Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-07-26
Gbe storp -GtlItr,
From Hutnam's Monthly Magazine
How ] Came to Like Diamonds.
l.

am gentleman. Not by nature, or
blood, or position, but BY an accident. When
1say am gentleman, | mean that | am
conscious of that instructive regard for the
feelings of others, that inner and hidden deli
cacy of thought, that chivalrous sympathy for
distress, and that central heart of love, which
make up the elements of a gentleman.
was not born or bred so.
L was, essentially, low, vulgar child
Nv birthplace was small seaport of New
England, and the fishermen and poor mechan-
les, who were my only companions and stand
ards, made nv coarse nature coarser, and
grated rougher style of manners upon
being naturally rougher than they. Among
the first things | remember, was sort of reck-
less satisfaction in dirty hands and face,
trowsers with immense rents in the legs, from
the bottom upwards, and shoes without toes
or soles. The men whom l saw every day
encouraged the bows of the village in their
contempt for all good manners. They could
stand anything but milksop. To be a nscn
was the first lesson for boy TO learn. And
the finished juvenile man, in their eyes, was a
little, knowing, burly, staggering chit, fierce
as l bulldog, cool as an icicle, dirty as a
scavenger, and with his mouth always
crammed full of oaths and tobacco. Above
all, everything that savored of the feminine
and pathetic was TO be utterly secuted and
trampled under foot. The myriad touches of
tenderness, of sympathy and native sentiment,
that food the hearts of children, ana bind
them so sweetly, when unchecked, TO mother,
and brother and playmate-these was
been the boy of that village, who dared 70 ad-
dress his litile sister or female school-mate in
any other tone than that of rough banter or
ruthless bullyism. Older women, too. we
were taught or encouraged TO tease, and fight,
and hate My Knowledge of these last, how
ever, ~ss confined principally 10 two. One
was the schoolmis,ress, hard virago, and the
other was nv grandfather's sister, sharp
tsoed saaiden lady, who took care of me at
home. She was always called Aunt Deborah.
| regarded both of these persons with aversion.
The presence OF either of them always kindIed
in me desire TO kick and throw stones.
My grandfather came hotae from France
1t was in the first year Of this century, and al
the time when the Corsican advea,urer was
gathering the crowns of Europe into his lap.
and driving their bewildered wearers before
him ike dccks of sheep, ,hat my grandfather
came home from France. He had resided at
ReSdeaux for many years as the partner Of a
great mercantile house. He had seen the Old
Regime, the Revolutioa, and the Reign Of
Terror; and had marked the advent of the ex-
traordiuary youth, at whose sight thrill
went through the nations, and at whose name
only kings then grew pale, My grandfather
ercugAt with aim an ample fortune.
He found Sesh my parents dead my mother
sleeping in The village burying- ground, and
my father in the depths of the ocean, drowned
On distant voyage. Except his sister Debo-
rah, who inhabited his old mansion on the hill
BY the sea, was the only living creature in
whose veins ran drop Of his blood.
How well l remember the evening when
my grandfather returned from France. 1t was
dull, rainy afternoon in November. ] had
come home from school that afternoon in
particularly bad humor, which was not great
iy diminished under the process of scrubbing
and dressing by the relentless hands of my
aunt Deborah. She invested me in a whole
Sunday suit, in anticipation of the expected
arrival, and ended by barricading my neck
with an immense ruffied shirt-collar, often be-
fore an object of ridicule among the village
boys on Sunday mornings, and which now
provoked me more than ever, since it seemed
to me wholly needless for the occasion. re-
member gulping down my supper with some
difficulty through its unyieldlng ring, and in
wardly vowing that il should never ornament
my person again.
In this amiable frame of mind, it may easily
be conceived that any visitor whatever stood a
chance of cool reception from me. Certain
ly, had my grandfather desired to make an i'm
preston on me, he would have chosen any time
but that. Besides, was prejudiced against
him by some conversation / had heard shortly
before, from an older boy at school. 1t was
IN the way Of taunt to me, and to the effect
that when nv grand relation came back,
should, of course, be little gentleman. =
This sneer cut me to The quick, and | resolved
that, when my grand relation did come
back, would be more coarse than ever l
had made up my mind that my grandfather
was fine gentleman; and though l did not
exactly know what that was, as l had never
seen one, YET hated it, As in duty bound,
with all my heart.
think see my grandfather now, as he
burst into the large, old-fashioned parlor.
kissed and embraced my aunt Deborah. lifted
me above his head as if had been feather
kissed, and put me down again; then flung
himself into two or three chairs, and gazed in
perfect silence among the huge, burning logs,
as If to wrest from the roaring abyss some
deep secret of the past, and of his home.
had expected 10 see an old man, gray ant
decrepit; but the person before me was in ths
prime of his strength and manhood. A drat