The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-10-29
nv VERY ODD UNCLE.

rot on ike other people in his early days
The most accurate said up to the begin |
ming of his twenty-sixth year-when,
Ifter having been duly articled 10 tne
moss eminent solicitor in our county town
getting through his seven years without
m;sch ,pce, passing his examination re-
upectahly and obtaining his certi1cate-ne
entered into partnership with Messrs
and Gosling. the heirs ana sue
cessors of his master in the law au.
Thought by all Shrewsbury to De mos
firm. I believe they o,u pusr
roee ,ooeIher for about six montns; the
-, ss,Il case of Sharp cs Smootny was
she storm that shipwrecked them, and
sso, nv uncle's Oddly was somehow de-
-aio,,ed IL proved to be of sn upcom-
MN Kind: there was nothing peculiar In
his dress. manners, or conversation; ne
had ALWAYS been of quiet, sensible turn,
and so he continued to be; but his heart
and miod. and money too, went, from That
time, after old and dilapitated houses:
wherever there was . decsyed cottage,
q half ruined barn, a tumbledown tene-
ment that nobody could be got to take or
huy-and there's no scarcity of the like in
the county Salop-it was sure to be heard
of hunted up, and leased, rented. or pur-
chased by Richard Ramshorn, Esquire.
such being the style and title OF my estl-
mable relative. For that branch OF busi- |
ness he gave up the management OF peo-
ple's legal affairs, his time being entirely
occupiei with his takings and purchases
He spent day after day in solitary surveys
of these ruined dwellings, locking or
boiling himself in, as if any human being
was likely to intrude upon him He halt
repsired some of them; he half furnished
others he advertised hem far and wide,
with the usual flourish about convenient
and desirable premises. and had sundry
fierce quarrels with high tempered ladies
and gentlemen, whom. they said, sdver-
tisements had brought miles out OF their
way for nothing. When no tenant
could be got at any rent, and none
of the old women in the neigbborhooo
could be induced to "mind" them.
nv uncle consoled himself by paying
rounds of visits to his far scattered pos
sessions. He was to be seen in all wealth
ers, sometimes on foot, sometimes on
horseback, but always carrying leathern
bag, which he had provided for the pur-
pose of holding the rusty keys, which ne
guarded with care as 'jeslous as though
they were the title deeds Of manor.
As his peculiar taste became known to
auctioneers, house agents, and all who han
unsslable and uplettable buildings on their
hands. his transactions increased and his
finances diminished. Of course, they
were all great b4rgsins-monstrous cheap
and sure to enrich him some day /; but his
means were dribbled away on those I'M
profitable estate without the smallest re
turn; for, if he succeeded in getting some
misguided man, or more frequently
widow or maiden lady, in a moment oil
weakness, to become his tenant, the law
suit which invariably arose at the end o
the first quarter of occupation more than
swallowed up his gains, and he had gen
orally bonus TO pay to the retiring enc
NV uncle did not fall in love, o.
take to betting, or go to the bat
like other young men; the old houses
were sweetheart, entertainment ant
sensation for him. 1t was commonly
believed that the more out-ofthe way ant
out-of. the world they were, the better b
liked them; and the standing grief OF hi
DAYS was that he could not raise none,
enough to bid for an almost ruined man
sion, which nobody had inhabited TO
more than fifty years, because l. stoo'
in a marsby hollow at the foot Of rock,
hill, and had a bad repute on account of mid
night visitors. He had borrowed from al
his friends by this time, till none of then
would lend him any more he was at IN
end of his means, and his relations wer
at their wits end to know what to do wit
him. We, the Rsn,Shorns, had Away
been genteel but not an Independent
family-that is to say, every one of US ha
to do sonnet hing for his living; and whe
my uncle contrived to get out of bushes
and out of pocket in his affection for ar
cient walls, his relations had to take hiI
in hand, as prodigsls are commonly dea
with.
At first they thought that his brain wa
affected; paid him particular atteI
tions at the full of the moon, and brougf
two physicians in the guise of hous
agents to examine him surreptitiOuslv
but the lunar orb had no influence on h
old house hunting, and the medicine me
could detect no crack in his upper stor,
Then they wanted him to emigrate; bl
NV uncle Richard had toe considerable
stake in Eugland and refused to leave h
property. He consented, however, to 81,
up buying and leasing, and returned
business.
With the help of his friends and rel
tives, he got into another legal partne
shin, and went on steadily for some tim
doing juuior p rtner's work and realizir
accordingly; but as soon as little mont
got into his fingers, another great barga
was heard OF, and within less than tv
wears he was in hot pursuit of the o
houses again. OF course, they led him
the same gsol, and he was brought bat
from the husks once more but what Des
to tell of his relapses and restoration
they were numerous as those broug
about by the glass or the gaming tabl'
he was fished out of low lodging house
he was redeemed from the debtors prisol
his requisites were taken out of paw
his o US were paid, according to Il
custom of families endowed with cut
straying sheep; he had intervals of I
speciality, lsnger or shorter, as got
fortune attended him or funds held on
but neither the example nor the preachiI
of his kith and kin could wean UnC
Richards heart from the old houses.
A serious acquaintance of ours CALI
him the dark dispensation of the Ram
horns; a troublesome dispensation he a
doubtedly was, and served for use of te
Tor to our rising generation, all of who
grew up remarkably prudent through u
dread of his example, inspired by the lie
lures of iudicious friends. Myself. beir
his eldest nephew, took early to savin
and had done wonders at it before l W
nineteen, and got my first clerkship wi
Cheek & Co Uncle Richard was reckOnt
an old bachelor by that time, and the on
confirmed specimen of the single pr
fession within our borders except Cous
Grace
In what degree of cousinship she stoc
to all or any of us, never clearly unde
stood; but Miss Grace, as we Juniors hs
to call her, styled herself our cousin i
general, and insisted on all the right
privileges, and immunities belonging
that title. She never told her age, an
nobody else ever dared tell 1t so l am 6
lent ON the subject; but Cousin Graz
was not very young, and never could hav
been supposed handsome by any stretc
of the imagination. Fortune had bee
quite as niggardly with her gifts as natul
in her case her father had left a consit
cradle legacy of debts as well as bis onl
daughter to the care Of his kindred an
Cousin Grace said che would live and o.
cupy herself among them for the rest {
her days, since maiden lady of sense an
energy was an invaluable addition to an
family. Accordingly, she minded the
houses and their affairs general.
she governessed their children, sh
lectured their young people, she CAV
the old ones her advice whethe
they wanted it or not, and she made ther
all understand that Cousin Grace was