Part 1 (1/2)
The Lost Hunter
by John Turvill Adaht justly be considered a clown, or, at least, not well bred, ithout tapping at the door, or”By your leave,” or some other token of respect, should burst in upon a company of persons unknown to him, and instead of a welcome would deserve an unceremonious invitation to betake hi myself before you,by way of introduction At least, I have observed froe of Addlebrains, that the fashi+on in this respect, which has prevailed, certainly, since the time of St Luke, who commences his Gospel with a preface to Theophilus, has co therein from other fashi+ons, which, for the most part, are as transitory as the flowers of the field, and cohtful consideration of the judicious; for it cannot be deemed there is no value in that which has received the sanction of centuries Influenced by reflections of this description and the like, I sat down one day in the little retreat, which the indulgent partiality of nify with the title of my ”study,” to endeavor to write a preface, and introducemanner to my readers I was the h a mere countryman, a sort of cowhide shoe, as I loss, which, like the polish on a well-brushed boot, distinguishes and illustrates the denizens of our ree, as I know fro been twice in New York, and, as I am told, also, the citizens of Boston and Philadelphia, and other provincial toith a milder lustre, I would not like to be supposed entirely destitute of refinee if I were, inase of two ter school of that incomparable professor of the Terpsichorean science, the accoer Pied It is in consequence of this early training, perhaps, that I a aside fro, and the proper
It will be observed that my last quarter was cut short in the ance or supercilious conceit on h I had perfectedand balancez, but from the abrupt departure of the professor himself, who, true to the name indicative of his constitutional levity, found it convenient to disappear betwixt two days, with the advance pay ofto enteel bows The circureeable toasse succeeded in engaging, for the greater part of the evening, the hand of a young lady, whose charh, as subsequent events proved, not a durable) impression on my susceptible heart
Monsieur was our onlyThe cause of his evasion or flight was variously accounted for, soloves and puentleman, whose sister he had been so iirl, not remarkable for personal attractions, to whom he had never paid the same compliment As was to be expected, she was scandalized at the impropriety and want of taste, and immediatelybeauty and the ”pardons” of Monsieur As Virgilius has it,
”Manet alt mente i epstum, Judicium Paridis spretaeque injuria formae”
In my opinion, it was the kiss that cost poor Monsieur Pied his school, andthe price for a ter to be understood, that I care anything about thean event I like to be circumstantial and strictly accurate But I find that, wiled away by the painfully pleasing re, which is, not to narrate the -master, but to co, in ium, where, as in a haven of rest, I love to hide myself frohts, and which has been to me the scene of oose quill (anathe, iidity to style, for if the stylus be made of steel is it not natural that the style by derivation and propinquity should be hard?) into the ink-stand, after first casting my eyes on the busts of Shakespeare and Milton, which, cast in plaster, adornthem to assist in so important an enterprise, when the door opened, and who should enter but my dear friend, the Rev Increase Grace? But here letin parentheses being one I especially dislike, only necessity co me thereto, and before I proceed further, that the word ”confugium,” which, both on account of its terse expressiveness, as well as its _curiosa felicitas_ in the present application, I have chosen in order to define my den, has not, I hope, escaped the notice of the discri scholar Moreover, I trust that I shall not incur the imputation of vanity if I take to myself some little credit for the selection It will be observed that it is a coht), characterizing the purpose to which e, whither I fly fro noise and vanity of the world; and the prefix, ”con” (equivalent to cunation For I should be loth to have it thought that, like Charles La to find a Cheshi+re cheese, kept the discovery a profound secret from the rest of the rats, in order toall the while that his long and frequent absences at a certain hole were purely for purposes of heavenly conte of late become seriously impressed, and, therefore, he could not bear interruption, I a myself with a selfish exclusion therein Far froainst adh the dictionaries with their usual vagueness soits full signification) a common place of retirement for myself and intimate friends Hence it was not as an intrusion, but, on the contrary, as an acceptable call, that I greeted the arrival of Increase There ravity inwith the importance of the work I was about to undertake, for the reverend gentleman had hardly taken a seat before he observed it, and inquired into its cause We are upon that footing of intimacy, that there was no ily acquainted him with my purpose
”I should as soon think,” said the Rev Increase, ”of building a verandah before a wood-house, or puttingdown church”
The rereat freedom of speech prevails between us, and I took no offence; especially as I knew that the Rev gentle under a disappointment in the sale of a volus, from the publication of which I had vainly endeavored to dissuade his The mention of my work naturally recalled this afflictive dispensation, and _hinc illae lacriently as a slight tre for tastes, and that as trifling a thing as a song had been known to outlive a sermon
I declare I meant no harm, but his reverence (one of the best s to the ”church militant,”) instantly blazed up--
”I dare say,” he said, bitterly, ”that you understand the frippery taste of this trivial age better than I A capability to appreciate solid reading, reading that cultivates the understanding while it a before the flood They who pander to this diseased appetite have nation cooling off like a steam-boiler which has found vent, ”that the trifle on which for the last fewyour time has not a certain kind of s, should so miserably misapply his powers”
These sentiht have beco the whole tied in the composition of the work,his literary enterprises tohi no little curiosity in the e myself from difficulties in which he supposed ht at the ingenious contrivances, as, in a complimentary mood, he once said, by which I eluded them It is true, all this betrayal of interest was accompanied by various pishes and pshaws, and la character of my pursuits; but, like too many others, both in his cloth and out of it, his conduct contradicted his language, and I was encouraged by the former, while I only smiled at the latter
”If such be your opinion,” said I, suddenly seizing thea motion to throw it into the fire; ”if such be your candid opinion, I had better destroy the nonsense at once”
”Hold!” cried the Rev Increase, arresting ly touchy and precipitate; how often have I cautioned you against this trait of your character Because your workling does not deserve to be ory orks of solid and acknowledged merit, like, for instance, Rollin's Ancient History or Prideaux' Connexion, and can, at best, enjoy but an ephemeral existence, does it deserve to have no existence at all? On your principle, we should have no butterflies, because their careless lives last but a day”
”Well, Increase,” said I, ”if, like the butterfly, whose short and erratic presence ireen fields and blue skies, and blossos of birds, my little book shall be able to seduce a smile to the lips, or cheat away a pain fro 'pilgrih a dreary wilderness,' I shall feel amply compensated for the waste of my time”
”If your expectations are sothe you had oftener taken reat respect for your opinion,” I answered, ”but I find it ih the crucible of my mind and do theold, it turns out a _caput mortuum_ of lead No, my better course is to coin my copper in my oay But, tell me frankly, what offends you”
My Rev friend had, by this tiotten his unfortunate voluood nature
”Offends me? my dear friend, and half-parishoner (for I notice a bad habit you have got into, of late, of attending church only in the --pray refor in the book that offends h,” he added, cautiously, ”I do not ious, philosophical, or political speculations I ae of a friend to speakhis hand, ”I love you all the more for your sincerity; but why do you call them my speculations? I have expressed no opinions They are the opinions of the characters, and not mine I wish you and all the world distinctly to understand that”
”And yet the world will hold you to account for theun into a crowd, is he not responsible for any mischief that may be the consequence?”
”I do not expect to ainst your doctrine Why, according to that, an author is accountable for all the opinions of his dramatis personae, however absurd and contradictory they o so far as that I hold that the author is only responsible for the effect produced: if that effect be favorable to virtue, he deserves praise; if the contrary, censure”
”I admit the justice of the view you take, with that limitation; and I trust it is with a sense of such accountability I have written,” said I ”May I, then, flatter rant me your impriard your book with less indulgent eyes than ?”
”Oh,” said I, ”I have not concluded, I fancy that one naood as another”