-
Articles/Ads
Article THURLOGH, THE MILESIAN. ← Page 6 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
energies , now on the verge of tbe grave , made him cling with the more tenacity to this keystone of his attachment—that they had known each other long , and buffeted the surges of adversity together since their first entrance upon the world . No peculiar traits , no striking singularities gave distinction to the character , which now open to our view . His was a steady and uniform course , unmarked by those incidents , which , however they may serve us to read of ,
or to conceive in anticipation , are by no means so pleasant when called upon ourselves to take a part therein , and experience the often-agonizing pangs that attend their realities . High spirited by nature , and with a mind attached to the very pinnacle of heroism , it yet was O'Neil ' s good fortune in times of trouble and excitement to escape the contagion of those plausibilities which seduced and ruined so many others . Often and often in the exuberance of his aspiring hopes would O'Sullivan depict to himas they walked together when boys
, , during tbe intervals of their school-hours , tbe ideal charms of that warfare in which he had himself soon embarked , and to which he would give worlds if be could convert his friend . But all would not do , —O'Neil was resolved to pursue the " even tenour" of his own way , without diverging therefrom , one iota , to the right or to the left ; nor , in the whole retrospection of his tranquil career , had he ever reason , whether as regarded the issue of the above enterprise , or his actual avocations , to regret his election .
A peaceful abode , a calm conscience , and a moderate sufficiency of this world's goods , greeted him on his first outset on the ocean of life . Now that his bark had well-nigh lauded him at his destination , he had the happiness to feel that his little capital had accumulated at least one hundredfold in the interim , and that , in the silent progress of his thriving road , he had never been necessitated from its demands to make an orphan cry , a
father sigh , or a widow mourn . But his industry and his sobriety were crowned by heaven with higher blessings . Seven generous youths , the pride of their sire and the delight of their mother , illumined , like so many stars , the evening of his existence ; while the wife herself , the perfection of all his earthly bliss , presided , like the moon , in the glory of her effulgence , giving a stamp and a determination to the various minute particulars contributary to their lustre . Commerce was the walk to which O'Neil had resorted for the
attainment of that independence which he now enjoyed . The convulsions of his country held out to him no temptations for individual aggrandisement in any one shape ; nor again did he repine , from any patriotic malaria , at the infliction of miseries which he could not cure ; but , leaving angry discussions to casuists and politicians , and satisfied that Ireland ' s wrongs would ultimately be righted at the bands of that Great Dispenser , who thought fit , for the present , to pour upon it the vial of his loving wrath , he applied the resources of his talent to the interests of his professionand was rewarded
, by the prosperity which attended his path , and the inward sunshine which lighted his recollections . Of these the one which fastened with most adhesion to his fancy , and shed a radiance of hilarity over the infirmities of his declining years , was the auspicious juncture which first introduced him to the notice of his " better half . "
It was on a may morning , as he strolled beyond the environs ot the city of Antwerp , the scene of the late conflict between the Dutch and the French , and where be had arrived on business but the evening before , that he observed a young lady , apparently about the age of sixteen , collecting flowers in a shrubbery , which fronted a magnificent palace , seperated by the above only from the common pathway . As the lady happened to be near the entrance , and the door , at the moment , stood ajar , he could not resist the temptation of approaching nearer to an object so attractive , meaning no wrong , and emboldened by
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Thurlogh, The Milesian.
energies , now on the verge of tbe grave , made him cling with the more tenacity to this keystone of his attachment—that they had known each other long , and buffeted the surges of adversity together since their first entrance upon the world . No peculiar traits , no striking singularities gave distinction to the character , which now open to our view . His was a steady and uniform course , unmarked by those incidents , which , however they may serve us to read of ,
or to conceive in anticipation , are by no means so pleasant when called upon ourselves to take a part therein , and experience the often-agonizing pangs that attend their realities . High spirited by nature , and with a mind attached to the very pinnacle of heroism , it yet was O'Neil ' s good fortune in times of trouble and excitement to escape the contagion of those plausibilities which seduced and ruined so many others . Often and often in the exuberance of his aspiring hopes would O'Sullivan depict to himas they walked together when boys
, , during tbe intervals of their school-hours , tbe ideal charms of that warfare in which he had himself soon embarked , and to which he would give worlds if be could convert his friend . But all would not do , —O'Neil was resolved to pursue the " even tenour" of his own way , without diverging therefrom , one iota , to the right or to the left ; nor , in the whole retrospection of his tranquil career , had he ever reason , whether as regarded the issue of the above enterprise , or his actual avocations , to regret his election .
A peaceful abode , a calm conscience , and a moderate sufficiency of this world's goods , greeted him on his first outset on the ocean of life . Now that his bark had well-nigh lauded him at his destination , he had the happiness to feel that his little capital had accumulated at least one hundredfold in the interim , and that , in the silent progress of his thriving road , he had never been necessitated from its demands to make an orphan cry , a
father sigh , or a widow mourn . But his industry and his sobriety were crowned by heaven with higher blessings . Seven generous youths , the pride of their sire and the delight of their mother , illumined , like so many stars , the evening of his existence ; while the wife herself , the perfection of all his earthly bliss , presided , like the moon , in the glory of her effulgence , giving a stamp and a determination to the various minute particulars contributary to their lustre . Commerce was the walk to which O'Neil had resorted for the
attainment of that independence which he now enjoyed . The convulsions of his country held out to him no temptations for individual aggrandisement in any one shape ; nor again did he repine , from any patriotic malaria , at the infliction of miseries which he could not cure ; but , leaving angry discussions to casuists and politicians , and satisfied that Ireland ' s wrongs would ultimately be righted at the bands of that Great Dispenser , who thought fit , for the present , to pour upon it the vial of his loving wrath , he applied the resources of his talent to the interests of his professionand was rewarded
, by the prosperity which attended his path , and the inward sunshine which lighted his recollections . Of these the one which fastened with most adhesion to his fancy , and shed a radiance of hilarity over the infirmities of his declining years , was the auspicious juncture which first introduced him to the notice of his " better half . "
It was on a may morning , as he strolled beyond the environs ot the city of Antwerp , the scene of the late conflict between the Dutch and the French , and where be had arrived on business but the evening before , that he observed a young lady , apparently about the age of sixteen , collecting flowers in a shrubbery , which fronted a magnificent palace , seperated by the above only from the common pathway . As the lady happened to be near the entrance , and the door , at the moment , stood ajar , he could not resist the temptation of approaching nearer to an object so attractive , meaning no wrong , and emboldened by