Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-03-11
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
"The sober comfort, all the peace, which springs
From the large aggregate Of little things;
On these small cares of-daughter- -wlfe-or friends
The almost sacred joys of home depend"
n. MoRE.
Seventy.nine yeas ago, an old fashioned,
but substantial mansion could be seen few
miles beyond the present village of York.
Situated on considerable eminence, the wa.
wing fields of grain which could be seen
through the openings of the grove around it,
spread like messy carpet, until hill or forest
bounded the vision. An avenue of magui6.
cent oaks, several hundred yards in length,
stretched to the road side; while nearer, and
Immediately around the mansion, the trim
hedges, the graveled walks, the disposition Of
shrub and flower, bespoke woman's taste
and care. The mansion house of Oaklawn
was the residence of Mr.. Willoughby, an Eng
lish gentleman Of the old school. His pa
rents were of easy fortune, and emigrated to
this country shortly after their sons birth.
On reaching years of manhood, his parents,
anxious to, give him every opportunity Of
mental culture, sent their young Hubert to
travel with tutor, as was customary III those
days, in England and on the Continent. Af'
ter an absence of two years he returned, leav-
ing his tutor in Germany. The elder Mr..
Willoughby was much disposed to think Mr..
Monckton recreant to his trust, inasmuch as
he left the young man to make the journey
home alone; but Hubert readily excused
him, saying, his preceptor's studious habits
led him to desire entrance into the Universi.
ties there. Shortly after Hubert returned,
he net Ellen Campbell, lady of birth and
fortune and to these advantages, adding a
charm of manner, rectitude of character, a
grace of person, unrivalled. He became pas
sionately enamored of her, and backed by
the encouragement of his parents, be wooed
and won her for his wife, in the short space OF
three mouths. For little season all went
on smoothly with the happy pair; but Hu.
bert, so madly intoxicated with his dream of
bliss, suddenly sank into the most profound
melancholy. Occasionally he would be reused
from these spells by receiving letters from his
tutor, to whom he seemed tenderly attached,
and who wrote at frequent and regular inter-
walls. These voluminous epistles were always
eagerly devoured, and for a little while he
would be himself again but only to sink into
deeper melancholy, ere another could posi-.
bly, reach him. The elder Mr.. WilIoughby
frequently spoke of sending for Mr.. Monck-
ton, but Hubert met the suggestion with
such impatience, and finally with such mani.
fest anger, that he was forced to desist. He
argued, bis tutors cheerful and enlivenipg
letters were more calculated to restore his
tone of mind, than his presence could possibly
be. While in this alarming condition-for
his friends feared melancholy madness
news arrived of Mr. Monckton's death. At
this intelligence, Hubert gave way to the
widest grief, declaring he never should have
left him, and upbraiding himself with wan.
ton cruelty. In the circumstances, his re-
morse was 80 extravagant, as to rouse his wife
to sternness characteristic Of her disposition,
but never before exercised towards him. This
had the desired effect. He was enabled to
subdue the violence of his grief, and time, at
length, brought relief to his diseased mind.
Still, with tie. folly of ipcipient madness, he
would watch for those letters at the. regular
intervals, till, as year after Year, passed, his
mind recovered its wonted tone and though
never regaining the vivacity Of His youthful
temper, nor conquering a nervous timidity
that was now habitual, he was yet enabled to
enjoy the gifts fortune had placed within his
reach, and to pass many happy years with the
devoted partner of his life. The loss of his
wife was trying blow to him, and had it not
been for the mpanionship of the little El-
len, an orphan daughter of the brother OF
his wife's, life would have been insupportable.
His disposition, gentle and afectionate to
positive weakness, led him to love this child
with doating fondness, which might have
proven pernicious to weaker character than
Elen's. He was man ruled by his affec-
tons; associations, in his mind, being as pow.
erful as principles in others of a sterner
mould. The home of his fathers, the memo.
ries of childhood, the buoyant hope Of man
hood, the happy recolections of welded bliss
and dom sstic peace, the more earnest pleas
ures of maturer years, and the graver ties OF
age, all bound him, as with cords, to the on
ly home he had ever known. Thus it was,
that though Whig in principle, he was
Tory in policy; but owing to the war being
mostly confined to the lower and middle dis
tricts, he had escaped suspicion by preserving
rigid neutrality. The question had never
been pressed upon him, for the inhabitants of
what is now York District, never we're parol-
ed as prisoners, nor did they take protection
as subjects. A short time previous to the
opening of our story, he had, in an unguard
ed moment of patriotism, half pledged him:
self for the equipment of certain number Of
troopers, to join Maj. Davie in his contem-
plated resistance against Ferguson and his
Tories, who were now scattering dsmay
among the hardy mountaineers, who, hid in
their fastnesses, knew little of war but the
name The fear that his pledge becoming
known, would compromise his position and
destroy his security, had intimidated him
to such degree, as to render him painful
ly nervous and fretful. His habitual benev-
olence and kindness of heart, were now al.
most obscured in his dread of the sequestra.
ton of the home of his father, and the con-
sequent destruction of relics, sacred as love
and death could make them. His inheri.
lance, with the estate of his wife, gave him
a wealth and position, which made him one
of the most influential men in the upper dis
tricts.
Ellen Campbell was "woman of the Rev
olution," and these words contain history Of
courage, of sacrifice, of patriotism, of chival-
ry, such as knights neer broke lance for.
Her whole soul was bound up in the cause of
liberty. Her lofty air of aristocratic breed.
ing might have been considered too command
ing in woman, had it not been relieved in
her happy moments by an air of playfulness,
winning and fascinating. She had inherited
from a line of stern Scotch ancestors, spirit
of command, which. perhaps, was fostered by
the natural imbecility of her uncle's temper,