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Show 494 The Bacl1elor-A Tale. (AUGUST, modern art in Europe with g reat power, and, in ]aO'e crosses a bridge, spanning the river with a fact, conducted himself in the most brilliant and gr~ceful ar('h, are situated the mills which 5.upply captivating manner imaginable. the village and its neighborhoo~. The ~u~eru~~en~ He was slightly chagrined that the elder lady dant of these cstaUlishments hves liar y, seemed more pleased with the fluent graces of his small but comp:~ct cottage, protected from the conversation than her youn" companion, but the northern blasts by the bold acclivity, an~ shaded deportment ~f the latter to~vard s him was most from the rays of summer Uy an oak of unmeuse cordial and unrestrained. She had capti\·ated him age and majestic beauty. . r by the grace _and beauty of her ~pp~arancc on the . This house was mo~e ~bundantly ~:~01~:.at!~du~,: former occaston, hut now the kmdhness and easy ntshed than many ot htgher prete . elegance of her manners made her more fascin:1.- and around it was a serenity and a qut~t, un~;~eti. n~. tending comfort, unusual and most attracttve. he Paul had rarelv passed so pleasant an eveninfl'. hack of the ho11se opened on a grassy paddock, and remainin<l" un.til a late hour, he lOok a relucta~t soft be neath the tread as a carpet, an~ c~mpl ctely leave. lie !~ad been told hy .Mrs. Henry that she scree ned by honey-suckles and a flou~J.shwg ?" r~pe intended to leave town with her niece, in a short vine, which threw th eir lean~s in ~tch pr~tnswn time for \Vouon the vil]afl'e in which she resided, over a trellis arbor, through the wterstt('es of and ~·ith native i10spitalit;, s he had asked him to which was se~n the clustering fruit of the grape gi ve them the pleasure of his company at any time hanging in tempting ripeness. . he could command sufficient leisure. Mr. L efevre The occupants of this place were the miller gratefully accepted this obliging itn'itation, and re- and his !":unity, which consisted of his wife and a turned home with the intention to arrange his busi- daughter, well suited for the inhabitant of so charmness, that he might be enabled to leave the city in iog a spot. The most skilful pen, or the most a short time. glowing pencil could scarcely do justice to the rare beauty of young Agnes Searle, with her ripe figure so well proportioned that you lost sight of its only CHAPTER If. defect, a want of height-the perfect moulding of The village of Wotton is as goodly a sight as a her chin and mouth, and the h_txuri ~nt beauty of her lover of the picturesque would wislt to look upon. black hair, glossy and clustenng, hke The eminence on which it is situated declined " T hose hanging lnck3 gently until it merges into a meadow, g reen as an Of young Apollo's." emerald, throuuh which flows a stream, with its banks fringed ""oy willows anJ beech trees; th eir Beautiful Agnes, what grace did you throw around boughs occasionally dipping in the sparkling waters, the simple board, spread for the evening ~~~a\ bewhich arc so clear and pellucid, that a boat gliding neath that fragrant arbor, in the dewy twtbght of 00 the crysul surface, or fish swimming in the summer, and how much brightness did thy joytransparent curre nts, seem suspended in the air, ous beauty impart to the fireside of home, when while, att.he depth of many feet, the peUbly botlom the fire bla7.ed brightly on the hea rth, and the icy may be di stinctly see n. Ou tile opposite side of winds howled fiercely without. . . . this lovely streatu, the valley is hounded by a range Mrs. Searle, the mother of tins charmmg gtrl, of lofly hills, rising abruptly from its level surface, was generous in her disposition, and possessed a. and co\·ered from the lmse with a. vigorous growth st ren gt li of body and miud most applicable fot: the <Jf ci1csnut, birch and other trees of a. hardy di sc harge of the la.borious duties which belong to nature, around whose trunks and among whose her class in life. Her hu sband bore a fair reputabranches, vines and creepers are thickly woven, tion for honesty and uprightn~ss, and except . an or" fantastically tangled." The soil is torn and addiction to those pleasures whtch are so shockwg gashed by the ri\•ulets, which, when swollen Uy the lO Father l\lathew, David Searle was a worthy accumula.tion of snuw on the hill tops, ru sh down and estimable person. with great violence and in <.on siderable volumes, The vi11afl'e had not much architectuml beauty while broken and jagged rock s, partially covered to boast of, 0yet when seen from the opposite side with sombre-colored mosses, increase the gloomy of the river, the white houses, hrge gardens and aspect of the seene. embowering trees, presented a. fresh and pictn- Crossing over these ru~gcd hills and through tl~e resque app:ar_anc~, while the genera~ ~spect of th~ dark woods, a smiling land sc:~pe spread.'i out Ill place was HHhcattve of a sound , thn\lng state. o quiet and lucent beauty towards the Eastern lwri · affairs. The most commodious pri~ate dw~l!JOg zon, and extends in another direction to the river, belonged tn Mrs. Henry, and was Sttuated about which, having swept around the southern termina- midway the de cli,· ity we have mention~d: It w_as tion of the hills, goes gaily on its course "like remarka!Jlc for the elegance and soltdtty of tts traveller singing on his way." structure, and for the beautiful heech and el_m trcrs, Just at this point, where the road from the v il- which reared their stalely height above JlS roof, 1845.] The Bachelor-A Tale. 405 and threw "a latitude of boughs'' far and wide. dress to secure success. 11 To hi3 free and indeThe street on which it was built was the principal pendent fel1ow-citizens," he spoke on .!IC\'eral uccathoroughfarc of the vil\afl'e sions, and his addresses were mar ked Uy a. vigo rous At the e nd of this st;e~t, was situated a large sense, son nd judgment, and energetic eloquence, house, built in the old French style, of darli: grey made douhly impressive by the graceful and anistone, with heavy windows and galunsies. This mated manner in wllich they were delivered. The was the residence of quite an important personage, newspapers on bis side complimented his actidty :\'ir. John Ripton, whose life and fortunes had and ability in terms of the highest eulogy, and anknown gayer and more prosperous times. He l1ad ticipatcd a brilliant triumph, while those of the form e rly held a consulship in one of the Spanish opposite political opinion declared that his rhetoricities, and by using to the bes t advantage the com- cal declamation did not contain arguments worthy mercia! facilities ofi"cred by the situation, had of refl!lation, and that their side would win the day amassed a good estate. By a change in the Gov- without a struggle. The election came on, and ernment he lost his appoinltnent, and on his return the party to which the R ipto ns belonged received to his native city, the thirst for gain which, at the a s harp and dec isive defeat, to the se("l"et satisfactimc, lmrnt in the minds of all classes, influenced tion of the father, but to the unspeakable disgust his ambition. He embarked his J!roperty on the and mortification of the son. hazardous sea of speculation, and hy a succession of disast e rs, he was brought to the. brink of ruin. Broken in health, and sickened by disappointment, CHAPTER 111. Mr. Ripton retired to the "illage of Wotton, to li"e The season had now ad\·anccd towards the mid-on a. small estate he had inherited, with the hope die of spring; and in the afternoon of a calm day, that the quiet scenes and salubrious airs of tlte Claude Ripton sat in his room alone and u1wccuplace migh t hring him health and repose. pied. He had been engaged in dre ssi ng fur a r ide, For several years he li\·ed in ca!m seclusion, and but had desisted before his toilet had been comhis amiable disposition, pure manners and inexpen- pleted, and was seated in one of the deep baysive habits, won the esteem and confidence of so- wiudows of his father's house, gazing abstractedly ciety. Circumstances had brought him into active out upon t.hc flowering field s. life a short time before the period of which we The person of this young man, who had just speak, and disappointment had again met his effo rts. completed his twenty-second year, was remarkably The political condition o( the country, requiring, preposeessing: and 11ow that his face was in repose, in the opinion of those concerned, a representative its beauty would ha\'e been singu lar and symin the national legislature of upright honesty, solid metrical, even in a lovely female. It possessed attainments, and practical understanding, at the that rare comhina.tion of attractive qualities, which earnest solicitation of his friends, :\lr. Ripton ap- is oftenest seen in the most bea utiful of" the darkpeared as a candidate for the popular sufi-ragc. glancing daughters" of Spain-light chesnut hair, His only son on whose education, duriug his rich and curling, with large, black, lu strous eyes. residence abroad, no attention or expense had Although the other fea tures were admirably formed been spared, had just returned from one of the col- and proportioned, not unfrcquently the counten::tnce leges of this country, (where he had been sent for wore an expression furtive, sinister, and forhidding. the completion of his studies,) under no very f:tvo- The form, so s lender as to produce nn impression rable circumstances. Claude Rip_ton had but Jiule of physical \vea.kness, but for the remarkable depth of the determined energy, which tn earlier life l13.d of chest, the expansive girth of the shoulders, and marl•ed his father's character, and he had less of the sinewy conformation of the limbs, was absolutely the solidity of principle and honorable pride which faultless ; there, ind ee d, perfection seemed to have h_ad kept that character unsullied Juring the vicis- set its seal. The additional charm which good sttudes of a long and adventurous life. Yet, daring, manners can give was not wanting, and in the peacute, and brilliant, with a fertile but supe rficial culiar appropriateness of each article of his c legenius, Claude was well suited to sustain the en- gant dress to the other, f;Jaude Ri pton illu strated feebled powers of his father, by energies not yet philosopher Square's idea about" the eternal fitness unnerved by disappointment, and a determination, of things." which when once ronsed, mocked at defeat. H e He was interrupted in his mccl itationg by the enwas most active in the stirring canvass th<tt sue- trance of one of his acquaintances, l\lr. John Dawceeded, for the opposite party was represented by son, who, with a good person, respectable parts, a ~old, eloquent, and astute politi cian. and the advantages of a regular education, spent . fhe elde~ Ripton c?ntented himself with c:-.:plain- his days in the most gentlemanly idleness-although l~g the polt~y In whtch he \\as attached, and the dependent on the bounty of his friends, e\'en for Vtews by whteh he should be governed, in a speech "food and raiment." plain, manly and forc ible, but his son used every This promising ynnng gentleman had been a resource of his showy intellect and plansiUie ad- student of the law for the past fuur or five years, |
