1834-09-09, Newfoundland Patriot

              The JVewfoundthitd Patriot,
    r '
VOLUMS   2.
Stfo Jit'iiiT'Zi wmawmi*
NUMBSE 10.
^m-^^iumiD^iB ©8 a3©<i<.
Columns Cor tur 3L;UJf re.
I.A.MENT OF A SINGLE LADY.
It's really very singular,
1 ca mot mike it o it;
I've inviy beaux, y l-i none propose—
Wait are they all aboil!
Thsr/s Mr. Bid jiy, co n.-s here daily,
To elimier and to—dose,
IL: _i.nil.*s and sitf is. loo." very w* c,
And yet ha don't propose. t
I'm so in *iiz *d, I'm po ur. d,
I'm para,*T.ip'ieil oi paper,
Th -y vo.v altho' I'.n rath :r stout,
My waist is very taper.
That I've a ten Grecian faca;
And rather Grecian nose;
Yet sssinjt th s. it'sqint • an ss,
T.iat no ia of them propose.
It's v -ry string.*, that noia should change
Fro u smile hi*, to doubl-*;
Hal I my mind th-ysooi should had,
I'J save than, all thatroubla;
It's v.:ry well tosiy—Ma BdU,
My lily or my ro«e.
Actio war j bait ;r;—by word or letter
I wish they woild proxM.*.
That Co'oiel Taic-rs, of thi lAncers,
Son -times loo'is sp_ echl.*ss things ;
//_■ smile-.ami sighs-such coil black eyes,
And o!i! the son\ lu sin^s!
He dors not waul encoira^j-moot,
E 10 yii of that, H i iy in :.ao.v»,
And th *ii his air, so Militaire,
Oa it he would pro.oe.!
At par", or ;)!iy, by ni_j it or day,
Ta-ylblov in; alio it;
R ding or walVm,'. si 1 ting or talking,
At r-v •', iiio_h*u -, or roal.
My fath.-r t.ii us it wry bird
Taat, o it o.'*flll l ie be uiv
\V 10 co.neto dine, an I drmk his win?,
No 10 of them will propose!
Yc.-*, it is very sin * ilar,
I've Imlfa tn...d to pout;
Of all the beaux none will propose,
What do ihey dream abo it!
However, no.v my mind's resolved,
In po.'try an J prose,
What'er ensue, or false, or .rms,
One of them shall propewe !
IMIAUITANTS OF A   COIN TRY ToW.V.
[BY   MISS   MITIOUD.]
<* Nfo, Victor ! wo shall never tn *ci again.
I feel thai conviction burnt ia upon my
very heart. Wc part now for tho last time.
You are roturfti .g to your own beautiful
1'V.iuce. to yonr family, 10*your home—a
captive released from bis prison, a-i exile
restored to bis cou itry. gay, fortunate, anil
hrmpy—what leisure will you have to think
of  poorJaneV
" You forgot, Jane, that I am tho soldier
ofa chief at war with all Europe, and that,
iu leaving England, 1 shall bo sent instantly M tight fresh battles against some other
nation. It is my only co.isnlu-ion. that thc
conditions of my exchange forbid my being
again opposed io your countrymen. I go,
dearest, not to encounter thc temptations of
peace, but tho hardships of war ?"
■• The heroic hardships, tho exciting dangers that you lovo su well! Bo it so.
Battle, victory, peril, or death, 0:1 the o.ie
hand ;—on the othor, thc graces and the
blandishments, the talents aud the be:
of your lovely countrywomen! Whit chance
is there that I should be remembered either
in the turmoil of u campaign, or the gaiety
ol a capital ? You will think of mo (if
in Iced yon should ever think of mis at all)
b it as a part of the glo imiest scenes and
thc cloudy days of your existence. As
Belford contrasted with Paris, so shall I sccir
whoa placed in comnetitio 1 wilh .-.um > fail
Parisian. No, Victor! wo part, and I feel
that wo part for ever."
" Cruel and unjust! Shall you forget
me?"
" No! To remember when hope is gone
is fie melancholy privilege of a woman
Forget you !    Oh that 1 could !"
" Well then, Jane, my own Jane, put an
end to these doubts, to these suspicions.
Come with me to France, to my home.
My mother is not rich ;—I am ono of Napoleon's poorest Captiins;—but he has
deigned to notice me ;—my promotion, if
life be spared to me, is assured ; and in the
meantime, we have enough for compe*
'tence, for happiness. Come wiih me, my
own June, you whose affection has been
my only commit during two years of captivity, come and share the joys of my release ! Nothing can be easier than your
flight. No one suspects our attachment.
Your father sleeps-——"
" And you would have me abandon him!
m?, his only child ! Alas ! Victor, ill were
to desert him in his old age, could / ever
sleep again ? Go, I am rightly punished
for a love which, prejudiced aa ho is
against your nation, I knew thnt he would
condemn. It is fit that a clandestine attach,
ment should end in desolation and misery.
Go. bin, oh deirest! talk no mor* of my
accompanying you ; say no more thut you
will return to claim me nt the pence.
Both are alike impossible. Go and be hap.
py wilh some younger, fairer woman ; Go
and forget the poor Jane !" And so saying
she gently disengaged her hand, which wa.
clasped in   both   his. t.nd passed  quickl
through the  liule garden where ihey stoo
into   the   house, where,  for fear of disco
ry, Victor dared not Callow her.
This diilogue, wliich, by ihe way, wai
held not aa I have given it, ia English, bu
in rapid and passionate French. look phio
at Ihe* close bfa  N-fte-mber «.«•-,..*-g 11 th
autumn of 18t)S, between a young officer o
Imperial  Army, 0.1 parole in  Bedford
and Jane Luibam, the  only  daughter, th
ly surviving child of old John L.mham, 11
corn-chanHer i 1 the; town.
Victor d'Auberval, the officer in ques
tion. was a you ig mm of good edacatieiu.
considerable talent, and a lively and ardent
character. He bad been se it as a feivoui
lo Bedford, together with four or five naval
officers, witb whom our jetine mil il lire had
little i.i common besides his country nnd
his inisfortu.i.-s; and ultho igh i.icouipurti-
bly belter off than those ofhis conipitri-
ots iu Norman Cross and elsewhere, who
solaced their leisure and relieved their ne.
cessiiics by cutting dominoes and other
knick-knacks out of ho ie, and ornamenting
baskets and boxes with flowers and laud,
scapes, composed of coloured straw, yet,
being wholly unnoticed by the iuhahita its
oflhc tow.i, a id obliged, from ihe difficulty
of ohiai.1i.1g remittances, to practise occ 11 -
sinn.illv a verv severe economy, be would
certainly have become a victim to the En-
gl.sh m daily with a French nam-, styled
ennui, bad he not bee 1 preserved from th
calami'y by filling into ihe disease of all
climates called love.
Judging   mer.-ly from   outward ci
Stances, no one would   seem  less lik
captivate the hn lelsotii-'aid brilliant Fi
ma 1 Ihui J-i.ie L1 -ih-.im.    Full four c
and twenty, anil   looking more, ofa com.
inou height, common size, and, but for her
beautiful dark eyes, common  features, her
perso 1 attire-d, as il always was, with  p
feci jilnii.ne.-s and  simplicity,   hnd nothing
to attract oh«_ir\...iio.i. and  hcrs*uiioi.\ «■•*
the daughter <>f a man in trade,   himself a
rigid dissenter,  and   living in frugal retire*
out,  rendered  their  meeting ut  all   any
i;g but probable.    Ami she, grave, or-
dcrly,  staid, demure,   she  thut eschewed
pink ribbons as if she had  been  a female
i'r.enel, and would huve thought it some sin
liirubow of any hue in hcr straw- bon-
net. who would ever have dreamt ot Jane
Ltinham's  being    smitten   with a  tri-co-
loured cockade ?
[Mr. Lauhain was a rigid dissenter, and
having lost all his children but Jan", lived
rotiroil, received scarcclv nny frimids, except Mr. Fenton the Minister, who bad
grea influence over him.]
According to Ibis scale Jnno's education s*cmcd likely to bu co iducted, when
a short visit from her mother's siste>r, just
as she had entered her thirteenth year,
made a slight addition to her studies. II- r
aunt, a sensible mid cultivated woman, us-
suming that the young person whom he was
bringi ig up wilh ideas so limited wns likely lo inherit considerable property, would
fai 1 have convened Mr. Linham 10 hcrowu
more enlarged and liberal views, have sent
her to a g >o I school, or have engage I an
accomplished governess ; but this attempt
ended in a dispute that produced a total
estra igeinent between the parties, and the
oily fruit of hcr remonstrances was tho at-
tendance of the good Abbe Villaret, ns a
French master,—the study of thc French
being, in the eye both of Mr. Linham nnd
Mr. Fenton, a considerably less abomination than that of music, el rawing, or don*
ciig. "S'le'll mikra nothing of it,.thought
Mr. Fenton ; - I myself elid not, though 1
was at the expense nf a grammar md a die
lionary, and worked at it an hour a day lor
a month. She'll make nothing of if, so
she may as well try ns no*." And the
Abbe was sent for, and the lessons begun.
This was a new era in . the life of Jane
Lmh.im. L'Abb3 Villaret soon discovered, through the veil of shyness, nwkwnrd-
ncss, ignorance, and modesty, tho great
powers of his pupil, llie difficulties of the
lingtiago disappeared ns by magic, and
she whose English reading had been res*
tricted to the commonest elementary books,
with a few volume's of sectarian devotion,
and " Watts' Hymns" (for poetry she had
never known, except thc magnificent poetry ofthe Scriptures, and the homely but
heart-stirring imaginations of the" Pilgrim's
Progress ",) was now eagerly devouring the
choicest und purest mirceaux of French
liii'rnture. Mr. Fenton having interdict,
ed the Abbe tbe use of any works likely to
convert the young Protestant to the Catho-
lie faith, and Mr. Linham (who had never
rend one in his life) having added a can-
lion against novels. Jane aid her kind instructor were left in oilier respects free.
Her father, who passed almost every day
11 the pursuit of bis business in ihe neigh-
■ouriug towns, and bis  pastor,  who oulv
isited bim of an evening, having no sus-
•icion of lite  many, many hour which she
evoteel to ihe new.bora delight of poring
>ver books ; and iho At>be knew so well
io-.v lo buy books cheaply, mid tlr. Lan-
lamgave him money forleru.se withsolittle
:<]-eiry as to it* destinuti.n, that she soon
ccumuluted a very rftSj.tlc.aoi. R'reuch li*
What a new world (Sir the young recluse !
—Racine, Cornell..', Crebillon, tlie truge*
hes aud his'ories ot Voltaire, the pictu-
esque "revolulioiis of Venot, theenchnuting
•iters of .Madame de Sevigue, the Causes
Jelchres(more interesting than any novels),
he Memories de Sully, (most striking und
nnst naifot histories), Telemaque, the
foung Anaccharsis, the purest comedies
if Mohcre nud Regnard, llie Fables de
i.i Fontaine, the poems of Di-blle and of
iloileau, thc Ven.Vert ofGresset, Le Fere
liriimov's Theatres des Grccs. Madame
f)aci,-r's Homer {--these, and a hundred
hooks like these, burst «•» a freshly acquir-
-■d sense upon the shy yet ardent girl. It
was lik<- the recovery of sight to one he-
conn- blind in infancy : and the kindness
of the abbe, who delighted in answering
her iiiquirie-.s anddire-cMig hertaste,increased a thousand.fold the profit nud if-c pleasure which she derived from her favourite
authors.
Excepting her good old instructor,
had no confidant. Certain that ihey would
leel no svmpathy in hcr gratification
never spoke of her books hitherto to It
ihcr or Mr. Fenton: and they, satisfied
wiih M. I'Abbe's culm report ot her alien,
linn lo her lesso is, m tde ire- further in-
quiries. Her French siueli-es were, she
felt, for herself, and herself alone, and when
his tragical death deprived herof be r friend
anil tutor whom she had so entirely le
and respected, reading became more and
more a solitary pkosure. Outwardly culm,
silent, and retiring, an affection i*e daughter, ..» ...c.U-..i U..-_„w{l,■..*-.'. ;.._ ttt.eii.
live hostess, sho was Mr. Fenlon's beau
ideal of a young woman. Little did he
suspect ihe glowi.ig, enthusiastic, and cem.
ce titrated character that lurked under that
cold exterior—the fire thai w-ns bidden under the while and virgin snow. Pinertbun
she really was he could uot fancy her, but
never would be have divined how much of
tenderness and firmness was mingled witb
that youthful purity, or how completely he
bad himself, by a life of restraint unel se-
ision, prepared her mind to yield to au
grossing and lasting passion.
The accident by which she became ac
tainted with Victor d'Auberval may be
tobl in u very few worels.
The nurse wbo hud taken her on the
death of ber mother, and who still retained
for her the strong affection so often inspired by foster children, was the wife ofa respectable publican in Queen.street, nud
being of excellent private character, and
one of Mr. Feuton's congregation, was ad.
mitted to see Jane whenever she likeel, iu
a somewhat equivocal capacity between 11
visitor and a dependant.
One evciii ig she came in great haste to
say that a Bristol coach, which i 1:1ml at thc
IN d Lion, bad just dropped there two foreigners, a man and a woman, oue of whom
seemed to hor fancy dying, whilst both appeared miserably poor, and neither could
speak a .vord to he understood. Would
her dear child come and interpret for the
sick IndyT
Jane went out immediately. They were
German musicians, on their way to Bristol,
where they hoped to meet-a friend, and to
procure employment. In the meanwhile,
the illness ofthe wife had stopped them on
their journey, and their slender funds were
as the husband modestly confessed, little
calculated to encounter the expenses of
medical assistance nnd nn English inn.
Jano promised to represent tho matter
to her father, who, al'hough hating French
men and Papists (lioth of which he assumed
die foreigners to be) with a hatred eminen
ly British and Protestant, was yet loo gne
a Christian to refuse moderate relief to fellow crca'urcs in distress ; and betwee:
Mr. Lanhum's contributions and the good
landlady's kindness, and what Jane could
spare from hor own frugally-supplied purse,
the poor Austrians (for they were singers
from Vienna) were enabled to bear up du-
ring a detention of many days.
Before thoy resumed their journey, their
kind interpreter had heard from the* good
hostess tluit Ihey hnd found another friend,
ahti'-st as poor as themselves, and previously unacquainted with them, in a French officer on parole in iho town, lo whom llie
simple fact of iheir being foreigners in dis-
ress in a strange land had supplied the
duco of recommendation or introduction,
md when going ihe next day, laden with a
few comforts for Madame, to bid them faro-
well, and to see ihem off, she met, for the
first tune, llie young officer, wiio had been
drawn bv similar feelings lo tlie door oflhe
Red Lion.
It vus u bitter December day*—one of
those north-east winds which seem lo blow
through you, and which hardly any Strength
can stand ; and us the poor German, in a
thin Aiuum.r wqiatcoat, and a ihieuc'h-i-c
i, lot*., bisi i«<»__l on iho n*p ot'tke conch.
en ig from bead to foot, and bis teeth
already chattering, amidst the sneers of
the bear-skinned coachman, tnufiied up 10
his ears, and his warmly-clad fellow passengers, Victor toeik ofl bis own great coal,
loused il smilingly to tbe fre.e_-.iiig musician,
and walked rapidly awuy as thc coach
drove oil", uttering »n exclamation some,
whal similar lo Sir Philip Sidney'*, at Znl.
phen—" He wants it  more than I do."
Aud this single act of sympathy and fel-
low-feeling (tor the grateful Germans had
spoken to M. d'Auberval of Miss Lanhai
kindness) sealed Ihe destiny of two w.
ruble     char
and
vhe, giving
he-
Victor soon contrived to get introduced
to Jane, by the mutual friend, ihe landlady
ofthe Red Lion; and after that introduction, he managed to meet hcr nccideinly
whenever there was no danger of interruption or discovery which, as Jane had
always I een in the habit of taking long,
solitary walks, happened, it must be con-
fessed, pretty often. He was charmed at
thc piquant contrast between her shy, reti-
ring manners, and her ardent and enthusiastic character, and his national vanity
found a high gratification in her proficiency in, and fondness for, his language and
literature; whilst she, (so full of contra-
dictions is love) found no less attraction in
his ignorance of English. She liked to have
something to leach hcr quick and
lively pupil ; and he repaid her in*
structiuns by enlarging ber knowledge of
French author*,—by introducing to her the
beautiful, though dangerous pages of Rousseau, the light and brilliant writers of me-
iiioi.>. s-.<i tli» k»,')_l{fr dcve»!io;*al eh> pi-t.oe
ed" Bousset, Moesillon, and Bourduloue, ibe
Lettrcs Spiriiuelle.. of Fenelon,
•ouaily beautiful, though very different
works of" Le Pc*re Pascal.
So lime weire on. The declaration
re had been made by one party ; and
the confession that that wns returned bud
been reluctantly extorted from the other.
Of what use was 1 bat confession ? Never,
is Jane declared, would she marry to dis-
ilcase her lather ;—and how, knowing
us she well did all bis prejudices, could
she hope for bis consent to an union with a
prisoner, n soldier, a Frenchman, a Catholic . Even Victor felt the impossibility.
Slill neither could forego the troubled
happiness of these stolen interviews, che-
quereel ns tbey were with present alarms
and future fears. Jane had no confidant.
The reserve and perhaps the pride ol her
character prevented her confessing even to
her affectionate nurse a clandestine attachment. But she half-bared thai her secret
was suspected ut least, if not wholly known,
by Mr. Fenton ; and if known to him, as.
surcdly it would be disclosed to her father;
anil the manner in which a worthy, wealthy,
and disagreeable suitor was pressed 0.-1
hcr by both (for hitheho Mr. Lanhum had
seemed averse to her marrying) confirmed
her in thc apprehension.   >
Still, however, tbey continued to meet
until, suddenly, and without tiny warning,
the exchange that restored him to his country, and tore him from hcr who had been
his consolation in captivity, burst on them
like a thunder-clap ; anil then June, with
all tho inconsistency of a woman's heart,
forgot her own vows never to marry him
wilhout the consent of her father, forgot
bow impossible it appeared that that con-
sent should ever be obtained, and dwelt
wholly on the fear of his inconstancy, on
the chance of his mect'ng some fair, and
young, and fascinating Frenchwoman, and
forgetting his own Jane; whilst he again
and again pledged himself, when peace
should come, to return to Belford and
carry home in triumph, the only wo-
man he could ever love. Until thut happy
day, they agreed, (n thc absence ol any
safe medium of communication, that it
would be better not to write ; and so, in
ihe midst of despondency on the one side,
and ardent and sincere protestation on the
other, they parted.
Who shall dosaribe Jane's desolation
during the long nhd drenry winter thut
succeeded their separation? That her secret was known, or strongly suspected,
nppeared lo her certain ; and she
than guessed that her father's forbearance in not putting into words the grieved
displeasure which he evidently felt, wns
owing to the kind, but crabbed old bncbo.
1or, Mr. Fenton, whose conduct towards
herself, or rather whose opinion of hcr
powers   appeared   to have   undergone u
her credit for strength ol i
chiefly bent 011 spurring he r to ex- rt lhat
strength of mind 10 the utmost, tie gave
proof of that knowledge of human nature
which the dissenting ministers so frcqi.eut-
ly possess, by bringing l.er Mitlou sutel
Cowper, and supplying her with Ei g'i-h
bniik-ij'-f hi-iiory nud theology, together wi.b
iiii* Ices of mai-y pious mid -.".uncn* me rt
of his own persuasion, aiicceerlirg not rally in leading ber into an interns bg and
pro'ituble course of readmg, but in t*e;-
guiling her into nn unexpected franknos
of discussion ou the subject of ber new
studies.
In these discussions he scu-n found tl.e
talent of the young person wl 0111 tie bud
so long undervalued; and const-rit to bis
contempt for tho sex, (a ll resy from
wliich a man who has fallen into it *cl-
dom recovers.) begaii io consider her ns
a splendid exception to thc general iuan*
ily of woman, a good opinion which received further confirmation from her de.
voted atter.tioii to her father, wbo was
zed with a lingering illness about a
twelvemonth afler the departure of Vic
tor, of which he finally died after lang.
uishiug for nearly two years, kept alive
only by the tender and incessant e arcs of
his daughter, aud the sympathising
of his friend.
On opening the will, his beloved dat
ter, Jane, was found sole heiress t
fortune of .£70,000 ; unless she
intermarry with a soldier, a papist, or a
foreigner, in which case the entire property was bequeathed unreservedly to tbe
Rev. Samuel Fenton, to be disposed of by
lum according io his sole will nnd pleasure.
Miss Lanham was less affected hy this
clause than might have been expected.
Three years had now elapsed from the pe*
riod ol" scpura-ion ; nnd she bad been so
well obeyed, as never lo Ir.tvc received
one line from Victor d'Auberval. She iear-
ed that be was dead ; she fried lo hope tint
be was unfaithful ; a;;d i]_e ir. n-e_..«i..tir
number of officers that bad tnllcn in Na* •
poleon's last battles rendered the former
by far tbe most probable catastrophe ; < ven
if he had not previously fallen, the Rus.
sitin campaign threatened exterminatioa
to the French army, and poor Jane, in
whose bosom hope bad long lain dorroe n»,
hardly regarded this fresh obstacle to ber
unhappy love. She felt that hers wns a
widowed heart, and lhat hcr future com.
fort must be sought in the calm pleasures
of literature and in contributing all she could
to the happiness of others.
Attached to Belford by long habit, and
by the recollection of past happiness and
past sorrows, sho continued in her own
dwelling, making little o her alteration in
her way of life, than lhat of adding two or
three servants to her establishment, and offering n home to her mother's sister, the
aunt to whose intervention she owed the
doubtful good ofthat proficiency in French
which had introduced her to Victor, and
whom unforscen events had now reduced
to absolute poverty.
In her she found un intelligent and cultivated companion, and in her society
and that of Mr. Fenton, nnd in the delight
of a daily increasing library, her days
passed calmly and pleasantly ; when, in
spito of her resolutions, hcr serenity was
disturbed by 'he victories of the Allies, thc
fall of Napoleon, ihe capture of Paris, nnd
tbe peace of Europe. Was Victor rle'nd
or alive ? Faithless or constant ? Would
be seek her ? and seeking hcr, what would
be his disappointment ut the clause that
parted them for ever ? Ought she to remain in Bellord ? Was there no way of
ascertaining the fact.
She was revolving these questions for the
hundredth time, when a knock wus bear 1 nt
the door, and the servant announced Colo-
nel d'Auberval.
There is no describing such meetings.
Afler sketching rapidly his fortunes since
they had parted ; how he disobeyed her
by writing, and how he had since found
that his letters had miscarried : and after
brief assurances that in his eyes she was
more than ever charming, hail gained added grace, expression, and intelligence, Jane
began to communicate to him at firs with
much agitation, afterwards with collected
calmness, the clause in thc will, by which
she forfeited herpropertv in marrying him.
" Is it not cruel," added she." lo have
lost tho power of enriching him whom I
love ."
" You do love mo then, still V ex*
claimed Victor. " Blessings on you for that
word !    You are still constant ."
'• Constant! Oh, if you could have
seen my heart, during thes? long, long
years! If yon could have imiginv-d how
the thought of ynu mingled with every ro.
collection, every feeling, every hone ' Bu'
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