccustomed. The result was, as every one pro- phesied it would be, an entire failure; and our youthful hero retired from the scene, suffering a loss of some hundreds of dollars, (which parental tondaess had furnished for him,) and with several lessons of dear bought experience.
 The unsuccessful termination of his enterprises involved the youthful speculator in many perplex. ing difficulties, from which to extricate himself. he adopted plan that only seemed to rivet closer the chains already surrounding him, and al- so 10 forge many more, of far more weighty and serious character
 In expectation of meeting with success, young Walter had contracted many debts, and launched forth into system of extravaganza, that required no small income to satisfy. Mortified with his poor undertakings, and perplexcd with the idea of his increasing indebtedness he was at length driv- en to adopt rash measures and short time only elapsed, before it was whispered about communi- ty, that he had unauthorizcdly used his fathers name, in procuring funds. Many were slow to !'a- leve this startling information; but surprise soon gave way to conviction, and Walter H. was soon classed among those who seek to obtain a livelihood by undue means, and who would, were il not for the screening power of wealth, be con- pelled to associate with felons within the confines of prison The timely interpostion of friends screened him from this ignomny, although it did not alter the verdict already passed upon him by awakened and scrutnzing public. Soon after this occurrence, Walters parents, in connection with his numerous list of friends. sought and im- proved every possible opportunity of warning him against the dangers thronging the path he had lately pursued, and urging upon him every possi- ble motive, to prevent recurrence of such an un- fortunate event. None of them, however, advised him to engage in some honest and lawful calling. None of them advised him to shun his vicious companions or break off from his vicious habits among which, foremost and worst, stood that of tippling. Oh no his kind friends felt very soli- citous concerning him--were very fearful that he would again be tempted to use other mems names in obtaining money--but never stopped to think of
 the real cause of his fEmer error. or to reflect up on the consequences inaswould again ensue.
 Previous to this occurrence, Walter H. had formed an acquaintance with beautiful and ac- complished young lady and they were already, by the .natch-making portion of community, con- sidered as man and wife. Upon the receipt of this information, the young lady's parents interposed an objection to her longer receiving his visits but all to no purpose. The die was already cast, and marry him she would, and did, with all of his faults, glossed over they were, by the gttering trappings of wealth. ~E H. p' ....,.
 A few years of comparative ease and happiness succeeded to the event above spoken of-and only few, before the deceitful veil of misguided pas sion was removed and Walter H. stood re vealed to his young and conGding wife, as any thing but what she had expected to find in him and her hopes, in common with those of his numerous friends, were doomed to meet with a severe and mortifving disappointment. The pucuniary aid, furnished him by his father, only served to render him still more imprudent and extravagant; and the debts which were cancelled by the voluntary payments ofhis friends, were soon succeeded by an- other series of obligations, and system of ex. travagance was so quickly followed by another, as to preclude the hope of his ever becoming pru- dent business man. The friendship manifested to- wards him, only served to render him the more naughty and insolent; and to those of his acquain
 ance who watched him closely, he appeared as ha- wing lost every systematic honorable trait, of which he was once possessed; and acted equally regardless respecting his business concerns, and
 the kind treatment of his numerous circle of friends. While this blind. headlong spirit was swiftly bear ing him onward to destruction, no one seemed 10 guess alright as to the real cause and although ma ny conectures were made. still the true reason of his misconduct was overl ooked; and in conse- quehce thereof, he was left to go on from step to step, in the downward road to ruin, without So much as receiving single admonition, or being Ahl LII ks,o air nhnn1r