COLUMBIA DEMOCRAT.
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I havo sworn upon the Altar of God, eternal hostility to every form of Tyranny over the Mind of Man." Thomas Jefferson
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY II. WEBB.
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, Volume VI. BLiOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1842. JVumlierSl.
jS? ' !-?- '- 1 ' 1 r" ' ' 11 '-1 -' 1 '
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From tho Democratic Review.
THE YEOMAN'S REVENGE.
The events nf tlie following story occur-
ti in England, aliout fifty years ago, the
principal porson3 concerned being well
known to thn writer. The established rule
of fiction, when an ignoble lover is brought
on the stage in conjunction with a high
born mistress, is to compensate for his in
feriority of rank by an inverse ratio of
cupeiior'ity in all the truer nobility of na
ture. If this rule is not strictly adhered to
in tins instance, it is not her. fault but that
oi me laci.
The sweetest creature in all Cheshire
vu young Alico B , the pride of one
of its proudest old families, and the delight
of one of its happiest and most splendid
homes. It was one of thoso families of
very ancient and pure descent, and vast
landed wealth, in which, thourrh not within
, j
the pale of the peerage, tho ecntimont of
I rt,trnrnnr t" Urti nnrl 11 rrvf 1 Id nnillf HQ
t'.rongcr tlian in tlio niguesi ranns ui mo
i tt o: iv, Tt
was a mighty hunter before tho Lord a
tegular, glorious old fox-chasing squire of
tl.e most thorough breed, such as there are
but few to bo found.lingoring hko last roses,
il ilin nrntnnl lni' With tliR fin net rnrU
in the county, the places of the numerous
retainers in his hunting establishment were
liu Bini'UUICS, UI1U a wcca laiciy tussci,
that tho Hall did not ring from foundation
A .....I-.-,,., ...til. II... I.....I .nil Innn
iu luui'iilG Willi lliu iiuu iiu iuii iiiiciir
that wound up the sports and fatigues of a
Lard day's hunt.
Next to the chaco, his second passion
was his beautiful and lovely child, lie
iuuiu never luicraiu nur uuauuuu iium ma
side or sight for manv hours at a time; so
that from her earliest years he had so train-1
til her up to a participation with him in the
wrls of the field, that there were few bet
ter shots or bolder riders in all the country
around, than tho fair young girl, who un
der all other circumstances, was every
tVmg that was delicate, feminine, and re-
(no, I , ... I.. i 1 I i:
""tui wuiiiuiiiy Bwutuicsa uuu luvcimcbs.
She had never breathed any other atmos
phere than one of idolatry and happiness,
flie early death of her mother had been
llie only giief she had known. Sho had
an independence of character and of habits
amounting sometimes to a wild wilfulness,
which was almost her sole imaginable fault
ant. to a proud contempt for the opinion of
the world, which wan the most threatening
danger that seemed to await her in life.
ltoinantic generous to a weakness, with a
Jeep and impetuous tido of affections, not
wily was there no sacrilico of which she
was incapable in obedience to tho impulses
of any noble passion, but sho would be
rather likely to find a pleasure in such a
sacrifice proportioned to its magnitude, and
!o the high disinterestedness of her own
ffloru in mukiiiL' it.
She had a brother, about two vears older
than herself, who was at Cambridge a
young man of less high and noble natural
mould than Alice proud and passionate,
)et withal affectionate and not ungenerous,
(hough UOKSeBSPil with a morbid innlnnov.
rfhi9 family dignity, as also of his sister's
warms and claims to tho most splendid
rank and tllsiiiii'tinn in sriinlt. ivlipiini'pr
Jhe could condescend to bestow the prico
less trra3ure of her heart unon anv of the
applicants who had thronged to aspire to her
Vfljr US Jf UliluUlU UIU IIIUIUL'II illlUI,
ne baronet's only sister.ns Miff as buckram
ni astraight.lacing of etiquette & propriety,
though kind heaited and simple, completed
lamuy at tlio Hall.
"Ul there was another nerson whose in
"nacy made him almost an inmato there,
. . . .
'nougii occupying a peculiar and somewhat
"imvocai relation lo the family. It was a
uung farmer, whoso ptoporty, verv con-
"uerabie m extent; and held in his family
Pi many gej.erati.ons, adjoined ,tho B
estates, the successive owners of which had
frequently in vain attempted to purchase
the former, but 1ad always met with a pe
remptory refusal. The Fletcher farm hap
pened to occupy a situation in which it
seemed a very inconvenient intrusion on
tho completeness and symmetry of tho
lands surrounding tho Hall. Whether from
this cause, or from any other, a certain ill
feeling seemed to have subsisted for two or
three generations between the great people
of the Hall, and tho yeoman family of the
farmstead. In another way, the latter,
themselves at the head of their own class
in the country round, wero probably not
less proud than the former toward whom,
I rom the immeasurable social distance that
separated them, they looked up with a kind
of envious though hopeless jealousy, which
was almost a family hostility, angry and
even bitter, though smothered and without
ostensible excuse. There had been several
displays of ill-will between them, on some
of the various occasions created by tho re
lations of sucl close neighborhood ; and
the scornful superiority with which the
pride and power of the B 's had borne
down tho humbler and weaker party in
such collisions, together with tho contempt
with which the dogged independence set up
by them was treated, and rankled down
deep on tho side of the latter. Thin had
been especially the case with the father of
the young Edward Fletcher above alluded
to, now the present owner ; and almost
from his infancy tho Intent terms of this
malignant poison of hereditary bad feeling
had been planted among his earliest asso
ciations and impressions.
However, no trace of their existence was
apparent to any eye, not indeed to the con
sciousness ol the young man himself, at
the period hero referred to. On the con
trary, notwithstanding tlio wide disparity
of birth and social position, circumstances
had brought him into a close intimacy at
the Hall, which seemed to have obliterated
even all rocolleclion of tho old feud, if so
it mav bo called, of furmer yeais. About
eight Vears hcnrp. hn ha;l liannsu?;!, "at
great peril to his own, to save tno ine oi
the young heir of B , while swimming
by an extraordinary effort of courage,
strength, apd self-possession, having plun
ged into the water with all tho encumbrance
of his clothes. Ho was then Iocs than four-'
teen years old, being about a year the sen-
tor of the boy he so gallantly rescuou.
The feat was. witnessed by Sir Wilmot
himself, as also by tho little Alice, who al
ready, child as she was, was tho frequent
companion nf the latter in his rides, her
self mounted on a little pony especially
trained for so gentle a service; The bold
young farmer's son, his own bravo and
handsome face glowing with tho excite
ment of the moment, and his stout framo
easily supporting his slight and now insen
sible burthen, had borne the boy he saved
in his arms, the pallid faco of tho latter
drooping unon his own rndy cheek, till he
delivered him into those of tho disiracted
father himself from whom, as also from
the beautiful girl win shared all the inten
sity, first of despair, and then of rapture,
that marked the moment, ho received such
demonstrations of gratitude as would well
have temjitcd and repaid so felt the dc
lighted boy a hundred fold greater efforts
and dangers.
The consequence of this was, that Ed
ward Fletcher became tho constant coin
panion and playmate of George and his
sister: ho was admitted to share their edu
cation, under tho Guidance of an excellent
tutor and masters, at tho Hall; while lrom
his boldness and dexterity in all the sports
to which tho life of tho old baronet was
chiefly devoted, he became tho peculiar pet
and attendant ol the latter, a special atu-uo
comn. as it wero a service which the
vouth discharged with the less unwilling
ncss, uccause, in auuiiiun iu me unarms ui
" i .l. -l "r
the various snorts themselves, it threw him
more constantly than any other opporluni
ties could have done, into the society of
Alice, who was crowing up through this
period n perfect flower of loveliness, and
perfect star of brightness. His own parents
haviiiff been dead manv years, ho had mi
restriction at home upon tlio course ol harm
into which ho insensibly ran, of almost
livintr at the Hall. Everv thing went on
smoothly and happily. In the easy nnd
affectionate lamiliariiy oi tlio relations in
which ho lived with tho family of which ho
seemed all but a member, his own natural
pride and iinperiousncss of temper found
nothint' to chafe or cross its grain. When
Gcnrco went to college ho did not nccom
nanv him. Sir Wilmot never dreamed of
such an idea: and though for George,
"eentlonian," and the heir of 1J and
its baronetcy, it was proper, as a matter of
course, ho would have av eoon imagined
tho propriety of sonding a colt of ouo of
Edward's own plough horses tn Cambridge
;ib their young owner and destined driver.
Besides "Ned" 'M to hipeelf nn nbsoluto
indispcnsible especially in George's nb
sonce and so, nothing loth to remain in
his present relation to the one inmate of the
Hall, who had long been all iti all to hi3
secret heart, Edward remained behind;
though tho proud ambition which was the
second perhaps the first passion in his
nature, made him n hard student at home,
with the benefit of thu library of the Hail,
in all the intervals of limo he could com
mand, from the constant round of tho sports
which wero there tho chief employment of
life.
It was, perhaps, a singular infatuation,
but such was the fact, that no thought of
alarm for the possible consequences of so
closo and constant an intercourse between
so handsome and gallant a youth and a
maiden so ovely in herself, and so ardent
and generoils in her own affections, even
for 3 moment seemed to cross the mind of
either Sir Wilmot or his sister, the presi
ding personage of the Hall, so far as re
garded the department of female concern
and control. They would as readily have
imagined a similar danger between Alice
and the ".Man in the Moon," as conceived
the idea that the young yeoman who was
made a quasi gentleman only by the kind
patronage of U Hall, and who was no
where else Known or recognised as any
thing more than his father and grand fath
er had been befoic him; would ever think
of raising so bold an eye as to aspire to
such a star; still less "that the star could
ever cast down on such an aspiration any
other look than a twinkle of infinito con
tempt. However, they did not think of
either boldness or contempt in ihe matter
they did not thin'i about it at all. any more
than they would concern themselves with
speculations on the possibility of that long
prophesied falling of the skies, at which,
as is well known, so many larks are to bo
caught. What would have been the rage
of ihe old Baronet ! what the dismay of
prim and stately Aunt Edith ! had they
known that their Alice loved the presump
tuous peasant with, all the fervor of her
JPJVUrr.ntll'. nprtnrnna n nUi'", , llo t (,".",- '""
to nun llie oujeel oi a passion in which was
concentrated all the fiery force of his high-
toned and energetic character nay more,
that for nearly a year from the time to
which this narrative refers, ihey hid been
self-betrothed to each other, with all the
olemnity that vows can add to tho sacred
meeting and mingle of hearts. But so it
was. How it had come lo pass, 1 cannot
afford the lima to tell nor would it much
matter if I could.
One evenincr. after a morning of a most
glorious run. in which Edward Fletcher had
met with his frequent lortuneol carrying on
the brush, while Sir Wilmot liau returned
home with one of tho fox's paws in his cap
as a trophy and proof that he had got in
ihe dealh. tho former made his escape, al
an oarliei hour than was often permitted.
from the table at which the Baronet (lis
pensed a flowing and rather uproaiibus hos
pitalily to tho hunt ot tno day. nifc com
panv breaking up and dispersing about i
couple of hours aftorward.Sir Wilmot him
self followed him to Alice's parlor with :
step steady enough, it is true, for all prac
tical purposes, but with the habitual hale
and hearty ruddiness of his complexion
flushed to a more than ordinary Hue, anu
his faculties not quite so clear and dis'.inct
in their intelligence as thev had been before
breakfast, and as thev Drobablv wouiu be
seain lo-morrow morning. As he approach
ed tho door he paused a moment lo listen lo
tho beautiful eflect of tho mingling ol llie
Iwo voices of Alice and young Fletcher, in
one of ihe fine old English duets which Ihey
often sang together.
Bravo, Ned bravo, my boy!' was tho
exclamation with which ho interrupted
them with a slao on ihe shoulder of the
voting man which was a much more en
ergetic demonstration of affections than
would have been at a 1 agrecabiu lo a less
stout and stalworlh frame. 'And as for
von. vou dear little bird, your voice is al
most as sweet as your kiss to your looiisn
old father. Your humble servant, Madam!
ho then added, turning round lo Madam
Edithwiih a bow and flourish of mingled
.mllanlrv Acsravilv which were highly com
ical.'But Ned, you ought to havo been down
there whv thev unkennelled you after you
had cone, and were off in a full cry on the
scent, with a regular tally ho! You ought
to havo been there to see how I stood up
inr vnw. Thev talked of your station m
life, and all that sort of thing. But I stood
up for you, that I did and sworo it was
all envy, because you got the brush which
Sir Harry Horn had vowed should bo his,
with that new hunter lie sporteu tni3 morn
ing. and becauso you cleared so hand
somely llioso five bars which young Lord
Maurice Page, was compelled after all to
get down and open on their hinges, And
1 swore, too. what nono of them could
gainsay, that eveu though you weren't a
gentleman and that's only your misfortune
too, Ned, and no fault of " your's 'egad, I
wish you were though, Ned, 'pon my soul
I dot yet this I said for.you that you were
the best shot, the best rider, thn best trout
fisher, and tho best swimmer, loo, hav'nt
forgot thai, Ned! no, we never forget
that, do wo Alice? and altogether, except
in blood and ail that, yon know, altogether
the best fellow in goneral, in tho whole
country."
If Alico could havo dared lo give the ut
terance of words to the thought sprang
quick and warm from her heart as she list
ened to her father's category of Edwards'
manifold superioiities in his eye, she could
have added, 'the best lover,' Whoever
could havo looked dovn yet deeper in ihe
derker elements of his character.llian eilh
cr father or daughter had gone, might have
seen that which would have taught them
that ho could become 'the best hater' too.
Dining this speech; most cruel when
meant to be most kind;thc face of the young
man had alternately flushed and faded into
a deadly paleness. In hei pain and morti
fication, Alico had not ventured even lo
steal a glance at it. With a strong effort
mastering tno passion Hint slioou jiis very
soul, he commanded his voice so far as to
ask, with a tone that strove to bo calm, but
which betrayed the futility of the effort
even to the not very delicate ear of the Bar
onet at tho present moment. "Your high
blooded and high bred guests havo done mo
too much honor, sir,in taking for their topic
an Jiumble farmer and farmer's son who
claims to be nothing more than a man. I
regret indeed that I was not there, to lake
some slight part in such a discussion ; but
I should be glad to know who it was in par
ticular wiio thus indulged himsell in my
absence?"
Nonsense, Ned, Why, they were
most of them pretty well agreed, I believe;
and there was alter all nothing you've any
right to take offence at; and all that was
to be said' and all that could bo said, I did
say anij'i.jj'tffli -'"lly "J T"x"r,
loo, you known and it's myself who told
you I thought you'd be glad to hear what
I said. Pooh, pooh! there's nothing for
you to quarrel aboutand then, you know,
you could not expect or ask any of Ihem to
liglit you, or any ot mat sort oi uung. uui
egad, JNed, you ouglil to nave neon uorn
a gentleman, as well as a good fellow as you
are and what's more, I wish from my
heart you had been! You and George
together could then by tho way, Alice,
I've got a leterfrom George, and he'll be
hero in three or four days' and that same
handsome Cantab chum of his who was
with him before, Lord Frank Forester, it
is you ho comes to see, Alice, much more
than my hounds and horses' ah, yes it
is, you little mischeif, youl'
The old gentleman kept all tho talk to
himself for some time longer, and went on
with tho most perfect unconsciousness,lurn
ing the sleel round and round, and deeper
and deeper, in the wound ho had made in
the proud and sensitive heart ot the youth
befoio him. Tho latter seized tho first
moment to withdraw, abruptly, in a tumult
of bitter and stinging feelings, which even
the gentlo whisper added by Alico to her
rrood night 'o-morrounfiormnsr!' had no
power to assuage.
I pass ranidlv overall uncssentail details,
In a long and passionato interview on the
following morning, Alice was starneu arm
grieved to obsctvo how deeply and even
fiercely the soul of her lover was roused in
arms bv an occurrence so little worthy of
producing such an effect, on a naturo so
noble and gallant as she loved to consi
ilpr Ills. She did not dissemble tho effect
it had nraduced on her own mind, not only
of nain lor him. but of almost despair of
ever obtaining her father's sanction to an
idea so preposterous as her marriage lo this
humb o 'neasaii.' in ins impotuous rescm
nient.Edward Flether was strongly bent on
makimr an immediate disclosure to him
of claiming his daughter's hand, boldly, if
not oven haunhlilv. by iho right divino of
the possession pf her heart and of at once
mecdim? the last extremity, when if he
should not oxtort iho consent which he
now panted for as much for pride as for
love, from that antagonist ptido which ho
would freely give life and all it could con
lain to force down to tho level of his des
pised nnd insulted position.he would ai least
make one decisive trial or ins uomiuiuii
over tho aflections of his mistress; and eith
er quaff at one draught the mingled bliss of
ir umn hant tevenge in Iriumpliani love, or
if disappointed, casting tho latter scornfully
forth, surrender his heart to hate, and hi3
whole faculties to tho aim of compassing
its indulgence. She shrank from thus pro
ciDitating all the worst sho appiehended
She know tho certain consequoaco of such
a collision between tho quick and vehement
paaion of her falherjmd iho ternbla tern
per she trembled to discover in her lover,
I hero was one hope remaining, to whic'it
though with dark misgiving, she clung as
Ihe drowning mariner to a straw Georgo'8
aid and influence. He owed his life to Ed
ward had been the iffectionato playmato
of his childhood and friends of his youih
and his own warm fondness of her would
ppeal strongly to his heart when he should
come lo know the extent to which' her
hopes and happiness were involved.
'We will wait for George's return, 'sho
urged with an earnestness and eagerness
not to be resisted 'Ho knows you as I
know you Edward, for what you aro in
ourself. Ho knows you his full equal
nay , his superior in all manhood and trtio
nobleness,' and her eyes brightened proud-
tlirough her tears, as sho placed her
hrnd confidently in her lover's, 'he loves
you loo, he is not ungrateful, ho will
not forget that hour when my love for you,
you fust entered my heart, child as I was
through the avenue of my love for him,
hen tho young hero who had saved his
life, almost at the sacrifice of his own,
brought him to me on the bank nearly be
yond recovery, and looked so bright and
beautiful to our oyer as he did il! Il will
not forget, either, that it was your bravo
and strong arm, dear Edward, that saved
my life, too, that terrible day when the
the lightning drove poor Towena wild, and
you preventing her and me from plunging
down llie Woll Crag, only by dashing
your own hoise in between mo and it, when
it was only a miracle thai kept you from
going over yourself! He has not forgotten
all this and when I see him when I tell
him all ho will not have forgotten how
dear my happiness used to be to him, ought
to be to him still! Lei us wait for Georgo
he will be home in a few days and he
will not, ho cannot refuse to help us. and
all will be safe.'
I fear, Alice.that your own heart over-
colors George's feelings in regard lo me.
e.hayqbeen much apart .ol l?.1" -'.v.s"-
ifi34rr,Jfi5tM,yIeilixoJStrcgh,eVt
his natural pride of birth and rank. I have
no very strong hold on his heart now I
saw il when he saw home last nor has ho
written mo a line since he left. And you
know he has his hear! set on your being
over lo favor the suit of his presenc
friend, Lord Forester. No, Alice if I
have little hope in your father, I havo not
much mote in George. I have only ono
hope, dearest and sweelest, and in whom
that hope is garnered, who knows so well
herself f and lus arm encircled, tno
fair girl's slender waist, and no resistance
repelled the kiss accompanying the look
with which lie seemed to asic wnai was 10
be his reliance on that hope.
'Come what may.' was the beautiful an
swer of the trusting and enthusiatic maiden,
the life vou saved is lusllv and rightfully
yours when I confessed to you that my
neart was yours also, i told you no untrutn
and when I added the pledge over my
mother's grave, I felt all the sacredness
both of the pledge and the place and never
fear Edward, that I shall bo the first to tor-
get it. -
Her spirit moved over tho dark and trou
bled elements of his life the wing of a ser
aph on a mission of peace. He was calmed.
Jud consented to her counsel, though still
at the bottom of his heart there was a dull
and compressed heaving of the wavos of
the worst passions, which might yet ireafc
forth with a lury which he could not Him
self calculate nor perhaps restrain.
On the third day from this morning- tho
expected arrival took place. Edward was
at first shy of coming in contract with nis
former friend; anil very soon found or fan
cied reason to fell confirmed in his worst
apprehensions as to the relatian and senti
ments with which no was regaiaou oy
him.
There was a groat deal of kindness, and
a certain kind of familiarity; hut there wa
something of condascension in it, of con-.
sclous distinction ol ran It and social post
lion; altogether a something which he felt
to bo veiy different from the tone and man
ner of inteicourse with his never but mora
noble' friend, whom ho brought with him
from Cambridge. But he before long
found tho opportunity ho sought. Altca
detained George at homo one morning that
the baronet rodo out to show Lord l'ores
ler some fino coursing with a favori.te pair of.
greyhounds. The two young men stroll'd'
together in ihe park. Edward opened tho
subject with a fluttering heart, though nb
lubily, and with a bold and, proud manli
ness, which was almost haughtiness, and
which would havo dono no discredit to any
peer or prince in the realm. Tho other
listened for a while, first in incrodulity.then
amazement, ihcn pity for tho insane infatu
ation which had led Eiiward o-en to admit
within the range of lus vUde-at fancy, 9