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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
Jj £ > w * & scrupulously equable in rnanner ; never betrayed iuto irritability hy the commission of a fault ; seldom heard to approve , and never seen to caress . His guests were all selected aj& 4 a ^ gorted with the most scrutinizing care . Before admitting a j ^ jv acquaintance , his pedigree was searched into as carefully as that of a racer about to be purchased of a jockey ; and wherever he could read a ' title clear / it was sure of a welcome , with all due
gtate and decorum , to Brandon Hall . The house was conducted t \ xroughout after the same formal fashion ; doors were opened ajid shut by rule ; the very dogs seemed as though they had been whipped like the Westley infants , and taught to bark , as they were to cry , softly . In conversation the words were marshalled , like Indians walking one after the other at equal distances ; and if ever
$ uch a wonder as a natural emotion made its . appearance , it \ yas instantly chilled into apathy by a look from the Baronet . Braijf lpn Hall became the resort of all the ennuyee cold-hearted worldlings of the neighbourhood , as it possessed certain valuable and costly externals , which made a sojourn there advisable to ' ( hose who had tired of a London life , and the responsibility of an
establishment in full play . With ail Sir James ' s faults , or rather absence of virtues , he had gained a high character throu ghout the country as a * gentleman / a good husband , father , and master . His servants were richly liveried and plentifully fed , and gave him in return all he asked , — aj * external manner that said , * My master is a gentleman , an 4 I ajtt his servant ! ' No word ever passed between them but such as
the rqost scrupulous exclusion to mere service required . Though a genuinely hearty laugh seldom awoke the echos which led such a quiet life at Brandon Hall , if by chance a stray wit found his way into the cold circle , and continued to astonish the respectable , highly polished * table , ' by provoking a ' roar / the master ' s eye turned from his guests , whom he dared not control , to his servants , whom he dared , to see how far his household was infected
$ i } d $ , titter , or ill-concealed giggle , was instantly checked by ttqubl y black gravity in himself . The effect to a stranger who Uved \\\ the unfettered enjoyment of all his powers , on enter ing the jlou ^ e , was as if there were a funeral , or a fever ^ or t he perpetual performance of a puritan Sunday , which is anything but what its name pretends to typify .
As Flpra ' s childhood ripened , with it ripened that vitality which , rushing through her veins like lightning , made her , as she endured the cold , dull , formal magnificence of Brandon Ha . ll , come like a ywgleam to the heart of its mistress , who looked forward to the t £ fn ? wfaen her o \ vn girl , who had been chilled by the atmosphere ifttp which she ha ^ d been born , should be warmed and brightened by \\ i § cheering influence . It was a part of her pla ^ th at , in due Um « ! Jlpra , # n $ ulcl ^ hare the advantage of IJuimas govprne ^ a ; 4 H& tw father ^ although able to give her that better teaching
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# } $ The Actre * :
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1835, page 518, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2648/page/18/
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