River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-01-09
FAIR AGNES.
The Chambermaid Of MarbIehead Wht
Became Il Lady"

Became Lady"
Sir Charles Henry FARMLAND, son 81 a |
former Governor of Bengal, and desce0d- |
ed from family of England tracin. a
lineage back TO the Norman conquest, |
had visited America long previous to CHE
war of the Revolution, and was holdsng !
the office of collector of his Majesty |
customs in Boston under the royal eS,v- |
ernmcnt Of Massachusetts,. UnhappFly, |
the gay manners ana licentious prilsci |
pies OF the young knight were betterSlc
commodated to the profligate circles. OF
the Old World courts in which he mosea |
than TO the severe morality of Puritan |
New England society.
One some occasion, in pursuit either OF
BUSINESS or pleasure, it would appear that
this nCbleman CHANGED 70 visit the vii
lage of Marblehead (some sixteen tradi-
tions say Glouster), where, at the village
inn, he found damsel Of sweet six
| teen," without shoes or stockings, ana
engaged in the very unromautic employ
ment OF scrubbing the staircase. Attrae-
| ted, however, by her appearance, for,
! Notwithstanding her desbabilEe, she was
! yet evidently possessed of an unusai}y
comelY face and form, the gallant youth
| went up and then came down again, I'm
til at length he had quite fallen in love
with the young barefooted beauty.
| Meanwhile the grace of her ATTENDANCE
upon the tea-table materially aided a
conquest which. when our hero asce".
| tanned that to the charms of personal
! loveliresss were united withal "A lively
wit and strong though uncultivafed
mind, became complete.
The "noble" adventurer improved }iis
earliest opportunity to make known 10
| the fair maid his feelings toward her. yIe
did not feel at liberty at present, in view
| of the immense social disparity between
them, to offer her his hand in marriage
| But, if she was disposed, she should he
j come his companion for life. On thGir
return to Boston she should at once be
put in the way Of acquiring all the &C
| complishments in the way Of educai pn
which the best instructors at the time
! could bestcw. This achieved, she should
/ be installed the permanent and sole MIS-
! trcss of his mansion, as she was already
/ the undisputed mistress of his heart.
| BewiIdered by this sudden and most TN
expected stroke of seeming good fortune,
the rustic and penniless beauty yielded
to the ardent and persuasive protestatiG9s
| of her ''noble" and consented fort1with @
return with HIM to Boston
The vigorous tone of moral sentiment
existing from the earliest day here in
! New England, it need hardly be said, was
! grossly outraged and scandalized by such
/ a connection as this, all unblessed as ii
was by any pretcnce of matrimonial rites
and especially by one so conspicuously
/ paraded before the eyes of all as was this
| of Sir Charles Henry Frankland's high
| social position and commanding influence.
| Such behavior might possibly be allowed
/ in the lax and profiga;e circles of the
! Old World But New England society
would admit of nothing of the kind, even
/ though the offender was possessed of ua-
! told wealth. was royal official and an
! English nobleman
So it happened that, while the com
/ panion of Sir Henry was surrounded By
| all graces and luxuries and accomplish
| ments, she was yet insulated amid vir-
tuous community. The knight himself
was made to feel keenly the disgrace be
was bringing upon himself and his house.
At length, driven by the stern reproba
ton Of an interrupted public opinion to
seek retreat beyond its censure for
| himself and his fraiI and paratively
unoffending associate, he purchased a
wide domain in Hopkinton, and erected
within its bounds one of the most splen-
did mansions of the country. The APP,
proach to it was through noble avenues,
hewn out of the deep primeval forest,
eboI nvva6 Inv ba most apainnT
of trees. And there in that quiet, yet
palatial retreat, Sir Henry was wont, it
was said, to beguile his otherwise tedioas
days by maintaining, on mimic scale
the customs of his baronial ancestors
and practicing many of the usages OF
feudal times; while his magnificent stud
of horses and pack of hounds, with feast
and festival, combined to invite many a
gay and INSCRIPTIONS guest from the
haunts of the metropolis TO the solitude
of this interior town.
But not always was Sir Henry Frank
land to pursue this aimless, prohigate
career, or TO withhold from his associate
in sin the dover of wifehood which was
her due. An event is at hand which il
effectuaily to sober him, and, by impress
ing permanently upon his mind sense
of the instability of human affairs, tot
direct his thoughts to higher things, and
having been appointed Consul General to
Portugal, it so happened That he was re
siding at Lisbon at the time OF the great
earthquake, November 1, 1855. Saved, |
as it were, by miracle from that most
appalling and almost unprecedented ruin,
the hitherto gay Lothario suddenly "came /
to himseli''-was so profoundly affected
by his narrow escape from instant death |
that, Immediately upon his deliverance, !
he made haste to do justice to his long (
suffering companion 10y espousing her in /
due form, and so making her at last his |
lawful wife.
The two subsequently returned to /
America, and every year thereafter. as
long as he lived, on the anniversary OF bis |
memorable deliverance, Sir Henry was
accustomed 10 retire to a certain room IN I
his house in Hopkinton, and lere having K
secluded himself from every visitor, keep +
solemn fast. In the apartment about +
him, it is said, were hung up, torn, soiled,
and covered with lime and dust that he
had gathered on them at the time OF the
disaster, the identical garments worn by
him amid the ruins and debris of that
ND}u1tQ GBANs
Having, many years after the events
lust recorded, revisited England on bust
ness, Sir Henry died suddenly at Bath,
Janu ary 11th, 1868. Lady FARMLAND con-
tinued to reside at Hopkinton until the
breaking out of hostilities in connection
with the American Revolution. Though /
MarbIehead girl herself, yet, as the wife
of an Engli5h nobleman, she not uunatur- /
ally so incurred the suspicious Of the stuT
DIV patriots that her situation early became I
an extremely embarrassing, not to say
dangerous one. Removal to Boston be-
ing obstructed, she sought the protection
of the provincial Congress of MassacEu
sets, and received permission OF one OF
the committees to proceed with her ef-
fects to the town Notwithstanding this
sanction of high authority, excitement
vet among the inhabitants Of the neigh
borhood an so high armed parties even
assuming to arrest her journey, and to de-
tain her person and effects that it was
not until the power OF the provincial
congress actually interposcd TO liberate
the same from captivity that she succeed
ed il effeeting Der escape
After many delays, and after having |