It must be acknowledged that there is an unprecedented degree of cleverness in all his adventures, which casts a kind of illusive and momentary covering over the real character of his actions, and would seem to engage an interest in his favor, (and this is an error to which the human mind seems remarkable pre-disposed when vice presents itself before us in all its cleverness), yet who can read his miserable career without feeling pained at the melancholy picture of depravity it presents? Who would have supposed that after his condemnation and sentence at Kingston, and his life, by an act of human mercy, given into his hands again, he would not have hastened to his sorrowing little wife, and with tears of compunction, mingled with those of joy, cast himself upon her neck and resolved by a course of future rectitude and honesty, to make her as happy as his previous disgraceful and sinful career had made her miserable.
But ah! no. His release was followed by no such effects. Rendered unsusceptible for every natural and tender impression, and yet under the full dominion of the god of this world, he abandoned the intimate of his bosom, and set out single handed in the fresh pursuit of crime.
There is, however, one redeeming feature which stands out among the general deformities of his character. In all the adventures which the history of his course presents to our view, we are not called upon to witness any acts of violence and blood; and it is perhaps owing to the absence of this repulsive trait of character that we do not behold him in a more relentless light.
Three Attractive Booklets
By JAMES HANNAY
Ballads of Acadia
These ballads deal with important historical occurrences during the occupation of Acadia by the French.
Price, 35 Cents
The Heroine of Acadia