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+Project Gutenberg's Tales And Novels, Volume 2 (of 10), by Maria Edgeworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tales And Novels, Volume 2 (of 10)
+       Popular Tales
+
+Author: Maria Edgeworth
+
+
+Release Date: September, 2005  [EBook #8720]
+This file was first posted on August 4, 2003
+Last Updated: June 8, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES AND NOVELS, VOLUME 2 (OF 10) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Widger, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TALES AND NOVELS
+
+
+VOLUME II (of X)
+
+
+POPULAR TALES
+
+
+By Maria Edgeworth
+
+
+1857.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Some author says, that a good book needs no apology; and, as a preface
+is usually an apology, a book enters into the world with a better grace
+without one. I, however, appeal to those readers who are not gluttons,
+but epicures, in literature, whether they do not wish to see the bill of
+fare? I appeal to monthly critics, whether a preface that gives a view
+of the pretensions of the writer is not a good thing? The author may
+overvalue his subject, and very naturally may overrate the manner in
+which it is treated; but still he will explain his views, and facilitate
+the useful and necessary art which the French call _reading with the
+thumb_. We call this _hunting a book_, a term certainly invented by a
+sportsman. I leave the reader to choose which he pleases, whilst I lay
+before him the contents and design of these volumes.
+
+Burke supposes that there are eighty thousand readers in Great Britain,
+nearly one hundredth part of its inhabitants! Out of these we may
+calculate that ten thousand are nobility, clergy, or gentlemen of the
+learned professions. Of seventy thousand readers which remain, there
+are many who might be amused and instructed by books which were not
+professedly adapted to the classes that have been enumerated. With this
+view the following volumes{1} have been composed. The title of POPULAR
+TALES has been chosen, not as a presumptuous and premature claim to
+popularity, but from the wish that they may be current beyond circles
+which are sometimes exclusively considered as polite.
+
+The art of printing has opened to all classes of people various new
+channels of entertainment and information.--Amongst the ancients, wisdom
+required austere manners and a length of beard to command attention;
+but in our days, instruction, in the dress of innocent amusement, is
+not denied admittance amongst the wise and good of all ranks. It is
+therefore hoped that a succession of stories, adapted to different
+ages, sexes, and situations in life, will not be rejected by the public,
+unless they offend against morality, tire by their sameness, or disgust
+by their imitation of other writers.
+
+RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH.
+
+{Footnote 1: This Work was originally published in three volumes.}
+CONTENTS
+
+  LAME JERVAS                       1
+  THE WILL                          55
+  THE LIMERICK GLOVES               101
+  OUT OF DEBT OUT OF DANGER         129
+  THE LOTTERY                       161
+  ROSANNA                           195
+  MURAD THE UNLUCKY                 245
+  THE MANUFACTURERS                 281
+  THE CONTRAST                      317
+  THE GRATEFUL NEGRO                399
+  TO-MORROW                         421
+
+
+
+
+LAME JERVAS
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Some years ago, a lad of the name of William Jervas, or, as he was
+called from his lameness, Lame Jervas, whose business it was to tend the
+horses in one of the Cornwall tin-mines, was missing. He was left one
+night in a little hut, at one end of the mine, where he always slept;
+but in the morning, he could no where be found; and this his sudden
+disappearance gave rise to a number of strange and ridiculous stories
+among the miners. The most rational, however, concluded that the lad,
+tired of his situation, had made his escape during the night. It was
+certainly rather surprising that he could no where be traced; but after
+the neighbours had wondered and talked for some time about it, the
+circumstance was by degrees forgotten. The name of William Jervas was
+scarcely remembered by any, except two or three of the oldest miners,
+when, twenty years afterward, there came a party of gentlemen and ladies
+to see the mines! and, as the guide was showing the curiosities of the
+place, one among the company, a gentleman of about six-and-thirty years
+of age, pointed to some letters that were carved on the rock, and asked,
+"Whose name was written there?" "Only the name of one William Jervas,"
+answered the guide; "a poor lad, who ran away from the mines a great
+long while ago." "Are you sure that he ran away?" said the gentleman.
+"Yes," answered the guide, "sure and certain I am of that." "Not at
+all sure and certain of any such thing," cried one of the oldest of the
+miners, who interrupted the guide, and then related all that he knew,
+all that he had heard, and all that he imagined and believed concerning
+the sudden disappearance of Jervas; concluding by positively assuring
+the stranger that the ghost of the said Jervas was often seen to walk,
+slowly, in the long west gallery of the mine, with a blue taper in his
+hand.--"I will take my Bible oath," added the man, "that about a month
+after he was missing, I saw the ghost just as the clock struck twelve,
+walking slowly, with the light in one hand, and a chain dragging after
+him in t'other; and he was coming straight towards me, and I ran away
+into the stables to the horses; and from that time forth I've taken
+special good care never to go late in the evening to that there gallery,
+or near it: for I never was so frightened, above or under ground, in all
+my born days."
+
+The stranger, upon hearing this story, burst into a loud fit of
+laughter; and, on recovering himself, he desired the ghost-seer to look
+stedfastly in his face, and to tell whether he bore any resemblance to
+the ghost that walked with the blue taper in the west gallery. The miner
+stared for some minutes, and answered, "No; he that walks in the gallery
+is clear another guess sort of a person; in a white jacket, a leather
+apron, and ragged cap, like what Jervas used to wear in his lifetime;
+and, moreover, he limps in his gait, as Lame Jervas always did, I
+remember well." The gentleman walked on, and the miners observed, what
+had before escaped their notice, that he limped a little; and, when
+he came again to the light, the guide, after considering him very
+attentively, said, "If I was not afraid of affronting the like of a
+gentleman such as your honour, I should make bold for to say that you be
+very much--only a deal darker complexioned--you be very much of the same
+sort of person as our Lame Jervas used for to be." "Not at all like our
+Lame Jervas," cried the old miner, who professed to have seen the ghost;
+"no more like to him than _Black Jack to Blue John._" The by-standers
+laughed at this comparison; and the guide, provoked at being laughed at,
+sturdily maintained that not a man that wore a head in Cornwall should
+laugh him out of his senses. Each party now growing violent in support
+of his opinion, from words they were just coming to blows, when the
+stranger at once put an end to the dispute, by declaring that he was the
+very man. "Jervas!" exclaimed they all at once, "Jervas alive!--our Lame
+Jervas turned gentleman!"
+
+The miners could scarcely believe their eyes, or their ears, especially
+when, upon following him out of the mine, they saw him get into a
+handsome coach, and drive toward the mansion of one of the principal
+gentlemen of the neighbourhood, who was a proprietor of the mine.
+
+The next day, all the head miners were invited to dine in tents, pitched
+in a field near this gentleman's house. It was fine weather, and harvest
+time; the guests assembled, and in the tents found abundance of good
+cheer provided for them.
+
+After dinner, Mr. R----, the master of the house, appeared, accompanied
+by Lame Jervas, dressed in his miner's old jacket and cap. Even the
+ghost-seer acknowledged that he now looked wonderful like himself. Mr.
+R----, the master of the house, filled a glass, and drank--"Welcome
+home to our friend, Mr. Jervas; and may good faith always meet with good
+fortune." The toast went round, each drank, and repeated, "Welcome home
+to our friend Mr. Jervas; and may good faith always meet good fortune."
+Indeed, what was meant by the good faith, or the good fortune, none
+could guess; and many in whispers, and some aloud, made bold to ask for
+an explanation of the toast.
+
+Mr. Jervas, on whom all eyes were fixed, after thanking the company for
+their _welcome home_, took his seat at the table; and in compliance with
+Mr. R----'s request, and the wishes of all present, related to them his
+story nearly in the following manner:
+
+"Where I was born, or who were my parents, I do not well know myself;
+nor can I recollect who was my nurse, or whether I was ever nursed at
+all: but, luckily, these circumstances are not of much importance to the
+world. The first thing which I can distinctly remember is the being set,
+along with a number of children of my own age, to pick and wash loose
+ore of tin mixed with the earth, which in those days we used to call
+_shoad_, or _squad_--I don't know what you call it now."
+
+"We call it _squad_ to this day, master," interrupted one of the miners.
+
+"I might be at this time, I suppose," continued the gentleman, "about
+five or six years old; and from that time till I was thirteen I worked
+in the mine where we were yesterday. From the bottom of my heart I
+rejoice that the times are bettered for youngsters since then; for I
+know I had a hard life of it.
+
+"My good master, here, never knew any thing of the matter but I was
+cruelly used by those under him. First, the old woman--Betty Morgan, I
+think, was her name--who set us our tasks of picking and washing the
+_squad_, was as cross as the rheumatism could make her. She never picked
+an ounce herself, but made us do her heap for her among us; and I being
+the youngest, it was shoved down to me. Often and often my day's wages
+were kept back, not having done this woman's task; and I did not dare
+to tell my master the truth, lest she should beat me. But, God rest
+her soul! she was an angel of light in comparison with the _trap-door
+keeper_, who was my next tyrant.
+
+"It was our business to open and shut certain doors, that were placed
+in the mine for letting in air to the different galleries: but my young
+tyrant left them every one to me to take care of; and I was made to run
+to and fro, till I had scarcely breath in my body, while every miner in
+turn was swearing at me for the idlest little fellow upon the surface of
+the earth; though the surface of the earth, alas! was a place on which I
+had never yet, to my knowledge, set my foot.
+
+"In my own defence, I made all the excuses I could think of; and, from
+excuses, I went on to all kinds of deceit: for tyranny and injustice
+always produce cunning and falsehood.
+
+"One day, having shut all the doors on my side of the mine, I left three
+open on my companion's side. The men, I thought, would not go to work on
+that side of the mine for a day or two: but in this I was mistaken; and
+about noon I was alarmed by the report of a man having been killed in
+one of the galleries for want of fresh air.
+
+"The door-keepers were summoned before the overseer; or, as you call
+him, the viewer. I was the youngest, and the blame was all laid upon
+me. The man, who had only swooned, recovered; but I was thrashed and
+thrashed for the neglect of another person, till the viewer was tired.
+
+"A weary life I led afterwards with my friend the door-keeper, who was
+enraged against me for having told the truth.
+
+"In process of time, as I grew stronger and bigger, I was set to other
+work. First, I was employed at the barrow; and then a pick-axe and a
+_gad_{Footnote: A gad is a tool used in mines; it resembles a smith's
+punch.} were put into my hands; and I thought myself a great man.--It
+was my fate to fall among the idlest set in the mine. I observed that
+those men who worked by task, and who had the _luck_ to hit upon easy
+beds of the rock, were not obliged to work more than three or four hours
+a day: they got high wages with little labour; and they spent their
+money jollily above-ground in the ale-houses, as I heard. I did not know
+that these jolly fellows often left their wives and families starving
+while they were getting drunk.
+
+"I longed for the time when I should be a man, and do as I saw others
+do. I longed for the days when I should be able to drink and be idle;
+and, in the mean time, I set all my wits to work to baffle and overreach
+the viewer.
+
+"I was now about fourteen, and, had I grown up with these notions and
+habits, I must have spent my life in wretchedness, and I should probably
+have ended my days in a workhouse; but fortunately for me, an accident
+happened, which made as great a change in my mind as in my body.
+
+"One of my companions bribed me, with a strong dram, to go down into
+a hole in the mine to search for his _gad_; which he, being half
+intoxicated, had dropped. My head could not stand the strength of
+the dram which he made me swallow to give me courage: and being quite
+insensible to the danger, I took a leap down a precipice which I should
+have shuddered to look at, if I had not lost my recollection.
+
+"I soon came to my senses, for I broke my leg; and it is wonderful I did
+not break my neck by my fall. I was drawn up by cords, and was carried
+to a hut in the mine, near the stables, where I lay in great pain.
+
+"My master was in the mine at the time the accident happened; and,
+hearing where I was, he had the goodness to come directly to me himself,
+to let me know that he had sent for a surgeon.
+
+"The surgeon, who lived in the neighbourhood, was not at home; but there
+was then upon a visit at my master's a Mr. Y----, an old gentleman who
+had been a surgeon; and, though he had for many years left off practice,
+he no sooner heard of the accident that had happened to me than he had
+the goodness to come down into the mine, to set my leg.
+
+"After the operation was over, my master returned to tell me that I
+should want for nothing. Never shall I forget the humanity with which
+he treated me. I do not remember that I had ever heard him speak to
+me before this time; but now his voice and manner were so full of
+compassion and kindness, that I looked up to him as to a new sort of
+being.
+
+"His goodness wakened and warmed me to a sense of gratitude--the first
+virtuous emotion I was conscious of having ever felt.
+
+"I was attended with the greatest care, during my illness, by the
+benevolent surgeon, Mr. Y----. The circumstance of my having been
+intoxicated, when I took the leap, had been concealed by the man who
+gave me the dram; who declared that I had fallen by accident, as I was
+looking down the hole for a _gad_ that I had dropped. I did not join
+in this falsehood: for, the moment my master spoke to me with so much
+goodness about my mishap, my heart opened to him, and I told him just
+how the thing happened.
+
+"Mr. Y---- also heard the truth from me, and I had no reason to repent
+having told it, for this gave him, as he said, hopes that I might turn
+out well, and was the cause of his taking some pains to instruct me. He
+observed to me, that it was a pity a lad like me should so early in
+my days take to dram-drinking; and he explained the consequences of
+intemperance, of which I had never before heard or thought.
+
+"While I was confined to my bed, I had leisure for many reflections. The
+drunken and brutal among the miners, with whom I formerly associated,
+never came near me in my illness; but the better sort used to come and
+see me often, and I began to take a liking to their ways, and to wish to
+imitate them.
+
+"As they stood talking over their own affairs in my hut, I learned how
+they laid out their time and their money; and I now began to desire to
+have, as they had, a little garden, and property of my own, for which I
+knew I must work hard. So I rose from my bed with very different views
+from those which I had when I was laid down upon it; and from this
+time forward I kept company with the sober and industrious as much as
+I could. I saw things with different eyes: formerly I used, like my
+companions, to be ready enough to take any advantage that lay in my
+way of my employer; but my gratitude to him who had befriended me in my
+helpless state wrought such a change in me, that I now took part with
+my master on all occasions, and could not bear to see him wronged--so
+gratitude first made me honest.
+
+"My master would not let the viewer turn me out of the work, as
+he wanted to do, because I was lame and weak, and not able to do
+much.--'Let him have the care of my horses in the stable,' said my
+master: 'he can do something. I don't want to make money of poor _Lame
+Jervas_. So, as long as he is willing to work, he shall not be turned
+out to starve.'--These were his very words; and when I heard them I said
+in my heart, 'God bless him!' And, from that time forth, I could, as I
+thought, have fought with the stoutest man in the mine that said a word
+to his disparagement.
+
+"Perhaps my feeling of attachment to him was the stronger, because he
+was, I may say, the first person then in the world who had ever shown me
+any tenderness, and the only one from whom I felt sure of meeting with
+justice.
+
+"About this time, as I was busied in the stable, unperceived by them, I
+saw through a window a party of the miners, amongst whom were several of
+my old associates, at work opposite to me. Suddenly, one of them gave
+a shout--then all was hushed--they threw down their tools, huddled
+together, and I judged by the keenness of their looks that they knew
+they had made some valuable discovery. I further observed, that, instead
+of beginning to work the vein, they covered it up immediately with
+rubbish, and defaced the _country_ with their pick-axes; so that, to
+look at, no one could have suspected there was any _load_ to be found
+near. I also saw them secrete a lump of spar, in which they had reason
+to guess there were Cornish diamonds, as they call them, and they
+carefully hid the bits of _kellus_{Footnote: 2 _Kellus_ is the miner's
+name for a substance like a white soft stone, which lies above the floor
+or spar, near to a vein.}, which they had picked out, lest the viewer
+should notice them and suspect the truth.
+
+"From all this, the whispering that went on, and the pains they took
+to chase or entice the overseer away from this spot, I conjectured they
+meant to keep their discovery a secret, that they might turn it to their
+own advantage.
+
+"There was a passage out of the mine, known only to themselves, as they
+thought, through which they intended to convey all the newly-found ore.
+This passage, I should observe, led through an old gallery in the mine,
+along the side of the mountain, immediately up to the surface of the
+earth; so that you could by this way come in and out of the mine without
+the assistance of the _gin_, by which people and ore are usually let
+down or drawn up.
+
+"I made myself sure of my facts by searching this passage, in which I
+found plenty of their purloined treasure. I then went up to one of
+the party, whose name was Clarke, and, drawing him aside, ventured to
+expostulate with him. Clarke cursed me for a spy, and then knocked me
+down, and returned to tell his associates what I had been saying, and
+how he had served me. They one and all swore that they would be revenged
+upon me, if I gave the least hint of what I had seen to our master.
+
+"From this time they watched me, whenever he came down amongst us, lest
+I should have an opportunity of speaking to him; and they never, on any
+account, would suffer me to go out of the mine. Under pretence that the
+horses must be looked after, and that no one tended them so well as I
+did, they contrived to keep me prisoner night and day; hinting to me
+pretty plainly, that if I ever again complained of being thus _shut up_,
+I should not long be buried _alive_.
+
+"Whether they would have gone the lengths they threatened I know not:
+perhaps they threw out these hints only with a design to intimidate me,
+and so to preserve their secret. I confess I was alarmed; but there
+was something in the thought of showing my good master how much I was
+attached to his interests, that continually prevailed over my fears; and
+my spirits rose with the reflection that I, a poor insignificant lad; I,
+that was often the scoff and laughing-stock of the miners; I, that went
+by the name of _Lame Jervas_; I, who they thought could be bullied
+to any thing by their threats, might do a nobler action than any man
+amongst them would have the courage to do in my place. Then the kindness
+of my master, and the words he said about me to the viewer, came into my
+memory; and I was so worked up, that I resolved, let the consequence be
+what it might, I would, living or dying, be faithful to my benefactor.
+
+"I now waited anxiously for an opportunity to speak to him; and if I did
+but hear the sound of his voice at a distance, my heart beat violently.
+'You little know,' thought I, 'that there is one here whom perhaps you
+quite forget, who is ready to hazard his life to do you a service.'
+
+"One day, as he was coming near the place where I was at work, rubbing
+down a horse, he took notice that I fixed my eyes very earnestly upon
+him; and he came closer to me, saying, 'I am glad to see you better,
+Jervas:--do you want any thing?' 'I want for nothing, thank you,
+sir,--but,'--and as I said _but_, I looked round, to see who was near.
+Instantly Clarke, one of the gang, who had his eyes upon us, called me,
+and despatched me, on some errand, to a distant part of the mine. As I
+was coming back, however, it was my good fortune to meet my master by
+himself in one of the galleries. I told him my secret and my fears.
+He answered me only with a nod, and these words, 'Thank you--trust to
+me--make haste back to those that sent you.'
+
+"I did so; but I fancy there was something unusual in my manner or
+countenance which gave alarm; for, at the close of the day, I saw Clarke
+and the gang whispering together; and I observed that they refrained
+from going to their secret treasure the whole of the day. I was in great
+fear that they suspected me, and that they would take immediate and
+perhaps bloody revenge.
+
+"These fears increased when I found myself left alone in my hut at
+night; and, as I lay quite still, but broad awake in my bed, I listened
+to every sound, and once or twice started up on hearing some noise near
+me; but it was only the horses moving in the stable, which was close to
+my hut. I lay down again, laughing at my own fears, and endeavoured to
+compose myself to sleep, reflecting that I had never, in my life, more
+reason to sleep with a safe conscience.
+
+"I then turned round, and fell into a sweet sound sleep; but from this
+I was suddenly roused by a noise at the door of my hut. 'It is only the
+horses again,' thought I; but, opening my eyes, I saw a light under
+the door. I rubbed my eyes, hoping I had been in a dream: the light
+disappeared, and I thought it was my fancy. As I kept my eyes, however,
+turned towards the door, I saw the light again through the key-hole, and
+the latch was pulled up; the door was then softly pushed inwards, and I
+saw on the wall the large shadow of a man with a pistol in his hand. My
+heart sunk within me, and I gave myself up for lost. The man came in: he
+was muffled up in a thick coat, his hat was slouched, and a lantern in
+his hand. Which of the gang it was I did not know, but I took it for
+granted that it was one of them come with intent to murder me. Terror at
+this instant left me; and starting upright in my bed, I exclaimed--'I'm
+ready to die! I die in a good cause! Give me five minutes to say my
+prayers!' and I fell upon my knees. The man standing silent beside the
+bed, with one hand upon me, as if afraid I should escape from him.
+
+"When I had finished my short prayer, I looked up towards my murderer,
+expecting the stroke: but, what was my surprise and joy, when, as he
+held the lantern up to his face, I beheld--the countenance of my master,
+smiling upon me with the most encouraging benevolence. 'Awake, Jervas,'
+said he, 'and try if you can find out the difference between a friend
+and an enemy. Put on your clothes as fast as you can, and show me the
+way to this new vein.'
+
+"No one ever was sooner dressed than I was. I led the way to the spot,
+which was covered up with rubbish, so that I was some time clearing out
+an opening, my master assisting me all the while: for, as he said, he
+was impatient to get me out of the mine safe, as he did not think my
+apprehensions wholly without foundation. The light of our lantern was
+scarcely sufficient for our purpose; but, when we came to the vein, my
+master saw enough to be certain that I was in the right. We covered up
+the place as before, and he noted the situation, so that he could be
+sure to find it again. Then I showed him the way to the secret passage;
+but this passage he knew already, for by it he had descended into the
+mine this night.
+
+"As we passed along, I pointed out the heaps of ore which lay ready to
+be carried off. 'It is enough, Jervas,' said he, clapping his hand upon
+my shoulder; 'you have given me proof sufficient of your fidelity. Since
+you were so ready to die in a good cause, and that cause mine, it is
+my business to take care you shall live by it: so follow me out of this
+place directly; and I will take good care of you, my honest lad.'
+
+"I followed him with quick steps, and a joyful heart: he took me home
+with him to his own house, where he said I might sleep for the rest of
+the night secure from all fear of murderers: and so, showing me into
+a small closet within his own bedchamber, he wished me a good night;
+desiring me, if I waked early, not to open the window-shutters of my
+room, nor go to the window, lest some of his people should see me.
+
+"I lay down, for the first time in my life, upon a feather-bed; but,
+whether it was from the unusual feeling of the soft bed, or from the
+hurry of mind in which I had been kept, and the sudden change of my
+circumstances, I could not sleep a wink all the remainder of the night.
+
+"Before daybreak, my master came into my room, and bid me rise, put
+on the clothes which he brought me, and follow him without making any
+noise. I followed him out of the house before any body else was awake;
+and he took me across the fields towards the high road. At this place
+we waited till we heard the tinkling of the bells of a team of horses.
+'Here comes the waggon,' said he, 'in which you are to go. I have taken
+every possible precaution to prevent any of the miners or people in the
+neighbourhood from tracing you; and you will be in safety at Exeter,
+with my friend Mr. Y----; to whom I am going to send you. Take this,'
+continued he, putting a letter directed to Mr. Y---- into my hand; 'and
+here are five guineas for you. I shall desire Mr. Y---- to pay you an
+annuity of ten guineas out of the profits of the new vein, provided it
+turns out well, and you do not turn out ill. So fare you well, Jervas.
+I shall hear how you go on; and I only hope you will serve your next
+master, whoever he may be, as faithfully as you have served me.'
+
+"'I shall never find so good a master,' was all I could say for the soul
+of me; for I was quite overcome by his goodness and by sorrow at parting
+with him, as I then thought, for ever."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+"The morning clouds began to clear away; I could see my master at some
+distance, and I kept looking after him, as the waggon went on slowly,
+and as he walked fast away over the fields; but, when I had lost sight
+of him, my thoughts were forcibly turned to other things. I seemed to
+awake to quite a new scene, and new feelings. Buried underground in
+a mine, as I had been from my infancy, the face of nature was totally
+unknown to me.
+
+"'We shall have a brave fine day of it, I hope and trust,' said the
+waggoner, pointing with his long whip to the rising sun.
+
+"He went on whistling, whilst I, to whom the rising sun was a spectacle
+wholly surprising, started up in astonishment! I know not what
+exclamations I uttered, as I gazed upon it; but I remember the waggoner
+burst out into a loud laugh. '_Lud a marcy_,' said he, holding his
+sides, 'to hear _un_, and look at _un_, a body would think the oaf had
+never seen the sun rise afore in all his born days!'
+
+"Upon this hint, which was nearer the truth than he imagined,
+recollecting that we were still in Cornwall, and not out of the reach of
+my enemies, I drew myself back into the waggon, lest any of the miners,
+passing the road to their morning's work, might chance to spy me out.
+
+"It was well for me that I took this precaution; for we had not gone
+much farther when we met a party of the miners; and, as I sat wedged up
+in a corner behind a heap of parcels, I heard the voice of Clarke, who
+asked the waggoner as he passed us, 'What o'clock it might be?' I kept
+myself quite snug till he was out of sight; nay, long afterwards, I was
+content to sit within the waggon, rather than venture out; and I
+amused myself with listening to the bells of the team, which jingled
+continually.
+
+"On our second day's journey, however, I ventured out of my
+hiding-place; I walked with the waggoner up and down the hills, enjoying
+the fresh air, the singing of the birds, and the delightful smell of the
+honey-suckles and the dog-roses in the hedges. All these wild flowers,
+and even the weeds on the banks by the way-side, were to me matters
+of wonder and admiration. At every step, almost, I paused to observe
+something that was new to me; and I could not help feeling surprised
+at the insensibility of my fellow-traveller, who plodded on, seldom
+interrupting his whistling, except to cry, 'Gee, Blackbird, aw, woa;'
+or, 'How now, Smiler;' and certain other words or sounds of menace
+and encouragement, addressed to his horses in a language which seemed
+intelligible to them and to him, though utterly incomprehensible to me.
+
+"Once, as I was in admiration of a plant, whose stem was about two feet
+high, and which had a round, shining, pale purple, beautiful flower, the
+waggoner, with a look of extreme scorn, exclaimed, 'Help thee, lad, does
+not thee know 'tis a common thistle? Didst thee not know that a thistle
+would prick thee?' continued he, laughing at the face I made when I
+touched the prickly leaves; 'why my horse Dobbin has more sense by half!
+he is not like an ass hunting for thistles.'
+
+"After this, the waggoner seemed to look upon me as very nearly an
+idiot. Just as we were going into the town of Plymouth, he eyed me from
+head to foot, and muttered, 'The lad's beside himself, sure enough.'
+In truth, I believe I was a droll figure; for my hat was stuck full of
+weeds, and of all sorts of wild flowers; and both my coat and waistcoat
+pockets were stuffed out with pebbles and funguses.
+
+"Such an effect, however, had the waggoner's contemptuous look upon me,
+that I pulled the weeds out of my hat, and threw down all my treasure of
+pebbles before we entered the town. Nay, so much was I overawed, and in
+such dread was I of passing for an idiot, that when we came within view
+of the sea, in the fine harbour of Plymouth, I did not utter a single
+exclamation; although I was struck prodigiously at this, my first sight
+of the ocean, as much almost as I had been at the spectacle of the
+rising sun. I just ventured, however, to ask my companion some questions
+about the vessels which I beheld sailing on the sea, and the shipping
+with which the bay was filled. But he answered coldly, 'They be nothing
+in life but the boats and ships, man: them that see them for the first
+time are often struck all on a heap, as I've noticed, in passing by
+here: but I've seen it all a many and a many times.' So he turned
+away, went on chewing a straw, and seemed not a whit more moved with
+admiration than he had been at the sight of my thistle.
+
+"I conceived a high opinion of a man who had seen so much that he could
+admire nothing; and he preserved and increased my respect for him by the
+profound silence which he maintained, during the five succeeding days of
+our journey: he seldom or never opened his lips except to inform me of
+the names of the towns through which we passed. I have since
+reflected that it was fortunate for me that I had such a supercilious
+fellow-traveller on my first journey; for he made me at once thoroughly
+sensible of my own ignorance, and extremely anxious to supply my
+deficiencies, and to find one who would give some other answer to my
+questions than a smile of contempt, or, '_I do na knaw, I say_.'
+
+"We arrived at Exeter at last; and, with much ado, I found my way to Mr.
+Y----'s house. It was evening when I got there; and the servant to
+whom I gave the letter said he supposed Mr. Y---- would not see me that
+night, as he liked to have his evenings to himself; but he took the
+letter, and in a few minutes returned, desiring me to follow him up
+stairs.
+
+"I found the good old gentleman and some of his friends in his study,
+with his grand-children about him; one little chap on his knee, another
+climbing on the arm of his chair; and two bigger lads were busy looking
+at a glass tube which he was showing them when I came in. It does not
+become me to repeat the handsome things he said to me, upon reading over
+my good master's letter; but he was very gracious to me, and told me
+that he would look out for some place or employment that would suit me;
+and in the mean time, that I should be welcome to stay in his house,
+where I should meet with the good treatment (which he was pleased to
+say) I deserved. Then, observing that I was overcome with bashfulness,
+at being looked at by so many strangers, he kindly dismissed me.
+
+"The next day he sent for me again to his study, when he was alone;
+and asked me several questions, seeming pleased with the openness and
+simplicity of my answers. He saw that I gazed with vast curiosity at
+several objects in the room, which were new to me: and pointing to the
+glass tube, which he had been showing the boys when I first came in, he
+asked me if they had such things as that in our mines; and if I knew
+the use of it? I told him I had seen something like it in our overseer's
+hands; but that I had never known its use. It was a thermometer. Mr.
+Y---- took great pains to show me how, and on what occasions, this
+instrument might be useful.
+
+"I saw I had now to do with a person who was somewhat different from my
+friend the waggoner; and I cannot express the surprise and gratitude
+I felt, when I found that he did not think me quite a fool. Instead of
+looking at me with scorn, as one _very nearly an idiot_, he answered
+my questions with condescension; and sometimes was so good as to add,
+'That's a sensible question, my lad.'
+
+"While we were looking at the thermometer, he found out that I could
+not read the words _temperate, freezing point, boiling water heat, &c._
+which were written upon the ivory scale, in small characters. He took
+that occasion to point out to me the use and advantages of knowing how
+to read and write; and he told me that, as I wished to learn, he would
+desire the writing-master, who came to attend his young grandson, to
+teach me.
+
+"I shall not detain you with a journal of my progress through my
+spelling-book and copy-books: it is enough to say that I applied with
+diligence, and soon could write my name in rather more intelligible
+characters than those in which the name of Jervas is cut on the rock
+that we were looking at yesterday.
+
+"My eagerness to read the books which he put into my hands, and the
+attention which I paid to his lessons, pleased my writing-master so
+much, that he took a pride, as he said, '_in bringing me forward as fast
+as possible_.'
+
+"And here, I must confess, he was rather imprudent in the warmth of his
+commendations; my head could not stand them; as much as I was humbled
+and mortified by the waggoner's calling me _an idiot_, so much was I
+elated by my writing-master's calling me _a genius_. I wrote some very
+bad lines in praise of a thistle, which I thought prodigiously fine,
+because my writing-master looked surprised, when I showed them to
+him; and because he told me that, having given a copy of them to some
+gentlemen in Exeter, they agreed that the rhymes were _wonderful for
+me_.
+
+"I was at this period very nearly spoiled for life: but fortunately
+my friend Mr. Y---- saw my danger, and cured me of my conceit, without
+damping my ardour to acquire knowledge. He took me to the books in
+his study, and showed me many volumes of fine poems; pointing out some
+passages to me that greatly diminished my admiration of my own lines on
+the thistle. The vast distance which I perceived between myself and these
+writers threw me into despair. Mr. Y---- seeing me thoroughly abashed,
+observed that he was glad to find I saw the difference between bad and
+good poetry; and pointed out to me, it was not likely, if I turned my
+industry to writing verses, that I should ever either earn my bread, or
+equal those who had enjoyed greater advantages of leisure and education.
+'But, Jervas,' continued he, 'I commend you for your application and
+quickness in learning to write and read, in so short a time: you will
+find both these qualifications of great advantage to you. Now, I advise
+you, turn your thoughts to something that may make you useful to other
+people. You have your bread to earn, and this you can only do by making
+yourself useful in some way or other. Look about you, and you will see
+that I tell you truth. You may perceive that the servants in my house
+are all useful to me, and that I pay them for their services. The cook
+who can dress my dinner, the baker who bakes bread for me, the smith who
+knows how to shoe my horses, the writing-master who undertakes to
+teach my children to write, can all earn money for themselves, and make
+themselves independent.--And you may remark that, of all those I have
+mentioned, the writing-master is the most respected, and the best paid.
+There are some kinds of knowledge, and some kinds of labour, that are
+more highly paid for than others. But I have said enough to you, Jervas,
+for the present: I do not want to lecture you, but to serve you.--You
+are a young lad, and have had no experience; I am an old man, and have
+had a great deal: so perhaps my advice may be of some use to you.'
+
+"His advice was indeed of the greatest use to me: every word he said
+sunk into my mind. I wish those who give advice to young people,
+especially to those in a lower station than themselves, would
+follow this gentleman's example; and, instead of haranguing with the
+haughtiness of superior knowledge, would speak with such kindness as to
+persuade at the same time that they convince.
+
+"The very day that Mr. Y---- spoke to me in this manner, he called me
+in, that I might tell his eldest grandson the names which we miners
+give to certain fossils that had been sent him from Cornwall; and, after
+observing to the boy that this knowledge would be useful to him,
+he begged me to tell him exactly how the mine, in which I had been
+employed, was worked. This I did, as well as I was able; and imperfect
+as my description was, it entertained the boys so much that I determined
+to try to make a sort of model of the tin-mine for their amusement.
+
+"But this I found no easy task; my remembrance, even of the place in
+which I had lived all my life, was not sufficiently exact to serve
+me, as to the length, height, breadth, &c. of the different parts; and
+though Mr. Y---- had a good collection of fossils, I was at a loss, for
+want of materials, to represent properly the different strata and veins;
+or, as we call it, _the country_.
+
+"My temper, naturally enthusiastic, was not on this occasion to be
+daunted by any difficulties. I was roused by the notion that I should
+be able to complete something that would be _really useful_ to my kind
+benefactor's family; and I anticipated with rapture, the moment when I
+should produce my model complete, and justify Mr. Y----'s opinion of my
+diligence and capacity. I thought of nothing else from the moment these
+ideas came into my head. The measures, plans, and specimens of earths
+and ore which were wanting, I knew could only be obtained from the
+mine; and such was my ardour to accomplish my little project, that I
+determined at all hazards to return into Cornwall, and to ask my good
+master's permission to revisit the mine in the night time.
+
+"Accordingly, without a moment's delay, I set out upon this expedition.
+Part of the journey I performed on foot; but wherever I could, I got
+a set down, because I was impatient to get near the _Land's End_.
+I concluded that the wonder excited by my sudden disappearance had
+subsided by this time; that I was too insignificant to make it worth
+while to continue a search after me for more than a few days; and that,
+in all likelihood, my master had dismissed from his work the gang who
+had been concerned in the plot, and who were the only persons whose
+revenge I had reason to fear.
+
+"However, as I drew near the mine, I had the prudence not to expose
+myself unnecessarily; and I watched my opportunity so well, that I
+contrived to meet my master, in his walk homeward, when no one was with
+him. I hastily gave him a letter from Mr. Y----, as a certificate of
+my good conduct since my leaving him; then explained the reason of my
+return, and asked permission to examine the mines that night.
+
+"He expressed a good deal of surprise, but no displeasure, at my
+boldness in returning: he willingly granted my request; but, at the same
+time, warned me that some of my enemies were still in the neighbourhood;
+and that, though he had dismissed them from his works, and though
+several had left the country in search of employment elsewhere, yet he
+was informed that two or three of the gang, and Clarke among the number,
+were seen lurking about the country: that they had sworn vengeance
+against me for _betraying_ them, as they called it; and had been
+indefatigably active in their search after me.
+
+"My master consequently advised me to stay only the ensuing night, and
+to depart before daybreak: he also cautioned me not to wake the man who
+now slept in my hut in the mine.
+
+"I did not like to spoil the only good suit of clothes of which I was
+possessed; so, before I went down into the mine, I got from my master my
+old jacket, apron, and cap, in which being equipped, and furnished with
+a lantern, and rod for measuring, I descended into the mine.
+
+"I went to work as quietly as possible, surveyed the place exactly, and
+remembered what I had heard Mr. Y---- observe, 'that people can never
+make their knowledge useful, if they have not been at the pains to
+make it exact.' I was determined to give him a proof of my exactness:
+accordingly I measured and minuted down every thing with the most
+cautious accuracy; and, so intent was my mind upon my work, the thoughts
+of Clarke and his associates never came across me for a moment. Nay,
+I absolutely forgot the man in the hut, and am astonished he was not
+sooner waked.
+
+"What roused him at last was, I believe, the noise I made in loosening
+some earth and stones for specimens. A great stone came tumbling down,
+and immediately afterwards I heard one of the horses neigh, which showed
+me I had waked them at least; and I betook myself to a hiding-place, in
+the western gallery, where I kept quiet, for I believe a quarter of an
+hour, in order to give the horses and the man, if he were awake, time to
+go to sleep again.
+
+"I ventured out of my hiding-place too soon; for, just as I left my
+nook, I saw the man at the end of the gallery. Instantly, upon the sight
+of me, he put both his hands before his face, gave a loud shriek, turned
+his back, and took to his heels with the greatest precipitation. I
+guessed that, as he said yesterday, he took me for the ghost of myself;
+and that his terror made him mistake my lantern for a blue taper. I had
+no chain; but that I had a rod in my hand is most certain: and it is
+also true that I took advantage of his fears, to drive him out of my
+way; for the moment he began to run, I shook my rod as fast and as loud
+as I could against the tin top of my lantern; and I trampled with my
+feet as if I was pursuing him.
+
+"As soon as the coast was clear, I hastened back for my specimens; which
+I packed up in my basket, and then decamped as fast as I could. This is
+the only time I ever walked in the western gallery with a _blue taper_
+in my hand, dragging a _chain_ after me, whatever the ghost-seer may
+report to the contrary.
+
+"I was heartily glad to get away, and to have thus happily accomplished
+the object of my journey. I carried my basket on my back for some miles,
+till I got to the place where a waggon put up; and in this I travelled
+safely back to Exeter.
+
+"I determined not to show my model to Mr. Y----, or the boys, till
+it should be as complete as I could make it. I got a good ingenious
+carpenter, who had been in the habit of working for the toy-shops, to
+help me; and laid out the best part of my worldly treasure upon this my
+grand first project. I had new models made of the sieves for _lueing_,
+the _box_ and _trough_, the _buddle, wreck, and tool_ {Footnote: The
+names of vessels and machines used in the Cornish tin-mines.}, beside
+some dozen of wooden workmen, wheelbarrows, &c,; with which the
+carpenter, by my directions, furnished my mine. I paid a smith and
+tinman, moreover, for models of our _stamps_, and _blowing-house_, and
+an iron grate for my box: besides, I had a _lion rampant_ {Footnote: A
+lion rampant is stamped on the block tin which is brought thence.}, and
+other small matters, from the pewterer; also a pair of bellows, finished
+by the glover; for all which articles, as they were out of the common
+way, I was charged high.
+
+"It was some time, even when all this was ready, before we could
+contrive to make our puppets do their business properly: but patience
+accomplishes every thing. At last we got our wooden miners to obey us,
+and to perform their several tasks at the word of command; that is to
+say, at the pulling of certain strings and wires, which we fastened to
+their legs, arms, heads, and shoulders: which wires, being slender and
+black, were at a little distance invisible to the spectators. When the
+skeletons were perfect, we fell to work to dress and paint them; and
+I never shall forget the delight with which I contemplated our whole
+company of puppets: men, women, and children, fresh painted and dizened
+out, all in their proper colours. The carpenter could scarcely prevent
+me from spoiling them: I was so impatient to set them at work that I
+could not wait till their clothes were dry; and I was every half hour
+rubbing my fingers upon their cheeks, to try whether the red paint was
+yet hard enough.
+
+"With some pride, I announced my intended exhibition to Mr. Y----; and
+he appointed that evening for seeing it, saying that none but his own
+boys should be present at the first representation. It was for
+them alone it was originally designed; but I was so charmed with my
+newly-finished work, that I would gladly have had all Exeter present at
+the exhibition. However, before night, I was convinced of my friend Mr.
+Y----'s superior prudence: the whole thing, as the carpenter said,
+_went off_ pretty well; but several disasters happened which I had not
+foreseen. There was one stiff old fellow, whose arms, twitch them which
+way I would, I could never get to bend: and an obstinate old woman, who
+would never do any thing else but curtsy, when I wanted her to kneel
+down and to do her work. My children sorted their heaps of rubbish and
+ore very dexterously; excepting one unlucky little chap, who, from the
+beginning, had his head, somehow or other, turned the wrong way upon
+his shoulders; and I could never manage, all the night, to set it right
+again: it was in vain I flattered myself that his wry neck would escape
+observation; for, as he was one of the wheelbarrow boys, he was a
+conspicuous figure in the piece; and, whenever he appeared, wheeling
+or emptying his barrow, I to my mortification heard repeated peals of
+laughter from the spectators, in which even my patron, notwithstanding
+his good-natured struggles against it for some time, was at last
+compelled to join.
+
+"I, all the while, was wiping my forehead behind my show-box; for I
+never was in such a bath of heat in my life: not the hardest day's work
+I ever wrought in the mine made me one half so hot as setting these
+puppets to work.
+
+"When my exhibition was over, good Mr. Y---- came to me, and consoled
+me for all disasters, by the praises he bestowed upon my patience and
+ingenuity: he showed me that he knew the difficulties with which I had
+to contend: and he mentioned the defects to me in the kindest manner,
+and how they might be remedied. 'I see,' said he, smiling, 'that you
+have endeavoured to make something useful for the entertainment of my
+boys; and I will take pains to make it turn out advantageously to you.'
+
+"The next morning I went to look at my show-box, which Mr. Y---- had
+desired me to leave in his study; and I was surprised to see the front
+of the box, which I had left open for the spectators, filled up with
+boards, and having a circular glass in the middle. The eldest boy, who
+stood by enjoying my surprise, bid me look in, and tell him what I saw.
+What was my astonishment, when I first looked through this glass--'As
+large as the life!--As large as the life!' cried I, in admiration--'I
+see the puppets, the _wheelbarrows_, every thing as large as life!'
+
+"Mr. Y---- then told me, that it was by his grandson's directions that
+this glass, which he said was called a magnifying-glass, or convex-lens,
+was added to my show-box. 'He makes you a present of it; and now,' added
+he, smiling, 'get all your little performers into order, and prepare for
+a second representation: I will send for a clock-maker in this town,
+who is an _ingenious_ man, and will show you how to manage properly the
+motions of your puppets; and then we will get a good painter to paint
+them for you."
+
+"There was at this time, in Exeter, a society of literary gentlemen, who
+met once a week at each other's houses. Mr. Y---- was one of these; and
+several of the principal families in Exeter, especially those who had
+children, came on the appointed evening to see the model of the Cornwall
+tin-mine, which, with the assistance of the clock-maker and painter, was
+now become really a show worth looking at. I made but few blunders this
+time, and the company were indulgent enough to pardon these, and to
+express themselves well pleased with my little exhibition. They gave me,
+indeed, solid marks of their satisfaction, which were quite unexpected:
+after the exhibition, Mr. Y----'s youngest grandchild, in the name
+of the rest of the company, presented me with a purse, containing the
+contributions which had been made for me.
+
+"After repaying all my expenses for my journey and machinery, I found
+I had six guineas and a crown to spare. So I thought myself a rich man;
+and, having never seen so much money together in my life before, as six
+golden guineas and a crown, I should, most probably, like the generality
+of people who come into the possession of unexpected wealth, have become
+extravagant, had it not been for the timely advice of my kind monitor,
+Mr. Y----. When I showed him a pair of Chinese tumblers, which I had
+bought from a pedlar for twice as much as they were worth, merely
+because they pleased my fancy, he shook his head, and observed that I
+might, before my death, want this very money to buy a loaf of bread. 'If
+you spend your money as fast as you get it, Jervas,' said he, 'no matter
+how ingenious or industrious you are, you will always be poor. Remember
+the good proverb that says, _Industry is Fortune's right hand, and
+Frugality her left_;' a proverb which has been worth ten times more to
+me than all my little purse contained: so true it is, that those do not
+always give most who give money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+"I had soon reason to rejoice at having thrown away no more money on
+baubles, as I had occasion for my whole stock to fit myself out for a
+new way of life. 'Jervas,' said Mr. Y---- to me, 'I have at last found
+an occupation, which I hope will suit you.'--Unknown to me, he had been,
+ever since he first saw my little model, intent upon turning it to
+my lasting advantage. Among the gentlemen of the society which I have
+before mentioned, there was one who had formed a design of sending
+some well-informed lecturer through England, to exhibit models of
+the machines used in manufactories: Mr. Y---- purposely invited this
+gentleman the evening that I exhibited my tin-mine, and proposed to him
+that I should be permitted to accompany his lecturer. To this he
+agreed. Mr. Y---- told me that although the person who was fixed upon as
+lecturer was not exactly the sort of man he should have chosen, yet
+as he was a relation of the gentleman who set the business on foot, no
+objection could well be made to him.
+
+"I was rather daunted by the cold and haughty look with which my new
+master, the lecturer, received me when I was presented to him. Mr.
+Y----, observing this, whispered to me at parting. 'Make yourself
+useful, and you will soon be agreeable to him. We must not expect to
+find friends ready made wherever we go in the world: we often have to
+make friends for ourselves with great pains and care.' It cost me both
+pains and care, I know, to make this lecturer my friend. He was what
+is called _born a gentleman;_ and he began by treating me as a low-born
+upstart, who, being perfectly ignorant, wanted to pass for a self-taught
+_genius._ That I was low-born, I did not attempt to conceal; nor did I
+perceive that I had any reason to be ashamed of my birth, or of having
+raised myself by honest means to a station above that in which I was
+born. I was proud of this circumstance, and therefore it was no torment
+to me to hear the continual hints which my well-born master threw out
+upon this subject. I moreover never pretended to any knowledge which I
+had not; so that, by degrees, notwithstanding his prejudices, he began
+to feel that I had neither the presumption of an upstart, nor of a
+self-taught genius. I kept in mind the counsel given to me by Mr. Y----,
+to endeavour to make myself useful to my employer; but it was no
+easy matter to do this at first, because he had such a dread of my
+awkwardness that he would never let me touch any of his apparatus. I was
+always left to stand like a cipher beside him whilst he lectured; and
+I had regularly the mortification of hearing him conclude his lecture
+with, '_Now, gentlemen and ladies, I will not detain you any longer from
+what, I am sensible, is much better worth your attention than any thing
+I can offer--Mr. Jervas's puppet-show_.'
+
+"It happened one day that he sent me with a shilling, as he thought,
+to pay a hostler for the feeding of his horse; as I rubbed the money
+between my finger and thumb, I perceived that the white surface came
+off, and the piece looked yellow: I recollected that my master had the
+day before been showing some experiments with quicksilver and gold, and
+that he had covered a guinea with quicksilver: so I immediately took the
+money back, and my master, for the first time in his life, thanked me
+very cordially; for this was in reality a guinea, and not a shilling.
+He was also surprised at my directly mentioning the experiment he had
+shown.
+
+"The next day that he lectured, he omitted the offensive conclusion
+about Mr. Jervas's puppet-show. I observed, farther, to my infinite
+satisfaction, that after this affair of the guinea, he was not so
+suspicious of my honesty as he used to appear to be: he now yielded more
+to his natural indolence, and suffered me to pack up his things for him,
+and to do a hundred little services which formerly he used roughly to
+refuse at my hands; saying, 'I had rather do it myself, _sir_,' or, 'I
+don't like to have _any_ body meddle with my things, Mr. Jervas.' But
+his tone changed, and it was now, 'Jervas, I'll leave you to put up
+these things, whilst I go and read;'--or, 'Jervas, will you see that I
+leave none of my goods behind me, there's a good lad?'--In truth, he
+was rather apt to leave his goods behind him: he was the most absent and
+forgetful man alive. During the first half year we travelled together,
+whilst he attempted to take care of his own things, I counted that he
+lost two pair and a half of slippers, one boot, three night-caps, one
+shirt, and fifteen pocket-handkerchiefs. Many of these losses, I make no
+doubt, were set down in his imagination to my account whilst he had
+no opinion of my honesty; but I am satisfied that he was afterwards
+thoroughly convinced of the injustice of his suspicions, as, from the
+time that I had the charge of his _goods_, as he called them, to the day
+we parted, including a space of above four years and a half, he never
+lost any thing but one red nightcap, which, to the best of my belief, he
+sent in his wig one Sunday morning to the barber's, but which never came
+back again, and an old ragged blue pocket-handkerchief, which he said he
+put under his pillow, or into his boot, when he went to bed at night. He
+had an odd way of sticking his pocket-handkerchief into his boot, that
+he might be sure to find it in the morning.' I suspect the handkerchief
+was carried down in the boot when it was taken to be cleaned. He was,
+however, perfectly certain that these two losses were not to be imputed
+to any carelessness of mine. He often said he was obliged to me for the
+attention I paid to his interests; he treated me now very civilly, and
+would sometimes condescend to explain to me in private what I did not
+understand in his public lectures.
+
+"I was presently advanced to the dignity of his secretary. He wrote
+a miserably bad hand: and his manuscripts were so scratched and
+interlined, that it was with the utmost difficulty he could decipher
+his own writing, when he was obliged to have recourse to his notes
+in lecturing. He was, moreover, extremely near-sighted; and he had a
+strange trick of wrinkling up the skin on the bridge of his nose when he
+was perplexed: altogether, his look was so comical when he began to pore
+over these papers of his, that few of the younger part of our audiences
+could resist their inclination to laugh. This disconcerted him beyond
+measure; and he was truly glad to accept my offer of copying out his
+scrawls fairly in a good bold round hand. I could now write, if I
+may say it without vanity, an excellent hand, and could go over
+his calculations as far as the first four rules of arithmetic were
+concerned; so that I became quite his _factotum_: and I thought myself
+rewarded for all my pains, by having opportunities of gaining every
+day some fresh piece of knowledge from the perusal of the notes which I
+transcribed.
+
+"It was now that I felt most thoroughly the advantage of having learned
+to read and write: stores of useful information were opened to me, and
+my curiosity and desire to inform myself were insatiable. I often sat
+up half the night reading and writing: I had free access now to all my
+fellow-traveller's books, and I thought I could never study them enough.
+
+"At the commencement of my studies, my master often praised my
+diligence, and would show me where to look for what I wanted in his
+books, or explain difficulties: I looked up to him as a miracle of
+science and learning; nay, I was actually growing fond of him, but this
+did not last long. In process of time, he grew shy of explaining things
+to me; he scolded me for thumbing his books, though, God knows, my
+thumbs were always cleaner than his own, and he thwarted me continually
+upon some pretence or other. I could not for some time conceive the
+cause of this change in my master's behaviour: indeed it was hard for
+me to guess or believe that he was become jealous of the talents and
+knowledge of a poor lad, whose ignorance he, but a few years before, had
+so much despised and derided. I was the more surprised at this new turn
+of his mind, because I was conscious that, instead of becoming more
+conceited, I had of late become more humble; but this humility was, by
+my suspicious master, attributed to artifice, and tended more than any
+thing to confirm him in his notion that I had formed a plan to supplant
+him in his office of lecturer, a scheme which had never entered into
+my head. I was thunderstruck when he one day said to me, 'You need not
+study so hard, Mr. Jervas; for I promise you that, even with Mr. Y----'s
+assistance, and all your _art_, you will not be able to supplant me,
+clever as, with all affected humility, you think yourself.'
+
+"The truth lightened upon me at once. Had he been a judge of the human
+countenance, he must have seen my innocence in my looks: but he was so
+fixed in his opinion, that I knew any protestations I could make of my
+never having thought of the scheme he imputed to me, would serve only
+to confirm him in his idea of my dissimulation. I contented myself
+with returning to him his books and his manuscripts, and thenceforward
+withdrew my attention from his lectures, to which I had always till now
+been one of the most eager auditors; by these proceedings I hoped to
+quiet his suspicions. I no longer applied myself to any studies in which
+he was engaged, to show him that all competition with him was far from
+my thoughts; and I have since reflected that this fit of jealousy of
+his, which I at the time looked upon as a misfortune, because it stopped
+me short in pursuits which were highly agreeable to my taste, was in
+fact of essential service to me. My reading had been too general; and I
+had endeavoured to master so many things, that I was not likely to make
+myself thoroughly skilled in any. As a blacksmith said once to me, when
+he was asked why he was not both blacksmith and whitesmith, 'The smith
+that will meddle with all things may go shoe the goslings;' an old
+proverb, which, from its mixture of drollery and good sense, became ever
+after a favourite of mine.
+
+"Having returned my master's books, I had only such to read as I could
+purchase or borrow for myself, and I became very careful in my choice:
+I also took every opportunity of learning all I could from the
+conversation of sensible people, wherever we went; and I found that one
+piece of knowledge helped me to another often when I least expected it.
+And this I may add, for the encouragement of others, that every thing
+which I learned accurately was, at some time or other of my life, of use
+to me.
+
+"After having made a progress through England, my fellow-traveller
+determined to try his fortune in the metropolis, and to give lectures
+there to young people during the winter season. Accordingly, we
+proceeded towards London, taking Woolwich in our way, where we exhibited
+before the young gentlemen of the military academy. My master, who,
+since he had withdrawn his notes from my hands, had no one to copy them
+fairly, found himself, during his lecture, in some perplexity; and, as
+he exhibited his usual odd contortions upon this occasion, the young
+gentlemen could not restrain their laughter: he also prolonged his
+lecture more than his audience liked, and several yawned terribly, and
+made signs of an impatient desire to see what was in my box, as a
+relief from their fatigue. This my master quickly perceived, and,
+being extremely provoked, he spoke to me with a degree of harshness
+and insolence which, as I bore it with temper, prepossessed the young
+company in my favour. He concluded his lecture with the old sentence:
+'Gentlemen, I shall no longer detain you from what I am sure is much
+better worthy of your attention than any thing I can offer, viz.
+Mr. Jervas's puppet-show.' This was an unlucky speech on the present
+occasion, for it happened that every body, after having seen what he
+called my puppet-show, was precisely of this opinion. My master grew
+more and more impatient, and wanted to hurry me away, but one spirited
+young man most warmly took me and my tin-mine under his protection: I
+stood my ground, insisting upon my right to finish my exhibition, as my
+master had been allowed full time to finish his. The young gentleman who
+supported me was as well pleased by my present firmness as he had been
+by my former patience. At parting he made a handsome collection for me,
+which I refused to accept, taking only the regular price. 'Well,' said
+he, 'you shall be no loser by this. You are going to town; my father is
+in London; here is his direction. I'll mention you to him the next time
+I write home, and you'll not be the worse for that.'
+
+"As soon as we got to London, I went according to my direction. The
+young gentleman had been more punctual in writing home than young
+gentlemen sometimes are. I was appointed to come with my models the
+next evening, when a number of young people were collected, beside the
+children of the family. The young spectators gathered round me at
+one end of a large saloon, asking me innumerable questions after the
+exhibition was over; whilst the master of the house, who was an East
+India director, was walking up and down the room, conversing with
+a gentleman in an officer's uniform. They were, as I afterwards
+understood, talking about the casting of some guns at Woolwich for the
+East India Company. 'Charles,' said the director, coming to the place
+where we were standing, and tapping one of his sons on the shoulder,
+'do you recollect what your brother told us about the proportion of tin
+which is used in casting brass cannon at Woolwich?' The young gentleman
+answered that he could not recollect, but referred his father to me;
+adding, that his brother told him I was the person from whom he had the
+information. My memory served me exactly; and I had reason to rejoice
+that I had not neglected the opportunity of gaining this knowledge,
+during our short stay at Woolwich. The East India director, pleased with
+my answering his first question accurately, condescended, in compliance
+with his children's entreaties, to examine my models, and questioned me
+upon a variety of subjects: at length he observed to the gentleman with
+whom he had been conversing, that I explained myself well, that I knew
+all I did know accurately, and that I had the art of captivating the
+attention of young people. 'I do think,' concluded he, 'that he would
+answer Dr. Bell's description better than any person I have seen.' He
+then inquired particularly into my history and connexions, all of which
+I told him exactly. He took down the direction to Mr. Y----, and my
+good master (as I shall always call Mr. R----), and to several other
+gentlemen, at whose houses I had been during the last three or four
+years, telling me that he would write to them about me; and that if he
+found my accounts of myself were as exact as my knowledge upon other
+subjects, he thought he could place me in a very eligible situation. The
+answers to these letters were all perfectly satisfactory: he gave me the
+letter from Mr. R----, saying 'you had better keep this letter, and take
+care of it; for it will be a recommendation to you in any part of the
+world where courage and fidelity are held in esteem.' Upon looking into
+this letter, I found that my good master had related, in the handsomest
+manner, the whole of my conduct about the discovery of the vein in his
+mine.
+
+"The director now informed me that, if I had no objection to go to
+India, I should be appointed to go out to Madras as an assistant to Dr.
+Bell, one of the directors of the asylum for the instruction of orphans;
+an establishment which is immediately under the auspices of the East
+India Company, and which does them honour {Footnote: _Vide_ a small
+pamphlet, printed for Cadell and Davies, entitled, "An Experiment
+in Education, made at the Male Asylum of Madras, by the Rev. Dr. A.
+Bell."}.
+
+"The salary which was offered me was munificent beyond my utmost
+expectations; and the account of the institution, which was put into my
+hands, charmed me. I speedily settled all my concerns with the lecturer,
+who was in great astonishment that this appointment had not fallen upon
+him. To console him for the last time, I showed him a passage in Dr.
+Bell's pamphlet, in which it is said that the doctor prefers to all
+others, for teaching at his school, youths who have no fixed habits as
+tutors, and who will implicitly follow his directions. I was at this
+time but nineteen: my master was somewhat appeased by this view of the
+affair, and we parted, as I wished, upon civil terms; though I could not
+feel much regret at leaving him. I had no pleasure in living with one
+who would not let me become attached to him; for, having early met with
+two excellent friends and masters, the agreeable feelings of gratitude
+and affection were in a manner necessary to my happiness.
+
+"Before I left England, I received new proofs of Mr. R----'s goodness:
+he wrote to me to say that, as I was going to a distant country,
+to which a small annuity of ten guineas a year could not easily be
+remitted, he had determined to lay out a sum equal to the value of
+the annuity he had promised me, in a manner which he hoped would be
+advantageous: he further said, that as the vein of the mine with which I
+had made him acquainted turned out better than he expected, he had added
+the value of fifty guineas more than my annuity; and that if I would go
+to Mr. Ramsden's, mathematical instrument maker, in Piccadilly, I should
+receive all he had ordered to be ready for me. At Mr. Ramsden's I found
+ready to be packed up for me two small globes, siphons, prisms, an
+air-gun and an air-pump, a speaking trumpet, a small apparatus for
+showing the gases, and an apparatus for freezing water. Mr. Ramsden
+informed me that these were not all the things Mr. R---- had bespoken;
+that he had ordered a small balloon, and a portable telegraph, in form
+of an umbrella, which would be sent home, as he expected, in the course
+of the next week. Mr. Ramsden also had directions to furnish me with a
+set of mathematical instruments of his own making. 'But,' added he
+with a smile, 'you will be lucky if you get them soon enough out of my
+hands.' In fact, I believe I called a hundred times in the course of a
+fortnight upon Ramsden, and it was only the day before the fleet sailed
+that they were finished and delivered to me.
+
+"I cannot here omit to mention an incident that happened in one of my
+walks to Ramsden's: I was rather late, and was pushing my way hastily
+through a crowd that was gathered at the turning of a street, when a
+hawker by accident flapped a bundle of wet hand-bills in my eyes, and
+at the same instant screamed in my ears, '_The last dying speech and
+confession of Jonathan Clarke, who was executed on Monday, the 11th
+instant._'--Jonathan Clarke! The name struck my ears suddenly, and the
+words I shocked me so much that I stood fixed to the spot; and it was I
+not till the hawker had passed by me some yards, and was beginning with
+'_The last dying speech and confession of Jonathan Clarke, the Cornwall
+miner_,' that I recollected myself enough to speak: I called after the
+hawker in vain: he was bawling too loud to hear me, and I was forced to
+run the whole length of the street before I could overtake him, and get
+one of the hand-bills. On reading it, I could have no doubt that it
+was really the last dying speech of my old enemy Clarke. His birth,
+parentage, and every circumstance, convinced me of the truth. Amongst
+other things in his confession, I came to a plan he had laid to murder a
+poor lad in the tin-mine, where he formerly worked; 'and he thanked God
+that this plan was never executed, as the boy providentially disappeared
+the very night on which the murder was to have been perpetrated. He
+further set forth that, after being turned away by his master, and
+obliged to fly from Cornwall, he came up to London, and worked as
+a coal-heaver for a little while, but soon became what is called a
+_mud-lark_; that is, a plunderer of the ships' cargoes that unload in
+the Thames. He plied this abominable trade for some time, drinking every
+day to the value of what he stole, till, in a quarrel at an ale-house
+about the division of some articles to be sold to a receiver of stolen
+goods, he struck the woman of the house a blow, of which she died; and,
+as it was proved that he had long-borne her malice for some old
+dispute, Clarke was on his trial brought in guilty of wilful murder, and
+sentenced to be hanged.
+
+"I shuddered whilst I read all this.--To such an end, after the utmost
+his cunning could do, was this villain brought at last! How thankful
+I was that I did not continue his associate in my boyish days! My
+gratitude to my good master increased upon the reflection that it was
+his humanity which had raised me from vice and misery, to virtue and
+happiness. We sailed from the Downs the 20th of March, one thousand
+seven hundred and.... But why I tell you this I do not know; except it
+be in compliance with the custom of all voyagers, who think that it is
+important to the world to know on what day they sailed from this or that
+port. I shall not, however, imitate them in giving you a journal of
+the wind, or a copy of the ship's log-book. Suffice it to say, that we
+arrived safely at Madras, after a voyage of about the usual number of
+months and days, during all which I am sorry that I have not for your
+entertainment any escape or imminent danger of shipwreck to relate; nor
+even any description of a storm or a water-spout.
+
+"You will, I am afraid, be much disappointed to find that, upon my
+arrival in India, where doubtless you expected that I should like others
+have wonderful adventures, I began to live at Dr. Bell's asylum in
+Madras a quiet regular life; in which for years I may safely say, that
+every day in the week was extremely like that which preceded it. This
+regularity was nowise irksome to me, notwithstanding that I had for
+some years, in England, been so much used to a roving way of life. I had
+never any taste for rambling; and under Dr. Bell, who treated me with
+strict justice, as far as the business of the asylum was concerned, and
+with distinguished kindness in all other circumstances, I enjoyed as
+much freedom as I desired. I never had those absurd vague notions of
+liberty, which render men uneasy under the necessary restraints of all
+civilized society, and which do not make them the more fit to live
+with savages. The young people who were under my care gradually became
+attached to me, and I to them. I obeyed Dr. Bell's directions exactly
+in all things; and he was pleased to say, after I had been with him for
+some time, that he never had any assistant who was so entirely agreeable
+to him. When the business of the day was over, I often amused myself,
+and the elder boys, with my apparatus for preparing the gases, my
+speaking-trumpet, air-gun, &c.
+
+"One day, I think it was in the fourth year of my residence at Madras,
+Dr. Bell sent for me into his closet, and asked me if I had ever heard
+of a scholar of his, of the name of William Smith, a youth of seventeen
+years of age; who, in the year 1794, attended the embassy to Tippoo
+Sultan, when the hostage princes were restored; and who went through
+a course of experiments in natural philosophy, in the presence of the
+sultan. I answered Dr. Bell that, before I left England, I had read, in
+his account of the asylum, extracts from this William Smith's letters,
+whilst he was at the sultan's court; and that I remembered all the
+experiments he had exhibited perfectly well; and also that he was
+detained, by the sultan's order, nineteen days after the embassy had
+taken leave, for the purpose of instructing two aruzbegs, or lords, in
+the use of an extensive and elegant mathematical apparatus, presented
+to Tippoo by the government at Madras.
+
+{Footnote: _Extracts from William Smith's Letters to Dr. Bell, (vide the
+Pamphlet before mentioned.)_
+
+'Devanelli Fort, April 8, 1792.
+
+'REVEREND SIR,
+
+'I take the liberty of informing you that we arrived here the 28th ult.
+without any particular occurrence in the way. The day after our arrival
+we made our first visit to the sultan; and he entertained us at his
+court for upwards of three hours.
+
+'On the 1st instant Captain Dovetoun sent me an order to open the boxes,
+and lay out the machines, to show them to the sultan. Accordingly, on
+the third, I was sent for, and I exhibited the following experiments;
+viz. head and wig; dancing images; electric stool; cotton fired; small
+receiver and stand; hemispheres; Archimedes' screw; siphon; Tantalus's
+cup; water-pump; condensing engine, &c. Captain Dovetoun was present,
+and explained, as I went on, to the sultan, who has given us an instance
+of his being acquainted with some of these experiments. He has shown
+us a condensing engine made by himself, which spouted water higher than
+ours. He desired me to teach two men, his aruzbegs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'I can assure you that Tippoo Sultan was mightily pleased with the
+electric machine. He was prepared for every experiment I exhibited,
+except the firing of the inflammable air.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'It did cost me several minutes before the firing of the inflammable air
+proved successful; during which time he was in a very impatient emotion;
+and, when that was done, it did indeed surprise him. He desired me to go
+over it three times.
+
+'I take the liberty to write for your information the familiar discourse
+Tippoo Sultan was pleased to enter into with me, that took place at the
+close of the experiments.
+
+'There were some silver trumpets, newly made, brought in to him for
+his inspection, and which he desired the trumpeters to sound _hauw_ and
+_jauw_; i.e. come and go; after which, he asked me if they were like
+those I saw at Madras. I answered, Yes; but those at Madras are made of
+copper. He asked me again whether the tune was any thing like what I had
+ever heard. I answered, No. How then? says he; and presently ordering
+the instrument to be put into my hands, desired me to blow. I told him,
+very civilly, that I could not blow. No! says he: you could; what are
+you afraid of? I told him again that I spoke truth; and that I was
+brought up in a school where my master informed me what lying was, and
+always punished those boys that spoke untruths.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'June 11th. After this the sultan arose (five hours being elapsed) to
+quit the court, and desired the present (of a hundred rupees) to be
+delivered into my hands, with these words: "This is given you as a
+present for the trouble you took in performing those experiments, which
+verily pleased me;" and a command that I am to stay in the fort ten
+days; "after which," he continued, "I will send you to Kistnagherry,
+with two hircarrahs, in order to conduct you safely through my country."
+I returned the compliment with a salam, in the manner I was instructed;
+saying that I thankfully accepted his present, and am willing to obey
+his commands. The language which the sultan used was the Carnatic
+Malabar. Mine very little differed from his. Poornbia was the
+interpreter of such terms as the sultan did not understand.'}
+
+"Well,' said Dr. Bell, 'since that time Tippoo Sultan has been at war,
+and has had no leisure, I suppose, for the study of philosophy, or
+mathematics; but now that he has just made peace, and wants something
+to amuse him, he has sent to the government at Madras, to request that
+I will permit some of my scholars to pay a second visit at his court to
+refresh the memory of the aruzbegs, and, I presume, to exhibit some new
+wonders for Tippoo's entertainment.'
+
+"Dr. B. proposed to me to go on this embassy: accordingly, I prepared
+all my apparatus, and, having carefully remarked what experiments Tippoo
+had already seen, I selected such as would be new to him. I packed up
+my speaking-trumpet, my apparatus for freezing water, and that for
+exhibiting the gases, my balloon and telegraph, and with these and my
+model of the tin-mine, which I took by Dr. Bell's advice, I set out
+with two of his eldest scholars upon our expedition. We were met on the
+entrance of Tippoo's dominions by four hircarrahs or soldiers, whom the
+sultan sent as a guard to conduct us safely through his dominions. He
+received us at court the day after our arrival. Unaccustomed as I was to
+Asiatic magnificence, I confess that my eyes were at first so dazzled by
+the display of oriental pomp that, as I prostrated myself at the foot
+of the sultan's throne, I considered him as a personage high as human
+veneration could look upon. After having made my salam, or salutation,
+according to the custom of his court, as I was instructed to do, the
+sultan commanded me, by his interpreter, to display my knowledge of the
+arts and sciences, for the instruction and amusement of his court.
+
+"My boxes and machines had all been previously opened, and laid out:
+I was prepared to show my apparatus for freezing, but Tippoo's eye was
+fixed upon the painted silk balloon; and with prodigious eagerness he
+interrupted me several times with questions about that great empty
+bag. I endeavoured to make him understand as well as I could, by my
+interpreter and his own, that this great empty bag was to be filled with
+a species of air lighter than the common air; and that, when filled,
+the bag which I informed him was in our country called a balloon, would
+mount far above his palace. No sooner was this repeated to him, by
+the interpreter, than the sultan commanded me _instantly_ to fill the
+balloon; and when I replied that it could not be done instantly, and
+that I was not prepared to exhibit it on this day, Tippoo gave signs of
+the most childish impatience. He signified to me, that since I could not
+show him what he wanted to see, the sultan would not see what I wanted
+to show. I replied, through his interpreter, in the most respectful but
+firm manner, that no one would be so presumptuous as to show to Tippoo
+Sultan, in his own court, any thing which he did not desire to see:
+that it was in compliance with his wishes that I came to his court, from
+which, in obedience to his commands, I should at any time be ready
+to withdraw. A youth, who stood at the right hand of Tippoo's throne,
+seemed much to approve of this answer, and the sultan, assuming a more
+composed and dignified aspect, signified to me that he was satisfied to
+await for the sight of the filling of the great bag till the next day;
+and that he should, in the mean time, be well pleased to see what I was
+now prepared to show.
+
+"The apparatus for freezing, which we then exhibited, seemed to please
+him; but I observed that he was, during a great part of the time whilst
+I was explaining it, intent upon something else; and no sooner had I
+done speaking than he caused to be produced the condensing engines, made
+by himself, which he formerly showed to William Smith, and which he said
+spouted water higher than any of ours. The sultan, I perceived, was much
+more intent upon displaying his small stock of mechanical knowledge than
+upon increasing it; and the mixture of vanity and ignorance, which he
+displayed upon this and many subsequent occasions, considerably lessened
+the awe which his external magnificence at first excited in my mind.
+Sometimes he would put himself in competition with me, to show his
+courtiers his superiority; but failing in these attempts, he would then
+treat me as a species of mechanic juggler, who was fit only to exhibit
+for the amusement of his court. When he saw my speaking-trumpet, which
+was made of copper, he at first looked at it with great scorn, and
+ordered his trumpeters to show me theirs, which were made of silver. As
+he had formerly done when my predecessor was at his court, he desired
+his trumpeters to sound through these trumpets the words _hauw_ and
+_jauw_, i.e. come and go: but, upon trial, mine was found to be far
+superior to the sultan's: and I received intimation, through one of his
+courtiers, that it would be prudent to offer it immediately to Tippoo.
+This I accordingly did, and he accepted it with the eagerness of a child
+who has begged and obtained a new play-thing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+"The next day, Tippoo and his whole court assembled to see my balloon.
+Tippoo was seated in a splendid pavilion, and his principal courtiers
+stood in a semicircle on each side of him: the youth, whom I formerly
+observed, was again on his right hand, and his eyes were immovably fixed
+upon my balloon, which had been previously filled and fastened down by
+cords. I had the curiosity to ask who this youth was: I was informed he
+was the sultan's eldest son, Prince Abdul Calie. I had not time to make
+any farther inquiries, for Tippoo now ordered a signal to be given, as
+had been previously agreed upon. I instantly cut the cords which held
+the balloon, and it ascended with a rapid but graceful motion, to the
+unspeakable astonishment and delight of all the spectators. Some clapped
+their hands and shouted, others looked up in speechless ecstasy, and
+in the general emotion all ranks for an instant were confounded: even
+Tippoo Sultan seemed at this interval to be forgotten, and to forget
+himself, in the admiration of this new wonder.
+
+"As soon as the balloon was out of sight, the court returned to their
+usual places, the noise subsided, and the sultan, as if desirous to
+fix the public attention upon himself, and to show his own superior
+magnificence, issued orders immediately to his treasurer to present me,
+as a token of his royal approbation, with two hundred star pagodas.
+When I approached to make my salam and compliment of thanks, as I was
+instructed, the sultan, who observed that some of the courtiers already
+began to regard me with envy, as if my reward had been too great,
+determined to divert himself with their spleen, and to astonish me
+with his generosity: he took from his finger a diamond ring, which he
+presented to me by one of his officers. The young prince, Abdul Calie,
+whispered to his father whilst I was withdrawing, and I soon afterwards
+received a message from the sultan, requesting, or, in other words,
+ordering me to remain some time at his court, to instruct the young
+prince, his son, in the use of my European machines, for which they had
+in their language no names.
+
+"This command proved a source of real pleasure to me; for I found
+Prince Abdul Calie not only a youth of quick apprehension, but of a most
+amiable disposition, unlike the imperious and capricious temper which
+I had remarked in his father. Prince Abdul Calie had been, when he
+was about twelve years old, one of the hostage princes left with Lord
+Cornwallis at Seringapatam. With that politeness which is seldom to
+be found in the sons of eastern despots, this prince, after my first
+introduction, ordered the magnificent palanquin, given to him by Lord
+Cornwallis, to be shown to me; then pointing to the enamelled snakes
+which support the panels, and on which the sun at that instant happened
+to shine, Prince Abdul Calie was pleased to say, 'The remembrance of
+your noble countryman's kindness to me is as fresh and lively in my soul
+as those colours now appear to my eye.'
+
+"Another thing gave me a good opinion of this young prince; he did not
+seem to value presents merely by their costliness; whether he gave or
+received, he considered the feelings of others; and I know that he often
+excited in my mind more gratitude by the gift of a mere trifle, by a
+word or a look, than his ostentatious father could by the most valuable
+donations. Tippoo, though he ordered his treasurer to pay me fifty
+rupees per day, whilst I was in his service, yet treated me with a
+species of insolence; which, having some of the feelings of a free-born
+Briton about me, I found it difficult to endure with patience. His
+son, on the contrary, showed that he felt obliged to me for the little
+instruction I was able to give him; and never appeared to think that, as
+a prince, he could pay for all the kindness, as well as the service
+of his inferiors, by pagodas or rupees: so true it is that attachment
+cannot be bought; and those who wish to have friends, as well as
+servants, should keep this truth constantly in mind. My English spirit
+of independence induced me to make these and many more such reflections
+whilst I was at Tippoo's court.
+
+"Every day afforded me fresh occasion to form comparisons between the
+sultan and his son; and my attachment to my pupil every day increased.
+My pupil! It was with astonishment I sometimes reflected that a young
+prince was actually my pupil. Thus an obscure individual, in a country
+like England, where arts, sciences, and literature are open to all
+ranks, may obtain a degree of knowledge which an eastern despot, in all
+his pride, would gladly purchase with ingots of his purest gold.
+
+"One evening, after the business of the day was over, Tippoo Sultan came
+into his son's apartment, whilst I was explaining to the young prince
+the use of some of the mathematical instruments in my pocket-case. 'We
+are well acquainted with these things,' said the sultan in a haughty
+tone: 'the government of Madras sent us such things as those, with
+others, which are now in the possession of some of my aruzbegs, who
+have doubtless explained them sufficiently to the prince my son.' Prince
+Abdul Calie modestly replied, 'that he had never before been made to
+understand them; for that the aruzbeg, who had formerly attempted to
+explain them, had not the art of making things so clear to him as I had
+done.'
+
+"I felt a glow of pleasure at this compliment, and at the consciousness
+that I deserved it. How little did I imagine, when I used to sit up at
+nights studying my old master's books, that one of them would be the
+means of procuring me such honour. {Footnote: Jervas here alludes to a
+book entitled, "A Description of Pocket and Magazine Cases of Drawing
+Instruments: in which is explained the use of each instrument, and
+particularly of the sector and plain scale, Gunter's scale, &c. By J.
+Barrow, private teacher of mathematics."}
+
+"'What is contained in that box?' said the sultan, pointing to the box
+which held the model of the tin-mine. 'I do not remember to have seen it
+opened in my presence.'
+
+"I replied that it had not been opened, because I feared that it was not
+worthy to be shown to him. But he commanded that it should instantly
+be exhibited; and, to my great surprise, it seemed to delight him
+excessively: he examined every part, moved the wires of the puppets,
+and asked innumerable questions concerning our tin-mines. I was the
+more astonished at this, because I had imagined he would have considered
+every object of commerce as beneath the notice of a sultan. Nor could
+I guess why he should be peculiarly interested in this subject: but
+he soon explained this to me, by saying that he had, in his dominions,
+certain mines of tin, which he had a notion would, if properly managed,
+bring a considerable revenue to the royal treasury; but that at present,
+through negligence or fraud, these mines were rather burdensome than
+profitable.
+
+"He inquired from me how my model came into my possession; and, when his
+interpreter told him that I made it myself, he caused the question and
+answer to be repeated twice, before he would believe that he understood
+me rightly. He next inquired whether I was acquainted with the art of
+mining; and how I came by my information: in short, he commanded me to
+relate my history. I replied that it was a long story, concerning only
+an obscure individual, and unworthy the attention of a great monarch:
+but he seemed this evening to have nothing to do but to gratify his
+curiosity, which my apology only served to increase. He again commanded
+me to relate my adventures, and I then told him the history of my early
+life. I was much flattered by the interest which the young prince
+took in my escape from the mine, and by the praises he bestowed on my
+fidelity to my master.
+
+"The sultan, on the contrary, heard me at first with curiosity, but
+afterwards with an air of incredulity. Upon observing this, I produced
+the letter from my good master to the East India director, which gave
+a full account of the whole affair. I put this letter into the hands
+of the interpreter, and with some difficulty he translated it into the
+Carnatic Malabar, which was the language the sultan used in speaking to
+me.
+
+"The letter, which had the counter-signatures of some of the East India
+Company's servants resident at Madras, whose names were well known to
+Tippoo, failed not to make a great impression in favour of my integrity:
+of my knowledge he had before a high opinion. He stood musing for some
+time, with his eyes fixed upon the model of the tin-mine; and, after
+consulting with the young prince, as I guessed by their tones and looks,
+he bade his interpreter tell me that, if I would undertake to visit the
+tin-mines in his dominions, to instruct his miners how to work them,
+and to manage the ore according to the English fashion, I should receive
+from the royal treasury a reward more than proportioned to my services,
+and suitable to the generosity of a sultan.
+
+"Some days were given me to consider of this proposal. Though tempted by
+the idea that I might realize, in a short time, a sum that would make me
+independent for the rest of my life, yet my suspicions of the capricious
+and tyrannical temper of Tippoo made me dread to have him for a master;
+and, above all, I resolved to do nothing without the express permission
+of Dr. Bell, to whom I immediately wrote. He seemed, by his answer,
+to think that such an opportunity of making my fortune was not to be
+neglected: my hopes, therefore, prevailed over my fears, and I accepted
+the proposal.
+
+"The presents which he had made me, and the salary allowed me during six
+weeks that I had attended the young prince, amounted to a considerable
+sum; 500 star pagodas and 500 rupees: all which I left, together with
+my ring, in the care of a great Gentoo merchant of the name of Omychund,
+who had shown me many civilities. With proper guides, and full powers
+from the sultan, I proceeded on my journey, and devoted myself with
+the greatest ardour to my undertaking. A very laborious and difficult
+undertaking it proved: for in no country are prejudices in favour of
+their own customs more inveterate, amongst workmen of every description,
+than in India; and although I was empowered to inflict what punishment
+I thought proper on those who disobeyed, or even hesitated to fulfil my
+orders, yet, thank God! I could never bring myself to have a poor slave
+tortured, or put to death, because he roasted ore in a manner which I
+did not think so good as my own method; nor even because he was not
+so well convinced as I was of the advantages of our Cornwall
+smelting-furnace.
+
+"My moderation was of more service to me, in the minds of the people,
+than the utmost violence I could have employed to enforce obedience. As
+I got by degrees some little knowledge of their language, I grew more
+and more acceptable to them; and some few, who tried methods of my
+proposing, and found that they succeeded, were, by my directions,
+rewarded with the entire possession of the difference of profit between
+the old and new modes. This bounty enticed others; and in time that
+change was accomplished by gentle means, which I had at first almost
+despaired of ever effecting.
+
+"When the works were in proper train, I despatched a messenger to the
+sultan's court, to request that he would be pleased to appoint some
+confidential person to visit the mines, in order to be an eye-witness of
+what had been done; and I further begged, as I had now accomplished the
+object of the sultan's wishes, that I might be recalled, after deputing
+whomsoever he should think proper to superintend and manage the mines in
+my stead. I moreover offered, before I withdrew, to instruct the person
+who should be appointed. My messenger, after a long delay, returned to
+me, with a command from Tippoo Sultan to remain where I was till his
+further orders. For these I waited three months, and then, concluding
+that I was forgotten, I determined to set out to refresh Tippoo's
+memory.
+
+"I found him at Devanelli Fort, thinking of nothing less than of me or
+my tin-mines: he was busily engaged in making preparations for a war
+with some Soubha or other, whose name I forget, and all his ideas were
+bent on conquests and vengeance. He scarcely deigned to see, much less
+to listen to me: his treasurer gave me to understand that too much had
+already been lavished upon me, a stranger as I was; and that Tippoo's
+resources, at all events, would be now employed in carrying on schemes
+of war, not petty projects of commerce. Thus insulted, and denied all my
+promised reward, I could not but reflect upon the hard fate of those who
+attempt to serve capricious despots.
+
+"I prepared as fast as possible to depart from Tippoo's court. The
+Hindoo merchant with whom I had lodged the pagodas and rupees promised
+to transmit them to me at Madras; and he delivered to me the diamond
+ring which Tippoo had given to me during his fit of generosity, or of
+ostentation. The sultan, who cared no more what became of me, made no
+opposition to my departure: but I was obliged to wait a day or two for
+a guard, as the hircarrahs who formerly conducted me were now out upon
+some expedition.
+
+"Whilst I waited impatiently for their return, Prince Abdul Calie, who
+had not been during all this time at Devanelli Fort, arrived; and when
+I went to take leave of him, he inquired into the reason of my sudden
+departure. In language as respectful as I could use, and with as much
+delicacy as I thought myself bound to observe, in speaking to a son of
+his father, I related the truth. The prince's countenance showed what he
+felt. He paused, and seemed to be lost in thought, for a few minutes: he
+then said to me, 'The sultan, my father, is at this time so intent upon
+preparations for war, that even I should despair of being listened to on
+any other subject. But you have in your possession, as I recollect, what
+might be useful to him either in war or peace; and, if you desire it, I
+will speak of this machine to the sultan.'
+
+"I did not immediately know to what machine of mine the prince alluded;
+but he explained to me that he meant my portable telegraph, which would
+be of infinite use to Tippoo in conveying orders of intelligence across
+the deserts. I left the matter entirely to the prince, after returning
+him my very sincere thanks for being thus interested in my concerns.
+
+"A few hours after this conversation, I was summoned into the sultan's
+presence. His impatience to make trial of the telegraphs was excessive;
+and I, who but the day before had been almost trampled upon by the
+officers and lords of his court, instantly became a person of the
+greatest importance. The trial of the telegraphs succeeded beyond even
+my expectations; and the sultan was in a species of ecstasy on the
+occasion.
+
+"I cannot omit to notice an instance of the violence of his temper, and
+its sudden changes from joy to rage. One of his blacks, a gentle Hindoo
+lad, of the name of Saheb, was set to manage a telegraph at one of
+the stations, a few yards distant from the sultan. I had previously
+instructed Saheb in what he was to do; but, from want of practice, he
+made some mistake, which threw Tippoo into such a transport of passion,
+that he instantly ordered the slave's head to be cut off! a sentence
+which would infallibly have been executed, if I had not represented that
+it would be expedient to suffer his head to remain on his shoulders till
+the message was delivered by his telegraph; because there was no one
+present who could immediately supply his place. Saheb then read off his
+message without making any new blunder; and the moment the exhibition
+was over, I threw myself at the feet of the sultan, and implored him
+to pardon Saheb. I was not likely at this moment to be refused such a
+_trifle_! Saheb was pardoned.
+
+"An order upon the treasurer for five hundred star pagodas, to reward my
+services at the royal tin-mines, was given to me; and upon my presenting
+to Tippoo Sultan the portable telegraphs, on which his ardent wishes
+were fixed, he exclaimed: 'Ask any favour in the wide-extended power of
+Tippoo Sultan to confer, and it shall be granted."
+
+"I concluded that this was merely an oriental figure of speech; but I
+resolved to run the hazard of a refusal. I did not ask for a province,
+though this was in the wide-extended power of Tippoo Sultan to confer;
+but as I had a great curiosity to see the diamond mines of Golconda, of
+which both in Europe and in India I had heard so much, I requested the
+sultan's permission to visit those which belonged to him. He hesitated;
+but after saying some words to an officer near him, he bade his
+interpreter tell me that he granted my request.
+
+"Accordingly, after lodging my pagodas and rupees along with the rest
+in the hands of Omychund, the Gentoo merchant, who was a man of great
+wealth and credit, I set out in company with some diamond merchants who
+were going to Golconda. My curiosity was amply gratified by the sight
+of these celebrated mines; and I determined that, when I returned to
+Europe, I would write a description of them. This description, however,
+I shall spare you for the present, and proceed with my story.
+
+"The diamond merchants with whom I travelled had a great deal of
+business to transact at various places; and this was the cause of much
+delay to me, which I could scarcely bear with patience; for now that I
+had gratified my curiosity, I was extremely desirous to return to Madras
+with my little treasure. The five years' salary due to me by the East
+India Company, which I had never used, I had put out at interest at
+Madras, where sometimes the rate was as high as twelve per cent.; and
+if you knew (said Mr. Jervas, addressing himself to the miners at Mr.
+R----'s table) any thing of the nature of compound interest, you would
+perceive that I was in a fair way to get rich: for, in the course of
+fourteen or fifteen years, any sum that is put out at compound interest,
+even in England, where the rate of legal interest is five per cent.,
+becomes double; that is, one hundred pounds put out at compound
+interest, in fourteen years, becomes two hundred. But few people have
+the patience, or the prudence, to make this use of their money. I was,
+however, determined to employ all my capital in this manner; and I
+calculated that, in seven years, I should have accumulated a sum fully
+sufficient to support me all the rest of my life in ease and affluence.
+
+"Full of these hopes and calculations, I pursued my journey along with
+the merchants. Arrived at Devanelli Fort, I learned that the Soubha,
+with whom the sultan had been going to war, had given up the territory
+in dispute, and had pacified Tippoo by submissions and presents. Whether
+he chose peace or war was indifferent to me: I was intent on my private
+affairs, and I went immediately to Omychund, my banker, to settle them.
+I had taken my diamond ring with me to the mines, that I might compare
+it with others, and learn its value; and I found that it was worth
+nearly treble what I had been offered for it. Omychund congratulated me
+upon this discovery, and we were just going to settle our accounts,
+when an officer came in, and, after asking whether I was not the young
+Englishman who had lately visited the mines of Golconda, summoned me
+immediately to appear before the sultan. I was terrified, for I imagined
+I was perhaps suspected of having purloined some of the diamonds; but I
+followed the officer without hesitation, conscious of my innocence.
+
+"Tippoo Sultan, contrary to my expectations, received me with a smiling
+countenance; and, pointing to the officer who accompanied me, asked me
+whether I recollected to have ever seen his face before? I replied, No:
+but the sultan then informed me that this officer, who was one of his
+own guards, had attended me in disguise during my whole visit to the
+diamond mines; and that he was perfectly satisfied of my honourable
+conduct. Then, after making a signal to the officer and all present to
+withdraw, he bade me approach nearer to him; paid some compliments to my
+abilities, and proceeded to explain to me that he stood in farther need
+of my services; and that, if I served him with fidelity, I should have
+no reason to complain, on my return to my own country, of his want of
+generosity.
+
+"All thoughts of war being now, as he told me, out of his mind, he had
+leisure for other projects to enrich himself; and he was determined to
+begin by reforming certain abuses, which had long tended to impoverish
+the royal treasury. I was at a loss to know whither this preamble
+would lead: at length, having exhausted his oriental pomp of words, he
+concluded by informing me that he had reason to believe he was terribly
+cheated in the management of his mines at Golconda; that they were
+rented from him by a Feulinga Brahmin, as he called him, whose agreement
+with the adventurers in the mines was, that all the stones they found
+under a pago in weight were to be their own; and all above this weight
+were to be his, for the sultan's use. Now it seems that this agreement
+was never honestly fulfilled by any of the parties: the slaves cheating
+the merchants, the merchants cheating the Feulinga Brahmin, and he,
+in his turn, defrauding the sultan; so that, Tippoo assured me, he had
+often purchased, from diamond merchants, stones of a larger spread and
+finer water than any he could get directly from his own mines; and
+that he had been frequently obliged to reward these merchants with
+rich vests, or fine horses, in order to encourage others to offer their
+diamonds {Footnote: Philosophical Transactions, vol. ii. p.472.} for
+sale.
+
+"I could not but observe, whilst Tippoo related all this, the great
+agitation of his looks and voice, which showed me the strong hold the
+passion for diamonds had upon his soul; on which I should perhaps have
+made some wise reflections, but that people have seldom leisure or
+inclination to make wise reflections when standing in the presence of a
+prince as powerful and as despotic as Tippoo Sultan.
+
+"The service that he required from me was a very dangerous one; no
+less than to visit the mines secretly by night, to search those small
+cisterns in which the workmen leave the diamonds mixed with the sand,
+gravelly stuff, and red earth, to sink and drain off during their
+absence. I by no means relished this undertaking: besides that it would
+expose me to imminent danger, it was odious to my feelings to become a
+spy and an informer. This I stated to the sultan, but he gave no credit
+to this motive; and, attributing my reluctance wholly to fear, he
+promised that he would take effectual measures to secure my safety; and
+that, after I had executed this commission, he would immediately send
+a guard with me to Madras. I saw that a dark frown lowered on his brow,
+when I persisted in declining this office; but I fortunately bethought
+myself at this moment of a method of escaping the effects of his anger,
+without giving up my own principles.
+
+"I represented to him that the seizure of the diamonds in the cisterns,
+which he proposed, even should it afford him any convincing proofs of
+the dishonesty of the slaves and diamond merchants, and even if he
+could in future take effectual precautions to secure himself from their
+frauds, would not be a source of wealth to him equal to one which I
+could propose. His avarice fixed his attention, and he eagerly
+commanded me to proceed. I then explained to him that one of his richest
+diamond-mines had been for some time abandoned; because the workmen,
+having dug till they came to water, were then forced to stop for want of
+engines such as are known in Europe. Now, having observed that there was
+a rapid current at the foot of the mountain, on which I could erect a
+water-mill, I offered to clear this valuable mine."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+"The sultan was pleased with the proposal; but, recollecting how apt
+he was to change his humour, and how ill he received me when I returned
+from his tin-mines, I had the precaution to represent that, as this
+undertaking would be attended with considerable expense, it would
+be necessary that a year's salary should be advanced to me before my
+departure for Golconda; and that, if the payments were not in future
+regularly made, I should be at liberty to resign my employment, and
+return to Madras. Prince Abdul Calie was present when the sultan pledged
+his word to this, and gave me full powers to employ certain of his
+artificers and workmen.
+
+"I shall not trouble you with a history of all my difficulties, delays,
+and disappointments, in the execution of my undertaking; however
+interesting they were to me, the relation would be tiresome to those
+who have no diamond-mines to drain. It is enough for you to know that at
+length my engines were set a-going properly, and did their business so
+effectually, that the place was by degrees cleared of water, and the
+workmen were able to open fresh and valuable veins. During all this
+time, including a period of three years, my salary was regularly paid to
+the Gentoo merchant, Omychund, in whose hands I left all my money,
+upon his promising to pay me as high interest as what I could obtain
+at Madras. I drew upon him only for such small sums as were absolutely
+necessary; as I was resolved to live with the utmost economy, that I
+might the sooner be enabled to return in affluence to my native country.
+
+"And here I must pause to praise myself, or rather to rejoice from the
+bottom of my soul, that I did not, when power was in my hands, make use
+of it for the purposes of extortion. The condition of the poor slaves,
+who were employed by me, was envied by all the others: and I have reason
+to know that, even in the most debased and miserable state of existence,
+the human heart can be wakened by kind treatment to feelings of
+affection and gratitude. These slaves became so much attached to me
+that, although the governor of the mines, and certain diamond merchants,
+were lying in wait continually to get rid of me some way or other, they
+never could effect their purposes. I was always apprised of my danger in
+time by some of these trusty slaves; who, with astonishing sagacity and
+fidelity, guarded me while I lived amongst them.
+
+"A life of daily suspicion and danger was, however, terrible; and my
+influence extended but a little way in making others happy. I might,
+for a short season, lessen the suffering of these slaves; but still
+they were slaves, and most of them were treated scarcely as if they were
+human beings, by the rapacious adventurers for whom they laboured.
+
+"These poor wretches generally work almost naked; they dare not wear a
+coat, lest the governor should say they have thriven much, are rich, and
+so increase his demands upon them. The wisest, when they find a great
+stone, conceal it till they have an opportunity; and then, with wife and
+children, run all away into the Visiapore country, where they are secure
+and well used. {Footnote: Philosophical Transactions.}
+
+"My heart sickened at the daily sight of so much misery; and nothing but
+my hopes of finally prevailing on the sultan to better their condition,
+by showing him how much he would be the gainer by it, could have induced
+me to remain so long in this situation. Repeatedly Tippoo promised me
+that the first diamond of twenty pagos weight which I should bring to
+him, he would grant me all I asked in favour of the slaves under my
+care. I imparted to them this promise, which excited them to great
+exertions. At last we were fortunate enough to find a diamond above
+the weight required. It was a well-spread stone, of a beautiful pale
+rose-colour, and of an adamantine hardness. I am sure that the sight of
+that famous stone, which is known by the name of the Pitt diamond, never
+gave its possessor such heartfelt joy as I experienced when I beheld
+this. I looked upon it as the pledge of future happiness, not only to
+myself, but to hundreds of my fellow-creatures.
+
+"I set out immediately for Tippoo Sultan's court. It was too late in
+the evening, when I arrived, to see the sultan that night; so I went
+to Omychund, the Hindoo merchant, to settle my affairs with him. He
+received me with open arms, saying that he had thriven much upon my
+pagodas and rupees, and that he was ready to account with me for my
+salary; also for the interest which he owed me; for all which he gave
+me an order upon an English merchant at Madras, with whom I was well
+acquainted.
+
+"This being settled to my satisfaction, I told him the business which
+now brought me to Tippoo's court, and showed him my rose-coloured
+diamond. His eyes opened at the sight with a prodigious expression of
+avaricious eagerness. 'Trust me,' said he, 'keep this diamond. I know
+Tippoo better than you do; he will not grant those privileges to the
+slaves that you talk about; and, after all, what concern are they of
+yours? They are used to the life they lead. They are not Europeans. What
+concern are they of yours? Once in your native country, you will dream
+of them no more. You will think only of enjoying the wealth you shall
+have brought from India. Trust me, keep the diamond. Fly this night
+towards Madras. I have a slave who perfectly knows the road across
+the country: you will be in no danger of pursuit, for the sultan will
+suppose you to be still at Golconda. No one could inform him of the
+truth but myself; and you must see, by the advice I now give you, that I
+am your firm friend.'
+
+"As he finished these words, he clapped his hands, to summon one of his
+slaves, as he said, to give instant orders for my flight. He looked upon
+me with incredulous surprise, when I coolly told him that the flight
+which he proposed was far from my thoughts; and that it was my
+determination to give the sultan the diamond that belonged to him.
+
+"Seeing that I was in earnest, Omychund suddenly changed his
+countenance; and in a tone of raillery, asked me whether I could believe
+that his proposal was serious. Indeed I was left in doubt whether he
+had been in earnest or not; and, at all events, I gave him to understand
+that I was incapable of betraying him to the sultan.
+
+"The next morning, as early as I could, I presented myself before the
+sultan, who singled me from the crowd, and took me with him into the
+apartment of Prince Abdul Calie.
+
+"I proceeded cautiously: Tippoo was all impatience to hear news of his
+diamond mine, and repeatedly interrupted me in my account of what had
+been done there, by asking whether we had yet come to any diamonds? I
+produced first one of a violet colour, which I had reserved as a present
+for Prince Abdul Calie; it was a fine stone, but nothing equal to our
+rose-coloured diamond. Tippoo admired this, however, so much, that I was
+certain he would be in raptures with that which I had in store for him.
+Before I showed it to him, in speaking of the weight of that which I had
+designed to present to the prince, I reminded him of his royal promise
+with respect to the slaves. 'True,' cried the sultan: 'but is this
+diamond twenty pagos weight? when you bring me one of that value,
+you may depend upon having all you ask.' I instantly produced the
+rose-coloured diamond, weighed it in his presence, and, as the scale in
+which it was put descended, Tippoo burst forth into an exclamation of
+joy. I seized the favourable moment; he nodded as I knelt before him,
+and bade me rise, saying my request was granted; though why I should ask
+favours for a parcel of mean slaves, he observed, was incomprehensible.
+
+"Prince Abdul Calie did not appear to be of this opinion; he at this
+instant cast upon me a look full of benevolence; and whilst his father
+was absorbed in the contemplation of his rose-coloured diamond, which he
+weighed, I believe, a hundred times, the generous young prince presented
+to me that violet-coloured diamond which I brought for him. A princely
+gift made in a princely manner.
+
+"Tippoo's secretary made out for me the necessary order to the governor
+of the mines, by which a certain share of the profits of his labour was,
+by the sultan's command, to belong to each slave; and all those who had
+been employed in my service were, as a reward for their good conduct,
+to be emancipated. A number of petty exactions were by this order
+abolished; and the property acquired in land, dress, &c. by the slaves,
+was secured to them. Most gladly did I see the sultan's signet affixed
+to this paper; and when it was delivered into my hands, my heart bounded
+with joy. I resolved to be the bearer of these good tidings myself.
+Although my passport was made out for Madras, and two hircarrahs, by the
+sultan's orders, were actually ready to attend me thither, yet I could
+not refuse myself the pleasure of beholding the joy of the slaves, at
+this change in their condition; and, to the latest hour of my life, I
+shall rejoice that I returned to Golconda the messenger of happiness.
+Never shall I forget the scene to which I was there a witness; never
+will the expressions of joy and gratitude be effaced from my memory,
+which lighted up the dark faces of these poor creatures! who, say what
+we will, have as much sensibility, perhaps more, than we have ourselves.
+
+"No sooner was I awake, the morning after my arrival, than I heard
+them singing songs under my window, in which my own name was frequently
+repeated. They received me with a shout of joy when I went out amongst
+them; and, crowding round me, they pressed me to accept of some little
+tokens of their gratitude and good-will, which I had not the heart to
+refuse. The very children, by their caresses, seemed to beg me not to
+reject these little offerings. I determined, if ever I reached Europe,
+to give all of them to you, sir, my good master, as the best present I
+could make to one of your way of thinking.
+
+"The day after my arrival was spent in rejoicings. All the slaves, who
+had worked under my inspection, had saved some little matters, with
+which they had purchased for their wives and for themselves coloured
+cottons, and handkerchiefs for their heads. Now that they were not in
+dread of being robbed or persecuted by the governor of the mines, they
+ventured to produce them in open day. These cottons of Malabar are dyed
+of remarkably bright and gaudy colours; and, when the slaves appeared
+decked in them, it was to me one of the gayest spectacles I ever beheld.
+They were dancing with a degree of animation of which, till then, I
+never had an idea.
+
+"I stood under the shade of a large banyan tree, enjoying the sight;
+when suddenly I felt from behind a blow on my head which stunned me. I
+fell to the ground; and when I came to my senses, found myself in the
+hands of four armed soldiers, and a Hindoo, who was pulling my diamond
+ring from my finger. They were carrying me away amid the cries and
+lamentations of the slaves, who followed us. 'Stand off'! it is in vain
+you shriek,' said one of the soldiers to the surrounding crowd; 'what we
+do is by order of the sultan. Thus he punishes traitors.'
+
+"Without further explanation, I was thrown into a dungeon belonging to
+the governor of the mines, who stood by with insulting joy to see me
+chained to a large stone in my horrid prison. I knew him to be my enemy:
+but what was my astonishment when I recollected in the countenance of
+the Hindoo, who was fastening my chains and loading me with curses,
+that very Saheb, whose life I had formerly saved! To all my questions
+no answer was given, but, 'It is the will of the sultan;' or, 'Thus the
+sultan avenges himself upon traitors.'
+
+"The door of my dungeon was then locked and barred, and I was left alone
+in perfect darkness. Is this, thought I, the reward of all my faithful
+services? Bitterly did I regret that I was not in my native country,
+where no man, at the will of a sultan, can be thrown into a dungeon,
+without knowing his crime or his accusers. I cannot attempt to describe
+to you what I felt, during this most miserable day of my existence.
+Feeble at last, for want of food, I stretched myself out, as well as my
+chains would allow me, and tried to compose myself to sleep. I sunk
+into a state of insensibility, in which I must have remained for several
+hours, for it was midnight when I was roused by the unbarring of my
+prison door. It was Saheb who entered, carrying in one hand a torch, and
+in the other some food, which he set before me in silence. I cast upon
+him a look of scorn, and was about to reproach him with his ingratitude,
+when he threw himself at my feet, and burst into tears. 'Is it
+possible,' said he to me, 'that you are not sure of the heart of Saheb?
+You saved my life; I am come to save yours. But eat, master,' continued
+he; 'eat whilst I speak, for we have no time to lose. To-morrow's sun
+must see us far from hence. You cannot support the fatigues you have to
+undergo without taking food.'
+
+"I yielded to his entreaties, and, whilst I ate, Saheb informed me that
+my imprisonment was owing to the treacherous Hindoo merchant, Omychund;
+who, in hopes, I suppose, of possessing himself in quiet of all the
+wealth which I had intrusted to his care, went to the sultan, and
+accused me of having secreted certain diamonds of great value, which
+he pretended I had shown to him in confidence. Tippoo, enraged at this,
+despatched immediate orders to four of his soldiers to go in search of
+me, seize, imprison, and torture me, till I should confess where these
+diamonds were concealed. Saheb was in the sultan's apartment when this
+order was given, and immediately hastened to Prince Abdul Calie, whom he
+knew to be my friend, and informed him of what had happened. The prince
+sent for Omychund, and, after carefully questioning him, was convinced,
+by his contradictory answers, and by his confusion, that the charge
+against me was wholly unfounded: he dismissed Omychund, however, without
+letting him know his opinion, and then sent Saheb for the four soldiers
+who were setting out in search of me. In their presence he gave Saheb
+orders aloud to take charge of me the moment I should be found, and
+secretly commissioned him to favour my escape. The soldiers thought that
+in obeying the prince they obeyed the sultan; and, consequently, when
+I was taken and lodged in my dungeon, the keys of it were delivered to
+Saheb.
+
+"When he had finished telling me all this, he restored to me my ring,
+which he said he snatched from my finger, as soon as I was seized, that
+I might not be robbed of it by the governor, or some of the soldiers.
+
+"The grateful Saheb now struck off my chains; and my own anxiety for my
+escape was scarcely equal to his. He had swift horses belonging to
+the soldiers in readiness; and we pursued our course all night
+without interruption. He was well acquainted with the country, having
+accompanied the sultan on several expeditions. When we thought ourselves
+beyond the reach of all pursuers, Saheb permitted me to rest; but I
+never rested at my ease till I was out of Tippoo Sultan's dominions, and
+once more in safety at Madras. Dr. Bell received me with great kindness,
+heard my story, and congratulated me on my escape from Tippoo's power.
+
+"I was now rich beyond my hopes; for I had Omychund's order upon the
+Madras merchant safe in my pocket, and the whole sum was punctually paid
+to me. My ring I sold to the governor of Madras for more even than I
+expected.
+
+"I had the satisfaction to learn, before I left Madras, that Omychund's
+treachery was made known to the sultan, by means of Prince Abdul Calie,
+whose memory will ever be dear to me. Tippoo, as I have been informed,
+in speaking of me, was heard to regret that he could not recall to his
+service such an honest Englishman.
+
+"I was eager to reward the faithful Saheb, but he absolutely refused the
+money which I offered him, saying, 'that he would not be paid for saving
+the life of one who had saved his.' He expressed a great desire to
+accompany me to my native country, from the moment that I told him we
+had no slaves there; and that as soon as any slave touched the English
+shore, by our laws, he obtained his freedom. He pressed me so earnestly
+to take him along with me as my servant, that I could not refuse; so he
+sailed with me for Europe. As the wind filled the sails of our vessel,
+much did I rejoice that the gales which blew me from the shores of India
+were not tainted with the curses of any of my fellow-creatures. Here
+I am, thank Heaven! once more in free and happy England, with a good
+fortune, clean hands, and a pure conscience, not unworthy to present
+myself to my first good master, to him whose humanity and generosity
+were the cause of--"
+
+Here Mr. R---- interrupted his own praises, by saying to those of the
+miners who had not fallen fast asleep, "My good friends, you now know
+the meaning of the toast which you all drank after dinner; let us drink
+it again before we part 'Welcome home to our friend, Mr. Jervas, and may
+good faith always meet with good fortune!'"
+
+_October_, 1799.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WILL
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Mr. Pearson, a wealthy Lincolnshire farmer, who had always been esteemed
+a prudent sensible man, though something of a _humourist_, made the
+following will:
+
+"I, John Pearson, of _The Wold_ in Lincolnshire, farmer, being of sound
+mind and body, do make this my last will and testament, &c.
+
+"I give and bequeath my farm of West Woldland to my eldest nephew,
+Grimes Goodenough; my farm of Holland Fen to my dear nephew, John
+Wright, and my farm of Clover-hill to my youngest nephew, Pierce Marvel.
+
+"I farther will and desire that the sum of ten thousand pounds, which is
+now in the hands of William Constantine, gentleman, my executor, may by
+him, immediately after my decease, be put out to interest for ten years:
+and I will and desire that, at the end of the said ten years, the said
+sum of ten thousand pounds, and the interest so accumulated thereon, be
+given to whichsoever of my aforesaid nephews shall at that time be the
+richest.
+
+"And I trust that the said William Constantine, gentleman, my executor
+and very good friend, being a clear-headed honest man, will understand
+and execute this my last will and testament, according to the plain
+meaning of my words; though it should happen that this my will should
+not be drawn up in due legal form, of which I know little or nothing."
+
+Mr. Constantine, the executor, being, as described, a clear-headed
+honest man, found no difficulty either in understanding or executing
+this trust: the ten thousand pounds were, immediately upon Pearson's
+decease, placed out upon interest; and the three nephews were put
+into possession of their farms. These were of very different value.
+Goodenough's wanted improvement, but would pay richly for any that
+should be judiciously made; Wright's farm was by far the worst of the
+three; and Marvel's the best.
+
+The Lincolnshire world was much divided in opinion concerning these
+young men; and many bets were laid relating to the legacy. People judged
+according to their own characters; the enterprising declared for Marvel,
+the prudent for Wright, the timid for Goodenough.
+
+The nephews had scarcely been in possession of their farms a week when,
+one evening, as they were all supping together at Wright's house, Marvel
+suddenly turned to Goodenough, and exclaimed, "When do you begin your
+improvements, cousin Goodenough?"
+
+"Never, cousin Marvel."
+
+"Then you'll never touch the ten thousand, my boy. What! will you
+do nothing to your marsh? Nothing to your common? Nothing to your
+plantations? Do not you mean ever to make any improvements?"
+
+"I mean not to make any improvements."
+
+"Well, you'll let me make some for you."
+
+"Not I."
+
+"No! Won't you let me cut down some of those trees for you, that are
+spoiling one another in your wood?"
+
+"Not a tree shall be cut down. Not a stick shall be stirred. Not a
+change shall be made, I say."
+
+"Not a change for the better, cousin Goodenough?" said Wright.
+
+"Not a change can be for the better, to my mind; I shall plough, and
+sow, and reap, as our forefathers did, and that's enough for me."
+
+"What! will you not even try the new plough?" said Marvel.
+
+"Not I; no new ploughs for me. No plough can be so good as the old one."
+
+"How do you know, as you never tried it, or would see it tried?" said
+Wright: "I find it better than the old one."
+
+"No matter; the old one will do well enough for me, as it did for my
+father before me." After having repeated these words in precisely the
+same tone several times, he went on slowly eating his supper, whilst
+Marvel, in detestation of his obstinate stupidity, turned his back
+upon him, and began to enumerate to Wright sundry of his own ingenious
+projects.
+
+"My dear Wright," said he, "you are worth talking to, and you shall hear
+all my schemes."
+
+"Willingly; but I do not promise to approve of them all."
+
+"Oh! you will, you will, the moment you hear them; and I will let you
+have a share in some of them. In the first place, there's that fine
+rabbit-warren near Clover-hill. The true silver grey rabbits--_silver
+sprigs_, they call them--do you know that the skins of those _silver
+sprigs_ are worth any money?"
+
+"Any money! what money?"
+
+"Pooh! I don't know exactly: but I mean to buy that warren."
+
+"Before you know what it is worth! Let us consider; each dozen of skins
+is worth, say, from ten to fifteen shillings."
+
+"You need not trouble yourself to calculate now," interrupted Marvel,
+"for I have determined to have the warren. With the money that I shall
+get for my silver sprigs, I will next year make a decoy, and supply the
+London market with wild-fowl. Don't you remember the day that we met
+Simon Stubbs, the carrier, loaded with game and wild-fowl, he said that
+a decoy in Lincolnshire must be a fortune to any man. I'll have the best
+decoy not only in Lincolnshire but in all England. By-the-bye, there's
+another thing I must do, Wright; I'll exchange any part of Clover-hill
+you please with you, for as much land in Holland Fen."
+
+"Take him at his word, cousin Wright," said Goodenough.
+
+"No, no," replied Wright; "I know the value of land, and the difference
+between Clover-hill and Holland Fen, better than he does: I would not
+take him at his word, for that would be taking him in."
+
+"I would not take anybody in," said Goodenough; "but if another man is
+a fool, that's no reason I should be one. Now, if a man offers me a
+good bargain, why should not I close with him, and say--Done?" "Then say
+done," cried Marvel, "and you shall have the bargain, Goodenough.
+You have an undrained marsh of your own: I'll exchange with you, and
+welcome, ten acres of the marsh for five of Clover-hill."
+
+"Done," said Goodenough.
+
+"Done. I shall stock it with geese, and you'll see what the quills and
+feathers alone will bring me in. I've engaged with one already to sell
+them for me. But, Wright, here's another scheme I have. Wildmore common,
+you know, is covered with those huge thistles, which prick the noses of
+the sheep so as to hinder them from feeding and fattening: I will take
+that common into my own hands."
+
+"Ay," said Goodenough; "exchange the rest of Clover-hill for it:--that's
+like you!"
+
+"And I will mow the thistles," pursued Marvel, without deigning to reply
+to Goodenough. "I will mow the thistles; their down I can contrive to
+work up into cotton, and the stalks into cordage: and, with the profit
+I shall make of these thistles, and of my decoy, and of my goose-quills
+and feathers, and of my silver sprig rabbits, I will buy jackets for my
+sheep, for my sheep shall all have jackets after shearing. Why should
+not Lincolnshire sheep, if they have jackets, become as valuable as
+the Leicestershire breed? You'll see my sheep will be the finest in the
+whole county; and, with the profit I shall make of them, I will set up
+a fishery in Fen-lake; and with the profits of the fishery--now comes my
+grand scheme--I shall be the richest of you all! with the profits of the
+fishery, and the decoy, and the sheep, and the silver sprigs, and the
+quills and feathers, geese and thistles, I will purchase that fine
+heronry, near Spalding."
+
+At these words, Goodenough laid down his knife and fork; and, sticking
+his arms a-kimbo, laughed contemptuously, if not heartily.
+
+"So, then, the end of all this turmoil is to purchase a heronry! Much
+good may it do you, cousin Marvel. You understand your own affair best:
+you will make great _improvements_, I grant, and no doubt will be the
+richest of us all. The ten thousand pounds will be yours for certain:
+for, as we all know, cousin Marvel, you are a genius!--But why a genius
+should set his fancy upon a heronry, of all things in this mortal world,
+is more than I can pretend to tell, being no genius myself."
+
+"Look here, Wright," continued Marvel, still without vouchsafing
+any direct reply to Goodenough: "here's a description, in this last
+newspaper, of the fine present that the grand seignior has made to his
+majesty. The plume of herons' feathers alone is estimated at a thousand
+guineas! Think of what I shall make by my heronry! At the end of ten
+years, I shall be so rich that it will hardly be worth my while," said
+Marvel, laughing, "to accept of my uncle's legacy. I will give it to
+you, Wright; for you are a generous fellow, and I am sure you will
+deserve it."
+
+In return for this liberal promise, Wright endeavoured to convince
+Marvel, that if he attempted such a variety of schemes at once, they
+would probably all fail; and that to ensure success, it would be
+necessary to calculate, and to make himself master of the business,
+before he should undertake to conduct it. Marvel, however, was of too
+sanguine and presumptuous a temper to listen to this sage advice: he was
+piqued by the sneers of his cousin Goodenough, and determined to prove
+the superiority of his own spirit and intellect. He plunged at once
+into the midst of a business which he did not understand. He took a
+rabbit-warren of two hundred and fifty acres into his hands; stocked ten
+acres of marsh land with geese; and exchanged some of the best part of
+Clover-hill for a share in a common covered with thistles. He planted a
+considerable tract of land, with a degree of expedition that astonished
+all the neighbourhood: but it was remarked that the fences were not
+quite sufficient; especially as the young trees were in a dangerous
+situation, being surrounded by land stocked with sheep and horned
+cattle. Wright warned him of the danger; but he had no time this year,
+he said, to complete the fences: the men who tended his sheep might
+easily keep them from the plantation for this season, and the next
+spring he purposed to dig such a ditch round the whole as should secure
+it for ever. He was now extremely busy, making jackets for his sheep,
+providing willows for his decoy, and gorse and corn for his geese: the
+geese, of which he had a prodigious flock, were not yet turned into
+their fen, because a new scheme had occurred to Marvel, relative to some
+reeds with which a part of this fen was covered; on these reeds myriads
+of starlings were accustomed to roost, who broke them down with their
+weight. Now Marvel knew that such reeds would be valuable for thatching,
+and with this view he determined to drive away the starlings; but the
+measures necessary for this purpose would frighten his friends, the
+geese, and therefore he was obliged to protect and feed them in his
+farm-yard, at a considerable expense, whilst he was carrying on the war
+with the starlings. He fired guns at them morning and evening, he sent
+up rockets and kites with fiery tails, and at last he banished them; but
+half his geese, in the mean time, died for want of food; and the women
+and children, who plucked them, stole one quarter of the feathers, and
+one half of the quills, whilst Marvel was absent letting up rockets in
+the fen.
+
+The rabbit-warren was, however, to make up for all other losses:
+a furrier had engaged to take as many silver sprigs from him as he
+pleased, at sixteen shillings a dozen, provided he should send them
+properly dressed, and in time to be shipped for China, where these
+silver grey rabbit skins sold to the best advantage. As winter came on,
+it was necessary to supply the warren with winter food: and Marvel was
+much astonished at the multitude of unforeseen expenses into which
+his rabbits led him. The banks of the warren wanted repair, and the
+warrener's house was not habitable in bad weather: these appeared but
+slight circumstances when Marvel made the purchase; but, alas! he had
+reason to change his opinion in the course of a few months. The first
+week in November, there was a heavy fall of snow; and the warren walls
+should have been immediately cleared of snow, to have kept the rabbits
+within their bounds: but Marvel happened this week to be on a visit in
+Yorkshire, and he was _obliged_ to leave the care of the warren entirely
+to the warrener, who was _obliged_ to quit his house during the snow,
+and to take shelter with a neighbour: he neglected to clear the walls;
+and Marvel upon his return home, found that his silver sprigs had
+strayed into a neighbouring warren. The second week in November is the
+time when the rabbits are usually killed, as the skins are then in full
+prime: it was in vain that Marvel raised a hue and cry after his silver
+sprigs; a fortnight passed away before one-third of them could be
+recovered. The season was lost, and the furrier sued him for breach of
+contract; and what was worse, Goodenough laughed at his misfortunes. The
+next year he expected to retrieve his loss: he repaired the warrener's
+house, new faced the banks, and capped them with furze; but the common
+grey rabbit had been introduced into the warren, by the stragglers of
+the preceding year; and as these grey rabbits are of a much more hardy
+race than the silver sprigs, they soon obtained and kept possession
+of the land. Marvel now pronounced rabbits to be the most useless and
+vexatious animals upon earth; and, in one quarter of an hour, thoroughly
+convinced himself that tillage was far more profitable than rabbits.
+He ploughed up his warren, and sowed it with corn; but, unluckily,
+his attention had been so much taken up by the fishery, the decoy,
+the geese, the thistles, and the hopes of the heronry, that he totally
+forgot his intention of making the best of all possible ditches round
+his plantation. When he went to visit this plantation, he beheld a
+miserable spectacle: the rabbits which had strayed beyond their bounds
+during the great snow, and those which had been hunted from their
+burrows, when the warren was ploughed up, had all taken shelter in this
+spot; and these refugees supported themselves, for some months, upon the
+bark and roots of the finest young trees.
+
+Marvel's loss was great, but his mortification still greater; for his
+cousin Goodenough laughed at him without mercy. Something must be done,
+he saw, to retrieve his credit: ad the heronry was his resource.
+
+"What will signify a few trees, more or less," thought he, "or the loss
+of a few silver sprigs, or the death of a few geese, or the waste of a
+few quills and feathers? My sheep will sell well, my thistles will bring
+me up again; and as soon as I have sold my sheep at Partney fair, and
+manufactured my thistles, I will set out with my money in my pocket
+for Spalding, and make my bargain for the heronry. A plume of herons'
+feathers is worth a thousand guineas! My fortune will be made when I get
+possession of the Spalding heronry."
+
+So intent was Marvel upon the thoughts of the Spalding heronry, that he
+neglected every thing else. About a week before the fair of Partney,
+he bethought himself of his sheep, which he had left to the care of a
+shepherd boy: he now ordered the boy to drive them home, that he might
+see them. Their jackets hung upon them like bags: the poor animals had
+fallen away in the most deplorable manner. Marvel could scarcely believe
+that these were his sheep; or that these were the sheep which he had
+expected to be the pride of Lincolnshire, and which he had hoped would
+set the fashion of jackets. Behold, they were dying of the rot!
+
+"What an unfortunate man I am!" exclaimed Marvel, turning to his cousin
+Wright, whom he had summoned along with Goodenough, in the pride of his
+heart, to view, value, and admire his sheep. "All your sheep, Wright,
+are fat and sound: mine were finer than yours when I bought them: how
+comes it that I am so unlucky?"
+
+"Jack of all trades, and master of none!" said Goodenough, with a sneer.
+
+"You forgot, I am afraid, what I told you, when first you bought these
+sheep," said Wright, "that you should always keep them in fold, every
+morning, till the dew was off: if you had done so, they would now be as
+well and thriving as mine. Do not you remember my telling you that?"
+
+"Yes; and I charged this boy always to keep them in fold till the dew
+was off," replied Marvel, turning with an angry countenance to the
+shepherd boy.
+
+"I never heard nothing of it till this minute, I am sure, master," said
+the boy.
+
+Marvel now recollected that, at the very moment when he was going to
+give this order to the boy, his attention had been drawn away by the
+sight of a new decoy in the fields adjoining to his sheep pasture. In
+his haste to examine the decoy, he forgot to give that order to his
+shepherd, on which the safety of his fine flock of sheep depended.
+{Footnote: A General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lincoln,
+p. 330. "It well deserves noting that a shepherd, who, when young, was
+shepherd's boy to an old man, who lived at Netlam, near Lincoln, a place
+famous for the rot, told Mr. Neve that he was persuaded sheep took the
+rot only of a morning, before the dew was well off. At that time they
+folded, being open field: his master's shepherd kept his flock in fold
+always till the dew was gone; and, with no other attention, his sheep
+were kept sound, when all the neighbours lost their flocks."} Such are
+the negligences and blunders of those who endeavour to do half a dozen
+things at once.
+
+The failure of one undertaking never discouraged Marvel from beginning
+another; and it is a pity, that, with so much spirit and activity, he
+had so little steadiness and prudence. His sheep died, and he set out
+for Spalding full of the thoughts of the heronry. Now this heronry
+belonged to Sir Plantagenet Mowbray, an elderly gentleman, who was
+almost distracted with family pride: he valued himself upon never having
+parted with one inch of the landed property that had descended to him,
+through a long line of ancestors, from the Plantagenets. He looked down
+upon the whole race of farmers and traders as beings of a different
+species from himself; and the indignation with which he heard, from a
+Lincolnshire farmer, a proposal to purchase his heronry, may perhaps be
+imagined, but cannot be described. It was in vain that Marvel rose in
+his offers; it was in vain that he declared he was ready to give any
+price that Sir Plantagenet would set upon the heronry. Sir Plantagenet
+sent word, by his steward, that not a feather of his birds should be
+touched; that he was astonished at the insolence of such a proposal; and
+that he advised Marvel to keep out of the way of _his people_, lest they
+should revenge the insult that had been offered to their master.
+
+This haughty answer, and the disappointment of all his hopes and schemes
+respecting the heronry, threw Marvel into a degree of rage scarcely
+inferior to what was felt by Sir Plantagenet. As he was galloping down
+the avenue from Plantagenet-hall, he overtook a young man, of a shabby
+appearance, who was mounted upon a very fine horse. At first Marvel took
+it for granted that he was one of Sir Plantagenet's _people_, and he
+was riding past him, when he heard the stranger say, in a friendly tone,
+"Your horse gallops well, sir: but have a care; there's a carrion a
+little way farther on that may startle him."
+
+Marvel pulled in his horse; the stranger rode up beside him, and they
+entered into conversation. "That carrion, sir," said he, pointing to
+the dead horse, which had just been shot for the baronet's son's hounds,
+"that carrion, sir, was in my opinion the best horse Sir Plantagenet,
+or his son either, were possessed of. 'Tis a shame for any man, who
+pretends to be a gentleman, and who talks this way and that so high of
+his family, should be so stingy in the article of horseflesh."
+
+Marvel was not unwilling at this instant to hear the haughty baronet
+blamed and ridiculed; and his companion exactly fell in with his humour,
+by telling a variety of anecdotes to prove Sir Plantagenet to be every
+thing that was odious and contemptible. The history of his insolence
+about the heronry was now related by Marvel; and the stranger seemed to
+sympathize so much in his feelings, that, from a stranger, he began to
+consider him as a friend. Insensibly the conversation returned to the
+point at which it commenced; and his new friend observed that it was
+in vain to expect any thing good from any gentleman, or indeed from any
+man, who was stingy in the article of horseflesh.
+
+A new sense of honour and of shame began to rise in our hero's mind;
+and he sat uneasy in his saddle, whilst he reflected that the horse upon
+which he was mounted, was perhaps as deservedly an object of contempt as
+any of Sir Plantagenet's stud. His new friend, without seeming to notice
+his embarrassment, continued his conversation, and drew a tempting
+picture of the pleasures and glories of a horse-race: he said, "he was
+just training a horse for the York races, and a finer animal never was
+crossed. Sir Plantagenet's eldest son would have been the proudest and
+happiest of men, if his father would but have bought the horse for him:
+but he had refused, and the youth himself had not the price, or half the
+price, at his command."
+
+Our hero was no judge of horses, but he was ambitious to prove that his
+spirit was superior to that of the haughty baronet; and that something
+good might be expected from him, as he was not stingy in horseflesh.
+Besides, he was worked up to a high degree of curiosity to see the York
+races; and his companion assured him that he could not appear there
+without being well mounted. In short, the hour was not at an end before
+he had offered a hundred guineas for the finest horse that ever
+was crossed. He was charmed with the idea that he should meet Sir
+Plantagenet Mowbray's son and heir at the York races, and should
+show him that he was able and willing to pay for the horse, which his
+arrogant father could not afford to purchase.
+
+From the anecdote of the heronry, his companion perceived that Marvel
+was a man fond of projects; and he proposed to him a scheme, which
+caught his fancy so much that it consoled him for his disappointment. It
+was the fault of our enterprizing hero's character always to think the
+last scheme for making a fortune the best. As soon as he reached home he
+was in haste to abandon some of his old projects, which now appeared to
+him flat, stale, and unprofitable. About a score of his flock, though
+tainted with the rot, were not yet dead; he was eager to sell them, but
+no one would buy sheep of such a wretched appearance. At last Wright
+took them off his hands. "I will throw the threescore jackets into
+the bargain," said Marvel; "for you are a generous fellow, to offer so
+handsomely for my poor sheep, and you deserve to be treated as you treat
+others. If I come in at the end of the ten years for the legacy, I shall
+remember you, as I told you before: as to my cousin Goodenough here, he
+thinks so much of himself, that there is no occasion for others to
+think of him. I asked him to join me in a bond, yesterday, for a hundred
+pounds, just to try him, and he refused me. When I come in for the
+legacy, I will cut him off with a shilling,--I will give him fair
+notice."
+
+"Cut me off with what you will," said Goodenough, sullenly, "not a
+farthing of my money shall ever be lent to one that has a project for
+every day in the year. Get into what difficulties you may, I will never
+join you in any bond, I promise you. It is enough for me to take care of
+myself."
+
+"Don't flatter yourself that I am getting into any difficulties,"
+replied Marvel. "I wanted the hundred guineas only to pay for a horse;
+and the friend who sold him to me will wait my convenience."
+
+"The _friend_" said Wright; "do you mean that man who rode home with you
+from Spalding?--I advise you not to make a friend of him, for he is a
+notorious jockey." "He will not take _me_ in, though," said Marvel; "I
+am as sharp as he is, and he sees that: so we understand one another
+very well. To my certain knowledge, a hundred and twenty guineas could
+be had to-morrow for the horse I bought from him; yet he let me have him
+for a hundred."
+
+"And how can a man of your sense, cousin Marvel," said Wright, "believe
+that a person, who never saw you till within these three days, would be
+so much your friend as to make you a present of twenty guineas?"
+
+"A present!"
+
+"Yes; if he lets you have a horse for a hundred, which you can sell for
+a hundred and twenty, does not he make you a present of twenty guineas?"
+
+"Well, but I can tell you the reason for all that: he wants me to enter
+into a scheme with him, for breeding horses on the common here: and
+so he would not, at first setting out, stand to higgle with me for the
+price of a horse."
+
+"And would you for twenty guineas, cousin Marvel, run the hazard of
+joining in any scheme with a man of his character? Pray inquire in the
+country and in York, where you are going, what sort of a character this
+man bears. Take my advice, pay him for his horse, and have nothing more
+to do with him."
+
+"But I have not the ready cash to pay him for his horse, that's one
+thing," said Marvel.
+
+"Let that be no difficulty," replied Wright; "for I have a hundred
+guineas here, just brought home from Partney fair, and they are heartily
+at your service."
+
+Goodenough twitched Wright's elbow three times as he uttered these
+words: but Wright finished his sentence, and put the money into Marvel's
+hands immediately upon his promising to pay for the horse, break off
+all connexion with his friend the jockey, if he should find upon inquiry
+that he was not a person of good character, and at all events to suspend
+any treaty with him till after his return from York.
+
+"Whilst you are gone," said Wright, "I will make inquiries about the
+profit of breeding of horses on the commons. I have an acquaintance, a
+sensible old man, who has kept accounts of what he has done in that way
+himself; and he will show us his accounts, from which we shall be able
+to judge."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Wright heard nothing more of him for about a fortnight; he then received
+the following letter:
+
+"DEAR COUSIN WRIGHT,
+
+"It is a very great pity that you could not be persuaded to come along
+with me to York races, where I have seen more of life, and of the world,
+in a week, than ever I did in all my life before.--York is a surprising
+fine town; and has a handsome cathedral, and assembly-room: but I am not
+in the humour, just now, to describe them: so I shall proceed to what is
+much better worth thinking of.
+
+"You must know, cousin Wright, that I am in love, and never was I so
+happy or so miserable in my days. If I was not a farmer there would be
+some hopes for me; but, to be sure, it is not to be expected that such
+a lady as she is should think of a mere country booby; in which light,
+indeed, she was pleased to say, as I heard from good authority, she did
+not consider me; though my manners wanted polish. These were her own
+words. I shall spare nothing to please her, if possible, and am not
+wholly without hope, though I have a powerful rival; no less a person
+than the eldest son and heir of Sir Plantagenet Mowbray, Bart. But
+her virtue will never, I am persuaded, suffer her to listen to such
+addresses as his. Now mine are honourable, and pure as her soul; the
+purity of which no one could doubt, who had seen her last night, as I
+did, in the character of the Fair Penitent. She was universally admired:
+and another night sung and danced like an angel. But I can give you no
+idea of her by pen and ink; so I beseech you to come and see her, and
+give your advice to me candidly, for I have the highest opinion of your
+judgment and good-nature.
+
+"I find you were quite right about that scoundrel who rode with me from
+Spalding! He has arrested me for a hundred guineas; and is, without
+exception, the shabbiest dog I ever met with: but I am out of his
+clutches, and have better friends. I will tell you the whole story when
+we meet, and pay you your hundred with many thanks. Pray set out as
+soon as you receive this, for every moment is an age to me: and I won't
+declare myself, more than I have done, if possible, till you come; for
+I have a great opinion of your judgment; yet hope you won't put on your
+severe face, nor be prejudiced against her, because of her being on the
+stage. Leave such illiberality to cousin Goodenough: it would be quite
+beneath you! Pray bring with you that volume of old plays that is at the
+top of my bed, under the bag of thistles; or in the basket of reeds that
+I was making; or in the out-house, where I keep the goose-quills and
+feathers. I don't find my memory so clear, since my head is so full of
+this charming Alicia Barton. Pray make no delay, as you value the peace
+of mind of your
+
+"Affectionate cousin and friend,
+
+"PIERCE MARVEL.
+
+"P. S. Mr. Barton, her brother, is the most generous of men, and the
+cleverest. He is not averse to the match. Sir Plantagenet Mowbray's son
+and heir, who is as insolent as his father, may find that a Lincolnshire
+farmer is not a person to be despised. I have thoughts of selling my
+farm of Clover-hill, and of going into another way of life; for which,
+as Mr. Barton said, and Alicia hinted, nay, as I am inclined to believe
+too, I am much better suited than for farming. Of this more when we
+meet. Pray set out as soon as you receive this. Alicia has dark eyes,
+and yet a fair complexion. I am sure you will like her."
+
+Far from feeling sure that he should like Miss Alicia Barton, Wright was
+so much alarmed for his cousin, on the perusal of this letter, that he
+resolved to set out immediately for York, lest the sale of Clover-hill
+should be concluded before his arrival. A new project and a new love
+were, indeed, powerful temptations to one of Marvel's character.
+
+As Goodenough was plodding at his accustomed pace in his morning's work,
+he met Wright on horseback, who asked him if he had any commissions that
+he could execute in York, whither he was going.
+
+"None, thank Heaven!" said Goodenough. "So I see it is as I always knew
+it would be! Marvel is 'ticing you into his own ways, and will make you
+just such another as _his_ self. Ay, you must go to York races! Well, so
+much the better for me. Much pleasure to you at the races."
+
+"I am not going to the races; I am going to do Marvel a service."
+
+"Charity begins at home: that's my maxim," replied Goodenough.
+
+"It is quite fitting that charity should _begin_ at home," said Wright;
+"but then it should not _end_ at home; for those that help nobody will
+find none to help them in time of need."
+
+"Those that help nobody will not be so apt to come to need," replied
+Goodenough. "But yonder's my men standing idle. If I but turn my head,
+that's the way of them. Good morrow to you, cousin Wright; I can't stand
+argufying here about charity, which won't plough my ground, nor bring me
+a jot nearer to the ten thousand pounds' legacy: so good morrow to you.
+My service to cousin Marvel."
+
+Goodenough proceeded to his men, who were in truth standing idle, as it
+was their custom to do when their master's eye was not, as they thought,
+upon them; for he kept them so hard at work, when he was present, that
+not a labouring man in the country would hire himself to Goodenough,
+when he could get employment elsewhere. Goodenough's partizans, however,
+observed that he got his money's worth out of every man he employed;
+and that this was the way to grow rich. The question, said they, is not
+which of the three nephews will be the best beloved, but which will
+be the richest at the end of ten years; and, on this ground, who can
+dispute that Goodenough's maxim is the best, "Charity begins at home?"
+Wright's friends looked rather alarmed when they heard of this journey
+to York; and Marvel's advocates, though they put a good face upon the
+matter, heartily wished him safe home.
+
+Upon Wright's arrival in York, he found it no easy matter to discover
+his cousin Marvel; for he had forgotten to date his letter, and no
+direction was given to inn or lodging: at last, after inquiring at all
+the public-houses without success, Wright bethought himself of asking
+where Miss Alicia Barton, the actress, lodged; for there he would
+probably meet her lover. Mr. Harrison, an eminent dyer, to whom he
+applied for information, very civilly offered to show him to the house.
+Wright had gained this dyer's good opinion by the punctuality with
+which he had, for three years past, supplied him, at the day and
+hour appointed, with the quantity of woad for which he had agreed.
+Punctuality never fails to gain the good opinion of men of business.
+
+As the dyer walked with Wright to Miss Barton's lodgings, they entered
+into conversation about her; and Wright asked what character she bore.
+"I know nothing of her character for my own share," said Harrison, "not
+being in that line of business; but I think I could put you into a way
+of seeing her in her true colours, whatever they may be; for she is very
+intimate with a milliner, whom my wife (though not with my good-will
+entirely) visits. In return for which, I shall be glad that you will do
+my business along with your own; and let me know if any thing is going
+wrong."
+
+The dyer introduced Wright to the milliner as a gentleman farmer, who
+wanted to take home with him a fashionable cap and bonnet, or two,
+for some ladies in Lincolnshire. The milliner ordered down some dusty
+bandboxes, which she protested and vowed were just arrived from London
+with the newest fashions; and, whilst she was displaying these, Wright
+talked of the races, and the players, and Miss Alicia Barton.
+
+"Is she as handsome as they say? I have a huge _cur'osity_ to see her,"
+said Wright, feigning more rusticity of manner and more simplicity than
+was natural to him. "I have, truly, a woundy _cur'osity_ to see her,
+I've heard so much of her, even down in Lincolnshire."
+
+"If you go to see the play, sir, you can't fail to have your curiosity
+gratified, for Miss Barton plays to-night--(Jenny! reach me a
+play-bill)--for her own benefit, and appears in her very best character,
+the Romp."
+
+"The Romp!--Odds! Is that her best character? Why, now, to my notion,
+bad's the best, if that be the best of her characters. The Romp!--Odds
+so! What would our grandmothers say to that?"
+
+"Oh, sir, times are changed, as well as fashions, since our
+grandmothers' days," said the milliner. "Put up this bonnet for the
+gentleman, Jenny.--I am sure I don't pretend to say any thing in favour
+of the times, whatever I may of the fashions. But, as to fashion, to be
+sure no one can be more fashionable, here in York, than Miss Barton. All
+our gentlemen are dying for her."
+
+"Odds my life, I'll keep out of her way! And yet I've a huge cur'osity
+to set my eyes upon her. Pray, now, could I any way get to the sight or
+speech of her in a room, or so? for seeing a woman on the stage is one
+thing, and seeing her off, as I take it, is another."
+
+"I take it so too, sir. Jenny, put up the cap for the gentleman, and
+make out a bill."
+
+"No, no; the bonnet's all I want, which I'll pay for on the nail."
+
+Wright took out a long purse full of guineas: then put it up again, and
+opened a pocket-book full of bank-notes. The milliner's respect for him
+obviously increased. "Jenny! Do run and see who's within there. Miss
+Barton was trying on her dress, I think, half an hour ago: may be she'll
+pass through this way, and the gentleman may have a sight of her, since
+it weighs so much upon his mind. Let me put up the cap too, sir: it's
+quite the fashion, you may assure the Lincolnshire ladies.--Oh! here's
+Miss Barton."
+
+Miss Barton made her appearance, with all her most bewitching smiles
+and graces. Without seeming to notice Wright, she seated herself in a
+charming attitude; and, leaning pensively on the counter, addressed
+her conversation to her friend, the milliner: but, at every convenient
+pause, she cast an inquiring glance at Wright, who stood with his long
+purse of guineas in his hand, and his open pocket-book of bank-notes
+before him, as if he had been so much astonished by the lady's
+appearance, that he could not recover his recollection. Now, Wright was
+a remarkably well-shaped handsome man, and Miss Barton was in reality as
+much struck by his appearance as he feigned to be by hers. No forbidding
+reserve condemned him to silence; and, as if inspired by the hope of
+pleasing, he soon grew talkative.
+
+"This is the most rare town, this, your town of York." said he: "I do
+not well know how I shall ever be able to get myself out of it: so many
+fine sights, my eyes be quite dazzled!" "And pray, sir, which of all the
+fine sights do you like the best?" said the milliner.
+
+"Oh! the ladies be the finest of all the fine sights: and I know who I
+think the finest lady I ever beheld--but will never tell--never."
+
+"Never, sir?" said the milliner, whilst Miss Barton modestly cast down
+her eyes. "Never's a bold word, sir. I've a notion you'll live to break
+that rash resolution."
+
+Miss Barton sighed, and involuntarily looked at the glass.
+
+"Why, where's the use," pursued Wright, "of being laughed at? Where's
+the sense of being scoffed at, as a man might be, that would go for to
+pay a compliment, not well knowing how, to a lady that is used to have
+court made to her by the first gentlemen in all York?"
+
+"Those that think they don't know how to pay a compliment often pay the
+best to my fancy," said the milliner. "What says Miss Barton?"
+
+Miss Barton sighed and blushed, or looked as if she meant to blush; and
+then, raising her well-practised eyes, exclaimed, with theatrical tones
+and gestures:
+
+  "Ye sacred pow'rs, whose gracious providence
+  Is watchful for our good, guard me from men,
+  From their deceitful tongues, their vows and flatteries;
+  Still let me pass neglected by their eyes:
+  Let my bloom wither and my form decay,
+  That none may think it worth their while to ruin me,
+  And fatal love may never be my bane."
+
+Scarcely had she concluded her speech, when Pierce Marvel came
+breathless into the shop. Wright was standing so as to be completely
+hidden by the door: and Marvel, not seeing his friend, addressed
+himself, as soon as he had breath, to his mistress.--The lady's manner
+changed, and Wright had an opportunity of seeing and admiring her powers
+of acting. To Marvel, she was coy and disdainful.
+
+"I expect my friend and relation in town every hour," said he to her in
+a low voice; "and then I shall be able to settle with your brother about
+the sale of Clover-hill. You half promised that you would walk with me
+this morning." "Not without my brother: excuse me, sir," said the coy
+lady, withdrawing with the dignity of a princess. "When your friend
+arrives, for whose advice I presume you wait, you will be able to decide
+_your_ heart. Mine cannot be influenced by base lucre, or mercenary
+considerations--Unhand me, sir."
+
+"I will run immediately to the inn, to see whether my friend is come,"
+cried Marvel. "Believe me, I am as much above mercenary considerations
+as yourself; but I have promised not to conclude upon the sale till he
+comes, and he would take it ill to be sent for, and then to be made a
+fool of.--I'll run to the Green Man again immediately, to see if he is
+come."
+
+Marvel darted out of the shop. Wright, during this parley, which lasted
+but a few seconds, had kept himself snug in his hiding-place, and
+appeared to the milliner to be wholly absorbed in casting up his bill,
+in which there was a shilling wrong. He came from behind the door
+as soon as Marvel departed; and, saying that he would call for his
+purchases in an hour's time, left the milliner's, took a hackney coach,
+and drove to the Green Man, where he was now sure of meeting his cousin.
+
+"Thank Heaven! you are come at last," cried Marvel, the moment he saw
+him. "Thank Heaven! you are come! do not let us lose a moment. If you
+are not tired, if you are not hungry, come along with me, and I'll
+introduce you to my charming Alicia Barton."
+
+"I am both tired and hungry," replied Wright: "so let us have a hot
+beef-steak, and let me sit down and rest myself."
+
+It was the utmost stretch of Marvel's patience to wait for the
+beef-steak; and he could scarcely conceive how any one could prefer
+eating it to seeing his charming Alicia. He did not eat a morsel
+himself, but walked up and down the room with quick steps.
+
+"Oh! my dear Wright," cried he, "it is a sign you've never seen her, or
+you would eat a little faster."
+
+"Does every body eat fast, who has seen Miss Barton?" said Wright; "then
+to be sure I should; for I have seen her within this half hour."
+
+"Seen her! Seen Alicia! Seen her within this half hour! That's
+impossible.--How could you see her? Where could you see her?" "I saw her
+in your company," rejoined Wright, coolly.
+
+"In my company! How could that be, without my seeing you?--You are
+making a jest of me."
+
+"Not at all; only take care that you do not make a jest of yourself.
+I assure you that I say nothing but truth: I've seen you and your Miss
+Barton this very morning: nay, I'll tell you what you said to her; you
+told her that you could not sell Clover-hill till I came to town."
+
+Marvel stared, and stood in silent astonishment.
+
+"Ay," continued Wright, "you see by this how many things may pass before
+a man's eyes and ears, when he is in love, without his seeing or hearing
+them. Why, man, I was in the milliner's shop just now, standing in the
+corner behind the door; but you could see nothing but your charming Miss
+Barton."
+
+"I beg your pardon for being so blind," said Marvel, laughing; "but you
+are too good-natured to take offence; though you don't know what it is
+to be in love."
+
+"There you are mistaken; for I am as much in love as yourself at this
+instant."
+
+"Then I'm undone," cried Marvel, turning as pale as death.
+
+"Why so?" said Wright; "will you allow nobody, man, to be in love but
+yourself? I don't see why I have not as good a right to fall in love as
+you have."
+
+"To be sure you have," said Marvel, trying to recover himself; "and
+I can't say but what you deal fairly by me, to tell me so honestly at
+once. More fool I to send for you. I might have foreseen this, blockhead
+as I am! but you deal fairly by me, Wright: so I cannot complain, and
+will not, happen what may. Let him who can win her, wear her. We start
+fair; for though I have had the advantage of a first acquaintance, you
+are much the handsomer man of the two; and that goes for a great deal
+with some ladies, though not perhaps with Alicia Barton."
+
+"There, perhaps, you may find yourself mistaken," replied Wright, with a
+significant look.
+
+"You don't say so? You don't think so?" cried Marvel, with great
+emotion. "I say what I think; and, if I may trust a woman's looks, I've
+some reason for my thoughts."
+
+Marvel took up the tankard which stood on the table, and swallowed down
+a hasty draught; and then said, though with an altered voice, "Cousin
+Wright, let him who can win her, wear her, as I said before. I sha'n't
+quarrel with you if you deal fairly by me; so tell me honestly, did you
+never see her before this morning?"
+
+"Never, as I am an honest man," said Wright.
+
+"Then, here's my hand for you," said Marvel. "All's fair and handsome
+on your part. Happen what may, as I said before, I will not quarrel with
+you. If she was decreed to fall in love with you at first sight, why
+that's no fault of yours; and if she tells me so fairly, why no great
+fault of hers. She has encouraged me a little; but still women will
+change their minds, and I shall not call her a jilt if she speaks
+handsomely to me. It will go a little to my heart at first, no doubt;
+but I shall bear it like a man, I hope; and I shall not quarrel with
+you, cousin Wright, whatever else I do."
+
+Marvel shook Wright's hand heartily; but turned away directly
+afterwards, to hide his agitation.
+
+"Why now, cousin Marvel, you are a good fellow; that's the truth of it,"
+said Wright. "Trust to me: and, if the girl is what you think her, you
+shall have her: that I promise you."
+
+"That's more than you _can_ promise, being as you say as much in love as
+I am."
+
+"I say I'm more in love than you are: but what then, I ask you?"
+
+"What then! why, we cannot both have Alicia Barton."
+
+"Very true. I would not have her if you would give her to me."
+
+"Would not have her!" cried Marvel, with a look of joyous astonishment:
+"but, did not you tell me you were in love with her?"
+
+"Not I. You told it to yourself. I said I was in love; but cannot a man
+be in love with any woman in this whole world but Miss Barton?"
+
+Marvel capered about the room with the most lively expressions of
+delight, shook hands with his cousin, as if he would have pulled his
+arm off, and then suddenly stopping, said, "But what do you think of my
+Alicia? Though you are not in love with her, I hope you think well of
+her?"
+
+"I must see more of her before I am qualified to speak."
+
+"Nay, nay, no drawbacks: out with it. I must know what you think of her
+at this time being."
+
+"At this time being, then, I think, she is what they call a--coquette."
+
+"Oh, there you are out, indeed, cousin Wright! she's more of what they
+call a prude than a coquette."
+
+"To you, perhaps; but not to me, cousin. Let every one speak of her as
+they find," replied Wright.
+
+Marvel grew warm in defence of Miss Barton's prudery; and at last ended
+by saying, "that he'd stake his life upon it, she was no jilt. If she
+had taken a fancy to you, Wright, she would honestly tell me so, I'm
+convinced; and, when she finds you are thinking of another woman, her
+pride would soon make her think no more of you. 'Tis but little she
+could have thought in the few minutes you were in her company; and it is
+my opinion she never thought of you at all--no offence."
+
+"No offence, I promise you," said Wright; "but let us put her to the
+trial: do you keep your own counsel; go on courting her your own way,
+and let me go mine. Don't you say one word of my being here in York;
+but put her off about the sale of Clover-hill, till such time as you are
+sure of her heart."
+
+To this proposal Marvel joyfully agreed; and, as to the time of trial,
+Wright asked only one week. His cousin then told him the new scheme,
+from which he expected to make so much: it had been suggested by
+Alicia's brother. "I am to sell Clover-hill; and, with the money that I
+get for it, Barton and I are to build and fit up a theatre in Lincoln,
+and be the managers ourselves. I assure you, he says, and they all say,
+I should make a figure on the stage: and Miss Barton whispered, in my
+hearing, that I should make a capital Lothario," added Marvel, throwing
+himself into a stage attitude, and reciting, in a voice that made Wright
+start,
+
+     "'Earth, Heav'n, and fair Calista, judge the combat.'"
+
+"Very fine, no doubt," said Wright; "but I am no judge of these matters;
+only this I am sure of, that, with respect to selling Clover-hill, you
+had best go slowly to work, and see what the sister is, before you trust
+to the brother. It is not for my interest, I very well know, to advise
+you against this scheme; because, if I wanted to make certain of your
+not coming in for my uncle's legacy, I could not take a better way than
+to urge you to follow your fancy. For, say that you lay out all you have
+in the world on the building of this playhouse, and say that Barton's
+as honest a man as yourself: observe, your playhouse cannot be built in
+less than a couple of years, and the interest of your money must be dead
+all that time; and pray how are you to bring yourself up, by the end of
+the ten years? Consider, there are but seven years of the time to come."
+
+Marvel gave his cousin hearty thanks for his disinterested advice, but
+observed that actors and managers of playhouses were, of all men, they
+who were most likely to grow rich in a trice; that they often cleared
+many hundreds in one night for their benefits; that even, if he should
+fail to hit the public taste himself, as an actor, he was sure at
+least, if he married the charming Alicia, that she would be a source
+of inexhaustible wealth. "Not," added he, "that I think of her in that
+light; for my soul is as much superior to mercenary considerations as
+her own."
+
+"More, perhaps," said Wright; but seeing fire flash in his cousin's
+eyes at this insinuation, he contented himself for the present with the
+promise he had obtained, that nothing should be concluded till the
+end of one week; that no mention should be made to Miss Barton, or her
+brother, of his arrival in town; and that he should have free liberty to
+make trial of the lady's truth and constancy, in any way he should
+think proper. Back to his friend the milliner's he posted directly. Miss
+Barton was gone out upon the race-ground in Captain Mowbray's curricle:
+in her absence, Wright was received very graciously by the milliner,
+who had lodgings to let, and who readily agreed to let them to him for
+a week, as he offered half a guinea more than she could get from anybody
+else. She fancied that he was deeply smitten with Miss Barton's
+charms, and encouraged his passion, by pretty broad hints that it was
+reciprocal. Miss Barton drank tea this evening with the milliner: Wright
+was of the party, and he was made to understand that _others_ had been
+excluded: "for Miss Barton," her friend observed, "was very _nice_ as to
+her company."
+
+Many dexterous efforts were made to induce Wright to lay open his heart;
+for the dyer's lady had been cross-questioned as to his property in
+Lincolnshire, and she being a lover of the marvellous, had indulged
+herself in a little exaggeration; so that he was considered as a prize,
+and Miss Barton's imagination settled the matter so rapidly, that she
+had actually agreed to make the milliner a handsome present on the
+wedding-day. Upon this hint, the milliner became anxious to push forward
+the affair. Marvel, she observed, hung back about the sale of his
+estate; and, as to Sir Plantagenet Mowbray's son, he was bound hand and
+foot by his father, so could do nothing genteel: besides, honourable
+matrimony was out of the question there.
+
+All these things considered, the milliner's decision was, on perfectly
+prudential and virtuous motives, in favour of Wright. Miss Barton's
+_heart_, to use her own misapplied term, spoke warmly in his favour; for
+he was, without any comparison, the _handsomest_ of her lovers; and
+his simplicity and apparent ignorance of the world were rather
+recommendations than objections.
+
+Upon her second interview with him, she had, however, some reason to
+suspect that his simplicity was not so great as she had imagined. She
+was surprised to observe, that, notwithstanding all their artful
+hints, Wright came to nothing like a positive proposal, nor even to any
+declaration of his passion. The next day she was yet more astonished;
+for Wright, though he _knew_ she was a full hour in the milliner's shop,
+never made the slightest attempt to see her; nay, in the evening, he
+met her on the public walk, and passed without more notice than a formal
+bow, and without turning his head back to look after her, though she
+was flirting with a party of gentlemen, expressly for the purpose of
+exciting his jealousy.
+
+Another consultation was held with her friend the milliner: "These men
+are terrible creatures to deal with," said her confidant. "Do you know,
+my dear creature, this man, simple as he looks, has been very near
+taking us in. Would you believe it? he is absolutely courting a
+Lincolnshire lady for a wife. He wrote a letter to her, my dear
+Alicia, this morning, and begged me to let my boy run with it to the
+post-office. I winded and winded, saying he was mighty anxious about
+the letter, and so on, till, at the last, out comes the truth. Then
+I touched him about you; but he said, 'an actress was not fit for a
+farmer's wife, and that you had too many admirers already.' You see, my
+dear creature, that he has none of the thoughts we built upon. Depend
+upon it he is a shrewd man, and knows what he is about; so, as we cannot
+do better than Marvel, my advice--"
+
+"Your advice!" interrupted Miss Barton: "I shall follow no advice but my
+own." She walked up and down the small parlour in great agitation.
+
+"Do as you please, my dear; but remember I cannot afford to _lay_ out of
+my money to all eternity. The account between us has run up to a great
+sum; the dresses were such as never were made up before in York, and
+must be paid for accordingly, as you must be sensible, Miss Barton. And
+when you have an opportunity of establishing yourself so handsomely, and
+getting all your debts paid; and when your brother, who was here an hour
+ago, presses the match with Mr. Marvel so much; it is very strange and
+unaccountable of you to say, 'you will take nobody's advice but your
+own;' and to fall in love, ma'am, as you are doing, as fast as you can,
+with a person who has no serious intentions, and is going to be married
+to another woman. For shame, Miss Barton; is this behaving with proper
+propriety? Besides, I've really great regard for that poor young man
+that you have been making a fool of; I'm sure he is desperately in love
+with you."
+
+"Then let him show it, and sell Clover-hill," said Miss Barton.
+
+Her mind balanced between avarice and what she called love. She had
+taken a fancy to Wright, and his present coldness rather increased than
+diminished her passion: he played his part so well, that she could
+not tell how to decide. In the mean time, the milliner pressed for her
+money; and Alicia's brother bullied loudly in favour of Marvel: he had
+engaged the milliner, whom he was courting, to support his opinion.
+Marvel, though with much difficulty, stood his ground, and refused to
+sell Clover-hill, till he should be perfectly sure that Miss Barton
+would marry him, and till his relation should arrive in town, and give
+his consent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Mr. Barton and the milliner now agreed, that if fair means would not
+bring the charming Alicia to reason, others must be used; and it was
+settled that she should be arrested for her debt to the milliner, which
+was upwards of fifty pounds. "She knows," said this considerate brother,
+"that I have neither the power nor the will to pay the money. Sir
+Plantagenet's son is as poor as Job; so she must have recourse to
+Marvel; and, if she gives him proper encouragement, he'll pay the money
+in a trice. As to this man, who lodges with you, let her apply to him if
+she likes it; she will soon see how he will answer her. By your account
+he is a shrewd fellow, and not like our friend Marvel."
+
+On Friday morning the charming Alicia was arrested, at the suit of her
+dear friend and confidant, the milliner. The arrest was made in the
+milliner's shop. Alicia would doubtless have screamed and fainted, with
+every becoming spirit and grace, if any spectators had been present:
+but there was no one in the shop to admire or pity. She rushed with
+dishevelled hair, and all the stage show of distraction, into Wright's
+apartment; but, alas! he was not to be found. She then composed herself,
+and wrote the following note to Marvel:
+
+"TO ---- MARVEL, ESQ. &C.
+
+"At the Green Man.
+
+"Much as it hurts the delicacy and wounds the pride of Alicia, she is
+compelled, by the perfidy of a bosom friend of her own sex, to apply for
+assistance and protection to one who will feel for the indignity that
+has been shown her. How will his generous nature shudder, when he hears
+that she is on the point of being dragged to a loathsome dungeon, for
+want of the paltry sum of fifty pounds! Retrospection may convince the
+man of her heart, that her soul is superior to mercenary considerations;
+else, she would not now be reduced so low in the power of her enemies:
+she scarcely knows what she writes--her heart bleeds--her brain is on
+fire!
+
+  "'Celestial sounds! Peace dawns upon my soul,
+  And every pain grows less. Oh! gentle Altamont,
+  Think not too hardly of me when I'm gone,
+  But pity me. Had I but early known
+  Thy wond'rous worth, thou excellent young man,
+  We had been happier both. Now 'tis too late.
+  And yet my eyes take pleasure to behold thee!
+  Thou art their last dear object.--Mercy, Heav'n!'
+
+  "Your affectionate,
+  "And (shall I confess it?)
+  "Too affectionate,
+  "ALICIA."
+
+Marvel was settling some accounts with Wright when this note was put
+into his hands: scarcely had he glanced his eye over it, when he started
+up, seized a parcel of bank notes, which lay on the table, and was
+rushing out of the room. Wright caught hold of his arm, and stopped him
+by force.
+
+"Where now? What now, Marvel?" said he.
+
+"Do not stop me, Wright! I will not be stopped! She has been barbarously
+used. They are dragging her to prison.--They have driven her almost out
+of her senses. I must go to her this instant."
+
+"Well, well, don't go without your hat, man, for the people in the
+street will take you for a lunatic. May a friend see this letter that
+has driven _you_ out of your senses?"
+
+Marvel put it into Wright's hands, who read it with wonderful composure;
+and when he came to the end of it, only said--"Hum!"
+
+"Hum," repeated Marvel, provoked beyond measure; "you have no humanity.
+You are most strangely prejudiced. You are worse than Goodenough. Why do
+you follow me?" continued he, observing that Wright was coming after him
+across the inn-yard into the street.
+
+"I follow you to take care of you," said Wright, calmly; "and though you
+do stride on at such a rate, I'll be bound to keep up with you."
+
+He suffered Marvel to walk on at his own pace for the length of two
+streets, without saying another word; but just as they were turning the
+corner into the square where the milliner lived, he again caught hold of
+his cousin's arm, and said to him: "Hark you, Marvel; will you trust me
+with those bank notes that you have in your pocket? and will you let me
+step on to the milliner's, and settle this business for you? I see
+it will cost you fifty pounds, but that I cannot help. You may think
+yourself well off."
+
+"Fifty pounds! What are fifty pounds?" cried Marvel, hurrying forwards.
+"You see that my Alicia must be superior to mercenary considerations;
+for, though she knows I have a good fortune, that could not decide her
+in my favour."
+
+"No, because she fancies that 1 have a better fortune; and, besides (for
+there are times when a man must speak plainly), I've a notion she would
+at this minute sooner be my mistress than your wife, if the thing were
+fairly tried. She'll take your money as fast as you please; and I may
+take her as fast as I please."
+
+Incensed at these words, Marvel could scarcely restrain his passion
+within bounds: but Wright, without being, moved, continued to speak.
+
+"Nay, then, cousin, if you don't believe me, put it to the test!--I'll
+wait here, at this woollen-draper's, where I am to dine: do you go on to
+your milliner's, and say what you please, only let me have my turn
+for half an hour this evening; and, if I am mistaken in the lady, I'll
+freely own it, and make all due apology."
+
+In the afternoon, Marvel came to Wright with a face full of joy and
+triumph. "Go to my Alicia now, cousin Wright," said he: "I defy you. She
+is at her lodging.--She has promised to marry me! I am the happiest man
+in the world!"
+
+Wright said not a word, but departed. Now he had in his pocket an
+unanswered billet-doux, which had been laid upon his table the preceding
+night: the billet-doux had no name to it; but, from all he had remarked
+of the lady's manners towards him, he could not doubt that it was the
+charming Alicia's. He was determined to have positive proof, however, to
+satisfy Marvel's mind completely. The note which he had received was as
+follows:
+
+"What can be the cause of your cruel and sudden change towards one of
+whom you lately appeared to think so partially? A certain female friend
+may deceive you, by false representations: do not trust to her, but
+learn the real sentiments of a fond heart from one who knows not how to
+feign. Spare the delicacy of your victim, and guess her name."
+
+To this note, from one "who knew not how to feign," Wright sent the
+following reply:
+
+"If Miss Barton knows any thing of a letter that was left at Mrs.
+Stokes's, the milliner's, last night, she may receive an answer to her
+questions from the bearer; who, being no scholar, hopes she will not
+take no offence at the shortness of these lines, but satisfy him in the
+honour of drinking tea with her, who waits below stairs for an answer."
+
+The charming Alicia allowed him the honour of drinking tea with her, and
+was delighted with the thought that she had at last caught him in her
+snares. The moment she had hopes of him, she resolved to break her
+promise to Marvel; and by making a merit of sacrificing to Wright all
+his rivals, she had no doubt that she should work so successfully
+upon his vanity, as to induce him to break off his treaty with the
+Lincolnshire lady.
+
+Wright quickly let her go on with the notion that she had the game in
+her own hands; at length he assumed a very serious look, like one upon
+the point of forming some grand resolution; and turning half away from
+her, said:
+
+"But now, look ye, Miss Barton, I am not a sort of man who would like
+to be made a fool of. Here I'm told half the gentlemen of York are dying
+for you; and, as your friend Mrs. Stokes informed--"
+
+"Mrs. Stokes is not my friend, but the basest and most barbarous of
+enemies," cried Alicia.
+
+"Why, now, this is strange! She was your friend yesterday; and how do I
+know but a woman may change as quick, and as short, about her lovers, as
+about her friends?"
+
+"I never can change: fear nothing," said Alicia, tenderly.
+
+"But let me finish what I was saying about Mrs. Stokes; she told me
+something about one Mr. Marvel, I think they call him; now what is all
+that?"
+
+"Nothing: he is a foolish young man, who was desperately in love with
+me, that's all, and offered to marry me; but, as I told him, I am
+superior to mercenary considerations."
+
+"And is the affair broke off, then?" said Wright, looking her full in
+the face. "That's in one word what I must be sure of: for I am not a man
+that would choose to be jilted. Sit you down and pen me a farewell to
+that same foolish young fellow. I am a plain-spoken man, and now you
+have my mind."
+
+Miss Barton was now persuaded that all Wright's coldness had proceeded
+from jealousy: blinded by her passions, and alarmed by the idea that
+this was the moment in which she must either secure or for ever abandon
+Wright and his fortune, she consented to his proposal, and wrote the
+following tender adieu to Marvel:
+
+"TO----MARVEL, ESQ. &C. At the Green Man.
+
+
+"SIR,
+
+"CIRCUMSTANCES have occurred, since I had last the honour of seeing you,
+which make it impossible that I should ever think of you more.
+
+"ALICIA BARTON."
+
+Wright said he was perfectly satisfied with this note; and all that he
+now desired was to be himself the bearer of it to Marvel.
+
+"He is a hot-headed young man," said Alicia; "he will perhaps quarrel
+with you: let me send the letter by a messenger of my own. You don't
+know him; you will not be able to find him out. Besides, why will you
+deprive me of your company? Cannot another carry this note as well as
+you?"
+
+"None shall carry it but myself," said Wright, holding fast his prize.
+She was apprehensive of losing him for ever, if she opposed what she
+thought his jealous humour; so she struggled no longer to hold him, but
+bade him make haste to return to his Alicia.
+
+He returned no more; but the next morning she received from him the
+following note:
+
+"TO MISS ALICIA BARTON, &C.
+
+"MADAM,
+
+"Circumstances have occurred, since I had last the honour of seeing you,
+which make it impossible that I should ever think of you more.
+
+"JOHN WRIGHT.
+
+"P.S. My cousin, Marvel, thanks you for your note. Before you receive
+this, he will have left York wiser than he came into it by fifty guineas
+and more."
+
+"Wiser by more than fifty guineas, I hope," said Marvel, as he rode out
+of town, early in the morning.
+
+"I have been on the point of being finely taken in! I'm sure this
+will be a lesson to me as long as I live. I shall never forget your
+good-nature, and steadiness to me, Wright. Now, if it had not been for
+you, I might have been married to this jade; and have given her and her
+brother every thing I'm worth in the world. Well, well, this is a lesson
+I shall remember. I've felt it sharply enough. Now I'll turn my head to
+my business again, if I can. How Goodenough would laugh at me if he knew
+this story. But I'll make up for all the foolish things I have done
+yet before I die; and I hope, before I die, I may be able to show you,
+cousin Wright, how much I am obliged to you: that would be greater
+joy to me even than getting by my own ingenuity my uncle Pearson's ten
+thousand pound legacy. Do, Wright, find out something I can do for you,
+to make amends for all the trouble I've given you, and all the time I
+have made you waste: do, there's a good fellow."
+
+"Well, then," said Wright, "I don't want to saddle you with an
+obligation. You shall pay me in kind directly, since you are so desirous
+of it. I told you I was in love: you shall come with me and see my
+mistress, to give me your opinion of her. Every man can be prudent for
+his neighbour: even you no doubt can," added Wright, laughing. Wright's
+mistress was a Miss Banks, only daughter to a gentleman who had set up
+an apparatus for manufacturing woad. Mr. Banks's house was in their way
+home, and they called there. They knocked several times at the door,
+before any one answered: at last a boy came to hold their horses, who
+told them that Mr. Banks was dead, and that nobody could be let into the
+house. The boy knew nothing of the matter, except that his master died,
+he believed, of a sort of a fit; and that his young mistress was in
+great grief: "which I'm mortal sorry for," added he: "for she be's kind
+hearted and civil spoken, and moreover did give me the very shoes I have
+on my feet."
+
+"I wish I could see her," said Wright; "I might be some comfort to her."
+
+"Might ye so, master? If that the thing be so," said the boy, looking
+earnestly in Wright's face, "I'll do my best endeavours."
+
+He ran off at full speed through the back yard, but returned to learn
+the gentleman's name, which he had forgotten to ask; and presently
+afterwards he brought his answer. It was written with a pencil, and with
+a trembling hand:
+
+"My dear Mr. Wright, I cannot see you now: but you shall hear from me as
+soon as I am able to give an answer to your last.
+
+"S. BANKS."
+
+The words, "My dear," were half rubbed out: but they were visible enough
+to his eyes. Wright turned his horse's head homewards, and Marvel and he
+rode away. His heart was so full that he could not speak, and he did
+not hear what Marvel said to comfort him. As they were thus riding on
+slowly, they heard a great noise of horsemen behind them; and looking
+back, they saw a number of farmers, who were riding after them. As they
+drew near, Wright's attention was roused by hearing the name of _Banks_
+frequently repeated. "What news, neighbour?" said Marvel.
+
+"The news is, that Mr. Banks is dead; he died of an apoplectic fit, and
+has left his daughter a power o' money, they say. Happy the man who
+gets her! Good morrow to you, gentlemen; we're in haste home." After
+receiving this intelligence, Wright read his mistress's note over again,
+and observed that he was not quite pleased to see the words "My dear"
+half rubbed out. Marvel exclaimed, "Have nothing more to do with
+her; that's my advice to you; for I would not marry any woman for her
+fortune; especially if she thought she was doing me a favour. If she
+loved you, she would not have rubbed out those words at such a time as
+this."
+
+"Stay a bit," said Wright; "we shall be better able to judge by and by."
+
+A week passed away, and Wright heard nothing from Miss Banks; nor did he
+attempt to see her, but waited as patiently as he could for her promised
+letter. At last it came. The first word was "Sir." That was enough for
+Marvel, who threw it down with indignation when his cousin showed it to
+him. "Nay, but read it, at least," said Wright.
+
+"SIR,
+
+"My poor father's affairs have been left in great disorder; and instead
+of the fortune which you might have expected with me, I shall have
+little or nothing. The creditors have been very kind to me; and I hope
+in time to pay all just debts. I have been much hurried with business,
+or should have written sooner. Indeed it is no pleasant task to me to
+write at all, on this occasion. I cannot unsay what I have said to you
+in former times, for I think the same of you as ever I did: but I know
+that I am not now a fit match for you as to fortune, and would not hold
+any man to his word, nor could value any man enough to marry him, who
+would break it. Therefore it will be no grief for me to break off with
+you if such should be your desire. And no blame shall be thrown upon you
+by my friends, for I will take the refusal upon myself. I know the terms
+of your uncle's will, and the great reason you have to wish for a good
+fortune with your wife; so it is very natural--I mean very likely, you
+may not choose to be burdened with a woman who has none. Pray speak your
+mind freely to, sir,
+
+"Your humble servant,
+
+"S. BANKS." Marvel had no sooner read this letter than he advised his
+friend Wright to marry Miss Banks directly.
+
+"That is what I have determined to do," said Wright: "for I don't think
+money the first thing in the world; and I would sooner give up my uncle
+Pearson's legacy this minute than break my word to any woman, much less
+to one that I love, as I do Miss Banks, better now than ever. I have
+just heard from the steward, who brought this letter, how handsomely
+and prudently she has behaved to other people, as well as to myself:
+by which I can judge most safely. She has paid all the debts that were
+justly due, and has sold even the gig, which I know she wished to keep;
+but, seeing that it was not suited to her present circumstances, her
+good sense has got the better. Now, to my mind, a prudent wife, even
+as to money matters, may turn out a greater treasure to a man than what
+they call a great fortune."
+
+With these sentiments Wright married Miss Banks, who was indeed a very
+prudent, amiable girl. Goodenough sneered at this match; and observed
+that he had always foretold Wright would be taken in, sooner or later.
+Goodenough was now in his thirty-second year, and as he had always
+determined to marry precisely at this age, he began to look about for
+a wife. He chose a widow, said to be of a very close saving temper: she
+was neither young, handsome, nor agreeable; but then she was rich,
+and it was Goodenough's notion that the main chance should be first
+considered, in matrimony as in every thing else. Now this notable dame
+was precisely of his way of thinking; but she had more shrewdness than
+her lover, and she overreached him in the bargain: her fortune did not
+turn out to be above one half of what report had represented it; her
+temper was worse than even her enemies said it was; and the time that
+was daily wasted in trifling disputes between this well-matched pair was
+worth more than all the petty savings made by her avaricious habits.
+
+Goodenough cursed himself ten times a day, during the honey-moon; but
+as he did not like to let the neighbours know how far he had been
+outwitted, he held his tongue with the fortitude of a martyr; and his
+partisans all commended him for making so prudent a match. "Ah, ay,"
+said they, "there's Wright, who might have had this very woman, has gone
+and married a girl without a shilling, with all his prudence; and, as to
+Marvel, he will surely be bit." There they were mistaken. Marvel was
+a person capable of learning from experience, and he never forgot the
+lesson that he had received from the charming Alicia. It seemed to have
+sobered him completely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+About this time, Mr. James Harrison, an eminent dyer, uncle to Wright's
+friend of that name at York, came to settle near Clover-hill; and
+as Marvel was always inclined to be hospitable, he assisted his new
+neighbour with many of those little conveniences, which money cannot
+always command at the moment they are wanted. The dyer was grateful;
+and, in return for Marvel's civilities, let him into many of the
+mysteries of the dyeing business, which he was anxious to understand.
+Scarcely a day passed without his calling on Mr. James Harrison. Now,
+Mr. Harrison had a daughter, Lucy, who was young and pretty, and Marvel
+thought her more and more agreeable every time he saw her; but, as he
+told Wright, he was determined not to fall in love with her, until he
+was quite sure that she was good for something. A few weeks after he
+had been acquainted with her, he had an opportunity of seeing her tried.
+Mrs. Isaac Harrison, the dyer of York's lady, came to spend some
+time; Miss Millicent, or, as she was commonly called, Milly Harrison,
+accompanied her mother: she, having a more fashionable air than Lucy,
+and having learned to dance from a London dancing-master, thought
+herself so much her superior that she ought to direct her in all things.
+Miss Milly, the Sunday after her arrival, appeared at church in a bonnet
+that charmed half the congregation; and a crowd of farmers' wives and
+daughters, the moment church was over, begged the favour of Miss Milly
+to tell them where and how such a bonnet could be got, and how much it
+would cost. It was extravagantly dear; and those mothers who had any
+prudence were frightened at the price: but the daughters were of opinion
+that it was the cheapest, as well as prettiest thing that ever was seen
+or heard of; and Miss Milly was commissioned to write immediately to
+York to bespeak fifteen bonnets exactly like her own. This transaction
+was settled before they had left the churchyard; and Miss Milly was
+leaning upon a tombstone to write down the names of those who were most
+eager to have their bonnets before the next Sunday, when Wright and
+Marvel came up to the place where the crowd was gathered, and they saw
+what was going forward.
+
+Miss Barber, Miss Cotton, Miss Lamb, Miss Dishley, Miss Trotter, Miss
+Hull, Miss Parker, Miss Bury, Miss Oxley, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c.
+&c. &c. &c. &c. &c., all, in their turn, peeped anxiously over Miss
+Milly's shoulder, to make themselves sure that their names were in the
+happy list. Lucy Harrison, alone, stood with a composed countenance in
+the midst of the agitated group. "Well, cousin Lucy, what say you now?
+Shall I bespeak a bonnet for you, hey?--Do you know," cried Miss Milly,
+turning to the admirers of her bonnet, "do you know that I offered to
+bespeak one yesterday for Lucy; and she was so stingy she would not
+let me, because it was _too dear_?" "_Too dear!_ Could ye conceive it?"
+repeated the young ladies, joining in a scornful titter. All eyes were
+now fixed upon Lucy, who blushed deeply, but answered, with gentle
+steadiness, that she really could not afford to lay out so much money
+upon a bonnet, and that she would rather not have her name put down in
+the list.
+
+"She's a good prudent girl," whispered Wright to Marvel.
+
+"And very pretty, I am sure; I never saw her look so pretty as at this
+instant," replied Marvel in a low voice,
+
+"Please yourself, child," said Miss Milly, throwing back her head with
+much disdain; "but I'm sure you'll please nobody else with such a dowdy
+thing as that you have on. Lord! I should like to see her walk the
+streets of York on a Sunday that figure. Lord! how Mrs. Stokes would
+laugh!"
+
+Here she paused, and several of her fair audience were struck with the
+terrible idea of being laughed at by a person whom they had never seen,
+and whom they were never likely to see; and transporting themselves
+in imagination into the streets of York, felt all the horror of being
+stared at, in an unfashionable bonnet, by Mrs. Stokes. "Gracious me!
+Miss Milly, do pray be sure to have mine sent from York afore next
+Sunday," cried one of the country belles: "and, gracious me! don't
+forget mine, Miss Mill," was reiterated by every voice but Lucy's, as
+the crowd followed Miss Harrison out of the churchyard. Great was the
+contempt felt for her by the company; but she was proof against their
+ridicule, and calmly ended, as she began, with saying, "I cannot afford
+it."
+
+"She is a very prudent girl," repeated Wright, in a low voice, to
+Marvel.
+
+"But I hope this is not stinginess," whispered Marvel. "I would not
+marry such a stingy animal as Goodenough has taken to wife for all the
+world. Do you know she has half starved the servant boy that lived with
+them? There he is, yonder, getting over the stile: did you ever see such
+a miserable-looking creature?--He can tell you fifty stories of dame
+Goodenough's stinginess. I would not marry a stingy woman for the whole
+world. I hope Lucy Harrison is not stingy."
+
+"Pray, Mrs. Wright," said Marvel's friend, turning to his wife, who had
+been standing beside him, and who had not yet said one word, "what may
+your opinion be?"
+
+"My opinion is, that she is as generous a girl as any upon earth," said
+Mrs. Wright, "and I have good reason to say so."
+
+"How? What?" said Marvel, eagerly.
+
+"Her father lent my poor father five hundred pounds; and at the meeting
+of the creditors after his death, Mr. Harrison was very earnest to have
+the money paid, because it was his daughter's fortune. When he found
+that it could not be had immediately, he grew extremely angry; but Lucy
+pacified him, and told him that she was sure I should pay the money
+honestly, as soon as I could; and that she would willingly wait to
+have it paid at a hundred pounds a year, for my convenience. I am more
+obliged to her for the handsome way in which she trusted to me, than if
+she had given me half the money. I shall never forget it."
+
+"I hope you forgive her for not buying the bonnet," said Wright to
+Marvel.
+
+"Forgive her! ay; now I love her for it," said Marvel; "now I know that
+she is not stingy."
+
+From this day forward, Marvel's attachment to Lucy rapidly increased.
+One evening he was walking in the fields with Lucy and Miss Milly, who
+played off her finest York airs to attract his admiration, when the
+following dialogue passed between them: "La! cousin Lucy," said Miss
+Millicent, "when shall we get you to York? I long to show you a little
+of the world, and to introduce you to my friend, Mrs. Stokes, the
+milliner."
+
+"My father says that he does not wish that I should be acquainted with
+Mrs. Stokes," said Lucy.
+
+"Your father! Nonsense, child. Your father has lived all his life in the
+country, the Lord knows where; he has not lived in York, as I have; so
+how can he know any thing upon earth of the world?--what we call the
+world, I mean."
+
+"I do not know, cousin Milly, what you call the world; but I think
+that he knows more of Mrs. Stokes than I do; and I shall trust to his
+opinion, for I never knew him speak ill of any body without having good
+reason for it. Besides, it is my duty to obey my father."
+
+"Duty! La! Gracious me! She talks as if she was a baby in
+leading-strings," cried Miss Milly, laughing; but she was mortified at
+observing that Marvel did not join, as she had expected, in the laugh:
+so she added, in a scornful tone, "Perhaps I'm in the wrong box;
+and that Mr. Marvel is one of them that admires pretty babes in
+leading-strings."
+
+"I am one of those that admire a good daughter, I confess," said Marvel;
+"and," said he, lowering his voice, "that love her too."
+
+Miss Milly coloured with anger, and Lucy with an emotion that she had
+never felt before. As they returned home, they met Mr. Harrison, and the
+moment Marvel espied him he quitted the ladies.
+
+"I've something to say to you, Mr. Harrison. I should be glad to speak a
+few words to you in private, if you please," cried he, seizing his arm,
+and leading him down a by-lane.
+
+Mr. Harrison was all attention; but Marvel began to gather primroses,
+instead of speaking.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Harrison, "did you bring me here to see you gather
+primroses?"
+
+After smelling the flowers twenty times, and placing them in twenty
+different forms, Marvel at last threw them on the bank, and, with a
+sudden effort, exclaimed, "You have a daughter, Mr. James Harrison."
+
+"I know I have; and I thank God for it."
+
+"So you have reason to do; for a more lovely girl and a better, in my
+opinion, never existed."
+
+"One must not praise one's own, or I should agree with you," said the
+proud father.
+
+Again there was silence. And again Marvel picked up his primroses.
+
+"In short," said he, "Mr. Harrison, would you like me for a son-in-law?"
+
+"Would Lucy like you for a husband? I must know that first," said the
+good father.
+
+"That is what I do not know," replied Marvel; "but, if I was to ask
+her, she would ask you, I am sure, whether you would like me for a
+son-in-law."
+
+"At this rate, we shall never get forwards," said Harrison. "Go you back
+to Miss Milly, and send my Lucy here to me."
+
+We shall not tell how Lucy picked up the flowers, which had been her
+lover's grand resource; nor how often she blushed upon the occasion: she
+acknowledged that she thought Mr. Marvel _very agreeable_, but that she
+was afraid to marry a person who had so little steadiness. That she had
+heard of a great number of schemes, undertaken by him, which had failed;
+or which he had given up as hastily as he had begun them. "Besides,"
+said she, "may be he might change his mind about me as well as about
+other things; for I've heard from my cousin Milly--I've heard--that--he
+was in love, not very long since, with an actress in York. Do you think
+this is all true?"
+
+"Yes, I know it is all true," said Mr. Harrison, "for he told me so
+himself. He is an honest, open-hearted young man; but I think as you do,
+child, that we cannot be sure of his steadiness."
+
+When Marvel heard from Mr. Harrison the result of this conversation,
+he was inspired with the strongest desire to convince Lucy that he was
+capable of perseverance. To the astonishment of all who knew him, or who
+thought that they knew him, he settled steadily to business; and, for a
+whole twelvemonth, no one heard him speak of any new scheme. At the end
+of this time he renewed his proposal to Lucy; saying that he hoped she
+would now have some dependence upon his constancy to her, since she had
+seen the power she had over his mind. Lucy was artless and affectionate,
+as well as prudent: now that her only real objection to the match was
+lessened, she did not torment him, to try her power; but acknowledged
+her attachment to him, and they were married.
+
+Sir Plantagenet Mowbray's agent was much astonished that Lucy did not
+prefer him, because he was a much richer man than Pierce Marvel; and
+Miss Milly Harrison was also astonished that Mr. Marvel did not prefer
+her to such a country girl as Lucy, especially when she had a
+thousand pounds more _to_ her fortune. But, notwithstanding all this
+astonishment, Marvel and his wife were perfectly happy.
+
+It was now the fifth year after old Mr. Pearson's death. Wright was at
+this time the richest of the three nephews; for the money that he had
+laid out in draining Holland fen began to bring him in twenty per cent.
+As to Marvel, he had exchanged some of his finest acres for the warren
+of silver sprigs, the common full of thistles, and the marsh full of
+reeds: he had lost many guineas by his sheep and their jackets, and many
+more by his ill-fenced plantations: so that counting all the losses from
+the failure of his schemes and the waste of his time, he was a thousand
+pounds poorer than when he first came into possession of Clover-hill.
+
+Goodenough was not, according to the most accurate calculations, one
+shilling richer or poorer than when he first began the world. "Slow and
+sure," said his friends: "fair and softly goes far in a day. What he has
+he'll hold fast; that's more than Marvel ever did, and may be more than
+Wright will do in the end. He dabbles a little in _experiments_, as he
+calls them: this he has learned from his friend Marvel; and this will
+come to no good."
+
+About this time there was some appearance of a scarcity in England; and
+many farmers set an unusual quantity of potatoes, in hopes that they
+would bear a high price the ensuing season. Goodenough, who feared and
+hated every thing that was called a speculation, declared that, for his
+part, he would not set a drill more than he used to do. What had always
+done for him and his should do for him still. With this resolution, he
+began to set his potatoes: Marvel said to him, whilst he was at work,
+"Cousin Goodenough, I would advise you not to set the shoots that are at
+the bottom of these potatoes; for, if you do, they won't be good for
+any thing. This is a secret I learned last harvest home, from one of
+my Irish haymakers. I made the experiment last year, and found the poor
+fellow was quite right. I have given him a guinea for his information;
+and it will be worth a great deal more to me and my neighbours."
+
+"May be so," said Goodenough; "but I shall set my own potatoes my own
+way, I thank you, cousin Marvel; for I take it the old way's best, and
+I'll never follow any other."
+
+Marvel saw that it was in vain to attempt to convince Goodenough:
+therefore he left him to his old ways. The consequence was, that
+Goodenongh and his family ate the worst potatoes in the whole country
+this year; and Marvel cleared _above two hundred pounds_ by twenty acres
+of potatoes, set according to his friend the Irishman's directions.
+
+This was the first speculation of Marvel's which succeeded; because
+it was the first which had been begun with prudence, and pursued with
+steadiness. His information, in the first instance, was good: it came
+from a person who had actually tried the experiment, and who had seen
+it made by others; and when he was convinced of the fact, he applied
+his knowledge at the proper time, boldly extended his experiment, and
+succeeded. This success raised him in the opinion even of his enemies.
+His friend, Wright, heartily rejoiced at it; but Goodenough sneered,
+and said to Wright, "What Marvel has gained this year he'll lose by some
+scheme the next. I dare to say, now, he has some new scheme or another
+brewing in his brains at this very moment. Ay--look, here he comes, with
+two bits of rags in his hand.--Now for it!"
+
+Marvel came up to them with great eagerness in his looks; and showing
+two freshly-dyed patterns of cloth, said, "Which of these two blues is
+the brightest?"
+
+"That in your left hand," said Wright; "it is a beautiful blue."
+
+"Marvel rubbed his hands with an air of triumph; but restraining his
+joy, he addressed himself to Wright in a composed voice.
+
+"My dear Wright, I have many obligations to you; and, if I have any good
+fortune, you shall be the first to share it with me. As for you, cousin
+Goodenough, I don't bear malice against you for laughing at me and my
+herons' feathers, and my silver sprigs, and my sheep's jackets, and my
+thistles: shake hands, man; you shall have a share in our scheme, if you
+please."
+
+"I don't please to have no share at all in none of your schemes, cousin
+Marvel: I thank you kindly," said Goodenough.
+
+"Had not you better hear what it is, before you decide against it?" said
+Wright.
+
+Marvel explained himself further: "Some time ago," said he, "I was with
+my father-in-law, who was dyeing some cloth with woad. I observed that
+one corner of the cloth was of much brighter blue than any of the rest;
+and upon examining what could be the cause of this, I found that the
+corner of the cloth had fallen upon the ground, as it was taken out of
+the dyeing vat, and had trailed through a mixture of colours, which I
+had accidentally spilled on the floor. I carefully recollected of
+what this mixture was composed: I found that woad was the principal
+ingredient; the other----is a secret. I have repeated my experiments
+several times, and I find that they have always succeeded: I was
+determined not to speak of my discovery till I was sure of the facts.
+Now I'm sure of them, my father-in-law tells me that he and his brother
+at York could ensure to me an advantageous sale for as much blue cloth
+as I can prepare; and he advised me to take out a patent for the dye."
+
+Goodenough had not patience to listen any longer, but exclaimed:
+
+"Join in a patent! that's more than I would do, I'm sure, cousin Marvel;
+so don't think to take me in: I'll end as I began, without having any
+thing to do with any of your new-fangled schemes--Good morning to you."
+
+"I hope, Wright," said Marvel, proudly, "that you do not suspect me of
+any design to take you in; and that you will have some confidence in
+this scheme, when you find that my experiments have been accurately
+tried."
+
+Wright assured Marvel that he had the utmost confidence in his
+integrity; and that he would carefully go over with him any experiments
+he chose to show him. "I do not want to worm your secret from you," said
+he; "but we must make ourselves sure of success before we go to take out
+a patent, which will be an expensive business."
+
+"You are exactly the sort of man I should wish to have for my partner,"
+cried Marvel, "for you have all the coolness and prudence that I want."
+
+"And you have all the quickness and ingenuity that I want," replied
+Wright; "so, between us, we should indeed, as you say, make good
+partners."
+
+A partnership was soon established between Wright and Marvel. The woad
+apparatus, which belonged to Wright's father-in-law, was given up to the
+creditors to pay the debts; but none of these creditors understood the
+management of it, or were willing to engage in it, lest they should ruin
+themselves. Marvel prevailed upon Wright to keep it in his own hands:
+and the creditors, who had been well satisfied by his wife's conduct
+towards them, and who had great confidence in his character for
+prudence, relinquished their claims upon the property, and trusted to
+Wright's promise, that they should be gradually paid by instalments.
+
+"See what it is to have chosen a good wife," said Wright. "Good
+character is often better than good fortune."
+
+The wife returned the husband's compliment; but we must pass over such
+unfashionable conversation, and proceed with our story.
+
+The reader may recollect our mentioning a little boy, who carried a
+message from Wright to Miss Banks the day that he called upon her, on
+his return from York. She had been very good to this boy, and he was of
+a grateful temper. After he left her father's service, he was hired by
+a gentleman, who lived near Spalding, and for some time she had heard
+nothing of him: but, about a year after she was married, his master paid
+a visit in Lincolnshire, and the lad early one morning came to see his
+"_old young mistress_." He came so very early that none of the family
+were stirring, except Marvel, who had risen by daybreak to finish some
+repairs that he was making in the woad apparatus. He recognized the boy
+the moment he saw him, and welcomed him with his usual good-nature.
+
+"Ah, sir!" said the lad, "I be's glad to see things going on here again.
+I be's main glad to hear how young mistress is happy! But I must be back
+afore my own present master be's up; so will you be pleased to give my
+sarvice and duty, and here's a little sort of a tea-chest for her, that
+I made with the help of a fellow-sarvant of mine. If so be she'll think
+well of taking it, I should be very proud: it has a lock and key and
+all."
+
+Marvel was astonished at the workmanship of this tea-chest; and when he
+expressed his admiration, the boy said, "Oh, sir! all the difficult_est_
+parts were done by my fellow-sarvant, who is more handy like than I
+am, ten to one, though he is a Frenchman. He was one of them French
+prisoners, and is a curious man. He would have liked of all things to
+have come here along with me this morning, to get a sight of what's
+going on here; because that they have woad mills and the like in his own
+country, he says; but then he would not come spying without leave, being
+a civil honest man."
+
+Marvel told the boy that his fellow-servant should be heartily welcome
+to satisfy his curiosity; and the next morning the Frenchman came. He
+was a native of Languedoc, where woad is cultivated: he had been engaged
+in the manufacture of it, and Marvel soon found, by his conversation,
+that he was a well-informed, intelligent man. He told Marvel that there
+were many natives of Languedoc, at this time, prisoners in England,
+who understood the business as well as he did, and would be glad to be
+employed, or to sell their knowledge at a reasonable price. Marvel was
+not too proud to learn, even from a Frenchman. With Wright's consent, he
+employed several of these workmen; and he carried, by their means, the
+manufacture of woad to a high pitch of perfection. How success changes
+the opinion of men! The Lincolnshire farmers, who had formerly sneered
+at Marvel as a genius and a projector, began to look up to him as to a
+very wise and knowing man, when they saw this manufactory continue to
+thrive; and those who had blamed Wright, for entering into partnership
+with him, now changed their minds. Neither of them could have done
+separately what they both effected by their union.
+
+At the end of the ten years, Goodenough was precisely where he was when
+he began; neither richer nor poorer; neither wiser nor happier; all that
+he had added to his stock was a cross wife and two cross children. He,
+to the very last moment, persisted in the belief that he should be the
+richest of the three, and that Wright and Marvel would finish by being
+bankrupts. He was in unutterable astonishment, when, upon the appointed
+day, they produced their account-books to Mr. Constantine, the executor,
+and it was found that they were many thousand pounds better in the world
+than himself.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Constantine, "to which of you am I to give
+your uncle's legacy? I must know which of the partners has the greatest
+share in the manufactory."
+
+"Wright has the greatest share," cried Marvel; "for without his prudence
+I should have been ruined."
+
+"Marvel has the greatest share," cried Wright: "for without his
+ingenuity I should never have succeeded in the business, nor indeed
+should I have undertaken it."
+
+"Then, gentlemen, you must divide the legacy between you," said Mr.
+Constantine, "and I give you joy of your happy partnership. What can be
+more advantageous than a partnership between prudence and justice on the
+one side, and generosity and abilities on the other?"
+
+_June, 1800_.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIMERICK GLOVES.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was Sunday morning, and a fine day in autumn; the bells of Hereford
+cathedral rang, and all the world smartly dressed were flocking to
+church.
+
+"Mrs. Hill! Mrs. Hill!--Phoebe! Phoebe! There's the cathedral bell, I say,
+and neither of you ready for church, and I a verger;" cried Mr. Hill,
+the tanner, as he stood at the bottom of his own staircase. "I'm ready,
+papa," replied Phoebe; and down she came, looking so clean, so fresh, and
+so gay, that her stern father's brows unbent, and he could only say to
+her, as she was drawing on a new pair of gloves, "Child, you ought to
+have had those gloves on before this time of day."
+
+"Before this time of day!" cried Mrs. Hill, who was now coming down
+stairs completely equipped, "before this time of day! she should know
+better, I say, than to put on those gloves at all: more especially when
+going to the cathedral."
+
+"The gloves are very good gloves, as far as I see," replied Mr. Hill.
+"But no matter now. It is more fitting that we should be in proper time
+in our pew, to set an example, as becomes us, than to stand here talking
+of gloves and nonsense."
+
+He offered his wife and daughter each an arm, and set out for the
+cathedral; but Phoebe was too busy in drawing on her new gloves, and
+her mother was too angry at the sight of them, to accept of Mr. Hill's
+courtesy: "What I say is always nonsense, I know, Mr. Hill," resumed the
+matron: "but I can see as far into a millstone as other folks. Was it
+not I that first gave you a hint of what became of the great dog, that
+we lost out of our tan-yard last winter? And was it not I who first
+took notice to you, Mr. Hill, verger as you are, of the hole under the
+foundation of the cathedral? Was it not, I ask you, Mr. Hill?" "But, my
+dear Mrs. Hill, what has all this to do with Phoebe's gloves?"
+
+"Are you blind, Mr. Hill? Don't you see that they are Limerick gloves?"
+
+"What of that?" said Mr. Hill; still preserving his composure, as it was
+his custom to do as long as he could, when he saw his wife was ruffled.
+
+"What of that, Mr. Hill! why don't you know that Limerick is in Ireland,
+Mr. Hill?"
+
+"With all my heart, my dear."
+
+"Yes, and with all your heart, I suppose, Mr. Hill, you would see
+our cathedral blown up, some fair day or other, and your own daughter
+married to the person that did it; and you a verger, Mr. Hill."
+
+"God forbid!" cried Mr. Hill; and he stopped short and settled his wig.
+Presently recovering himself, he added, "But, Mrs. Hill, the cathedral
+is not yet blown up; and our Phoebe is not yet married."
+
+"No: but what of that, Mr. Hill? Forewarned is forearmed, as I told you
+before your dog was gone; but you would not believe me, and you see how
+it turned out in that case; and so it will in this case, you'll see, Mr.
+Hill."
+
+"But you puzzle and frighten me out of my wits, Mrs. Hill," said the
+verger, again settling his wig. "_In that case and in this case!_ I
+can't understand a syllable of what you've been saying to me this half
+hour. In plain English, what is there the matter about Phoebe's gloves?"
+
+"In plain English, then, Mr. Hill, since you can understand nothing
+else, please to ask your daughter Phoebe who gave her those gloves.
+Phoebe, who gave you those gloves?"
+
+"I wish they were burnt," said the husband, whose patience could endure
+no longer. "Who gave you those cursed gloves, Phoebe?"
+
+"Papa," answered Phoebe, in a low voice, "they were a present from Mr.
+Brian O'Neill."
+
+"The Irish glover," cried Mr. Hill, with a look of terror.
+
+"Yes," resumed the mother; "very true, Mr. Hill, I assure you. Now, you
+see, I had my reasons."
+
+"Take off the gloves directly: I order you, Phoebe," said her father,
+in his most peremptory tone. "I took a mortal dislike to that Mr. Brian
+O'Neill the first time I ever saw him. He's an Irishman, and that's
+enough, and too much for me. Off with the gloves, Phoebe! When I order a
+thing, it must be done."
+
+Phoebe seemed to find some difficulty in getting off the gloves, and
+gently urged that she could not well go into the cathedral without them.
+This objection was immediately removed, by her mother's pulling from
+her pocket a pair of mittens, which had once been brown, and once been
+whole, but which were now rent in sundry places; and which, having been
+long stretched by one who was twice the size of Phoebe, now hung in huge
+wrinkles upon her well-turned arms.
+
+"But, papa," said Phoebe, "why should we take a dislike to him because he
+is an Irishman? Cannot an Irishman be a good man?"
+
+The verger made no answer to this question, but a few seconds after it
+was put to him, observed that the cathedral bell had just done ringing;
+and, as they were now got to the church door, Mrs. Hill, with a
+significant look at Phoebe, remarked that it was no proper time to talk
+or think of good men, or bad men, or Irishmen, or any men, especially
+for a verger's daughter.
+
+We pass over in silence the many conjectures that were made by several
+of the congregation, concerning the reason why Miss Phoebe Hill should
+appear in such a shameful shabby pair of gloves on a Sunday. After
+service was ended, the verger went, with great mystery, to examine the
+hole under the foundation of the cathedral; and Mrs. Hill repaired, with
+the grocer's and the stationer's ladies, to take a walk in the Close;
+where she boasted to all her female acquaintance, whom she called her
+friends, of her maternal discretion in prevailing upon Mr. Hill to
+forbid her daughter Phoebe to wear the Limerick gloves.
+
+In the mean time, Phoebe walked pensively homewards; endeavouring to
+discover why her father should take a mortal dislike to a man, at first
+sight, merely because he was an Irishman; and why her mother had talked
+so much of the great dog, which had been lost last year out of the
+tan-yard; and of the hole under the foundation of the cathedral! What
+has all this to do with my Limerick gloves? thought she. The more she
+thought, the less connexion she could perceive between these things:
+for as she had not taken a dislike to Mr. Brian O'Neill at first sight,
+because he was an Irishman, she could not think it quite reasonable to
+suspect him of making away with her father's dog; nor yet of a design to
+blow up Hereford cathedral. As she was pondering upon these matters,
+she came within sight of the ruins of a poor woman's house, which a few
+months before this time had been burnt down. She recollected that her
+first acquaintance with her lover began at the time of this fire; and
+she thought that the courage and humanity he showed, in exerting himself
+to save this unfortunate woman and her children, justified her notion of
+the possibility that an Irishman might be a good man.
+
+The name of the poor woman, whose house had been burnt down, was Smith:
+she was a widow, and she now lived at the extremity of a narrow lane in
+a wretched habitation. Why Phoebe thought of her with more concern than
+usual at this instant we need not examine, but she did; and, reproaching
+herself for having neglected it for some weeks past, she resolved to go
+directly to see the widow Smith, and to give her a crown which she had
+long had in her pocket, with which she had intended to have bought play
+tickets.
+
+It happened that the first person she saw in the poor widow's kitchen
+was the identical Mr. O'Neill. "I did not expect to see any body here
+but you, Mrs. Smith," said Phoebe, blushing.
+
+"So much the greater the pleasure of the meeting; to me, I mean, Miss
+Hill," said O'Neill, rising, and putting down a little boy, with whom
+he had been playing. Phoebe went on talking to the poor woman; and, after
+slipping the crown into her hand, said she would call again. O'Neill,
+surprised at the change in her manner, followed her when she left the
+house, and said, "It would be a great misfortune to me to have done any
+thing to offend Miss Hill; especially if I could not conceive how or
+what it was, which is my case at this present speaking." And, as the
+spruce glover spoke, he fixed his eyes upon Phoebe's ragged gloves. She
+drew them up in vain; and then said, with her natural simplicity and
+gentleness, "You have not done any thing to offend me, Mr. O'Neill; but
+you are some way or other displeasing to my father and mother, and they
+have forbid me to wear the Limerick gloves."
+
+"And sure Miss Hill would not be after changing her opinion of her
+humble servant for no reason in life, but because her father and mother,
+who have taken a prejudice against him, are a little contrary."
+
+"No," replied Phoebe; "I should not change my opinion without any reason;
+but I have not yet had time to fix my opinion of you, Mr. O'Neill."
+
+"To let you know a piece of my mind, then, my dear Miss Hill," resumed
+he, "the more contrary they are, the more pride and joy it would give me
+to win and wear you, in spite of 'em all; and if without a farthing in
+your pocket, so much the more I should rejoice in the opportunity of
+proving to your dear self, and all else whom it may consarn, that Brian
+O'Neill is no fortune-hunter, and scorns them that are so narrow-minded
+as to think that no other kind of cattle but them there fortune-hunters
+can come out of all Ireland. So, my dear Phoebe, now we understand one
+another, I hope you will not be paining my eyes any longer with the
+sight of these odious brown bags, which are not fit to be worn by any
+Christian arms, to say nothing of Miss Hill's, which are the handsomest,
+without any compliment, that ever I saw; and, to my mind, would become
+a pair of Limerick gloves beyond any thing: and I expect she'll show her
+generosity and proper spirit by putting them on immediately."
+
+"You expect, sir!" repeated Miss Hill, with a look of more indignation
+than her gentle countenance had ever before been seen to assume.
+"Expect!" If he had said hope, thought she, it would have been another
+thing: but expect! what right has he to expect?
+
+Now Miss Hill, unfortunately, was not sufficiently acquainted with the
+Irish idiom, to know, that to expect, in Ireland, is the same thing as
+to hope in England; and, when her Irish admirer said I expect, he meant
+only in plain English, I hope. But thus it is that a poor Irishman,
+often, for want of understanding the niceties of the English language,
+says the rudest when he means to say the civillest things imaginable.
+
+Miss Hill's feelings were so much hurt by this unlucky "I expect,"
+that the whole of his speech, which had before made some favourable
+impression upon her, now lost its effect; and she replied with proper
+spirit, as she thought, "You expect a great deal too much, Mr. O'Neill;
+and more than ever I gave you reason to do. It would be neither pleasure
+nor pride to me to be won and worn, as you were pleased to say, in spite
+of them all; and to be thrown, without a farthing in my pocket, upon the
+protection of one who expects so much at first setting out.--So I assure
+you, sir, whatever you may expect, I shall not put on the Limerick
+gloves."
+
+Mr. O'Neill was not without his share of pride and proper spirit;
+nay, he had, it must be confessed, in common with some others of his
+countrymen, an improper share of pride and spirit. Fired by the lady's
+coldness, he poured forth a volley of reproaches; and ended by wishing,
+as he said, a good morning, for ever and ever, to one who could change
+her opinion, point blank, like the weathercock. "I am, miss, your most
+obedient; and I expect you'll never think no more of poor Brian O'Neill,
+and the Limerick gloves."
+
+If he had not been in too great a passion to observe any thing, poor
+Brian O'Neill would have found out that Phoebe was not a weathercock: but
+he left her abruptly, and hurried away, imagining all the while that it
+was Phoebe, and not himself, who was in a rage. Thus, to the horseman,
+who is galloping at full speed, the hedges, trees, and houses, seem
+rapidly to recede; whilst, in reality, they never move from their
+places. It is he that flies from them, and not they from him.
+
+On Monday morning Miss Jenny Brown, the perfumer's daughter, came to pay
+Phoebe a morning visit, with face of busy joy.
+
+"So, my dear!" said she: "fine doings in Hereford! but what makes you
+look so downcast? To be sure you are invited, as well as the rest of
+us."
+
+"Invited where?" cried Mrs. Hill, who was present, and who could never
+endure to hear of an invitation in which she was not included. "Invited
+where, pray, Miss Jenny?"
+
+"La! have not you heard? Why, we all took it for granted that you and
+Miss Phoebe would have been the first and foremost to have been asked to
+Mr. O'Neill's ball."
+
+"Ball!" cried Mrs. Hill; and luckily saved Phoebe, who was in some
+agitation, the trouble of speaking. "Why, this is a mighty sudden thing:
+I never heard a tittle of it before."
+
+"Well, this is really extraordinary! And, Phoebe, have you not received a
+pair of Limerick gloves?"
+
+"Yes, I have," said Phoebe, "but what then? What have my Limerick gloves
+to do with the ball?"
+
+"A great deal," replied Jenny. "Don't you know, that a pair of Limerick
+gloves is, as one may say, a ticket to this ball? for every lady that
+has been asked has had a pair sent to her along with the card; and
+I believe as many as twenty, besides myself, have been asked this
+morning."
+
+Jenny then produced her new pair of Limerick gloves; and as she tried
+them on, and showed how well they fitted, she counted up the names of
+the ladies who, to her knowledge, were to be at this ball. When she had
+finished the catalogue, she expatiated upon the grand preparations which
+it was said the widow O'Neill, Mr. O'Neill's mother, was making for the
+supper; and concluded by condoling with Mrs. Hill for her misfortune
+in not having been invited. Jenny took her leave, to get her dress in
+readiness: "for," added she, "Mr. O'Neill has engaged me to open the
+ball, in case Phoebe does not go: but I suppose she will cheer up and go,
+as she has a pair of Limerick gloves as well as the rest of us."
+
+There was a silence for some minutes after Jenny's departure, which was
+broken by Phoebe, who told her mother that, early in the morning, a note
+had been brought to her, which she had returned unopened; because she
+knew, from the hand-writing of the direction, that it came from Mr.
+O'Neill.
+
+We must observe that Phoebe had already told her mother of her meeting
+with this gentleman at the poor widow's, and of all that had passed
+between them afterwards. This openness, on her part, had softened the
+heart of Mrs. Hill; who was really inclined to be good-natured, provided
+people would allow that she had more penetration than any one else in
+Hereford. She was moreover a good deal piqued and alarmed by the idea
+that the perfumer's daughter might rival and outshine her own. Whilst
+she had thought herself sure of Mr. O'Neill's attachment to Phoebe, she
+had looked higher; especially as she was persuaded, by the perfumer's
+lady, to think that an Irishman could not be a bad match: but now she
+began to suspect that the perfumer's lady had changed her opinion of
+Irishmen, since she did not object to her own Jenny's leading up the
+ball at Mr. O'Neill's.
+
+All these thoughts passed rapidly in the mother's mind; and, with her
+fear of losing an admirer for her Phoebe, the value of that admirer
+suddenly rose in her estimation. Thus, at an auction, if a lot is going
+to be knocked down to a lady, who is the only person that has bid for
+it, even she feels discontented, and despises that which nobody covets;
+but if, as the hammer is falling, many voices answer to the question,
+Who bids more? then her anxiety to secure the prize suddenly rises; and,
+rather than be outbid, she will give far beyond its value.
+
+"Why, child," said Mrs. Hill, "since you have a pair of Limerick gloves;
+and since certainly that note was an invitation to us to this ball; and
+since it is much more fitting that you should open the ball than Jenny
+Brown; and since, after all, it was very handsome and genteel of the
+young man to say he would take you without a farthing in your pocket,
+which shows that those were misinformed who talked of him as an Irish
+adventurer; and since we are not certain 'twas he made away with the
+dog, although he said its barking was a great nuisance; there is no
+great reason to suppose he was the person who made the hole under the
+foundation of the cathedral, or that he could have such a wicked thought
+as to blow it up; and since he must be in a very good way of business
+to be able to afford giving away four or five guineas' worth of Limerick
+gloves, and balls and suppers; and since, after all, it is no fault of
+his to be an Irishman; I give it as my vote and opinion, my dear, that
+you put on your Limerick gloves and go to this ball; and I'll go and
+speak to your father, and bring him round to our opinion; and then
+I'll pay the morning visit I owe to the widow O'Neill, and make up your
+quarrel with Brian. Love quarrels are easy to make up, you know; and
+then we shall have things all upon velvet again; and Jenny Brown need
+not come with her hypocritical condoling face to us anymore."
+
+After running this speech glibly off, Mrs. Hill, without waiting to hear
+a syllable from poor Phoebe, trotted off in search of her consort. It
+was not, however, quite so easy a task as his wife expected to bring
+Mr. Hill round to her opinion. He was slow in declaring himself of any
+opinion; but, when once he had said a thing, there was but little chance
+of altering his notions. On this occasion, Mr. Hill was doubly bound to
+his prejudice against our unlucky Irishman; for he had mentioned with
+great solemnity at the club which he frequented, the grand affair of
+the hole under the foundation of the cathedral; and his suspicions that
+there was a design to blow it up. Several of the club had laughed at
+this idea; others, who supposed that Mr. O'Neill was a Roman Catholic,
+and who had a confused notion that a Roman Catholic _must_ be a very
+wicked, dangerous being, thought that there might be a great deal in the
+verger's suggestions; and observed that a very watchful eye ought to be
+kept upon this Irish glover, who had come to settle at Hereford nobody
+knew why, and who seemed to have money at command nobody knew how.
+
+The news of this ball sounded to Mr. Hill's prejudiced imagination like
+the news of a conspiracy. Ay! ay! thought he; the Irishman is cunning
+enough! But we shall be too many for him: he wants to throw all the good
+sober folks of Hereford off their guard, by feasting, and dancing, and
+carousing, I take it; and so to perpetrate his evil designs when it is
+least suspected; but we shall be prepared for him, fools as he takes us
+plain Englishmen to be, I warrant.
+
+In consequence of these most shrewd cogitations, our verger silenced his
+wife with a peremptory nod, when she came to persuade him to let Phoebe
+put on the Limerick gloves, and go to the ball. "To this ball she shall
+not go; and I charge her not to put on those Limerick gloves, as she
+values my blessing," said Mr. Hill. "Please to tell her so, Mrs. Hill,
+and trust to my judgment and discretion in all things, Mrs. Hill.
+Strange work may be in Hereford yet: but I'll say no more; I must go and
+consult with knowing men, who are of my opinion."
+
+He sallied forth, and Mrs. Hill was left in a state which only those
+who are troubled with the disease of excessive curiosity can rightly
+comprehend or compassionate. She hied her back to Phoebe, to whom she
+announced her father's answer; and then went gossipping to all her
+female acquaintance in Hereford, to tell them all that she knew, and all
+that she did not know; and to endeavour to find out a secret where there
+was none to be found.
+
+There are trials of temper in all conditions: and no lady, in high or
+low life, could endure them with a better grace than Phoebe. Whilst Mr.
+and Mrs. Hill were busied abroad, there came to see Phoebe one of the
+widow Smith's children. With artless expressions of gratitude to Phoebe,
+this little girl mixed the praises of O'Neill, who, she said, had been
+the constant friend of her mother, and had given her money every
+week since the fire happened. "Mammy loves him dearly, for being so
+good-natured," continued the child: "and he has been good to other
+people as well as to us."
+
+"To whom?" said Phoebe.
+
+"To a poor man who has lodged for these few days past next door to
+us," replied the child; "I don't know his name rightly, but he is an
+Irishman; and he goes out a-haymaking in the day-time, along with a
+number of others. He knew Mr. O'Neill in his own country, and he told
+mammy a great deal about his goodness."
+
+As the child finished these words, Phoebe took out of a drawer some
+clothes, which she had made for the poor woman's children, and gave them
+to the little girl. It happened that the Limerick gloves had been thrown
+into this drawer; and Phoebe's favourable sentiments of the giver
+of those gloves were revived by what she had just heard, and by the
+confession Mrs. Hill had made, that she had no reasons, and but vague
+suspicions, for thinking ill of him. She laid the gloves perfectly
+smooth, and strewed over them, whilst the little girl went on talking of
+Mr. O'Neill, the leaves of a rose which she had worn on Sunday.
+
+Mr. Hill was all this time in deep conference with those prudent men of
+Hereford, who were of his own opinion, about the perilous hole under the
+cathedral. The ominous circumstance of this ball was also considered,
+the great expense at which the Irish glover lived, and his giving away
+gloves; which was a sure sign he was not under any necessity to sell
+them; and consequently a proof that, though he pretended to be a glover,
+he was something wrong in disguise. Upon putting all these things
+together, it was resolved, by these over-wise politicians, that the best
+thing that could be done for Hereford, and the only possible means of
+preventing the immediate destruction of its cathedral, would be to take
+Mr. O'Neill into custody. Upon recollection, however, it was perceived
+that there was no legal ground on which he could be attacked. At
+length, after consulting an attorney, they devised what they thought an
+admirable mode of proceeding.
+
+Our Irish hero had not that punctuality which English tradesmen usually
+observe in the payment of bills: he had, the preceding year, run up a
+long bill with a grocer in Hereford; and, as he had not at Christmas
+cash in hand to pay it, he had given a note, payable six months after
+date. The grocer, at Mr. Hill's request, made over the note to him; and
+it was determined that the money should be demanded, as it was now due,
+and that, if it was not paid directly, O'Neill should be that night
+arrested. How Mr. Hill made the discovery of this debt to the grocer
+agree with his former notion that the Irish glover had always money at
+command, we cannot well conceive; but anger and prejudice will swallow
+down the grossest contradictions without difficulty.
+
+When Mr. Hill's clerk went to demand payment of the note, O'Neill's
+head was full of the ball which he was to give that evening. He was much
+surprised at the unexpected appearance of the note: he had not ready
+money by him to pay it; and, after swearing a good deal at the clerk,
+and complaining of this ungenerous and ungentleman-like behaviour in
+the grocer and the tanner, he told the clerk to be gone, and not to be
+bothering him at such an unseasonable time; that he could not have the
+money then, and did not deserve to have it at all.
+
+This language and conduct were rather new to the English clerk's
+mercantile ears: we cannot wonder that it should seem to him, as he said
+to his master, more the language of a madman than a man of business.
+This want of punctuality in money transactions, and this mode of
+treating contracts as matters of favour and affection, might not have
+damned the fame of our hero in his own country, where such conduct is,
+alas! too common; but he was now in a kingdom where the manners and
+customs are so directly opposite, that he could meet with no allowance
+for his national faults. It would be well for his countrymen if they
+were made, even by a few mortifications, somewhat sensible of this
+important difference in the habits of Irish and English traders, before
+they come to settle in England.
+
+But, to proceed with our story. On the night of Mr. O'Neill's grand
+ball, as he was seeing his fair partner, the perfumer's daughter, safe
+home, he felt himself tapped on the shoulder by no friendly hand. When
+he was told that he was the king's prisoner, he vociferated with sundry
+strange oaths, which we forbear to repeat, "No, I am not the king's
+prisoner! I am the prisoner of that shabby rascally tanner, Jonathan
+Hill. None but he would arrest a gentleman, in this way, for a trifle
+not worth mentioning."
+
+Miss Jenny Brown screamed when she found herself under the protection
+of a man who was arrested; and, what between her screams and his oaths,
+there was such a disturbance that a mob gathered.
+
+Among this mob there was a party of Irish haymakers, who, after
+returning late from a hard day's work, had been drinking in a
+neighbouring ale-house. With one accord they took part with their
+countryman, and would have rescued him from the civil officers with
+all the pleasure in life, if he had not fortunately possessed just
+sufficient sense and command of himself, to restrain their party
+spirit, and to forbid them, as they valued his life and reputation, to
+interfere, by word or deed, in his defence.
+
+He then despatched one of the haymakers home to his mother, to inform
+her of what had happened; and to request that she would get somebody to
+be bail for him as soon as possible, as the officers said they could not
+let him out of their sight till he was bailed by substantial people, or
+till the debt was discharged.
+
+The widow O'Neill was just putting out the candles in the ball-room when
+this news of her son's arrest was brought to her. We pass over Hibernian
+exclamations: she consoled her pride by reflecting that it would
+certainly be the most easy thing imaginable to procure bail for Mr.
+O'Neill in Hereford, where he had so many friends who had just been
+dancing at his house, but to dance at his house she found was one thing,
+and to be bail for him quite another. Each guest sent excuses; and the
+widow O'Neill was astonished at what never fails to astonish every body
+when it happens to themselves. "Rather than let my son be detained in
+this manner for a paltry debt," cried she, "I'd sell all I have within
+half an hour to a pawnbroker." It was well no pawnbroker heard this
+declaration: she was too warm to consider economy. She sent for a
+pawnbroker, who lived in the same street, and, after pledging goods to
+treble the amount of the debt, she obtained ready money for her son's
+release.
+
+O'Neill, after being in custody for about an hour and a half, was set at
+liberty upon the payment of his debt. As he passed by the cathedral in
+his way home, he heard the clock strike; and he called to a man, who was
+walking backwards and forwards in the churchyard, to ask whether it was
+two or three that the clock struck. "Three," answered the man; "and, as
+yet, all is safe."
+
+O'Neill, whose head was full of other things, did not stop to inquire
+the meaning of these last words. He little suspected that this man was a
+watchman, whom the over-vigilant verger had stationed there to guard the
+Hereford cathedral from his attacks. O'Neill little guessed that he
+had been arrested merely to keep him from blowing up the cathedral this
+night. The arrest had an excellent effect upon his mind, for he was a
+young man of good sense: it made him resolve to retrench his expenses in
+time, to live more like a glover and less like a gentleman; and to aim
+more at establishing credit, and less at gaining popularity. He found,
+from experience, that good friends will not pay bad debts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+On Thursday morning, our verger rose in unusually good spirits,
+congratulating himself upon the eminent service he had done to the city
+of Hereford, by his sagacity in discovering the foreign plot to blow up
+the cathedral, and by his dexterity in having the enemy held in custody,
+at the very hour when the dreadful deed was to have been perpetrated.
+Mr. Hill's knowing friends farther agreed it would be necessary to have
+a guard that should sit up every night in the churchyard; and that as
+soon as they could, by constantly watching the enemy's motions, procure
+any information which the attorney should deem sufficient grounds for a
+legal proceeding, they should lay the whole business before the mayor.
+
+After arranging all this most judiciously and mysteriously with friends
+who were exactly of his own opinion, Mr. Hill laid aside his dignity of
+verger; and assuming his other character of a tanner proceeded to his
+tan-yard. What was his surprise and consternation, when he beheld his
+great rick of oak bark levelled to the ground; the pieces of bark were
+scattered far and wide, some over the close, some over the fields, and
+some were seen swimming upon the water! No tongue, no pen, no muse can
+describe the feelings of our tanner at this spectacle! feelings which
+became the more violent from the absolute silence which he imposed on
+himself upon this occasion. He instantly decided in his own mind, that
+this injury was perpetrated by O'Neill, in revenge for his arrest; and
+went privately to the attorney to inquire what was to be done, on his
+part, to secure legal vengeance.
+
+The attorney unluckily, or at least as Mr. Hill thought, unluckily, had
+been sent for, half an hour before, by a gentleman at some distance from
+Hereford, to draw up a will; so that our tanner was obliged to postpone
+his legal operations.
+
+We forbear to recount his return, and how many times he walked up and
+down the close to view his scattered bark, and to estimate the damage
+that had been done to him. At length that hour came which usually
+suspends all passions by the more imperious power of appetite--the hour
+of dinner; an hour of which it was never needful to remind Mr. Hill by
+watch, clock, or dial; for he was blessed with a punctual appetite, and
+powerful as punctual: so powerful, indeed, that it often excited the
+spleen of his more genteel, or less hungry wife.--"Bless my stars, Mr.
+Hill," she would oftentimes say, "I am really downright ashamed to see
+you eat so much; and when company is to dine with us, I do wish you
+would take a snack by way of a damper before dinner, that you may not
+look so prodigious famishing and ungenteel."
+
+Upon this hint, Mr. Hill commenced a practice, to which he ever
+afterwards religiously adhered, of going, whether there was to be
+company or no company, into the kitchen regularly every day, half an
+hour before dinner, to take a slice from the roast or the boiled before
+it went up to table. As he was this day, according to his custom, in the
+kitchen, taking his snack by way of a damper, he heard the housemaid and
+the cook talking about some wonderful fortune-teller, whom the housemaid
+had been consulting. This fortune-teller was no less a personage than
+the successor to Bampfylde Moore Carew, king of the gipsies, whose life
+and adventures are probably in many, too many, of our readers' hands.
+Bampfylde, the second king of the gipsies, assumed this title, in hopes
+of becoming as famous, or as infamous, as his predecessor: he was now
+holding his court in a wood near the town of Hereford, and numbers of
+servant-maids and 'prentices went to consult him--nay, it was whispered
+that he was resorted to, secretly, by some whose education might have
+taught them better sense.
+
+Numberless were the instances which our verger heard in his kitchen of
+the supernatural skill of this cunning man; and whilst Mr. Hill ate his
+snack with his wonted gravity, he revolved great designs in his secret
+soul. Mrs. Hill was surprised, several times during dinner, to see her
+consort put down his knife and fork, and meditate. "Gracious me, Mr.
+Hill, what can have happened to you this day? What can you be thinking
+of, Mr. Hill, that can make you forget what you have upon your plate?"
+
+"Mrs. Hill," replied the thoughtful verger, "our grand-mother Eve had
+too much curiosity; and we all know it did not lead to good. What I am
+thinking of will be known to you in due time, but not now, Mrs. Hill;
+therefore, pray, no questions, or teasing, or pumping. What I think, I
+think; what I say, I say; what I know, I know; and that is enough for
+you to know at present: only this, Phoebe, you did very well not to put
+on the Limerick gloves, child. What I know, I know. Things will turn out
+just as I said from the first. What I say, I say; and what I think, I
+think; and this is enough for you to know at present."
+
+Having finished dinner with this solemn speech, Mr. Hill settled himself
+in his arm-chair, to take his after-dinner's nap; and he dreamed of
+blowing up cathedrals, and of oak bark floating upon the waters; and
+the cathedral was, he thought, blown up by a man dressed in a pair of
+woman's Limerick gloves, and the oak bark turned into mutton steaks,
+after which his great dog Jowler was swimming; when, all on a sudden, as
+he was going to beat Jowler for eating the bark transformed into mutton
+steaks, Jowler became Bampfylde the second, king of the gipsies; and
+putting a horsewhip with a silver handle into Hill's hand, commanded
+him three times, in a voice as loud as the town crier's, to have O'Neill
+whipped through the market-place of Hereford: but, just as he was going
+to the window to see this whipping, his wig fell off, and he awoke.
+
+It was difficult, even for Mr. Hill's sagacity, to make sense of this
+dream: but he had the wise art of always finding in his dreams something
+that confirmed his waking determinations. Before he went to sleep, he
+had half resolved to consult the king of the gipsies, in the absence
+of the attorney; and his dream made him now wholly determined upon this
+prudent step. From Bampfylde the second, thought he, I shall learn for
+certain who made the hole under the cathedral, who pulled down my rick
+of bark, and who made away with my dog Jowler; and then I shall swear
+examinations against O'Neill without waiting for attorneys. I will
+follow my own way in this business: I have always found my own way best.
+
+So, when the dusk of the evening increased, our wise man set out towards
+the wood to consult the cunning man. Bampfylde the second, king of the
+gipsies, resided in a sort of hut made of the branches of trees:
+the verger stooped, but did not stoop low enough, as he entered this
+temporary palace; and, whilst his body was almost bent double, his
+peruke was caught upon a twig. From this awkward situation he was
+relieved by the consort of the king; and he now beheld, by the light
+of some embers, the person of his gipsy majesty, to whose sublime
+appearance this dim light was so favourable that it struck a secret awe
+into our wise man's soul; and, forgetting Hereford cathedral, and oak
+bark, and Limerick gloves, he stood for some seconds speechless. During
+this time, the queen very dexterously disencumbered his pocket of all
+superfluous articles. When he recovered his recollection, he put with
+great solemnity the following queries to the king of the gipsies, and
+received the following answers:
+
+"Do you know a dangerous Irishman, of the name of O'Neill, who has come,
+for purposes best known to himself, to settle at Hereford?"
+
+"Yes, we know him well."
+
+"Indeed! And what do you know of him?"
+
+"That he is a dangerous Irishman."
+
+"Right! And it was he, was it not, that pulled down, or caused to be
+pulled down, my rick of oak bark?"
+
+"It was."
+
+"And who was it that made away with my dog Jowler, that used to guard
+the tan-yard?"
+
+"It was the person that you suspect."
+
+"And was it the person whom I suspect that made the hole under the
+foundation of our cathedral?"
+
+"The same, and no other."
+
+"And for what purpose did he make that hole?"
+
+"For a purpose that must not be named," replied the king of the gipsies;
+nodding his head in a mysterious manner.
+
+"But it may be named to me," cried the verger, "for I have found it out,
+and I am one of the vergers; and is it not fit that a plot to blow up
+the Hereford cathedral should be known _to_ me, and _through_ me?"
+
+  "Now, take my word,
+  Wise men of Hereford,
+  None in safety may be,
+  Till the _bad man_ doth flee."
+
+These oracular verses, pronounced by Bampfylde with all the enthusiasm
+of one who was inspired, had the desired effect upon our wise man; and
+he left the presence of the king of the gipsies with a prodigiously
+high opinion of his majesty's judgment and of his own, fully resolved
+to impart, the next morning, to the mayor of Hereford, his important
+discoveries.
+
+Now it happened that, during the time Mr. Hill was putting the foregoing
+queries to Bampfylde the second, there came to the door or entrance
+of the audience chamber, an Irish haymaker, who wanted to consult the
+cunning man about a little leathern purse which he had lost, whilst he
+was making hay, in a field near Hereford. This haymaker was the same
+person who, as we have related, spoke so advantageously of our
+hero, O'Neill, to the widow Smith. As this man, whose name was Paddy
+M'Cormack, stood at the entrance of the gipsies' hut, his attention
+was caught by the name of O'Neill; and he lost not a word of all that
+passed. He had reason to be somewhat surprised at hearing Bampfylde
+assert it was O'Neill who had pulled down the rick of bark. "By the holy
+poker," said he to himself, "the old fellow now is out there. I know
+more o' that matter than he does--no offence to his majesty: he knows
+no more of my purse, I'll engage now, than he does of this man's rick of
+bark and his dog: so I'll keep my tester in my pocket, and not be giving
+it to this king o' the gipsies, as they call him; who, as near as I can
+guess, is no better than a cheat. But there is one secret which I can be
+telling this conjuror himself; he shall not find it such an easy matter
+to do all what he thinks; he shall not be after ruining an innocent
+countryman of my own, whilst Paddy M'Cormack has a tongue and brains."
+
+Now Paddy M'Cormack had the best reason possible for knowing that Mr.
+O'Neill did not pull down Mr. Hill's rick of bark; it was M'Cormack
+himself, who, in the heat of his resentment for the insulting arrest
+of his countryman in the streets of Hereford, had instigated his fellow
+haymakers to this mischief; he headed them, and thought he was doing a
+clever, spirited action.
+
+There is a strange mixture of virtue and vice in the minds of the lower
+class of Irish; or rather a strange confusion in their ideas of right
+and wrong, from want of proper education. As soon as poor Paddy found
+out that his spirited action of pulling down the rick of bark was likely
+to be the ruin of his countryman, he resolved to make all the amends
+in his power for his folly: he went to collect his fellow haymakers
+and persuaded them to assist him this night in rebuilding what they had
+pulled down.
+
+They went to this work when every body except themselves, as they
+thought, was asleep in Hereford. They had just completed the stack,
+and were all going away except Paddy, who was seated at the very top,
+finishing the pile, when they heard a loud voice cry out, "Here they
+are, Watch! Watch!"
+
+Immediately, all the haymakers, who could, ran off as fast as possible.
+It was the watch who had been sitting up at the cathedral who gave
+the alarm. Paddy was taken from the top of the rick, and lodged in the
+watchhouse till morning. "Since I'm to be rewarded this way for doing a
+good action, sorrow take me," said he, "if they catch me doing another
+the longest day ever I live."
+
+Happy they who have in their neighbourhood such a magistrate as Mr.
+Marshal! He was a man who, to an exact knowledge of the duties of
+his office, joined the power of discovering truth from the midst of
+contradictory evidence; and the happy art of soothing, or laughing,
+the angry passions into good-humour. It was a common saying in
+Hereford--that no one ever came out of Justice Marshal's house as angry
+as he went into it.
+
+Mr. Marshal had scarcely breakfasted when he was informed that Mr. Hill,
+the verger, wanted to speak to him on business of the utmost importance.
+Mr. Hill, the verger, was ushered in; and, with gloomy solemnity, took a
+seat opposite to Mr. Marshal.
+
+"Sad doings in Hereford, Mr. Marshal! Sad doings, sir."
+
+"Sad doings? Why, I was told we had merry doings in Hereford. A ball the
+night before last, as I heard."
+
+"So much the worse, Mr. Marshal; so much the worse; as those think with
+reason that see as far into things as I do."
+
+"So much the better, Mr. Hill," said Mr. Marshal, laughing; "so much the
+better; as those think with reason that see no farther into things than
+I do."
+
+"But, sir," said the verger, still more solemnly, "this is no laughing
+matter, nor time for laughing; begging your pardon. Why, sir, the night
+of that there diabolical ball, our Hereford cathedral, sir, would have
+been blown up--blown up from the foundation, if it had not been for me,
+sir!"
+
+"Indeed, Mr. Verger! And pray how, and by whom, was the cathedral to be
+blown up? and what was there diabolical in this ball?"
+
+Here Mr. Hill let Mr. Marshal into the whole history of his early
+dislike to O'Neill, and his shrewd suspicions of him the first moment
+he saw him in Hereford; related in the most prolix manner all that
+the reader knows already, and concluded by saying that, as he was now
+certain of his facts, he was come to swear examinations against this
+villanous Irishman, who, he hoped, would be speedily brought to justice,
+as he deserved.
+
+"To justice he shall be brought, as he deserves," said Mr. Marshal;
+"but, before I write, and before you swear, will you have the goodness
+to inform me how you have made yourself as certain, as you evidently
+are, of what you call your facts?"
+
+"Sir, that is a secret," replied our wise man, "which I shall trust to
+you alone;" and he whispered into Mr. Marshal's ear that his information
+came from Bampfylde the second, king of the gipsies.
+
+Mr. Marshal instantly burst into laughter; then composing himself said,
+"My good sir, I am really glad that you have proceeded no farther in
+this business; and that no one in Hereford, beside myself, knows that
+you were on the point of swearing examinations against a man on the
+evidence of Bampfylde the second, king of the gipsies{1}. My dear sir,
+it would be a standing joke against you to the end of your days. A
+grave man, like Mr. Hill; and a verger too! Why, you would be the
+laughing-stock of Hereford!"
+
+Now Mr. Marshal well knew the character of the man to whom he was
+talking, who, above all things on earth, dreaded to be laughed at. Mr.
+Hill coloured all over his face, and, pushing back his wig by way of
+settling it, showed that he blushed not only all over his face but all
+over his head.
+
+{Footnote 1: The following passage is an extract from Colquhoun, On
+the Police of the Metropolis, page 69:--"An instance of mischievous
+credulity, occasioned by consulting this impostor" (_a man calling
+himself an astrologer, who practised long in the Curtain-road,
+Shoreditch, London; and who is said, in conjunction with his associates,
+to have made near 300L. a year by practising on the credulity of the
+lower order of the people_), "fell lately under the review of a police
+magistrate. A person, having property stolen from him, went to consult
+the conjuror respecting the thief; who having described something like
+the person of a man whom he suspected, his credulity and folly so far
+got the better of his reason and reflection, as to induce him, upon
+the authority of this impostor, actually to charge his neighbour with a
+felony, and to cause him to be apprehended. The magistrate settled the
+matter by discharging the prisoner, reprimanding the accuser severely,
+and ordering the conjuror to be taken into custody, according to law, as
+a rogue and a vagabond."}
+
+"Why, Mr. Marshal, sir," said he, "as to my being laughed at, it is what
+I did not look for, being as there are some men in Hereford to whom
+I have mentioned that hole in the cathedral, who have thought it
+no laughing matter, and who have been precisely of my own opinion
+thereupon."
+
+"But did you tell these gentlemen that you had been consulting the king
+of the gipsies?"
+
+"No, sir, no: I can't say that I did."
+
+"Then I advise you, keep your own counsel, as I will."
+
+Mr. Hill, whose imagination wavered between the hole in the cathedral
+and his rick of bark on one side, and between his rick of bark and his
+dog Jowler on the other, now began to talk of the dog, and now of the
+rick of bark; and when he had exhausted all he had to say upon these
+subjects, Mr. Marshal gently pulled him towards the window, and putting
+a spy-glass into his hand, bid him look towards his own tan-yard, and
+tell him what he saw. To his great surprise, Mr. Hill saw his rick of
+bark rebuilt.
+
+"Why, it was not there last night," exclaimed he, rubbing his eyes.
+"Why, some conjuror must have done this."
+
+"No," replied Mr. Marshal, "no conjuror did it: but your friend
+Bampfylde the second, king of the gipsies, was the cause of its being
+rebuilt; and here is the man who actually pulled it down, and who
+actually rebuilt it."
+
+As he said these words, Mr. Marshal opened the door of an adjoining
+room, and beckoned to the Irish haymaker, who had been taken into
+custody about an hour before this time. The watch who took Paddy had
+called at Mr. Hill's house to tell him what had happened, but Mr. Hill
+was not then at home.
+
+It was with much surprise that the verger heard the simple truth from
+this poor fellow; but no sooner was he convinced that O'Neill was
+innocent as to this affair, than he recurred to his other ground of
+suspicion, the loss of his dog.
+
+The Irish haymaker now stepped forward, and, with a peculiar twist of
+the hips and shoulders, which those only who have seen it can picture to
+themselves, said, "Plase your honour's honour, I have a little word to
+say too about the dog." "Say it then," said Mr. Marshal.
+
+"Plase your honour, if I might expect to be forgiven, and let off for
+pulling down the jontleman's stack, I might be able to tell him what I
+know about the dog."
+
+"If you can tell me any thing about my dog," said the tanner, "I will
+freely forgive you for pulling down the rick: especially as you have
+built it up again. Speak the truth now: did not O'Neill make away with
+the dog?"
+
+"Not at all at all, plase your honour," replied the haymaker: "and the
+truth of the matter is, I know nothing of the dog, good or bad; but I
+know something of his collar, if your name, plase your honour, is Hill,
+as I take it to be?"
+
+"My name is Hill: proceed," said the tanner, with great eagerness. "You
+know something about the collar of my dog Jowler?"
+
+"Plase your honour, this much I know any way, that it is now or was the
+night before last, at the pawnbroker's there, below in town; for, plase
+your honour, I was sent late at night (that night that Mr. O'Neill,
+long life to him! was arrested) to the pawnbroker's for a Jew, by Mrs.
+O'Neill, poor creature! she was in great trouble that same time."
+
+"Very likely," interrupted Mr. Hill: "but go on to the collar; what of
+the collar?"
+
+"She sent me,--I'll tell you the story, plase your honour, _out of the
+face_--she sent me to the pawnbroker's for the Jew; and, it being so
+late at night, the shop was shut, and it was with all the trouble in
+life that I got into the house any way: and, when I got in, there was
+none but a slip of a boy up; and he set down the light that he had in
+his hand, and ran up the stairs to waken his master: and, whilst he was
+gone, I just made bold to look round at what sort of a place I was in,
+and at the old clothes and rags and scraps; there was a sort of a frieze
+trusty."
+
+"A trusty!" said Mr. Hill; "what is that pray?"
+
+"A big coat, sure, plase your honour: there was a frieze big coat lying
+in a corner, which I had my eye upon, to trate myself to; I having, as
+I then thought, money in my little purse enough for it. Well, I won't
+trouble your honour's honour with telling of you now how I lost my purse
+in the field, as I found after; but about the big coat, as I was saying,
+I just lifted it off the ground, to see would it fit me; and, as I swung
+it round, something, plase your honour, hit me a great knock on the
+shins: it was in the pocket of the coat, whatever it was, I knew; so I
+looks into the pocket, to see what was it, plase your honour, and out
+I pulls a hammer and a dog-collar; it was a wonder, both together, they
+did not break my shins entirely: but it's no matter for my shins now:
+so, before the boy came down, I just out of idleness spelt out to myself
+the name that was upon the collar: there were two names, plase your
+honour; and out of the first there were so many letters hammered out I
+could make nothing of it, at all at all; but the other name was plain
+enough to read any way, and it was Hill, plase your honour's honour, as
+sure as life: Hill, now."
+
+This story was related in tones and gestures which were so new and
+strange to English ears and eyes, that even the solemnity of our verger
+gave way to laughter.--Mr. Marshal sent a summons for the pawnbroker,
+that he might learn from him how he came by the dog-collar. The
+pawnbroker, when he found from Mr. Marshal that he could by no other
+means save himself from being committed to prison, confessed that
+the collar had been sold to him by Bampfylde the second, king of the
+gipsies.
+
+A warrant was immediately despatched for his majesty: and Mr. Hill was
+a good deal alarmed, by the fear of its being known in Hereford that he
+was on the point of swearing examinations against an innocent man, upon
+the evidence of a dog-stealer and a gipsy.
+
+Bampfylde the second made no sublime appearance, when he was brought
+before Mr. Marshal; nor could all his astrology avail upon this
+occasion: the evidence of the pawnbroker was so positive, as to the fact
+of his having sold to him the dog-collar, that there was no resource
+left for Bampfylde but an appeal to Mr. Hill's mercy. He fell on his
+knees, and confessed that it was he who stole the dog; which used to
+bark at him at night so furiously that he could not commit certain petty
+depredations, by which, as much as by telling fortunes, he made his
+livelihood.
+
+"And so," said Mr. Marshal, with a sternness of manner which till now he
+had never shown, "to screen yourself, you accused an innocent man; and
+by your vile arts would have driven him from Hereford, and have set two
+families for ever at variance, to conceal that you had stolen a dog."
+
+The king of the gipsies was, without farther ceremony, committed to the
+house of correction. We should not omit to mention, that, on searching
+his hut, the Irish haymaker's purse was found, which some of his
+majesty's train had emptied. The whole set of gipsies decamped, upon the
+news of the apprehension of their monarch.
+
+Mr. Hill stood in profound silence, leaning upon his walking-stick,
+whilst the committal was making out for Bampfylde the second. The fear
+of ridicule was struggling with the natural positiveness of his temper:
+he was dreadfully afraid that the story of his being taken in by the
+king of the gipsies would get abroad; and, at the same time, he was
+unwilling to give up his prejudice against the Irish glover.
+
+"But, Mr. Marshal," cried he, after a long silence, "the hole under the
+foundation of the cathedral has never been accounted for: that is, was,
+and ever will be, an ugly mystery to me; and I never can have a good
+opinion of this Irishman, till it is cleared up; nor can I think the
+cathedral in safety."
+
+"What," said Mr. Marshal, with an arch smile, "I suppose the verses
+of the oracle still work upon your imagination, Mr. Hill. They are
+excellent in their kind. I must have them by heart that, when I am asked
+the reason why Mr. Hill has taken an aversion to an Irish glover, I may
+be able to repeat them:
+
+  'Now, take my word,
+  Wise men of Hereford,
+  None in safety may be,
+  Till the bad man doth flee.'"
+
+"You'll oblige me, sir," said the verger, "if you would never repeat
+those verses, sir; nor mention, in any company, the affair of the king
+of the gipsies."
+
+"I will oblige you," replied Mr. Marshal, "if you will oblige me. Will
+you tell me honestly whether now that you find this Mr. O'Neill is
+neither a dog-killer nor a puller down of bark ricks, you feel that you
+could forgive him for being an Irishman, if the mystery, as you call
+it, of the hole under the cathedral was cleared up?" "But that is not
+cleared up, I say, sir," cried Mr. Hill, striking his walking-stick
+forcibly upon the ground, with both his hands. "As to the matter of
+his being an Irishman, I have nothing to say to it: I am not saying any
+thing about that, for I know we all are born where it pleases God; and
+an Irishman may be as good as another. I know that much, Mr. Marshal;
+and I am not one of those illiberal-minded ignorant people that
+cannot abide a man that was not born in England. Ireland is now in his
+majesty's dominions, I know very well, Mr. Marshal; and I have no
+manner of doubt, as I said before, that an Irishman born may be as good,
+almost, as an Englishman born."
+
+"I am glad," said Mr. Marshal, "to hear you speak, almost, as reasonably
+as an Englishman born and every man ought to speak; and I am convinced
+that you have too much English hospitality to persecute an inoffensive
+stranger, who comes amongst us trusting to our justice and good nature."
+
+"I would not persecute a stranger, God forbid!" replied the verger, "if
+he was, as you say, inoffensive."
+
+"And if he was not only inoffensive, but ready to do every service in
+his power to those who are in want of his assistance, we should not
+return evil for good, should we?"
+
+"That would be uncharitable, to be sure; and moreover a scandal," said
+the verger.
+
+"Then," said Mr. Marshal, "will you walk with me as far as the widow
+Smith's, the poor woman whose house was burnt last winter! This
+haymaker, who lodged near her, can show us the way to her present
+abode."
+
+During his examination of Paddy M'Cormack, who would tell his whole
+history, as he called it, _out of the face_, Mr. Marshal heard several
+instances of the humanity and goodness of O'Neill, which Paddy related
+to excuse himself for that warmth of attachment to his cause, that had
+been manifested so injudiciously by pulling down the rick of bark
+in revenge for the arrest. Amongst other things, Paddy mentioned his
+countryman's goodness to the widow Smith: Mr. Marshal was determined,
+therefore, to see whether he had, in this instance, spoken the truth;
+and he took Mr. Hill with him, in hopes of being able to show him the
+favourable side of O'Neill's character. Things turned out just as Mr.
+Marshal expected. The poor widow and her family, in the most simple
+and affecting manner, described the distress from which they had been
+relieved by the good gentleman and lady, the lady was Phoebe Hill;
+and the praises that were bestowed upon Phoebe were delightful to her
+father's ear, whose angry passions had now all subsided.
+
+The benevolent Mr. Marshal seized the moment when he saw Mr. Hill's
+heart was touched, and exclaimed, "I must be acquainted with this Mr.
+O'Neill. I am sure we people of Hereford ought to show some hospitality
+to a stranger, who has so much humanity. Mr. Hill, will you dine with
+him to-morrow at my house?"
+
+Mr. Hill was just going to accept of this invitation, when the
+recollection of all he had said to his club about the hole under the
+cathedral came across him; and, drawing Mr. Marshal aside, he whispered,
+"But sir, sir, that affair of the hole under the cathedral has not been
+cleared up yet."
+
+At this instant, the widow Smith exclaimed, "Oh! here comes my little
+Mary" (one of her children, who came running in): "this is the little
+girl, sir, to whom the lady has been so good. Make your curtsy, child.
+Where have you been all this while?"
+
+"Mammy," said the child, "I've been showing the lady my rat."
+
+"Lord bless her! Gentlemen, the child has been wanting me this many
+a day to go to see this tame rat of hers; but I could never get time,
+never: and I wondered too at the child's liking such a creature. Tell
+the gentlemen, dear, about your rat. All I know is, that, let her have
+but never such a tiny bit of bread, for breakfast or supper, she saves
+a little of that little for this rat of hers: she and her brothers have
+found it out somewhere by the cathedral."
+
+"It comes out of a hole under the wall of the cathedral," said one
+of the elder boys; "and we have diverted ourselves watching it, and
+sometimes we have put victuals for it, so it has grown, in a manner,
+tame like."
+
+Mr. Hill and Mr. Marshal looked at one another during this speech; and
+the dread of ridicule again seized on Mr. Hill, when he apprehended
+that, after all he had said, the mountain might, at last, bring forth--a
+rat. Mr. Marshal, who instantly saw what passed in the verger's mind,
+relieved him from this fear, by refraining even from a smile on this
+occasion. He only said to the child, in a grave manner, "I am afraid,
+my dear, we shall be obliged to spoil your diversion. Mr. Verger, here,
+cannot suffer rat-holes in the cathedral: but, to make you amends for
+the loss of your favourite, I will give you a very pretty little dog, if
+you have a mind."
+
+The child was well pleased with this promise; and, at Mr. Marshal's
+desire, she then went along with him and Mr. Hill to the cathedral, and
+they placed themselves at a little distance from that hole which had
+created so much disturbance. The child soon brought the dreadful enemy
+to light; and Mr. Hill, with a faint laugh, said, "I'm glad it's no
+worse: but there were many in our club who were of my opinion; and, if
+they had not suspected O'Neill too, I am sure I should never have given
+you so much trouble, sir, as I have done this morning. But, I hope, as
+the club know nothing about that vagabond, that king of the gipsies, you
+will not let any one know any thing about the prophecy, and all that?
+I am sure, I am very sorry to have given you so much trouble, Mr.
+Marshal."
+
+Mr. Marshal assured him that he did not regret the time which he had
+spent in endeavouring to clear up all these mysteries and suspicions;
+and Mr. Hill gladly accepted his invitation to meet O'Neill at his house
+the next day. No sooner had Mr. Marshal brought one of the parties
+to reason and good-humour, than he went to prepare the other for a
+reconciliation. O'Neill and his mother were both people of warm but
+forgiving tempers: the arrest was fresh in their minds; but when
+Mr. Marshal represented to them the whole affair, and the verger's
+prejudices, in a humorous light, they joined in the good-natured laugh,
+and O'Neill declared that, for his part, he was ready to forgive and
+to forget every thing, if he could but see Miss Phoebe in the Limerick
+gloves.
+
+Phosbe appeared the next day, at Mr. Marshal's, in the Limerick gloves;
+and no perfume ever was so delightful to her lover as the smell of the
+rose leaves, in which they had been kept. Mr. Marshal had the benevolent
+pleasure of reconciling the two families. The tanner and the glover of
+Hereford became, from bitter enemies, useful friends to each other; and
+they were convinced, by experience, that nothing could be more for their
+mutual advantage than to live in union.
+
+_Nov_. 1799.
+
+
+
+
+
+OUT OF THE DEBT OUT OF DANGER
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Leonard Ludgate was the only son and heir of a London haberdasher, who
+had made some money by constant attendance to his shop. "Out of debt
+out of danger," was the father's old-fashioned saying. The son's more
+liberal maxim was, "Spend to-day, and spare to-morrow." Whilst he
+was under his father's eye, it was not in his power to live up to his
+principles; and he longed for the time when he should be relieved from
+his post behind the counter: a situation which he deemed highly unworthy
+a youth of his parts and spirit. To imprison his elegant person behind a
+counter in Cranbourne-alley was, to be sure, in a cruel father's
+power; but his tyranny could not extend to his mind; and, whilst he was
+weighing minikin pins, or measuring out penny ribbon, his soul, leaving
+all these meaner things, was expatiating in Bond-street or Hyde-park.
+Whilst his fingers mechanically adjusted the scales, or carelessly
+slipped the yard, his imagination was galloping a fine bay with Tom
+Lewis, or driving Miss Belle Perkins in a gig.
+
+Now Tom Lewis was a dashing young citizen, whom old Ludgate could not
+endure; and Miss Belle Perkins a would-be fine lady, whom he advised
+his son never to think of for a wife. But the happy moment at length
+arrived, when our hero could safely show how much he despised both the
+advice and the character of his father; when he could quit his nook
+behind the counter, throw aside the yard, assume the whip, and affect
+the fine gentleman. In short, the happy moment came when his father
+died.
+
+Leonard now shone forth in all the glory which the united powers of
+tailor, hatter, and hosier, could spread around lug person. Miss Belle
+Perkins, who had hitherto looked down upon our hero as a reptile of
+Cranbourne-alley, beheld his metamorphosis with surprise and admiration.
+And she, who had formerly been heard to say, "she would not touch him
+with a pair of tongs," now unreluctantly gave him her envied hand at
+a ball at Bagnigge Wells. Report farther adds that, at tea, Miss Belle
+whispered loud enough to be heard, that since his queer father's death,
+Leonard Ludgate had turned out quite a genteeler sort of person than
+could have been expected.
+
+"Upon this hint he spake." His fair one, after assuming all proper and
+becoming airs upon the occasion, suffered herself to be prevailed
+upon to call, with her mother and a friend, at Mr. Ludgate's house in
+Cranbourne-alley, to see whether it could be possibly inhabited by a
+lady of her taste and consequence.
+
+As Leonard handed her out of her hackney-coach, she exclaimed, "Bless
+us, and be we to go up this paved lane, and through the shop, before we
+can get to the more creditabler apartments?"
+
+"I'm going to cut a passage off the shop, which I've long had in
+contemplation," replied our hero; "only I can't get light into it
+cleverly."
+
+"Oh! a lamp in the style of a _chandaleer_ will do vastly well by night,
+which is the time one wants one's house to put the best foot foremost,
+for company; and by day we can make a shift, somehow or other, I dare
+say. Any thing's better than _trapesing_ through a shop; which is a
+thing I've never been used to, and cannot reconcile myself to by any
+means."
+
+Leonard immediately acceded to this scheme of the dark passage by day,
+and the _chandaleer_ by night; and he hurried his fair one through the
+odious shop to the _more creditabler_ apartments. She was handed above,
+about, and underneath. She found every particle of the house wanted
+modernizing immensely, and was altogether smaller than she could ever
+have conceived beforehand. Our hero, ambitious at once to show his
+gallantry, spirit, and taste, incessantly protested he would adopt every
+improvement Miss Belle Perkins could suggest; and he declared that the
+identical same ideas had occurred to him a hundred and a hundred times,
+during his poor father's lifetime: but he could never make the old
+gentleman enter into any thing of the sort, his notions of life being
+utterly limited, to say no worse. "He had one old saw, for ever grating
+in my ears, as an answer to everything that bore the stamp of gentility,
+or carried with it an air of spirit: hey, Allen!" continued our hero,
+looking over his shoulder at a young man who was casting up accounts;
+"hey, Allen--you remember the old saw?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the young man, "if you mean, 'Out of debt out of
+danger:' I hope I shall never forget it."
+
+"I hope so too; as you have your fortune to make, it is very proper for
+you: but for one that has a fortune ready made to spend, I am free to
+confess I think my principle worth a million of it: and my maxim is,
+'Spend to-day, and spare to-morrow:' hey, ladies?" concluded Leonard,
+appealing with an air secure of approbation to his fair mistress and her
+young companion.
+
+"Why that suits my notions, I must own candidly," said Belle; "but
+here's one beside me, or behind me--Where are you, Lucy?" pursued the
+young lady, addressing herself to her humble companion: "here's one, who
+is more of your shop-man's way of thinking than yours, I fancy. 'Out of
+debt out of danger' is just a sober saying to your mind, an't it, Lucy?"
+
+Lucy did not deny the charge. "Well, child," said Miss Perkins, "it's
+very proper, for you have no fortune of your own to spend."
+
+"It is, indeed," said Lucy, with modest firmness; "for as I have none
+of my own, if it were my maxim to spend to-day and spare to-morrow, I
+should be obliged to spend other people's money, which I never will do
+as long as I can maintain myself independently."
+
+"How proud we are!" cried Miss Perkins, sarcastically. Leonard assented
+to the sarcasm by his looks; but Allen declared he liked proper pride,
+and seemed to think that Lucy's was of this species.
+
+An argument might have ensued, if a collation, as Mr. Ludgate called it,
+had not appeared at this critical moment. Of what it consisted, and how
+genteelly and gallantly our hero did the honours of his collation, we
+forbear to relate; but one material circumstance we must not omit, as
+on this, perhaps more than even on his gentility and gallantry, depended
+the fortune of the day. In rummaging over a desk to find a corkscrew,
+young Ludgate took occasion to open and shake a pocket-book, from which
+fell a shower of bank notes. What effect they produced upon his fair
+one, and on her mother, can be best judged of by the event. Miss Belle
+Perkins, after this domiciliary visit, consented to go with our hero on
+Sunday to Kensington Gardens, Monday to Sadler's Wells, Tuesday on the
+water, Wednesday to the play, Thursday the Lord knows to what ball,
+Friday to Vauxhall, and on Saturday to--the altar!
+
+Some people thought the young lady and gentleman rather precipitate; but
+these were persons who, as the bride justly observed, did not understand
+any thing in nature of a love match. Those who have more liberal
+notions, and a more extensive knowledge of the human heart, can readily
+comprehend how a lady may think a man so odious at one minute, that she
+could not touch him with a pair of tongs, and so charming the next,
+that she would die a thousand deaths for him, and him alone. Immediately
+after the ceremony was performed, Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate went down in
+the hoy to Margate, to spend their honeymoon in style. Their honeymoon,
+alas! could not be prolonged beyond the usual bounds. Even the joys of
+Margate could not be eternal, and the day came too soon when our happy
+pair were obliged to think of returning home. Home! With what different
+sensations different people pronounce and hear that word pronounced!
+Mrs. Leonard Ludgate's home in Cranbourne-alley appeared to her, as she
+scrupled not to declare, an intolerable low place, after Margate. The
+stipulated alterations, her husband observed, had been made in the
+house, but none of them had been executed to her satisfaction. The
+expedient of the dark passage was not found to succeed: a thorough wind,
+from the front and back doors, ran along it when either or both were
+left open to admit light; and this wicked wind, not content with running
+along the passage, forced its way up and down stairs, made the kitchen
+chimney smoke, and rendered even the _more creditabler_ apartments
+scarcely habitable. Chimney doctors were in vain consulted: the
+favourite dark passage was at length abandoned, and the lady, to her
+utter discomfiture, was obliged to pass through the shop.
+
+To make herself amends for this mortification, she insisted upon
+throwing down the partition between the dining-room and her own
+bedchamber, that she might have one decent apartment at least fit for
+a rout. It was to no purpose that her friend Lucy, who was called in to
+assist in making up furniture, represented that this scheme of throwing
+bedchamber and dining-room into one would be attended with some
+inconveniences; for instance, that Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate would be
+obliged, in consequence of this improvement, to sleep in half of the
+maid's garret, or to sit up all night. This objection was overruled
+by Mrs. Ludgate, whose genius, fertile in expedients, made every thing
+easy, by the introduction of a bed in the dining-room, in the shape of a
+sofa. The newly-enlarged apartment, she observed, would thus answer the
+double purposes of show and utility; and, as soon as the supper and card
+tables should be removed, the sofa-bed might be let down. She asserted
+that the first people in London manage in this way. Leonard could not
+contradict his lady, because she had a ready method of silencing him,
+by asking how he could possibly know any thing of life who had lived all
+his days, except Sundays, in Cranbourne-alley? Then, if any one of his
+father's old notions of economy by chance twinged his conscience, Belle
+very judiciously asked how he ever came to think of her for a wife?
+"Since you have got a genteel wife," said she, "it becomes you to live
+up to her notions, and to treat her as she and her friends have a right
+to expect. Before I married you, sir, none of the Perkins's were in
+trade themselves, either directly or indirectly; and many's the
+slights and reproaches I've met with from my own relations and former
+acquaintances, since my marriage, on account of the Ludgates being all
+tradesfolks; to which I always answer, that my Leonard is going to
+wash his hands of trade himself, and to make over all concern in the
+haberdashery line and shop to the young man below stairs, who is much
+better suited to such things."
+
+By such speeches as these, alternately piquing and soothing the vanity
+of her Leonard, our accomplished wife worked him to her purposes. She
+had a rout once a week; and her room was so crowded, that there was
+scarcely a possibility of breathing. Yet, notwithstanding all this, she
+one morning declared, with a burst of tears, she was the most miserable
+woman in the world. And why? Because her friend, Mrs. Pimlico, Miss
+Coxeater that was, had a house in Weymouth-street; whilst she was forced
+to keep on being buried in Cranbourne-alley. Mr. Ludgate was moved
+by his wife's tears, and by his own ambition, and took a house in
+Weymouth-street. But before they had been there six weeks, the fair
+one was again found bathed in tears. And why? "Because," said Belle,
+"because, Mr. Ludgate, the furniture of this house is as old as
+Methusalem's; and my friend, Mrs. Pimlico, said yesterday that it was a
+shame to be seen: and so to be sure it is, compared with her own, which
+is spick and span new. Yet why should she pretend to look down upon
+me in point of furniture, or any thing? Who was she, before she was
+married? Little Kitty Coxeater, as we always called her at the dancing
+school; and nobody ever thought of comparing her, in point of gentility,
+with Belle Perkins! Why, she is as ugly as sin! though she is my friend,
+I must acknowledge _that_; and, if she had all the clothes in the world,
+she would never know how to put any of them on; that's one comfort. And,
+as every body says, to be sure she never would have got a husband but
+for her money. And, after all, what sort of a husband has she got? A
+perfumer, indeed! a man with a face like one of his own wash-balls, all
+manner of colours. I declare, I would rather have gone without to the
+end of my days than have married Mr. Pimlico."
+
+"I cannot blame you there, my dear," said Mr. Ludgate; "for to be sure
+Mr. Pimlico, much as he thinks of himself and his country house, has as
+little the air of--the air of fashion as can be well conceived."
+
+Leonard Ludgate made an emphatic pause in this speech; and surveyed
+himself in a looking-glass with much complacency, whilst he pronounced
+the word fashion. He, indeed, approved so much of his wife's taste and
+discernment, in preferring him to Mr. Pimlico, that he could not at this
+moment help inclining to follow her judgment respecting the furniture.
+He acceded to her position, that the Ludgates ought to appear at least
+no shabbier than the Pimlicos. The conclusion was inevitable: Leonard,
+according to his favourite maxim of "Spend to-day, and spare to-morrow,"
+agreed that they might new furnish the house this year, and pay for it
+the next. This was immediately done; and the same principle was extended
+through all their household affairs, as far as the tradesmen concerned
+would admit of its being carried into practice.
+
+By this means, Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate were not for some time sensible of
+the difficulties they were preparing for themselves. They went on vying
+with the Pimlicos, and with all their new acquaintance, who were many of
+them much richer than themselves; and of this vain competition there
+was no end. Those who estimate happiness not by the real comforts or
+luxuries which they enjoy, but by comparison between themselves and
+their neighbours, must be subject to continual mortification and
+discontent. Far from being happier than they were formerly, Mr. and Mrs.
+Ludgate were much more miserable after their removal to Weymouth-street.
+Was it not better to be the first person in Cranbourne-alley than the
+last in Weymouth-street? New wants and wishes continually arose in their
+new situation. They must live like other people. Everybody, that is,
+everybody in Weymouth-street, did so and so; and, therefore, they must
+do the same. They must go to such a place, or they must have such a
+thing, not because it was in itself necessary or desirable, but because
+everybody, that is, everybody of their acquaintance, did or had the
+same. Even to be upon a footing with their new neighbours was a matter
+of some difficulty; and then merely to be upon an equality, merely to
+be admitted and suffered at parties, is awkward and humiliating. Noble
+ambition prompted them continually to aim at distinction. The desire
+to attain _il poco piu--the little more_, stimulates to excellence, or
+betrays to ruin, according to the objects of our ambition. No artist
+ever took more pains to surpass Raphael or Correggio than was taken by
+Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate to outshine Mr. and Mrs. Pimlico. And still what
+they had done seemed nothing: what they were to do occupied all their
+thoughts. No timid economical fears could stop or even startle them
+in the road to ruin. Faithful to his maxim, our hero denied himself
+nothing. If, for a moment, the idea that any thing was too expensive
+suggested itself, his wife banished care by observing, "We need not pay
+for it now. What signifies it, since we need not think of paying for
+it till next year?" She had abundance of arguments of similar solidity,
+adapted to all occasions. Sometimes the thing in question was such a
+trifle it could not ruin anybody. "'Tis but a guinea! '_Tis but_ a
+few shillings!" Sometimes it was a sort of thing that could not ruin
+anybody, because "'Tis but for once and away!" '_Tis but_ is a most
+dangerous thing! How many guineas may be spent upon '_tis but_, in the
+course of one year, in such a city as London!
+
+Bargains! excellent bargains! were also with our heroine admirable pleas
+for expense. "We positively must buy this, my dear; for it would be a
+sin to let such a bargain slip through one's fingers. Mrs. Pimlico paid
+twice as much for what is not half as good. 'Twould be quite a shame to
+one's good sense to miss such a bargain!" Mrs. Ludgate was one of those
+ladies who think it is more reasonable to buy a thing because it is a
+bargain than because they want it: she farther argued, "If we don't want
+it, we may want it:" and this was a satisfactory plea.
+
+Under the head bargains we must not forget _cheap days_. Messrs. Run
+and Raffle advertised a sale of old shop goods, with the catching
+words--_cheap days_! Everybody crowded to throw away their money on
+cheap days; and, amongst the rest, Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+One circumstance was rather disagreeable in these cheap days: ready
+money was required; and this did not suit those who lived by
+the favourite maxim of the family. Yet there was a reason that
+counterbalanced their objection in Mrs. Ludgate's mind: "Mrs. Pimlico
+was going to Messrs. Run and Raffle's and what would she think, if I
+wasn't to be there? She'd think, to be sure, that we were as poor as
+Job." So, to demonstrate that she had ready money to throw away, Mrs.
+Ludgate must go on the cheap days.
+
+"Belle," said her husband, "ready money's a serious thing."
+
+"Yes, Leonard, but, when nothing else will be taken, you know, one can't
+do without it."
+
+"But, if one has not it, I tell you, one must do without it," said
+Leonard peevishly.
+
+"Lord, Mr. Ludgate, if you have not it about you, can't you send to
+Cranbourne-alley, to Mr. Allen, for some for me? 'Tis but a few guineas
+I want; and 'twould be a shame to miss such bargains as are to be had
+for nothing, at Run and Raffle's. And these cheap days are extraordinary
+things. It can't ruin any body to spend a guinea or two, once and away,
+like other people."
+
+At the conclusion of her eloquent speech, Mrs. Ludgate rang the bell;
+and, without waiting for any assent from her husband but silence, bade
+the footman run to _the shop_, and desire Allen to send her ten guineas
+immediately.
+
+Mr. Ludgate looked sullen, whistled, and then posted himself at the
+parlour window to watch for the ambassador's return. "I wonder,"
+continued Mrs. Ludgate, "I wonder, Leonard, that you let Allen leave you
+so bare of cash of late! It is very disagreeable to be always sending
+out of the house, this way, for odd guineas. Allen, I think, uses you
+very ill; but I am sure I would not let him cheat me, if I was you.
+Pray, when you gave up the business of the shop to him, was not you to
+have half the profits for your good-will, and name, and all that!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And little enough! But why don't you look after Allen, then, and make
+him pay us what he owes us?"
+
+"I'll see about it to-morrow, child."
+
+"About how much do you think is owing to us?" pursued Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+"I can't tell, ma'am."
+
+"I wish then you'd settle accounts to-morrow, that I might have some
+ready money."
+
+The lady seemed to take it for granted that her having ready money would
+be the necessary and immediate consequence of settling accounts with
+Allen; her husband could have set her right in this particular, and
+could have informed her that not a farthing was due to him; that, on
+the contrary, he had taken up money in advance, on the next half year's
+expected profits; but Mr. Ludgate was ashamed to let his wife know the
+real state of his affairs: indeed, he was afraid to look them in the
+face himself. "Here's the boy coming back!" cried he, after watching for
+some time in silence at the window.
+
+Leonard went to the street-door to meet him; and Belle followed close,
+crying, "Well! I hope Allen has sent me the money?"
+
+"I don't know," said the breathless boy. "I have a letter for my master,
+here, that was written ready, by good luck, afore I got there."
+
+Leonard snatched the letter; and his wife waited to see whether the
+money was enclosed.
+
+"The rascal has sent me no money, I see, but a letter, and an account as
+long as my arm."
+
+"No money!" cried Belle; "that's using us very oddly and ill, indeed;
+and I wonder you submit to such conduct! I declare I won't bear it! Go
+back, I say, Jack; go, run this minute, and tell Allen he must come up
+himself; for _I, Mrs. Ludgate, wants_ to speak with him."
+
+"No, my dear, no; nonsense! don't go, Jack. What signifies your sending
+to speak with Allen? What can you do? How can you settle accounts with
+him? What should women know of business? I wish women would never meddle
+with things they don't understand."
+
+"Women can understand well enough when they want money," cried the sharp
+lady; "and the short and the long of it is, Mr. Ludgate, that I will see
+and settle accounts with Allen myself; and bring him to reason, if you
+won't; and this minute, too."
+
+"Bless me! upon my faith, Allen's better than we thought: here's
+bank-notes within the account," said Mr. Ludgate.
+
+"Ay, I thought he could not be so very impertinent as to refuse when
+_I_ sent to him myself. But this is only one five pound note: I sent for
+ten. Where is the other?"
+
+"I want the other myself," said her husband.
+
+The tone was so peremptory, that she dared not tempt him further; and
+away she went to Messrs. Run and Raffle's, where she had the pleasure of
+buying a bargain of things that were of no manner of use to her, and for
+which she paid twice as much as they were worth. These cheap days proved
+dear days to many.
+
+Whilst Mrs. Ludgate spent the morning at Messrs. Run and Raffle's, her
+husband was with Tom Lewis, lounging up and down Bond-street. Tom Lewis
+being just one step above him in gentility, was invited to parties where
+Ludgate could not gain admittance, was bowed to by people who never
+bowed to Leonard Ludgate, could tell to whom this livery or that
+carriage belonged, knew who everybody was, and could point out my lord
+this, and my lady that, in the park or at the play. All these things
+made him a personage of prodigious consequence in the eyes of our hero,
+who looked upon him as the mirror of fashion. Tom knew how to take
+advantage of this admiration, and borrowed many a guinea from him in
+their morning walks: in return, he introduced Mr. Ludgate to some of his
+friends, and to his club.
+
+New occasions, or rather new necessities, for expense occurred every
+day, in consequence of his connexion with Lewis. Whilst he aimed at
+being thought a young man of spirit, he could not avoid doing as other
+people did. He could not think of economy! That would be shabby! On his
+fortune rested his claims to respect from his present associates; and,
+therefore, it was his constant aim to raise their opinion of his riches.
+For some time, extravagance was not immediately checked by the want of
+money, because he put off the evil day of payment. At last, when bills
+poured in upon him, and the frequent calls of tradesmen began to be
+troublesome, he got rid of the present difficulty by referring them to
+Allen. "Go to Allen; he must settle with you: he does all my business."
+
+Allen sent him account after account, stating the sums he paid by his
+order. Ludgate thrust the unread accounts into his escritoire, and
+thought no more of the matter. Allen called upon him, to beg he would
+come to some settlement, as he was getting more and more, every day,
+into his debt. Leonard desired to have an account, stated in full, and
+promised to look over it on Monday: but Monday came, and then it was put
+off till Tuesday; and so on, day after day.
+
+The more reason he had to know that his affairs were deranged, the
+more carefully he concealed all knowledge of them from his wife. Her
+ignorance of the truth not only led her daily into fresh extravagance,
+but was, at last, the cause of bringing things to a premature
+explanation. After spending the morning at Messrs. Run and Raffle's, she
+returned home with a hackney-coach full of bargains. As she came into
+the parlour, loaded with things that she did not want, she was surprised
+by the sight of an old friend, whom she had lately treated entirely as
+a stranger. It was Lucy, who had in former days been her favourite
+companion. But Lucy had chosen to work, to support herself
+independently, rather than to be a burden to her friends; and Mrs.
+Ludgate could not take notice of a person who had degraded herself so
+far as to become a workwoman at an upholsterer's. She had consequently
+never seen Lucy since this event took place, except when she went to
+Mr. Beech the upholsterer's, to order her new furniture. She then was
+in company with Mrs. Pimlico: and, when she saw Lucy at work in a back
+parlour with two or three other young women, she pretended not to know
+her. Lucy could scarcely believe that this was done on purpose; and,
+at all events, she was not mortified by the insult. She was now come to
+speak to Mrs. Ludgate about the upholsterer's bill.
+
+"Ha! Lucy, is it you?" said Mrs. Ludgate, as soon as she entered. "I've
+never seen you in Weymouth-street before! How comes it you never called,
+if it was only to see our new house? I'm sure I should always be very
+happy to have you here--when we've nobody with us; and I'm quite sorry
+_as_ I can't ask you to stay and take a bit of mutton with us to-day,
+because I'm engaged to dine in Bond-street, with Mrs. Pimlico's cousin,
+pretty Mrs. Paget, the bride whom you've heard talk of, no doubt. So
+you'll excuse me if I run away from you, to make myself a little decent;
+for it's horrid late!"
+
+After running off this speech, with an air and a volubility worthy of
+her betters, she set before Lucy some of her bargains, and was then
+retreating to make herself decent; but Lucy stopped her, by saying,
+"My dear Mrs. Ludgate, I am sorry to detain you, but Mr. Beech, the
+upholsterer, knowing I have been acquainted with you, has sent me to
+speak to you about his bill. He is in immediate want of money, because
+he is fitting out one of his sons for the East Indies."
+
+"Well! but his son's nothing to me! I sha'n't think of paying the bill
+yet, I can assure him; and you may take it back, and tell him so."
+
+"But," said Lucy, "if I take back such an answer, I am afraid Mr. Beech
+will send the bill to Mr. Ludgate; and that was what you particularly
+desired should not be done."
+
+"Why, no; that's what I can't say I should particularly wish, just at
+present," said Mrs. Ludgate, lowering her tone "because, to tell you a
+bit of a secret, Lucy, I've run up rather an _unconsciable_ bill, this
+year, with my milliner and mantua-maker; and I would not have all
+_them_ bills come upon him all in a lump, and on a sudden, as it were;
+especially as I laid out more on the furniture than he counts. So, my
+dear Lucy, I'll tell you what you must do: you must use your influence
+with Beech to make him wait a little longer. I'm sure he may wait well
+enough; and he shall be paid next month."
+
+Lucy declared that her influence, on the present occasion, would be of
+no avail; but she had the good-nature to add, "If you are sure the bill
+can be paid next month, I will leave my two years' salary in Mr. Beech's
+hands till then; and this will perhaps satisfy him, if he can get bills
+from other people paid, to make up the money for his son. He said thirty
+guineas from you on account would do, for the present; and that sum is
+due to me."
+
+"Then, my dearest Lucy, for Heaven's sake, do leave it in his hands!
+You were a good creature to think of it; but you always were a good
+creature."
+
+"Your mother used to be kind to me, when I was a child; and I am sure
+I ought not to forget it," said Lucy, the tears starting into her eyes:
+"and you were once kind to me; I do not forget that," continued Lucy,
+wiping the tears from her cheeks.--"But do not let me detain you; you
+are in a hurry to dress to go to Mrs. Pimlico's."
+
+"No--pray--I am not in a hurry now," said Mrs. Ludgate, who had the
+grace to blush at this instant. "But, if you must go, do take this
+hat along with you. I assure you it's quite _the rage_: I got it this
+morning at Run and Raffle's, and Mrs. Pimlico and Mrs. Paget have got
+the same."
+
+Lucy declined accepting the hat, notwithstanding this strong and, as
+Mrs. Ludgate would have thought it, irresistible recommendation. "Now
+you must have it: it will become you a thousand times better than that
+you have on," cried Mrs. Ludgate, insisting the more the more Lucy
+withdrew; "and, besides, you must wear it for my sake. You won't? Then
+I take it very ill of you that you are so positive; for I assure you,
+whatever you may think, I wish to be as kind to you now as ever. Only,
+you know, one can't always, when one lives in another style, be at home
+as often as one wishes."
+
+Lucy relieved her _ci-devant_ friend from the necessity of making any
+more awkward apologies, by moving quickly towards the door. "Then you
+won't forget," continued Mrs. Ludgate, following her into the passage,
+"you won't forget the job you are to do for me with Beech?"
+
+"Certainly I shall not. I will do what I have promised: but I hope you
+will be punctual about the payment next month," said Lucy, "because I
+believe I shall be in want of my money at that time. It is best to tell
+you exactly the truth."
+
+"Certainly! certainly! you shall have your money before you want it,
+long and long; and my only reason for borrowing it from you at all is,
+that I don't like to trouble Mr. Ludgate, till he has settled accounts
+with Allen, who keeps all our money from us in a strange way; and, in my
+opinion, uses Leonard exceedingly ill and unfairly."
+
+"Allen!" cried Lucy, stopping short. "Oh, Belle! how can you say so?
+How can you think so? But you know nothing of him, else you could not
+suspect him of using any one ill, or unfairly; much less your husband,
+the son of his old friend."
+
+"Bless me! how she runs on! and how she colours! I am sure I didn't
+know I was upon such tender ground! I did not know Allen was such a
+prodigious favourite!"
+
+"I only do him justice in saying that I am certain he could not do an
+unfair or unhandsome action."
+
+"I know nothing of the matter, I protest; only this--that short
+accounts, they say, make long friends; and I hope I sha'n't affront any
+body by saying, it would be very convenient if he could be got to settle
+with Mr. Ludgate, who, I am sure, is too much the gentleman to ask any
+thing from him but his own; which, indeed, if it was not for me, he'd be
+too genteel to mention. But, as I said before, short accounts make long
+friends; and, as you are so much Allen's friend, you can hint that to
+him."
+
+"I shall not hint, but say it to him as plainly as possible," replied
+Lucy; "and you may be certain that he will come to settle accounts with
+Mr. Ludgate before night." "I am sure I shall be mighty glad of it; and
+so will Mr. Ludgate," said Belle; and thus they parted.
+
+Mrs. Ludgate with triumph announced to her husband, upon his return
+home, that she had brought affairs to a crisis with Allen; and that
+he would come to settle his accounts this evening. The surprise and
+consternation which appeared in Mr. Ludgate's countenance, convinced the
+lady that her interference was highly disagreeable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Allen came punctually in the evening to settle his accounts. When he
+and Leonard were by themselves, he could not help expressing some
+astonishment, mixed with indignation, at the hints which had been thrown
+out by Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+"Why, she knows nothing of the matter," said Ludgate. "I've no notion of
+talking of such things to one's wife; it would only make her uneasy;
+and we shall be able to go on some way or other. So let us have another
+bottle of wine, and talk no more of business for this night."
+
+Allen would by no means consent to put off the settlement of accounts,
+after what had passed. "Short accounts," said he, "as Mrs. Ludgate
+observed, make long friends."
+
+It appeared, when the statement of affairs was completed, that Allen had
+advanced above three hundred pounds for Leonard; and bills to a large
+amount still remained unpaid.
+
+Now it happened that Jack, the footboy, contrived to go in and out of
+the room several times, whilst Mr. Ludgate and Allen were talking; and
+he, finding it more for his interest to serve his master's tradesmen
+than his master, sent immediate notice to all whom it might concern,
+that Mr. Ludgate's affairs were in a bad way, and that now or never must
+be the word with his creditors. The next morning bills came showering
+in upon Leonard whilst he was at breakfast, and amongst them came sundry
+bills of Mrs. Ludgate's. They could not possibly have come at a
+more inauspicious moment. People bespeak goods with one species of
+enthusiasm, and look over their bills with another. We should rather
+have said people spend with one enthusiasm, and pay with another; but
+this observation would not apply to our present purpose, for Mr. and
+Mrs. Ludgate had never yet experienced the pleasure or the pain of
+paying their debts; they had hitherto been faithful to their maxim of
+"Spend to-day, and pay to-morrow."
+
+They agreed well in the beginning of their career of extravagance; but
+the very similarity of their tastes and habits proved ultimately
+the cause of the most violent quarrels. As they both were expensive,
+selfish, and self-willed, neither would, from regard to the other,
+forbear. Comparisons between their different degrees of extravagance
+commenced; and, once begun, they never ended. It was impossible to
+settle, to the satisfaction of either party, which of them was most to
+blame. Recrimination and reproaches were hourly and daily repeated;
+and the lady usually ended by bursting into tears, and the gentleman by
+taking his hat and walking out of the house.
+
+In the meantime, the bills must be paid. Mr. Ludgate was obliged to sell
+the whole of his interest in the shop in Cranbourne-alley; and the ready
+money he received from Allen was to clear him from all difficulties.
+Allen came to pay him this sum. "Do not think me impertinent, Mr.
+Ludgate," said he, "but I cannot for the soul of me help fearing for
+you. What _will_ you do, when this money is gone? and go it must, at the
+rate you live, in a very short time."
+
+"You are very good, sir," replied Leonard, coldly, "to interest yourself
+so much in my concerns; but I shall live at what rate I please. Every
+man is the best judge of his own affairs."
+
+After this repulse Allen could interfere no further. But when two months
+had elapsed from the date of Mrs. Ludgate's promised payment of the
+upholsterer's bill, Lucy resolved to call again upon Mrs. Ludgate. Lucy
+had now a particular occasion for the money: she was going to be married
+to Allen, and she wished to put into her husband's hands the little
+fortune which she had so hardly earned by her own industry. From the
+time that Allen heard her conversation, when Belle came to view the
+house in Cranbourne-alley, he had been of opinion that she would make
+an excellent wife: and the circumstances which sunk Lucy below Mrs.
+Ludgate's notice raised her in the esteem and affection of this prudent
+and sensible young man. He did not despise--he admired her for going
+into a creditable business, to make herself independent, instead of
+living as an humble companion with Mrs. Ludgate, of whose conduct and
+character she could not approve.
+
+When Lucy called again upon Mrs. Ludgate to remind her of her promise,
+she was received with evident confusion. She was employed in directing
+Mr. Green, a builder, to throw out a bow in her dining-room, and to add
+a balcony to the windows; for Mrs. Pimlico had a bow and a balcony, and
+how could Mrs. Ludgate live without them?
+
+"Surely, my dear Mrs. Ludgate," said Lucy, drawing her aside, so that
+the man who was measuring the windows could not hear what she said,
+"surely you will think of paying Mr. Beech's bill, as you promised,
+before you go into any new expense?"
+
+"Hush! hush! don't speak so loud. Leonard is in the next room; and I
+would not have him hear any thing of Beech's bill, just when the man's
+here about the balcony, for any thing in the world!"
+
+Lucy, though she was good-natured, was not so weak as to yield to airs
+and capricious extravagance; and Mrs. Ludgate at last, though with a bad
+grace, paid her the money which she had intended to lay out in a
+very different manner. But no sooner had she paid this debt than she
+considered how she could prevail upon Mr. Green to throw out the bow,
+and finish the balcony, without paying him for certain alterations he
+had made in the house in Cranbourne-alley, for which he had never yet
+received one farthing. It was rather a difficult business, for Mr.
+Green was a sturdy man, and used to regular payments. He resisted all
+persuasion, and Mrs. Ludgate was forced again to have recourse to Lucy.
+
+"Do, my dear girl," said she, "lend me only twenty guineas for this
+positive man; else, you see, I cannot have my balcony." This did not
+appear to Lucy the greatest of all misfortunes. "But is it not much more
+disagreeable to be always in debt and danger, than to live in a room
+without a balcony?" said Lucy.
+
+"Why it is disagreeable, certainly, to be in debt, because of being
+dunned continually; but the reason I'm so anxious about the balcony, is
+that Mrs. Pimlico has one, and that's the only thing in which her house
+is better than mine. Look just over the way: do you see Mrs. Pimlico's
+beautiful balcony?"
+
+Mrs. Ludgate who had thrust her head far out of the window, pulling Lucy
+along with her, now suddenly drew back, exclaiming, "Lord, if here is
+not that odious woman; I hope Jack won't let her in."--She shut the
+window hastily, ran to the top of the stairs, and called out, "Jack! I
+say, Jack; don't let nurse in for your life."
+
+"Not if she has the child with her, ma'am?" said Jack.
+
+"No, no, I say!"
+
+"Then that's a sin and a shame," muttered Jack, "to shut the door upon
+your own child."
+
+Mrs. Ludgate did not hear this reflection, because she had gone back to
+the man who was waiting for directions about the balcony; but Lucy heard
+it distinctly. "Ma'am, nurse would come in, for she says she saw you at
+the window; and here she is, coming up the stairs," cried the footboy.
+
+The nurse came in, with Mrs. Ludgate's child in her arms.
+
+"Indeed, madam," said she, "the truth of the matter is, I can't and
+won't be denied my own any longer: and it is not for my own sake I speak
+up so bold, but for the dear babe that I have here in my arms, that
+can't speak for itself, but only smile in your face, and stretch out its
+arms to you. I, that am only its nurse, can't bear it; but I have little
+ones of my own, and can't see them want. I can't do for them all: if I'm
+not paid my lawful due, how can I? And is it not fit I should think of
+my own flesh and blood first? So I must give up this one. I must!--I
+must!"--cried the nurse, kissing the child repeatedly, "I must leave her
+to her mother."
+
+The poor woman laid the child down on the sofa, then turned her back
+upon it, and, hiding her face in her apron, sobbed as if her heart would
+break. Lucy was touched with compassion; the mother stood abashed; shame
+struggled for a few instants with pride; pride got the victory. "The
+woman's out of her wits, I believe," cried Mrs. Ludgate. "Mr. Green,
+if you'll please to call again to-morrow, we'll talk about the balcony.
+Lucy, give me the child, and don't you fall a crying without knowing why
+or wherefore. Nurse, I'm surprised at you! Did not I tell you I'd send
+you your money next week?"
+
+"Oh! yes, madam; but you have said so this many a week; and things are
+come to such a pass now, that husband says I shall not bring back the
+child without the money."
+
+"What can I do?" said Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+Lucy immediately took her purse out of her pocket, and whispered, "I
+will lend you whatever you want to pay the nurse, upon condition that
+you will give up the scheme of the balcony."
+
+Mrs. Ludgate submitted to this condition; but she was not half so much
+obliged to Lucy for doing her this real service as she would have been
+if her friend had assisted in gratifying her vanity and extravagance.
+Lucy saw what passed in Mrs. Ludgate's mind, and nothing but the sense
+of the obligations she lay under to Belle's mother could have prevented
+her from breaking off all connexion with her.
+
+But Mrs. Ludgate was now much inclined to court Lucy's acquaintance, as
+her approaching marriage with Mr. Allen, who was in good circumstances,
+made her appear quite a different person. Mrs. Allen would be able, and
+she hoped willing, to assist her from time to time with money. With this
+view, Belle showed Lucy a degree of attention and civility which she
+had disdained to bestow upon her friend whilst she was in an inferior
+situation. It was in vain, however, that this would-be fine lady
+endeavoured to draw the prudent Lucy out of her own sphere of life:
+though Lucy was extremely pretty, she had no desire to be admired; she
+was perfectly satisfied and happy at home, and she and her husband lived
+according to old Ludgate's excellent maxim, "Out of debt out of danger."
+
+We shall not weary our readers with the history of all the petty
+difficulties into which Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate's foolish extravagance
+led them. The life of the _shabby genteel_ is most miserable. Servants'
+wages unpaid, duns continually besieging the door, perpetual excuses,
+falsehoods to be invented, melancholy at home, and forced gaiety abroad!
+Who would live such a life? Yet all this Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate endured,
+for the sake of outshining Mr. and Mrs. Pimlico.
+
+It happened that one night, at a party, Mrs. Ludgate caught a violent
+cold, and her face became inflamed and disfigured by red spots. Being
+to go to a ball in a few days, she was very impatient to get rid of the
+eruption; and in this exigency she applied to Mr. Pimlico, the perfumer,
+who had often supplied her with cosmetics, and who now recommended a
+beautifying lotion. This quickly cleared her complexion; but she soon
+felt the effects of her imprudence: she was taken dangerously ill, and
+the physician who was consulted attributed her disease entirely to
+the preparation she had applied to her face. Whilst she was ill, an
+execution was brought against Mr. Ludgate's goods. Threatened with a
+jail, and incapable of taking any vigorous measures to avoid distress,
+he went to consult his friend, Tom Lewis. How this Mr. Lewis lived was
+matter of astonishment to all his acquaintance: he had neither estate,
+business, or any obvious means of supporting the expense in which he
+indulged.
+
+"What a happy dog you are, Lewis!" said our hero: "how is it that you
+live better than I do?"
+
+"You might live as well as I, if you were inclined," said Lewis.
+
+Our hero was all curiosity; and Lewis exacted from him an oath of
+secrecy. A long pause ensued.
+
+"Have you the courage," said Lewis, "to extricate yourself from all your
+difficulties at once?"
+
+"To be sure I have; since I must either go to jail this night, or raise
+two hundred guineas for these cursed fellows!"
+
+"You shall have it in half an hour," said Lewis, "if you will follow my
+advice."
+
+"Tell me at once what I am to do, and I will do it," cried Leonard. "I
+will do any thing to save myself from disgrace, and from a jail."
+
+Lewis, who now perceived his friend was worked up to the pitch he
+wanted, revealed the whole mystery. He was connected with a set of
+gentlemen, ingenious in the arts of forgery, from whom he purchased
+counterfeit bank-notes at a very cheap rate. The difficulty and risk
+of passing them was extreme; therefore the confederates were anxious to
+throw this part of the business off their hands. Struck with horror at
+the idea of becoming an accomplice in such a scheme of villany, Leonard
+stood pale and silent, incapable of even thinking distinctly. Lewis
+was sorry that he had opened his mind so fully. "Remember your oath of
+secrecy!" said he.
+
+"I do," replied Ludgate.
+
+"And remember that you must become one of us before night, or go to
+jail."
+
+Ludgate said he would take an hour to consider of the business, and here
+they parted; Lewis promising to call at his house before evening, to
+learn his final decision.
+
+"And am I come to this?" thought the wretched man. "Would to Heaven I
+had followed my poor father's maxim! but it is now too late."
+
+Mr. Ludgate, when he arrived at home, shut himself up in his own room,
+and continued walking backwards and forwards, for nearly an hour, in a
+state of mind more dreadful than can be described. Whilst he was in this
+situation, some one knocked at the door. He thought it was Lewis, and
+trembled from head to foot. It was only a servant with a parcel of
+bills, which several tradesmen, hearing that an execution was in the
+house, had hastened to present for payment. Among them were those of Mr.
+Beech, the upholsterer, and Mrs. Ludgate's milliner and mantua-maker,
+which having been let to run on for above two years and a half, now
+amounted to a sum that astonished and shocked Mr. Ludgate. He could not
+remonstrate with his wife, or even vent his anger in reproaches, for she
+was lying senseless in her bed.
+
+Before he had recovered from this shock, and whilst the tradesmen who
+brought the bills were still waiting for their money, Lewis and one of
+his companions arrived. He came to the point immediately. He produced
+bank-notes sufficient to discharge all his debts, and proposed to lend
+him this money on condition that he would enter into the confederacy as
+he had proposed. "All that we ask of you is to pass a certain number of
+notes for us every week. You will find this to your advantage; for we
+will allow you a considerable percentage, besides freeing you from your
+present embarrassments."
+
+The sight of the bank-notes, the pressure of immediate distress, and the
+hopes of being able to support the style of life in which he had of late
+appeared, all conspired to tempt Ludgate. When he had, early in life,
+vaunted to his young companions that he despised his father's old maxim,
+while he repeated his own, they applauded his spirit. They were not
+present, at this instant, to pity the wretched state into which that
+spirit had betrayed him. But our hero has yet much greater misery to
+endure. It is true his debts were now paid, and he was able to support
+an external appearance of affluence; but not one day, not one night,
+could he pass without suffering the horrors of a guilty conscience, and
+all the terrors which haunt the man who sees himself in hourly danger of
+detection. He determined to keep his secret cautiously from his wife: he
+was glad that she was confined to her bed at this time, lest her
+prying curiosity should discover what was going forward. The species of
+affection which he had once felt for her had not survived the first
+six months of their marriage; and their late disputes had rendered this
+husband and wife absolutely odious to each other. Each believed, and
+indeed pretty plainly asserted, that they could live more handsomely
+asunder: but, alas! they were united for better and for worse.
+
+Mrs. Ludgate's illness terminated in another eruption on her face. She
+was extremely mortified by the loss of her beauty, especially as Mrs.
+Pimlico frequently contrasted her face with that of Mrs. Paget, who
+was now acknowledged to be the handsomest woman of Mrs. Pimlico's
+acquaintance. She endeavoured to make herself of consequence by fresh
+expense. Mr. Ludgate, to account for the sudden payment of his debts,
+and the affluence in which he now appeared to live, spread a report of
+his having had a considerable legacy left to him by a relation, who
+had died in a distant part of England. The truth of the report was not
+questioned; and for some time Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate were the envy of
+their acquaintance. How little the world, as it is called, can judge, by
+external appearances, of the happiness of those who excite admiration or
+envy!
+
+"What lucky people the Ludgates are!" cried Mrs. Pimlico. The
+exclamation was echoed by a crowded card party, assembled at her house.
+"But then," continued Mrs. Pimlico, "it is a pity poor Belle is so
+disfigured by that scurvy, or whatever it is, in her face. I remember
+the time when she was as pretty a woman as you could see: nay, would you
+believe it, she had once as fine a complexion as young Mrs. Paget!"
+
+These observations circulated quickly, and did not escape Mrs. Ludgate's
+ear. Her vanity was deeply wounded; and her health appeared to her but a
+secondary consideration, in comparison with the chance of recovering her
+lost complexion. Mr. Pimlico, who was an eloquent perfumer, persuaded
+her that her former illness had nothing to do with the beautifying
+lotion she had purchased at his shop; and to support his assertions,
+he quoted examples of innumerable ladies, of high rank and fashion, who
+were in the constant habit of using this admirable preparation. The vain
+and foolish woman, notwithstanding the warnings which she had received
+from the physician who attended her during her illness, listened to the
+oratory of the perfumer, and bought half a dozen bottles of another kind
+of beautifying lotion. The eruption vanished from her face, after
+she had used the cosmetic; and, as she did not feel any immediate bad
+effects upon her health, she persisted in the practice for some
+months. The consequence was at last dreadful. She was found one
+morning speechless in her bed, with one side of her face distorted
+and motionless. During the night, she had been seized with a paralytic
+stroke: in a few days she recovered her speech; but her face continued
+totally disfigured.
+
+This was the severest punishment that could have been inflicted on a
+woman of her character. She was now ashamed to show herself abroad, and
+incapable of being contented at home. She had not the friendship of a
+husband, or the affection of children, to afford her consolation
+and support. Her eldest child was a boy of about five years old, her
+youngest four. They were as fretful and troublesome as children usually
+are, whose education has been totally neglected; and the quarrels
+between them and Jack the footboy were endless, for Jack was alternately
+their tutor and their playfellow.
+
+Beside the disorder created in this family by mischievous children,
+the servants were daily plagues. Nothing was ever done by them well or
+regularly; and though the master and mistress scolded without mercy, and
+perpetually threatened to turn Jack or Sukey away, yet no reformation
+in their manners was produced; for Jack and Sukey's wages were not paid,
+and they felt that they had the power in their own hands; so that they
+were rather the tyrants than the servants of the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Mrs. Ludgate's temper, which never was sweet, was soured to such a
+degree, by these accumulated evils, that she was insufferable. Her
+husband kept out of the way as much as possible: he dined and supped at
+his club, or at the tavern: and, during the evenings and mornings, he
+was visible at home but for a few minutes. Yet, though his time was
+passed entirely away from his wife, his children, and his home, he was
+not happy. His life was a life of perpetual fraud and fear. He was bound
+by his engagements with Lewis to pass for the confederates a certain
+number of forged notes every day. This was a perilous task! His utmost
+exertions and ingenuity were continually necessary to escape detection;
+and, after all, he was barely able to wrest from the hard hands of his
+_friends_ a sufficient profit upon his labour to maintain himself. How
+often did he look back, with regret, to the days when he stood behind
+the counter, in his father's shop! Then he had in Allen a real friend;
+but now he had in Lewis only a profligate and unfeeling associate.
+Lewis cared for no one but himself; and he was as avaricious as he was
+extravagant; "greedy of what belonged to others, prodigal of his own."
+
+One night, Leonard went to the house where the confederates met, to
+settle with them for the last parcel of notes that he had passed. Lewis
+insisted upon being paid for his services before Ludgate should touch a
+farthing. Words ran high between them: Lewis, having the most influence
+with his associates, carried his point; and Leonard, who was in want of
+ready money, could supply himself only by engaging to pass double the
+usual quantity of forged notes during the ensuing month. Upon this
+condition, he obtained the supply for which he solicited. Upon his
+return home, he locked up the forged notes as usual in his escritoir. It
+happened the very next morning that Mrs. la Mode, the milliner, called
+upon Mrs. Ludgate. The ruling passion still prevailed, notwithstanding
+the miserable state to which this lady was reduced. Even palsy could not
+deaden her personal vanity: her love of dress survived the total loss
+of her beauty; she became accustomed to the sight of her distorted
+features, and was still anxious to wear what was most genteel and
+becoming. Mrs. la Mode had not a more constant visitor.
+
+"How are you, Mrs. Ludgate, this morning?" said she. "But I need not
+ask, for you look _surprising_ well. I just called to tell you a bit of
+a secret, that I have told to nobody else; but you being such a friend
+and a favourite, have a right to know it. You must know, I am going
+next week to bring out a new spring hat; and I have made one of my girls
+bring it up, to consult with you before any body else, having a great
+opinion of your taste and judgment: though it is a thing that must not
+be mentioned, because it would ruin me with Mrs. Pimlico, who made me
+swear she should have the first sight."
+
+Flattered by having the first sight of the spring hat, Mrs. Ludgate was
+prepossessed in its favour; and, when she tried it on, she thought it
+made her look ten years younger. In short, it was impossible not to take
+one of the hats, though it cost three guineas, and was not worth ten
+shillings.
+
+"Positively, ma'am, you must _patronize_ my spring hat," said the
+milliner.
+
+Mrs. Ludgate was decided by the word patronize: she took the hat, and
+desired that it should be set down in her bill: but Mrs. la Mode was
+extremely concerned that she had made a rule, nay a vow, not to take any
+thing but ready money for the spring hats; and she could not break her
+vow, even for her favourite Mrs. Ludgate. This was at least a prudent
+resolution in the milliner, who had lately received notice, from Mr.
+Ludgate, not to give his wife any goods upon credit, for that he was
+determined to refuse payment of her bills. The wife, who was now in a
+weak state of health, was not able as formerly to fight her battles with
+her husband upon equal terms. To cunning, the refuge of weakness,
+she had recourse; and she considered that, though she could no longer
+outscold, she could still outwit her adversary. She could not have the
+pleasure and honour of patronizing the spring hat, without ready money
+to pay for it; her husband, she knew, had always bank-notes in his
+escritoir; and she argued with herself that it was better to act without
+his consent than against it. She went and tried, with certain keys of
+her own, to open Leonard's desk; and open it came. She seized from a
+parcel of bank-notes as many as she wanted, and paid Mrs. la Mode with
+three of them for the spring hat. When her husband came home the next
+day, he did not observe that he had lost any of the notes; and, as he
+went out of the house again without once coming into the parlour where
+his wife was sitting, she excused herself to her conscience, for not
+telling him of the freedom she had taken, by thinking--It will do as
+well to tell him of it to-morrow: a few notes, out of such a parcel
+as he has in his desk locked up from me, can't signify; and he'll only
+bluster and bully when I do tell him of it; so let him find it out when
+he pleases.
+
+The scheme of acting without her husband's consent in all cases, where
+she was morally certain that if she asked she could not obtain it, Mrs.
+Ludgate had often pursued with much success. A few days after she had
+bought the spring hat, she invited Mrs. Pimlico, Mrs. Paget, and all her
+genteel friends, to tea and cards. Her husband, she knew, would be out
+of the way, at his club, or at the tavern. Mrs. Pimlico, and Mrs. Paget,
+and all their genteel friends, did Mrs. Ludgate the honour to wait upon
+her on the appointed evening, and she had the satisfaction to appear
+upon this occasion in the new spring hat; while her friend, Mrs.
+Pimlico, whispered to young Mrs. Paget, "She patronize the new spring
+hat! What a fool Mrs. la Mode makes of her! A death's head in a wreath
+of roses! How frightfully ridiculous!"
+
+Unconscious that she was an object of ridicule to the whole company,
+Mrs. Ludgate sat down to cards in unusually good spirits, firmly
+believing Mrs. la Mode's comfortable assertion, "that the spring hat
+made her look ten years younger." She was in the midst of a panegyric
+upon Mrs. la Mode's taste, when Jack, the footboy, came behind her
+chair, and whispered that three men were below, who desired to speak to
+her immediately.
+
+"Men! gentlemen, do you mean?" said Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+"No, ma'am, not gentlemen." "Then send them away about their business,
+dunce," said the lady. "Some tradesfolk, I suppose; tell them I'm
+engaged with company."
+
+"But, ma'am, they will not leave the house without seeing you, or Mr.
+Ludgate."
+
+"Let them wait, then, till Mr. Ludgate comes in. I have nothing to say
+to them. What's their business, pray?"
+
+"It is something about a note, ma'am, that you gave to Mrs. la Mode, the
+other day."
+
+"What about it?" said Mrs. Ludgate, putting down her cards.
+
+"They say it is a bad note."
+
+"Well, I'll change it; bid them send it up."
+
+"They won't part with it, ma'am: they would not let it out of their
+hands, even to let me look at it for an instant."
+
+"What a riot about a pound note," said Mrs. Ludgate, rising from the
+card-table: "I'll speak to the fellows myself."
+
+She had recourse again to her husband's desk; and, armed with a whole
+handful of fresh bank-notes, she went to the strangers. They told her
+that they did not want, and would not receive, any note in exchange
+for that which they produced; but that, as it was a forgery, they must
+insist upon knowing from whom she had it. There was an air of mystery
+and authority about the strangers which alarmed Mrs. Ludgate; and,
+without attempting any evasion, she said that she took the note from her
+husband's desk, and that she could not tell from whom he received it.
+The strangers declared that they must wait till Mr. Ludgate should
+return home. She offered to give them a guinea to drink, if they would
+go away quietly; but this they refused. Jack, the footboy, whispered
+that they had pistols, and that he believed they were Bow-street
+officers.
+
+They went into the back parlour to wait for Mr. Ludgate; and the lady,
+in extreme perturbation, returned to her company and her cards. In vain
+she attempted to resume her conversation about the spring hat, and
+to conceal the agitation of her spirits. It was observed by all her
+_friends_, and especially by Mrs. Pimlico, whose curiosity was strongly
+excited, to know the cause of her alarm. Mrs. Ludgate looked frequently
+at her watch, and even yawned without ceremony, more than once, to
+manifest her desire that the company should depart; but no hints
+availed. The card players resolutely kept their seats, and even the
+smell of extinguishing candles had no effect upon their callous senses.
+
+The time appeared insupportably long to the wretched mistress of
+the house; and the contrast between her fantastic headdress and her
+agonizing countenance every minute became more striking.
+
+Twelve o'clock struck. "It is growing very late," said Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+"But we must have another rubber," said Mrs. Pimlico.
+
+She began to deal; a knock was heard at the door. "There's Mr. Ludgate,
+I do suppose," said Mrs. Pimlico, continuing her deal. Mrs. Ludgate left
+her cards, and went out of the room without speaking. She stopped at the
+head of the staircase, for she heard a scuffle and loud voices below.
+Presently all was silent, and she ventured down when she heard the
+parlour door shut. The footman met her in the passage.
+
+"What is the matter?" said she.
+
+"I don't know; but I must be paid my wages," said he, "or must pay
+myself."
+
+He passed on rudely. She half opened the parlour door, and looked in:
+her husband was lying back on the sofa, seemingly stupefied by despair:
+one of the Bow-street officers was chafing his temples, another was
+rummaging his desk, and the third was closely examining certain notes,
+which he had just taken from the prisoner's pockets.
+
+"What is the matter?" cried Mrs. Ludgate, advancing. Her husband lifted
+up his eyes, saw her, started up, and, stamping furiously, exclaimed,
+"Cursed, cursed woman! you have brought me to the gallows, and all for
+this trumpery!" cried he, snatching her gaudy hat from her head, and
+trampling it under his feet. "For this--for this! you vain, you ugly
+creature, you have brought your husband to the gallows!"
+
+One of the Bow-street officers caught hold of his uplifted arm, which
+trembled with rage. His wife sank to the ground; a second paralytic
+stroke deprived her of the power of speech. As they were carrying her
+up stairs, Mrs. Pimlico and the rest of the company came out of the
+dining-room, some of them with cards in their hands, all eagerly asking
+what was the matter? When they learnt that the Bow-street officers were
+in the house, and that Mr. Ludgate was taken into custody for uttering
+forged bank-notes, there was a general uproar. Some declared it was
+shocking! others protested it was no more than might have been expected!
+The Ludgates lived so much above their circumstances! Then he was such a
+coxcomb; and she such a poor vain creature! Better for people to do like
+their neighbours--to make no show, and live honestly!
+
+In the midst of these effusions of long suppressed envy, some few of
+the company attempted a slight word or two of apology for their host and
+hostess; and the most humane went up to the wretched woman's bedchamber,
+to offer assistance and advice. But the greater number were occupied
+in tucking up their white gowns, finding their clogs, or calling for
+hackney coaches. In less than a quarter of an hour the house was clear
+of all Mrs. Ludgate's _friends_. And it is to please such friends that
+whole families ruin themselves by unsuitable expense.
+
+Lucy and Allen were not, however, of this class of friends. A confused
+report of what had passed the preceding night was spread the next
+morning in Cranbourne-alley, by a young lady, who had been at Mrs.
+Ludgate's rout. The moment the news reached Allen's shop, he and Lucy
+set out immediately to offer their assistance to the unfortunate family.
+When they got to Weymouth-street, they gave only a single knock at the
+door, that they might not create any alarm. They were kept waiting
+a considerable time, and at last the door was opened by a slip-shod
+cook-maid, who seemed to be just up, though it was near eleven o'clock.
+She showed them into the parlour, which was quite dark; and, whilst
+she was opening the shutters, told them that the house had been up all
+night, what with the Bow-street officers and her mistress's fits. Her
+master, she added, was carried off to prison, she believed. Lucy asked
+who was with Mrs. Ludgate, and whether she could go up to her room?
+
+"There's nobody with her, ma'am, but nurse, that called by chance, early
+this morning, to see the children, and had the good-nature to stay to
+help, and has been sitting in mistress's room, whilst I went to my bed.
+I'll step up and see if you can go in, ma'am."
+
+They waited for some time in the parlour, where every thing looked
+desolate and in disorder. The ashes covered the hearth; the poker lay
+upon the table, near Mr. Ludgate's desk, the lock of which had been
+broken open; a brass flat candlestick, covered with tallow, was upon the
+window-seat, and beside it a broken cruet of vinegar; a cravat, and red
+silk handkerchief, which had been taken from Mr. Ludgate's neck when he
+swooned, lay under the table. Lucy and her husband looked at one another
+for some moments without speaking. At last Allen said, "We had better
+lock up this press, where there are silver spoons and china, for there
+is nobody now left to take care of any thing, and the creditors will be
+here soon to seize all they can." Lucy said that she would go up
+into the dining-room, and take an inventory of the furniture. In the
+dining-room she found Jack the footboy collecting shillings from beneath
+the candlesticks on the card-tables: the two little children were
+sitting on the floor, the girl playing with a pack of cards, the boy
+drinking the dregs of a decanter of white wine.--"Poor children! Poor
+creatures!" said Lucy; "is there nobody to take care of you?"
+
+"No; nobody but Jack," said the boy, "and he's going away. Papa's gone I
+don't know where; and mama's not up yet, so we have had no breakfast."
+
+The cook-maid came in to say that Mrs. Ludgate was awake, and sensible
+now, and would be glad to see Mrs. Allen, if she'd be so good as to walk
+up. Lucy told the children, who clung to her, that she would take
+them home with her, and give them some breakfast, and then hastened up
+stairs. She found her wretched friend humbled indeed to the lowest
+state of imbecile despair. Her speech had returned; but she spoke with
+difficulty, and scarcely so as to be intelligible. The good-natured
+nurse supported her in the bed, saying repeatedly, "Keep a good heart,
+madam; keep a good heart! Don't let your spirits sink so as this, and
+all may be well yet."
+
+"O Lucy! Lucy! What will become of me now? What a change is here! And
+nobody to help or advise me! Nobody upon earth! I am forsaken by all the
+world!"
+
+"Not forsaken by me," said Lucy, in a soothing voice.
+
+"What noise is that below?" cried Mrs. Ludgate.
+
+Lucy went downstairs to inquire, and found that, as Allen had foretold,
+the creditors were come to seize all they could find. Allen undertook to
+remain with them, and to bring them to some settlement, whilst Lucy had
+her unfortunate friend and the two children removed immediately to her
+own house.
+
+As to Mr. Ludgate, there was no hope for him; the proofs of his guilt
+were manifest and incontrovertible. The forged note, which his wife had
+taken from his desk and given to the milliner, was one which had not
+gone through certain mysterious preparations. It was a bungling forgery.
+The plate would doubtless have been retouched, had not this bill
+been prematurely circulated by Mrs. Ludgate: thus her vanity led to
+a discovery of her husband's guilt. All the associates in Lewis's
+iniquitous confederacy suffered the just punishment of their crimes.
+Many applications were made to obtain a pardon for Leonard Ludgate:
+but the executive power preserved that firmness which has not, upon any
+similar occasion, ever been relaxed.
+
+Lucy and Allen, those real friends, who would not encourage Mrs. Ludgate
+in extravagance, now, in the hour of adversity and repentance, treated
+her with the utmost tenderness and generosity. They were economical, and
+therefore could afford to be generous. All the wants of this destitute
+widow were supplied from the profits of their industry: they nursed her
+with daily humanity, bore with the peevishness of disease, and did all
+in their power to soothe the anguish of unavailing remorse.
+
+Nothing could be saved from the wreck of Mr. Ludgate's fortune for the
+widow; but Allen, in looking over old Ludgate's books, had found and
+recovered some old debts, which Leonard, after his father's death,
+thought not worth looking after. The sum amounted to about three hundred
+and twenty pounds. As the whole concern had been made over to him,
+he could lawfully have appropriated this money to his own use, but he
+reserved it for his friend's children. He put it out to interest; and in
+the mean time he and Lucy not only clothed and fed, but educated these
+orphans, with their own children, in habits of economy and industry.
+The orphans repaid, by their affection and gratitude, the care that was
+bestowed upon them; and, when they grew up, they retrieved the credit
+of their family, by living according to their grandfather's useful
+maxim--"Out of debt out of danger."
+
+_Nov. 1801._
+
+
+
+
+THE LOTTERY
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Near Derby, on the way towards Darley-grove, there is a cottage which
+formerly belonged to one Maurice Robinson. The jessamine which now
+covers the porch was planted by Ellen, his wife: she was an industrious,
+prudent, young woman; liked by all her neighbours, because she was ready
+to assist and serve them, and the delight of her husband's heart; for
+she was sweet-tempered, affectionate, constantly clean and neat, and
+made his house so cheerful that he was always in haste to come home to
+her, after his day's work. He was one of the manufacturers employed in
+the cotton works at Derby; and he was remarkable for his good conduct
+and regular attendance at his work.
+
+Things went on very well in every respect, till a relation of his, Mrs.
+Dolly Robinson, came to live with him. Mrs. Dolly had been laundry-maid
+in a great family, where she learned to love gossiping, and
+tea-drinkings, and where she acquired some taste for shawls and
+cherry-brandy. She thought that she did her young relations a great
+favour by coming to take up her abode with them, because, as she
+observed, they were young and inexperienced; and she, knowing a great
+deal of the world, was able and willing to advise them; and besides, she
+had had a legacy of some hundred pounds left to her, and she had saved
+some little matters while in service, which might make it worth her
+relations' while to take her advice with proper respect, and to make her
+comfortable for the rest of her days.
+
+Ellen treated her with all due deference, and endeavoured to make her as
+comfortable as possible; but Mrs. Dolly could not be comfortable unless,
+besides drinking a large spoonful of brandy in every dish of tea, she
+could make each person in the house do just what she pleased. She began
+by being dissatisfied because she could not persuade Ellen that brandy
+was wholesome, in tea, for the nerves; next she was affronted because
+Ellen did not admire her shawl; and, above all, she was grievously
+offended because Ellen endeavoured to prevent her from spoiling little
+George.
+
+George was, at this time, between five and six years old; and his mother
+took a great deal of pains to bring him up well: she endeavoured to
+teach him to be honest, to speak the truth, to do whatever she and his
+father bid him, and to dislike being idle.
+
+Mrs. Dolly, on the contrary, coaxed and flattered him, without caring
+whether he was obedient or disobedient, honest or dishonest. She was
+continually telling him that he was the finest little fellow in the
+world; and that she would do great things for him, some time or another.
+
+What these great things were to be the boy seemed neither to know nor
+care; and, except at the moments when she was stuffing gingerbread into
+his mouth, he seemed never to desire to be near her: he preferred being
+with William Deane, his father's friend, who was a very ingenious man,
+and whom he liked to see at work.
+
+William gave him a slate, and a slate pencil; and taught him how to make
+figures, and to cast up sums; and made a little wheel-barrow for him,
+of which George was very fond, so that George called him in play "_King
+Deane_." All these things tended to make Mrs. Dolly dislike William
+Deane, whom she considered as her rival in power.
+
+One day, it was George's birthday, Mrs. Dolly invited a party, as she
+called it, to drink tea with her; and, at tea-time, she was entertaining
+the neighbours with stories of what she had seen in the great world.
+Amongst others, she had a favourite story of a butler, in the family
+where she had lived, who bought a ticket in the lottery when he was
+drunk, which ticket came up a ten thousand pound prize when he was
+sober; and the butler turned gentleman, and kept his coach directly.
+
+One evening, Maurice Robinson and William came home, after their
+day's work, just in time to hear the end of this story; and Mrs. Dolly
+concluded it by turning to Maurice, and assuring him that he must put
+into the lottery and try his luck: for why should not he be as lucky as
+another? "Here," said she, "a man is working and drudging all the days
+of his life to get a decent coat to put on, and a bit of bread to put
+into his child's mouth; and, after all, may be he can't do it; though
+all the while, for five guineas, or a guinea, or half-a-guinea even, if
+he has but the spirit to lay out his money properly, he has the chance
+of making a fortune without any trouble. Surely a man should try his
+luck, if not for his own, at least for his children's sake," continued
+Mrs. Dolly, drawing little George towards her, and hugging him in her
+arms. "Who knows what might turn up! Make your papa buy a ticket in the
+lottery, love; there's my darling; and I'll be bound he'll have good
+luck. Tell him, I'll be bound we shall have a ten thousand pound prize
+at least; and all for a few guineas. I'm sure I think none but a miser
+would grudge the money, if he had it to give."
+
+As Mrs. Dolly finished her speech, she looked at William Deane, whose
+countenance did not seem to please her. Maurice was whistling, and Ellen
+knitting as fast as possible. Little George was counting William Deane's
+buttons. "Pray, Mr. Deane," cried Mrs. Dolly, turning full upon him,
+"what may your advice and opinion be? since nothing's to be done here
+without your leave and word of command, forsooth. Now, as you know so
+much and have seen so much of the world, would you be pleased to tell
+this good company, and myself into the bargain, what harm it can do
+anybody, but a miser, to lay out a small sum to get a good chance of a
+round thousand, or five thousand, or ten thousand, or twenty thousand
+pounds, without more ado?"
+
+As she pronounced the words five thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand
+pounds, in a triumphant voice, all the company, except Ellen and
+William, seemed to feel the force of her oratory.
+
+William coolly answered that he was no miser, but that he thought money
+might be better laid out than in the lottery; for that there was more
+chance of a man's getting nothing for his money than of his getting a
+prize; that when a man worked for fair wages every day, he was sure of
+getting something for his pains, and with honest industry, and saving,
+might get rich enough in time, and have to thank himself for it, which
+would be a pleasant thing: but that if a man, as he had known many,
+set his heart upon the turning of the lottery wheel, he would leave off
+putting his hand to any thing the whole year round, and so grow idle,
+and may be, drunken; "and then," said William, "at the year's end, if
+he have a blank, what is he to do for his rent, or for his wife and
+children, that have nothing to depend upon but him and his industry?"
+
+Here Maurice sighed, and so did Ellen, whilst William went on and told
+many a true story of honest servants, and tradesmen, whom he had known,
+who had ruined themselves by gaming and lotteries.
+
+"But," said Maurice, who now broke silence, "putting into the lottery,
+William, is not gaming, like dice or cards, or such things. Putting into
+the lottery is not gaming, as I take it."
+
+"As I take it, though," replied William, "it is gaming. For what is
+gaming but trusting one's money, or somewhat, to luck and hap-hazard?
+And is there not as much hap-hazard in the turning of the wheel as in
+the coming up of the dice, or the dealing of the cards?"
+
+"True enough; but somebody must get a prize," argued Maurice.
+
+"And somebody must win at dice or cards," said William, "but a many more
+must lose; and a many more, I take it, must lose by the lottery than by
+any other game; else how would they that keep the lottery gain by it, as
+they do? Put a case. If you and I, Maurice, were this minute to play
+at dice, we stake our money down on the table here, and one or t'other
+takes all up. But, in the lottery, it is another affair; for the whole
+of what is put in does never come out."
+
+This statement of the case made some impression upon Maurice, who was no
+fool; but Mrs. Dolly's desire that he should buy a lottery ticket, was
+not to be conquered by reason: it grew stronger and stronger the more
+she was opposed. She was silent and cross during the remainder of the
+evening; and the next morning, at breakfast, she was so low that even
+her accustomed dose of brandy, in her tea, had no effect.
+
+Now Maurice, besides his confused hopes that Mrs. Dolly would leave
+something handsome to him or his family, thought himself obliged to her
+for having given a helping hand to his father, when he was in distress;
+and therefore he wished to bear with her humours, and to make her happy
+in his house. He knew that the lottery ticket was uppermost in her mind,
+and the moment he touched upon that subject she brightened up. She told
+him she had had a dream; and she had great faith in dreams: and she had
+dreamed, three times over, that he had bought number 339 in the lottery,
+and that it had come up a ten thousand pound prize!
+
+"Well, Ellen," said Maurice, "I've half a mind to try my luck; and it
+can do us no harm, for I'll only put off buying the cow this year."
+
+"Nay," said Mrs. Dolly, "why so? may be you don't know what I know, that
+Ellen's as rich as a Jew? She has a cunning little cupboard, in the wall
+yonder, that I see her putting money into every day of her life, and
+none goes out."
+
+Ellen immediately went and drew back a small sliding oak door in the
+wainscot, and took out a glove, in which some money was wrapped; she put
+it altogether in her husband's hand, saying, with a good-humoured smile,
+"There is my year's spinning, Maurice: I only thought to have made more
+of it before I gave it you. Do what you please with it."
+
+Maurice was so much moved by his wife's kindness, that he at the moment
+determined to give up his lottery scheme, of which, he knew, she did
+not approve. But, though a good-natured, well-meaning man, he was of an
+irresolute character; and even when he saw what was best to be done,
+had not courage to persist. As he was coming home from work, a few days
+after Ellen had given him the money, he saw, in one of the streets
+of Derby, a house with large windows finely illuminated, and read the
+words:
+
+"Lottery-office of Fortunatus, Gould, and Co." At this office was sold
+the fortunate ticket, which came up on Monday last a twenty thousand
+pound prize. Ready money paid for prizes immediately on demand. The
+
+  15,000_l_.
+  10,000_l_.
+   5,000_l_.
+
+still in the wheel. None but the brave deserve a prize."
+
+Whilst Maurice was gazing at this and other similar advertisements,
+which were exhibited in various bright colours in this tempting window,
+his desire to try his fortune in the lottery returned; and he was just
+going into the office to purchase a ticket, when luckily he found that
+he had not his leathern purse in his pocket. He walked on, and presently
+brushed by some one; it was William Deane, who was looking very eagerly
+over some old books, at a bookseller's stall. "I wish I had but money to
+treat myself with some of these," said William: "but I cannot; they cost
+such a deal of money, having all these prints in them."
+
+"We can lend you,--no, we can't neither," cried Maurice, stopping
+himself short; for he recollected that he could not both lend his friend
+money to buy the books and buy a lottery ticket. He was in great doubt
+which he should do; and walked on with William, in silence. "So, then,"
+cried he at last, "you would not advise me to put into the lottery?"
+
+"Nay," said William laughing, "it is not for me to advise you about it,
+now; for I know you are considering whether you had best put it into the
+lottery or lend me the money to buy these books. Now, I hope you don't
+think I was looking to my own interest in what I said the other day; for
+I can assure you, I had no thoughts of meeting with these books at that
+time, and did not know that you had any money to spare."
+
+"Say no more about it," replied Maurice. "Don't I know you are an honest
+fellow, and would lend me the money if I wanted it? You shall have it
+as soon as ever we get home. Only mind and stand by me stoutly, if Mrs.
+Dolly begins any more about the lottery."
+
+Mrs. Dolly did not fail to renew her attacks; and she was both provoked
+and astonished when she found that the contents of the leathern purse
+were put into the hands of William Deane.
+
+"Books, indeed! To buy books forsooth! What business had such a one as
+he with books?" She had seen a deal of life, she said, and never saw
+no good come of bookish bodies; and she was sorry to see that her own
+darling, George, was taking to the bookish line, and that his mother
+encouraged him in it. She would lay her best shawl, she said, to a gauze
+handkerchief, that William Deane would, sooner or later, beggar himself,
+and all that belonged to him, by his books and his gimcracks; "and if
+George were my son," continued she, raising her voice, "I'd soon cure
+him of prying and poring into that man's picture-books, and following
+him up and down with wheels and mechanic machines, which will never
+come to no good, nor never make a gentleman of him, as a ticket in the
+lottery might and would."
+
+All mouths were open at once to defend William. Maurice declared he was
+the most industrious man in the parish; that his books never kept him
+from his work, but always kept him from the alehouse and bad company;
+and that, as to his gimcracks and machines, he never laid out a farthing
+upon them but what he got by working on holidays, and odd times, when
+other folks were idling or tippling. His master, who understood the like
+of those things, said, before all the workmen at the mills, that William
+Deane's machines were main clever, and might come to bring in a deal of
+money for him and his.
+
+"Why," continued Maurice, "there was Mr. Arkwright, the man that first
+set a going all our cotton frames here, was no better than William
+Deane, and yet came at last to make a power of money. It stands to
+reason, any how, that William Deane is hurting nobody, nor himself
+neither; and, moreover, he may divert himself his own way, without being
+taken to task by man, woman, or child. As to children, he's very good to
+my child; there's one loves him," pointing to George, "and I'm glad of
+it: for I should be ashamed, so I should, that my flesh and blood should
+be in any ways disregardful or ungracious to those that be kind and good
+to them."
+
+Mrs. Dolly, swelling with anger, repeated in a scornful voice,
+"Disregardful, ungracious! I wonder folks can talk so to me! But this is
+all the gratitude one meets with, in this world, for all one does. Well,
+well! I'm an old woman, and shall soon be out of people's way; and then
+they will be sorry they did not use me better; and then they'll bethink
+them that it is not so easy to gain a friend as to lose a friend; and
+then--"
+
+Here Mrs. Dolly's voice was stopped by her sobs; and Maurice, who was
+a very good-natured man, and much disposed to gratitude, said he begged
+her pardon a thousand times, if he had done any thing to offend her; and
+declared his only wish was to please and satisfy her, if she would but
+tell him how. She continued sobbing, without making any answer, for some
+time: but at last she cried, "My ad--my ad--my ad-vice is never taken in
+any thing!"
+
+Maurice declared he was ready to take her advice, if that was the only
+way to make her easy in her mind. "I know what you mean, now," added he:
+"you are still harping upon the lottery ticket. Well, I'll buy a ticket
+this day week, after I've sold the cow I bought at the fair. Will you
+have done sobbing, now, cousin Dolly?"
+
+"Indeed, cousin Maurice, it is only for your own sake I speak," said
+she, wiping her eyes. "You know you was always a favourite of mine from
+your childhood up; I nursed you, and had you on my knee, and foretold
+often and often you would make a fortune, so I did. And will you buy the
+ticket I dreamed about, hey?"
+
+Maurice assured her that, if it was to be had, he would. The cow was
+accordingly sold the following week, and the ticket in the lottery
+was bought. It was not, however, the number about which Mrs. Dolly had
+dreamed, for that was already purchased by some other person. The ticket
+Maurice bought was number 80; and, after he had got it, his cousin
+Dolly continually deplored that it was not the very number of which she
+dreamed. It would have been better not to have taken her advice at all
+than to have taken it when it was too late.
+
+Maurice was an easy-tempered man, and loved quiet; and when he found
+that he was reproached for something or other whenever he came into his
+own house, he began to dislike the thought of going home after his day's
+work, and loitered at public-houses sometimes, but more frequently at
+the lottery-office. As the lottery was now drawing, his whole
+thoughts were fixed upon his ticket; and he neglected his work at the
+manufactory. "What signify a few shillings wages, more or less?" said he
+to himself. "If my ticket should come up a prize, it makes a rich man of
+me at once."
+
+His ticket at last was drawn a prize of five thousand pounds! He was
+almost out of his senses with joy! He ran home to tell the news. "A
+prize! a prize, Dolly!" cried he, as soon as he had breath to speak.
+
+"That comes of taking my advice!" said Dolly.
+
+"A five thousand pound prize! my dear Ellen," cried he, and down he
+kicked her spinning-wheel.
+
+"I wish we may be as happy with it as we have been without it, Maurice,"
+said Ellen; and calmly lifted her spinning-wheel up again.
+
+"No more spinning-wheels!" cried Maurice; "no more spinning! no more
+work! We have nothing to do now but to be as happy as the day is long.
+Wife, I say, put by that wheel."
+
+"You're a lady now; and ought to look and behave like a lady," added
+Mrs. Dolly, stretching up her head, "and not stand moping over an old
+spinning-wheel."
+
+"I don't know how to look and behave like a lady," said Ellen, and
+sighed: "but I hopes Maurice won't love me the less for that."
+
+Mrs. Dolly was for some time wholly taken up with the pleasure of laying
+out money, and "preparing," as she said, "to look like somebody." She
+had many acquaintances at Paddington, she said, and she knew of a very
+snug house there, where they could all live very genteel.
+
+She was impatient to go thither, for two reasons; that she might make
+a figure in the eyes of these acquaintances, and that she might get
+Maurice and little George away from William Deane, who was now become
+more than ever the object of her aversion and contempt; for he actually
+advised his friend not to think of living in idleness, though he had
+five thousand pounds. William moreover recommended it to him to put his
+money out to interest, or to dispose of a good part of it in stocking a
+farm, or in fitting out a shop. Ellen, being a farmer's daughter, knew
+well the management of a dairy; and, when a girl, had also assisted in a
+haberdasher's shop, that was kept in Derby by her uncle; so she was able
+and willing, she said, to assist her husband in whichever of these ways
+of life he should take to.
+
+Maurice, irresolute and desirous of pleasing all parties, at last said,
+it would be as well, seeing they were now rich enough not to mind such a
+journey, just to go to Paddington and look about 'em; and if so be they
+could not settle there in comfort, why still they might see a bit of
+London town, and take their pleasure for a month or so; and he hoped
+William Deane would come along with them, and it should not be a
+farthing out of his pocket.
+
+Little George said every thing he could think of to persuade his _King
+Deane_ to go with them, and almost pulled him to the coach door, when
+they were setting off; but William could not leave his master and his
+business. The child clung with his legs and arms so fast to him that
+they were forced to drag him into the carriage.
+
+"You'll find plenty of friends at Paddington, who'll give you many
+pretty things. Dry your eyes, and see! you're in a coach!" said Mrs.
+Dolly.
+
+George dried his eyes directly, for he was ashamed of crying; but he
+answered, "I don't care for your pretty things. I shall not find my
+good dear King Deane any where;" and, leaning upon his mother's lap, he
+twirled round the wheel of a little cart, which William Deane had given
+him, and which he carried under his arm as his greatest treasure.
+
+Ellen was delighted to see signs of such a grateful and affectionate
+disposition in her son, and all her thoughts were bent upon him; whilst
+Mrs. Dolly chattered on about her acquaintance at Paddington, and her
+satisfaction at finding herself in a coach once again. Her satisfaction
+was not, however, of long continuance; for she grew so sick that she was
+obliged, or thought herself obliged, every quarter of an hour, to have
+recourse to her cordial bottle. Her spirits were at last raised so much,
+that she became extremely communicative, and she laid open to Maurice
+and Ellen all her plans of future pleasure and expense.
+
+"In the first place," said she, "I am heartily glad now I have got you
+away from that cottage that was not fit to live in; and from certain
+folks that shall be nameless, that would have one live all one's
+life like scrubs, like themselves. You must know that when we get
+to Paddington, the first thing I shall do shall be to buy a handsome
+coach." "A coach!" exclaimed Maurice and Ellen, with extreme
+astonishment.
+
+"A coach, to be sure," said Mrs. Dolly. "I say a coach."
+
+"I say we shall be ruined, then," said Maurice; "and laughed at into the
+bargain."
+
+"La! you don't know what money is," said Mrs. Dolly. "Why haven't you
+five thousand pounds, man? You don't know what can be done with five
+thousand pounds, cousin Maurice."
+
+"No, nor you neither, cousin Dolly; or you'd never talk of setting up
+your coach."
+
+"Why not, pray? I know what a coach costs as well as another. I know
+we can have a second-hand coach, and we need not tell nobody that it's
+second-hand, for about a hundred pounds. And what's a hundred pounds out
+of five thousand?"
+
+"But if we've a coach, we must have horses, must not we?" said Ellen,
+"and they'll cost a hundred more."
+
+"Oh, we can have job horses, that will cost us little or nothing," said
+Mrs. Dolly.
+
+"Say L150. a-year," replied Maurice; "for I heard my master's coachman
+telling that the livery-keeper in London declared as how he made nothing
+by letting him have job horses for L150. a-year."
+
+"We are to have our own coach," said Dolly, "and that will be cheaper,
+you know."
+
+"But the coach won't last for ever," said Ellen; "it must be mended, and
+that will cost something."
+
+"It is time enough to think of that when the coach wants mending," said
+Mrs. Dolly; who, without giving herself the trouble of calculating,
+seemed to be convinced that every thing might be done for five thousand
+pounds. "I must let you know a little secret," continued she. "I have
+written, that is, got a friend to write, to have the house at Paddington
+taken for a year; for I know it's quite the thing for us, and we are
+only to give fifty pounds a-year for it: and you know that one thousand
+pounds would pay that rent for twenty years to come."
+
+"But then," said Ellen, "you will want to do a great many other things
+with that thousand pounds. There's the coach you mentioned; and you said
+we must keep a footboy, and must see a deal of company, and must not
+grudge to buy clothes, and that we could not follow any trade, nor have
+a farm, nor do any thing to make money; so we must live on upon what we
+have. Now let us count, and see how we shall do it. You know, Maurice,
+that William Deane inquired about what we could get for our five
+thousand pounds, if we put it out to interest?"
+
+"Ay; two hundred a-year, he said."
+
+"Well, we pay fifty pounds a-year for the rent of the house, and a
+hundred a-year we three and the boy must have to live upon, and there is
+but fifty pounds a-year left."
+
+Mrs. Dolly, with some reluctance, gave up the notion of the coach; and
+Ellen proposed that five hundred pounds should be laid out in furnishing
+a haberdasher's shop, and that the rest of their money should be put
+out to interest, till it was wanted. "Maurice and I can take care of the
+shop very well; and we can live well enough upon what we make by it,"
+said Ellen.
+
+Mrs. Dolly opposed the idea of keeping a shop; and observed that they
+should not, in that case, be gentlefolks. Besides, she said, she was
+sure the people of the house she had taken would never let it be turned
+into a shop.
+
+What Mrs. Dolly had said was indeed true. When they got to Paddington,
+they found that the house was by no means fit for a shop; and as the
+bargain was made for a year, and they could not get it off their hands
+without considerable loss, Ellen was forced to put off her prudent
+scheme. In the mean time she determined to learn how to keep accounts
+properly.
+
+There was a small garden belonging to the house, in which George set
+to work; and though he could do little more than pull up the weeds,
+yet this kept him out of mischief and idleness; and she sent him to a
+day-school, where he would learn to read, write, and cast accounts. When
+he came home in the evenings, he used to show her his copy-book, and
+read his lesson, and say his spelling to her, while she was at work. His
+master said it was a pleasure to teach him, he was so eager to learn;
+and Ellen was glad that she had money enough to pay for having her
+boy well taught. Mrs. Dolly, all this time, was sitting and gossiping
+amongst her acquaintance in Paddington. These acquaintance were people
+whom she had seen when they visited the housekeeper in the great family
+where she was laundry-maid; and she was very proud to show them that she
+was now a finer person than even the housekeeper, who was formerly the
+object of her envy. She had tea-drinking parties, and sometimes dinner
+parties, two or three in a week; and hired a footboy, and laughed at
+Ellen for her low notions, and dissuaded Maurice from all industrious
+schemes; still saying to him, "Oh, you'll have time enough to think of
+going to work when you have spent all your money."
+
+Maurice, who had been accustomed to be at work for several hours in the
+day, at first thought it would be a fine thing to walk about, as Mrs.
+Dolly said, like a gentleman, without having any thing to do; but when
+he came to try it, he found himself more tired by this way of life than
+he had ever felt himself in the cotton-mills at Derby. He gaped and
+gaped, and lounged about every morning, and looked a hundred times at
+his new watch, and put it to his ear to listen whether it was going, the
+time seemed to him to pass so slowly. Sometimes he sauntered through
+the town, came back again, and stood at his own door looking at dogs
+fighting for a bone; at others, he went into the kitchen, to learn what
+there was to be for dinner, and to watch the maid cooking, or the boy
+cleaning knives. It was a great relief for him to go into the room where
+his wife was at work: but he never would have been able to get through a
+year in this way without the assistance of a pretty little black horse,
+for which he paid thirty guineas. During a month he was very happy in
+riding backwards and forwards on the Edgeware-road: but presently
+the horse fell lame; it was discovered that he was spavined and
+broken-winded; and the jockey from whom Maurice bought him was no where
+to be found. Maurice sold the horse for five guineas, and bought a fine
+bay for forty, which he was certain would turn out well, seeing he paid
+such a good price for him; but the bay scarcely proved better than the
+black. How he managed it we do not know, but it seems he was not so
+skilful in horses as in cotton-weaving; for at the end of the year he
+had no horse, and had lost fifty guineas by his bargains.
+
+Another hundred guineas were gone, nobody in the family but himself knew
+how: but he resolved to waste no more money and began the new year well,
+by opening a haberdasher's shop in Paddington. The fitting up this shop
+cost them five hundred pounds; it was tolerably stocked, and Ellen was
+so active, and so attentive to all customers, that she brought numbers
+to Maurice Robinson's new shop. They made full twelve per cent, upon all
+they sold; and, in six months, had turned three hundred pounds twice,
+and had gained the profit of seventy-two pounds. Maurice, however, had
+got such a habit of lounging, during his year of idleness, that he could
+not relish steady attendance in the shop: he was often out, frequently
+came home late at night, and Ellen observed that he sometimes looked
+extremely melancholy; but when she asked him whether he was ill, or what
+ailed him, he always turned away, answering, "Nothing--nothing ails me.
+Why do ye fancy any thing ails me?"
+
+Alas! it was no fancy. Ellen saw too plainly, that something was going
+wrong: but as her husband persisted in silence, she could not tell how
+to assist or comfort him.
+
+Mrs. Dolly in the mean time was going on spending her money in
+junketing. She was, besides, no longer satisfied with taking
+her spoonful of brandy in every dish of tea; she found herself
+uncomfortable, she said, unless she took every morning fasting a
+full glass of the good cordial recommended to her by her friend,
+Mrs. Joddrell, the apothecary's wife. Now this good cordial, in plain
+English, was a strong dram. Ellen, in the gentlest manner she could,
+represented to Mrs. Dolly that she was hurting her health, and was
+exposing herself, by this increasing habit of drinking; but she replied
+with anger, that what she _took_ was for the good of her health; that
+everybody knew best what agreed with them; that she should trust to her
+own feelings; and that nobody need talk, when all she took came out of
+the apothecary's shop, and was paid for honestly with her own money.
+
+Besides what came out of the apothecary's shop, Mrs. Dolly found it
+agreed with her constantly to drink a pot of porter at dinner, and
+another at supper; and always when she had a cold, and she had often a
+cold, she drank large basins full of white wine whey, "to throw off her
+cold," as she said.
+
+Then by degrees, she lost her appetite, and found she could eat nothing,
+unless she had a glass of brandy at dinner. Small beer, she discovered,
+did not agree with her; so at luncheon time she always had a tumbler
+full of brandy and water. This she carefully mixed herself, and put less
+and less water in every day, because brandy, she was convinced, was more
+wholesome for some constitutions than water; and brandy and peppermint,
+taken together, was an infallible remedy for all complaints, low spirits
+included.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Mrs. Dolly never found herself comfortable, moreover, unless she
+dined abroad two or three days in the week, at a public-house, near
+Paddington, where she said she was more at home than she was any where
+else. There was a bowling-green at this public-house, and it was a place
+to which tea-drinking parties resorted. Now Mrs. Dolly often wanted to
+take little George out with her to these parties, and said, "It is a
+pity and shame to keep the poor thing always mewed up at home, without
+ever letting him have any pleasure! Would not you like to go with me,
+George dear, in the one-horse chaise? and would not you be glad to have
+cakes, and tea, and all the good things that are to be had?"
+
+"I should like to go in the one-horse chaise, to be sure, and to have
+cakes and tea; but I should not like to go with you, because mother does
+not choose it," answered George, in his usual plain way of speaking.
+Ellen, who had often seen Mrs. Dolly offer him wine and punch to
+drink, by way of a treat, was afraid he might gradually learn to love
+spirituous liquors; and that if he acquired a habit of drinking such
+when he was a boy, he would become a drunkard when he should grow to be
+a man. George was now almost nine years old; and he could understand
+the reason why his mother desired that he would not drink spirituous
+liquors. She once pointed out to him a drunken man, who was reeling
+along the street, and bawling ridiculous nonsense: he had quite lost his
+senses, and as he did not attend to the noise of a carriage coming
+fast behind him, he could not get out of the way time enough, and the
+coachman could not stop his horses; so the drunken man was thrown down,
+and the wheel of the carriage went over his leg, and broke it in a
+shocking manner. George saw him carried towards his home, writhing and
+groaning with pain.
+
+"See what comes of drunkenness!" said Ellen.
+
+She stopped the people, who were carrying the hurt man past her door,
+and had him brought in and laid upon a bed, whilst a surgeon was sent
+for. George stood beside the bed in silence; and the words "See what
+comes of drunkenness!" sounded in his ears.
+
+Another time, his mother pointed out to him a man with terribly swollen
+legs, and a red face blotched all over, lifted out of a fine coach by
+two footmen in fine liveries. The man leaned upon a gold-headed cane,
+after he was lifted from his carriage, and tried with his other hand to
+take off his hat to a lady, who asked him how he did; but his hand shook
+so much that, when he had got his hat off, he could not put it rightly
+upon his head, and his footman put it on for him. The boys in the street
+laughed at him. "Poor man!" said Ellen; "that is Squire L----, who, as
+you heard the apothecary say, has drunk harder in his day than any
+man that ever he knew; and this is what he has brought himself to by
+drinking! All the physic in the apothecary's shop cannot make him well
+again! No; nor can his fine coach and fine footmen any more make him
+easy or happy, poor man!"
+
+George exclaimed, "I wonder how people can be such fools as to be
+drunkards! I will never be a drunkard, mother; and now I know the reason
+why you desired me not to drink the wine, when Mrs. Dolly used to say to
+me, 'Down with it, George dear, it will do ye no harm.'"
+
+These circumstances made such an impression upon George that there was
+no further occasion to watch him; he always pushed away the glass when
+Mrs. Dolly filled it for him.
+
+One day his mother said to him, "Now I can trust you to take care
+of yourself, George, I shall not watch you. Mrs. Dolly is going to a
+bowling-green tea-party this evening, and has asked you to go with her;
+and I have told her you shall."
+
+George accordingly went with Mrs. Dolly to the bowling-green. The
+company drank tea out of doors, in summer-houses. After tea, Mrs. Dolly
+bid George go and look at the bowling-green; and George was very well
+entertained with seeing the people playing at bowls; but when it grew
+late in the evening, and when the company began to go away, George
+looked about for Mrs. Dolly. She was not in the summer-house, where
+they had drunk tea, nor was she any where upon the terrace round the
+bowling-green; so he went to the public-house in search of her, and at
+last found her standing at the bar with the landlady. Her face was very
+red, and she had a large glass of brandy in her hand, into which the
+landlady was pouring some drops, which she said were excellent for the
+stomach.
+
+Mrs. Dolly started so when she saw George, that she threw down half
+her glass of brandy. "Bless us, child! I thought you were safe at the
+bowling-green," said she.
+
+"I saw every body going away," answered George; "so I thought it was
+time to look for you, and to go home."
+
+"But before you go, my dear little gentleman," said the landlady, "you
+must eat one of these tarts, for my sake." As she spoke, she gave George
+a little tart: "and here," added she, "you must drink my health too in
+something good. Don't be afraid, love; it's nothing that will hurt you:
+it's very sweet and nice."
+
+"It is wine, or spirits of some sort or other, I know by the smell,"
+said George; "and I will not drink it, thank you, ma'am."
+
+"The boy's a fool!" said Mrs. Dolly; "but it's his mother's fault. She
+won't let him taste any thing stronger than water. But now your mother's
+not by, you know," said Mrs. Dolly, winking at the landlady; "now your
+mother's not by--"
+
+"Yes, and nobody will tell of you," added the landlady; "so do what you
+like: drink it down, love."
+
+"No!" cried George, pushing away the glass which Mrs. Dolly held to his
+lips. "No! no! no! I say. I will not do any thing now my mother's not
+by, that I would not do if she was here in this room."
+
+"Well; hush, hush; and don't bawl so loud though," said Mrs. Dolly, who
+saw, what George did not see, a gentleman that was standing at the door
+of the parlour opposite to them, and who could hear every thing that was
+saying at the bar.
+
+"I say," continued George, in a loud voice, "mother told me she could
+trust me to take care of myself; and so I will take care of myself; and
+I am not a fool, no more is mother, I know; for she told me the reasons
+why it is not good to drink spirituous--." Mrs. Dolly pushed him away,
+without giving him time to finish his sentence, bidding him go and see
+whether the gig was ready; for it was time to be going home.
+
+As George was standing in the yard, looking at the mechanism of the
+one-horse chaise and observing how the horse was put to, somebody tapped
+him upon the shoulder, and looking up, he saw a gentleman with a very
+good-natured countenance, who smiled upon him, and asked him whether he
+was the little boy who had just been talking so loud in the bar?
+
+"Yes, sir," says George. "You seem to be a good little boy," added he;
+"and I liked what I heard you say very much. So you will not do any
+thing when your mother is not by, that you would not do if she was
+here--was not that what you said?"
+
+"Yes, sir; as well as I remember."
+
+"And who is your mother?" continued the gentleman. "Where does she
+live?"
+
+George told him his mother's name, and where she lived; and the
+gentleman said, "I will call at your mother's house as I go home, and
+tell her what I heard you say; and I will ask her to let you come to my
+house, where you will see a little boy of your own age, whom I should be
+very glad to have seen behave as well as you did just now."
+
+Mr. Belton, for that was the name of the gentleman who took notice of
+George, was a rich carpet manufacturer. He had a country-house near
+Paddington; and the acquaintance which was thus begun became a source
+of great happiness to George. Mr. Belton lent him several entertaining
+books, and took him to see many curious things in London. Ellen was
+rejoiced to hear from him the praises of her son. All the pleasure of
+Ellen's life had, for some months past, depended upon this boy; for
+her husband was seldom at home, and the gloom that was spread over his
+countenance alarmed her, whenever she saw him. As for Mrs. Dolly, she
+was no companion for Ellen: her love of drinking had increased to such
+a degree that she could love nothing else; and when she was not half
+intoxicated, she was in such low spirits that she sat (either on the
+side of her bed, or in her arm-chair, wrapped in a shawl) sighing and
+crying, and see-sawing herself; and sometimes she complained to Maurice
+that Ellen did not care whether she was dead or alive; and at others
+that George had always something or other to do, and never liked to
+sit in her room and keep her company. Besides all this, she got into
+a hundred petty quarrels with the neighbours, who had a knack of
+remembering what she said when she was drunk, and appealing to her for
+satisfaction when she was sober. Mrs. Dolly regularly expected that
+Ellen should, as she called it, stand her friend in these altercations;
+to which Ellen could not always in justice consent. Ah! said Ellen to
+herself one night, as she was sitting up late waiting for her husband's
+return home, it is not the having five thousand pounds that makes people
+happy! When Maurice loved to come home after his day's work to our
+little cottage, and when our George was his delight, as he is mine, then
+I was light of heart; but now it is quite otherwise. However, there
+is no use in complaining, nor in sitting down to think upon melancholy
+things; and Ellen started up and went to work, to mend one of her
+husband's waistcoats.
+
+Whilst she was at this employment, she listened continually for the
+return of Maurice. The clock struck twelve, and one, and no husband
+came! She heard no noise in the street when she opened her window, for
+every body but herself was in bed and asleep. At last she heard the
+sound of footsteps; but it was so dark that she could not see who
+the person was, who continued walking backwards and forwards, just
+underneath the window.
+
+"Is it you, Maurice? Are you there, Maurice?" said Ellen. The noise of
+the footsteps ceased, and Ellen again said, "Is it you, Maurice? Are you
+there?"
+
+"Yes," answered Maurice; "it is I. Why are you not abed and asleep, at
+this time of night?"
+
+"I am waiting for you," replied Ellen. "You need not wait for me; I have
+the key of the house door in my pocket, and can let myself in whenever I
+choose it."
+
+"And don't you choose it now?" said Ellen.
+
+"No. Shut down the window."
+
+Ellen shut the window, and went and sat down upon the side of her boy's
+bed. He was sleeping. Ellen, who could not sleep, took up her work
+again, and resolved to wait till her husband should come in. At last,
+the key turned in the house door, and presently she heard her husband's
+steps coming softly towards the room where she was sitting. He opened
+the door gently, as if he expected to find her asleep, and was afraid
+of awakening her. He started when he saw her; and slouching his hat over
+his face, threw himself into a chair without speaking a single word.
+Something terrible has happened to him, surely! thought Ellen; and her
+hand trembled so that she could scarcely hold her needle, when she tried
+to go on working.
+
+"What are you doing there, Ellen?" said he, suddenly pushing back his
+hat.
+
+"I'm only mending your waistcoat, love," said Ellen, in a faltering
+voice.
+
+"I am a wretch! a fool! a miserable wretch!" exclaimed Maurice, starting
+up and striking his forehead with violence as he walked up and down the
+room.
+
+"What can be the matter?" said Ellen. "It is worse to me to see you in
+this way, than to hear whatever misfortune has befallen you. Don't turn
+away from me, husband! Who in the world loves you so well as I do?"
+
+"Oh, Ellen," said he, letting her take his hand, but still turning away,
+"you will hate me when you know what I have done."
+
+"I cannot hate you, I believe," said Ellen.
+
+"We have not sixpence left in the world!" continued Maurice, vehemently.
+"We must leave this house to-morrow; we must sell all we have; I must go
+to jail, Ellen! You must work all the rest of your days harder than ever
+you did; and so must that poor boy, who lies sleeping yonder. He little
+thinks that his father has made a beggar of him; and that, whilst his
+mother was the best of mothers to him, his father was ruining him, her,
+and himself, with a pack of rascals at the gaming-table. Ellen, I have
+lost every shilling of our money!"
+
+"Is that all?" said Ellen. "That's bad; but I am glad that you have done
+nothing wicked. We can work hard, and be happy again. Only promise me
+now, dear husband, that you will never game any more."
+
+Maurice threw himself upon his knees, and swore that he never, to the
+last hour of his life, would go to any gaming-table again, or play at
+any game of chance. Ellen then said all she could to soothe and console
+him; she persuaded him to take some rest, of which he was much in need,
+for his looks were haggard, and he seemed quite exhausted. He declared
+that he had not had a night's good sleep for many months, since he
+had got into these difficulties by gaming. His mind had been kept in
+a continual flurry, and he seemed as if he had been living in a fever.
+"The worst of it was, Ellen," said he, "I could not bear to see you or
+the boy when I had been losing; so I went on, gaming deeper and deeper,
+in hopes of winning back what I had lost; and I now and then won, and
+they coaxed me and told me I was getting a run of luck, and it would be
+a sin to turn my back on good fortune. This way I was 'ticed to go on
+playing, till, when I betted higher and higher, my luck left me; or, as
+I shrewdly suspect, the rascals did not play fair, and they won stake
+after stake, till they made me half mad, and I risked all I had left
+upon one throw, and lost it! And when I found I had lost all, and
+thought of coming home to you and our boy, I was ready to hang myself.
+Oh, Ellen, if you knew all I have felt! I would not live over again the
+last two years for this room full of gold!"
+
+Such are the miserable feelings, and such the life, of a gamester!
+
+Maurice slept for a few hours, or rather dozed, starting now and then,
+and talking of cards and dice, and sometimes grinding his teeth and
+clenching his hand, till he wakened himself by the violence with which
+he struck the side of the bed.
+
+"I have had a terrible dream, wife," said he, when he opened his
+eyes, and saw Ellen sitting beside him on the bed. At first he did not
+recollect what had really happened; but as Ellen looked at him with
+sorrow and compassion in her countenance, he gradually remembered all
+the truth; and, hiding his head under the bed-clothes, he said he wished
+he could sleep again, if it could be without dreaming such dreadful
+things.
+
+It was in vain that he tried to sleep; so he got up, resolving to try
+whether he could borrow twenty guineas from any of his friends, to pay
+the most pressing of his gaming companions. The first person he asked
+was Mrs. Dolly: she fell into an hysteric fit when she heard of his
+losses; and it was not till after she had swallowed a double dram of
+brandy that she was able to speak, and to tell him that she was the
+worst person in the world he could have applied to; for that she was in
+the greatest distress herself, and all her dependance in this world was
+upon him.
+
+Maurice stood in silent astonishment. "Why, cousin," said he, "I
+thought, and always believed, that you had a power of money! You know,
+when you came to live with us, you told me so."
+
+"No matter what I told you," said Mrs. Dolly. "Folks can't live upon
+air. Yesterday the landlady of the public-house at the bowling-green,
+whom I'm sure I looked upon as my friend,--but there's no knowing one's
+friends,--sent me in a bill as long as my arm; and the apothecary here
+has another against me worse again; and the man at the livery-stables,
+for one-horse chays, and jobs that I'm sure I forgot ever having, comes
+and charges me the Lord knows what! and then the grocer for tea and
+sugar, which I have been giving to folks from whom I have got no thanks.
+And then I have an account with the linen-draper of I don't know how
+much! hut he has over-charged me, I know, scandalously, for my last
+three shawls. And then I have never paid for my set of tea china; and
+half of the cups are broke, and the silver spoons, and I can't tell what
+besides."
+
+In short, Mrs. Dolly, who had never kept any account of what she spent,
+had no idea how far she was getting into a tradesman's debt till his
+bill was brought home: and was in great astonishment to find, when all
+her bills were sent in, that she had spent four hundred and fifty pounds
+in her private expenses, drinking included, in the course of three years
+and eight months. She had now nothing left to live upon but one hundred
+pounds, so that she was more likely to be a burden to Maurice than
+any assistance. He, however, was determined to go to a friend, who had
+frequently offered to lend him any sum of money he might want, and who
+had often been his partner at the gaming-table.
+
+In his absence, Ellen and George began to take a list of all the
+furniture in the house, that it might be ready for a sale, and Mrs.
+Dolly sat in her arm-chair, weeping and wailing.
+
+"Oh! laud! laud! that I should live to see all this!" cried she. "Ah,
+lack-a-daisy! lack-a-daisy! lack-a-day! what will become of me? Oh, la!
+la! la! la!" Her lamentations were interrupted by a knock at the door.
+"Hark! a knock, a double knock at the door," cried Mrs. Dolly. "Who is
+it? Ah, lack-a-day, when people come to know what has happened, it will
+be long enough before we have any more visitors; long enough before we
+hear any more double knocks at the door. Oh, laud! laud! See who it is,
+George."
+
+It was Mr. Belton, who was come to ask George to go with him and his
+little nephew to see some wild beasts at Exeter-'change: he was much
+surprised at the sorrowful faces of George and Ellen, whom he had always
+been used to see so cheerful, and inquired what misfortune had befallen
+them? Mrs. Dolly thought she could tell the story best, so she detailed
+the whole, with many piteous ejaculations; but the silent resignation of
+Ellen's countenance had much more effect upon Mr. Belton. "George," said
+he, "must stay to finish the inventory he is writing for his mother."
+
+Mr. Belton was inquiring more particularly into the amount of Maurice's
+debts, and the names of the persons to whom he had lost his money at
+the gaming-table, when the unfortunate man himself came home. "No hope,
+Ellen!" cried he. "No hope from any of those rascals that I thought my
+friends. No hope!"
+
+He stopped short, seeing a stranger in the room, for Mr. Belton was a
+stranger to him. "My husband can tell you the names of all the people,"
+said Ellen, "who have been the ruin of us." Mr. Belton then wrote them
+down from Maurice's information; and learned from him that he had lost
+to these sharpers upwards of three thousand eight hundred pounds in the
+course of three years; that the last night he played, he had staked the
+goods in his shop, valued at 350_l_, and lost them; that afterwards he
+staked the furniture of his house, valued at 160_l_.; this also he lost;
+and so left the gaming-table without a farthing in the world.
+
+"It is not my intention," said Mr. Belton, "to add to your present
+suffering, Mr. Robinson, by pointing out that it has arisen entirely
+from your own imprudence. Nor yet can I say that I feel much compassion
+for you; for I have always considered a gamester as a most selfish
+being, who should be suffered to feel the terrible consequences of his
+own avaricious folly, as a warning to others."
+
+"Oh, sir! Oh, Mr. Belton!" cried Ellen, bursting now, for the first
+time, into tears, "do not speak so harshly to Maurice."
+
+"To you I shall not speak harshly," said Mr. Belton, his voice and looks
+changing; "for I have the greatest compassion for such an excellent wife
+and mother. And I shall take care that neither you nor your son, whom
+you have taken such successful pains to educate, shall suffer by the
+folly and imprudence in which you had no share. As to the ready money
+which your husband has lost and paid to these sharpers, it is, I fear,
+irrecoverable; but the goods in your shop, and the furniture in your
+house, I will take care shall not be touched. I will go immediately to
+my attorney, and direct him to inquire into the truth of all I have been
+told, and to prosecute these villains for keeping a gaming-table, and
+playing at unlawful games. Finish that inventory which you are making
+out, George, and give it to me; I will have the furniture in your house,
+Ellen, valued by an appraiser, and will advance you money to the amount,
+on which you may continue to live in comfort and credit, trusting to
+your industry and integrity to repay me in small sums, as you find it
+convenient, out of the profits of your shop."
+
+"Oh, sir!" cried Maurice, clasping his hands with a strong expression
+of joy, "thank you! thank you from the bottom of my soul! Save her from
+misery, save the boy, and let me suffer as I ought for my folly."
+
+Mr. Belton, in spite of his contempt for gamesters, was touched by
+Maurice's repentance; but, keeping a steady countenance, replied in a
+firm tone, "Suffering for folly does nobody any good, unless it makes
+them wiser in future."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Mrs. Dolly, who had been unaccountably awed to silence by Mr. Belton's
+manner of speaking and looking, broke forth the moment he had left the
+house. "Very genteel, indeed; though he might have taken more notice
+of me. See what, it is, George, to have the luck of meeting with good
+friends."
+
+"See what it is to deserve good friends, George," said Ellen.
+
+"You'll all remember, I hope," said Mrs. Dolly, raising her voice, "that
+it was I who was the first and foremost cause of all this, by taking
+George along with me to the tea-drinking at the bowling-green, where he
+first got acquainted with Mr. Belton."
+
+"Mr. Belton would never have troubled his head about such a little boy
+as George," said Ellen, "if it had not been for--you know what I mean,
+Mrs. Dolly. All I wish to say is, that George's own good behaviour was
+the cause of our getting acquainted with this good friend."
+
+"And I am sure you were the cause, mother," said George, "of what you
+call my good behaviour."
+
+Mrs. Dolly, somewhat vexed at this turn, changed the conversation
+saying, "Well, 'tis no matter how we made such a good acquaintance;
+let us make the most of him, and drink his health, as becomes us,
+after dinner. And now, I suppose, all will go on as usual: none of our
+acquaintance in Paddington need know any thing of what has happened."
+
+Ellen, who was very little solicitous about what Mrs. Dolly's
+acquaintance in Paddington might think, observed that, so far from going
+on as usual, now they were living on borrowed money, it was fit they
+should retrench all their expenses, and give up the drawing-room and
+parlour of the house to lodgers.
+
+"So, then, we are to live like shabby wretches for the rest of our
+days!" cried Mrs. Dolly. "Better live like what we are, poor but
+industrious people," replied Ellen, "and then we shall never be forced
+to do any thing shabby."
+
+"Ay, Ellen, you are, as you always are, in the right; and all I desire
+now, in this world, is to make up for the past, and to fall to work
+in some way or other; for idleness was what first led me to the
+gaming-table."
+
+Mrs. Dolly opposed these good resolutions, and urged Maurice to send
+George to Mr. Belton, to beg him to lend them some more money. "Since he
+is in the humour to be generous, and since he has taken a fancy to
+us," said she, "why not take him at his word, and make punch whilst the
+water's hot?"
+
+But all that Mrs. Dolly said was lost upon Ellen, who declared that she
+would never be so mean as to encroach upon such a generous friend; and
+Maurice protested that nothing that man, woman, or devil, could say,
+should persuade him to live in idleness another year. He sent George
+the next morning to Mr. Belton with a letter, requesting that he would
+procure employment for him, and stating what he thought himself fit for.
+Amongst other things, he mentioned that he could keep accounts. That
+he could write a good hand was evident, from his letter. Mr. Belton,
+at this time, wanted a clerk in his manufactory; and, upon Maurice's
+repeating his promise never more to frequent the gaming-table, Mr.
+Belton, after a trial, engaged him as his clerk, at a salary of 50_1_.
+per annum.
+
+Every thing now went on well for some months. Maurice, on whom his
+wife's kindness had made a deep impression, became thoroughly intent
+upon his business, and anxious to make her some amends for his past
+follies. His heart was now at ease: he came home, after his day's work
+at the counting-house, with an open, cheerful countenance; and Ellen was
+perfectly happy. They sold all the furniture that was too fine for their
+present way of life to the new lodgers, who took the drawing-room and
+front parlour of their house; and lived on the profits of their shop,
+which, being well attended, was never in want of customers.
+
+One night, at about ten o'clock, as little George was sitting, reading
+the history of Sandford and Merton, in which he was much interested, he
+was roused by a loud knocking at the house door. He ran to open it: but
+how much was he shocked at the sight he beheld! It was Mrs. Dolly! her
+leg broken, and her skull fractured!
+
+Ellen had her brought in, and laid upon a bed, and a surgeon was
+immediately sent for. When Maurice inquired how this terrible accident
+befel Mrs. Dolly, the account he received was, that she was riding home
+from the bowling-green public-house, much intoxicated; that she insisted
+upon stopping to get a glass of peppermint and brandy for her stomach;
+that, seeing she had drunk too much already, every thing possible was
+done to prevent her from taking any more; but she would not be advised:
+she said she knew best what agreed with her constitution; so she
+alighted and took the brandy and peppermint; and when she was to get
+upon her horse again, not being in her right senses, she insisted upon
+climbing up by a gate that was on the road-side, instead of going, as
+she was advised, to a bank that was a little further on. The gate was
+not steady, the horse being pushed moved, she fell, broke her leg, and
+fractured her skull.
+
+She was a most shocking spectacle when she was brought home. At first
+she was in great agony; but she afterwards fell into a sort of stupor,
+and lay speechless.
+
+The surgeon arrived: he set her leg; and during this operation, she came
+to her senses, but it was only the sensibility of pain. She was then
+trepanned; but all was to no purpose--she died that night; and of
+all the friends, as she called them, who used to partake in her
+tea-drinkings and merry-makings, not one said more when they heard
+of her death than "Ah, poor Mrs. Dolly! she was always fond of a
+comfortable glass: 'twas a pity it was the death of her at last."
+
+Several tradesmen, to whom she died in debt, were very loud in their
+complaints; and the landlady at the bowling-green did not spare her
+memory. She went so far as to say, that _it was a shame such a drunken
+quean should have a Christian burial._ What little clothes Mrs. Dolly
+left at her death were given up to her creditors. She had owed Maurice
+ten guineas ever since the first month of their coming to Paddington;
+and when she was on her death-bed, during one of the intervals that she
+was in her senses, she beckoned to Maurice, and told him, in a voice
+scarcely intelligible, he would find in her left-hand pocket what she
+hoped would pay him the ten guineas he had lent to her. However, upon
+searching this pocket, no money was to be found, except sixpence in
+halfpence; nor was there any thing of value about her. They turned the
+pocket inside out, and shook it; they opened every paper that came out
+of it, but these were all old bills. Ellen at last examined a new shawl
+which had been thrust into this pocket, and which was all crumpled up:
+she observed that one of the corners was doubled down, and pinned; and
+upon taking out the yellow crooked pin, she discovered, under the corner
+of the shawl, a bit of paper, much soiled with snuff, and stained with
+liquor. "How it smells of brandy!" said Ellen, as she opened it. "What
+is it, Maurice?"
+
+"It is not a bank note. It is a lottery ticket, I do believe!" cried
+Maurice. "Ay, that it is! She put into the lottery without letting us
+know any thing of the matter. Well, as she said, perhaps this may pay me
+my ten guineas, and overpay me, who knows? We were lucky with our last
+ticket; and why should not we be as lucky with this, or luckier, hey,
+Ellen? We might have ten thousand pounds or twenty thousand pounds this
+time, instead of five, why not, hey, Ellen?" But Maurice observing that
+Ellen looked grave, and was not much charmed with the lottery ticket,
+suddenly changed his tone, and said, "Now don't you, Ellen, go to think
+that my head will run on nothing but this here lottery ticket. It will
+make no difference on earth in me: I shall mind my business just as well
+as if there was no such thing, I promise you. If it come up a prize,
+well and good: and if it come up a blank, why well and good too. So do
+you keep the ticket, and I shall never think more about it, Ellen. Only,
+before you put it by, just let me look at the number. What makes you
+smile?"
+
+"I smiled only because I think I know you better than you, know
+yourself. But, perhaps, that should not make me smile," said Ellen: and
+she gave a deep sigh.
+
+"Now, wife, why will you sigh? I can't bear to hear you sigh," said
+Maurice, angrily. "I tell you I know myself, and have a right to know
+myself, I say, a great deal better than you do; and so none of your
+sighs, wife."
+
+Ellen rejoiced to see that his pride worked upon him in this manner; and
+mildly told him she was very glad to find he thought so much about her
+sighs. "Why," said Maurice, "you are not one of those wives that are
+always taunting and scolding their husbands; and that's the reason, I
+take it, why a look or a word from you goes so far with me." He paused
+for a few moments, keeping his eyes fixed upon the lottery ticket; then,
+snatching it up, he continued: "This lottery ticket may tempt me to game
+again: for, as William Deane said, putting into the lottery is gaming,
+and the worst sort of gaming. So, Ellen, I'll show you that though I
+was a fool once, I'll never be a fool again. All your goodness was not
+thrown away upon me. I'll go and sell this lottery ticket immediately at
+the office, for whatever it is worth: and you'll give me a kiss when I
+come home again, I know, Ellen."
+
+Maurice, pleased with his own resolution, went directly to the lottery
+office to sell his ticket. He was obliged to wait some time, for the
+place was crowded with persons who came to inquire after tickets which
+they had insured.
+
+Many of these ignorant imprudent poor people had hazarded guinea after
+guinea, till they found themselves overwhelmed with debt; and their
+liberty, character, and existence, depending on the turning of the
+wheel. What anxious faces did Maurice behold! How many he heard, as
+they went out of the office, curse their folly for having put into the
+lottery!
+
+He pressed forward to sell his ticket. How rejoiced he was when he
+had parted with this dangerous temptation, and when he had received
+seventeen guineas in hand, instead of anxious hopes! How different were
+his feelings at this instant from those of many that were near him! He
+stood to contemplate the scene. Here he saw a poor maid-servant, with
+scarcely clothes to cover her, who was stretching her thin neck across
+the counter, and asking the clerk, in a voice of agony, whether _her_
+ticket, number 45, was come up yet.
+
+"Number 45?" answered the clerk, with the most careless air imaginable.
+"Yes" (turning over the leaves of his book): "Number 45, you say--Yes:
+it was drawn yesterday--a blank." The wretched woman clasped her hands,
+and burst into tears, exclaiming, "Then I'm undone!"
+
+Nobody seemed to have time to attend to her. A man servant, in livery,
+pushed her away, saying, "You have your answer, and have no more
+business here, stopping the way. Pray, sir, is number 336, the ticket
+I've insured {Footnote: This was written before the act of parliament
+against insuring in lotteries.} so high, come up to-day?"
+
+"Yes, sir--blank." At the word blank, the disappointed footman poured
+forth a volley of oaths, declaring that he should be in jail before
+night; to all which the lottery-office keeper only answered, "I can't
+help it, sir; I can't help it. It is not my fault. Nobody is forced to
+put into the lottery, sir. Nobody's obliged to insure, sir. 'Twas your
+own choice, sir. Don't blame me."
+
+Meanwhile, a person behind the footman, repeating the words he had
+addressed to the poor woman, cried, "You have your answer, sir; don't
+stop the way."
+
+Maurice was particularly struck with the agitated countenance of one
+man, who seemed as if the suspense of his mind had entirely bereaved him
+of all recollection. When he was pressed forward by the crowd, and
+found himself opposite to the clerk, he was asked twice, "What's your
+business, sir?" before he could speak; and then could only utter the
+words--number 7? "Still in the wheel," was the answer. "Our messenger is
+not yet returned from Guildhall, with news of what has been drawn this
+last hour. If you will call again at three, we can answer you." The man
+seemed to feel this as a reprieve; but as he was retiring, there came
+one with a slip of paper in his hand. This was the messenger from
+Guildhall, who handed the paper to the clerk. He read aloud, "Number 7.
+Were you not inquiring for 7, sir?"
+
+"Yes," said the pale trembling man.
+
+"Number 7 is just come up, sir,--a blank."
+
+At the fatal word blank, the man fell flat upon his face in a swoon.
+Those near him lifted him out into the street, for air.
+
+"Here, sir; you are going without your change, after waiting for it so
+long," cried the clerk to Maurice; who, touched with compassion for the
+man who had just fallen, was following those who were carrying him out.
+When he got into the street, Maurice saw the poor creature sitting on
+a stone, supported by a hackney-coachman, who held some vinegar to his
+nose, at the same time asking him if he did not want a coach?
+
+"A coach! Oh, no," said the man, as he opened his eyes. "I have not a
+farthing of money in the world." The hackney-coachman swore that was
+a sad case, and ran across the street to offer his services where they
+could be paid for: "A coach, if you want one, sir. Heavy rain coming
+on," said he, looking at the silver which he saw through the half-closed
+fingers of Maurice's hand.
+
+"Yes, I want a coach," said Maurice: and bade the coachman draw up to
+the stone, where the poor man who had swooned was sitting. Maurice was
+really a good-natured fellow; and he had peculiar pity for the anguish
+this man seemed to feel, because he recollected what he had suffered
+himself, when he had been ruined at the gaming-table.
+
+"You are not able to walk: here is a coach; I will go your way and set
+you down, sir," said Maurice.
+
+The unfortunate man accepted this offer. As they went along he sighed
+bitterly, and once said, with great vehemence, "Curse these lotteries!
+Curse these lotteries!" Maurice now rejoiced, more than ever, at having
+conquered his propensity to gaming, and at having sold his ticket.
+
+When they came opposite to a hosier's shop, in Oxford-street, the
+stranger thanked him, and desired to be set down. "This is my home,"
+said he; "or this was my home, I ought to say," pointing to his shop
+as he let down the coach-glass. "A sad warning example I am! But I am
+troubling you, sir, with what no way concerns you. I thank you, sir, for
+your civility," added he, turning away from Maurice, to hide the tears
+which stood in his eyes: "good day to you."
+
+He then prepared to get out of the coach; but whilst the coachman was
+letting down the step, a gentleman came out of the hosier's shop to the
+door, and cried, "Mr. Fulham, I am glad you are come at last. I have
+been waiting for you this half-hour, and was just going away." Maurice
+pulled aside the flap of the hosier's coat, as he was getting out, that
+he might peep at the gentleman who spoke; the voice was so like William
+Deane's, that he was quite astonished.--"It is--it is William Deane,"
+cried Maurice, jumping out of the coach and shaking hands with his
+friend.
+
+William Deane, though now higher in the world than Robinson, was
+heartily glad to see him again, and to renew their old intimacy. "Mr.
+Fulham," said he, turning to the hosier, "excuse me to-day; I'll come
+and settle accounts with you to-morrow."
+
+On their way to Paddington, Maurice related to his friend all that had
+passed since they parted; how his good luck in the lottery tempted him
+to try his fortune at the gaming-table; how he was cheated by sharpers,
+and reduced to the brink of utter ruin; how kind Ellen was towards him
+in this distress; how he was relieved by Mr. Belton, who was induced to
+assist him from regard to Ellen and little George; how Mrs. Dolly drank
+herself into ill health, which would soon have killed her if she had
+not, in a drunken fit, shortened the business by fracturing her skull;
+and, lastly, how she left him a lottery ticket, which he had just
+sold, lest it should be the cause of fresh imprudence. "You see," added
+Maurice, "I do not forget all you said to me about lotteries.--Better
+take good advice late than never. But now, tell me your history."
+
+"No," replied William Deane; "that I shall keep till we are all at
+dinner; Ellen and you, I and my friend George, who, I hope, has not
+forgotten me." He was soon convinced that George had not forgotten him,
+by the joy he showed at seeing him again.
+
+At dinner, William Deane informed them that he was become a rich man, by
+having made an improvement in the machinery of the cotton-mills,
+which, after a great deal of perseverance, he had brought to succeed
+in practice. "When I say that I am a rich man," continued he, "I mean
+richer than ever I expected to be. I have a share in the cotton-mill,
+and am worth about two thousand pounds."
+
+"Ay," said Maurice, "you have trusted to your own sense and industry,
+and not to gaming and lotteries."
+
+"I am heartily rejoiced you have nothing more to do with them," said
+William Deane: "but all this time you forget that I am your debtor. You
+lent me five guineas at a season when I had nothing. The books I bought
+with your money helped me to knowledge, without which I should never
+have got forward. Now I have a scheme for my little friend George, that
+will, I hope, turn out to your liking. You say he is an intelligent,
+honest, industrious lad; and that he understands book-keeping, and
+writes a good hand: I am sure he is much obliged to you for giving him a
+good education."
+
+"To his mother, there, he's obliged for it all," said Maurice.
+
+"Without it," continued William Deane, "I might wish him very well; but
+I could do little or nothing for him. But, as I was going to tell
+you, that unfortunate man whom you brought to his own door in the
+hackney-coach to-day, Maurice, is a hosier, who had as good a business
+as most in the city; but he has ruined himself entirely by gaming. He
+is considerably in our debt for cotton, and I am to settle accounts with
+him to-morrow, when he is to give up all his concerns into my hands, in
+behalf of his brother, who has commissioned me to manage the business,
+and dissolve the partnership; as he cannot hazard himself, even out
+of friendship for a brother, with one that has taken to gaming. Now my
+friend, the elder Fulham, is a steady man, and is in want of a good lad
+for an apprentice. With your leave, I will speak to him, and get him
+to take George; and as to the fee, I will take care and settle that
+for you. I am glad I have found you all out at last. No thanks, pray.
+Recollect, I am only paying my old debts."
+
+As William Deane desired to have no thanks, we shall omit the recital of
+those which he received, both in words and looks. We have only to inform
+our readers, further, that George was bound apprentice to the hosier;
+that he behaved as well as might be expected from his excellent
+education; that Maurice continued, in Mr. Belton's service, to conduct
+himself so as to secure the confidence and esteem of his master; and
+that he grew fonder and fonder of home, and of Ellen, who enjoyed the
+delightful reflection that she had effected the happiness of her husband
+and her son.
+
+May equal happiness attend every such good wife and mother! And may
+every man, who, like Maurice, is tempted to be a gamester, reflect that
+a good character, and domestic happiness, which cannot be won in any
+lottery, are worth more than the five thousand, or even the ten thousand
+pounds prize, let any Mrs. Dolly in Christendom say what she will to the
+contrary.
+
+_Sept. 1799._
+
+
+
+
+ROSANNA.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+There are two sorts of content: one is connected with exertion, the
+other with habits of indolence; the first is a virtue, the second a
+vice. Examples of both may be found in abundance in Ireland. There you
+may sometimes see a man in sound health submitting day after day to
+evils which a few hours' labour would remedy; and you are provoked to
+hear him say, "It will do well enough for me. Didn't it do for my father
+before me? I can make a shift with things for my time: any how, I'm
+content."
+
+This kind of content is indeed the bane of industry. But instances of a
+different sort may be found, in various of the Irish peasantry. Amongst
+them we may behold men struggling with adversity with all the strongest
+powers of mind and body; and supporting irremediable evils with a degree
+of cheerful fortitude which must excite at once our pity and admiration.
+
+In a pleasant village in the province of Leinster there lives a family
+of the name of Gray. Whether or not they are any way related to Old
+Robin Gray, history does not determine; but it is very possible that
+they are, because they came, it is said, originally from the north of
+Ireland, and one of the sons is actually called Robin. Leaving this
+point, however, in the obscurity which involves the early history of the
+most ancient and illustrious families, we proceed to less disputable
+and perhaps more useful facts. It is well known, that is, by all
+his neighbours, that farmer Gray began life with no very encouraging
+prospects: he was the youngest of a large family, and the portion of
+his father's property that fell to his share was but just sufficient to
+maintain his wife and three children. At his father's death, he had but
+100_l_. in ready money, and he was obliged to go into a poor mud-walled
+cabin, facing the door of which there was a green pool of stagnant
+water; and before the window, of one pane, a dunghill that, reaching to
+the thatch of the roof, shut out the light, and filled the house with
+the most noisome smell. The ground sloped towards the house door;
+so that in rainy weather, when the pond was full, the kitchen was
+overflowed; and at all times the floor was so damp and soft, that the
+print of the nails of brogues was left in it wherever the wearer set
+down his foot. To be sure these nail-marks could scarcely be seen,
+except just near the door or where the light of the fire immediately
+shone; because, elsewhere, the smoke was so thick, that the pig might
+have been within a foot of you without your seeing him. The former
+inhabitants of this mansion had, it seems, been content without a
+chimney: and, indeed, almost without a roof; the couples and purlins
+of the roof having once given way, had never been repaired, and swagged
+down by the weight of the thatch, so that the ends threatened the wigs
+of the unwary.
+
+The prospect without doors was scarcely more encouraging to our hero
+than the scene within: the farm consisted of about forty acres; and the
+fences of the grazing-land were so bad, that the neighbours' cattle
+took possession of it frequently by day, and always by night. The
+tillage-ground had been so ill managed by his predecessor, that the land
+was what is called quite out of heart.
+
+If farmer Gray had also been out of heart, he and his family might at
+this hour have been beggars. His situation was thought desperate by many
+of his neighbours; and a few days after his father's decease, many came
+to condole with him. Amongst the rest was "easy Simon;" or, as some
+called him, "soft Simon," on account of his unresisting disposition, and
+contented, or, as we should rather name it, reckless temper. He was a
+sort of a half or a half quarter gentleman, had a small patrimony of
+a hundred or a hundred and fifty pounds a year, a place in the excise
+worth fifty more, and a mill, which might have been worth another
+hundred annually, had it not been suffered to stand still for many a
+year.
+
+"Wheugh! Wheugh! What a bustle we are in! and what a world of trouble is
+here!" cried Simon, when he came to Gray's house, and found him on the
+ladder taking off the decayed thatch; whilst one of his sons, a lad of
+about fourteen, was hard at work filling a cart from the dunghill, which
+blockaded the window. His youngest son, a boy of twelve, with a face and
+neck red with heat, was making a drain to carry off the water from
+the green pond; and Rose, the sister, a girl of ten years old, was
+collecting the ducks, which her mother was going to carry to her
+landlord's to sell.
+
+"Wheugh! Wheugh! Wheugh! Why what a world of bustle and trouble is here!
+Troth, Jemmy Gray, you're in a bad way, sure enough! Poor cratur! Poor
+cratur!"
+
+"No man," replied Gray, "deserves to be called poor, that has his
+health, and the use of his limbs. Besides," continued he, "have not I
+a good wife and good children: and, with those blessings, has not a man
+sufficient reason to be content?"
+
+"Ay, to be sure: that's the only way to get through this world," said
+Simon; "whatever comes, just to take it easy, and be content. Content
+and a warm chimney corner is all in all, according to my notion."
+
+"Yes, Simon," said Gray, laughing; "but your kind of content would
+never do for me. Content, that sits down in the chimney corner, and does
+nothing but smoke his pipe, will soon have the house about his ears; and
+then what will become of Content?"
+
+"Time enough to think of that when it comes," said Simon: "fretting
+never propped a house yet; and if it did, I would rather see it fall
+than fret."
+
+"But could not you prop the house," said Gray, "without fretting?"
+
+"Is it by putting my shoulders to it?" said Simon. "My shoulders have
+never been used to hard work, and don't like it any way. As long as I
+can eat, drink, and sleep, and have a coat to my back, what matter for
+the rest? Let the world go as it will, I'm content. Shoo! Shoo! The
+button is off the neck of this great coat of mine, and how _will_ I keep
+it on? A pin sure will do as well as a button, and better. Mrs. Gray, or
+Miss Rose, I'll thank you kindly for a pin."
+
+He stuck the pin in the place of the button, to fasten the great coat
+round his throat, and walked off: it pricked his chin about a dozen
+times before the day was over; but he forgot the next day, and the next,
+and the next, to have the button sewed on. He was content to make shift,
+as he called it, with the pin. This is precisely the species of content
+which leads to beggary.
+
+Not such the temper of our friend Gray. Not an inconvenience that he
+could remedy, by industry or ingenuity, was he content to endure; but
+necessary evils he bore with unshaken patience and fortitude. His house
+was soon new roofed and new thatched; the dunghill was removed,
+and spread over that part of his land which most wanted manure; the
+putrescent water of the standing pool was drained off, and fertilized
+a meadow; and the kitchen was never again overflowed in rainy weather,
+because the labour of half a day made a narrow trench which carried off
+the water. The prints of the shoe-nails were no longer visible in the
+floor; for the two boys trod dry mill seeds into the clay, and beat the
+floor well, till they rendered it quite hard and even. The rooms also
+were cleared of smoke, for Gray built a chimney; and the kitchen window,
+which had formerly been stuffed up, when the wind blew too hard, with an
+old or new hat, was glazed. There was now light in the house. Light! the
+great friend of cleanliness and order. The pig could now no longer walk
+in and out, unseen and unreproved; he ceased to be an inmate of the
+kitchen.
+
+The kitchen was indeed so altered from what it had been during the reign
+of the last master, that he did not know it again. It was not in the
+least like a pig-sty. The walls were whitewashed; and shelves were put
+up, on which clean wooden and pewter utensils were ranged. There were
+no heaps of forlorn rubbish in the corners of the room; nor even an old
+basket, or a blanket, or a cloak, or a great coat thrown down, just
+for a minute, out of the girl's way. No: Rose was a girl who always
+put every thing in its place; and she found it almost as easy to hang
+a coat, or a cloak, upon a peg, as to throw it down on the floor. She
+thought it as convenient to put the basket and turf-kish out of her way,
+when her brothers had brought in the potatoes and fuel, as to let them
+lie in the middle of the kitchen, to be stumbled over by herself and
+her mother, or to be gnawed and clawed by a cat and dog. These may seem
+trifles unworthy the notice of the historian; but trifles such as these
+contribute much to the comfort of a poor family, and therefore deserve a
+place in their simple annals.
+
+It was a matter of surprise and censure to some of farmer Gray's
+neighbours, that he began by laying out it could not be less than ten
+pounds (a great sum for him!) on his house and garden at the first
+setting out; when, to be sure, the land would have paid him better if
+the money had been laid out there. And why could not he make a shift
+to live on in the old cabin, for a while, as others had done before his
+time well enough? A poor man should be _contented_ with a poor house.
+Where was the use, said they, of laying out the good ready penny in a
+way that would bring nothing in?
+
+Farmer Gray calculated that he could not have laid out his money to
+better advantage; for by these ten pounds he had probably saved his
+wife, his children, and himself, from a putrid fever, or from the
+rheumatism. The former inhabitants of this house, who had been content
+to live with the dunghill close to the window, and the green pool
+overflowing the kitchen, and the sharp wind blowing in through the
+broken panes, had in the course of a few years lost their health. The
+father of the family had been crippled by the rheumatism, two children
+died of the fever, and the mother had such an inflammation in her eyes
+that she could not see to work, spin, or do anything. Now the whole that
+was lost by the family sickness, the doctor's bill, and the burying
+of the two children, all together, came in three years to nearly three
+times ten pounds. Therefore Mr. Gray was, if we only consider money, a
+very prudent man. What could he or any body do without health? Money is
+not the first thing to be thought of in this world; for there are many
+things that money cannot buy, and health is one of them. "Health can
+make money, but money cannot make health," said our wise farmer. "And
+then, for the value of a few shillings, say pounds, we have light to see
+what we are doing, and shelves, and a press to hold our clothes in. Why
+now, this will be all so much saved to us, by and by; for the clothes
+will last the longer, and the things about us will not go to wreck; and
+when I and the boys can come home after our day's work to a house like
+this, we may be content."
+
+Having thus ensured, as far as it was in his power, health, cleanliness,
+and comfort in his house, our hero and his sons turned their attention
+to the farm. They set about to repair all the fences; for the boys,
+though they were young, were able to help their father in the farm: they
+were willing to work, and happy to work with him. John, the eldest lad,
+could set potatoes, and Robin was able to hold the plough: so that Gray
+did not hire any servant-boy to help him; nor did Mrs. Gray hire a maid.
+"Rose and I," said she, "can manage very well to look after the two
+cows, and milk them, and make the butter, and get something too by our
+spinning. We must do without servants, and may be happy and content to
+serve ourselves."
+
+"Times will grow better; that is, we shall make them better every year:
+we must have the roughest first," said Gray.
+
+The first year, to be sure, it was rough enough; and, do what they
+could, they could not do more than make the rent of the farm, which rent
+amounted to forty pounds. The landlord was a Mr. Hopkins, agent to a
+gentleman who resided in England. Mr. Hopkins insisted upon having
+the rent paid up to the day, and so it was. Gray contented himself by
+thinking that this was perhaps for the best. "When the rent is once
+paid," said he, "it cannot be called for again, and I am in no man's
+power; that's a great comfort. To be sure, if the half year's rent was
+left in my hands for a few months, it might have been of service: but
+it is better not to be under an obligation to such a man as Mr. Hopkins,
+who would make us pay for it in some shape or other, when we least
+expected it."
+
+Mr. Hopkins was what is called in Ireland a middle-man; one that takes
+land from great proprietors, to set it again at an advanced, and often
+an exorbitant, price, to the poor. Gray had his land at a fair rent,
+because it was not from Mr. Hopkins his father had taken the lease, but
+from the gentleman to whom this man was agent. Mr. Hopkins designed
+to buy the land which Gray farmed, and he therefore wished to make
+it appear as unprofitable as possible to his landlord, who, living in
+England, knew but little of his own estate. "If these Grays don't pay
+the rent," said he to his _driver_, "pound their cattle, and sell at
+the end of eight days. If they break and run away, I shall have the land
+clear, and may make a compliment of it to tenants and friends of my own,
+after it comes into my hands." He was rather disappointed, when the rent
+was paid to the day. "But," said he, "it won't be so next year; the man
+is laying out his money on the ground, on draining and fencing, and that
+won't pay suddenly. We'll leave the rent in his hands for a year or so,
+and bring down an ejectment upon him, if he once gets into our power, as
+he surely will. Then, all that he has done to the house will be so much
+in my way. What a fool he was to lay out his money so!"
+
+It happened, however, that the money which Gray had laid out in making
+his house comfortable and neat was of the greatest advantage to him, and
+at a time and in a way which he least expected. His cottage was within
+sight of the high road, that led to a town from which it was about a
+mile distant. A regiment of English arrived, to be quartered in the
+town; and the wives of some of the soldiers came a few hours after their
+husbands. One of these women, a sergeant's wife, was taken suddenly in
+labour, before they reached the town; and the soldier who conducted the
+baggage-cart in which she was, drew up to the first amongst a row of
+miserable cabins that were by the road-side, to ask the people if they
+would give her lodging: but the sick woman was shocked at the sight of
+the smoke and dirt of this cabin, and begged to be carried on to the
+neat whitewashed cottage that she saw at a little distance. This was
+Gray's house.
+
+His wife received the stranger with the greatest kindness and
+hospitality; she was able to offer her a neat bed, and a room that was
+perfectly dry and clean. The sergeant's wife was brought to bed soon
+after her arrival, and remained with Mrs. Gray till she recovered her
+strength. She was grateful for the kindness that was shown to her by
+Mrs. Gray; and so was her husband, the sergeant. He came one evening to
+the cottage, and in his blunt English fashion said, "Mr. Gray, you know
+I, or my wife, which is the same thing, have cause to be obliged to
+you, or your wife, which comes also to the same thing: now one good turn
+deserves another. Our colonel has ordered me, I being quarter-master, to
+sell off by auction some of the cast horses belonging to the regiment:
+now I have bought in the best for a trifle, and have brought him here,
+with me, to beg you'll accept of him, by way some sort of a return for
+the civilities you and your wife, that being, as I said, the same thing,
+showed me and mine."
+
+Gray replied he was obliged to him for this offer of the horse, but that
+he could not think of accepting it; that he was very glad his wife had
+been able to show any kindness or hospitality to a stranger; but that,
+as they did not keep a public-house, they could not take any thing in
+the way of payment.
+
+The sergeant was more and more pleased by farmer Gray's generosity.
+"Well," said he, "I heard, before I came to Ireland, that the Irish were
+the most hospitable people on the face of the earth; and so I find it
+come true, and I shall always say so, wherever I'm quartered hereafter.
+And now do pray answer me, is there any the least thing I can ever do to
+oblige you? for, if the truth must be told of me, I don't like to lie.
+under an obligation, any more than another, where I can help it."
+
+"To show you that I do not want to lay you under one," said Gray, "I'll
+tell you how you can do as much for me, and ten times as much, as I have
+done for you; and this without hurting yourself or any of your employers
+a penny."
+
+"Say how, and it shall be done."
+
+"By letting me have the dung of the barracks, which will make my land
+and me rich, without making you poorer; for I'll give you the fair
+price, whatever it is. I don't ask you to wrong your employers of a
+farthing."
+
+The sergeant promised this should be done, and rejoiced that he had
+found some means of serving his friend. Gray covered ten acres with the
+manure brought from the barracks; and the next year these acres were in
+excellent heart. This was sufficient for the grazing of ten cows: he had
+three, and he bought seven more; and with what remained of his hundred
+pounds, after paying for the cows, he built a shed and a cow-house.
+His wife, and daughter Rose, who was now about fourteen, were excellent
+managers of the dairy. They made, by butter and butter-milk, about four
+pounds each cow within the year. The butter they salted and took to
+market, at the neighbouring town; the butter-milk they sold to the
+country people, who, according to the custom of the neighbourhood, came
+to the house for it. Besides this, they reared five calves, which, at a
+year old, they sold for fifteen guineas and a half. The dairy did not,
+however, employ all the time of this industrious mother and daughter;
+they had time for spinning, and by this cleared six guineas. They also
+made some little matter by poultry; but that was only during the first
+year: afterwards Mr. Hopkins sent notice that they must pay all the
+_duty-fowl_, and _duty-geese_, and _turkeys_, {Footnote: See a very
+curious anecdote in the Statistical Survey of the Queen's County.}
+charged in the lease, or compound with him by paying two guineas a year.
+This gentleman had many methods of squeezing money out of poor tenants;
+and he was not inclined to spare the Grays, whose farm he now more
+than ever wished to possess, because its value had been considerably
+increased, by the judicious industry of the farmer and his sons.
+
+Young as they were, both farmer Gray's sons had a share in these
+improvements. The eldest had drained a small field, which used to be
+called the rushy field, from its having been quite covered with rushes.
+Now there was not a rush to be found upon it, and his father gave him
+the profits of the field, and said that it should be called by his name.
+Robin, the youngest son, had, by his father's advice, tried a little
+experiment, which many of his neighbours ridiculed at first, and admired
+at last. The spring, which used to supply the duck-pond, that often
+flooded the house, was at the head of a meadow, that sloped with a fall
+sufficient to let the water run off. Robin flooded the meadow at the
+proper season of the year, and it produced afterwards a crop such as
+never had been seen there before. His father called this meadow Robin's
+meadow, and gave him the value of the hay that was made upon it.
+
+"Now, my dear boys," said this good father, "you have made a few guineas
+for yourselves; and here are a few more for you, all that I can spare:
+let us see what you can do with this money. I shall take a pride in
+seeing you get forward by your own industry and cleverness; I don't want
+you to slave for me all your best days; but shall always be ready, as a
+father should be, to give you a helping hand."
+
+The sons had scarcely a word in answer to this, for their hearts were
+full; but that night, when they were by themselves, one said to the
+other, "Brother, did you see Jack Reel's letter to his father? They say
+he has sent home ten guineas to him. Is there any truth in it, think
+you?"
+
+"Yes; I saw the letter, and a kinder never was written from son to
+father. {Footnote: This is fact.} The ten guineas I saw paid into the
+old man's hand; and, at that same minute, I wished it was I that was
+doing the same by my own father."
+
+"That was just what I was thinking of, when I asked you if you saw the
+letter. Why, Jack Reel had nothing, when he went abroad with the army to
+Egypt, last year. Well, I never had a liking myself to follow the drum:
+but it's almost enough to tempt one to it. If I thought I could send
+home ten guineas to my father, I would 'list to-morrow."
+
+"That would not be well done of you, Robin," said John; "for my father
+would rather have _you_, a great deal, than the ten guineas, I am sure:
+to say nothing of my poor mother, and Rose, and myself, who would be
+sorry enough to hear of your being knocked on the head, as is the fate,
+sooner or later, of them that follow the army. I would rather be any of
+the trades that hurt nobody, and do good to a many along with myself, as
+father said t'other day. Then, what a man makes so, he makes with a safe
+conscience, and he can enjoy it."
+
+"You are right, John, and I was wrong to talk of _'listing_," said
+Robin; "but it was only Jack Reel's letter, and the ten guineas sent to
+his father, that put it into my head. I may make as much for my father
+by staying at home, and minding my business. So now, good night to you;
+I'll go to sleep, and we can talk more about it all to-morrow."
+
+The next morning, as these two youths were setting potatoes for the
+family, and considering to what they should turn their hands when the
+potatoes were all set, they were interrupted by a little _gossoon_,
+who came running up as hard as he could, crying, "Murder! murder! Simon
+O'Dougherty wants you. For the love of God, cross the bog in all haste,
+to help pull out his horse, that has tumbled into the old tan-pit,
+there beyond, in the night!"
+
+The two brothers immediately followed the boy, carrying with them a rope
+and a halter, as they guessed that _soft Simon_ would not have either.
+They found him wringing his hands beside the tan-pit, in which his horse
+lay smothering. A little ragged boy was tugging at the horse's head,
+with a short bit of hay-rope. "Oh, murder! murder! What _will_ I do for
+a halter? Sure the horse will be lost, for want of a halter; and where
+in the wide world _will_ I look for one?" cried Simon, without stirring
+one inch from the spot. "Oh, the blessing of Heaven be with you, lads,"
+continued he, turning at the sight of the Grays; "you've brought us a
+halter. But see! it's just over with the poor beast. All the world put
+together will not get him alive out of that. I must put up with the
+loss, and be content. He cost me fifteen good guineas, and he could
+leap better than any horse in the county. Oh, what a pity on him! what
+a pity! But, take it easy; that's all we have for it! _Poor cratur! Poor
+cratur!_"
+
+Without listening to Simon's lamentations, the active lads, by the help
+of Simon and the two boys, pulled the horse out of the pit. The poor
+animal was nearly exhausted by struggling: but, after some time, he
+stretched himself, and, by degrees, recovered sufficiently to stand. One
+of his legs, however, was so much hurt that he could scarcely walk; and
+Simon said he would surely go lame for life.
+
+"Who now would ever have thought of his straying into such an ugly place
+of all others?" continued he. "I know, for my share, the spot is so
+overgrown with grass and rubbish, of one kind or other, and it's so
+long since any of the tanning business was going on here, in my uncle
+O'Haggarty's time, that I quite forgot there were such things as
+tan-pits, or any manner of pits, in my possession; and I wish these had
+been far enough off before my own little famous Sir Hyacinth O'Brien had
+strayed into them, laming himself for life, like a blockhead. For the
+case was this: I came home late last night, not as sober as a judge,
+and, finding no one up but the girl, I gave her the horse to put into
+the stable, and she forgot the door after her, which wants a lock; and
+there being but a scanty feed of oats, owing to the boy's negligence,
+and no halter to secure the beast, my poor Sir Hyacinth strayed out
+here, as ill luck would have it, into the tan-pit. Bad luck to my uncle
+O'Haggarty, that had the tan-yard here at all! He might have lived as
+became him, without dirtying his hands with the tanning of dirty hides."
+
+"I was just going," said John Gray, "to comfort you, Simon, for the
+laming of your horse, by observing that, if you had your tan-yard in
+order again, you could soon make up the price of another horse."
+
+"Ohoo! I would not be bothered with anything of the kind. There's
+the mill of Rosanna there, beyond, was the plague of my life, till it
+stopped; and I was glad to have fairly done with it. Them that come
+after me may set it a-going again, and welcome. I have enough just to
+serve my time, and am content any way."
+
+"But, if you could get a fair rent for the tan-yard, would you let it?"
+said John.
+
+"To that I should make no objection in life; provided I had no trouble
+with it," replied Simon.
+
+"And if you could get somebody to keep the mill of Rosanna going,
+without giving you any trouble, you would not object to that, would
+you?" said Robin.
+
+"Not I, to be sure," replied Simon, laughing. "Whatever God sends, be
+it more or less, I am content. But I would not have you think me a fool,
+for all I talk so easy about the matter; I know very well what I might
+have got for the mill some years ago, when first it stopped, if I
+would have let it to the man that proposed for it; but though he was as
+substantial a tenant as you could see, yet he affronted me once, at the
+last election, by calling a freeholder of mine over the coals; and so I
+was proud of an opportunity to show him I did not forget. So I refused
+to let him the mill on any terms; and I made him a speech for his pride
+to digest at the same time. 'Mr. Hopkins,' said I, 'the lands of Rosanna
+have been in my family these two hundred years and upwards; and though,
+now-a-days, many men think that every thing is to be done for money, and
+though you, Mr. Hopkins, have made as much money as most men could in
+the same time,--all which I don't envy you,--yet I must make bold to
+tell you, that the lands of Rosanna, or any part or parcel thereof,
+is what you'll never have whilst I'm alive, Mr. Hopkins, for love or
+money.' The spirit of the O'Doughertys was up within me; and though all
+the world calls me easy Simon, I have my own share of proper spirit.
+These mushroom money-makers, that start up from the very dirt under
+one's feet, I can't for my part swallow them. Now I should be happy to
+give you a lease of the mill of Rosanna, after refusing Hopkins; for you
+and your father before you, lads, have been always very civil to me.
+My tan-pits and all I am ready to talk to you about, and thank you for
+pulling my horse out for me this morning. Will you walk up and look at
+the mill? I would attend you myself, but must go to the farrier about
+Sir Hyacinth's leg, instead of standing talking here any longer. Good
+morning to you kindly. The girl will give you the key of the mill, and
+show you everything, the same as myself."
+
+Simon gathered his great coat about him, and walked away to the farrier,
+whilst the two brothers rejoiced that they should see the mill without
+hearing him talk the whole time. Simon, having nothing to do all day
+long but to talk, was an indefatigable gossip. When the lands of Rosanna
+were in question, or when his pride was touched, he was terribly fluent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Upon examining the mill, which was a common oat-mill, John Gray found
+that the upper mill-stone was lodged upon the lower; and that this was
+all which prevented the mill from going. No other part of it was damaged
+or out of repair. As to the tan-yard, it was in great disorder; but it
+was very conveniently situated; was abundantly supplied with water on
+one side, and had an oak copse at the back, so that tan could readily
+be procured. It is true that the bark of these oak trees, which had been
+planted by his careful uncle O'Haggarty, had been much damaged since
+Simon came into possession; for he had, with his customary negligence,
+suffered cattle to get amongst them. He had also, to supply himself
+with ready money, occasionally cut down a great deal of the best timber
+before it arrived at its full growth; and at this time the Grays found
+every tree of tolerable size marked for destruction with the initials of
+Simon O'Dougherty's name.
+
+Before they said anything more about the mill or the tan-yard to Simon,
+these prudent brothers consulted their father: he advised them to begin
+cautiously, by offering to manage the mill and the tan-yard, during the
+ensuing season, for Simon, for a certain share in the profits; and then,
+if they should find the business likely to succeed, they might take a
+lease of the whole. Simon willingly made this agreement; and there was
+no danger in dealing with him, because, though careless and indolent, he
+was honest, and would keep his engagements. It was settled that John and
+Robin should have the power, at the end of the year, either to hold or
+give up all concern in the mill and tan-yard; and, in the mean time,
+they were to manage the business for Simon, and to have such a share in
+the profits as would pay them reasonably for their time and labour.
+
+They succeeded beyond their expectations in the management of the mill
+and tan-yard during their year of probation; and Simon, at the end of
+that time, was extremely glad to give them a long lease of the premises,
+upon their paying him down, by way of fine, the sum of 150l. This sum
+their father, who had good credit, and who could give excellent security
+upon his farm, which was now in a flourishing condition, raised for
+them; and they determined to repay him the money by regular yearly
+portions out of their profits.
+
+Success did not render these young men presumptuous or negligent: they
+went on steadily with business, were contented to live frugally and
+work hard for some years. Many of the sons of neighbouring tradesmen
+and farmers, who were able perhaps to buy a horse or two, or three good
+coats in a year, and who set up for gentlemen, and spent their days
+in hunting, shooting, or cock-fighting, thought that the Grays were
+poor-spirited fellows for sticking so close to business. They prophesied
+that, even when these brothers should have made a fortune, they would
+not have the liberality to spend or enjoy it; but this prediction was
+not verified. The Grays had not been brought up to place their happiness
+merely in the scraping together pounds, shillings, and pence; they
+valued money for money's worth, not for money's sake; and, amongst the
+pleasures it could purchase, they thought that of contributing to the
+happiness of their parents and friends the greatest. When they had paid
+their father the hundred and fifty pounds he had advanced, their next
+object was to build a neat cottage for him, near the wood and mill of
+Rosanna, on a beautiful spot, upon which they had once heard him say
+that he should like to have a house.
+
+We mentioned that Mr. Hopkins, the agent, had a view to this farm; and
+that he was desirous of getting rid of the Grays: but this he found no
+easy matter to accomplish, because the rent was always punctually paid.
+There was no pretence for _driving_, even for the duty-fowls; Mrs.
+Gray always had them ready at the proper time. Mr. Hopkins was farther
+provoked by seeing the rich improvements which our farmer made every
+year on his land: his envy, which could be moved by the meanest objects
+of gain, was continually excited by his neighbour's successful industry.
+To-day he envied him his green meadows, and to-morrow the crocks of
+butter, packed on the car for Dublin. Farmer Gray's ten cows, which
+regularly passed by Mr. Hopkins's window morning and evening, were
+a sight that often spoiled his breakfast and supper: but that which
+grieved this envious man the most was the barrack manure; he would stand
+at his window, and, with a heavy heart, count the car loads that went by
+to Gray's farm.
+
+Once he made an attempt to ruin Gray's friend, the sergeant, by accusing
+him secretly of being bribed to sell the barrack manure to Gray for less
+than he had been offered for it by others: but the officer to whom
+Mr. Hopkins made this complaint was fortunately a man who did not like
+secret informations: he publicly inquired into the truth of the matter,
+and the sergeant's honesty and Mr. Hopkins's meanness were clearly
+proved and contrasted. The consequence of this malicious interference
+was beneficial to Gray; for the officer told the story to the colonel of
+the regiment which was next quartered in the town, and he to the officer
+who succeeded him; so that year after year Mr. Hopkins applied in vain
+for the barrack manure. Farmer Gray had always the preference, and the
+hatred of Mr. Hopkins knew no bounds; that is, no bounds but the
+letter of the law, of which he was ever mindful, because lawsuits are
+expensive.
+
+At length, however, he devised a legal mode of _annoying_ his enemy.
+Some land belonging to Mr. Hopkins lay between Gray's farm and the only
+bog in the neighbourhood: now he would not permit Mr. Gray, or any body
+belonging to him, to draw turf upon his bog-road; and he absolutely
+forbade his own wretched tenants to sell turf to the object of his envy.
+By these means, he flattered himself he should literally starve the
+enemy out of house and home.
+
+Things were in this situation when John and Robin Gray determined to
+build a house for their father at Rosanna. They made no secret to him of
+their intentions; for they did not want to surprise but to please him,
+and to do every thing in the manner that would be most convenient to him
+and their mother. Their sister, Rose, was in all their counsels; and it
+had been for the last three years one of her chief delights to go, after
+her day's work was done, to the mill at Rosanna, to see how her brothers
+were going on. How happy are those families where there is no envy
+or jealousy; but in which each individual takes an interest in the
+prosperity of the whole! Farmer Gray was heartily pleased with the
+gratitude and generosity of his boys, as he still continued to call
+them; though, by-the-bye, John was now three-and-twenty, and his brother
+only two years younger.
+
+"My dear boys," said he, "nothing could be more agreeable to me and your
+mother than to have a snug cottage near you both, on the very spot which
+you say I pitched upon two years ago. This cabin that we now live in,
+after all I have tried to do to prop it up, and notwithstanding all
+Rose does to keep it neat and clean withinside, is but a crazy sort of a
+place. We are able now to have a better house, and I shall be glad to
+be out of the reach of Mr. Hopkins's persecution. Therefore, let us set
+about and build the new house. You shall contribute your share, my boys;
+but only a share: mind, I say only a share. And I hope next year to
+contribute my share towards building a house for each of you: it is time
+you should think of marrying, and settling: it is no bad thing to have a
+house ready for a bride. We shall have quite a little colony of our own
+at Rosanna. Who knows but I may live to see my grand-children, ay, and
+my great-grand-children, settled there all round me, industrious and
+contented?"
+
+Good-will is almost as expeditious and effectual as Aladdin's lamp:--the
+new cottage for farmer Gray was built at Rosanna, and he took possession
+of it the ensuing spring. They next made a garden, and furnished it with
+all sorts of useful vegetables and some pretty flowers. Rose had great
+pleasure in taking care of this garden. Her brothers also laid out
+a small green lawn before the door; and planted the boundaries with
+white-thorn, crab-trees, lilacs, and laburnums. The lawn sloped down
+to the water-side; and the mill and copse behind it were seen from the
+parlour windows. A prettier cottage, indeed so pretty a one, was never
+before seen in this county.
+
+But what was better far than the pretty cottage, or the neat garden, or
+the green lawn, or the white-thorn, the crab-trees, the lilacs, and the
+laburnums, was the content that smiled amongst them.
+
+Many who have hundreds and thousands are miserable, because they still
+desire more; or rather because they know not what they would have. For
+instance, Mr. Hopkins, the rich Mr. Hopkins, who had scraped together
+in about fifteen years above twenty thousand, some said thirty thousand
+pounds, had never been happy for a single day, either whilst he was
+making this fortune or when he had made it; for he was of an avaricious,
+discontented temper. The more he had, the more he desired. He could
+not bear the prosperity of his neighbours; and if his envy made him
+industrious, yet it at the same time rendered him miserable. Though he
+was what the world calls a remarkably fortunate man, yet the feelings of
+his own mind prevented him from enjoying his success. He had no wife,
+no children, to share his wealth. He would not marry, because a wife
+is expensive; and children are worse than taxes. His whole soul was
+absorbed in the love of gain. He denied himself not only the comforts
+but the common necessaries of life. He was alone in the world. He was
+conscious that no human being loved him. He read his history in the eyes
+of all his neighbours.
+
+It was known that he had risen upon the ruin of others; and the higher
+he had risen, the more conspicuous became the faults of his character.
+Whenever any man grew negligent of his affairs, or by misfortune was
+reduced to distress, Hopkins was at hand to take advantage of his
+necessities. His first approaches were always made under the semblance
+of friendship; but his victims soon repented their imprudent confidence
+when they felt themselves in his power. Unrestrained by a sense of
+honour or the feelings of humanity, he felt no scruple in pursuing his
+interest to the very verge of what the law would call fraud. Even his
+own relations complained that he duped them without scruple; and none
+but strangers to his character, or persons compelled by necessity, would
+have any dealings with this man. Of what advantage to him, or to any one
+else, were the thousands he had accumulated?
+
+It may be said that such beings are necessary in society; that their
+industry is productive; and that, therefore, they ought to be preferred
+to the idle, unproductive members of the community: but wealth and
+happiness are not the same things. Perhaps, at some future period,
+enlightened politicians may think the happiness of nations more
+important than their wealth. In this point of view, they would consider
+all the members of society, who are productive of happiness, as neither
+useless nor despicable; and, on the contrary, they would contemn and
+discourage those who merely accumulate money, without enjoying or
+dispensing happiness. But some centuries must probably elapse before
+such a philosophic race of politicians can arise. In the mean time, let
+us go on with our story.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Mr. Hopkins was enraged when he found that his expected victim escaped
+his snares. He saw the pretty cottage rise, and the mill of Rosanna
+work, in despite of his malevolence. He long brooded over his malice
+in silence. As he stood one day on the top of a high mount on his own
+estate, from which he had a view of the surrounding country, his eyes
+fixed upon the little paradise in the possession of his enemies. He
+always called those his enemies of whom he was the enemy: this is no
+uncommon mistake, in the language of the passions.
+
+"The Rosanna mill shall be stopped before this day twelvemonth, or
+my name is not Hopkins," said he to himself. "I have sworn vengeance
+against those Grays; but I will humble them to the dust, before I have
+done with them. I shall never sleep in peace till I have driven those
+people from the country."
+
+It was, however, no easy matter to drive from the country such
+inoffensive inhabitants. The first thing Mr. Hopkins resolved upon was
+to purchase from Simon O'Dougherty the field adjoining to that in which
+the mill stood. The brook flowed through this field, and Mr. Hopkins
+saw, with malicious satisfaction, that he could at a small expense turn
+the course of the stream, and cut off the water from the mill.
+
+Poor Simon by this time had reduced himself to a situation in which his
+pride was compelled to yield to pecuniary considerations. Within the
+last three years, his circumstances had been materially changed. Whilst
+he was a bachelor, his income had been sufficient to maintain him in
+idleness. Soft Simon, however, at last, took it into his head to marry;
+or rather a cunning damsel, who had been his mistress for some years,
+took it into her head to make him marry. She was skilled in the arts
+both of wheedling and scolding: to resist these united powers was too
+much to be expected from a man of Simon's easy temper.
+
+He argued thus with himself:--"She has cost me more as she is than if
+she had been my wife twice over; for she has no interest in looking
+after any thing belonging to me, but only just living on from day to
+day, and making the most for herself and her children. And the children,
+too, all in the same way, snatching what they could make sure of for
+themselves. Now, if I make her my lawful wife, as she desires, the
+property will be hers, as well as mine; and it will be her interest to
+look after all. She is a stirring, notable woman, and will save me a
+world of trouble, and make the best of every thing for her children's
+sake; and they, being then all acknowledged by me, will make my interest
+their own, as she says; and, besides, this is the only way left me to
+have peace."
+
+To avoid the cares and plagues of matrimony, and that worst of plagues
+a wife's tongue, Simon first was induced to keep a mistress, and now to
+silence his mistress, he made her his wife. She assured him, that, till
+she was his lawful lady, she never should have peace or quietness; nor
+could she, in conscience, suffer him to have a moment's rest.
+
+Simon married her, to use his own phrase, out of hand: but the marriage
+was only the beginning of new troubles. The bride had hordes and
+clans of relations, who came pouring in from all quarters to pay their
+respects to Mrs. O'Dougherty. Her good easy man could not shut his doors
+against any one: the O'Doughertys were above a hundred years, ay, two
+hundred years ago, famous for hospitality; and it was incumbent upon
+Simon O'Dougherty to keep up the honour of the family. His four children
+were now to be maintained in idleness; for they, like their father,
+had an insurmountable aversion to business. The public opinion of Simon
+suddenly changed. Those who were any way related to the O'Doughertys,
+and who dreaded that he and his children should apply to them for
+pecuniary assistance, began the cry against him of, "What a shame it is
+{Footnote: Essay on Charity Schools.} that the man does not do something
+for himself and his family! How can those expect to be helped who won't
+help themselves? He is contented, indeed! Yes, and he must soon be
+contented to sell the lands that have been in the family so long; and
+then, by and by, he must be content, if he does not bestir himself, to
+be carried to jail. It is a sin for any one to be content to eat the
+bread of idleness!"
+
+These and similar reproaches were uttered often, in our idle hero's
+presence. They would perhaps have excited him to some sort of exertion,
+if his friend, Sir Hyacinth O'Brien, had not, in consequence of certain
+electioneering services, and in consideration of his being one of the
+best sportsmen in the county, and of Simon's having named a horse
+after him, procured for him a place of about fifty pounds a year in the
+revenue. Upon the profits of this place Simon contrived to live, in a
+shambling sort of way.
+
+How long he might have shuffled on is a problem which must now for ever
+remain unsolved; for his indolence was not permitted to take its natural
+course; his ruin was accelerated by the secret operation of an active
+and malignant power. Mr. Hopkins, who had determined to get that field
+which joined to Gray's mill, and who well knew that the pride of the
+O'Doughertys would resist the idea of selling to him any part or parcel
+of the lands of Rosanna, devised a scheme to reduce Simon to immediate
+and inextricable distress. Simon was, as it might have been foreseen,
+negligent in discharging the duties of his office, which was that of a
+supervisor.
+
+He either did not know, or connived at the practices, of sundry illegal
+distillers in his neighbourhood. Malicious tongues did not scruple to
+say that he took money, upon some occasions, from the delinquents; but
+this he positively denied. Possibly his wife and sons knew more of
+this matter than he did. They sold certain scraps of paper, called
+protections, to several petty distillers, whose safest protection would
+have been Simon's indolence. One of the scraps of paper, to which there
+was O'Dougherty's signature, fell into the hands of Mr. Hopkins.
+
+That nothing might be omitted to ensure his disgrace, Hopkins sent a
+person, on whom he could depend, to give Simon notice that there was an
+illegal still at such a house, naming the house for which the protection
+was granted. Soft Simon received the information with his customary
+carelessness, said it was too late to think of going to seize the still
+that evening, and declared he would have it seized the next day: but the
+next day he put it off, and the day afterwards he forgot it, and the day
+after that, he received a letter from the collector of excise, summoning
+him to answer to an information which had been laid against him for
+misconduct. In this emergency, he resolved to have recourse to his
+friend Sir Hyacinth O'Brien, who, he thought, could make interest
+to screen him from justice. Sir Hyacinth gave him a letter to the
+collector, who happened to be in the country. Away he went with the
+letter: he was met on the road by a friend, who advised him to ride as
+hard after the collector as he could, to overtake him before he should
+reach Counsellor Quin's, where he was engaged to dine. Counsellor Quin
+was candidate for the county in opposition to Sir Hyacinth O'Brien; and
+it was well understood that whomsoever the one favoured the other hated.
+It behoved Simon, therefore, to overtake the collector before he should
+be within the enemy's gates. Simon whipped and spurred, and puffed and
+fretted, but all in vain, for he was mounted upon the horse which, as
+the reader may remember, fell into the tan-pit. The collector reached
+Counsellor Quin's long before Simon arrived; and, when he presented Sir
+Hyacinth's letter, it was received in a manner that showed it came too
+late. Simon lost his place and his fifty pounds a year: but what he
+found most trying to his temper were the reproaches of his wife, which
+were loud, bitter, and unceasing. He knew, from experience, that nothing
+could silence her but letting her "have all the plea;" so he suffered
+her to rail till she was quite out of breath, and he very nearly asleep,
+and then said, "What you have been observing is all very just, no doubt;
+but since a thing past can't be recalled, and those that are upon the
+ground, as our proverb says, can go no lower, that's a great comfort; so
+we may be content."
+
+"Content, in truth! Is it content to live upon potatoes and salt? I,
+that am your lawful wife! And you, that are an O'Dougherty too, to let
+your lady be demeaned and looked down upon, as she will be now, even by
+them that are sprung up from nothing since yesterday. There's Mrs. Gray,
+over yonder at Rosanna, living on your own land: look at her and look at
+me! and see what a difference there is!"
+
+"Some difference there surely is," said Simon.
+
+"Some difference there surely is," repeated Mrs. O'Dougherty, raising
+her voice to the shrillest note of objurgation; for she was provoked
+by a sigh that escaped Simon, as he pronounced his reply, or rather his
+acceding sentence. Nothing, in some cases, provokes a female so much as
+agreeing with her.
+
+"And if there is some difference betwixt me and Mrs. Gray, should be
+glad to know whose fault that is?"
+
+"So should I, Mrs. O'Dougherty."
+
+"Then I'll tell you, instantly, whose fault it is, Mr. O'Dougherty:
+the fault is your own, Mr. O'Dougherty. No, the fault is mine, Mr.
+O'Dougherty, for marrying you, or consorting with you at all. If I had
+been matched to an active, industrious man, like Mr. Gray, I might have
+been as well in the world and better than Mrs. Gray; for I should become
+a fortune better than she, or any of her seed, breed, or generation; and
+it's a scandal in the face of the world, and all the world says so, it's
+a scandal to see them Grays flourishing and settling a colony, there at
+Rosanna, at our expense!"
+
+"Not at our expense, my dear, for you know we made nothing of either
+tan-yard or mill; and now they pay us 30_l_. a year, and that punctually
+too. What should we do without it, now we have lost the place in the
+revenue? I am sure, I think we were very lucky to get such tenants as
+the Grays."
+
+"In truth, I think no such thing; for if you had been blessed with the
+sense of a midge, you might have done all they have done yourself: and
+then what a different way your lawful wife and family would have been
+in! I am sure I wish it had pleased the saints above to have married me,
+when they were about it, to such a man as farmer Gray or his sons."
+
+"As for the sons," said Simon, "they are a little out of the way in
+point of age, but to farmer Gray I see no objection in life: and if he
+sees none, and will change wives, I'm sure, Ally, I shall be content."
+
+The sort of composure and dry humour with which Simon made this last
+speech overcame the small remains of Mrs. O'Dougherty's patience: she
+burst into a passion of tears; and from this hour, it being now past
+eleven o'clock at night, from this hour till six in the morning she
+never ceased weeping, wailing, and upbraiding.
+
+Simon rose from his sleepless bed, saying, "The saints above, as you
+call them, must take care of you now, Ally, any how; for I'm fairly
+tired out: so I must go a-hunting or a-shooting with my friend, Sir
+Hyacinth O'Brien, to recruit my spirits."
+
+The unfortunate Simon found, to his mortification, that his horse was
+so lame he could scarcely walk. Whilst he was considering where he could
+borrow a horse, just for the day's hunt, Mr. Hopkins rode into his
+yard, mounted upon a fine hunter. Though naturally supercilious, this
+gentleman could stoop to conquer: he was well aware of Simon's dislike
+to him, but he also knew that Simon was in distress for money. Even
+the strongest passions of those who involve themselves in pecuniary
+difficulties must yield to the exigencies of the moment. Easy Simon's
+indolence had now reduced him to a situation in which his pride was
+obliged to bend to his interest. Mr. Hopkins had once been repulsed with
+haughtiness by the representative of the O'Dougherty family, when he
+offered to purchase some of the family estate; but his proposal was now
+better timed, and was made with all the address of which he was master.
+He began by begging Simon to give him his opinion of the horse on which
+he was mounted, as he knew Mr. O'Dougherty was a particularly good judge
+of a hunter; and he would not buy it, from Counsellor Quin's groom,
+without having a skilful friend's advice. Then he asked whether it was
+true that Simon and the collector had quarrelled, exclaimed against
+the malice and officiousness of the informer, whoever he might be, and
+finished by observing that, if the loss of his place put Simon to any
+inconvenience, there was a ready way of supplying himself with money, by
+the sale of any of the lands of Rosanna. The immediate want of a horse,
+and the comparison he made, at this moment, between the lame animal on
+which he was leaning and the fine hunter upon which Hopkins was mounted,
+had more effect upon Simon than all the rest. Before they parted, Mr.
+Hopkins concluded a bargain for the field on which he had set his heart:
+he obtained it for less than its value by three years' purchase. The
+hunter was part of the valuable consideration he gave to Simon.
+
+The moment that Hopkins was in possession of this field adjoining to
+Gray's mill, he began to execute a malignant project which he had long
+been contriving.
+
+We shall leave him to his operations; matters of higher import claim our
+attention. One morning, as Rose was on the little lawn before the house
+door, gathering the first snowdrops of the year, a servant in a handsome
+livery rode up, and asked if Mr. Gray or any of the family were at home.
+Her father and brothers were out in the fields, at some distance; but
+she said she would run and call them. "There is no occasion, Miss,"
+said the servant; "for the business is only to leave these cards for the
+ladies of the family."
+
+He put two cards into Rose's hand, and galloped off with the air of a
+man who had a vast deal of business of importance to transact. The cards
+contained an invitation to an election ball, which Sir Hyacinth O'Brien
+was going to give to the secondary class of gentry in the county. Rose
+took the cards to her mother; and whilst they were reading them over for
+the second time, in came farmer Gray to breakfast. "What have we here,
+child?" said he, taking up one of the cards. He looked at his wife and
+daughter with some anxiety for a moment; and then, as if he did not
+wish to restrain them, turned the conversation to another subject, and
+nothing was said of the ball till breakfast was over.
+
+Mrs. Gray then bade Rose go and put her flowers into water; and as soon
+as she was out of the room, said, "My dear, I see you don't like that we
+should go to this ball; so I am glad I did not say what I thought of it
+to Rose before you came in: for you must know, I had a mother's foolish
+vanity about me; and the minute I saw the card, I pictured to myself our
+Rose dressed like any of the best of the ladies, and looking handsomer
+than most of them, and every body admiring her! But perhaps the girl is
+better as she is, having not been bred to be a lady. And yet, now we
+are as well in the world as many that set up for and are reckoned
+gentlefolks, why should not our girl take this opportunity of rising a
+step in life?"
+
+Mrs. Gray spoke with some confusion and hesitation. "My dear," replied
+farmer Gray, in a gentle yet firm tone, "it is very natural that you,
+being the mother of such a girl as our Rose, should be proud of her, and
+eager to show her to the best advantage; but the main point is to
+make her happy, not to do just what will please our own vanity for the
+minute. Now I am not at all sure that raising her a step in life,
+even if we could do it by sending her to this ball, would be for her
+happiness. Are not we happy as we are--Come in, Rose, love; come in;
+I should be glad for you to hear what we are saying, and judge for
+yourself; you are old enough, and wise enough, I am sure. I was going to
+ask, are not we all happy in the way we live together now?"
+
+"Yes! Oh yes! That we are, indeed," said both the wife and daughter.
+
+"Then should not we be content, and not wish to alter our condition?"
+
+"But to go to only one ball, father, would not alter our condition,
+would it?" said Rose, timidly.
+
+"If we begin once to set up for gentry, we shall not like to go back
+again to be what we are now: so, before we begin, we had best consider
+what we have to gain by a change. We have meat, drink, clothes, and
+fire: what more could we have, if we were gentry? We have enough to do,
+and not too much; we are all well pleased with ourselves, and with one
+another; we have health and good consciences: what more could we have,
+if we were to set up to be gentry? Or rather, to put the question
+closer, could we in that case have all these comforts? No, I think not:
+for, in the first place, we should be straitened for want of money;
+because a world of baubles, that we don't feel the want of now, would
+become as necessary to us as our daily bread. We should be ashamed not
+to have all the things that gentlefolks have; though these don't signify
+a straw, nor half a straw, in point of any real pleasure they give,
+still they must be had. Then we should be ashamed of the work by which
+we must make money to pay for all these nicknacks. John and Robin would
+blush up to the eyes, then, if they were to be caught by the genteel
+folks in their mill, heaving up sacks of flour, and covered all over
+with meal; or if they were to be found, with their arms bare beyond the
+elbows, in the tan-yard. And you, Rose, would hurry your spinning-wheel
+out of sight, and be afraid to be caught cooking my dinner. Yet there
+is no shame in any of these things, and now we are all proud of doing
+them."
+
+"And long may we be so!" cried Mrs. Gray. "You are right, and I spoke
+like a foolish woman. Rose, my child, throw these cards into the fire.
+We are happy, and contented: and if we change, we shall be discontented
+and unhappy, as so many of what they call our betters are. There! the
+cards are burnt; now let us think no more about them."
+
+"Rose, I hope, is not disappointed about this ball; are you, my little
+Rose?" said her father, drawing her towards him, and seating her on his
+knee.
+
+"There was one reason, father," said Rose, blushing, "there was one
+reason, and only one, why I wished to have gone to this ball."
+
+"Well, let us hear it. You shall do as you please, I promise you
+beforehand. But tell us the reason. I believe you have found it
+somewhere at the bottom of that snow-drop, which you have been examining
+this last quarter of an hour. Come, let me have a peep," added he,
+laughing.
+
+"The only reason, papa, _is--was_, I mean," said Rose.--"But look! Oh, I
+can't tell you now. See who is coming."
+
+It was Sir Hyacinth O'Brien, in his gig; and with him his English
+servant, Stafford, whose staid and sober demeanour was a perfect
+contrast to the dash and bustle of his master's appearance. This was an
+electioneering visit. Sir Hyacinth was canvassing the county--a business
+in which he took great delight, and in which he was said to excel. He
+possessed all the requisite qualifications, and was certainly excited
+by a sufficiently strong motive; for he knew that, if he should lose his
+election, he should at the same time lose his liberty, as the privilege
+of a member of parliament was necessary to protect him from being
+arrested. He had a large estate, yet he was one of the poorest men in
+the county; for no matter what a person's fortune may be, if he spend
+more than his income, he must be poor. Sir Hyacinth O'Brien not only
+spent more than his income, but desired that his rent-roll should be
+thought to be at least double what it really was: of course he was
+obliged to live up to the fortune which he affected to possess; and this
+idle vanity early in life entangled him in difficulties from which
+he had never sufficient strength of mind to extricate himself. He was
+ambitious to be the leading man in his county, studied all the arts of
+popularity, and found them extremely expensive, and stood a contested
+election. He succeeded; but his success cost him several thousands. All
+was to be set to rights by his talents as a public speaker, and these
+were considerable. He had eloquence, wit, humour, and sufficient
+assurance to place them all in the fullest light. His speeches in
+parliament were much admired, and the passion of ambition was now
+kindled in his mind: he determined to be a leading man in the senate;
+and whilst he pursued this object with enthusiasm, his private affairs
+were entirely neglected. Ambition and economy never can agree. Sir
+Hyacinth, however, found it necessary to the happiness, that is, to the
+splendour, of his existence, to supply, by some means or other, the
+want of what he called the paltry, selfish, counterfeit virtue--economy.
+Nothing less would do than the sacrifice of that which had been
+once in his estimation the most noble and generous of human
+virtues,--patriotism. The sacrifice was painful, but he could not avoid
+making it; because, after living upon five thousand a-year, he could
+not live upon five hundred. So, from a flaming patriot, he sunk into a
+pensioned placeman.
+
+He then employed all his powers of wit and sophistry to ridicule the
+principles which he had abandoned. In short, he affected to glory in
+a species of political profligacy; and laughed or sneered at public
+virtue, as if it could only be the madness of enthusiasm, or the
+meanness of hypocrisy. By the brilliancy of his conversation, and the
+gaiety of his manners, Sir Hyacinth sometimes succeeded in persuading
+others that he was in the right; but, alas! there was one person whom
+he could never deceive, and that was himself. He despised himself, and
+nothing could make him amends for the self-complacency that he had lost.
+Without self-approbation, all the luxuries of life are tasteless.
+
+Sir Hyacinth O'Brien, however, was for some years thought, by those who
+could see only the outward man, to be happy; and it was not till the
+derangement of his affairs became public that the world began at once
+to pity and blame him. He had a lucrative place, but he was, or thought
+himself, obliged to live in a style suited to it; and he was not
+one shilling the richer for his place. He endeavoured to repair his
+shattered fortunes by marrying a rich heiress, but the heiress was, or
+thought herself, obliged to live up to her fortune; and, of course,
+her husband was not one shilling the richer for his marriage. When Sir
+Hyacinth was occasionally distressed for money, his agent, who managed
+all affairs in his absence, borrowed money with as much expedition as
+possible; and expedition, in matters of business, must, as every body
+knows, be paid for exorbitantly. There are men who, upon such terms,
+will be as expeditious in lending money as extravagance and ambition
+united can desire. Mr. Hopkins was one of these: and he was the
+money-lender who supplied the baronet's real and imaginary wants. Sir
+Hyacinth did not know the extreme disorder of his own affairs, till a
+sudden dissolution of parliament obliged him to prepare for the expense
+of a new election. When he went into the country, he was at once beset
+with duns and constituents who claimed from him favours and promises.
+Miserable is the man who courts popularity, if he be not rich enough to
+purchase what he covets.
+
+Our baronet endeavoured to laugh off with a good grace his apostasy from
+the popular party; and whilst he could laugh at the head of a plentiful
+table, he could not fail to find many who would laugh with him; but
+there was a strong party formed against him in the county. Two other
+candidates were his competitors; one of them was Counsellor Quin, a man
+of vulgar manners and mean abilities, but yet one who could drink and
+cajole electors full as well as Sir Hyacinth, with all his wit and
+elegance. The other candidate, Mr. Molyneux, was still more formidable;
+not as an electioneerer, but as a man of talents and unimpeached
+integrity, which had been successfully exerted in the service of his
+country. He was no demagogue, but the friend of justice and of the
+poor, whom he would not suffer to be oppressed by the hand of power,
+or persecuted by the malice of party spirit. A large number of grateful
+independent constituents united to support this gentleman. Sir Hyacinth
+O'Brien had reason to tremble for his fate; it was to him a desperate
+game. He canvassed the county with the most keen activity; and took
+care to engage in his interest all those _underlings_ who delight in
+galloping round the country to electioneer, and who think themselves
+paid by the momentary consequence they enjoy, and the bustle they
+create.
+
+Amongst these busy-bodies was Simon O'Dougherty: indolent in all his own
+concerns, he was remarkably active in managing the affairs of others.
+His home being now insufferable to him, he was glad to stroll about the
+country; and to him Sir Hyacinth O'Brien left all the dirty work of
+the canvass. Soft Simon had reduced himself to the lowest class of
+_stalkoes_ or _walking gentlemen_, as they are termed; men who have
+nothing to do, and no fortune to support them, but who style themselves
+esquire; and who, to use their own mode of expression, are jealous
+of that title, and of their claims to family antiquity. Sir Hyacinth
+O'Brien knew at once how to flatter Simon's pride, and to lure him on
+by promises. Soft Simon believed that the baronet, if he gained his
+election, would procure him some place equivalent to that of which he
+had been lately deprived. Upon the faith of this promise, Simon worked
+harder for his patron than he ever was known to do upon any previous
+occasion; and he was not deficient in that essential characteristic of
+an electioneerer, boasting. He carried this habit sometimes rather too
+far, for he not only boasted so as to bully the opposite party, but
+so as to deceive his friends: over his bottle, he often persuaded his
+patron that he could command voters, with whom he had no manner of
+influence. For instance: he told Sir Hyacinth O'Brien that he was
+certain all the Grays would vote for him; and it was in consequence of
+this assurance that the cards of invitation to the ball had been sent to
+Rose and her mother, and that the baronet was now come in person to pay
+his respects at Rosanna.
+
+We have kept him waiting an unconscionable time at the cottage door; we
+must now show him in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+The beauty of Rose was the first thing that struck him upon his
+entrance. The impression was so sudden, and so lively, that, for a few
+minutes, the election, and all that belonged to it, vanished from his
+memory. The politeness of a county candidate made him appear, in other
+houses, charmed with father, mother, son, and daughter; but in this
+cottage there was no occasion for dissimulation; he was really pleased
+with each individual of the family. The natural feelings of the heart
+were touched. The ambitious man forgot all his schemes, and all his
+cares, in the contemplation of this humble picture of happiness and
+content; and the baronet conversed a full quarter of an hour with farmer
+Gray, before he relapsed into himself.
+
+"How much happier," thought he, "are these people than I am, or than I
+ever have been! They are contented in obscurity; I was discontented even
+in the full blaze of celebrity. But my fate is fixed. I embarked on
+the sea of politics as thoughtlessly as if it were only on a party of
+pleasure: now I am chained to the oar, and a galley-slave cannot be more
+wretched."
+
+Perhaps the beauty of Rose had some share in exciting Sir Hyacinth's
+sudden taste for rural felicity. It is certain he at first expressed
+more disappointment at hearing she would not go to the ball, than at
+being told her father and brothers could not vote for him. Farmer
+Gray, who was as independent in his principles as in his circumstances,
+honestly answered the baronet, that he thought Mr. Molyneux the fittest
+man to represent the county; and that it was for him he should therefore
+vote. Sir Hyacinth tried all his powers of persuasion in vain, and he
+left the cottage mortified and melancholy.
+
+He met Simon O'Dougherty when he had driven a few miles from the door;
+and, in a tone of much pique and displeasure, reproached him for having
+deceived him into a belief that the Grays were his friends. Simon
+was rather embarrassed; but the genius of gossiping had luckily just
+supplied him with a hint, by which he could extricate himself from this
+difficulty.
+
+"The fault is all your own, if I may make so free as to tell you so.
+Sir Hyacinth O'Brien," said he, "as capital an electioneerer as you
+are, I'll engage I'll find one that shall outdo you here. Send me and
+Stafford back again this minute to Rosanna, and we'll bring you the
+three votes as dead as crows in an hour's time, or my name is not
+O'Dougherty now."
+
+"I protest, Mr. O'Dougherty, I do not understand you."
+
+"Then let me whisper half a word in your ear, Sir Hyacinth, and I'll
+make you sensible I'm right." Simon winked most significantly, and
+looked wondrous wise; then stretching himself half off his horse into
+the gig to gain Sir Hyacinth's ear, he whispered that he knew, from the
+best authority, Stafford was in love with Gray's pretty daughter, Rose,
+and that Rose had no dislike to him; that she was all in all to her
+father and brothers, and of course could and would secure their votes,
+if properly spoken to.
+
+This intelligence did not immediately produce the pleasing change of
+countenance which might have been expected. Sir Hyacinth coldly replied,
+he could not spare Stafford at present, and drove on. The genius of
+gossiping, according to her usual custom, had exaggerated considerably
+in her report. Stafford was attached to Rose, but had never yet told
+her so; and as to Rose, we might perhaps have known all her mind, if Sir
+Hyacinth's gig had not appeared just as she was seated on her father's
+knee, and going to tell him her reasons for wishing to go to the ball.
+
+Stafford acted in the capacity of house-steward to the baronet; and had
+the management of all his master's unmanageable servants. He had brought
+with him, from England, ideas of order and punctuality, which
+were somewhat new, and extremely troublesome to the domestics at
+Hyacinth-hall: consequently he was much disliked by them; and not only
+by them but by most of the country people in the neighbourhood, who
+imagined he had a strong predilection in favour of every thing that
+was English, and an undisguised contempt for all that was Irish. They,
+however, perceived that this prejudice against the Irish admitted of
+exceptions: the family of the Grays, Stafford acknowledged, were almost
+as orderly, punctual, industrious, and agreeable, as if they had been
+born in England. This was matter of so much surprise to him, that he
+could not forbear going at every leisure hour to the mill or the cottage
+of Rosanna, to convince himself that such things could actually be in
+Ireland. He bought all the flour for the hall at Rosanna-mill; and Rose
+supplied the housekeeper constantly with poultry; so that his master's
+business continually obliged Stafford to repeat his visits; and every
+time he went to Gray's cottage, he thought it more and more like an
+English farm-house, and imagined Rose every day looked more like an
+Englishwoman than any thing else. What a pity she was not born the other
+side of the water; for then his mother and friends, in Warwickshire,
+could never have made any objection to her. But, she being an
+Irishwoman, they would for certain never fancy her. He had oftentimes
+heard them as good as say, that it would break their hearts if he was to
+marry and settle amongst the bogs and the wild Irish.
+
+This recollection of his friends' prejudices at first deterred Stafford
+from thinking of marrying Rose; but it sometimes happens that reflection
+upon the prejudices of others shows us the folly of our own, and so it
+was in the present instance. Stafford wrote frequently to his friends
+in Warwickshire, to assure them that they had quite wrong notions
+of Ireland; that all Ireland was not a bog; that there were several
+well-grown trees in the parts he had visited; that there were some
+as pretty villages as you could wish to see any where, only that they
+called them towns; that the men, though some of them still wear brogues,
+were more hospitable to strangers than the English; and that the
+women, when not smoke-dried, were some of the handsomest he had seen,
+especially one Rose or Rosamond Gray, who was also the best and most
+agreeable girl he had ever known; though it was almost a sin to say so
+much of one who was not an Englishwoman born.
+
+Much more in the same strain Stafford wrote to his mother; who, in reply
+to these letters, "besought him to consider well what he was about,
+before he suffered himself to begin falling desperately in love with
+this Rose or Rosamond Gray, or any Irishwoman whatsoever; who, having
+been bred in a mud-walled cabin, could never be expected to turn out at
+the long run equal to a true-born Englishwoman, bred in a slated house."
+
+Stafford's notions had been so much enlarged by his travel, that he
+could not avoid smiling at some passages in his mother's epistle; yet
+he so far agreed with her in opinion as to think it prudent not to begin
+falling desperately in love with any woman, whether Irish or English,
+till he was thoroughly acquainted with her temper and disposition.
+He therefore prudently forbore, that is to say, as much as he could
+forbear, to show any signs of his attachment to Rose, till he had full
+opportunity of forming a decisive judgment of her character.
+
+This he had now in his power. He saw that his master was struck with the
+fair Rosamond's charms; and he knew that Sir Hyacinth would pursue his
+purpose with no common perseverance. His heart beat with joy, when the
+card which brought her refusal arrived. He read it over and over again;
+and at last put it into his bosom, close to his heart. "Rose is a good
+daughter," said he to himself; "and that is a sign that she will make a
+good wife. She is too innocent to see or suspect that master has taken a
+fancy to her, but she is right to do as her prudent, affectionate father
+advises. I never loved that farmer Gray so well, in all my whole life,
+as at this instant."
+
+Stafford was interrupted in his reverie by his master; who, in an
+angry voice, called for him to inquire why he had not, according to his
+orders, served out some oats for his horses the preceding day. The truth
+was, that anxiety about Rose and the ball had made him totally forget
+the oats. Stafford coloured a good deal, confessed that he had done
+very wrong to forget the oats, but that he would go to the granary
+immediately, and serve them out to the groom. Perhaps Stafford's usual
+exactness might have rendered his omission pardonable to any less
+irritable and peremptory master than Sir H. O'Brien.
+
+When Sterne once heard a master severely reprimanding a servant for some
+trifling fault, he said to the gentleman, "My dear sir, we should not
+expect to have every virtue under the sun for 20_l_. a-year."
+
+Sir Hyacinth O'Brien expected to have them for merely the promise of
+20_l_. a-year. Though he never punctually paid his servants' wages,
+he abused them most insolently whenever he was in a passion. Upon the
+present occasion, his ill-humour was heightened by jealousy.
+
+"I wish, sir," cried he to Stafford, after pouring forth a volley of
+oaths, "you would mind your business, and not run after objects that
+are not fit for you. You are become good for nothing of late; careless,
+insolent, and not fit to be trusted."
+
+Stafford bore all that his master said till he came to the words not
+fit to be trusted; but the moment those were uttered, he could no longer
+command himself; he threw down the great key of the granary, which he
+held in his hand, and exclaimed, "Not fit to be trusted! Is this
+the reward of all my services? Not fit to be trusted! Then I have no
+business here."
+
+"The sooner you go the better, sir," cried the angry baronet, who, at
+this instant, desired nothing more than to get him out of his way. "You
+had best set off for England directly: I have no farther occasion for
+your services."
+
+Stafford said not a word more, but retired from his master's presence to
+conceal his emotion; and, when he was alone, burst into tears, repeating
+to himself, "So this is the reward of all my services!"
+
+When Sir Hyacinth's passion cooled, he reflected that seven years'
+wages were due to Stafford; and as it was not convenient to him at
+this election time to part with so much ready money, he resolved to
+compromise. It was not from any sense of justice; therefore it must be
+said he had the meanness to apologize to his steward, and to hint that
+he was welcome to remain, if he pleased, in his service.
+
+Satisfied by this explanation, and by the condescension with which it
+was given, Stafford's affection for his master returned with all its
+wonted force: and he resumed his former occupations about the house with
+redoubled activity. He waited only till he could be spared for a day to
+go to Rosanna, and make his proposal for Rose. Her behaviour concerning
+the ball convinced him that his mother's prejudices against Irishwomen
+were ill-founded. Whilst his mind was in this state, his master one
+morning sent for him, and told him that it was absolutely necessary
+he should go to a neighbouring county, to some persons who were
+freeholders, and whose votes might turn the election. The business
+would only occupy a few days, Sir Hyacinth said; and Stafford willingly
+undertook it.
+
+The gentlemen to whom Stafford had letters were not at home, and he was
+detained above a fortnight. When he returned, he took a road which led
+by Rosanna, that he might at least have the pleasure of seeing Rose for
+a few minutes; but when he called at the cottage, to his utter surprise,
+he was refused admittance. Being naturally of a warm temper, and not
+deficient in pride, his first impulse was to turn his horse's head, and
+gallop off: but, checking his emotion, he determined not to leave the
+place till he should discover the cause of this change of conduct.
+He considered that none of this family had formerly treated him with
+caprice or duplicity; it was therefore improbable they should suddenly
+alter their conduct towards him, unless they had reason to believe that
+they had some sufficient cause. He rode immediately to a field where he
+saw some labourers at work. Farmer Gray was with them. Stafford leaped
+from his horse, and, with an air of friendly honesty, held out his hand,
+saying, "I can't believe you mean to affront me: tell me what is the
+reason I am not to be let into your house, my good friend?"
+
+Gray leaned upon his stick, and, after looking at him for a moment,
+replied, "We have been too hasty, I see: we have had no cause of
+quarrel with you, Stafford: you could never look at me with that honest
+countenance, if you had any hand in this business."
+
+"What business?" cried Stafford.
+
+"Walk home with me, out of the hearing of these people, and you shall
+know."
+
+As they walked towards his cottage, Gray took out his great leather
+pocket-book, and searched for a letter. "Pray, Stafford," said he, "did
+you, about ten days ago, send my girl a melon?"
+
+"Yes; one of my own raising. I left it with the gardener, to be sent to
+her with my best respects and services; and a message intimating to say
+that I was sorry my master's business required I should take a journey,
+and could not see her for a few days, or something that way."
+
+"No such message came; only your services, the melon, and this note. I
+declare," continued Gray, looking at Stafford whilst he read the letter,
+"he turns as pale as my wife herself did when I showed it to her!"
+
+Stafford, indeed, grew pale with anger. It was a billet-doux from his
+master to Rose, which Sir Hyacinth entreated might be kept secret,
+promising to make her fortune and marry her well, if she would only have
+compassion upon a man who adored and was dying for her, &c.
+
+"I will never see my master again," exclaimed Stafford. "I could not
+see him without the danger of doing something that I might not forgive
+myself. He a gentleman! He a gentleman! I'll gallop off and leave his
+letters, and his horse, with some of his people. I'll never see him
+again. If he does not pay me a farthing of my seven years' wages,
+I don't care; I will not sleep in his house another night. He a
+gentleman!"
+
+Farmer Gray was delighted by Stafford's generous indignation; which
+appeared the more striking, as his manner was usually sober, and
+remarkably civil.
+
+All this happened at two o'clock in the afternoon; and the evening of
+the same day he returned to Rosanna. Rose was sitting at work, in the
+seat of the cottage window. When she saw him at the little white gate,
+her colour gave notice to her brothers who was coming, and they ran out
+to meet him.
+
+"You ought to shut your doors against me now, instead of running out
+to meet me," said he; "for I am not clear that I have a farthing in the
+world, except what is in this portmanteau. I have been fool enough to
+leave all I have earned in the hands of _a gentleman_, who can give me
+only his bond for my wages. But I am glad I am out of his house, at any
+rate."
+
+"And I am glad you are in mine," said farmer Gray, receiving him with a
+warmth of hospitality which brought tears of gratitude into Stafford's
+eyes. Rose smiled upon her father, and said nothing; but set him his
+arm-chair, and was very busy arranging the tea-table. Mrs. Gray beckoned
+to her guest, and made him sit down beside her; telling him he should
+have as good tea at Rosanna as ever he had in Warwickshire; "and out of
+Staffordshire ware, too," said she, taking her best Wedgwood teacups and
+saucers out of a cupboard.
+
+Robin, who was naturally gay and fond of rallying his friends, could not
+forbear affecting to express his surprise at Stafford's preferring an
+Irishwoman, of all women in the world. "Are you quite sure, Stafford,"
+said he, "that you are not mistaken? Are you sure my sister has not
+wings on her shoulders?"
+
+"Have you done now, Robin?" said his mother; who saw that Stafford was
+a good deal abashed, and had no answer ready. "If Mr. Stafford had a
+prejudice against us Irish, so much the more honourable for my Rose to
+have conquered it; and, as to wings, they would have been no shame to
+us natives, supposing we had them; and of course it was no affront to
+attribute them to us. Have not the angels themselves wings?"
+
+A timely joke is sometimes a real blessing; and so Stafford felt it at
+this instant: his bashfulness vanished by degrees, and Robin rallied him
+no more. "I had no idea," said he, "how easy it is to put an Englishman
+out of countenance in the company of his mistress."
+
+This was a most happy evening at Rosanna. After Rose retired, which she
+soon did, to see after the household affairs, her father spoke in the
+kindest manner to Stafford. "Mr. Stafford," said he, "if you tell me
+that you are able to maintain my girl in the way of life she is in now,
+you shall have her: this, in my opinion and in hers, is the happiest
+life for those who have been bred to it. I would rather see Rose matched
+to an honest, industrious, good-humoured man, like yourself, whom
+she can love, than see her the wife of a man as grand as Sir Hyacinth
+O'Brien. For, to the best of my opinion, it is not the being born to a
+great estate that can make a man content or even rich: I think myself a
+richer man this minute than Sir Hyacinth; for I owe no man any thing, am
+my own master, and can give a little matter both to child and stranger.
+But your head is very naturally running upon Rose, and not upon my
+moralizing. All I have to say is, win her and wear her; and, as to the
+rest, even if Sir Hyacinth never pays you your own, that shall not stop
+your wedding. My sons are good lads, and you and Rose shall never want,
+whilst the mill of Rosanna is going."
+
+This generosity quite overpowered Stafford. Generosity is one of the
+characteristics of the Irish. It not only touched but surprised the
+Englishman; who, amongst the same rank of his own countrymen, had been
+accustomed to strict honesty in their dealings, but seldom to this
+warmth of friendship and forgetfulness of all selfish considerations.
+It was some minutes before he could articulate a syllable; but, after
+shaking his intended father-in-law's hand with that violence which
+expresses so much to English feelings, he said, "I thank you heartily;
+and, if I live to the age of Methusalem, shall never forget this. A
+friend in need is a friend indeed. But I will not live upon yours or
+your good sons' earnings; that would not be fair dealing, or like what
+I've been bred up to think handsome. It is a sad thing for me that this
+master of mine can give me nothing, for my seven years' service,
+but this scrap of paper (taking out of his pocket-book a bond of Sir
+Hyacinth's). But my mother, though she has her prejudices, and is
+very stiff about them, being an elderly woman, and never going out of
+England, or even beyond the parish in which she was born, yet she is
+kind-hearted; and I cannot think will refuse to help me, or that she
+will cross me in marriage, when she knows the thing is determined; so I
+shall write to her before I sleep, and wish I could but enclose in the
+cover of my letter the picture of Rose, which would be better than all
+I could say. But no picture would do her justice. I don't mean a
+compliment, like those Sir Hyacinth paid to her face, but only the plain
+truth. I mean that a picture could never make my mother understand how
+good, and sweet-tempered, and modest, Rose is. Mother has a world of
+prejudices; but she is a good woman, and will prove herself so to me, I
+make no doubt."
+
+Stafford wrote to his mother a long letter, and received, in a fortnight
+afterwards, this short answer:
+
+"Son George, I warned you not to fall in love with an Irishwoman, to
+which I told you I could never give my consent.
+
+"As you bake, so you must brew. Your sister Dolly is marrying too, and
+setting up a shop in Warwick, by my advice and consent: all the money I
+can spare I must give, as in reason, to her who is a dutiful child;
+and mean, with her and grand-children, if God please, to pass my latter
+days, as fitting, in this parish of Little Sonchy, in Old England, where
+I was born and bred. Wishing you may not repent, or starve, or so forth,
+which please to let me know,
+
+"I am your affectionate mother,
+
+"DOROTHY STAFFORD."
+
+
+All Stafford's hopes were confounded by this letter: he put it into
+farmer Gray's hands, without saying a word; then drew his chair away
+from Rose, hid his face in his hands, and never spoke or heard one word
+that was saying round about him for full half an hour; till, at last,
+he was roused by his friend Robin, who, clapping him on his back, said,
+"Come, Stafford, English pride won't do with us; this is all to punish
+you for refusing to share and share alike with us in the mill of
+Rosanna, which is what you must and shall do now, for Rose's sake, if
+not for ours or your own. Come, say done."
+
+Stafford could not help being moved. All the family, except Rose, joined
+in these generous entreaties; and her silence said even more than their
+words. Dinner was on the table before this amicable contest was settled,
+and Robin insisted upon his drinking a toast with him, in Irish ale;
+which was, "Rose Gray, and Rosanna-mill."
+
+The glass was just filled and the toast pronounced, when in came one of
+Gray's workmen, in an indescribable perspiration and rage.
+
+"Master Robin, master John! Master," cried he, "we are all ruined! The
+mill and all--"
+
+"The mill!" exclaimed every body starting up.
+
+"Ay, the mill: it's all over with it, and with us: not a turn more will
+Rosanna-mill ever take for me or you; not a turn," continued he, wiping
+his forehead with his arm, and hiding by the same motion his eyes, which
+ran over with tears.
+
+"It's all that thief Hopkins's doing. May every guinea he touches, and
+every shilling, and tester, and penny itself, blister his fingers, from
+this day forward and for evermore!"
+
+"But what has he done to the mill?"
+
+"May every guinea, shilling, tester, and penny he looks upon, from this
+day forth for evermore, be a blight to his eyes, and a canker to his
+heart! But I can't wish him a worse canker than what he has there
+already. Yes, he has a canker at heart! Is not he eaten up with envy? as
+all who look at him may read in that evil eye. Bad luck to the hour when
+it fixed on the mill of Rosanna!"
+
+"But what has he done to the mill? Take it patiently, and tell us
+quietly," said farmer Gray, "and do not curse the man any more."
+
+"Not curse the man! Take it quietly, master! Is it the time to take it
+quietly, when he is at the present minute carrying off every drop of
+water from our mill-course? so he is the villain!"
+
+At these words, Stafford seized his oak stick, and sprang towards the
+door. Robin and John eagerly followed: but, as they passed their father,
+he laid a hand on each, and called to Stafford to stop. At his respected
+voice they all paused. "My children," said he, "what are you going to
+do? No violence. No violence. You shall have justice, boys, depend upon
+it; we will not let ourselves be oppressed. If Mr. Hopkins were ten
+times as great, and twenty times as tyrannical as he is, we shall have
+justice; the law will reach him: but we must take care and do nothing
+in anger. Therefore, I charge you, let me speak to him, and do you
+keep your tempers whatever passes. May be, all this is only a mistake:
+perhaps Mr. Hopkins is only making drains for his own meadow; or, may
+be, is going to flood it, and does not know, till we tell him, that he
+is emptying our water-course."
+
+"He can't but know it! He can't but know it! He's' cute enough, and too
+'cute," muttered Paddy, as he led the way to the mill. Stafford and
+the two brothers followed their father respectfully; admiring his
+moderation, and resolving to imitate it if they possibly could.
+
+Mr. Hopkins was stationed cautiously on the boundary of his own land.
+"There he is, mounted on the back of the ditch, enjoying the mischief
+all he can!" cried Paddy. "And hark! He is whistling, whilst our stream
+is running away from us. May I never cross myself again, if I would not,
+rather than the best shirt ever I had to my back, push him into the mud,
+as he deserves, this very minute! And, if it wasn't for my master here,
+it's what I'd do, before I drew breath again."
+
+Farmer Gray restrained Paddy's indignation with some difficulty; and
+advancing calmly towards Mr. Hopkins, he remonstrated with him in a mild
+tone. "Surely, Mr. Hopkins," said he, "you cannot mean to do us such an
+injury as to stop our mill?"
+
+"I have not laid a finger on your mill," replied Hopkins, with a
+malicious smile. "If your man there," pointing to Paddy, "could prove
+my having laid a finger upon it, you might have your action of trespass;
+but I am no trespasser; I stand on my own land, and have a right to
+water my own meadow; and moreover have witnesses to prove that, for ten
+years last past, while the mill of Rosanna was in Simon O'Dougherty's
+hands, the water-course was never full, and the mill was in disuse. The
+stream runs against you now, and so does the law, gentlemen. I have the
+best counsel's opinion in Ireland to back me. Take your remedy, when and
+where you can find it. Good morning to you."
+
+Without listening to one word more, Mr. Hopkins hastily withdrew: for he
+had no small apprehensions that Paddy, whose threats he had overheard,
+and whose eyes sparkled with rage, might execute upon him that species
+of prompt justice which no quibbling can evade.
+
+"Do not be disheartened, my dear boys," said farmer Gray to his sons,
+who were watching with mournful earnestness the slackened motion of
+their water-wheel. "Saddle my horse for me, John; and get yourselves
+ready, both of you, to come with me to Counsellor Molyneux."
+
+"Oh! father," said John, "there is no use in going to him; for he is one
+of the candidates, you know, and Mr. Hopkins has a great many votes."
+
+"No matter for that," said Gray: "Mr. Molyneux will do justice; that is
+my opinion of him. If he was another sort of man, I would not trouble
+myself to go near him, nor stoop to ask his advice: but my opinion of
+him is, that he is above doing a dirty action, for votes or any thing
+else; and I am convinced his own interest will not weigh a grain of dust
+in the balance against justice. Saddle the horses, boy."
+
+His sons saddled the horses; and all the way the farmer was riding he
+continued trying to keep up the spirits of his sons, by assurances that
+if Counsellor Molyneux would take their affair in hand, there would be
+an end of all difficulty.
+
+"He is not one of those justices of the peace," continued he, "who will
+huddle half a dozen poor fellows into jail without law or equity. He is
+not a man who goes into parliament, saying one thing, and who comes out
+saying another. He is not, like, our friend Sir Hyacinth O'Brien, forced
+to sell tongue, and brains, and conscience, to keep his head above
+water. In short, he is a man who dares to be the same, and can moreover
+afford to be the same, at election time as at any other time; for which
+reason, I dare to go to him now in this our distress, although, I have
+to complain of a man who has forty-six votes, which is the number, they
+say, Mr. Hopkins can command."
+
+Whilst farmer Gray was thus pronouncing a panegyric on Counsellor
+Molyneux, for the comfort of John and Robin, Stafford was trying to
+console Rose and her mother, who were struck with sorrow and dismay,
+at the news of the mill's being stopped. Stafford had himself almost as
+much need of consolation as they; for he foresaw it was impossible he
+should at present be united to his dear Rose. All that her generous
+brothers had to offer was a share in the mill. The father had his farm,
+but this must serve for the support of the whole family; and how could
+Stafford become a burden to them, now that they would be poor, when he
+could not bring himself to be dependent upon them, even when they were,
+comparatively speaking, rich?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+With anxious hearts the little party at the cottage expected the return
+of the father and his sons. Rose sat at the window watching for them:
+her mother laid down her knitting, and sighed: and Stafford was silent,
+for he had exhausted all his consolatory eloquence, and saw and felt it
+had no effect.
+
+"Here they come! But they ride so slow, that I am sure they bring us no
+good news."
+
+No: there was not any good news. Counsellor Molyneux had indeed behaved
+as well as man could do: he had declared that he would undertake to
+manage and plead their cause in any court of justice on earth; and had
+expressed the strongest indignation against the villany of Hopkins; but,
+at the same time, he had fairly told the Grays that this litigious man,
+if they commenced a suit, might ruin them, by law, before they could
+recover their rights.
+
+"So we may go to bed this night melancholy enough," said Robin; "with
+the certainty that our mill is stopped, and that we have a long lawsuit
+to go through, before we can see it going again--if ever we do."
+
+Rose and Stafford looked at one another, and sighed.
+
+"We had better not go to law, to lose the little we have left, at any
+rate," said Mrs. Gray.
+
+"Wife, I am determined my boys shall have justice," said the father,
+firmly. "_I_ am not fond of law, God knows! I never had a lawsuit in my
+life; nobody dreads such things more than I do; but I dread nothing in
+defence of my sons and justice. Whilst I have a penny left in the world,
+I'll spend it to obtain them justice. The labour of their lives shall
+not be in vain; they shall not be robbed of all they have: they shall
+not be trampled upon by any one living, let him be ever so rich, or
+ever so litigious. I fear neither his money nor his quirks of law. Plain
+sense is the same for him and for me; and justice my boys shall have.
+Mr. Molyneux will plead our cause himself--desire no more. If we fail
+and are ruined, our ruin be upon the head of him who works it! I
+shall die content, when I have done all I can to obtain justice for my
+children."
+
+As soon as these facts were known, every body in the neighbourhood felt
+extreme indignation against Hopkins; and all joined in pitying the two
+brothers, and applauding the spirit of their father. There was not an
+individual who did not wish that Hopkins might be punished; but he
+had been engaged in so many lawsuits, and had been so successful in
+screening himself from justice, and in ruining his opponents, that every
+body feared the Grays, though they were so much in the right, would
+never be able to make this appear, according to the forms of law: many,
+therefore, advised that it might not be brought to trial. But farmer
+Gray persisted, and Counsellor Molyneux steadily abided by his word, and
+declared he would plead the cause himself.
+
+Mr. Hopkins sent the counsellor a private hint, that if he directly
+or indirectly protected the Grays, he must give up all hopes of the
+forty-six votes which, as the county was now nearly balanced, must turn
+the election. Mr. Molyneux paid no attention to this hint; but, the very
+day on which he received it, visited farmer Gray in his cottage, walked
+with him to Rosanna-mill, and settled how the suit should be carried on.
+
+Hopkins swore he would spare no expense to humble the pride both of
+the Grays and their protector: an unexpected circumstance, however,
+occurred. It had often been prophesied by Mr. Molyneux, who knew the
+species of bargains which Hopkins drove with all manner of people by
+whose distresses he could make money, that he would sooner or later
+overshoot his mark, as cunning persons often do. Mr. Molyneux predicted
+that, amongst the medley of his fraudulent purchases, he would at length
+be the dupe of some unsound title; and that, amongst the multitudes whom
+he ruined, he would at last meet with some one who would ruin him. The
+person who was the means of accomplishing this prophecy was indeed the
+last that would have been guessed--soft Simon O'Dougherty! In dealing
+with him, Mr. Hopkins, who thoroughly despised indolent honesty, was
+quite off his guard; and, in truth, poor Simon had no design to cheat
+him: but it happened that the lease, which he made over to Hopkins, as
+his title to the field that he sold, was a lease renewable for ever;
+with a strict clause, binding the lessee to renew, within a certain time
+after the failure of each life, under penalty of forfeiting the lease.
+From the natural laziness of easy Simon, he had neglected to renew, and
+had even forgotten that the life was dropped: he assigned his lease over
+a bottle to Mr. Hopkins, who seized it with avidity, lest he should lose
+the lucky moment to conclude a bargain in which, he thought, he had
+at once over-reached Simon, and had secured to himself the means of
+wreaking his vengeance upon the Grays. This lease was of the field
+adjoining to Rosanna-mill; and by the testimony of some old people
+in the neighbourhood, he fancied he could prove that this meadow was
+anciently flooded, and that the mill-course had gone into disuse. In all
+his subsequent operations, he had carefully kept himself, as he thought,
+upon his own lands; but, now that a suit against him was instituted, it
+was necessary to look to his own title, into which he knew Mr. Molyneux
+would examine.
+
+Upon reading over the lease assigned to him by Simon, he noticed the
+strict clause, binding the tenant to renew within a certain time. A
+qualm came over him! He was astonished at himself for not having more
+carefully perused the lease before he concluded the bargain. Had it been
+with any one but soft Simon, this could not have happened. He hastened
+in search of Simon with the utmost anxiety, to inquire whether all the
+lives were in being. Simon at first said he had such a mist over his
+memory that he could not exactly recollect who the lives were; but at
+last he made out that one of them had been dead beyond the time for
+renewal. The gentleman, his landlord, he said, was in Dublin; and he had
+neglected, sure enough, to write to him from post to post.
+
+The rage of Mr. Hopkins was excessive: he grew white with anger! Easy
+Simon yawned, and begged him not to take the thing so to heart: "for,
+after all," said he, "you know the loss must be mine. I can't make good
+the sale of this field to you, as I have lost it by my own carelessness:
+but that's nothing to you; for you know, as well as I do, that to make
+good the deficiency, you will, somehow or other, get a better piece of
+ground out of the small remains of patrimony I have left, God help me!"
+
+"God help _you_, indeed!" cried Hopkins, with a look and accent of
+mingled rage and contempt. "I tell you, man, the loss is mine; and no
+other land you have, to sell or give, can make me any amends. I shall
+lose my lawsuit."
+
+"Wheugh! wheugh! Why, so much the better. Where's the use of having
+lawsuits? The loss of such bad things can never be great."
+
+"No trifling, pray," said Hopkins, with impatience, as he walked up and
+down the room, and repeatedly struck his forehead.
+
+"Ho! ho! ho! I begin to comprehend. I know whereabouts you are now,"
+cried Simon. "Is not it the Grays you are thinking of? Ah, that's the
+suit you are talking about. But now, Mr. Hopkins, you ought to rejoice,
+as I do, instead of grieving, that it is out of your power to ruin that
+family; for, in truth, they are good people, and have the voice of the
+country with them against you; and if you were to win your suit twenty
+times over, that would still be the same. You would never be able to
+show your face; and, for my own part, my conscience would never forgive
+me for being instrumental, unknown to myself, in giving you the power
+to do this mischief. And, after all, what put it into your head to stop
+Rosanna-mill, when its going gave you no trouble in life?"
+
+Hopkins, who had not listened to one syllable Simon was saying, at this
+instant suddenly stopped walking; and, in a soft insinuating voice,
+addressed him in these words:
+
+"Mr. O'Dougherty, you know I have a great regard for you."
+
+"May be so," said Simon; "though that is more than I ever knew you to
+have for any body."
+
+"Pray be serious. I tell you I have, and will prove it."
+
+"That is more and more surprising, Mr. Hopkins."
+
+"And which is more surprising still, I will make your fortune, if you
+will do a trifling kindness for me."
+
+"Any thing in nature, that won't give me an unreasonable deal of
+trouble."
+
+"Oh, this will give you no sort of trouble," said Hopkins. "I will get
+you, before this day se'nnight, that place in the revenue that you have
+been wishing for so long, and that Sir Hyacinth O'Brien will never get
+for you. I say I will insure it to you under my hand, this minute, if
+you will do what I want of you."
+
+"To be sure I will, if it's no trouble. What is it?"
+
+"Only just," said Hopkins, hesitating; "only just--You must
+remember--you cannot but recollect that you wrote to your landlord, to
+offer to renew?"
+
+"I remember to recollect no such thing," said Simon, surprised.
+
+"Yes, yes," said Hopkins; "but he gave you no answer, you know."
+
+"But, I tell you, I never wrote to him at all."
+
+"Pshaw! You have a bad memory, Simon; and your letter might have
+miscarried. There's nothing simpler than that; nothing more easily
+said."
+
+"If it were but true," said Simon.
+
+"True or not, it may be said, you know."
+
+"Not by Simon O'Dougherty, Mr. Hopkins.",
+
+"Look you, Mr. O'Dougherty, I have a great regard for you," continued
+Hopkins, holding him fast, and producing a pocket-book full of bank
+notes. I must, thought he, come up to this scoundrel's price, for he
+has me now. He is more knave than fool, I see. "Let us understand one
+another, my good friend Simon. Name your sum, and make me but a short
+affidavit, purporting that you did apply for this renewal, and you have
+your place in the revenue snug besides."
+
+"You don't know whom you are speaking to, Mr. Hopkins," said
+Simon, looking over his shoulder, with cool and easy contempt. "The
+O'Doughertys are not accustomed to perjuring themselves; and it's a
+trouble I would not take for any man, if he were my own father even; no,
+not for all the places in the revenue that ever were created, nor for
+all the bank notes ever you cheated mankind out of, Mr. Hopkins, into
+the bargain. No offence. I never talked of cheating, till you named
+perjury to me; for which I do not kick you down stairs, in the first
+place, because there are no stairs, I believe, to my house; next,
+because, if there were ever so many, it would be beneath me to make use
+of them upon any such occasion; and, lastly, it would be quite too much
+trouble. Now we comprehend one another perfectly, I hope, Mr. Hopkins."
+
+Cursing himself, and overwhelmed with confusion, Mr. Hopkins withdrew.
+Proud of himself, and having a story to tell, Simon O'Dougherty hastened
+to Rosanna, to relate all that had happened to the Grays, and to
+congratulate them, as he said, upon his own carelessness.
+
+The joy with which they listened to Simon's story was great, and in
+proportion to the anxiety they had suffered. In less than half an hour's
+time, they received a mean, supplicating letter from Hopkins, entreating
+they would not ruin his reputation, and all his prospects in life, by
+divulging what had passed; and promising that the mill-stream of Rosanna
+should be returned to its proper channel, without any expense to them,
+and that he would make a suitable compensation in money, if they would
+bind themselves to secrecy.
+
+It will easily be guessed that they rejected all his offers with
+disdain: the whole affair was told by them to Mr. Molyneux, and the next
+day all the neighbourhood knew it, and triumphed in the detection of a
+villain, who had long been the oppressor of the poor. The neighbours all
+joined in restoring the water to the mill-course; and when Rosanna-mill
+was once more at work, the village houses were illuminated, and even
+the children showed their sympathy for the family of the Grays, by huge
+bonfires and loud huzzas.
+
+Simon O'Dougherty's landlord was so much pleased by the honesty he had
+shown in this affair, that he renewed the lease of the meadow, instead
+of insisting upon the forfeiture; and farmer Gray delighted poor Simon
+still more, by promising to overlook for him the management of the land,
+which still remained in his possession.
+
+In the mean time, Mr. Hopkins, who could not go out of his own house
+without being insulted, or without fearing to be insulted, prepared to
+quit the country. "But before I go," said he, "I shall have the pleasure
+and triumph, at least, of making Mr. Molyneux lose his election."
+
+The Grays feared Mr. Molyneux would indeed be a sufferer for the
+generous protection he had afforded them in their distress. The votes
+were nearly balanced in the county, and the forty-six votes which
+Hopkins could command would decide the contest. There are often in real
+life instances of what is called poetical justice. The day before the
+election, Sir Hyacinth was arrested at the suit of Stafford, who chose
+his opportunity so well, that the sheriff, though he was a fast friend
+of the baronet's, could not refuse to do his duty. The sheriff had such
+a number of writs immediately put into his hands, that bail could not be
+found; and Mr. Molyneux was elected without opposition.
+
+But, let us return, from the misery of arrests and elections, to peace,
+industry, family union, and love, in the happy cottage of Rosanna.
+No obstacles now prevented the marriage of Stafford and Rose; it was
+celebrated with every simple demonstration of rural felicity. The bride
+had the blessings of her fond father and mother, the congratulations of
+her beloved brothers, and the applause of her own heart. Are not
+these better things than even forty fine wedding gowns, or a coach of
+Hatchett's best workmanship? Rose thought so, and her future life proved
+she was not much mistaken. Stafford some time after his marriage took
+his wife to England, to see his mother, who was soon reconciled to
+him and her Irish daughter-in-law, whose gentle manners and willing
+obedience overcame her unreasonable dislike. Old Mrs. Stafford declared
+to her son, when he was returning, that she had so far got the better of
+what he called her prejudices, that, if she could but travel to Ireland,
+without crossing the sea, she verily believed she would go and spend a
+year with him and the Grays at Rosanna.
+
+{Footnote: Having heard, from good judges, that the language used by
+_Farmer Gray_ in this story appears superior to his condition, we
+insert a letter which we lately received from him; matter, manner, and
+orthography _his own_.
+
+"To R. L. EDGEWORTH, ESQ.
+
+"HON. SIR,
+
+"I have read your valuable present with care, so has also the whole
+family; its design is excellent, it breathes forth a spirit of virtue
+and industry and in a word all the social virtues which constitute human
+happiness--Its other characters are admirably adapted to expose vice in
+all its hideous forms, and gives us a view of those baneful principles
+which terminate in certain misery and proves beyond a doubt that many of
+mankind are the authors of their own calamities and frequently involve
+others in the same or similar unhappy circumstances--
+
+"Thrice happy are they who in affluence endeavour thus to amend the
+morals of mankind; it's they only who enjoy true felicity--their example
+and their precepts have a powerful influence on all around them, and
+never fail to excite a virtuous emulation, except, among the utterly
+abandoned and profligate--
+
+"On the contrary, families in elevated situations of life who devote
+their time to dissipation and its sensual allurements are the pest of
+society--the vices and crimes of the great are frequently imitated by
+the lower ranks--they all die, and no memorial is left behind but that
+of folly and an ill-spent life.
+
+"May that life of virtue so strongly recommended be long the shining
+ornament of you and your family, and its end be rewarded with a crown of
+eternal happiness, which is the joint wish of the family of--
+
+"FARMER GRAY."
+
+"_July 1st, 1804._"}
+
+
+
+
+MURAD THE UNLUCKY
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+It is well known that the grand seignior amuses himself by going at
+night, in disguise, through the streets of Constantinople; as the
+caliph, Haroun Alraschid, used formerly to do in Bagdad.
+
+One moonlight night, accompanied by his grand vizier, he traversed
+several of the principal streets of the city, without seeing any thing
+remarkable. At length, as they were passing a rope-maker's, the sultan
+recollected the Arabian story of Cogia-Hassan Alhabal, the rope-maker,
+and his two friends, Saad and Saadi, who differed so much in their
+opinion concerning the influence of fortune over human affairs.
+
+"What is your opinion on this subject?" said the grand seignior to his
+vizier.
+
+"I am inclined, please your majesty," replied the vizier, "to think that
+success in the world depends more upon prudence than upon what is called
+luck, or fortune."
+
+"And I," said the sultan, "am persuaded that fortune does more for men
+than prudence. Do you not every day hear of persons who are said to be
+fortunate or unfortunate? How comes it that this opinion should prevail
+amongst men, if it be not justified by experience?"
+
+"It is not for me to dispute with your majesty," replied the prudent
+vizier.
+
+"Speak your mind freely; I desire and command it," said the sultan.
+
+"Then I am of opinion," answered the vizier, "that people are often led
+to believe others fortunate, or unfortunate, merely because they only
+know the general outline of their histories; and are ignorant of the
+incidents and events in which they have shown prudence or imprudence. I
+have heard, for instance, that there are at present, in this city, two
+men, who are remarkable for their good and bad fortune: one is called
+_Murad the Unlucky_, and the other _Saladin the Lucky_. Now I am
+inclined to think, if we could hear their stories, we should find that
+one is a prudent and the other an imprudent character."
+
+"Where do these men live?" interrupted the sultan. "I will hear their
+histories from their own lips, before I sleep."
+
+"Murad the Unlucky lives in the next square," said the vizier.
+
+The sultan desired to go thither immediately. Scarcely had they entered
+the square, when they heard the cry of loud lamentations. They followed
+the sound till they came to a house of which the door was open, and
+where there was a man tearing his turban, and weeping bitterly. They
+asked the cause of his distress, and he pointed to the fragments of a
+china vase, which lay on the pavement at his door.
+
+"This seems undoubtedly to be beautiful china," said the sultan, taking
+up one of the broken pieces; "but can the loss of a china vase be the
+cause of such violent grief and despair?"
+
+"Ah, gentlemen," said the owner of the vase, suspending his
+lamentations, and looking at the dress of the pretended merchants, "I
+see that you are strangers: you do not know how much cause I have for
+grief and despair! You do not know that you are speaking to Murad
+the Unlucky! Were you to hear all the unfortunate accidents that have
+happened to me, from the time I was born till this instant, you would
+perhaps pity me, and acknowledge I have just cause for despair."
+
+Curiosity was strongly expressed by the sultan; and the hope of
+obtaining sympathy inclined Murad to gratify it, by the recital of his
+adventures. "Gentlemen," said he, "I scarcely dare invite you into the
+house of such an unlucky being as I am; but, if you will venture to
+take a night's lodging under my roof, you shall hear at your leisure the
+story of my misfortunes."
+
+The sultan and the vizier excused themselves from spending the night
+with Murad; saying that they were obliged to proceed to their khan,
+where they should be expected by their companions: but they begged
+permission to repose themselves for half an hour in his house, and
+besought him to relate the history of his life, if it would not renew
+his grief too much to recollect his misfortunes.
+
+Few men are so miserable as not to like to talk of their misfortunes,
+where they have, or where they think they have, any chance of obtaining
+compassion. As soon as the pretended merchants were seated, Murad began
+his story in the following manner:
+
+"My father was a merchant of this city. The night before I was born, he
+dreamed that I came into the world with the head of a dog, and the tail
+of a dragon; and that, in haste to conceal my deformity, he rolled me up
+in a piece of linen, which unluckily proved to be the grand seignior's
+turban; who, enraged at his insolence in touching his turban, commanded
+that his head should be struck off.
+
+"My father awaked before he lost his head, but not before he had lost
+half his wits from the terror of his dream. He considered it as a
+warning sent from above, and consequently determined to avoid the sight
+of me. He would not stay to see whether I should really be born with
+the head of a dog, and the tail of a dragon; but he set out, the next
+morning, on a voyage to Aleppo.
+
+"He was absent for upwards of seven years; and during that time, my
+education was totally neglected. One day I inquired from my mother why
+I had been named Murad the Unlucky? She told me that this name was given
+to me in consequence of my father's dream; but she added that, perhaps,
+it might be forgotten, if I proved fortunate in my future life. My
+nurse, a very old woman, who was present, shook her head, with a look
+which I shall never forget, and whispered to my mother loud enough for
+me to hear, 'Unlucky he was, and is, and ever will be. Those that are
+born to ill luck cannot help themselves; nor can any, but the great
+prophet, Mahomet himself, do anything for them. It is a folly for an
+unlucky person to strive with their fate: it is better to yield to it at
+once.'
+
+"This speech made a terrible impression upon me, young as I then was;
+and every accident that happened to me afterwards confirmed my belief in
+my nurse's prognostic. I was in my eighth year when my father returned
+from abroad. The year after he came home my brother Saladin was born,
+who was named Saladin the Lucky, because the day he was born, a vessel
+freighted with rich merchandise for my father arrived safely in port.
+
+"I will not weary you with a relation of all the little instances of
+good fortune by which my brother Saladin was distinguished, even during
+his childhood. As he grew up, his success in everything he undertook was
+as remarkable as my ill luck in all that I attempted. From the time the
+rich vessel arrived, we lived in splendour; and the supposed prosperous
+state of my father's affairs was of course attributed to the influence
+of my brother Saladin's happy destiny.
+
+"When Saladin was about twenty, my father was taken dangerously ill;
+and as he felt that he should not recover, he sent for my brother to
+the side of his bed, and, to his great surprise, informed him that the
+magnificence in which we had lived had exhausted all his wealth; that
+his affairs were in the greatest disorder; for, having trusted to
+the hope of continual success, he had embarked in projects beyond his
+powers.
+
+"The sequel was he had nothing remaining to leave to his children but
+two large china vases, remarkable for their beauty, but still more
+valuable on account of certain verses inscribed upon them in an unknown
+character, which were supposed to operate as a talisman or charm in
+favour of their possessors.
+
+"Both these vases my father bequeathed to my brother Saladin; declaring
+he could not venture to leave either of them to me, because I was so
+unlucky that I should inevitably break it. After his death, however,
+my brother Saladin, who was blessed with a generous temper, gave me
+my choice of the two vases; and endeavoured to raise my spirits, by
+repeating frequently that he had no faith either in good fortune or ill
+fortune.
+
+"I could not be of his opinion, though I felt and acknowledged his
+kindness in trying to persuade me out of my settled melancholy. I knew
+it was in vain for me to exert myself, because I was sure that, do
+what I would, I should still be Murad the Unlucky. My brother, on the
+contrary, was nowise cast down, even by the poverty in which my father
+left us: he said he was sure he should find some means of maintaining
+himself, and so he did. On examining our china vases, he found in them a
+powder of a bright scarlet colour; and it occurred to him that it would
+make a fine dye. He tried it, and after some trouble, it succeeded to
+admiration.
+
+"During my father's lifetime, my mother had been supplied with rich
+dresses, by one of the merchants who was employed by the ladies of
+the grand seignior's seraglio. My brother had done this merchant some
+trifling favours; and, upon application to him, he readily engaged to
+recommend the new scarlet dye. Indeed it was so beautiful, that, the
+moment it was seen, it was preferred to every other colour. Saladin's
+shop was soon crowded with customers; and his winning manners and
+pleasant conversation were almost as advantageous to him as his scarlet
+dye. On the contrary, I observed that the first glance at my melancholy
+countenance was sufficient to disgust every one who saw me. I perceived
+this plainly; and it only confirmed me the more in my belief in my own
+evil destiny.
+
+"It happened one day that a lady, richly appareled and attended by two
+female slaves, came to my brother's house to make some purchases. He was
+out, and I alone was left to attend to the shop. After she had looked
+over some goods, she chanced to see my china vase, which was in the
+room. She took a prodigious fancy to it, and offered me any price if I
+would part with it; but this I declined doing, because I believed that
+I should draw down upon my head some dreadful calamity, if I voluntarily
+relinquished the talisman. Irritated by my refusal, the lady, according
+to the custom of her sex, became more resolute in her purpose; but
+neither entreaties nor money could change my determination. Provoked
+beyond measure at my obstinacy, as she called it, she left the house.
+
+"On my brother's return, I related to him what had happened, and
+expected that he would have praised me for my prudence; but, on the
+contrary, he blamed me for the superstitious value I set upon the verses
+on my vase; and observed that it would be the height of folly to lose a
+certain means of advancing my fortune, for the uncertain hope of magical
+protection. I could not bring myself to be of his opinion; I had not the
+courage to follow the advice he gave. The next day the lady returned,
+and my brother sold his vase to her for ten thousand pieces of gold.
+This money he laid out in the most advantageous manner, by purchasing
+a new stock of merchandise. I repented, when it was too late; but I
+believe it is part of the fatality attending certain persons, that they
+cannot decide rightly at the proper moment. When the opportunity
+has been lost, I have always regretted that I did not do exactly the
+contrary to what I had previously determined upon. Often, whilst I was
+hesitating, the favourable moment passed. {Footnote: "Whom the gods wish
+to destroy, they first deprive of understanding."} Now this is what I
+call being unlucky. But to proceed with my story.
+
+"The lady, who bought my brother Saladin's vase, was the favourite of
+the sultan, and all-powerful in the seraglio. Her dislike to me, in
+consequence of my opposition to her wishes, was so violent, that she
+refused to return to my brother's house, while I remained there. He was
+unwilling to part with me; but I could not bear to be the ruin of
+so good a brother. Without telling him my design, I left his house,
+careless of what should become of me. Hunger, however, soon compelled me
+to think of some immediate mode of obtaining relief. I sat down upon a
+stone, before the door of a baker's shop: the smell of hot bread tempted
+me in, and with a feeble voice I demanded charity.
+
+"The master baker gave me as much bread as I could eat, upon condition
+that I should change dresses with him, and carry the rolls for him
+through the city this day. To this I readily consented; but I had soon
+reason to repent of my compliance. Indeed, if my ill luck had not, as
+usual, deprived me at this critical moment of memory and judgment, I
+should never have complied with the baker's treacherous proposal.
+For some time before, the people of Constantinople had been much
+dissatisfied with the weight and quality of the bread furnished by the
+bakers. This species of discontent has often been the sure forerunner
+of an insurrection; and, in these disturbances, the master bakers
+frequently lose their lives. All these circumstances I knew; but they
+did not occur to my memory, when they might have been useful.
+
+"I changed dresses with the baker; but scarcely had I proceeded through
+the adjoining streets with my rolls, before the mob began to gather
+round me, with reproaches and execrations. The crowd pursued me even to
+the gates of the grand seignior's palace; and the grand vizier, alarmed
+at their violence, sent out an order to have my head struck off; the
+usual remedy, in such cases, being to strike off the baker's head.
+
+"I now fell upon my knees, and protested I was not the baker for whom
+they took me; that I had no connexion with him; and that I had never
+furnished the people of Constantinople with bread that was not weight. I
+declared I had merely changed clothes with a master baker, for this
+day; and that I should not have done so, but for the evil destiny which
+governs all my actions. Some of the mob exclaimed that I deserved to
+lose my head for my folly; but others took pity on me, and whilst the
+officer, who was sent to execute the vizier's order, turned to speak
+to some of the noisy rioters, those who were touched by my misfortune
+opened a passage for me through the crowd, and thus favoured, I effected
+my escape.
+
+"I quitted Constantinople: my vase I had left in the care of my brother.
+At some miles distance from the city, I overtook a party of soldiers. I
+joined them; and learning that they were going to embark with the rest
+of the grand seignior's army for Egypt, I resolved to accompany them. If
+it be, thought I, the will of Mahomet that I should perish, the sooner
+I meet my fate the better. The despondency into which I was sunk was
+attended by so great a degree of indolence, that I scarcely would take
+the necessary means to preserve my existence. During our passage to
+Egypt, I sat all day long upon the deck of the vessel, smoking my pipe;
+and I am convinced that if a storm had risen, as I expected, I should
+not have taken my pipe from my mouth, nor should I have handled a rope,
+to save myself from destruction. Such is the effect of that species
+of resignation or torpor, whichever you please to call it, to which my
+strong belief in _fatality_ had reduced my mind.
+
+"We landed, however, safely, contrary to my melancholy forebodings. By a
+trifling accident, not worth relating, I was detained longer than any of
+my companions in the vessel when we disembarked; and I did not arrive at
+the camp till late at night. It was moonlight, and I could see the whole
+scene distinctly. There was a vast number of small tents scattered over
+a desert of white sand; a few date trees were visible at a distance;
+all was gloomy, and all still; no sound was to be heard but that of the
+camels, feeding near the tents; and, as I walked on, I met with no human
+creature.
+
+"My pipe was now out, and I quickened my pace a little towards a fire,
+which I saw near one of the tents. As I proceeded, my eye was caught by
+something sparkling in the sand: it was a ring. I picked it up, and
+put it on my finger, resolving to give it to the public crier the next
+morning, who might find out its rightful owner: but by ill luck, I
+put it on my little finger, for which it was much too large; and as
+I hastened towards the fire to light my pipe, I dropped the ring. I
+stooped to search for it amongst the provender on which a mule was
+feeding; and the cursed animal gave me so violent a kick on the head,
+that I could not help roaring aloud.
+
+"My cries awakened those who slept in the tent, near which the mule was
+feeding. Provoked at being disturbed, the soldiers were ready enough to
+think ill of me; and they took it for granted that I was a thief, who
+had stolen the ring I pretended to have just found. The ring was taken
+from me by force; and the next day I was bastinadoed for having found
+it: the officer persisting in the belief that stripes would make me
+confess where I had concealed certain other articles of value, which had
+lately been missed in the camp. All this was the consequence of my being
+in a hurry to light my pipe, and of my having put the ring on a finger
+that was too little for it; which no one but Murad the Unlucky would
+have done.
+
+"When I was able to walk again after my wounds were healed, I went into
+one of the tents distinguished by a red flag, having been told that
+these were coffee-houses. Whilst I was drinking coffee, I heard a
+stranger near me complaining that he had not been able to recover
+a valuable ring he had lost; although he had caused his loss to be
+published for three days by the public crier, offering a reward of two
+hundred sequins to whoever should restore it. I guessed that this was
+the very ring which I had unfortunately found. I addressed myself to the
+stranger, and promised to point out to him the person who had forced it
+from me. The stranger recovered his ring; and, being convinced that I
+had acted honestly, he made me a present of two hundred sequins, as some
+amends for the punishment which I had unjustly suffered on his account.
+
+"Now you would imagine that this purse of gold was advantageous to me:
+far the contrary; it was the cause of new misfortunes.
+
+"One night, when I thought that the soldiers who were in the same tent
+with me were all fast asleep, I indulged myself in the pleasure of
+counting my treasure. The next day, I was invited by my companions to
+drink sherbet with them. What they mixed with the sherbet which I drank,
+I know not; but I could not resist the drowsiness it brought on. I fell
+into a profound slumber; and, when I awoke, I found myself lying under a
+date tree, at some distance from the camp.
+
+"The first thing I thought of, when I came to my recollection, was my
+purse of sequins. The purse I found still safe in my girdle; but, on
+opening it, I perceived that it was filled with pebbles, and not a
+single sequin was left. I had no doubt that I had been robbed by the
+soldiers with whom I had drunk sherbet; and I am certain that some of
+them must have been awake the night I counted my money; otherwise, as
+I had never trusted the secret of my riches to any one, they could not
+have suspected me of possessing any property; for, ever since I kept
+company with them, I had appeared to be in great indigence.
+
+"I applied in vain to the superior officers for redress: the soldiers
+protested they were innocent; no positive proof appeared against them,
+and I gained nothing by my complaint but ridicule and ill-will. I called
+myself, in the first transport of my grief, by that name which, since my
+arrival in Egypt, I had avoided to pronounce: I called myself Murad the
+Unlucky! The name and the story ran through the camp; and I was accosted
+afterwards, very frequently, by this appellation. Some indeed varied
+their wit, by calling me Murad with the purse of pebbles.
+
+"All that I had yet suffered is nothing compared to my succeeding
+misfortunes.
+
+"It was the custom at this time, in the Turkish camp, for the soldiers
+to amuse themselves with firing at a mark. The superior officers
+remonstrated against this dangerous practice {Footnote: Antia's
+Observations on the Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.}, but
+ineffectually. Sometimes a party of soldiers would stop firing for a
+few minutes, after a message was brought them from their commanders;
+and then they would begin again, in defiance of all orders. Such was the
+want of discipline in our army, that this disobedience went unpunished.
+In the mean time, the frequency of the danger made most men totally
+regardless of it. I have seen tents pierced with bullets, in which
+parties were quietly seated smoking their pipes, whilst those without
+were preparing to take fresh aim at the red flag on the top.
+
+"This apathy proceeded, in some, from unconquerable indolence of body;
+in others, from the intoxication produced by the fumes of tobacco and
+of opium; but in most of my brother Turks it arose from the confidence
+which the belief in predestination inspired. When a bullet killed one
+of their companions, they only observed, scarcely taking the pipes from
+their mouths, 'Our hour is not yet come: it is not the will of Mahomet
+that we should fall.'
+
+"I own that this rash security appeared to me, at first, surprising; but
+it soon ceased to strike me with wonder; and it even tended to confirm
+my favourite opinion, that some were born to good and some to evil
+fortune. I became almost as careless as my companions, from following
+the same course of reasoning. It is not, thought I, in the power of
+human prudence to avert the stroke of destiny. I shall perhaps die
+to-morrow; let me therefore enjoy to-day.
+
+"I now made it my study, every day, to procure as much amusement as
+possible. My poverty, as you will imagine, restricted me from indulgence
+and excess; but I soon found means to spend what did not actually belong
+to me. There were certain Jews who were followers of the camp, and who,
+calculating on the probability of victory for our troops, advanced money
+to the soldiers; for which they engaged to pay these usurers exorbitant
+interest. The Jew to whom I applied traded with me also upon the belief
+that my brother Saladin, with whose character and circumstances he
+was acquainted, would pay my debts, if I should fall. With the money I
+raised from the Jew I continually bought coffee and opium, of which
+I grew immoderately fond. In the delirium it created, I forgot all my
+misfortunes, all fear of the future.
+
+"One day, when I had raised my spirits by an unusual quantity of opium,
+I was strolling through the camp, sometimes singing, sometimes dancing,
+like a madman, and repeating that I was not now Murad the Unlucky.
+Whilst these words were on my lips, a friendly spectator, who was in
+possession of his sober senses, caught me by the arm, and attempted to
+drag me from the place where I was exposing myself. 'Do you not see,'
+said he, 'those soldiers, who are firing at a mark? I saw one of them,
+just now, deliberately taking aim at your turban; and, observe, he is
+now reloading his piece.' My ill luck prevailed even at this instant,
+the only instant in my life when I defied its power. I struggled with my
+adviser, repeating, 'I am not the wretch you take me for; I am not Murad
+the Unlucky.' He fled from the danger himself: I remained, and in a few
+seconds afterwards a ball reached me, and I fell senseless on the sand.
+
+"The ball was cut out of my body by an awkward surgeon, who gave me ten
+times more pain than was necessary. He was particularly hurried, at this
+time, because the army had just received orders to march in a few hours,
+and all was confusion in the camp. My wound was excessively painful, and
+the fear of being left behind with those who were deemed incurable
+added to my torments. Perhaps, if I had kept myself quiet, I might
+have escaped some of the evils I afterwards endured; but, as I have
+repeatedly told you, gentlemen, it was my ill fortune never to be able
+to judge what was best to be done, till the time for prudence was past.
+
+"During that day, when my fever was at the height, and when my orders
+were to keep my bed, contrary to my natural habits of indolence, I rose
+a hundred times, and went out of my tent in the very heat of the day,
+to satisfy my curiosity as to the number of the tents which had not been
+struck, and of the soldiers who had not yet marched. The orders to march
+were tardily obeyed, and many hours elapsed before our encampment was
+raised. Had I submitted to my surgeon's orders, I might have been in
+a state to accompany the most dilatory of the stragglers; I could have
+borne, perhaps, the slow motion of a litter, on which some of the sick
+were transported; but in the evening, when the surgeon came to dress my
+wounds, he found me in such a situation that it was scarcely possible to
+remove me.
+
+"He desired a party of soldiers, who were left to bring up the rear,
+to call for me the next morning. They did so; but they wanted to put me
+upon the mule which I recollected, by a white streak on its back, to be
+the cursed animal that had kicked me, whilst I was looking for the ring.
+I could not be prevailed upon to go upon this unlucky animal. I tried to
+persuade the soldiers to carry me, and they took me a little way; but,
+soon growing weary of their burden, they laid me down on the sand,
+pretending that they were going to fill a skin with water at a spring
+they had discovered, and bade me lie still, and wait for their return.
+
+"I waited and waited, longing for the water to moisten my parched lips;
+but, no water came--no soldiers returned; and there I lay, for several
+hours, expecting every moment to breathe my last. I made no effort to
+move, for I was now convinced my hour was come; and that it was the
+will of Mahomet that I should perish in this miserable manner, and lie
+unburied like a dog; a death, thought I, worthy of Murad the Unlucky.
+
+"My forebodings were not this time just; a detachment of English
+soldiers passed near the place where I lay: my groans were heard by
+them, and they humanely came to my assistance. They carried me with
+them, dressed my wound, and treated me with the utmost tenderness.
+Christians though they were, I must acknowledge that I had reason to
+love them better than any of the followers of Mahomet, my good brother
+only excepted.
+
+"Under their care I recovered; but scarcely had I regained my strength
+before I fell into new disasters. It was hot weather, and my thirst
+was excessive. I went out with a party, in hopes of finding a spring of
+water. The English soldiers began to dig for a well, in a place pointed
+out to them by one of their men of science. I was not inclined to such
+hard labour, but preferred sauntering on in search of a spring. I saw at
+a distance something that looked like a pool of water; and I pointed it
+out to my companions. Their man of science warned me by his interpreter,
+not to trust to this deceitful appearance; for that such were common in
+this country, and that, when I came close to the spot, I should find
+no water there. He added, that it was at a greater distance than I
+imagined; and that I should, in all probability, be lost in the desert,
+if I attempted to follow this phantom.
+
+"I was so unfortunate as not to attend to his advice: I set out in
+pursuit of this accursed delusion, which assuredly was the work of evil
+spirits, who clouded my reason, and allured me into their dominion. I
+went on, hour after hour, in expectation continually of reaching the
+object of my wishes; but it fled faster than I pursued, and I discovered
+at last that the Englishman, who had doubtless gained his information
+from the people of the country, was right; and that the shining
+appearance, which I had taken for water, was a mere deception.
+
+"I was now exhausted with fatigue: I looked back in vain after the
+companions I had left; I could see neither men, animals, nor any trace
+of vegetation in the sandy desert. I had no resource but, weary as I
+was, to measure back my footsteps, which were imprinted in the sand.
+
+"I slowly and sorrowfully traced them as my guides in this unknown land.
+Instead of yielding to my indolent inclinations, I ought, however, to
+have made the best of my way back, before the evening breeze sprung up.
+I felt the breeze rising, and unconscious of my danger, I rejoiced, and
+opened my bosom to meet it; but what was my dismay when I saw that the
+wind swept before it all trace of my footsteps in the sand. I knew not
+which way to proceed; I was struck with despair, tore my garments,
+threw off my turban, and cried aloud; but neither human voice nor echo
+answered me. The silence was dreadful. I had tasted no food for many
+hours, and I now became sick and faint. I recollected that I had put a
+supply of opium into the folds of my turban; but, alas! when I took my
+turban up, I found that, the opium had fallen out. I searched for it in
+vain on the sand, where I had thrown the turban.
+
+"I stretched myself out upon the ground, and yielded without further
+struggle to my evil destiny. What I suffered from thirst, hunger, and
+heat, cannot be described! At last I fell into a sort of trance, during
+which images of various kinds seemed to flit before my eyes. How long I
+remained in this state I know not; but I remember that I was brought
+to my senses by a loud shout, which came from persons belonging to a
+caravan returning from Mecca. This was a shout of joy for their safe
+arrival at a certain spring, well known to them in this part of the
+desert.
+
+"The spring was not a hundred yards from the spot where I lay; yet,
+such had been the fate of Murad the Unlucky, that he missed the
+reality, whilst he had been hours in pursuit of the phantom. Feeble and
+spiritless as I was, I sent forth as loud a cry as I could, in hopes of
+obtaining assistance; and I endeavoured to crawl to the place from which
+the voices appeared to come. The caravan rested for a considerable time
+whilst the slaves filled the skins with water, and whilst the
+camels took in their supply. I worked myself on towards them; yet,
+notwithstanding my efforts, I was persuaded that, according to my usual
+ill fortune, I should never be able to make them hear my voice. I saw
+them mount their camels! I took off my turban, unrolled it, and waved it
+in the air. My signal was seen! The caravan came towards me!
+
+"I had scarcely strength to speak: a slave gave me some water; and,
+after I had drunk, I explained to them who I was, and how I came into
+this situation.
+
+"Whilst I was speaking, one of the travellers observed the purse which
+hung to my girdle: it was the same the merchant, for whom I recovered
+the ring, had given to me; I had carefully preserved it, because the
+initials of my benefactor's name, and a passage from the Koran, were
+worked upon it. When he gave it to me, he said that, perhaps, we should
+meet again in some other part of the world, and he should recognize
+me by this token. The person who now took notice of the purse was his
+brother; and when I related to him how I had obtained it, he had the
+goodness to take me under his protection. He was a merchant, who was now
+going with the caravan to Grand Cairo: he offered to take me with
+him, and I willingly accepted the proposal, promising to serve him
+as faithfully as any of his slaves. The caravan proceeded, and I was
+carried with it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+"The merchant, who was become my master, treated me with great kindness;
+but, on hearing me relate the whole series of my unfortunate adventures,
+he exacted a promise from me, that would do nothing without first
+consulting him. 'Since you are so unlucky, Murad,' said he, 'that you
+always choose for the worst when you choose for yourself, you should
+trust entirely to the judgment of a wiser or a more fortunate friend.'
+
+"I fared well in the service of this merchant, who was a man of a mild
+disposition, and who was so rich that he could afford to be generous
+to all his dependants. It was my business to see his camels loaded and
+unloaded at proper places, to count his bales of merchandise, and to
+take care that they were not mixed with those of his companions. This I
+carefully did, till the day we arrived at Alexandria; when, unluckily,
+I neglected to count the bales, taking it for granted that they were all
+right, as I had found them so the preceding day. However, when we were
+to go on board the vessel that was to take us to Cairo, I perceived that
+three bales of cotton were missing.
+
+"I ran to inform my master, who, though a good deal provoked at my
+negligence, did not reproach me as I deserved. The public crier was
+immediately sent round the city, to offer a reward for the recovery of
+the merchandise; and it was restored by one of the merchants' slaves,
+with whom we had travelled. The vessel was now under sail; my master and
+I and the bales of cotton were obliged to follow in a boat; and when we
+were taken on board, the captain declared he was so loaded that he could
+not tell where to stow the bales of cotton. After much difficulty, he
+consented to let them remain upon deck; and I promised my master to
+watch them night and day.
+
+"We had a prosperous voyage, and were actually in sight of shore, which
+the captain said we could not fail to reach early the next morning. I
+stayed, as usual, this night upon deck; and solaced myself by smoking
+my pipe. Ever since I had indulged in this practice at the camp at El
+Arish, I could not exist without opium and tobacco. I suppose that
+my reason was this night a little clouded with the dose I took; but,
+towards midnight, I was sobered by terror. I started up from the deck
+on which I had stretched myself; my turban was in flames; the bale of
+cotton on which I had rested was all on fire. I awakened two sailors,
+who were fast asleep on deck. The consternation became general, and the
+confusion increased the danger. The captain and my master were the most
+active, and suffered the most in extinguishing the flames: my master was
+terribly scorched.
+
+"For my part, I was not suffered to do any thing; the captain ordered
+that I should be bound to the mast; and, when at last the flames were
+extinguished, the passengers, with one accord, besought him to keep me
+bound hand and foot, lest I should be the cause of some new disaster.
+All that had happened was, indeed, occasioned by my ill luck. I had laid
+my pipe down, when I was falling asleep, upon the bale of cotton that
+was beside me. The fire from my pipe fell out, and set the cotton
+in flames. Such was the mixture of rage and terror with which I had
+inspired the whole crew, that I am sure they would have set me ashore
+on a desert island, rather than have had me on board for a week longer.
+Even my humane master, I could perceive, was secretly impatient to get
+rid of Murad the Unlucky, and his evil fortune.
+
+"You may believe that I was heartily glad when we landed, and when I was
+unbound. My master put a purse containing fifty sequins into my hand,
+and bade me farewell. 'Use this money prudently, Murad, if you can,'
+said he, 'and perhaps your fortune may change.' Of this I had little
+hopes, but determined to lay out my money as prudently as possible.
+
+"As I was walking through the streets of Grand Cairo, considering how I
+should lay out my fifty sequins to the greatest advantage, I was stopped
+by one who called me by my name, and asked me if I could pretend to
+have forgotten his face. I looked steadily at him, and recollected to my
+sorrow that he was the Jew Rachub, from whom I had borrowed certain
+sums of money at the camp at El Arish. What brought him to Grand Cairo,
+except it was my evil destiny, I cannot tell. He would not quit me; he
+would take no excuses; he said he knew that I had deserted twice,
+once from the Turkish and once from the English array; that I was not
+entitled to any pay; and that he could not imagine it possible that my
+brother Saladin would own me, or pay my debts.
+
+"I replied, for I was vexed by the insolence of this Jewish dog, that I
+was not, as he imagined, a beggar; that I had the means of paying him
+my just debt, but that I hoped he would not extort from me all that
+exorbitant interest which none but a Jew could exact. He smiled, and
+answered that, if a Turk loved opium better than money, this was no
+fault of his; that he had supplied me with what I loved best in the
+world; and that I ought not to complain, when he expected I should
+return the favour.
+
+"I will not weary you, gentlemen, with all the arguments that passed
+between me and Rachub. At last we compromised matters; he would take
+nothing less than the whole debt: but he let me have at a very cheap
+rate a chest of second-hand clothes, by which he assured me I might make
+my fortune. He brought them to Grand Cairo, he said, for the purpose of
+selling them to slave merchants, who, at this time of the year, were in
+want of them to supply their slaves; but he was in haste to get home to
+his wife and family, at Constantinople, and therefore he was willing
+to make over to a friend the profits of this speculation. I should
+have distrusted Rachub's professions of friendship, and especially of
+disinterestedness; but he took me with him to the khan, where his goods
+were, and unlocked the chest of clothes to show them to me. They were of
+the richest and finest materials, and had been but little worn. I could
+not doubt the evidence of my senses; the bargain was concluded, and the
+Jew sent porters to my inn with the chest.
+
+"The next day I repaired to the public market-place; and, when my
+business was known, I had choice of customers before night: my chest was
+empty--and my purse was full. The profit I made, upon the sale of these
+clothes, was so considerable, that I could not help feeling astonishment
+at Rachub's having brought himself so readily to relinquish them.
+
+"A few days after I had disposed of the contents of my chest, a
+Damascene merchant, who had bought two suits of apparel from me, told
+me, with a very melancholy face, that both the female slaves who had put
+on these clothes were sick. I could not conceive that the clothes were
+the cause of their I sickness; but soon afterwards, as I was crossing
+the market, I was attacked by at least a dozen merchants, who made
+similar complaints. They insisted upon knowing how I came by the
+garments, and demanded whether I had worn any of them myself. This day
+I had for the first time indulged myself with wearing a pair of yellow
+slippers, the only finery I had reserved for myself out of all the
+tempting goods. Convinced by my wearing these slippers that I could have
+had no insidious designs, since I shared the danger, whatever it might
+be, the merchants were a little pacified; but what was my terror
+and remorse the next day, when one of them came to inform me that
+plague-boils had broken out tinder the arms of all the slaves who had
+worn this pestilential apparel! On looking carefully into the chest, we
+found the word Smyrna written, and half effaced, upon the lid. Now,
+the plague had for some time raged at Smyrna; and, as the merchants
+suspected, these clothes had certainly belonged to persons who had died
+of that distemper. This was the reason why the Jew was willing to sell
+them to me so cheap; and it was for this reason that he would not stay
+at Grand Cairo himself to reap _the profits of his speculation_. Indeed,
+if I had paid attention to it at the proper time, a slight circumstance
+might have revealed the truth to me. Whilst I was bargaining with the
+Jew, before he opened the chest, he swallowed a large dram of brandy,
+and stuffed his nostrils with sponge dipped in vinegar: this he told me
+he did to prevent his perceiving the smell of musk, which always threw
+him into convulsions.
+
+"The horror I felt, when I discovered that I had spread the infection
+of the plague, and that I had probably caught it myself, overpowered my
+senses; a cold dew spread over all my limbs, and I fell upon the lid of
+the fatal chest in a swoon. It is said that fear disposes people to take
+the infection; however this may be, I sickened that evening, and soon
+was in a raging fever. It was worse for me whenever the delirium left
+me, and I could reflect upon the miseries my ill fortune had occasioned.
+In my first lucid interval, I looked round and saw that I had been
+removed from the khan to a wretched hut. An old woman, who was smoking
+her pipe in the farthest corner of my room, informed me that I had been
+sent out of the town of Grand Cairo by order of the cadi, to whom the
+merchants had made their complaint. The fatal chest was burnt, and the
+house in which I had lodged razed to the ground. 'And if it had not been
+for me,' continued the old woman, 'you would have been dead, probably,
+at this instant; but I have made a vow to our great prophet, that I
+would never neglect an opportunity of doing a good action: therefore,
+when you were deserted by all the world, I took care of you. Here,
+too, is your purse, which I saved from the rabble; and, what is more
+difficult, from the officers of justice: I will account to you for every
+para that I have expended; and will moreover tell you the reason of my
+making such an extraordinary vow.'
+
+"As I believed that this benevolent old woman took great pleasure in
+talking, I made an inclination of my head to thank her for her promised
+history, and she proceeded; but I must confess I did not listen with
+all the attention her narrative doubtless deserved. Even curiosity,
+the strongest passion of us Turks, was dead within me. I have no
+recollection of the old woman's story. It is as much as I can do to
+finish my own.
+
+"The weather became excessively hot: it was affirmed, by some of
+the physicians, that this heat would prove fatal to their patients;
+{Footnote: Antis's Observations on the Manners and Customs of the
+Egyptians} but, contrary to the prognostics of the physicians, it
+stopped the progress of the plague. I recovered, and found my purse much
+lightened by my illness. I divided the remainder of my money with my
+humane nurse, and sent her out into the city, to inquire how matters
+were going on.
+
+"She brought me word that the fury of the plague had much abated; but
+that she had met several funerals, and that she had heard many of the
+merchants cursing the folly of Murad the Unlucky, who, as they said,
+had brought all this calamity upon the inhabitants of Cairo. Even fools,
+they say, learn by experience. I took care to burn the bed on which I
+had lain, and the clothes I had worn: I concealed my real name, which I
+knew would inspire detestation, and gained admittance, with a crowd of
+other poor wretches, into a lazaretto, where I performed quarantine, and
+offered up prayers daily for the sick.
+
+"When I thought it was impossible I could spread the infection, I took
+my passage home. I was eager to get away from Grand Cairo, where I knew
+I was an object of execration. I had a strange fancy haunting my mind;
+I imagined that all my misfortunes, since I left Constantinople, had
+arisen from my neglect of the talisman upon the beautiful china vase.
+I dreamed three times, when I was recovering from the plague, that a
+genius appeared to me, and said, in a reproachful tone, 'Murad, where is
+the vase that was intrusted to thy care?'
+
+"This dream operated strongly upon my imagination. As soon as we arrived
+at Constantinople, which we did, to my great surprise, without meeting
+with any untoward accidents, I went in search of my brother Saladin,
+to inquire for my vase. He no longer lived in the house in which I left
+him, and I began to be apprehensive that he was dead; but a porter,
+hearing my inquiries, exclaimed, 'Who is there in Constantinople that is
+ignorant of the dwelling of Saladin the Lucky? Come with me, and I will
+show it to you.'
+
+"The mansion to which he conducted me looked so magnificent, that I was
+almost afraid to enter lest there should be some mistake. But, whilst
+I was hesitating, the doors opened, and I heard my brother Saladin's
+voice. He saw me almost at the same instant that I fixed my eyes upon
+him, and immediately sprang forward to embrace me. He was the same good
+brother as ever, and I rejoiced in his prosperity with all my heart.
+'Brother Saladin,' said I, 'can you now doubt that some men are born
+to be fortunate, and others to be unfortunate? How often you used to
+dispute this point with me!'
+
+"'Let us not dispute it now in the public street," said he, smiling;
+'but come in and refresh yourself, and we will consider the question
+afterwards at leisure.'
+
+"'No, my dear brother,' said I, drawing back, 'you are too good:
+Murad the Unlucky shall not enter your house, lest he should draw down
+misfortunes upon you and yours. I come only to ask for my vase.'
+
+"'It is safe,' cried he; 'come in, and you shall see it: but I will
+not give it up till I have you in my house. I have none of these
+superstitious fears: pardon me the expression, but I have none of these
+superstitious fears.'
+
+"I yielded, entered his house, and was astonished at all I saw! My
+brother did not triumph in his prosperity; but, on the contrary, seemed
+intent only upon making me forget my misfortunes: he listened to the
+account of them with kindness, and obliged me by the recital of his
+history; which was, I must acknowledge, far less wonderful than my own.
+He seemed, by his own account, to have grown rich in the common course
+of things; or rather, by his own prudence. I allowed for his prejudices,
+and, unwilling to dispute farther with him, said, 'You must remain of
+your opinion, brother; and I of mine: you are Saladin the Lucky, and I
+Murad the Unlucky; and so we shall remain to the end of our lives.'
+
+"I had not been in his house four days when an accident happened, which
+showed how much I was in the right. The favourite of the sultan, to whom
+he had formerly sold his china vase, though her charms were now somewhat
+faded by time, still retained her power, and her taste for magnificence.
+She commissioned my brother to bespeak for her, at Venice, the most
+splendid looking-glass that money could purchase. The mirror, after many
+delays and disappointments, at length arrived at my brother's house. He
+unpacked it, and sent to let the lady know it was in perfect safety. It
+was late in the evening, and she ordered it should remain where it
+was that night; and that it should be brought to the seraglio the next
+morning. It stood in a sort of ante-chamber to the room in which I
+slept; and with it were left some packages, containing glass chandeliers
+for an unfinished saloon in my brother's house. Saladin charged all his
+domestics to be vigilant this night, because he had money to a
+great amount by him, and there had been frequent robberies in our
+neighbourhood. Hearing these orders, I resolved to be in readiness at a
+moment's warning. I laid my scimitar beside me upon a cushion; and
+left my door half open, that I might hear the slightest noise in the
+ante-chamber, or the great staircase. About midnight, I was suddenly
+awakened by a noise in the ante-chamber. I started up, seized my
+scimitar, and the instant I got to the door, saw, by the light of the
+lamp which was burning in the room, a man standing opposite to me, with
+a drawn sword in his hand. I rushed forward, demanding what he wanted,
+and received no answer; but, seeing him aim at me with his scimitar, I
+gave him, as I thought, a deadly blow. At this instant, I heard a great
+crash; and the fragments of the looking-glass, which I had shivered,
+fell at my feet. At the same moment, something black brushed by my
+shoulder: I pursued it, stumbled over the packages of glass, and rolled
+over them down the stairs.
+
+"My brother came out of his room, to inquire the cause of all this
+disturbance; and when he saw the fine mirror broken, and me lying
+amongst the glass chandeliers at the bottom of the stairs, he could not
+forbear exclaiming, 'Well, brother! you are indeed Murad the Unlucky.'
+
+"When the first emotion was over, he could not, however, forbear
+laughing at my situation. With a degree of goodness, which made me a
+thousand times more sorry for the accident, he came down stairs to help
+me up, gave me his hand, and said, 'Forgive me, if I was angry with you
+at first. I am sure you did not mean to do me any injury; but tell me
+how all this has happened?'
+
+"Whilst Saladin was speaking, I heard the same kind of noise which had
+alarmed me in the ante-chamber; but, on looking back, I saw only a black
+pigeon, which flew swiftly by me, unconscious of the mischief he had
+occasioned. This pigeon I had unluckily brought into the house the
+preceding day; and had been feeding and trying to tame it for my young
+nephews. I little thought it would be the cause of such disasters. My
+brother, though he endeavoured to conceal his anxiety from me, was much
+disturbed at the idea of meeting the favourite's displeasure, who
+would certainly be grievously disappointed by the loss of her splendid
+looking-glass. I saw that I should inevitably be his ruin, if I
+continued in his house; and no persuasions could prevail upon me to
+prolong my stay. My generous brother, seeing me determined to go,
+said to me, 'A factor, whom I have employed for some years to sell
+merchandise for me, died a few days ago. Will you take his place? I
+am rich enough to bear any little mistakes you may fall into, from
+ignorance of business; and you will have a partner who is able and
+willing to assist you.'
+
+"I was touched to the heart by this kindness, especially at such a time
+as this. He sent one of his slaves with me to the shop in which you now
+see me, gentlemen. The slave, by my brother's directions, brought with
+us my china vase, and delivered it safely to me, with this message:
+'The scarlet dye that was found in this vase, and in its fellow, was the
+first cause of Saladin's making the fortune he now enjoys: he therefore
+does no more than justice, in sharing that fortune with his brother
+Murad.'
+
+"I was now placed in as advantageous a situation as possible; but my
+mind was ill at ease, when I reflected that the broken mirror might be
+my brother's ruin. The lady by whom it had been bespoken was, I well
+knew, of a violent temper; and this disappointment was sufficient to
+provoke her to vengeance. My brother sent me word this morning, however,
+that though her displeasure was excessive, it was in my power to prevent
+any ill consequences that might ensue. 'In my power!' I exclaimed;
+'then, indeed, I am happy! Tell my brother there is nothing I will not
+do to show him my gratitude, and to save him from the consequences of my
+folly.'
+
+"The slave who was sent by my brother seemed unwilling to name what was
+required of me, saying that his master was afraid I should not like to
+grant the request. I urged him to speak freely, and he then told me the
+favourite declared nothing would make her amends for the loss of the
+mirror but the fellow vase to that which she had bought from Saladin. It
+was impossible for me to hesitate; gratitude for my brother's generous
+kindness overcame my superstitious obstinacy; and I sent him word I
+would carry the vase to him myself.
+
+"I took it down this evening from the shelf on which it stood; it was
+covered with dust, and I washed it, but unluckily, in endeavouring to
+clean the inside from the remains of the scarlet powder, I poured hot
+water into it, and immediately I heard a simmering noise, and my vase,
+in a few instants, burst asunder with a loud explosion. These fragments,
+alas! are all that remain. The measure of my misfortunes is now
+completed! Can you wonder, gentlemen, that I bewail my evil destiny?
+Am I not justly called Murad the Unlucky? Here end all my hopes in this
+world! Better would it have been if I had died long ago! Better that
+I had never been born! Nothing I ever have done or attempted has
+prospered. Murad the Unlucky is my name, and ill-fate has marked me for
+her own."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+The lamentations of Murad were interrupted by the entrance of Saladin.
+Having waited in vain for some hours, he now came to see if any disaster
+had happened to his brother Murad. He was surprised at the sight of
+the two pretended merchants, and could not refrain from exclamations
+on beholding the broken vase. However, with his usual equanimity and
+good-nature, he began to console Murad; and, taking up the fragments,
+examined them carefully, one by one joined them together again, found
+that none of the edges of the china were damaged, and declared he could
+have it mended so as to look as well as ever.
+
+Murad recovered his spirits upon this. "Brother," said he, "I comfort
+myself for being Murad the Unlucky, when I reflect that you are Saladin
+the Lucky. See, gentlemen," continued he, turning to the pretended
+merchants, "scarcely has this most fortunate of men been five minutes in
+company before he gives a happy turn to affairs. His presence inspires
+joy: I observe your countenances, which had been saddened by my dismal
+history, have brightened up since he has made his appearance. Brother,
+I wish you would make these gentlemen some amends for the time they have
+wasted in listening to my catalogue of misfortunes, by relating your
+history, which, I am sure, they will find rather more exhilarating."
+
+Saladin consented, on condition that the strangers would accompany him
+home, and partake of a social banquet. They at first repeated the former
+excuse of their being obliged to return to their inn; but at length
+the sultan's curiosity prevailed, and he and his vizier went home
+with Saladin the Lucky, who, after supper, related his history in the
+following manner:--
+
+"My being called Saladin the Lucky first inspired me with confidence in
+myself; though I own that I cannot remember any extraordinary instances
+of good luck in my childhood. An old nurse of my mother's, indeed,
+repeated to me twenty times a day, that nothing I undertook could fail
+to succeed, because I was Saladin the Lucky. I became presumptuous and
+rash: and my nurse's prognostics might have effectually prevented their
+accomplishment, had I not, when I was about fifteen, been roused to
+reflection during a long confinement, which was the consequence of my
+youthful conceit and imprudence.
+
+"At this time there was at the Porte a Frenchman, an ingenious engineer,
+who was employed and favoured by the sultan, to the great astonishment
+of many of my prejudiced countrymen. On the grand seignior's birth-day
+he exhibited some extraordinarily fine fireworks; and I, with numbers
+of the inhabitants of Constantinople, crowded to see them. I happened
+to stand near the place where the Frenchman was stationed; the crowd
+pressed upon him, and I amongst the rest; he begged we would, for our
+own sakes, keep at a greater distance, and warned us that we might be
+much hurt by the combustibles which he was using. I, relying upon my
+good fortune, disregarded all these cautions; and the consequence was,
+that as I touched some of the materials prepared for the fireworks,
+they exploded, dashed me upon the ground with great violence, and I was
+terribly burnt.
+
+"This accident, gentlemen, I consider as one of the most fortunate
+circumstances of my life; for it checked and corrected the presumption
+of my temper. During the time I was confined to my bed, the French
+gentleman came frequently to see me. He was a very sensible man; and
+the conversations he had with me enlarged my mind, and cured me of
+many foolish prejudices, especially of that which I had been taught
+to entertain, concerning the predominance of what is called luck, or
+fortune, in human affairs. 'Though you are called Saladin the Lucky,'
+said he, 'you find that your neglect of prudence has nearly brought
+you to the grave even in the bloom of youth. Take my advice, and
+henceforward trust more to prudence than to fortune. Let the multitude,
+if they will, call you Saladin the Lucky; but call yourself, and make
+yourself, Saladin the Prudent.'
+
+"These words left an indelible impression on my mind, and gave a new
+turn to my thoughts and character. My brother, Murad, has doubtless told
+you that our difference of opinion, on the subject of predestination,
+produced between us frequent arguments; but we could never convince one
+another, and we each have acted, through life, in consequence of our
+different beliefs. To this I attribute my success and his misfortunes.
+
+"The first rise of my fortune, as you have probably heard from Murad,
+was owing to the scarlet dye, which I brought to perfection with
+infinite difficulty. The powder, it is true, was accidentally found by
+me in our china vases; but there it might have remained to this instant,
+useless, if I had not taken the pains to make it useful. I grant that we
+can only partially foresee and command events; yet on the use we make of
+our own powers, I think, depends our destiny. But, gentlemen, you would
+rather hear my adventures, perhaps, than my reflections; and I am truly
+concerned, for your sakes, that I have no wonderful events to relate. I
+am sorry I cannot tell you of my having been lost in a sandy desert. I
+have never had the plague, nor even been shipwrecked: I have been all my
+life an inhabitant of Constantinople, and have passed my time in a very
+quiet and uniform manner.
+
+"The money I received from the sultan's favourite for my china vase, as
+my brother may have told you, enabled me to trade on a more extensive
+scale. I went on steadily with my business; and made it my whole study
+to please my employers, by all fair and honourable means. This industry
+and civility succeeded beyond my expectations: in a few years, I was
+rich for a man in my way of business.
+
+"I will not proceed to trouble you with the journal of a petty
+merchant's life; I pass on to the incident which made a considerable
+change in my affairs.
+
+"A terrible fire broke out near the walls of the grand seignior's
+seraglio: {Footnote: _Vide_ Baron de Tott's Memoirs.} as you are
+strangers, gentlemen, you may not have heard of this event, though it
+produced so great a sensation in Constantinople. The vizier's superb
+palace was utterly consumed; and the melted lead poured down from the
+roof of the mosque of St. Sophia. Various were the opinions formed by my
+neighbours, respecting the cause of the conflagration. Some supposed
+it to be a punishment for the sultan's having neglected, one Friday, to
+appear at the mosque of St. Sophia; others considered it as a warning
+sent by Mahomet, to dissuade the Porte from persisting in a war in
+which we were just engaged. The generality, however, of the coffee-house
+politicians contented themselves with observing that it was the will
+of Mahomet that the palace should be consumed. Satisfied by this
+supposition, they took no precaution to prevent similar accidents in
+their own houses. Never were fires so common in the city as at this
+period; scarcely a night passed without our being wakened by the cry of
+fire.
+
+"These frequent fires were rendered still more dreadful by villains, who
+were continually on the watch to increase the confusion by which they
+profited, and to pillage the houses of the sufferers. It was discovered
+that these incendiaries frequently skulked, towards evening, in the
+neighbourhood of the bezestein, where the richest merchants store their
+goods; some of these wretches were detected in throwing _coundaks_,
+{Footnote: "A _coundak_ is a sort of combustible that consists only of
+a piece of tinder wrapped in brimstone matches, in the midst of a
+small bundle of pine shavings. This is the method usually employed by
+incendiaries--they lay this match by stealth behind a door, which they
+find open, or on a window; and after setting it on fire, they make their
+escape. This is sufficient often to produce the most terrible ravages in
+a town where the houses, built with wood and painted with oil of spike,
+afford the easiest opportunity to the miscreant who is disposed to
+reduce them to ashes. The method employed by the incendiaries, and which
+often escapes the vigilance of the masters of the houses, added to
+the common causes of fires, gave for some time very frequent causes of
+alarm."--_Translation of Memoirs of Baron de Tott_, vol. I.} or matches,
+into the windows; and if these combustibles remained a sufficient time,
+they could not fail to set the house on fire.
+
+"Notwithstanding all these circumstances, many even of those who had
+property to preserve continued to repeat, 'It is the will of Mahomet,'
+and consequently to neglect all means of preservation. I, on the
+contrary, recollecting the lesson I had learned from the sensible
+foreigner, neither suffered my spirits to sink with superstitious fears
+of ill luck, nor did I trust presumptuously to my good fortune. I took
+every possible means to secure myself. I never went to bed without
+having seen that all the lights and fires in the house were
+extinguished, and that I had a supply of water in the cistern. I
+had likewise learned from my Frenchman that wet mortar was the most
+effectual thing for stopping the progress of flames: I therefore had a
+quantity of mortar made up in one of my outhouses, which I could use
+at a moment's warning. These precautions were all useful to me: my own
+house, indeed, was never actually on fire, but the houses of my next
+door neighbours were no less than five times in flames, in the course of
+one winter. By my exertions, or rather by my precautions, they suffered
+but little damage; and all my neighbours looked upon me as their
+deliverer and friend: they loaded me with presents, and offered more
+indeed than I would accept. All repeated that I was Saladin the Lucky.
+This compliment I disclaimed, feeling more ambitious of being called
+Saladin the Prudent. It is thus that what we call modesty is often only
+a more refined species of pride. But to proceed with my story.
+
+"One night I had been later than usual at supper, at a friend's house:
+none but the watch were in the streets, and even they, I believe, were
+asleep.
+
+"As I passed one of the conduits, which convey water to the city, I
+heard a trickling noise; and, upon examination, I found that the cock
+of the water-spout was half turned, so that the water was running out. I
+turned it back to its proper place, thought it had been left unturned
+by accident, and walked on; but I had not proceeded far before I came
+to another spout and another, which were in the same condition. I was
+convinced that this could not be the effect merely of accident, and
+suspected that some ill-intentioned persons designed to let out and
+waste the water of the city, that there might be none to extinguish any
+fire that should break out in the course of the night.
+
+"I stood still for a few moments, to consider how it would be most
+prudent to act. It would be impossible for me to run to all parts of the
+city, that I might stop the pipes that were running to waste. I first
+thought of wakening the watch and the firemen, who were most of them
+slumbering at their stations; but I reflected that they were perhaps
+not to be trusted, and that they were in a confederacy with the
+incendiaries; otherwise, they would certainly, before this hour, have
+observed and stopped the running of the sewers in their neighbourhood.
+I determined to waken a rich merchant, called Damat Zade, who lived
+near me, and who had a number of slaves, whom he could send to
+different parts of the city, to prevent mischief, and give notice to the
+inhabitants of their danger.
+
+"He was a very sensible, active man, and one that could easily be
+wakened: he was not, like some Turks, an hour in recovering their
+lethargic senses. He was quick in decision and action; and his slaves
+resembled their master. He despatched a messenger immediately to the
+grand vizier, that the sultan's safety might be secured; and sent others
+to the magistrates, in each quarter of Constantinople. The large drums
+in the janissary aga's tower beat to rouse the inhabitants; and scarcely
+had this been heard to beat half an hour before the fire broke out in
+the lower apartments of Damat Zade's house, owing to a _coundak_, which
+had been left behind one of the doors.
+
+"The wretches who had prepared the mischief, came to enjoy it, and to
+pillage; but they were disappointed. Astonished to find themselves
+taken into custody, they could not comprehend hew their designs had
+been frustrated. By timely exertions, the fire in my friend's house
+was extinguished; and though fires broke out, during the night, in many
+parts of the city, but little damage was sustained, because there was
+time for precautions; and by the stopping of the spouts, sufficient
+water was preserved. People were awakened, and warned of the danger, and
+they consequently escaped unhurt.
+
+"The next day, as soon as I made my appearance at the bezestein, the
+merchants crowded round, called me their benefactor, and the preserver
+of their lives and fortunes. Damat Zade, the merchant whom I had
+awakened the preceding night, presented to me a heavy purse of gold,
+and put upon my finger a diamond ring of considerable value; each of
+the merchants followed his example, in making me rich presents: the
+magistrates also sent me tokens of their approbation; and the grand
+vizier sent me a diamond of the first water, with a line written by
+his own hand: 'To the man who has saved Constantinople.' Excuse
+me, gentlemen, for the vanity I seem to show in mentioning these
+circumstances. You desired to hear my history, and I cannot therefore
+omit the principal circumstance of my life. In the course of
+four-and-twenty hours, I found myself raised, by the munificent
+gratitude of the inhabitants of this city, to a state of affluence far
+beyond what I had ever dreamed of attaining.
+
+"I now took a house suited to my circumstances, and bought a few slaves.
+As I was carrying my slaves home, I was met by a Jew, who stopped me,
+saying, in his language, 'My lord, I see, has been purchasing slaves: I
+could clothe them cheaply.' There was something mysterious in the manner
+of this Jew, and I did not like his countenance; but I considered that
+I ought not to be governed by caprice in my dealings, and that, if this
+man could really clothe my slaves more cheaply than another, I ought not
+to neglect his offer merely because I took a dislike to the cut of his
+beard, the turn of his eye, or the tone of his voice. I therefore bade
+the Jew follow me home, saying that I would consider of his proposal.
+
+"When we came to talk over the matter, I was surprised to find him so
+reasonable in his demands. On one point, indeed, he appeared unwilling
+to comply. I required not only to see the clothes I was offered, but
+also to know how they came into his possession. On this subject he
+equivocated; I therefore suspected there must be something wrong. I
+reflected what it could be, and judged that the goods had been stolen,
+or that they had been the apparel of persons who had died of some
+contagious distemper. The Jew showed me a chest, from which he said I
+might choose whatever suited me best. I observed, that as he was going
+to unlock the chest, he stuffed his nose with some aromatic herbs. He
+told me that he did so to prevent his smelling the musk with which the
+chest was perfumed: musk, he said, had an extraordinary effect upon
+his nerves. I begged to have some of the herbs which he used himself;
+declaring that musk was likewise offensive to me.
+
+"The Jew, either struck by his own conscience, or observing my
+suspicions, turned as pale as death. He pretended he had not the right
+key, and could not unlock the chest; said he must go in search of it,
+and that he would call on me again.
+
+"After he had left me, I examined some writing upon the lid of the chest
+that had been nearly effaced. I made out the word Smyrna, and this was
+sufficient to confirm all my suspicions. The Jew returned no more: he
+sent some porters to carry away the chest, and I heard nothing of him
+for some time, till one day when I was at the house of Damat Zade, I saw
+a glimpse of the Jew passing hastily through one of the courts, as if he
+wished to avoid me. 'My friend,' said I to Damat Zade, 'do not attribute
+my question to impertinent curiosity, or to a desire to intermeddle with
+your affairs, if I venture to ask the nature of your business with the
+Jew, who has just now crossed your court?'
+
+"'He has engaged to supply me with clothing for my slaves,' replied my
+friend, 'cheaper than I can purchase it elsewhere. I have a design to
+surprise my daughter, Fatima, on her birthday, with an entertainment in
+the pavilion in the garden; and all her female slaves shall appear in
+new dresses on the occasion."
+
+"I interrupted my friend, to tell him what I suspected relative to this
+Jew and his chest of clothes. It is certain that the infection of the
+plague can be communicated by clothes, not only after months but after
+years have elapsed. The merchant resolved to have nothing more to do
+with this wretch, who could thus hazard the lives of thousands of
+his fellow-creatures for a few pieces of gold: we sent notice of the
+circumstance to the cadi, but the cadi was slow in his operations;
+and, before he could take the Jew into custody, the cunning fellow had
+effected his escape. When his house was searched, he and his chest had
+disappeared: we discovered that he sailed for Egypt, and rejoiced that
+we had driven him from Constantinople.
+
+"My friend, Damat Zade, expressed the warmest gratitude to me. 'You
+formerly saved my fortune: you have now saved my life; and a life yet
+dearer than my own, that of my daughter Fatima.'
+
+"At the sound of that name I could not, I believe, avoid showing some
+emotion. I had accidentally seen this lady; and I had been captivated by
+her beauty, and by the sweetness of her countenance; but as I knew she
+was destined to be the wife of another, I suppressed my feeling, and
+determined to banish the recollection of the fair Fatima for ever from
+my imagination. Her father, however, at this instant, threw into my way
+a temptation, which it required all my fortitude to resist. 'Saladin,
+continued he, 'it is but just that you, who have saved our lives, should
+share our festivity. Come here on the birthday of my Fatima: I will
+place you in a balcony, which overlooks the garden, and you shall see
+the whole spectacle. We shall have a _feast of tulips_, in imitation
+of that which, as you know, is held in the grand seignior's gardens. I
+assure you, the sight will be worth seeing; and besides, you will have a
+chance of beholding my Fatima, for a moment, without her veil.'
+
+"'That,' interrupted I, 'is the thing I most wish to avoid. I dare not
+indulge myself in a pleasure which might cost me the happiness of
+my life. I will conceal nothing from you, who treat me with so much
+confidence. I have already beheld the charming countenance of your
+Fatima, but I know that she is destined to be the wife of a happier
+man.'
+
+"Damat Zade seemed much pleased by the frankness with which I explained
+myself; but he would not give up the idea of my sitting with him, in the
+balcony, on the day of the feast of tulips; and I, on my part, could
+not consent to expose myself to another view of the charming Fatima. My
+friend used every argument, or rather every sort of persuasion, he
+could imagine to prevail upon me: he then tried to laugh me out of my
+resolution; and, when all failed, he said, in a voice of anger, 'Go,
+then, Saladin; I am sure you are deceiving me: you have a passion for
+some other woman, and you would conceal it from me, and persuade me you
+refuse the favour I offer you from prudence, when, in fact, it is from
+indifference and contempt. Why could you not speak the truth of your
+heart to me with that frankness with which one friend should treat
+another?'
+
+"Astonished at this unexpected charge, and at the anger which flashed
+from the eyes of Damat Zade, who till this moment had always appeared to
+me a man of a mild and reasonable temper, I was for an instant tempted
+to fly into a passion and leave him: but friends, once lost, are not
+easily regained. This consideration had power sufficient to make me
+command my temper. 'My friend,' replied I, 'we will talk over this
+affair to-morrow: you are now angry, and cannot do me justice; but
+to-morrow you will be cool: you will then be convinced that I have not
+deceived you; and that I have no design but to secure my own happiness,
+by the most prudent means in my power, by avoiding the sight of the
+dangerous Fatima. I have no passion for any other woman.'
+
+"'Then,' said my friend, embracing me, and quitting the tone of anger
+which he had assumed only to try my resolution to the utmost, 'then,
+Saladin, Fatima is yours.'
+
+"I scarcely dared to believe my senses! I could not express my joy!
+'Yes, my friend,' continued the merchant, 'I have tried your prudence
+to the utmost; it has been victorious, and I resign my Fatima to you,
+certain that you will make her happy. It is true, I had a greater
+alliance in view for her: the pacha of Maksoud has demanded her from
+me; but I have found, upon private inquiry, he is addicted to the
+intemperate use of opium: and my daughter shall never be the wife of one
+who is a violent madman one half the day, and a melancholy idiot during
+the remainder. I have nothing to apprehend from the pacha's resentment,
+because I have powerful friends with the grand vizier who will oblige
+him to listen to reason, and to submit quietly to a disappointment he
+so justly merits. And now, Saladin, have you any objection to seeing the
+feast of tulips?'
+
+"I replied only by falling at the merchant's feet, and embracing his
+knees. The feast of tulips came, and on that day I was married to the
+charming Fatima! The charming Fatima I continue still to think her,
+though she has now been my wife some years. She is the joy and pride
+of my heart; and, from our mutual affection, I have experienced more
+felicity than from all the other circumstances of my life, which are
+called so fortunate. Her father gave me the house in which I now live,
+and joined his possessions to ours; so that I have more wealth even than
+I desire. My riches, however, give me continually the means of relieving
+the wants of others; and therefore I cannot affect to despise them. I
+must persuade my brother Murad to share them with me, and to forget
+his misfortunes: I shall then think myself completely happy. As to
+the sultana's looking-glass, and your broken vase, my dear brother,"
+continued Saladin, "we must think of some means----"
+
+"Think no more of the sultana's looking-glass, or of the broken vase,"
+exclaimed the sultan, throwing aside his merchant's habit, and showing
+beneath it his own imperial vest. "Saladin, I rejoice to have heard,
+from your own lips, the history of your life. I acknowledge, vizier, I
+have been in the wrong, in our argument," continued the sultan, turning
+to his vizier. "I acknowledge that the histories of Saladin the Lucky,
+and Murad the Unlucky, favour your opinion, that prudence has more
+influence than chance in human affairs. The success and happiness of
+Saladin seem to me to have arisen from his prudence: by that prudence,
+Constantinople has been saved from flames, and from the plague. Had
+Murad possessed his brother's discretion, he would not have been on the
+point of losing his head, for selling rolls which he did not bake: he
+would not have been kicked by a mule, or bastinadoed for finding a
+ring: he would not have been robbed by one party of soldiers, or shot by
+another: he would not have been lost in a desert, or cheated by a Jew:
+he would not have set a ship on fire; nor would he have caught the
+plague, and spread it through Grand Cairo: he would not have run my
+sultana's looking-glass through the body, instead of a robber: he would
+not have believed that the fate of his life depended on certain verses
+on a china vase: nor would he, at last, have broken this precious
+talisman, by washing it with hot water. Henceforward, let Murad the
+Unlucky be named Murad the Imprudent: let Saladin preserve the surname
+he merits, and be henceforth called Saladin the Prudent."
+
+So spake the sultan, who, unlike the generality of monarchs, could bear
+to find himself in the wrong; and could discover his vizier to be in the
+right, without cutting off his head. History farther informs us that
+the sultan offered to make Saladin a pacha, and to commit to him the
+government of a province; but Saladin the Prudent declined this honour,
+saying he had no ambition, was perfectly happy in his present situation,
+and that, when this was the case, it would be folly to change, because
+no one can be more than happy. What farther adventures befel Murad the
+Imprudent are not recorded; it is known only that he became a daily
+visitor to the _Teriaky_; and that he died a martyr to the immoderate
+use of opium. {Footnote: Those among the Turks who give themselves up to
+an immoderate use of opium are easily to be distinguished by a sort
+of rickety complaint, which this poison produces in course of time.
+Destined to live agreeably only when in a sort of drunkenness, these
+men present a curious spectacle, when they are assembled in a part of
+Constantinople called Teriaky or Tcharkissy, the market of opium-eaters.
+It is there that, towards the evening, you may see the lovers of opium
+arrive by the different streets which terminate at the Solymania
+(the greatest mosque in Constantinople): their pale and melancholy
+countenances would inspire only compassion, did not their stretched
+necks, their heads twisted to the right or left, their back-bones
+crooked, one shoulder up to their ears, and a number of other whimsical
+attitudes, which are the consequences of the disorder, present the most
+ludicrous and the most laughable picture.--_Vide_ De Tott's Memoirs.}
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MANUFACTURERS
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+By patient persevering attention to business, Mr. John Darford succeeded
+in establishing a considerable cotton manufactory, by means of which he
+secured to himself in his old age what is called, or what he called, a
+competent fortune. His ideas of a competent fortune were, indeed, rather
+unfashionable; for they included, as he confessed, only the comforts and
+conveniences, without any of the vanities of life. He went farther still
+in his unfashionable singularities of opinion, for he was often heard
+to declare that he thought a busy manufacturer might be as happy as any
+idle gentleman.
+
+Mr. Darford had taken his two nephews, Charles and William, into
+partnership with him: William, who had been educated by him, resembled
+him in character, habits, and opinions. Always active and cheerful, he
+seemed to take pride and pleasure in the daily exertions and care which
+his situation, and the trust reposed in him, required. Far from being
+ashamed of his occupations, he gloried in them; and the sense of duty
+was associated in his mind with the idea of happiness. His cousin
+Charles, on the contrary, felt his duty and his ideas of happiness
+continually at variance: he had been brought up in an extravagant
+family, who considered tradesmen and manufacturers as a _caste_
+disgraceful to polite society. Nothing but the utter ruin of his
+father's fortune could have determined him to go into business.
+
+He never applied to the affairs of the manufactory; he affected to think
+his understanding above such vulgar concerns, and spent his days in
+regretting that his brilliant merit was buried in obscurity.
+
+He was sensible that he hazarded the loss of his uncle's favour by the
+avowal of his prejudices; yet such was his habitual conceit, that he
+could not suppress frequent expressions of contempt for Mr. Darford's
+liberal notions. Whenever his uncle's opinion differed from his own,
+he settled the argument, as he fancied, by saying to himself or to his
+clerk, "My uncle Darford knows nothing of the world: how should he, poor
+man! shut up as he has been all his life in a counting-house?"
+
+Nearly sixty years' experience, which his uncle sometimes pleaded as an
+apology for trusting to his own judgment, availed nothing in the opinion
+of our prejudiced youth. Prejudiced youth, did we presume to say?
+Charles would have thought this a very improper expression; for he had
+no idea that any but old men could be prejudiced. Uncles, and fathers,
+and grandfathers, were, as he thought, the race of beings peculiarly
+subject to this mental malady; from which all young men, especially
+those who have their boots made by a fashionable bootmaker, are of
+course exempt.
+
+At length the time came when Charles was at liberty to follow his own
+opinions: Mr. Darford died, and his fortune and manufactory were equally
+divided between his two nephews. "Now," said Charles, "I am no longer
+chained to the oar. I will leave you, William, to do as you please, and
+drudge on, day after day, in the manufactory, since that is your taste:
+for my part, I have no genius for business. I shall take my pleasure;
+and all I have to do is to pay some poor devil for doing my business for
+me."
+
+"I am afraid the poor devil will not do your business as well as you
+would do it yourself," said William: "you know the proverb of the
+master's eye."
+
+"True! true! Very likely," cried Charles, going to the window to look
+at a regiment of dragoons galloping through the town; "but I have other
+employment for my eyes. Do look at those fine fellows who are galloping
+by! Did you ever see a handsomer uniform than the colonel's? And what
+a fine horse! 'Gad! I wish I had a commission in the army: I should so
+like to be in his place this minute."
+
+"This minute? Yes, perhaps, you would; because he has, as you say, a
+handsome uniform and a fine horse: but all his minutes may not be like
+this minute."
+
+"Faith, William, that is almost as soberly said as my old uncle himself
+could have spoken. See what it is to live shut up with old folks! You
+catch all their ways, and grow old and wise before your time."
+
+"The danger of growing wise before my time does not alarm me much: but
+perhaps, cousin, you feel that danger more than I do?"
+
+"Not I," said Charles, stretching himself still farther out of the
+window to watch the dragoons, as they were forming on the parade in the
+market-place. "I can only say, as I said before, that I wish I had been
+put into the army instead of into this cursed cotton manufactory. Now
+the army is a genteel profession, and I own I have spirit enough to make
+it my first object to look and live like a gentleman."
+
+"And I have spirit enough," replied William, "to make it my first object
+to look and live like an independent man; and I think a manufacturer,
+whom you despise so much, may be perfectly independent. I am sure,
+for my part, I am heartily obliged to my uncle for breeding me up to
+business; for now I am at no man's orders; no one can say to me, 'Go to
+the east, or go to the west; march here, or march there; fire upon
+this man, or run your bayonet into that.' I do not think the honour and
+pleasure of wearing a red coat, or of having what is called a genteel
+profession, would make me amends for all that a soldier must suffer,
+if he does his duty. Unless it were for the defence of my country, for
+which I hope and believe I should fight as well as another, I cannot
+say that I should like to be hurried away from my wife and children,
+to fight a battle against people with whom I have no quarrel, and in a
+cause which perhaps I might not approve of."
+
+"Well, as you say, William, you that have a wife and children are quite
+in a different situation from me. You cannot leave them, of course.
+Thank my stars, I am still at liberty, and I shall take care and keep
+myself so: my plan is to live for myself, and to have as much pleasure
+as I possibly can."
+
+Whether this plan of living for himself was compatible with the hopes of
+having as much pleasure as possible, we leave it to the heads and hearts
+of our readers to decide. In the mean time we must proceed with his
+history.
+
+Soon after this conversation had passed between the two partners,
+another opportunity occurred of showing their characters still more
+distinctly.
+
+A party of ladies and gentlemen, travellers, came to the town,
+and wished to see the manufactories there. They had letters of
+recommendation to the Mr. Darfords; and William, with great good-nature,
+took them to see their works. He pointed out to them, with honest pride,
+the healthy countenances of the children whom they employed.
+
+"You see," said he, "that we cannot be reproached with sacrificing the
+health and happiness of our fellow-creatures to our own selfish and
+mercenary views. My good uncle took all the means in his power to make
+every person concerned in this manufactory as happy as possible; and
+I hope we shall follow his example. I am sure the riches of both the
+Indies could not satisfy me, if my conscience reproached me with
+having gained wealth by unjustifiable means. If these children were
+over-worked, or if they had not fresh air and wholesome food, it would
+be the greatest misery to me to come into this room and look at them. I
+could not do it. But, on the contrary, knowing, as I do, that they are
+well treated and well provided for in every respect, I feel joy and
+pride in coming amongst them, and in bringing my friends here."
+
+William's eyes sparkled, as he thus spoke the generous sentiments of his
+heart; but Charles, who had thought himself obliged to attend the ladies
+of the party to see the manufactory, evidently showed he was ashamed of
+being considered as a partner. William, with perfect simplicity, went
+on to explain every part of the machinery, and the whole process of the
+manufacture; whilst his cousin Charles, who thought he should that
+way show his superior liberality and politeness, every now and then
+interposed with, "Cousin, I'm afraid we are keeping the ladies too long
+standing. Cousin, this noise must certainly annoy the ladies horridly.
+Cousin, all this sort of thing cannot be very interesting, I apprehend,
+to the ladies. Besides, they won't have time, at this rate, to see the
+china-works; which is a style of thing more to their taste, I presume."
+
+The fidgeting impatience of our hero was extreme; till at last he gained
+his point, and hurried the ladies away to the china-works. Amongst
+these ladies there was one who claimed particular attention, Miss Maude
+Germaine, an _elderly young lady_, who, being descended from a high
+family, thought herself entitled to be proud. She was yet more vain than
+proud, and found her vanity in some degree gratified by the officious
+attention of her new acquaintance, though she affected to ridicule him
+to her companions, when she could do so unobserved. She asked them, in
+a whisper, how they liked her new cicerone; and whether he did not show
+the lions very prettily, considering who and what he was?
+
+It has been well observed "that people are never ridiculous by what they
+are, but by what they pretend to be." {Footnote: Rochefoucault} These
+ladies, with the best dispositions imaginable for sarcasm, could find
+nothing to laugh at in Mr. William Darford's plain unassuming manners;
+as he did not pretend to be a fine gentleman, there was no absurd
+contrast between his circumstances and his conversation; while almost
+every word, look, or motion of his cousin was an object of ridicule,
+because it was affected. His being utterly unconscious of his foibles,
+and perfectly secure in the belief of his own gentility, increased the
+amusement of the company. Miss Maude Germaine undertook to play him off,
+but she took sufficient care to prevent his suspecting her design. As
+they were examining the beautiful china, she continually appealed to Mr.
+Charles Darford, as a man of taste; and he, with awkward gallantry, and
+still more awkward modesty, always began his answers by protesting he
+was sure Miss Maude Germaine was infinitely better qualified to decide
+in such matters than he was: he had not the smallest pretensions to
+taste; but that, in his humble opinion, the articles she pitched upon
+were evidently the most superior in elegance, and certainly of the
+newest fashion. "Fashion, you know, ladies, is all in all in these
+things, as in every thing else."
+
+Miss Germaine, with a degree of address which afforded much amusement to
+herself and her companions, led him to extol or reprobate whatever she
+pleased; and she made him pronounce an absurd eulogium on the ugliest
+thing in the room, by observing it was vastly like what her friend, Lady
+Mary Crawley, had just bought for her chimney-piece.
+
+Not content with showing she could make our man of taste decide as she
+thought proper, she was determined to prove that she could make him
+reverse his own decisions, and contradict himself, as often as she
+pleased. They were at this instant standing opposite to two vases of
+beautiful workmanship.
+
+"Now," whispered she to one of her companions, "I will lay you any wager
+I first make him say that both those vases are frightful; then that they
+are charming; afterward that he does not know which he likes best; next,
+that no person of any taste can hesitate betwixt them; and at last,
+when he has pronounced his decided humble opinion, he shall reverse his
+judgment, and protest he meant to say quite the contrary."
+
+All this the lady accomplished much to her satisfaction and to that of
+her friends; and so blind and deaf is self-love, our hero neither heard
+nor saw that he was the object of derision. William, however, was rather
+more clear-sighted; and as he could not bear to see his cousin make
+himself the butt of the company, he interrupted the conversation, by
+begging the ladies would come into another room to look at the manner
+in which the china was painted. Charles, with a contemptuous smile,
+observed that the ladies would probably find the odour of the paint
+rather too much for their nerves. Full of the sense of his own superior
+politeness, he followed; since it was determined that they must go, as
+he said, _nolens volens._ He did not hear Miss Germaine whisper to
+her companions as they passed, "Can any thing in nature be much
+more ridiculous than a vulgar manufacturer, who sets up for a fine
+gentleman?"
+
+Amongst the persons who were occupied in painting a set of china with
+flowers, there was one who attracted particular attention, by the
+ease and quickness with which she worked. An iris of her painting was
+produced, which won the admiration of all the spectators; and whilst
+Charles was falling into ecstasies about the merit of the painting, and
+the perfection to which the arts are now carried in England, William was
+observing the flushed and unhealthy countenance of the young artist. He
+stopped to advise her not to overwork herself, to beg she would not sit
+in a draught of wind where she was placed, and to ask her, with much
+humanity, several questions concerning her health and her circumstances.
+Whilst he was speaking to her, he did not perceive that he had set his
+foot by accident on Miss Germaine's gown; and, as she walked hastily on,
+it was torn in a deplorable manner. Charles apologized for his cousin's
+extreme absence of mind and rudeness; and with a candid condescension
+added, "Ladies, you must not think ill of my cousin William, because he
+is not quite so much your humble servant as I am: notwithstanding his
+little rusticities, want of polish, gallantry, and so forth, things that
+are not in every man's power, I can assure you there is not a better man
+in the world; except that he is so entirely given up to business, which
+indeed ruins a man for every thing else."
+
+The apologist little imagined he was at this moment infinitely more
+awkward and ill-bred than the person whom he affected to pity and to
+honour with his protection. Our hero continued to be upon the best terms
+possible with himself and with Miss Maude Germaine, during the remainder
+of this day. He discovered that this lady intended to pass a fortnight
+with a relation of hers in the town of ----. He waited upon her the next
+day, to give her an account of the manner in which he had executed some
+commissions about the choice of china with which she had honoured him.
+
+One visit led to another, and Charles Darford was delighted to find
+himself admitted into the society of such very genteel persons. At
+first, he was merely proud of being acquainted with a lady of Miss Maude
+Germaine's importance, and contented himself with boasting of it to
+all his acquaintance; by degrees, he became more audacious; he began
+to fancy himself in love with her, and to flatter himself she would not
+prove inexorable. The raillery of some of his companions piqued him to
+make good his boast; and he determined to pay his addresses to a lady,
+who, they all agreed, could never think of a man in business.
+
+Our hero was not entirely deluded by his vanity: the lady's coquetry
+contributed to encourage his hopes. Though she always spoke of him to
+her friends as a person whom it was impossible she could ever think of
+for a moment, yet as soon as he made a declaration of his love to her,
+she began to consider that a manufacturer might have common sense, and
+even some judgment and taste. Her horror of people in business continued
+in full force; but she began to allow there was no general rule that did
+not admit of an exception. When her female friends laughed, following
+the example she had set them, at Charles Darford, her laughter became
+fainter than theirs; and she was one evening heard to ask a stranger,
+who saw him for the first time, whether that young gentleman looked as
+if he was in business?
+
+Sundry matters began to operate in our hero's favour, precedents,
+opportunely produced by her waiting-maid, of ladies of the first
+families in England, ladies even of the first fashion, who had married
+into mercantile houses; a present, too, from her admirer of the
+beautiful china vase, of which she had so often made him change his
+opinion, had its due effect; but the preponderating motive was the dread
+of dying an old maid, if she did not accept of this offer.
+
+After various airs, and graces, and doubts, and disdains, this, fair
+lady consented to make her lover happy, on the express condition that he
+should change his name from Darford to Germaine, that he should give up
+all share in the odious cotton manufactory, and that he should purchase
+the estate of Germaine-park, in Northamptonshire, to part with which, as
+it luckily happened, some of her great relations were compelled.
+
+In the folly of his joy, at the prospect of an alliance with the great
+Germaine family, he promised every thing that was required of him,
+notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friend William, who represented
+to him, in the forcible language of common sense, the inconveniences of
+marrying into a family that would despise him; and of uniting himself
+to such an old coquette as Miss Germaine, who would make him not only a
+disagreeable but a most extravagant wife.
+
+"Do you not see," said he, "that she has not the least affection for
+you? she marries you only because she despairs of getting any other
+match; and because you are rich, and she is poor. She is seven years
+older than you, by her own confession, and consequently will be an
+old woman whilst you are a young man. She is, as you see--I mean as
+I see--vain and proud in the extreme; and if she honours you with her
+hand, she will think you can never do enough to make her amends for
+having married beneath her pretensions. Instead of finding in her, as
+I find in my wife, the best and most affectionate of friends, you will
+find her your torment through life; and consider, this is a torment
+likely to last these thirty or forty years. Is it not worth while to
+pause--to reflect for as many minutes, or even days?"
+
+Charles paused double the number of seconds, perhaps, and then replied,
+"You have married to please yourself, cousin William, and I shall marry
+to please myself. As I don't mean to spend my days in the same style
+in which you do, the same sort of wife that makes you happy could never
+content me. I mean to make some figure in the world; I know no other use
+of fortune; and an alliance with the Germaines brings me at once into
+fashionable society. Miss Maude Germaine is very proud, I confess; but
+she has some reason to be proud of her family; and then, you see, her
+love for me conquers her pride, great as it is."
+
+William sighed when he saw the extent of his cousin's folly. The
+partnership between the two Darfords was dissolved.
+
+It cost our hero much money but no great trouble to get his name changed
+from Darford to Germaine; and it was certainly very disadvantageous to
+his pecuniary interest to purchase Germaine-park, which was sold to
+him for at least three years' purchase more than its value: but, in
+the height of his impatience to get into the fashionable world, all
+prudential motives appeared beneath his consideration. It was, as he
+fancied, part of the character of a man of spirit, the character he was
+now to assume and support for life, to treat pecuniary matters as
+below his notice. He bought Germaine-park, married Miss Germaine, and
+determined no mortal should ever find out, by his equipages or style of
+life, that he had not been born the possessor of this estate.
+
+In this laudable resolution, it cannot possibly be doubted but that his
+bride encouraged him to the utmost of her power. She was eager to leave
+the county where his former friends and acquaintance resided; for they
+were people with whom, of course, it could not be expected that she
+should keep up any manner of intercourse. Charles, in whose mind vanity
+at this moment smothered every better feeling, was in reality glad of a
+pretext for breaking off all connexion with those whom he had formerly
+loved. He went to take leave of William in a fine chariot, on which the
+Germaine arms were ostentatiously blazoned. That real dignity, which
+arises from a sense of independence of mind, appeared in William's
+manners; and quite overawed and abashed our hero, in the midst of all
+his finery and airs. "I hope, cousin William," said Charles, "when
+you can spare time, though, to be sure, that is a thing hardly to be
+expected, as you are situated; but, in case you should be able any ways
+to make it convenient, I hope you will come and take a look at what we
+are doing at Germaine-park."
+
+There was much awkward embarrassment in the enunciation of this feeble
+invitation: for Charles was conscious he did not desire it should be
+accepted, and that it was made in direct opposition to the wishes of his
+bride. He was at once relieved from his perplexity, and at the same time
+mortified, by the calm simplicity with which William replied, "I
+thank you, cousin, for this invitation; but you know I should be an
+encumbrance to you at Germaine-park: and I make it a rule neither to go
+into any company that would be ashamed of me, or of which I should be
+ashamed."
+
+"Ashamed of you! But--What an idea, my dear William! Surely you don't
+think--you can't imagine--I should ever consider you as any sort of
+encumbrance?--I protest----"
+
+"Save yourself the trouble of protesting, my dear Charles," cried
+William, smiling with much good-nature: "I know why you are so much
+embarrassed at this instant; and I do not attribute this to any want of
+affection for me. We are going to lead quite different lives. I wish you
+all manner of satisfaction. Perhaps the time may come when I shall be
+able to contribute to your happiness more than I can at present."
+
+Charles uttered some unmeaning phrases, and hurried to his carriage. At
+the sight of its varnished panels he recovered his self-complacency and
+courage, and began to talk fluently about chariots and horses, whilst
+the children of the family followed to take leave of him, saying, "Are
+you going quite away, Charles? Will you never come back to play with
+us, as you used to do?" Charles stepped into his carriage with as much
+dignity as he could assume; which, indeed, was very little. William,
+who judged of his friends always with the most benevolent indulgence,
+excused the want of feeling which Charles betrayed during this visit.
+"My dear," said he to his wife, who expressed some indignation at the
+slight shown to their children, "we must forgive him; for, you know,
+a man cannot well think of more than one thing at a time; and the one
+thing that he is thinking of is his fine chariot. The day will come when
+he will think more of fine children; at least I hope so, for his own
+sake."
+
+And now, behold our hero in all his glory; shining upon the
+Northamptonshire world in the splendour of his new situation! The dress,
+the equipage, the entertainments, and, above all, the airs of the bride
+and bridegroom, were the general subject of conversation in the county
+for ten days. Our hero, not precisely knowing what degree of importance
+Mr. Germaine, of Germaine-park, was entitled to assume, out-Germained
+Germaine.
+
+The country gentlemen first stared, then laughed, and at last
+unanimously agreed, over their bottle, that this new neighbour of
+theirs was an upstart, who ought to be kept down: and that a vulgar
+manufacturer should not be allowed to give himself airs merely because
+he had married a proud lady of good family. It was obvious, they
+said, he was not born for the situation in which he now appeared. They
+remarked and ridiculed the ostentation with which he displayed every
+luxury in his house; his habit of naming the price of every thing, to
+enforce its claim to admiration; his affected contempt for economy; his
+anxiety to connect himself with persons of rank, joined to his ignorance
+of the genealogy of nobility, and the strange mistakes he made between
+old and new titles.
+
+Certain little defects in his manners, and some habitual vulgarisms
+in his conversation, exposed him also to the derision of his well-bred
+neighbours. Mr. Germaine saw that the gentlemen of the county were
+leagued against him; but he had neither temper nor knowledge of the
+world sufficient to wage this unequal war. The meanness with which he
+alternately attempted to court and to bully his adversaries, shewed
+them, at once, the full extent of their power and of his weakness.
+Things were in this position when our hero unluckily affronted Mr. Cole,
+one of the proudest gentlemen in the county, by mistaking him for a
+merchant of the same name; and, under this mistake, neglecting to return
+his visit. A few days afterwards at a public dinner, Mr. Cole and Mr.
+Germaine had some high words, which were repeated by the persons present
+in various manners; and this dispute became the subject of conversation
+in the county, particularly amongst the ladies. Each related, according
+to her fancy, what her husband had told her; and as these husbands had
+drunk a good deal, they had not a perfectly clear recollection of what
+had passed, so that the whole and every part of the conversation was
+exaggerated. The fair judges, averse as they avowed their feelings were
+to duelling, were clearly of opinion, among themselves, that a real
+gentleman would certainly have called Mr. Cole to account for the words
+he uttered, though none of them could agree what those words were.
+
+Mrs. Germaine's female friends, in their coteries, were the first to
+deplore, with becoming sensibility, that she should be married to a man
+who had so little the spirit as well as the manners of a man of birth.
+Their pity became progressively vehement the more they thought of, or at
+least the more they talked of, the business; till at last one old lady,
+the declared and intimate friend of Mrs. Germaine, unintentionally, and
+in the heat of tattle, made use of one phrase that led to another,
+and another, till she betrayed, in conversation with that lady, the
+gossiping scandal of these female circles.
+
+Mrs. Germaine, piqued as her pride was, and though she had little
+affection for her husband, would have shuddered with horror to have
+imagined him in the act of fighting a duel, and especially at her
+instigation; yet of this very act she became the cause. In their
+domestic quarrels, her tongue was ungovernable: and at such moments, the
+malice of husbands and wives often appears to exceed the hatred of
+the worst of foes; and, in the ebullition of her vengeance, when his
+reproaches had stung her beyond the power of her temper to support,
+unable to stop her tongue, she vehemently told him he was a coward,
+who durst not so talk to a man! He had proved himself a coward; and was
+become the by-word and contempt of the whole county! Even women despised
+his cowardice!
+
+However astonishing it may appear to those who are unacquainted with the
+nature of quarrels between man and wife, it is but too certain that
+such quarrels have frequently led to the most fatal consequences. The
+agitation of mind which Mrs. Germaine suffered the moment she could
+recollect what she had so rashly said, her vain endeavours to prove to
+herself that, so provoked, she could not say less, and the sudden effect
+which she plainly saw her words had produced upon her husband, were but
+a part of the punishment that always follows conduct and contentions so
+odious.
+
+Mr. Germaine gazed at her a few moments with wildness in his eyes; his
+countenance expressed the stupefaction of rage: he spoke not a word; but
+started at length, and snatched up his hat. She was struck with panic
+terror, gave a scream, sprang after him, caught him by the coat, and,
+with the most violent protestations, denied the truth of all she had
+said. The look he gave her cannot be described; he rudely plucked the
+skirt from her grasp, and rushed out of the house.
+
+All day and all night she neither saw nor heard of him: in the morning
+he was brought home, accompanied by a surgeon, in the carriage of a
+gentleman who had been his second, dangerously wounded.
+
+He was six weeks confined to his bed; and, in the first moment of doubt
+expressed by the surgeon for his life, she expressed contrition which
+was really sincere: but, as he recovered, former bickerings were
+renewed; and the terms on which they lived gradually became what they
+had been.
+
+Neither did his duel regain that absurd reputation for which he fought;
+it was malignantly said he had neither the courage to face a man, nor
+the understanding to govern a wife.
+
+Still, however, Mrs. Germaine consoled herself with the belief that the
+most shocking circumstance of his having been partner in a manufactory
+was a profound secret. Alas! the fatal moment arrived when she was to be
+undeceived in this her last hope. Soon after Mr. Germaine recovered from
+his wounds she gave a splendid bail, to which the neighbouring nobility
+and gentry were invited. She made it a point, with all her acquaintance,
+to come on this grand night.
+
+The more importance the Germaines set upon success, and the more anxiety
+they betrayed, the more their enemies enjoyed the prospect of their
+mortification. All the young belles, who had detested Miss Maude
+Germaine for the airs she used to give herself at county assemblies, now
+leagued to prevent their admirers from accepting her invitation. All the
+married ladies whom she had outshone in dress and equipage, protested
+they were not equal to keep up an acquaintance with such prodigiously
+fine people; and that, for their part, they must make a rule not to
+accept of such expensive entertainments, as it was not in their power to
+return them.
+
+Some persons of consequence in the county kept their determination in
+doubt, suffered themselves to be besieged daily with notes and messages,
+and hopes that their imaginary coughs, head-aches, and influenzas, were
+better, and that they would find themselves able to venture out on the
+15th. When the coughs, head-aches, and influenzas, could hold out no
+longer, these ingenious tormentors devised new pretexts for supposing
+it would be impossible to do themselves the honour of accepting Mr. and
+Mrs. Germaine's obliging invitation on the 15th. Some had recourse to
+the roads, and others to the moon.
+
+Mrs. Germaine, whose pride was now compelled to make all manner of
+concessions, changed her night from the 15th to the 20th, to insure a
+full moon to those timorous damsels whom she had known to go home nine
+miles from a ball the darkest night imaginable, without scruple or
+complaint. Mr. Germaine, at his own expense, mended some spots in the
+roads, which were obstacles to the delicacy of other travellers; and
+when all this was accomplished, the haughty leaders of the county
+fashions condescended to promise they would do themselves the pleasure
+to wait upon Mr. and Mrs. Germaine on the 20th.
+
+Their cards of acceptation were shown with triumph by the Germaines; but
+it was a triumph of short duration. With all the refinement of cruelty,
+they gave hopes which they never meant to fulfil. On the morning, noon,
+and night, of the 20th, notes poured in with apologies, or rather with
+excuses, for not keeping their engagements. Scarcely one was burnt,
+before another arrived. Mrs. Germaine could not command her temper; and
+she did not spare her husband in this trying moment.
+
+The arrival of some company for the ball interrupted a warm dispute
+between the happy pair. The ball was very thinly attended; the guests
+looked as if they were more inclined to yawn than to dance. The supper
+table was not half filled; and the profusion with which it was laid out
+was forlorn and melancholy: every thing was on too grand a scale for
+the occasion; wreaths of flowers, and pyramids, and triumphal arches,
+sufficient for ten times as many guests! Even the most inconsiderate
+could not help comparing the trouble and expense incurred by the
+entertainment with the small quantity of pleasure it produced. Most of
+the guests rose from table, whispering to one another, as they looked
+at the scarcely-tasted dishes, "What a waste! What a pity! Poor Mrs.
+Germaine! What a melancholy sight this must be to her!"
+
+The next day, a mock heroic epistle, in verse, in the character of Mrs.
+Germaine, to one of her noble relations, giving an account of her ball
+and disappointment, was handed about, and innumerable copies were taken.
+It was written with some humour and great ill-nature. The good old lady
+who occasioned the duel, thought it but friendly to show Mrs. Germaine
+a copy of it; and to beg she would keep it out of her husband's way: it
+might be the cause of another duel! Mrs. Germaine, in spite of all her
+endeavours to conceal her vexation, was obviously so much hurt by this
+mock heroic epistle, that the laughers were encouraged to proceed; and
+the next week a ballad, entitled, "THE MANUFACTURER TURNED GENTLEMAN,"
+was circulated with the same injunctions to secresy, and the same
+success. Mr. and Mrs. Germaine, perceiving themselves to be the objects
+of continual enmity and derision, determined to leave the county.
+Germaine-park was forsaken; a house in London was bought; and, for a
+season or two, our hero was amused with the gaieties of the town, and
+gratified by finding himself actually moving in that sphere of life
+to which he had always aspired. But he soon perceived that the persons
+whom, at a distance, he had regarded as objects of admiration and envy,
+upon a nearer view were capable of exciting only contempt or pity. Even
+in the company of honourable and right honourable men, he was frequently
+overpowered with _ennui_; and, amongst all the fine acquaintances with
+which his fine wife crowded his fine house, he looked in vain for a
+friend: he looked in vain for a William Darford.
+
+One evening, at Ranelagh, Charles happened to hear the name of Mr.
+William Darford pronounced by a lady who was walking behind him:
+he turned eagerly to look at her; but, though he had a confused
+recollection of having seen her face before, he could not remember when
+or where he had met with her. He felt a wish to speak to her, that he
+might hear something of those friends whom he had neglected, but not
+forgotten. He was not, however, acquainted with any of the persons with
+whom she was walking, and was obliged to give up his purpose. When she
+left the room, he followed her, in hopes of learning, from her servants,
+who she was; but she had no servants--no carriage!
+
+Mrs. Germaine, who clearly inferred she was a person of no consequence,
+besought her husband not to make any further inquiries. "I beg, Mr.
+Germaine, you will not gratify your curiosity about the Darfords at my
+expense. I shall have a whole tribe of vulgar people upon my hands, if
+you do not take care. The Darfords, you know, are quite out of our line
+of life; especially in town."
+
+This remonstrance had a momentary effect upon Mr. Germaine's vanity; but
+a few days afterwards he met the same lady in the park, attended by Mr.
+William Darford's old servant. Regardless of his lady's representations,
+he followed the suggestions of his own heart, and eagerly stopped the
+man to inquire after his friends in the most affectionate manner. The
+servant, who was pleased to see that Charles was not grown quite so much
+a fine gentleman as to forget all his friends in the country, became
+very communicative; he told Mr. Germaine that the lady, whom he
+was attending, was a Miss Locke, governess to Mr. William Darford's
+children; and that she was now come to town to spend a few days with a
+relation, who had been very anxious to see her. This relation was not
+either rich or genteel; and though our hero used every persuasion to
+prevail upon his lady to show Miss Locke some civility whilst she was
+in town, he could not succeed. Mrs. Germaine repeated her former phrase,
+again and again, "The Darfords are quite out of our line of life;" and
+this was the only reason she would give.
+
+Charles was disgusted by the obstinacy of his wife's pride, and indulged
+his better feelings by going frequently to visit Miss Locke. She stayed,
+however, but a fortnight in town; and the idea of his friends, which had
+been strongly recalled by his conversations with her, gradually faded
+away. He continued the course of life into which he had been forced,
+rather from inability to stop than from inclination to proceed. Their
+winters were spent in dissipation in town; their summers wasted at
+watering-places, or in visits to fine relations, who were tired of their
+company, and who took but little pains to conceal this sentiment. Those
+who do not live happily at home can seldom contrive to live respectably
+abroad. Mr. and Mrs. Germaine could not purchase esteem, and never
+earned it from the world or from one another. Their mutual contempt
+increased every day. Only those who have lived with bosom friends whom
+they despise can fully comprehend the extent and intensity of the evil.
+
+We spare our readers the painful detail of domestic grievances and the
+petty mortifications of vanity: from the specimens we have already
+given they may form some idea, but certainly not a competent one, of
+the manner in which this ill-matched pair continued to live together for
+twelve long years. Twelve long years! The imagination cannot distinctly
+represent such a period of domestic suffering; though, to the fancy of
+lovers, the eternal felicity to be ensured by their union is an idea
+perfectly familiar and intelligible. Perhaps, if we could bring
+our minds to dwell more upon the hours, and less upon the years of
+existence, we should make fewer erroneous judgments. Our hero and
+heroine would never have chained themselves together for life, if they
+could have formed an adequate picture of the hours contained in the
+everlasting period of twelve years of wrangling. During this time,
+scarcely an hour, certainly not a day, passed in which they did not,
+directly or indirectly, reproach one another; and tacitly form, or
+explicitly express, the wish that they had never been joined in holy
+wedlock.
+
+They, however, had a family. Children are either the surest bonds of
+union between parents, or the most dangerous causes of discord. If
+parents agree in opinion as to the management of their children, they
+must be a continually increasing source of pleasure; but where the
+father counteracts the mother, and the mother the father--where
+the children cannot obey or caress either of their parents without
+displeasing the other, what can they become but wretched little
+hypocrites, or detestable little tyrants?
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Germaine had two children, a boy and a girl. From the
+moment of their birth, they became subjects of altercation and jealousy.
+The nurses were obliged to decide whether the infants were most like the
+father or the mother: two nurses lost their places, by giving what was,
+in Mr. Germaine's opinion, an erroneous decision upon this important
+question. Every stranger who came to pay a visit was obliged to submit
+to a course of interrogations on this subject; and afterwards, to their
+utter confusion, saw biting of lips, and tossing of heads, either on the
+paternal or maternal side. At last, it was established that Miss Maude
+was the most like her mamma, and master Charles the most like his papa.
+Miss Maude, of course, became the faultless darling of her mother,
+and master Charles the mutinous favourite of his father. A comparison
+between their features, gestures, and manners, was daily instituted, and
+always ended in words of scorn, from one party or the other. Even whilst
+they were pampering these children with sweetmeats, or inflaming them
+with wine, the parents had always the same mean and selfish views. The
+mother, before she would let her Maude taste the sweetmeats, insisted
+upon the child's lisping out that she loved mamma best; and before the
+little Charles was permitted to carry the bumper of wine to his lips, he
+was compelled to say he loved papa best. In all their childish quarrels,
+Maude ran roaring to her mamma, and Charles sneaked up to his papa.
+
+As the interests of the children were so deeply concerned in the
+question, it was quickly discovered who ruled in the house with the
+strongest hand. Mr. Germaine's influence over his son diminished, as
+soon as the boy was clearly convinced that his sister, by adhering to
+her mamma, enjoyed a larger share of the good things. He was wearied
+out by the incessant rebuffs of the nursery-maids, who were all in their
+lady's interests; and he endeavoured to find grace in their sight, by
+recanting all the declarations he had made in his father's favour. "I
+don't like papa best now: I love mamma best to-day."
+
+"Yes, master, but you must love mamma best every day, or it won't do, I
+promise you."
+
+By such a course of nursery precepts, these unfortunate children were
+taught equivocation, falsehood, envy, jealousy, and every fault of
+temper which could render them insupportable to themselves, and odious
+to others. Those who have lived in the house with spoiled children must
+have a lively recollection of the degree of torment they can inflict
+upon all who are within sight or hearing. These domestic plagues became
+more and more obnoxious; and Mrs. Germaine, in the bitterness of her
+heart, was heard to protest she wished she had never had a child!
+Children were pretty things at three years old, but began to be great
+plagues at six, and were quite intolerable at ten.
+
+Schools, and tutors, and governesses, were tried without number; but
+those capricious changes served only to render the pupils still more
+unmanageable. At length Mr. and Mrs. Germaine's children became so
+notoriously troublesome, that every body dreaded the sight of them.
+
+One summer, when Mrs. Germaine was just setting out on a visit to my
+Lady Mary Crawley, when the carriage was actually at the door, and the
+trunks tied on, an express arrived from her ladyship with a letter,
+stipulating that neither Miss Maude nor Master Charles should be of the
+party. Lady Mary declared she had suffered so much from their noise,
+quarrelling, and refractory tempers when they were with her the
+preceding summer, that she could not undergo such a trial again; that
+their mother's nerves might support such things, but that hers really
+could not: besides, she could not, in justice and politeness to the
+other friends who were to be in her house, suffer them to be exposed
+to such torments. Lady Mary Crawlev did not give herself any trouble to
+soften her expressions, because she would have been really glad if they
+had given offence, and if Mrs. Germaine had resented her conduct, by
+declining to pay that annual visit which was now become, in the worst
+sense of the word, visitation. To what meanness proud people are often
+forced to submit! Rather than break her resolution never to spend
+another summer at her own country seat, Mrs. Germaine submitted to
+all the haughtiness of her Leicestershire relations, and continued
+absolutely to force upon them visits which she knew to be unwelcome.
+
+But what was to be done about her children! The first thing, of course,
+was to reproach her husband. "You see, Mr. Germaine, the effect of the
+pretty education you have given that boy of yours. I am sure, if he had
+not gone with us last summer into Leicestershire, my Maude would not
+have been in the least troublesome to Lady Mary."
+
+"On the contrary, my dear, I have heard Lady Mary herself say, twenty
+times, that Charles was the best of the two; and I am persuaded, if
+Maude had been away, the boy would have become quite a favourite."
+
+"There you are utterly mistaken, I can assure you, my dear; for you know
+you are no great favourite of Lady Mary's yourself; and I have often
+heard her say that Charles is your image."
+
+"It is very extraordinary that all your great relations show us so
+little civility, my dear. They do not seem to have much regard for you."
+
+"They have regard enough for me, and showed it formerly; but of late, to
+be sure, I confess, things are altered. They never have been so cordial
+since my marriage, and, all things considered, I scarcely know how to
+blame them."
+
+Mr. Germaine bowed, by way of thanking his lady for this compliment.
+She besought him not to bow so like a man behind a counter, if he could
+possibly help it. He replied, it became him to submit to be schooled
+by a wife, who was often taken for his mother. At length, when every
+species of reproach, mental and personal, which conjugal antipathy could
+suggest, had been exhausted, the orators recurred to the business of the
+day, and to the question, "What is to be done with the children whilst
+we are at Lady Mary Crawley's?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+In this embarrassment we must leave the Germaines for the present,
+and refresh ourselves with a look at a happy circle--the family of Mr.
+Darford, where there is no discordance of opinions, of tastes, or
+of tempers; none of those evils which arise sometimes from the
+disappointment and sometimes from the gratification of vanity and pride.
+
+Mr. Darford succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations in the
+management of his business. Wealth poured in upon him; but he considered
+wealth, like a true philosopher, only as one of the means of happiness:
+he did not become prodigal or avaricious; neither did he ever feel
+the slightest ambition to quit his own station in society. He never
+attempted to purchase from people of superior rank admission into
+their circles, by giving luxurious and ostentatious entertainments. He
+possessed a sturdy sense of his own value, and commanded a species of
+respect very different from that which is paid to the laced livery or
+the varnished equipage.
+
+The firmness of his character was, however, free from all severity: he
+knew how to pardon in others the weakness and follies from which he was
+himself exempt. Though his cousin was of such a different character, and
+though, since his marriage, Mr. Germaine had neglected his old friends,
+William felt more compassion for his unhappiness than resentment for his
+faults. In the midst of his own family, William would often say, "I wish
+poor Charles may ever be as happy as we are!" Frequently, in his letters
+to London correspondents, he desired them to inquire, privately, how Mr.
+Germaine went on.
+
+For some time he heard of nothing but his extravagance, and of the
+entertainments given to the fine world by Mrs. Germaine; but in the
+course of a few years, his correspondents hinted that Mr. Germaine began
+to be distressed for money, and that this was a secret which had been
+scrupulously kept from his lady, as scrupulously as she concealed from
+him her losses at play. Mr. Darford also learned from a correspondent
+who was intimately acquainted with one of Mrs. Germaine's friends,
+that this lady lived upon very bad terms with her husband; and that her
+children were terribly spoiled by the wretched education they received.
+
+These accounts gave William sincere concern: far from triumphing in
+the accomplishing of his prophecies, he never once recalled them to the
+memory even of his own family; all his thoughts were intent upon saving
+his friend from future pain.
+
+One day, as he was sitting with his family round their cheerful
+tea-table, his youngest boy, who had climbed upon his knees, exclaimed,
+"Papa! what makes you so very grave to-night? You are not at all like
+yourself! What can make you sorry?"
+
+"My dear little boy," said his father, "I was thinking of a letter I
+received to-day from London."
+
+"I wish those letters would never come, for they always make you look
+sad, and make you sigh! Mamma, why do you not desire the servants not to
+bring papa any more such letters? What did this letter say to you, papa,
+to make you so grave?"
+
+"My dear," said his father, smiling at the child's simplicity, "this
+letter told me that your little cousin Charles is not quite so good a
+boy as you are."
+
+"Then, papa, I will tell you what to do: send our Miss Locke to cousin
+Charles, and she will soon make him very good."
+
+"I dare say she would," replied the father, laughing: "but, my dear
+boy, I cannot send Miss Locke; and I am afraid she would not like to go:
+besides, we should be rather sorry to part with her."
+
+"Then, papa, suppose you were to send for my cousin; and Miss Locke
+could take care of him here, without leaving us?"
+
+"Could take care of him--true; but would she? If you can prevail upon
+her to do so, I will send for your cousin."
+
+The proposal, though playfully made, was seriously accepted by Miss
+Locke: and the more willingly, as she remembered, with gratitude, the
+attention Mr. Germaine had paid to her some years before, when with poor
+relations in London.
+
+Mr. Darford wrote immediately, to invite his cousin's children to his
+house; and the invitation was most gladly accepted, for it was received
+the very day when Mr. and Mrs. Germaine were so much embarrassed by Lady
+Mary Crawley's absolute refusal to admit these children into her house.
+Mrs. Germaine was not too proud to accept of favours from those whom
+she had treated as beneath her acquaintance, "quite out of her line of
+life!" She despatched her children directly to Mr. Darford's; and Miss
+Locke undertook the care of them. It was not an easy or agreeable task;
+but she had great obligations to Mrs. Darford, and was rejoiced at
+finding an opportunity of showing her gratitude.
+
+Miss Locke was the young woman whose painting of an iris had been
+admired by Charles and by Miss Maude Germaine when they visited the
+china works, thirteen or fourteen years before this time. She was at
+that period very ill, and in great distress: her father had been a
+bankrupt, and to earn bread for herself and her sisters she was obliged
+to work harder than her health and strength allowed. Probably she would
+have fallen a sacrifice to her exertions, if she had not been saved by
+the humanity of Mr. Darford; and, fortunately for him, he was married to
+a woman who sympathized in all his generous feelings, and who assisted
+him in every benevolent action.
+
+Mrs. Darford, after making sufficient inquiries as to the truth of the
+story, and the character of the girl, was so much pleased with all she
+heard of her merit, and so much touched by her misfortunes, that she
+took Miss Locke into her family to teach her daughters to draw. She well
+knew that a sense of dependence is one of the greatest evils; and she
+was careful to relieve the person whom she obliged from this painful
+feeling, by giving her an opportunity of being daily useful to her
+benefactress. Miss Locke soon recovered her health: she perceived she
+might be serviceable in teaching the children of the family many things
+besides drawing; and, with unremitting perseverance, she informed her
+own mind, that she might be able to instruct her pupils. Year after year
+she pursued this plan; and was rewarded by the esteem and affection of
+the happy family in which she lived.
+
+But though Miss Locke was a woman of great abilities, she had not the
+magical powers attributed to some characters in romance; she could not
+instantaneously produce a total reformation of manners. The habits of
+spoiled children are not to be changed by the most skilful preceptress,
+without the aid of time. Miss Maude Germaine and her brother had tempers
+which tried Miss Locke's patience to the utmost; but, gradually, she
+acquired some influence over these wayward spirits. She endeavoured with
+her utmost skill to eradicate the jealousy which had been implanted
+in the minds of the brother and sister. They found that they were now
+treated with strict impartiality, and they began to live together more
+peaceably.
+
+Time was willingly allowed to Miss Locke by their parents, who were glad
+to be disencumbered of their children. Eighteen months passed away, and
+no news were heard of Mr. and Mrs. Germaine, except that they continued
+the same extravagant, dissipated course of life, and that they began to
+be much embarrassed in their circumstances. At last Mr. Darford received
+a letter which informed him that an execution was laid on Mr. Germaine's
+fine house in town; and that he and his family were all in the greatest
+distress and affliction.
+
+William hastened immediately to London. He was denied admittance at Mr.
+Germaine's: the porter, with an air of mystery, said that his master was
+ill, and did not choose to see any body. William, however, forced his
+way up stairs.
+
+Charles, at the sight of him, stepped back, exclaiming, "May I believe
+my eyes? William! Is it you?"
+
+"Yes, it is William; your old friend William," said Mr. Darford,
+embracing him affectionately. Pride and shame struggled in the mind of
+Charles; and, turning aside to repress the tears, which in the first
+instance of emotion had started into his eyes, he went to the farthest
+end of the room for an arm-chair for his cousin, placed it with awkward
+ceremony, and said, "Won't you be seated, cousin Darford? I am sure
+Mrs. Germaine and I are much indebted to you and Mrs. Darford, for your
+goodness to our children. I was just thinking of writing to you about
+them;--but we are in sad confusion here, just at this moment. I am quite
+ashamed--I did not expect--Why did you never honour us with a visit
+before? I am sure you could not possibly have hit upon a more unlucky
+moment for a visit--for yourself, I mean." "If it proves lucky to you,
+my dear Charles," replied William mildly, "I shall think it the most
+fortunate moment I could possibly have chosen."
+
+Vanquished by the tone of this reply, our hero burst into tears: he
+squeezed his friend's hand, but could not speak. Recovering himself,
+after a few minutes, he said, "You are too good, cousin William, and
+always were! I thought you called in by accident; I had no
+supposition that you came on purpose to assist me in this moment of
+distress--embarrassment, I ought to say; for, in fact, it is only a mere
+temporary embarrassment."
+
+"I am heartily glad to hear it. But, speak to me freely, Charles: do
+not conceal the real state of your affairs from your best friend. What
+tendency could this have but to plunge you into irretrievable ruin?"
+
+Charles paused for a minute. "The truth of the matter is, my dear
+William," continued he, "that there are circumstances in this business
+which I should be sorry reached Mrs. Germaine's ear, or any of her
+cursed proud relations; for if once they heard of it, I should have no
+peace for the rest of my life. Indeed, as to peace, I cannot boast of
+much as it is: but it might be worse, much worse, if the whole truth
+came out. To you, however, I can trust it; though in your line of
+life, it would be counted a shocking thing: but still you are so
+indulgent----"
+
+William listened without being able to guess where this preamble would
+end.
+
+"In the first place," continued Charles, "you know--Mrs. Germaine is
+almost ten years older than I am."
+
+"Six years, I thought you formerly told me?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, ten--ten--within a few months. If I said six, it was
+before our marriage, when I knew no better. She owns to seven: her own
+relations say eight; her nurse said nine; and I say ten."
+
+"Well, ten let it be, since you will have it so."
+
+"I should be very glad to have it otherwise, I promise you, if I could:
+for it is not very pleasant to a man like me, to be _quizzed_ by half
+the young men of fashion in town, for having married a woman old enough
+to be my mother."
+
+"Not quite old enough to be your mother," said his cousin, in a
+conciliatory tone; "these young men of fashion are not the best
+calculators. Mrs. Germaine could not well have been your mother, since
+at the worst, by your own account, there is only ten years difference
+between you."
+
+"Oh, but that is not all; for, what is still worse, Mrs. Germaine,
+thanks to the raking hours she keeps, and gaming and fretting, looks
+full ten years older than she is: so that you see, in fact, there are
+twenty years between us."
+
+"I do not see it, indeed," replied William, smiling; "but I am bound to
+believe what you assert. Let me ask you, to what does this discussion,
+concerning poor Mrs. Germaine's age, tend?"
+
+"To justify, or at least to excuse, poor Mr. Germaine for keeping a
+mistress, who is something younger, something prettier, and, above all,
+something more good-humoured, than his wife."
+
+"Perhaps the wife would be as good-humoured as the mistress, if she were
+as happy in possessing her husband's affections."
+
+"Affections! Oh, Lord! Affections are out of the question, Mrs. Germaine
+does not care a straw about my affections."
+
+"And yet you dread that she should have the least hint of your having a
+mistress."
+
+"Of course. You don't see my jet. You don't consider what a devil of a
+handle that would give her against me. She has no more love for me than
+this table; but she is jealous beyond all credibility, and she knows
+right well how to turn her jealousy to account. She would go caballing
+amongst her tribes of relations, and get all the women and all the world
+on her side, with this hue and cry of a mistress; and then I should be
+branded as the worst husband upon earth. That indeed I should laugh at,
+because all the young men in town would keep me in countenance; but Mrs.
+Germaine would rummage out the history of the sums of money I have given
+this girl, and then would set those against her play-debts, and I should
+have no more hold over her; for, you know, if I should begin to reproach
+her with the one, she would recriminate. She is a devil of a hand at
+that work! Neither you nor any man on earth, except myself, can form any
+idea of the temper of Mrs. Germaine! She is--to you, my dear friend, I
+may have the relief of saying so--she is, without exception, the
+most proud, peevish, selfish, unreasonable, extravagant, tyrannical,
+unfeeling woman in Christendom!"
+
+"In Christendom! Oh, you exaggerate, Charles!"
+
+"Exaggerate! Upon my soul, I do not: she is all I have said, and more."
+
+"More! Impossible. Come, I see how it is; she has been unlucky at the
+card-table; you are angry, and therefore you speak, as angry people
+always do, {Footnote: Swift.} worse than you think."
+
+"No, not at all, I promise you. I am as perfectly cool as you are. You
+do not know Mrs. Germaine as well as I do."
+
+"But I know that she is much to be pitied, if her husband has a worse
+opinion of her than any body else expresses."
+
+"That is precisely because I am her husband, and know her better than
+other people do. Will not you give me leave to be the best judge in what
+relates to my own wife? I never, indeed, expected to hear you, of all
+people upon earth, cousin William, undertake her defence. I think I
+remember that she was no great favourite of yours before I married, and
+you dissuaded me as much as possible from the match: yet now you are
+quite become her advocate, and take her part to my face against me."
+
+"It is not taking her part against you, my dear Charles," replied his
+cousin, "to endeavour to make you better satisfied with your wife. I
+am not so obstinate in self-opinion as to wish, at the expense of your
+domestic happiness, to prove that I was right in dissuading you from the
+match; on the contrary, I would do all in my power to make the best of
+it; and so should you."
+
+"Ah, cousin William, it is easy for you to talk of making the best of a
+bad match; you who are married to one of the best tempered women alive!
+I wish you were to live with Mrs. Germaine for one month."
+
+William smiled, as much as to say, "I cannot join in that wish."
+
+"Besides," continued Charles, "if I were to open my whole heart to you,
+you would pity me on another account. My wife is not my only plague: my
+mistress is almost as great a torment as my wife."
+
+"What! this mistress of whom you are so fond?"
+
+"Ay! there is the curse! I cannot help being fond of her: and that she
+knows, and plays me off as she pleases. But I believe the little jilt
+loves me all the time: because she has offers enough, and from men of
+the first fashion, if she would leave me. She is certainly a good girl;
+but then so passionate!"
+
+"I thought you told me she was good-humoured," interrupted his cousin.
+
+"Well, so she is, at times, the best humoured creature in nature; and
+then she is charming: but when she falls into a passion, she is a little
+fury! absolutely a little devil! There is nothing she would not do. Now,
+do you know, all this terrible business, this execution against me, is
+her doing?"
+
+"A singular proof of love!" said Mr. William Darford.
+
+"Oh, the fool loves me, notwithstanding; I must do her that justice:
+but she is quite a child. I put her into a passion, by going down to
+Leicestershire when she wanted me to stay with her in town. She told
+me she would be revenged; but I could not believe she would go such
+lengths. She gave a note of mine, for two hundred guineas, to her uncle;
+and he got a writ. Now she is in despair about it; I saw her two hours
+ago all in tears, and tearing her hair, because her uncle won't consent
+to withdraw the execution. I am sure she is really and truly sorry; and
+would give her eyes to get me out of this scrape."
+
+"Whether she would give her eyes or not, I will not pretend to
+determine; but it is plain she would not pay two hundred guineas 'to get
+you out of this scrape.' Now, where do you intend to get the money?"
+
+"Ah, there's the rub! I have not a farthing, till our next rents come
+in; and you see these heaps of bills. Then the agent, who manages every
+thing, Heaven knows how! at Germaine-park, says tenants are breaking;
+that we are, I do not know how much, in his debt, and that we must sell;
+but that, if we sell in a hurry, and if our distress be talked of, we
+shall get nothing for the land, and so shall be ruined outright. Now,
+this all originates in Mrs. Germaine's pride and positiveness: she never
+could be prevailed upon to go down to Germaine-park, these ten years
+past, because some of the Northamptonshire people affronted her: so our
+affairs have gone on just as the agent pleases; and he is a rascal, I
+am convinced, for he is always writing to say we are in his debt. But,
+indeed, my dear William, you are too good to take any interest in this
+history of my affairs: I am conscious that I have not treated you well."
+
+"Do not talk of that now: do not think of it, Charles," interrupted Mr.
+Darford. "I am come to town on purpose to be of all the service to you I
+can. I will discharge this writ upon one, and only upon one, condition."
+
+"Upon any condition you please," cried Charles. "I will give you my
+bond. I will give you security upon the Germaine estate, if you require
+it."
+
+"I require no security; I require no bond, Charles; I require only a
+condition which I believe to be absolutely necessary for your happiness.
+Promise me you will break off all connexion with this treacherous
+mistress of yours."
+
+"Treacherous! No, no! I assure you, you mistake the girl."
+
+"Mistake her or not, Charles, without arguing the matter farther, on
+this one point I must be peremptory; and, positively, the only condition
+on which I will pay this money is your promise never to see her again."
+
+Charles hesitated. "Upon my soul," cried he, "I believe the girl will
+break her heart. But then she is so cursedly extravagant, she ruins
+me! I would have broken with her long ago, if I could have summoned up
+courage enough. After all, I believe it was more habit, idleness, and
+fashion, than any thing else, that made me go to see her so often. When
+I did not know what to do with myself, or when I was put out of humour
+at home, I went to this girl. Well, let us say no more about it: she is
+not worth thinking of; I give her up. You may depend upon it, my dear
+William, I will have nothing more to do with her. I will, since you make
+that your ultimatum, never see her again."
+
+"Will you write to her then immediately, to let her know your
+determination?"
+
+"Certainly; immediately."
+
+Charles wrote, to bid adieu to this mistress; to whom, by his own
+account, habit, idleness, fashion, and the want of a happy home, had
+attached him; and William gave him a draft for the amount of his debt,
+by which the execution was taken off.
+
+Mr. Darford seized the moment when his cousin's mind was warmed with
+gratitude to say a few words, as little in the form of advice as
+possible, in praise of economy.
+
+"You know, my dear Charles," said he, "that I am, and always was, a
+very plain man, in my way of living; and I dare say my ideas will appear
+quite absurd to you, who are used to live with men of taste and fashion;
+but really these rooms, this furniture, and this house, appear to me
+fitter for a nobleman than for a man of your fortune."
+
+"It is so. Mrs. Germaine would insist upon my taking it. But I will
+part with it before next winter. I will advertise it immediately. I will
+begin a course of economy."
+
+Mr. Germaine's projects of economy were at this moment interrupted
+by the sudden entrance of his wife. Her eyes flashing with anger, she
+walked with the proud air of an enraged tragedy queen across the
+room, seated herself upon a sofa, and, in a voice which trembled with
+ill-suppressed rage, said, "I am to thank you, Mr. Germaine, for the
+many obliging things you have said of me this last hour! I have heard
+them all! You are under a mistake, sir, if you imagine I have been
+hitherto your dupe. You have never imposed upon me for a moment. I have
+suspected, this twelvemonth, that you kept a mistress: and now I am
+happy to have the truth confirmed from your own lips. But I deserve all
+that has happened! I am justly treated! Weak woman, to marry as I did!
+No gentleman, sir, would have behaved or would have spoken as you have
+done! Could not you have been content with ruining yourself and your
+family, Mr. Germaine, by your profligate low tastes, without insulting
+me by base reflections upon my temper, and downright falsehoods about my
+age? No gentleman, sir, would have treated me as you have done. I am the
+most miserable of women!"
+
+Passion choked her utterance, and she fell back in a violent fit of
+hysterics. Mr. William Darford was much shocked at this matrimonial
+scene. The lady had caught hold of his arm, in one of her convulsive
+motions; and she held it so fast that he could not withdraw. Charles
+stood in silent dismay. His conscience smote him; and though he could
+not love his wife, he blamed himself for having rendered her "the most
+miserable of women." "Leave her to me, Charles," said Mr. Darford, "and
+I will endeavour to set matters to rights."
+
+Charles shook his head, and left the room. Mrs. Germaine by degrees
+recovered herself; for a hysteric fit cannot last for ever. She cast her
+eyes round the room, and exclaimed, "He has done well to leave me! Oh,
+that it were for ever! Oh, that we had never met! But may I ask why Mr.
+William Darford is here? My own servant--my own maid, should have been
+summoned to attend me. We have servants still, sir; and, humbled as I
+am, I see no necessity for submitting to have cool spectators of our
+family distresses and family quarrels."
+
+"Believe me, madam," said Mr. Darford, "I am not a cool spectator of
+either. I do not wish to recal {sic} disagreeable things, but to obtain
+the right of speaking to you of your affairs as a friend. Permit me to
+remind you that, when I could not guess you heard me, I defended your
+interests."
+
+"Really, sir, you spoke so low that I did not distinctly hear what
+you said; and my feelings were so much hurt, by all I heard from Mr.
+Germaine, who spoke loud enough, that I attended to nothing else. Upon
+recollection, I do, however, remember you made some offer to get Mr.
+Germaine out of his present embarrassments, upon condition that he would
+break off all connexion with this girl, whom nobody knows; or rather
+whom every body knows _too_ well."
+
+"And was not this offer of mine some proof, Mrs. Germaine, that I wish
+your happiness?"
+
+"Why, really, Mr. Darford, having lived in the world as I have done
+from my childhood, I am not apt to expect much friendship from any one,
+especially from people in the habits of calculation; and I have been
+so much deceived where I have unguardedly trusted to the friendship and
+love of a man brought up in that sort of way, that you must forgive
+me if I could not bring my mind to think you had any concern for my
+happiness in the offer you made. I did indeed suppose it would be a
+mortifying circumstance to you, to see your cousin quite ruined by this
+infamous creature. I say, I did imagine you would be shocked at seeing
+your cousin sent to jail. That, you know, is a thing discreditable to a
+whole family, let it be of what sort it may. From your kindness to our
+children, I see you consider us as relations. Every human being, I do
+suppose, has some family pride in their own way."
+
+"I own I have a great deal of family pride, in my own way, madam,"
+replied Mr. Darford, with a calm smile; "I am proud, for instance, of
+having, and of being able to maintain in perfect independence, a number
+of good and affectionate children, and a wife, whose good sense and
+sweetness of temper constitute the happiness of my existence!"
+
+Mrs. Germaine coloured, threw back her head, and strove to conceal the
+anguish of her conscience. William was sorry he had inflicted pain,
+but he saw that the only way to make himself understood in this
+conversation, was to assert that real superiority of character to which,
+in certain situations, the factitious pretensions of rank or fashion
+never fail to yield.
+
+"You are at liberty, Mrs. Germaine," continued William, "to interpret
+my offers and my actions as you think proper; but you will, when you are
+cool, observe that neither I nor any of my family have any thing to gain
+from you or yours; not even a curtsy or a bow, in public places; for we
+do not frequent them. We live retired, and have no connexion with fine
+people; we preserve our own independence by confining ourselves to our
+own station in life; and by never desiring to quit it, nor to ape those
+who are called our betters. From what I have just heard you say, I think
+it possible you may have formed the idea that we invited your children
+to our house with the selfish supposition that the connexion, I believe
+that is the fashionable phrase, might be advantageous to our own. But
+this is quite a mistake. Our children will live as we do: they have no
+idea of forming high connexions, because they have been taught not to
+think them necessary to happiness. I assure you it is not my habit to
+talk so much of myself and of mine; but I thought it best to explain the
+truth to you at once, as this was the only way to gain your confidence,
+and as we have neither of us time to spare."
+
+"Very true," said Mrs. Germaine.
+
+"And now, madam, I have a proposal to make to you, which I hope you will
+take as it is meant. I understand, from Mr. Germaine, you have some play
+debts."
+
+"Mr. Germaine does not know their amount," said Mrs. Germaine, lowering
+her voice, as if she apprehended she might be overheard.
+
+"If you will trust me with that secret, I will not make a bad use of
+it."
+
+Mrs. Germaine in a whisper named the sum. It was certainly considerable,
+for the naming of it made Mr. Darford step back with surprise. After a
+few minutes' thought, he recovered himself, and said, "This is a larger
+debt than I was aware of, but we will see what can be done. From the
+time that Charles and I dissolved our partnership, I have never remitted
+my attention to business; and that very circumstance, for which you must
+despise me, puts it now in my power to assist you without injuring my
+own family. I am a man who speak my mind freely, perhaps bluntly.
+You must solemnly promise me you will never again play at any game of
+hazard. Upon this condition, I will pay your present debts immediately."
+
+With all the eagerness of a person who wishes to seize an offer which
+appears too generous to be repeated, Mrs. Germaine promised all that was
+required. Her debts were paid.
+
+And now her benefactor had hopes that she and her husband would live
+more prudently; and that they might still enjoy some portion of domestic
+happiness. Vain hopes! Charles really wished to retrench his expenses;
+but Mrs. Germaine's pride was an insuperable obstacle to all his plans
+of economy. She had always been accustomed to such and such things.
+There was no possibility of living without them. Her relations would be
+perfectly astonished if she did not appear in the style in which she had
+always lived before her marriage. Provoked by the insolent absurdity of
+such arguments, Mr. Germaine insisted with the authoritative voice of a
+husband who was conscious that he had both reason and power on his
+side. Hence arose daily altercations, more bitter even than those which
+jealousy had formerly occasioned. Some wives acknowledge they can more
+easily forgive a husband's infidelity than his interference in the
+regulation of their household expenses. Of this class of amiable females
+was Mrs. Germaine. Though her husband strictly adhered to his promise,
+never to have any farther connexion with his mistress, yet he was not
+rewarded by any increase of affection or kindness from his wife; on the
+contrary, she seemed to be rather vexed that she was deprived of this
+legitimate subject of complaint. She could not, with so much tragic
+effect, bewail that her husband would ruin himself and her by his
+follies.
+
+To loud altercations, silent hatred succeeded. Mrs. Germaine grew
+sullen, low-spirited, nervous, and hysterical. Among fashionable medical
+dowagers, she became an interesting personage: but this species of
+consequence was by no means sufficient to support her self-complacency,
+and, as she declared, she felt herself incapable of supporting the
+intolerable burden of _ennui_.
+
+In various situations, the conduct of many individuals may be predicted
+with certainty, by those who are acquainted with their previous habits.
+Habit is, to weak minds, a species of moral predestination, from which
+they have no power to escape. Their common language expresses their
+sense of their own inability to struggle against that destiny which
+their previous folly has prepared. They usually say, "For my part, I
+cannot help doing so and so. I know it is very wrong. I know it is my
+ruin; but I own I cannot resist. It is in vain to argue with me: it is
+my way; it is my fate."
+
+Mrs. Germaine found herself led, "by an irresistible impulse," to the
+card-table, notwithstanding her solemn promise never more to play at any
+game of hazard. It was in vain to argue with her. "It was her way; it
+was her fate; she knew it was very wrong; she knew it was her ruin; but
+she could not resist!"
+
+In the course of a few months, she was again involved in debt; and she
+had the meanness and the assurance again to apply to the generosity of
+Mr. William Darford. Her letter was written in the most abject strain,
+and was full of all the flattering expressions which she imagined must,
+from a woman of her birth and consequence in the world, have a magical
+effect upon one in Mr. William Darford's station. She was surprised when
+she received a decided refusal. He declined all farther interference, as
+he perceived it was impossible that he could be of any real utility.
+He forbore to reproach the lady with her breach of promise: "She will,"
+said he to himself, "be sufficiently punished by the consequences of her
+own conduct: I would not increase her distress."
+
+A separation from her husband was the immediate consequence. Perhaps it
+may be thought that, to Mrs. Germaine, this would be no punishment: but
+the loss of all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of married life, was
+deeply felt. She was thrown absolutely upon the charity of relations;
+who had very little charity in any sense of the word. She was
+disregarded by all her fine acquaintance; she had no friend upon earth
+to pity her; even her favourite maid gave warning, because she was tired
+of her mistress's temper, and of receiving no wages.
+
+The detail of poor Mrs. Germaine's mortifications and sufferings cannot
+be interesting. She was a prey to low spirits, or in other words, to
+mortified vanity, for some time; and at last died of a nervous fever.
+
+Her husband wrote the following letter to Mr. William Darford, soon
+after her death:
+
+"MY DEAR WILLIAM,
+
+"You have heard of poor Mrs. Germaine's death, and of the manner of it;
+no more need be said upon that subject. Whatever were her faults,
+she has suffered for them; and so have I for mine. Believe me, I am
+effectually cured of all desire to be a fine gentleman. I shall quit the
+name of Germaine immediately, and resume that of Darford. You know the
+state of my affairs. There is yet hope I may set things to rights by my
+own industry; and I am determined to go into business, and to apply to
+it in good earnest, for my own sake, and for the sake of my children,
+whom I have hitherto shamefully neglected. But I had it not always in my
+power, after my marriage, to do as I wished. No more of that. The blame
+be upon me for the past; for the future I shall, I hope, be a different
+man. I dare not ask you to trust so far to these good resolutions as to
+take me into partnership with you, in your manufactory; but perhaps
+your good-nature can direct me to some employment suited to my views and
+capacity. I ask only a fair trial; I think I shall not do as I used to
+do, and leave all the letters to be written by my partner.
+
+"Give my love to my dear little boy and girl. How can I thank you and
+Mrs. Darford enough for all you have done for them? There is another
+person whom I should wish to thank, but scarcely dare to name; feeling,
+as I do, so unworthy of her goodness.
+
+"Adieu, yours sincerely,
+
+"CHARLES DARFORD, again, thank God."
+
+It is scarcely necessary to inform our readers, that Mr. William Darford
+received his penitent friend with open arms, took him into partnership,
+and assisted him in the most kind and judicious manner to re-establish
+his fortune and his credit. He became remarkable for his steady
+attention to business; to the great astonishment of those who had seen
+him only in the character of a dissipated fine gentleman. Few have
+sufficient strength of mind thus to stop short in the career of folly,
+and few have the resolution to bear the ridicule thrown upon them even
+by those whom they despise. Our hero was ridiculed most unmercifully by
+all his former companions,--by all the Bond-street loungers. But of what
+consequence was this to him? He did not live among them; he did not hear
+their witticisms; and well knew that, in less than a twelvemonth, they
+would forget such a person as Charles Germaine had ever existed. His
+knowledge of what is called high life had sufficiently convinced him
+that happiness is not in the gift or in the possession of those who are
+often, to ignorant mortals, objects of supreme admiration and envy.
+
+Charles Darford looked for happiness, and found it in domestic life.
+
+Belief, founded upon our own experience, is more firm than that which
+we grant to the hearsay evidence of moralists; but happy those who,
+according to the ancient proverb, can profit by the experience of their
+predecessors!
+
+_Feb_. 1803.
+
+
+
+
+THE CONTRAST
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+"What a blessing it is to be the father of such a family of children!"
+said farmer Frankland, as he looked round at the honest affectionate
+faces of his sons and daughters, who were dining with him on his
+birthday. "What a blessing it is to have a large family of children!"
+
+"A blessing you may call it, if you will, neighbour," said farmer
+Bettesworth; "but if I were to speak my mind, I should be apt to call it
+a curse."
+
+"Why, as to that, we may both be right and both be wrong," replied
+Frankland; "for children are either a blessing or a curse according
+as they turn out; and they turn out according as they are brought up.
+'Bring up a child in the way it should go;' that has ever been my maxim:
+show me a better, show me a happier family than my own; and show me a
+happier father than myself," continued the good old man, with
+pleasure sparkling in his eyes. Observing, however, that his neighbour
+Bettesworth looked blank and sighed deeply, he checked himself, and
+said, in a more humble tone, "To be sure, it is not so mannerly for a
+man to be praising his own, except it just come from the heart unawares,
+amongst friends who will excuse it, especially upon such a day as this.
+This day I am seventy years of age, and never was heartier or happier!
+So, Fanny, love, fill neighbour Bettesworth a glass of your sister's
+cider. 'Tis my Patty's making, sir; and better never was drunk. Nay,
+nay, sit ye still, neighbour; as you happened to call in just as we were
+all dining, and making merry together, why you cannot do better than
+to stay and make one of us, seeing that you are heartily welcome." Mr.
+Bettesworth excused himself, by saying that he was in haste to get home.
+
+No happy home had he, no affectionate children to welcome his return.
+Yet he had as numerous a family as Mr. Frankland; three sons and two
+daughters: Idle Isaac, Wild Will, Bullying Bob, Saucy Sally, and Jilting
+Jessy. Such were the names by which they were called by all who knew
+them in the town of Monmouth, where they lived. Alliteration had "lent
+its artful aid" in giving these nicknames; but they were not misapplied.
+
+Mr. Bettesworth was an indolent man, fond of his pipe, and fonder of
+building castles in the air by his fireside. Mrs. Bettesworth was a
+vain, foolish vixen; fond of dress, and fonder of her own will. Neither
+of them took the least care to breed up their children. Whilst they were
+young, the mother humoured them: when they grew up, she contradicted
+them in every thing, and then wondered how they could he so ungrateful
+as not to love her.
+
+The father was also surprised to find that his boys and girls were not
+as well-mannered, nor as well-tempered, nor as clever, nor as steady,
+nor as dutiful and affectionate, as his neighbour Frankland's; and he
+said to himself, "Some folks have the luck of having good children. To
+be sure, some children are born better than others."
+
+He should rather have said, "To be sure, some children are bred better
+than others."
+
+Mr. Frankland's wife was a prudent, sensible woman, and had united with
+him in constant endeavours to educate their family. Whilst they were yet
+infants, prattling at their mother's knee, she taught them to love and
+help one another, to conquer their little froward humours, and to be
+obedient and tractable. This saved both them and herself a great deal
+of trouble afterward; and their father often said, both to the boys and
+girls, "You may thank your mother, and so may I, for the good tempers
+you have."
+
+The girls had the misfortune to lose this excellent mother, when one
+was about seventeen, and the other eighteen; but she was always alive
+in their memory. Patty, the eldest sister, was homely in her person;
+but she was so neat in her dress, and she had such a cheerful agreeable
+temper, that people forgot she was not handsome; particularly as it was
+observed that she was very fond of her sister Fanny, who was remarkably
+pretty.
+
+Fanny was neither prudish nor censorious; neither a romp nor a flirt:
+she was so unaffected and unassuming, that most of her neighbours loved
+her; and this is saying a great deal in favour of one who had so much
+the power to excite envy.
+
+Mr. Frankland's eldest son, George, was bred to be a farmer; and he
+understood country business uncommonly well for a young man of his age.
+He constantly assisted his father in the management of the farm; and, by
+this means, acquired much experience with little waste of time or money.
+His father had always treated him so much as his friend, and had talked
+to him so openly of his affairs, that he ever looked upon his father's
+business as his own; and he had no idea of having any separate interest.
+
+James, the second son, was bred to trade. He had been taught whatever
+was necessary and useful for a man in business; he had habits of
+punctuality, civil manners, and a thorough love of fair dealing.
+
+Frank, the youngest son, was of a more lively disposition than his
+brothers; and his father used often to tell him, when he was a boy,
+that, if he did not take care, his hasty temper would get him into
+scrapes; and that the brightest parts, as they are called, will be of
+little use to a man, unless he has also steadiness to go through with
+whatever he begins. These hints, from a father whom he heartily loved,
+made so strong an impression upon Frank, that he took great pains to
+correct the natural violence of his temper, and to learn patience and
+industry. The three brothers were attached to one another; and their
+friendship was a source of improvement, as well as of pleasure.
+
+The evening of Mr. Frankland's birthday the whole family retired to an
+arbour in their garden, and began to talk over their affairs with open
+hearts.
+
+"Well, Frank, my boy," said the happy father, who was the confidant
+of his children, "I am sure, if your heart is set upon this match with
+Jessy Bettesworth, I will do my best to like the girl; and her not being
+rich shall be no objection to me; we can make that up amongst us, some
+way or other. But, Frank, it is fair to tell you my opinion of the
+girl, plainly and fully, beforehand, as I have done. She that has jilted
+others, I think, would be apt to jilt you, if she met with a better
+offer."
+
+"Why then, father, I'll not be in a hurry: I'll take time to consider,
+before I speak to her any more; and I thank you for being so kind, which
+I hope I shall not forget."
+
+The morning after this conversation passed, Jilting Jessy, accompanied
+by her sister, Saucy Sally, came to pay Patty and Fanny Frankland a
+visit. They were full of some piece of news, which they were eager to
+tell.
+
+"Well, to be sure, I dreamed I had a diamond ring put on my finger by a
+great lord, not a week ago," cried Jessy; "and who knows but it may come
+true? You have not heard the news, Fanny Frankland? Hey, Patty?"
+
+"Not they: they never hear any news!" said Sally.
+
+"Well, then, I'll tell you," cried Jessy. "Rich Captain Bettesworth, our
+relation, who made the great _fortin_ abroad, over seas, has just broken
+his neck out a-hunting; and the _fortin_ all comes to us."
+
+"We shall now see whether Mrs. Craddock will push by me again, as she
+did yesterday in the street! We'll see whether I shan't make as good a
+fine lady as herself, I warrant it, that's all. It's my turn to push by
+folk now," said Saucy Sally.
+
+Fanny and Patty Frankland, with sincere good-nature, congratulated their
+neighbours on this increase of fortune; but they did not think that
+pushing by Mrs. Craddock could be one of the most useful or agreeable
+consequences of an increase in fortune.
+
+"Lord, Patty! how you sit moping yourself there at your work," continued
+Sally; "but some people must work, to be sure, that can't afford to be
+idle. How you must envy us, Patty!"
+
+Patty assured her she did not in the least envy those who were idle.
+
+"Fine talking! Fine airs, truly, Miss Patty! This is by way of calling
+me over the coals for being idle, I suppose!" said Sally: "but I've
+no notion of being taken to task this way. You think you've had a
+fine _education_, I suppose, and so are to get a pattern for all
+Monmouthshire, indeed: but you'll find some people will be as much
+thought of now as other people, and may hold their heads as high.
+_Edication_'s a fine thing, no doubt; but _fortin_'s a better, as the
+world goes, I've a notion: so you may go moping on here as long as you
+please, being a good child all the days of your life!
+
+  'Come when you're call'd;
+  And do as you're bid;
+  Shut the door after you;
+  And you'll never be chid.'
+
+I'm sure, I would not let my nose be kept to the grindstone, as yours
+is, for any one living. I've too much spirit, for my part to be made
+a fool of as some people are; and all for the sake of being called a
+vastly good daughter, or a vastly good sister, forsooth!"
+
+Nothing but the absolute want of breath could have suspended the
+remainder of this speech; for she was so provoked to see Patty did not
+envy her, that she was determined to say every thing she could invent to
+try her. Patty's temper, however, was proof against the trial; and Saucy
+Sally, despairing of success against one sister, turned to the other.
+
+"Miss Fanny, I presume," said she, "won't give herself such high and
+mighty airs, as she used to do, to one of her sweethearts, who shall be
+nameless."
+
+Fanny blushed, for she knew this speech alluded to Wild Will, who was an
+admirer of hers, but whom she had never encouraged.
+
+"I hope," said she, "I never gave myself airs to anybody: but, if you
+mean to speak of your brother William, I assure you that my opinion of
+him will not be changed by his becoming richer; nor will my father's."
+
+Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Frank, who had
+just heard, from one of the Bettesworths, of their good fortune. He was
+impatient to see how Jessy would behave in prosperity. "Now," said he
+to himself, "I shall judge whether my father's opinion of her or mine is
+right."
+
+Jilting Jessy had certainly given Frank reason to believe she was very
+fond of him; but the sudden change in her fortune quite altered her
+views and opinions. As soon as Frank came in, she pretended to be in
+great haste to be gone; and, by various petty manoeuvres, avoided giving
+him an opportunity of speaking to her; though she plainly saw he was
+anxious to say something to her in private. At length, when she was
+looking out of the window, to see whether a shower was over, he went
+behind her and whispered, "Why are you in such haste? Cannot you stay a
+few minutes with us? You were not always in such a hurry to run away!"
+
+"Lord, nonsense! Mr. Frank. Why will you always plague me with nonsense,
+Mr. Frank?"
+
+She opened the lattice window as she spoke, put out her beautiful neck
+as far as possible, and looked up eagerly to the clouds.
+
+"How sweet this jasmine smells!" said Frank, pulling a bit of it which
+hung over the casement. "This is the jasmine you used to like so much.
+See, I've nailed it up, and it's finer than ever it was. Won't you have
+a sprig of it?" offering to put some in her hat, as he had done before;
+but she now drew back disdainfully, saying:
+
+"Lord! Mr. Frank, it's all wet, and will spoil my new lilac ribbons. How
+awkward and disagreeable you are always!"
+
+"Always! you did not always think so; at least, you did not say so."
+
+"Well, I think so, and say so now; and that's enough."
+
+"And too much, if you are in earnest; but that I can hardly believe."
+
+"That's your business, and not mine. If you don't choose to believe what
+I say, how can I help it? But this you'll remember, if you please, sir."
+
+"Sir!!! Oh, Jessy! is it come to this?".
+
+"To what, sir? For I vow and declare I don't understand you!"
+
+"I have never understood you till now, I am afraid."
+
+"Perhaps not: it's well we understand one another at last. Better late
+than never."
+
+The scornful lady walked off to a looking-glass, to wipe away the insult
+which her new lilac ribbons had received from Frank's sprig of jasmine.
+
+"One word more, and I have done," said Frank, hastily following her.
+"Have I done anything to displease you? Or does this change in you
+proceed from the change in your fortune, Jessy?"
+
+"I'm not obliged, sir, to account for my proceedings to any body; and
+don't know what right you have to question me, as if you were my lord
+and judge: which you are not, nor ever will be, thank God!"
+
+Frank's passion struggled with his reason for a few instants. He stood
+motionless; then, in an altered voice, repeated, "Thank God!" and turned
+from her with proud composure. From this time forward he paid no more
+court to Jessy.
+
+"Ah, father!" said he, "you knew her better than I did. I am glad I did
+not marry her last year, when she would have accepted of me, and when
+she seemed to love me. I thought you were rather hard upon her then. But
+you were not in love with her as I was, and now I find you were right."
+
+"My dear Frank," said the good old man, "I hope you will not think me
+hard another time, when I do not think just the same as you do. I would,
+as I told you, have done every thing in my power to settle you well in
+the world, if you had married this girl. I should never have been angry
+with you; but I should have been bitterly grieved if you had, for the
+whim of the minute, made yourself unhappy for life. And was it not best
+to put you upon your guard? What better use can an old man make of his
+experience than to give it to his children?"
+
+Frank was touched by the kind manner in which his father spoke to him;
+and Fanny, who was present, immediately put a letter into her father's
+hand, saying, "I have just received this from Will Bettesworth: what
+answer do you think I had best give him?"
+
+Now, Fanny, though she did not quite approve of Wild Will's character,
+felt a little partiality for him, for he seemed to be of a generous
+temper, and his manners were engaging. She hoped his wildness was
+only the effect of good spirits, and that he would soon settle to some
+business. However, she had kept these hopes and this partiality a secret
+from all but her father, and she had never given Will Bettesworth any
+encouragement. Her father had not a good opinion of this young man; and
+she had followed his advice, in keeping him at a distance. His letter
+was written in so vile a hand, that it was not easy to decipher the
+meaning:
+
+
+"MY SWEET PRETTY FANNY,
+
+"Notwithstanding your cruelty, I ham more in love with you than hever;
+and now I ham come in for a share in a great fortin; and shall ask no
+questions from father nor mother, if you will marry me, having no reason
+to love or care for either. Mother's as cross as hever, and will never,
+I am shure, agre to my doing any thing I like myself; which makes me
+more set upon having my own whay, and I ham more and more in love with
+you than hever, and would go through fire and water to get you.
+
+"Your true love (in haste),
+
+"WILL BETTESWORTH."
+
+At first reading the letter, Fanny was pleased to find that her lover
+did not, like Jilting Jessy, change his mind the moment that his
+situation was altered; but, upon looking over it again, she could not
+help considering that such an undutiful son was not likely to make a
+very good husband; and she thought even that Wild Will seemed to be more
+and more in love with her than ever, from the spirit of opposition; for
+he had not been much attached to her, till his mother, as he said, set
+herself against the match. At the end of this letter were the words
+_turn over_; but they were so scrawled and blotted, that Fanny thought
+they were only one of the strange flourishes which he usually made at
+the end of his name; and consequently she had never turned over, or read
+the postscript, when she put the epistle into her father's hands. He
+deciphered the flourish, and read the following addition:
+
+"I know your feather does not like me; but never mind his not being
+agreuble. As shure as my name's Will, I'd carry you hoff, night or day;
+and Bob would fight your brothers along with me, if they said a word:
+for Bob loves fun. I will be at your windor this night, if you are
+agreuble, like a gurl of spirit."
+
+Fanny was shocked so much that she turned quite pale, and would have
+sunk to the ground, if she had not been supported by her father. As soon
+as she recovered herself sufficiently to be able to think, she declared
+that all the liking she had ever felt for William Bettesworth was
+completely conquered; and she thanked her father for having early warned
+her of his character. "Ah! father," said she, "what a happiness it has
+been to me that you never made me afraid of you! Else, I never should
+have dared to tell you my mind; and in what a sad snare might I have
+been at this instant! If it had not been for you, I should perhaps have
+encouraged this man; I might not then, may be, have been able to draw
+back; and what would have become of me?"
+
+It is scarcely necessary to say that Fanny wrote a decided refusal to
+Wild Will. All connexion between the Bettesworths and Franklands was now
+broken off. Will was enraged at being rejected by Fanny; and Jessy was
+equally incensed at finding she was no longer admired by Frank. They,
+however, affected to despise the Franklands, and to treat them as people
+beneath their notice. The fortune left by Captain Bettesworth to his
+relations, was said to be about twenty thousand pounds: with this sum
+they thought, to use their own expression, they were entitled to live in
+as great style, and cut as grand a dash, as any of the first families in
+Monmouthshire. For the present we shall leave them to the enjoyment of
+their new grandeur, and continue the humble history of farmer Frankland
+and his family.
+
+By many years of persevering industry, Mr. Frankland had so improved
+the farm upon which he lived, that he was now affluent, for a man in his
+station of life. His house, garden, farm-yard, every thing about him,
+were so neat and comfortable, that travellers, as they passed by, never
+failed to ask, "Who lives there?" Travellers, however, only saw the
+outside; and that was not, in this instance, the best part. They would
+have seen happiness, if they had looked within these farm-house walls:
+happiness which may be enjoyed as well in the cottage as in the palace;
+that which arises from family union.
+
+Mr. Frankland was now anxious to settle his sons in the world. George
+had business enough at home, in taking care of the farm; and James
+proposed to set up a haberdasher's shop in Monmouth: accordingly, the
+goods were ordered, and the shop was taken.
+
+There was a part in the roof of the house which let in the wet, and
+James would not go into it till this was completely repaired; so his
+packages of goods were sent from London to his father's house, which
+was only a mile distant from Monmouth. His sisters unpacked them by his
+desire, to set shop-marks upon each article. Late at night, after all
+the rest of the family were asleep, Patty was sitting up to finish
+setting the marks on a box full of ribbons; the only thing that remained
+to be done. Her candle was just burnt out; and as she was going for
+another, she went by a passage window that faced the farm-yard, and
+suddenly saw a great light without. She looked out, and beheld the large
+hay-rick all in flames. She ran immediately to awaken her brothers and
+her father. They used every possible exertion to extinguish the fire,
+and to prevent it from communicating to the dwelling-house; but the wind
+was high; it blew directly towards the house. George poured buckets
+of water over the thatch, to prevent its catching fire; but all was
+in vain: thick flakes of fire fell upon it faster than they could be
+extinguished, and in an hour's time the dwelling-house was in a blaze.
+
+The first care of the sons had been to get their father and sisters out
+of danger; then, with great presence of mind, they collected every thing
+that was most valuable and portable, and laboured hard to save poor
+James's stock of haberdashery. They were all night hard at work:
+towards three o'clock the fire was got under, and darkness and silence
+succeeded. There was one roof of the house saved, under which the whole
+family rested for a few hours, till the return of daylight renewed the
+melancholy spectacle of their ruin. Hay, oats, straw, corn-ricks, barn,
+every thing that the farm-yard contained, was utterly consumed: the
+walls and some half-burnt beams remained of the dwelling-house, but it
+was no longer habitable. It was calculated that six hundred pounds would
+not repair the loss occasioned by this unfortunate accident. How the
+hay-rick had caught fire nobody knew.
+
+George, who had made up the hay-stack, was most inclined to think that
+the hay had not been sufficiently dried, and that the rick had heated
+from this cause. He blamed himself extremely; but his father declared he
+had seen, felt, and smelt the hay, when the rick was making, and that
+it was as well saved hay as ever was brought into a farm-yard. This,
+in some measure, quieted poor George's conscience: and he was yet more
+comforted by Patty's good-nature, who showed him a bucket of ashes
+which had been left very near the spot where the hay-rick stood.
+The servant-girl, who, though careless, was honest, confessed she
+recollected having accidentally left this bucket in that dangerous place
+the preceding evening; that she was going with it across the yard to the
+ash-hole, but she heard her lover whistle to her from the lane, and she
+set down the bucket in a hurry, ran to meet him, and forgot the ashes.
+All she could say in her own defence was, that she did not think there
+was any fire in the bucket.
+
+Her good master forgave her carelessness; he said he was sure she
+reproached herself enough for it, as indeed she did, and the more so
+when her master spoke to her so kindly; she cried as if her heart would
+break; and all that could be done to comfort her, was to set her to work
+as hard as possible for the family.
+
+They did not, any of them, spend their time in vain lamentations: ready
+money was wanting to rebuild the house and barns, and James sold to a
+haberdasher in Monmouth all of his stock which had been saved out of the
+fire, and brought the money to his father.
+
+"Father," said he, "you gave this to me when you were able to afford
+it; you want it now, and I can do very well without it. I will go and
+be shopman in some good shop in Monmouth; and by degrees I shall get on,
+and do very well in the world. It would be strange if I did not, after
+the education you have given me."
+
+The father took the money from his son with tears of pleasure. "It is
+odd enough." said he, "that I should feel pleasure at such a time; but
+this is the blessing of having good children. As long as we all
+are ready to help one another in this manner, we can never be very
+miserable, happen what may. Now let us think of rebuilding our house,"
+continued the active old man. "Frank, reach me down my hat. I've a
+twinge of the rheumatism in this arm: I caught a little cold the night
+of the fire, I believe; but stirring about will do me good, and I must
+not be lazy: I should be ashamed to be lazy amongst so many active young
+men." The father and sons were very busy at work, when an ill-looking
+man rode up to them; and, after asking if their name was Frankland, put
+a paper into each of their hands. These papers were copies of a notice
+to quit their farm, before the ensuing first of September, under pain of
+paying double rent for the same.
+
+"This is some mistake, sir," said old Frankland, mildly.
+
+"No mistake, sir," replied the stranger. "You will find the notice is a
+good notice, and duly served. Your lease I have seen myself within these
+few days: it expired last May; and you have held over, contrary to law
+and justice, eleven months, this being April."
+
+"My father never did anything contrary to law and justice in his whole
+life," interrupted Frank; whose eyes flashed with indignation.
+
+"Softly, Frank," said his father, putting his hand on his son's
+shoulder; "softly, my dear boy: let this gentleman and I come to an
+understanding quietly.--Here is some mistake, sir. It is very true that
+my lease expired last May; but I had a promise of a renewal from my good
+landlord."
+
+"I don't know, sir, anything of that," replied the stranger, as he
+looked over a memorandum-book. "I do not know whom you denominate your
+_good landlord_; that being no way of describing a man in the eye of
+the law: but if you refer to the original grantor, or lessor, Francis
+Folingsby, of Folingsby-place, Monmouthshire, Esq., I am to inform you
+that he died at Bath the 17th instant."
+
+"Died! My poor landlord dead! I am very sorry for it."
+
+"And his nephew, Philip Folingsby, Esq., came into possession as heir at
+law," continued the stranger, in an unvaried tone; "and under his orders
+I act, having a power of attorney for that purpose."
+
+"But, sir, I am sure Mr. Philip Folingsby cannot know of the promise of
+renewal, which I had from his uncle."
+
+"Verbal promises, you know, are nothing, sir; mere air, without
+witnesses: and, if gratuitous on the part of the deceased, are no ways
+binding, either in common law or equity, on the survivor or heir. In
+case the promise had been in writing, and on a proper stamp, it would
+have been something." "It was not in writing, to be sure, sir," said
+Frankland, "but I thought my good landlord's word was as good as his
+bond; and I said so."
+
+"Yes," cried Frank; "and I remember when you said so to him, I was by;
+and he answered, 'You shall have my promise in writing. Such things are
+of little use between honest men: but who knows what may happen, and who
+may come after me? Everything about business should be put into writing.
+I would never let a tenant of mine be at an uncertainty. You have
+improved your farm, and deserve to enjoy the fruits of your own
+industry, Mr. Frankland.' Just then company came in, and our landlord
+put off writing the promise. He next day left the country in a hurry;
+and I am sure thought, afterwards, he had given us the promise in
+writing."
+
+"Very clear evidence, no doubt, sir; but not at all to the point at
+present," said the stranger. "As an agent, I am to know nothing but what
+is my employer's intent. When we see the writing and stamp, I shall be
+a better judge," added he with a sneer. "In the mean time, gentlemen,
+I wish you a good morning: and you will please to observe that you have
+been duly served with notice to quit, or pay double rent."
+
+"There can be no doubt, however," said Frank, "that Mr. Folingsby will
+believe you, father. He is a gentleman, I suppose, and not like this new
+agent, who talks like an attorney. I hate all attorneys."
+
+"All dishonest attorneys, I suppose you mean, Frank," said the
+benevolent old man; who, even when his temper was most tried, never
+spoke, or even felt with acrimony.
+
+The new landlord came into the country; and a few days after his
+arrival, old Frankland went to wait upon him. There was little hope of
+seeing young Mr. Folingsby; he was a man whose head was at this time
+entirely full of gigs, and tandems, and unicorns: business was his
+aversion; pleasure was his business. Money he considered only as the
+means of pleasure; and tenants only as machines, who make money. He was
+neither avaricious nor cruel; but thoughtless and extravagant.
+
+Whilst he appeared merely in the character of a young man of fashion,
+these faults were no offence to his equals, to whom they did no injury:
+but when he came into possession of a large estate, and when numbers
+were dependent upon him, they were severely felt by his inferiors.
+
+Mr. Folingsby had just gathered up the reins in hand, and was seated in
+his unicorn, when farmer Frankland, who had been waiting some hours to
+see him, came to the side of the carriage. As he took off his hat, the
+wind blew his grey hair over his face.
+
+"Put on your hat, pray, my good friend; and don't come near these
+horses, for I can't answer for them. Have you any commands with me?"
+
+"I have been waiting some hours to speak to you, sir; but, if you
+are not at leisure, I will come again to-morrow morning," said old
+Frankland.
+
+"Ay, do so; call to-morrow morning; for now I have not one moment to
+spare," said young Folingsby, as he whipped his horses, and drove off,
+as if the safety of the nation had depended upon twelve miles an hour.
+
+The next day, and the next, and the next, the old tenant called upon his
+young landlord, but without obtaining an audience; still he was desired
+to call to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow. He wrote several
+letters to him, but received no answer: at last, after giving half a
+guinea to his landlord's gentleman, he gained admittance. Mr. Folingsby
+was drawing on his boots, and his horses were coming to the door.
+Frankland saw it was necessary to be concise in his story: he slightly
+touched on the principal circumstances, the length of time he had
+occupied his farm, the improvements he had made upon the land, and the
+misfortune which had lately befallen him. The boots were on by the time
+that he got to the promise of renewal, and the notice to quit.
+
+"Promise of renewal: I know of no such thing. Notice to quit: that's my
+agent's business; speak to him; he'll do you justice. I really am sorry
+for you, Mr. Frankland; very sorry, extremely sorry. Damn the rascal who
+made these boots!--but you see how I'm circumstanced; haven't a
+moment to myself; only came to the country for a few days; set out for
+Ascot-races to-morrow; really have not a moment to think of any thing.
+But speak to Mr. Deal, my agent. He'll do you justice, I'm sure. I leave
+all these things to him. Jack, that bay horse is coming on----"
+
+"I have spoken to your agent, sir," said the old tenant, following his
+thoughtless young landlord; "but he said that verbal promises, without a
+witness present, were nothing but air; and I have nothing to rely on but
+your justice. I assure you, sir, I have not been an idle tenant: my land
+will show that I have not."
+
+"Tell Mr. Deal so; make him understand it in this light. I leave every
+thing of this sort to Mr. Deal. I really have not time for business, but
+I'm sure Mr. Deal will do you justice."
+
+This was all that could be obtained from the young landlord. His
+confidence in his agent's sense of justice was somewhat misplaced. Mr.
+Deal had received a proposal from another tenant for Frankland's farm;
+and with this proposal a bank note was sent, which spoke more forcibly
+than all that poor Frankland could urge. The agent took the farm
+from him; and declared he could not, in justice to his employer, do
+otherwise; because the new tenant had promised to build upon the land a
+lodge fit for any gentleman to inhabit, instead of a farm-house.
+
+The transaction was concluded without Mr. Folingsby's knowing any thing
+more of the matter, except signing the leases, which he did without
+reading them; and receiving half a year's rent in hand, as a fine, which
+he did with great satisfaction. He was often distressed for ready money,
+though he had a large estate; and his agent well knew how to humour
+him in his hatred of business. No interest could have persuaded Mr.
+Folingsby deliberately to commit so base an action as that of cheating
+a deserving old tenant out of a promised renewal; but, in fact, long
+before the leases were sent to him, he had totally forgotten every
+syllable that poor Frankland had said to him on the subject.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The day on which they left their farm was a melancholy day to this
+unfortunate family. Mr. Frankland's father and grandfather had been
+tenants, and excellent tenants, to the Folingsby family: all of them had
+occupied, and not only occupied, but highly improved, this farm. All
+the neighbours were struck with compassion, and cried shame upon Mr.
+Folingsby! But Mr. Folingsby was at Ascot, and did not hear them. He was
+on the race ground, betting hundreds upon a favourite horse, whilst this
+old man and his family were slowly passing in their covered cart down
+the lane which led from their farm, taking a last farewell of the fields
+they had cultivated, and the harvest they had sown, but which they were
+never to reap.
+
+Hannah, the servant-girl, who had reproached herself so bitterly for
+leaving the bucket of ashes near the hay-rick, was extremely active in
+assisting her poor master. Upon this occasion she seemed to be endowed
+with double strength; and a degree of cleverness and presence of mind,
+of which she had never shown any symptoms in her former life: but
+gratitude awakened all her faculties.
+
+Before she came to this family, she had lived some years with a farmer
+who, as she now recollected, had a small farm, with a snug cottage upon
+it, which was to be this very year out of lease. Without saying a word
+of her intentions, she got up early one morning, walked fifteen miles
+to her old master's, and offered to pay out of her wages, which she
+had laid by for six or seven years, the year's rent of this farm
+before-hand, if the farmer would let it to Mr. Frankland. The farmer
+would not take the girl's money, for he said he wanted no security from
+Mr. Frankland, or his son George: they bore the best of characters, he
+observed, and no people in Monmouthshire could understand the management
+of land better. He willingly agreed to let him the farm; but it
+contained only a few acres, and the house was so small that it could
+scarcely lodge above three people.
+
+Here old Frankland and his eldest son, George, settled. James went to
+Monmouth, where he became shopman to Mr. Cleghorn, a haberdasher, who
+took him in preference to three other young men, who applied on the same
+day. "Shall I tell you the reason why I fixed upon you, James?" said Mr.
+Cleghorn. "It was not whim; I had my reasons."
+
+"I suppose," said James, "you thought I had been honestly and well
+brought up; as, I believe, in former times, sir, you knew something of
+my mother."
+
+"Yes, sir; and in former times I knew something of yourself. You may
+forget, but I do not, that, when you were a child, not more than nine
+years old, {Footnote: This circumstance is a fact.} you came to this
+shop to pay a bill of your mother's: the bill was cast up a pound too
+little: you found out the mistake, and paid me the money. I dare say you
+are as good an accountant, and as honest a fellow, still. I have just
+been terribly tricked by a lad to whom I trusted foolishly; but this
+will not make me suspicious towards you, because I know how you have
+been brought up; and that is the best security a man can have."
+
+Thus, even in childhood, the foundation of a good character may be
+laid; and thus children inherit the good name of their parents. A rich
+inheritance! of which they cannot be deprived by the utmost malice of
+fortune.
+
+The good characters of Fanny and Patty Frankland were well known in the
+neighbourhood; and when they could no longer afford to live at home,
+they found no difficulty in getting places. On the contrary, several of
+the best families in Monmouth were anxious to engage them. Fanny went to
+live with Mrs. Hungerford, a lady of an ancient family, who was proud,
+but not insolent, and generous, but not what is commonly called
+affable. She had several children, and she hired Fanny Frankland for the
+particular purpose of attending them.
+
+"Pray let me see that you exactly obey my orders, young woman, with
+respect to my children," said Mrs. Hungerford, "and you shall have no
+reason to complain of the manner in which you are treated in this house.
+It is my wish to make every body happy in it, from the highest to the
+lowest. You have, I understand, received an education above your present
+station in life; and I hope and trust that you will deserve the high
+opinion I am, from that circumstance, inclined to form of you."
+
+Fanny was rather intimidated by the haughtiness of Mrs. Hungerford's
+manner; yet she felt a steady though modest confidence in herself, which
+was not displeasing to her mistress.
+
+About this time Patty also went into service. Her mistress was a Mrs.
+Crumpe, a very old rich lady, who was often sick and peevish, and who
+confessed that she required an uncommonly good-humoured person to
+wait upon her. She lived a few miles from Monmouth, where she had many
+relations; but on account of her great age and infirmities, she led an
+extremely retired life.
+
+Frank was now the only person in the family who was not settled in
+the world. He determined to apply to a Mr. Barlow, an attorney of an
+excellent character. He had been much pleased with the candour and
+generosity Frank showed in a quarrel with the Bettesworths; and he had
+promised to befriend him, if ever it should be in his power. It happened
+that, at this time, Mr. Barlow was in want of a clerk; and as he knew
+Frank's abilities, and had reason to feel confidence in his integrity,
+he determined to employ him in his office. Frank had once a prejudice
+against attorneys: he thought that they could not be honest men; but he
+was convinced of his mistake when he became acquainted with Mr. Barlow.
+This gentleman never practised any mean pettyfogging arts; on the
+contrary, he always dissuaded those who consulted him from commencing
+vexatious suits. Instead of fomenting quarrels, it was his pleasure and
+pride to bring about reconciliations. It was said of Mr. Barlow that
+he had lost more suits out of the court, and fewer in them, than any
+attorney of his standing in England. His reputation was now so great
+that he was consulted more as a lawyer than as an attorney. With such a
+master, Frank had a prospect of being extremely happy; and he determined
+that nothing should be wanting, on his part, to ensure Mr. Barlow's
+esteem and regard.
+
+James Frankland, in the mean time, went on happily with Mr. Cleghorn,
+the haberdasher; whose customers all agreed that his shop had never
+been so well attended as since this young man had been his foreman. His
+accounts were kept in the most exact manner; and his bills were made out
+with unrivalled neatness and expedition. His attendance on the shop
+was so constant that his master began to fear it might hurt his health;
+especially as he had never, till of late, been used to so confined a
+life.
+
+"You should go abroad, James, these fine evenings," said Mr. Cleghorn.
+"Take a walk in the country now and then, in the fresh air. Don't think
+I want to nail you always to the counter. Come, this is as fine an
+evening as you can wish: take your hat, and away; I'll mind the shop
+myself, till you come back. He must be a hard master, indeed, that does
+not know when he is well served; and that never will be my case, I hope.
+Good servants make good masters, and good masters good servants. Not
+that I mean to call you, Mr. James, a servant; that was only a slip of
+the tongue; and no matter for the tongue, where the heart means well, as
+mine does towards you."
+
+Towards all the world Mr. Cleghorn was not disposed to be indulgent: he
+was not a selfish man; but he had a high idea of subordination in life.
+Having risen himself by slow degrees, he thought that every man in trade
+should have what he called "the rough as well as the smooth." He saw
+that his new foreman bore the rough well; and therefore he was now
+inclined to give him some of the smooth.
+
+James, who was extremely fond of his brother Frank, called upon him and
+took him to Mrs. Hungerford's, to ask Fanny to accompany them in this
+walk. They had seldom seen her since they had quitted their father's
+house and lived in Monmouth; and they were disappointed when they were
+told, by Mrs. Hungerford's footman, that Fanny was not at home; she was
+gone to walk out with the children. The man did not know which road
+they went, so they had no hopes of meeting her; and they took their way
+through one of the shady lanes near Monmouth. It was late before they
+thought of returning; for, after several weeks' confinement in close
+houses, the fresh air, green fields, and sweet-smelling wild flowers in
+the hedges, were delightful novelties. "Those who see these things every
+day," said James, "scarcely notice them; I remember I did not when I
+lived at our farm. So things, as my father used to say, are made equal
+to people in this world. We, who are hard at work in a close room all
+day long, have more relish for an evening walk, a hundred to one, than
+those who saunter about from morning till night."
+
+The philosophic reflections of James were interrupted by the merry
+voices of a troop of children, who were getting over a stile into the
+lane, where he and Frank were walking. The children had huge nosegays of
+honeysuckles, dog-roses, and blue-bells, in their little hands; and they
+gave their flowers to a young woman who attended them, begging she would
+hold them whilst they got over the stile. James and Frank went to offer
+their services to help the children; and then they saw that the young
+woman, who held the flowers, was their sister Fanny.
+
+"Our own Fanny!" said Frank. "How lucky this is! It seems almost a year
+since I saw you. We have been all the way to Mrs. Hungerford's to look
+for you, and have been forced to take half our walk without you; but the
+other half will make amends. I've a hundred things to say to you: which
+is your way home? Take the longest way, I entreat you. Here is my arm.
+What a delightful fine evening it is! But what's the matter?"
+
+"It is a very fine evening," said Fanny, hesitating a little; "and I
+hope to-morrow will be as fine. I'll ask my mistress to let me walk out
+with you to-morrow; but this evening I cannot stay with you, because
+I have the children under my care; and I have promised her that I will
+never walk with any one when they are with me."
+
+"But your own brother," said Frank, a little angry at this refusal.
+
+"I promised I would not walk with any one; and surely you are somebody:
+so good night; good bye," replied Fanny, endeavouring to turn off his
+displeasure with a laugh.
+
+"But what harm, I say, can I do the children, by walking with you?"
+cried Frank, catching hold of her gown.
+
+"I don't know; but I know what the orders of my mistress are; and you
+know, dear Frank, that whilst I live with her, I am bound to obey them."
+
+"Oh, Frank, she must obey them," said James.
+
+Frank loosened his hold of Fanny's gown immediately. "You are right,
+dear Fanny," said he; "you are right, and I was wrong: so good night;
+good bye. Only remember to ask leave to walk with us to-morrow evening;
+for I have had a letter from father and brother George, and I want to
+show it you. Wait five minutes, and I can read it to you now, Fanny."
+
+Fanny, though she was anxious to hear her father's letter, would not
+wait, but hurried away with the children that were under her care;
+saying she must keep her promise to her mistress exactly. Frank followed
+her, and put the letter into her hands. "You are a dear good girl, and
+deserve all the fine things father says of you in this letter. Take it,
+child: your mistress does not forbid you receiving a letter from your
+father, I suppose. I shall wish her hanged, if she does not let you walk
+with us to-morrow," whispered he.
+
+The children frequently interrupted Fanny, as she was reading her
+father's letter. "Pray pull that high dog-rose for me, Fanny," said
+one. "Pray hold me up to that large honeysuckle," said another. "And do,
+Fanny," said the youngest boy, "let us go home by the common, that I may
+see the glowworms. Mamma said I might; and whilst we are looking for the
+glowworms, you can sit on a stone, or a bank, and read your letter in
+peace."
+
+Fanny, who was always very ready to indulge the children in any thing
+which her mistress had not forbidden, agreed to this proposal; and when
+they came to the common, little Gustavus, for that was the name of the
+eldest boy, found a charming seat for her; and she sat down to read her
+letter whilst the children ran to hunt for glowworms.
+
+Fanny read her father's letter over three times; and yet few people,
+except those who have the happiness to love a father as well, and to
+have a father as deserving to be loved, would think it at all worth
+reading even once.
+
+
+"MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS,
+
+"It is a strange thing to me to be without you; but, with me or from me,
+I am sure you are doing well; and that is a great comfort; ay, the best
+a father can have, especially at my age. I am heartily glad to hear
+that my Frank has, by his own deserts, got so good a place with that
+excellent man, Mr. Barlow. He does not hate attorneys now, I am sure.
+Indeed, it is my belief, he could not hate any body for half an hour
+together, if he were to do his worst. Thank God, none of my children
+have been brought up to be revengeful or envious; and they are not
+fighting with one another, as I hear the poor Bettesworths now all are
+for the fortune. 'Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a
+stalled ox, and hatred therewith.' I need not have troubled myself
+to write this text to any of you; but old men will be talkative. My
+rheumatism, however, prevents me from being as talkative as I could
+wish. It has been rather severe or so, owing to the great cold I caught
+the day that I was obliged to wait so long at squire Folingsby's in my
+wet clothes. But I hope soon to be stirring again, and to be able to
+take share of the work about our little farm, with your dear brother
+George. Poor fellow! he has so much to do, and does so much, that I fear
+he will overwork himself. He is at this present time out in the little
+field, opposite my window, digging up the docks, which are very hard to
+conquer; he has made a brave large heap of them, but I wish to my heart
+he would not toil so desperately.
+
+"I desire, my dear James and Frank, you will not confine yourselves
+too much in your shop and at your desk: this is all I have to dread for
+either of you. Give my love and blessing to my sweet girls. If Fanny was
+not as prudent as she is pretty, I should be in fear for her; hearing as
+I do, that Mrs. Hungerford keeps so much fine company. A waiting-maid in
+such a house is in a dangerous place: but my Fanny, I am sure, will
+ever keep in mind her mother's precepts and example. I am told that Mrs.
+Crumpe, Patty's mistress, is (owing, I suppose, to her great age and
+infirmities) difficult in her humour; but my Patty has so even and
+pleasant a temper that I defy any one living, that knows her, not to
+love her. My hand is now quite tired of writing, this being penned with
+my left, as my right arm is not yet free from rheumatism: I have
+not James with me to write. God bless and preserve you all, my dear
+children. With such comforts, I can have nothing to complain of in
+this world. This I know, I would not exchange any one of you for all my
+neighbour Bettesworth's fine fortune. Write soon to
+
+"Your affectionate father,
+
+"B. Frankland."
+
+"Look! look at the glowworms!" cried the children, gathering round
+Fanny, just as she had finished reading her letter. There were
+prodigious numbers of them on this common; and they shone over the whole
+ground, in clusters, or singly, like little stars.
+
+Whilst the children were looking with admiration and delight at this
+spectacle, their attention was suddenly diverted from the glowworms by
+the sound of a French-horn. They looked round and perceived that it came
+from the balcony of a house, which was but a few yards distant from the
+spot where they were standing.
+
+"Oh! let us go nearer to the balcony!" said the children, "that we may
+hear the music better." A violin, and a clarinet, at this moment began
+to play.
+
+"Oh! let us go nearer!" said the children, drawing Fanny with all their
+little force towards the balcony.
+
+"My dears, it is growing late," said she, "and we must make haste home.
+There is a crowd of company, you see, at the door and at the windows of
+that house; and if we go near to it, some of them will certainly speak
+to you, and that, you know, your mamma would not like."
+
+The children paused and looked at one another, as if inclined to submit;
+but, at this moment, a kettle-drum was heard, and little Gustavus could
+not resist his curiosity to hear and see more of this instrument: he
+broke loose from Fanny's hands, and escaped to the house, exclaiming, "I
+must and will hear it, and see it too!"
+
+Fanny was obliged to pursue him into the midst of the crowd: he made his
+way up to a young gentleman in regimentals, who took him up in his arms,
+saying, "By Jove, a fine little fellow! A soldier, every inch of him! By
+Jove, he shall see the drum, and beat it too; let us see who dares say
+to the contrary."
+
+As the gallant ensign spoke, he carried Gustavus up a flight of stairs
+that led to the balcony. Fanny in great anxiety called after him to beg
+that he would not detain the child, who was trusted to her care: her
+mistress, she said, would be extremely displeased with her, if she
+disobeyed her orders.
+
+She was here interrupted in her remonstrance by the shrill voice of
+a female, who stood on the same stair with the ensign, and whom,
+notwithstanding the great alteration in her dress, Fanny recognized to
+be Sally Bettesworth. Jilting Jessy stood beside her.
+
+"Fanny Frankland, I protest! What a pother she keeps about nothing,"
+cried Saucy Sally. "Know your betters, and keep your distance, young
+woman. Who cares whether your mistress is displeased or not? She can't
+turn us away, can she, pray? She can't call ensign Bloomington to
+account, can she, hey?"
+
+An insolent laugh closed this speech; a laugh in which several of the
+crowd joined: but some gentlemen were interested by Fanny's beautiful
+and modest countenance, as she looked up to the balcony, and, with tears
+in her eyes, entreated to be heard. "Oh, for shame, Bloomington! Give
+her back the boy. It is not fair that she should lose her place," cried
+they.
+
+Bloomington would have yielded; but Saucy Sally stood before him crying
+in a threatening tone, "I'll never speak to you again, I promise you,
+Bloomington, if you give up. A fine thing indeed for a man and a
+soldier to give up to a woman and a servant-girl! and an impertinent
+servant-girl! Who cares for her or her place either?"
+
+"I do! I do!" exclaimed little Gustavus, springing from the ensign's
+arms. "I care for her! She is not an impertinent girl; and I'll give
+up seeing the kettle-drum, and go home with her directly, with all my
+heart."
+
+In vain Sally attempted to withhold him; the boy ran down the stairs to
+Fanny, and marched off with her in all the conscious pride of a hero,
+whose generosity has fairly vanquished his passions. Little Gustavus was
+indeed a truly generous child: the first thing he did, when he got home,
+was to tell his mother all that had passed this evening. Mrs. Hungerford
+was delighted with her son, and said to him, "I cannot, I am sure,
+reward you better, my dear, than by rewarding this good young woman. The
+fidelity with which she has fulfilled my orders, in all that regards
+my children, places her, in my opinion, above the rank in which she was
+born. Henceforward she shall hold in my house a station to which her
+habits of truth, gentleness, and good sense, entitle her."
+
+From this time forward, Fanny, by Mrs. Hungerford's desire, was always
+present when the children took their lessons from their several masters.
+Mrs. Hungerford advised her to apply herself to learn all those things
+which were necessary for a governess to young ladies. "When you speak,
+your language in general is good, and correct; and no pains shall be
+wanting, on my part," said this haughty but benevolent lady, "to form
+your manners, and to develop your talents. This I partly owe you for
+your care of my children; and I am happy to reward my son Gustavus in a
+manner which I am certain will be most agreeable to him."
+
+"And, mamma," said the little boy, "may she walk out sometimes with her
+brothers? for I do believe she loves them as well as I love my sisters."
+
+Mrs. Hungerford permitted Fanny to walk out for an hour, every morning,
+during the time that her children were with their dancing-master; and at
+this hour sometimes her brother James, and sometimes her brother Frank,
+could be spared; and they had many pleasant walks together. What a
+happiness it was to them to have been thus bred up, from their earliest
+years, in friendship with one another! This friendship was now the
+sweetest pleasure of their lives.
+
+Poor Patty! She regretted that she could not join in these pleasant
+meetings; but, alas! she was so useful, so agreeable, and so necessary
+to her infirm mistress, that she could never be spared from home.
+"Where's Patty? why does not Patty do this?" were Mrs. Crumpe's constant
+questions whenever she was absent. Patty had all the business of the
+house upon her hands, because nobody could do any thing so well as
+Patty. Mrs. Crumpe found that no one could dress her but Patty; nobody
+could make her bed, so that she could sleep on it, but Patty; no one
+could make jelly, or broth, or whey, that she could taste, but Patty;
+no one could roast, or boil, or bake, but Patty. Of course, all these
+things must be done by nobody else. The ironing of Mrs. Crumpe's caps,
+which had exquisitely nice plaited borders, at last fell to Patty's
+share; because once, when the laundry-maid was sick, she plaited one
+so charmingly, that her lady would never afterwards wear any but of
+her plaiting. Now Mrs. Crumpe changed her cap, or rather had her cap
+changed, three times a day; and never wore the same cap twice.
+
+The labours of washing, ironing, plaiting, roasting, boiling, baking,
+making jelly, broth, and whey, were not sufficient: Mrs. Crumpe took it
+into her head that she could eat no butter but of Patty's churning. But,
+what was worse than all, not a night passed without Patty's being called
+up to see "what could be the matter with the dog that was barking, or
+the cat that was mewing?" And when she was just sinking to sleep again,
+at daybreak, her lady, in whose room she slept, would call out, "Patty!
+Patty! There's a dreadful noise in the chicken-yard."
+
+"Oh, ma'am, it is only the cocks crowing."
+
+"Well, do step out, and hinder them from crowing at this terrible rate."
+
+"But, ma'am, I cannot hinder them indeed."
+
+"Oh yes, you could, if you were up. Get up and whip 'em, child. Whip
+'em all round, or I shall not sleep a wink more this night." {Footnote:
+Taken from life.}
+
+How little poor Patty slept, her lady never considered: not that she
+was in reality an ill-natured woman, but sickness inclined her to be
+peevish; and she had so long been used to be humoured and waited upon by
+relations and servants, who expected she would leave them rich legacies,
+that she considered herself as a sort of golden idol, to whom all that
+approached should and would bow as low as she pleased. Perceiving that
+almost all around her were interested, she became completely selfish.
+She was from morning till night, from night till morning, nay, from
+year's end to year's end, so much in the habit of seeing others employed
+for her, that she absolutely considered this to be the natural and
+necessary course of things; and she quite forgot to think of the
+comfort, or even of the well-being, of those creatures who were "born
+for her use, and live but to oblige her."
+
+From time to time she was so far awakened to feeling, by Patty's
+exertions and good-humour, that she would say, to quiet her own
+conscience, "Well! well! I'll make it all up to her in my will! I'll
+make it all up to her in my will!"
+
+She took it for granted that Patty, like the rest of her dependents,
+was governed entirely by mercenary considerations; and she was persuaded
+that the hopes of this legacy would secure Patty her slave for life. In
+this she was mistaken.
+
+One morning Patty came into her room with a face full of sorrow; a face
+so unlike her usual countenance, that even her mistress, unaccustomed as
+she was to attend to the feelings of others, could not help noticing the
+change.
+
+"Well! What's the matter, child?" said she.
+
+"Oh! sad news, madam!" said Patty, turning aside to hide her tears.
+
+"But what's the matter, child, I say? Can't you speak, whatever it is,
+hey? What, have you burnt my best cap in the ironing, hey? Is that it?"
+
+"Oh! worse, worse, ma'am!"
+
+"Worse! What can be worse?"
+
+"My brother, ma'am, my brother George, is ill, very ill of a fever; and
+they don't think he'll live! Here is my father's letter, ma'am!"
+
+"Lord! how can I read it without spectacles? and why should I read it,
+when you've told me all that's in it? How the child cries!" continued
+Mrs. Crumpe, raising herself a little on her pillow, and looking at
+Patty with a sort of astonished curiosity. "Heigho! But I can't stay in
+bed this way till dinnertime. Get me my cap, child, and dry your eyes;
+for crying won't do your brother any good."
+
+Patty dried her eyes. "No, crying will not do him any good," said she,
+"but------"
+
+"But where is my cap? I don't see it on the dressing-table."
+
+"No, ma'am: Martha will bring it in a minute or two: she is plaiting
+it."
+
+"I will not have it plaited by Martha. Go and do it yourself."
+
+"But, ma'am," said Patty, who, to her mistress's surprise, stood still,
+notwithstanding she heard this order, "I hope you will be so good as
+to give me leave to go to my poor brother to-day. All the rest of my
+brothers and sisters are with him, and he wants to see me; and they have
+sent a horse for me."
+
+"No matter what they have sent, you sha'n't go; I can't spare you. If
+you choose to serve me, serve me. If you choose to serve your brother,
+serve your brother, and leave me."
+
+"Then, madam," said Patty, "I must leave you; for I cannot but choose to
+serve my brother at such a time as this, if I can serve him; which God
+grant I mayn't be too late to do!"
+
+"What! You will leave me! Leave me contrary to my orders! Take notice,
+then: these doors you shall never enter again, if you leave me now,"
+cried Mrs. Crumpe, who, by this unexpected opposition to her orders, was
+actually worked up to a state unlike her usual peevishness. She started
+up in her bed, and growing quite red in the face, cried, "Leave me now,
+and you leave me for ever. Remember that! Remember that!"
+
+"Then, madam, I must leave you for ever," said Patty, moving towards the
+door. "I wish you your health and happiness, and am sorry to break so
+short."
+
+"The girl's an idiot!" cried Mrs. Crumpe. "After this you cannot expect
+that I should remember you in my will."
+
+"No, indeed, madam; I expect no such thing," said Patty. (Her hand was
+on the lock of the door as she spoke.)
+
+"Then," said Mrs. Crumpe, "perhaps you will think it worth your while to
+stay with me, when I tell you I have not forgot you in my will? Consider
+that, child, before you turn the handle of the door. Consider that; and
+don't disoblige me for ever."
+
+"Oh, madam, consider my poor brother. I am sorry to disoblige you for
+ever; but I can consider nothing but my poor brother," said Patty. The
+lock of the door turned quickly in her hand.
+
+"Why! Is your brother rich? What upon earth do you expect from this
+brother, that can make it worth your while to behave to me in this
+strange way?" said Mrs. Crumpe.
+
+Patty was silent with astonishment for a few moments, and then answered,
+"I expect nothing from him, madam; he is as poor as myself; but that
+does not make me love him the less."
+
+Before Mrs. Crumpe could understand this last speech, Patty had left
+the room. Her mistress sat up in her bed, in the same attitude, for some
+minutes after she was gone, looking fixedly at the place where Patty had
+stood: she could scarcely recover from her surprise; and a multitude of
+painful thoughts crowded upon her mind.
+
+"If I were dying, and poor, who would come to me? Not a relation I have
+in the world would come near me! Not a creature on earth loves me as
+this poor girl loves her brother, who is as poor as herself."
+
+Here her reflections were interrupted by hearing the galloping of
+Patty's horse, as it passed by the windows. Mrs. Crumpe tried to compose
+herself again to sleep, but she could not; and in half an hour's time
+she rang the bell violently, took her purse out of her pocket, counted
+out twenty bright guineas, and desired that a horse should be saddled
+immediately, and that her steward should gallop after Patty, and offer
+her that _whole sum in hand_, if she would return. "Begin with one
+guinea, and bid on till you come up to her price," said Mrs. Crumpe.
+"Have her back again I will, if it were only to convince myself that she
+is to be had for money as well as other people."
+
+The steward, as he counted the gold in his hand, thought it was a great
+sum to throw away for such a whim: he had never seen his lady take
+the whim of giving away ready money before; but it was in vain to
+remonstrate; she was peremptory, and he obeyed.
+
+In two hours' time he returned, and Mrs. Crumpe saw her gold again with
+extreme astonishment. The steward said he could not prevail upon
+Patty even to look at the guineas. Mrs. Crumpe now flew into a violent
+passion, in which none of our readers will probably sympathize: we shall
+therefore forbear to describe it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+When Patty came within half a mile of the cottage in which her father
+lived, she met Hannah, the faithful servant, who had never deserted the
+family in their misfortunes; she had been watching all the morning on
+the road for the first sight of Patty, but when she saw her, and came
+quite close up to her, she had no power to speak; and Patty was so much
+terrified that she could not ask her a single question. She walked her
+horse a slow pace, and kept silence.
+
+"Won't you go on, ma'am?" said Hannah at last, forcing herself to speak.
+"Won't you go on a bit faster? He's almost wild to see you."
+
+"He is alive then!" cried Patty. The horse was in full gallop directly,
+and she was soon at her father's door. James and Frank were there
+watching for her: they lifted her from the horse; and feeling that
+she trembled so much as to be scarcely able to stand, they would have
+detained her a little while in the air; but she passed or rather rushed
+into the room where her brother lay. He took no notice of her when she
+came in, for he was insensible. Fanny was supporting his head; she held
+out her hand to Patty, who went on tiptoe to the side of the bed. "Is he
+asleep?" whispered she.
+
+"Not asleep, but--He'll come to himself presently," continued Fanny,
+"and he will be very, very glad you are come; and so will my father."
+
+"Where is my father?" said Patty; "I don't see him."
+
+Fanny pointed to the farthest end of the room, where he was kneeling at
+his devotion. The shutters being half closed, she could but just see
+the faint beam which shone upon his grey hairs. He rose, came to his
+daughter Patty, with an air of resigned grief, and taking her hand
+between both of his, said, "My love--we must lose him--God's will be
+done!"
+
+"Oh! there is hope, there is hope still!" said Patty. "See! the colour
+is coming back to his lips again; his eyes open! Oh! George, dear
+George, dear brother! It is your own sister Patty: don't you know
+Patty?"
+
+"Patty!--Yes. Why does she not come to me? I would go to her if I
+could," said the sufferer, without knowing what he talked of. "Is not
+she come yet? Send another horse, Frank. Why, it is only six miles. Six
+miles in three hours, that is--how many miles an hour? ten miles, is it?
+Don't hurry her--don't tell her I'm so bad; nor my father--don't let him
+see me, nor James, nor Frank, nor pretty Fanny, nor any body--they are
+all too good to me: I only wished to see poor Patty once before I die;
+but don't frighten her--I shall be very well, tell her--quite well, by
+the time she comes."
+
+After running on in this manner for some time, his eyes closed again,
+and he lay in a state of stupor. He continued in this condition for some
+time: at last his sisters, who were watching beside the bed, heard
+a knocking at the door. It was Frank and James: they had gone for a
+clergyman, whom George, before he became delirious, had desired to
+see. The clergyman was come, and with him a benevolent physician, who
+happened to be at his house, and who insisted upon accompanying him.
+As soon as the physician saw the poor young man, and felt his pulse, he
+perceived that the ignorant apothecary, who had been first employed, had
+entirely mistaken George's disease, and had treated him improperly. His
+disease was a putrid fever, and the apothecary had bled him repeatedly.
+The physician thought he could certainly have saved his life, if he had
+seen him two days sooner; but now it was a hopeless case. All that could
+be done for him he tried.
+
+Towards evening, the disease seemed to take a favourable turn. George
+came to his senses, knew his father, his brothers, and Fanny, and spoke
+to each with his customary kindness, as they stood round his bed: he
+then asked whether poor Patty was come? When he saw her, he thanked her
+tenderly for coming to him, but could not recollect he had any thing
+particular to say to her.
+
+"I only wished to see you all together, to thank you for your
+good-nature to me ever since I was born, and to take leave of you before
+I die; for I feel that I am dying. Nay, do not cry so! My father! Oh! my
+father is most to be pitied; but he will have James and Frank left."
+
+Seeing his father's affliction, which the good old man struggled in vain
+to subdue, George broke off here: he put his hand to his head, as if
+fearing it was again growing confused.
+
+"Let me see our good clergyman, now that I am well enough to see him,"
+said he. He then took a hand of each of his brothers and sisters, joined
+them together, and pressed them to his lips, looking from them to
+his father, whose back was now turned. "You understand me," whispered
+George: "he can never come to want, while you are left to work and
+comfort him. If I should not see you again in this world, farewell! Ask
+my father to give me his blessing!"
+
+"God bless you, my son! God bless you, my dear good son! God will surely
+bless so good a son!" said the agonized father, laying his hand upon his
+son's forehead, which even now was cold with the damp of death.
+
+"What a comfort it is to have a father's blessing!" said George. "May
+you all have it when you are as I am now!"
+
+"I shall be out of this world long, long before that time, I hope," said
+the poor old man, as he left the room. "But God's will be done! Send the
+clergyman to my boy!"
+
+The clergyman remained in the room but a short time: when he returned to
+the family, they saw by his looks that all was over!
+
+There was a solemn silence.
+
+"Be comforted," said the good clergyman. "Never man left this world
+with a clearer conscience, or had happier hope of a life to come. Be
+comforted. Alas! at such a time as this you cannot be comforted by any
+thing that the tongue of man can say."
+
+All the family attended the funeral. It was on a Sunday, just before
+morning prayers; and as soon as George was interred, his father,
+brothers, and sisters, left the churchyard, to avoid being seen by the
+gay people who were coming to their devotion. As they went home, they
+passed through the field in which George used to work: there they saw
+his heap of docks, and his spade upright in the ground beside it, just
+as he had left it, the last time that he had ever worked.
+
+The whole family stayed for a few days with their poor father. Late one
+evening, as they were all walking out together in the fields, a heavy
+dew began to fall; and James urged his father to make haste home, lest
+he should catch cold, and should have another fit of the rheumatism.
+They were then at some distance from their cottage; and Frank, who
+thought he knew a short way home, took them by a new road, which
+unluckily led them far out of their way; it brought them unexpectedly
+within sight of their old farm, and of the new house which Mr.
+Bettesworth had built upon it.
+
+"Oh! my dear father, I am sorry I brought you this way," cried Frank.
+"Let us turn back."
+
+"No, my son, why should we turn back?" said his father mildly; "we
+can pass by these fields, and this house, I hope, without coveting our
+neighbour's goods."
+
+As they came near the house, he stopped at the gate to look at it. "It
+is a good house," said he; "but I have no need to envy any man a good
+house; I, that have so much better things--good children!"
+
+Just as he uttered these words, Mr. Bettesworth's house door opened, and
+three or four men appeared on the stone steps, quarrelling and fighting.
+The loud voices of Bullying Bob and Wild Will were heard too plainly.
+
+"We have no business here," said old Frankland, turning to his children:
+"let us go."
+
+The combatants pursued each other with such furious rapidity that they
+were near to the gate in a few instants.
+
+"Lock the gate, you without there, whoever you are! Lock the gate! or
+I'll knock you down when I come up, whoever you are;" cried Bullying
+Bob, who was hindmost in the race.
+
+Wild Will was foremost; he kicked open the gate, but his foot slipped as
+he was going through: his brother overtook him, and, seizing him by the
+collar, cried, "Give me back the bank-notes, you rascal! they are mine,
+and I'll have 'em in spite of you."
+
+"They are mine, and I'll keep 'em in spite of you," retorted Will, who
+was much intoxicated.
+
+"Oh! what a sight! brothers fighting! Oh! part them, part them! Hold!
+hold! for Heaven's sake!" cried old Frankland to them.
+
+Frank and James held them asunder, though they continued to abuse one
+another in the grossest terms. Their father, by this time, came up: he
+wrung his hands, and wept bitterly.
+
+"Oh! shame, shame to me in my old age!" cried he, "can't you two let me
+live the few years I have to live in peace? Ah, neighbour Frankland, you
+are better off! My heart will break soon! These children of mine will be
+the ruin and the death of me!"
+
+At these words the sons interrupted their father with loud complaints
+of the manner in which he had treated them. They had quarrelled with
+one another, and with their father, about money. The father charged them
+with profligate extravagance; and they accused him of sordid avarice.
+Mr. Frankland, much shocked at this scene, besought them at least to
+return to their house, and not to expose themselves in this manner,
+especially now that they were in _the station of gentlemen_. Their
+passions were too loud and brutal to listen to this appeal to their
+pride; their being raised to the rank of gentlemen could not give them
+principles or manners; that can only be done by education. Despairing
+to effect any good, Mr. Frankland retired from this scene, and made the
+best of his way home to his peaceful cottage.
+
+"My children," said he to his family, as they sat down to their frugal
+meal, "we are poor, but we are happy in one another. Was not I right
+to say I need not envy neighbour Bettesworth his fine house? Whatever
+misfortunes befall me, I have the blessing of good children. It is a
+blessing I would not exchange for any this world affords. God preserve
+them in health!"
+
+He sighed, and soon added, "It is a bitter thing to think of a good son,
+who is dead; but it is worse, perhaps, to think of a bad son, who is
+alive. That is a misfortune I can never know. But, my dear boys and
+girls," continued he, changing his tone, "this idle way of life of ours
+must not last for ever. You are too poor to be idle; and so much the
+better for you. To-morrow you must all away to your own business."
+
+"But, father," cried they all at once, "which of us may stay with you?"
+
+"None of you, my good children. You are all going on well in the world;
+and I will not take you from your good masters and mistresses."
+
+Patty now urged that she had the strongest right to remain with her
+father, because Mrs. Crumpe would certainly refuse to receive her into
+her service again, after what had passed at their parting: but nothing
+could prevail upon Frankland; he positively refused to let any of his
+children stay with him. At last Frank cried, "How can you possibly
+manage this farm without help? You must let either James or me stay
+with you, father. Suppose you should be seized with another fit of the
+rheumatism?"
+
+Frankland paused for a moment, and then answered, "Poor Hannah will
+nurse me if I fall sick. I am able still to pay her just wages. I will
+not be a burden to my children. As to this farm, I am going to give it
+up; for, indeed," said the old man, smiling, "I should not be well able
+to manage it with the rheumatism in my spade-arm. My landlord, farmer
+Hewit, is a good-natured friendly man; and he will give me my own time
+for the rent: nay, he tells me he would let me live in this cottage for
+nothing: but I cannot do that." "Then what will you do, dear father?"
+said his sons.
+
+"The clergyman, who was here yesterday, has made interest for a house
+for me which will cost me nothing, nor him either; and I shall be very
+near you both, boys."
+
+"But, father," interrupted Frank, "I know, by your way of speaking,
+there is something about this house which you do not like."
+
+"That is true," said old Frankland: "but that is the fault of my pride,
+and of my old prejudices; which are hard to conquer at my time of
+life. It is certain, I do not much like the thoughts of going into an
+almshouse."
+
+"An almshouse!" cried all his children at once, in a tone of horror.
+"Oh! father, you must not, indeed you must not, go into an almshouse!"
+
+The pride which renders the English yeoman averse to live upon public
+charity is highly advantageous to the industry and virtue of the nation.
+Even where it is instilled early into families as a prejudice, it is
+useful, and ought to be respected.
+
+Frankland's children, shocked at the idea of their father's going
+into an almshouse, eagerly offered to join together the money they had
+earned, and to pay the rent of the cottage in which he now lived;
+but Frankland knew that, if he took this money, his children would
+themselves be in distress. He answered with tears in his eyes,
+
+"My dear children, I thank you all for your goodness; but I cannot
+accept of your offer. Since I am no longer able to support myself, I
+will not, from false pride, be the ruin of my children. I will not be a
+burden to them; and I prefer living upon public charity to accepting
+of the ostentatious liberality of any one rich man. I am come to a
+resolution, which nothing shall induce me to break. I am determined to
+live in the Monmouth almshouse--nay, hear me, my children, patiently--to
+live in the Monmouth almshouse for one year; and during that time I will
+not see any of you, unless I am sick. I lay my commands upon you not to
+attempt to see me till this day twelvemonth. If at that time you are all
+together able to maintain me, without hurting yourselves, I will most
+willingly accept of your bounty for the rest of my days."
+
+His children assured him they should be able to earn money sufficient to
+maintain him, without injury to themselves, long before the end of the
+year; and they besought him to permit them to do so as soon as it was
+in their power; but he continued firm in his resolution, and made them
+solemnly promise they would obey his commands, and not even attempt to
+see him during the ensuing year. He then took leave of them in a most
+affectionate manner, saying, "I know, my dearest children, I have now
+given you the strongest possible motive for industry and good conduct.
+This day twelvemonth we shall meet again; and I hope it will be as
+joyful a meeting as this is a sorrowful parting." His children, with
+some difficulty, obtained permission to accompany him to his new abode.
+
+The almshouses at Monmouth are far superior to common institutions of
+this kind; they are remarkably neat and comfortable little dwellings,
+and form a row of pretty cottages, behind each of which there is
+a garden full of gooseberries, currants, and a variety of useful
+vegetables. These the old men cultivate themselves. The houses are
+fitted up conveniently; and each individual is provided with every thing
+that he wants in his own habitation: so that there is no opportunity or
+temptation for those petty disputes about property which often occur in
+charitable institutions that are not prudently conducted. Poor people
+who have their goods in common must necessarily become quarrelsome.
+
+"You see," said old Frankland, pointing to the shining row of pewter on
+the clean shelf over the fire-place in his little kitchen; "you see I
+want for nothing here. I am not much to be pitied."
+
+His children stood silent and dejected, whilst he dressed himself in the
+uniform belonging to the almshouse. Before they parted, they all agreed
+to meet at this place that day twelvemonth, and to bring with them the
+earnings of the year; they had hopes that thus, by their united efforts,
+a sum might be obtained sufficient to place their father once more in a
+state of independence. With these hopes they separated, and returned to
+their masters and mistresses.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Patty went to Mrs. Crumpe's to get her clothes which she had left
+there, and to receive some months' wages, which were still due for her
+services. After what had passed, she had no idea that Mrs. Crumpe would
+wish she should stay with her; and she had heard of another place in
+Monmouth, which she believed would suit her in every respect.
+
+The first person she saw, when she arrived at the house of her late
+mistress, was Martha, who, with a hypocritical length of face, said to
+her, "Sad news! sad news, Mrs. Patty! The passion my lady was thrown
+into, by your going away so sudden, was of terrible detriment to her.
+That very night she had a stroke of the palsy, and has scarce spoke
+since."
+
+"Don't take it to heart, it is none of your fault: don't take it to
+heart, dear Patty," said Betty, the housemaid, who was fond of Patty.
+"What could you do but go to your brother? Here, drink this water, and
+don't blame yourself at all about the matter. Mistress had a stroke
+sixteen months ago, afore ever you came into the house; and I dare say
+she'd have had this last whether you had stayed or gone."
+
+Here they were interrupted by the violent ringing of Mrs. Crumpe's bell.
+They were in the room next to her; and, as she heard voices louder than
+usual, she was impatient to know what was going on. Patty heard
+Mrs. Martha answer, as she opened her lady's door, "'Tis only Patty
+Frankland, ma'am, who is come for her clothes and her wages."
+
+"And she is very sorry to hear you have been so ill; very sorry," said
+Betty, following to the door.
+
+"Bid her come in," said Mrs. Crumpe, in a voice more distinct than she
+had ever been heard to speak in since the day of her illness.
+
+"What! are you sorry for me, child?" said Mrs. Crumpe, fixing her eyes
+upon Patty's. Patty made no answer; but it was plain how much she was
+shocked.
+
+"Ay, I see you _are_ sorry for me," said her mistress. "And so am I for
+you," added she, stretching out her hand, and taking hold of Patty's
+black gown. "You shall have a finer stuff than this for mourning for me.
+But I know that is not what you are thinking of; and that's the reason I
+have more value for you than for all the rest of them put together. Stay
+with me, stay with me, to nurse me; you nurse me to my mind. You cannot
+leave me in the way I am in now, when I ask you to stay."
+
+Patty could not without inhumanity refuse; she stayed with Mrs. Crumpe,
+who grew so dotingly fond of her, that she could scarcely bear to have
+her a moment out of sight. She would take neither food nor medicines but
+from Patty's hand; and she would not speak, except in answer to Patty's
+questions. The fatigue and confinement she was now forced to undergo
+were enough to hurt the constitution of any one who had not very strong
+health. Patty bore them with the greatest patience and good humour;
+indeed, the consciousness that she was doing right supported her in
+exertions which would otherwise have been beyond her power.
+
+She had still more difficult trials to go through: Mrs. Martha was
+jealous of her favour with her lady, and often threw out hints that some
+people had much more luck, and more cunning too, than other people; but
+that some people might perhaps be disappointed at last in their ends.
+
+Patty went on her own straight way, without minding these insinuations
+at first; but she was soon forced to attend to them. Mrs. Crumpe's
+relations received intelligence from Mrs. Martha, that her lady was
+growing worse and worse every hour; and that she was quite shut up under
+the dominion of an artful servant-girl, who had gained such power
+over her that there was no knowing what the consequence might be. Mrs.
+Crumpe's relations were much alarmed by this story: they knew she
+had made a will in their favour some years before this time, and they
+dreaded that Patty should prevail upon her to alter it, and should get
+possession herself of the fortune. They were particularly struck with
+this idea, because an instance of undue power, acquired by a favourite
+servant-maid over her doting mistress, happened about this period to be
+mentioned in an account of a trial in the newspapers of the day. Mrs.
+Crumpe's nearest relations were two grand-nephews. The eldest was Mr.
+Josiah Crumpe, a merchant who was settled at Liverpool; the youngest
+was that ensign Bloomington, whom we formerly mentioned. He had been
+intended for a merchant, but he would never settle to business; and at
+last ran away from the counting-house where he had been placed, and went
+into the army. He was an idle, extravagant young man: his great-aunt was
+by fits very angry with him, or very fond of him. Sometimes she would
+supply him with money; at others, she would forbid him her presence, and
+declare he should never see another shilling of hers. This had been her
+latest determination; but ensign Bloomington thought he could easily get
+into favour again, and he resolved to force himself into the house.
+Mrs. Crumpe positively refused to see him: the day after this refusal
+he returned with a reinforcement, for which Patty was not in the least
+prepared: he was accompanied by Miss Sally Bettesworth, in a regimental
+riding-habit. Jessy had been the original object of this gentleman's
+gallantry; but she met with a new and richer lover, and of course jilted
+him. Sally, who was in haste to be married, took undisguised pains to
+fix the ensign; and she thought she was sure of him. But to proceed with
+our story.
+
+Patty was told that a lady and gentleman desired to see her in the
+parlour: she was scarcely in the room when Sally began in a voice
+capable of intimidating the most courageous of scolds, "Fine doings!
+Fine doings, here! You think you have the game in your own hands, I
+warrant, my Lady Paramount; but I'm not one to be bullied, you know of
+old."
+
+"Nor am I one to be bullied, I hope," replied Patty, in a modest but
+firm voice. "Will you be pleased to let me know, in a quiet way, what
+are your commands with me, or my lady?"
+
+"This gentleman here must see your lady, as you call her. To let you
+into a bit of a secret, this gentleman and I _is_ soon to be one; so no
+wonder I stir in this affair, and I never stir for nothing; so it is as
+well for you to do it with fair words as foul. Without more preambling,
+please to show this gentleman into his aunt's room, which sure he has
+the best right to see of any one in this world; and if you prevent it
+in any species, I'll have the law of you; and I take this respectable
+woman," looking at Mrs. Martha, who came in with a salver of cakes and
+wine, "I take this here respectable gentlewoman to be my witness, if you
+choose to refuse my husband (that is to be) admittance to his true and
+lawful nearest relation upon earth. Only say the doors are locked,
+and that you won't let him in; that's all we ask of you, Mrs. Patty
+Paramount. Only say that afore this here witness."
+
+"Indeed, I shall say no such thing, ma'am," replied Patty; "for it
+is not in the least my wish to prevent the gentleman from seeing my
+mistress. It was she herself who refused to let him in; and I think,
+if he forces himself into the room, she will be apt to be very much
+displeased: but I shall not hinder him, if he chooses to try. There are
+the stairs, and my lady's room is the first on the right hand. Only,
+sir, before you go up, let me caution you, lest you should startle her
+so as to be the death of her. The least surprise or fright might bring
+on another stroke in an instant."
+
+Ensign Bloomington and Saucy Sally now looked at one another, as if at
+a loss how to proceed: they retired to a window to consult; and whilst
+they were whispering, a coach drove up to the door. It was full of Mrs.
+Crumpe's relations, who came post-haste from Monmouth, in consequence of
+the alarm given by Mrs. Martha. Mr. Josiah Crumpe was not in the coach:
+he had been written for, but was not yet arrived from Liverpool.
+
+Now, it must be observed, this coach-full of relations were all enemies
+to ensign Bloomington; and the moment they put their heads out of the
+carriage-window, and saw him standing in the parlour, their surprise and
+indignation were too great for coherent utterance. With all the rashness
+of prejudice, they decided that he had bribed Patty to let him in and to
+exclude them. Possessed with this idea, they hurried out of the coach,
+passed by poor Patty who was standing in the hall, and beckoned to Mrs.
+Martha, who showed them into the drawing-room, and remained shut up
+with them there for some minutes. "She is playing us false," cried Saucy
+Sally, rushing out of the parlour. "I told you not to depend on that
+Martha; nor on nobody but me: I said I'd force a way for you up to
+the room, and so I have; and now you have not the spirit to take your
+advantage. They'll get in all of them before you; and then where will
+you be, and what will you be?"
+
+Mrs. Crumpe's bell rang violently, and Patty ran up stairs to her room.
+"I have been ringing for you, Patty, this quarter of an hour! What is
+all the disturbance I hear below?"
+
+"Your relations, ma'am, who wish to see you. I hope you won't refuse to
+see them, for they are very anxious."
+
+"Very anxious to have me dead and buried. Not one of them cares a groat
+for me. I have made my will, tell them; and they will see that in time.
+I will not see one of them."
+
+By this time, they were all at the bedchamber door, struggling
+which party should enter first. Saucy Sally's loud voice was heard,
+maintaining her right to be there, as wife elect to ensign Bloomington.
+
+"Tell them the first who enters this room shall never see a shilling of
+my money," cried Mrs. Crumpe.
+
+Patty opened the door; the disputants were instantly silent. "Be
+pleased, before you come in, to hearken to what my mistress says. Ma'am,
+will you say whatever you think proper yourself," said Patty; "for it
+is too hard for me to be suspected of putting words into your mouth, and
+keeping your friends from the sight of you."
+
+"The first of them who comes into this room," cried Mrs. Crumpe, raising
+her feeble voice to the highest pitch she was able, "the first who
+enters this room shall never see a shilling of my money; and so on to
+the next, and the next, and the next. I'll see none of you."
+
+No one ventured to enter. Their infinite solicitude to see how poor Mrs.
+Crumpe found herself to-day suddenly vanished. The two parties adjourned
+to the parlour and the drawing-room; and there was nothing in which they
+agreed, except in abusing Patty. They called for pen, ink, and paper,
+and each wrote what they wished to say. Their notes were carried up by
+Patty herself; for Mrs. Martha would not run the risk of losing her own
+legacy to oblige any of them, though she had been bribed by all. With
+much difficulty, Mrs. Crumpe was prevailed upon to look at the notes; at
+last she exclaimed, "Let them all come up! all; this moment tell them,
+all!"
+
+They were in the room instantly; all, except Saucy Sally: ensign
+Bloomington persuaded her it was for the best that she should not
+appear. Patty was retiring, as soon as she had shown them in; but her
+mistress called to her, and bade her take a key, which she held in her
+hand, and unlock an escritoir that was in the room. She did so.
+
+"Give me that parcel, which is tied up with red tape, and sealed with
+three seals," said Mrs. Crumpe.
+
+All eyes were immediately fixed upon it, for it was her will.
+
+She broke the seals deliberately, untied the red string, opened the huge
+sheet of parchment, and without saying one syllable tore it down the
+middle; then tore the pieces again, and again, till they were so small
+that the writing could not be read. The spectators looked upon one
+another in dismay.
+
+"Ay! you may all look as you please," cried Mrs. Crumpe. "I'm alive, and
+in my sound senses still; my money's my own; my property's my own; I'll
+do what I please with it. You were all handsomely provided for in this
+will; but you could not wait for your legacies till I was under ground.
+No! you must come hovering over me, like so many ravens. It is not time
+yet! It is not time yet! The breath is not yet out of my body; and when
+it is, you shall none of you be the better for it, I promise you. My
+money's my own; my property's my own; I'll make a new will to-morrow.
+Good bye to you all. I've told you my mind."
+
+Not the most abject humiliations, not the most artful caresses, not the
+most taunting reproaches, from any of the company, could extort another
+word from Mrs. Crumpe. Her disappointed and incensed relations were at
+last obliged to leave the house; though not without venting their rage
+upon Patty, whom they believed to be the secret cause of all that had
+happened. After they had left the house, she went up to a garret,
+where she thought no one would see her or hear her, sat down on an old
+bedstead, and burst into tears. She had been much shocked by the scenes
+that had just passed, and her heart wanted this relief.
+
+"Oh!" thought she, "it is plain enough that it is not riches which
+make people happy. Here is this poor lady, with heaps of money and fine
+clothes, without any one in this whole world to love or care for her,
+but all wishing her dead; worried by her own relations, and abused by
+them, almost in her hearing, upon her death-bed! Oh! my poor brother!
+How different it was with you!"
+
+Patty's reflections were here interrupted by the entrance of Martha, who
+came and sat down on the bedstead beside her, and, with a great deal of
+hypocritical kindness in her manner, began to talk of what had
+passed; blaming Mrs. Crumpe's relations for being so hard-hearted and
+inconsiderate as to force business upon her when she was in such a
+state. "Indeed, they have no one to thank but themselves, for the new
+turn things have taken. I hear my mistress has torn her will to atoms,
+and is going to make a new one! To be sure, you, Mrs. Patty, will be
+handsomely provided for in this, as is, I am sure, becoming; and I hope,
+if you have an opportunity, as for certain you will, you won't forget to
+speak a good word for me!"
+
+Patty, who was disgusted by this interested and deceitful address,
+answered, she had nothing to do with her mistress's will; and that her
+mistress was the best judge of what should be done with her own money,
+which she did not covet.
+
+Mrs. Martha was not mistaken in her opinion that Patty would be
+handsomely remembered in this new will. Mrs. Crumpe the next morning
+said to Patty, as she was giving her some medicine, "It is for your
+interest, child, that I should get through this day, at least; for if
+I live a few hours longer, you will be the richest single woman in
+Monmouthshire. I'll show them that all my money's my own; and that I can
+do what I please with my own. Go yourself to Monmouth, child (as soon as
+you have plaited my cap), and bring me the attorney your brother lives
+with, to draw my new will. Don't say one word of your errand to any
+of my relations, I charge you, for your own sake as well as mine. The
+harpies would tear you to pieces; but I'll show them that I can do what
+I please with my own. That's the least satisfaction I can have for my
+money before I die. God knows, it has been plague enough to me all my
+life long! But now, before I die--"
+
+"Oh! ma'am," interrupted Patty, "there is no need to talk of your dying
+now; for I have not heard you speak so strong, or so clear, nor seem so
+much yourself this long time. You may live yet, and I hope you will, to
+see many a good day; and to make it up, if I may be so bold to say it,
+with all your relations: which, I am sure, would be a great ease to your
+heart; and I am sure they are very sorry to have offended you."
+
+"The girl's a fool!" cried Mrs. Crumpe. "Why, child, don't you
+understand me yet? I tell you, as plain as I can speak, I mean to leave
+the whole fortune to you. Well! what makes you look so blank!"
+
+"Because, ma'am, indeed I have no wish to stand in any body's way; and
+would not for all the world do such an unjust thing as to take advantage
+of your being a little angry or so with your relations, to get the
+fortune for myself: for I can do, having done all my life, without
+fortune well enough; but I could not do without my own good opinion, and
+that of my father, and brothers, and sister; all which I should lose, if
+I was to be guilty of a mean thing. So, ma'am," said Patty, "I have made
+bold to speak the whole truth of my mind to you; and I hope you will not
+do me an injury, by way of doing me a favour. I am sure I thank you with
+all my heart for your goodness to me."
+
+Patty turned away as she finished speaking, for she was greatly moved.
+
+"You are a strange girl!" said Mrs. Crumpe. "I would not have believed
+this, if any one had sworn it to me. Go for the attorney, as I bid you,
+this minute. I will have my own way."
+
+When Patty arrived at Mr. Barlow's, she asked immediately for her
+brother Frank, whom she wished to consult; but he was out, and she then
+desired to speak to Mr. Barlow himself. She was shown into his office,
+and she told him her business, without any circumlocution, with the
+plain language and ingenuous countenance of truth.
+
+"Indeed, sir," said she, "I should be glad you would come directly to my
+mistress and speak to her yourself; for she will mind what you say, and
+I only hope she may do the just thing by her relations. I don't want
+her fortune, nor any part of it, but a just recompense for my service.
+Knowing this, in my own heart, I forgive them for all the ill-will they
+bear me: it being all founded in a mistaken notion."
+
+There was a gentleman in Mr. Barlow's office who was sitting at a
+desk writing a letter, when Patty came in: she took him for one of the
+clerks. Whilst she was speaking, he turned about several times, and
+looked at her very earnestly. At last he went to a clerk, who was
+folding up some parchments, and asked who she was? He then sat down
+again to his writing, without saying a-single word. This gentleman was
+Mr. Josiah Crumpe, the Liverpool merchant, Mrs. Crumpe's eldest nephew,
+who had come to Monmouth, in consequence of the account he had heard
+of his aunt's situation. Mr. Barlow had lately amicably settled a suit
+between him and one of his relations at Monmouth; and Mr. Crumpe had
+just been signing the deed relative to this affair. He was struck with
+the disinterestedness of Patty's conduct; but he kept silence that she
+might not find out who he was, and that he might have full opportunity
+of doing her justice hereafter. He was not one of the ravens, as Mrs.
+Crumpe emphatically called those who were hovering over her, impatient
+for her death: he had, by his own skill and industry, made himself
+not only independent, but rich. After Patty was gone, he with the true
+spirit of a British merchant declared, that he was as independent in his
+sentiments as in his fortune; that he would not crouch or fawn to man or
+woman, peer or prince, in his majesty's dominions; no, not even to his
+own aunt. He wished his old aunt Crumpe, he said, to live and enjoy all
+she had as long as she could; and if she chose to leave it to him after
+her death, well and good; he should be much obliged to her: if she did
+not, why well and good; he should not _be obliged_ to be obliged to her:
+and that, to his humour, would perhaps be better still.
+
+With these sentiments Mr. Josiah Crumpe found no difficulty in
+refraining from going to see, or, as he called it, from paying his court
+to his aunt. "I have some choice West India sweetmeats here for the
+poor soul," said he to Mr. Barlow: "she gave me sweetmeats when I was a
+schoolboy; which I don't forget. I know she has a sweet tooth still in
+her head; for she wrote to me last year, to desire I would get her some:
+but I did not relish the style of her letter, and I never complied with
+the order; however, I was to blame: she is an infirm poor creature,
+and should be humoured now, let her be ever so cross. Take her the
+sweetmeats; but mind, do not let her have a taste or a sight of them
+till she has made her will. I do not want to bribe her to leave me her
+money-bags; I thank my God and myself, I want them not."
+
+Mr. Barlow immediately went to Mrs. Crumpe's. As she had land to dispose
+of, three witnesses were necessary to the will. Patty said she had two
+men-servants who could write; but to make sure of a third, Mr. Barlow
+desired that one of his clerks should accompany him. Frank was out; so
+the eldest clerk went in his stead.
+
+This clerk's name was Mason; he was Frank's chief friend, and a young
+man of excellent character. He had never seen Patty till this day; but
+he had often heard her brother speak of her with so much affection, that
+he was prepossessed in her favour, even before he saw her. The manner
+in which she spoke on the subject of Mrs. Crumpe's fortune quite charmed
+him; for he was of an open and generous temper, and said to himself, "I
+would rather have this girl for my wife, without sixpence in the world,
+than any woman I ever saw in my life--if I could but afford it--and if
+she was but a little prettier. As it is, however, there is no danger
+of my falling in love with her; so I may just indulge myself in the
+pleasure of talking to her: besides, it is but civil to lead my horse
+and walk a part of the way with Frank's sister."
+
+Accordingly, Mason set off to walk a part of the way to Mrs. Crumpe's
+with Patty; and they fell into conversation, in which they were both so
+earnestly engaged that they did not perceive how time passed. Instead,
+however, of part of the way, Mason walked the whole way; and he and
+Patty were both rather surprised when they found themselves within sight
+of Mrs. Crumpe's house.
+
+What a fine healthy colour this walking has brought into her face,
+thought Mason, as he stood looking at her, whilst they were waiting
+for some one to open the door. Though she has not a single beautiful
+feature, and though nobody could call her handsome, yet there is so much
+good-nature in her countenance, that, plain as she certainly is, her
+looks are more pleasing to my fancy than those of many a beauty I have
+heard admired.
+
+The door was now opened; and Mr. Barlow, who had arrived some time,
+summoned Mason to business. They went up to Mrs. Crumpe's room to take
+her instructions for her new will. Patty showed them in.
+
+"Don't go, child, I will not have you stir," said Mrs. Crumpe. "Now
+stand there at the foot of my bed, and, without hypocrisy, tell me
+truly, child, your mind. This gentleman, who understands the law, can
+assure you that, in spite of all the relations upon earth, I can leave
+my fortune to whom I please, so do not let fear of my relations prevent
+you from being happy."
+
+"No, madam," interrupted Patty, "it was not fear that made me say what
+I did to you this morning; and it is not fear that keeps me in the same
+mind still. I would not do what I thought wrong myself if nobody else in
+the whole world was to know it. But, since you desire me to say what
+I really wish, I have a father, who is in great distress, and I should
+wish you would leave fifty pounds to him."
+
+"With such principles and feelings," cried Mr. Barlow, "you are happier
+than ten thousand a year could make you!"
+
+Mason said nothing; but his looks said a great deal: and his master
+forgave him the innumerable blunders he made in drawing Mrs. Crumpe's
+will. "Come, Mason, give me up the pen," whispered he at last; "you are
+not your own man, I see; and I like you the better for being touched
+with good and generous conduct. But a truce with sentiment, now; I must
+be a mere man of law. Go you and take a walk, to recover your _legal_
+senses."
+
+The contents of Mrs. Crumpe's new will were kept secret: Patty did not
+in the least know how she had disposed of her fortune; nor did Mason,
+for he had written only the preamble, when his master compassionately
+took the pen from his hand. Contrary to expectation, Mrs. Crumpe
+continued to linger on for some months; and during this time, Patty
+attended her with the most patient care and humanity. Though long habits
+of selfishness had rendered this lady in general indifferent to the
+feelings of her servants and dependants, yet Patty was an exception:
+she often said to her, "Child, it goes against my conscience to keep
+you prisoner here the best days of your life, in a sick room: go out and
+take a walk with your brothers and sister, I desire, whenever they call
+for you."
+
+These walks with her brothers and sister were very refreshing to Patty,
+especially when Mason was of the party, as he almost always contrived to
+be. Every day he grew more and more attached to Patty; for every day he
+became more and more convinced of the goodness of her disposition and
+the sweetness of her temper. The affection which he saw her brothers
+and sister bore her, spoke to his mind most strongly in her favour. They
+have known her from her childhood, thought he, and cannot be deceived
+in her character. Tis a good sign that those who know her best love her
+most; and her loving her pretty sister, Fanny, as she does, is a proof
+that she is incapable of envy and jealousy.
+
+In consequence of these reflections, Mason determined he would apply
+diligently to his business, that he might in due time be able to marry
+and support Patty. She ingenuously told him she had never seen the man
+she could love so well as himself; but that her first object was to earn
+some money, to release her father from the almshouse, where she could
+not bear to see him living upon charity. "When, amongst us all, we have
+accomplished this," said she, "it will be time enough for me to think of
+marrying. Duty first and love afterwards."
+
+Mason loved her the better, when he found her so steady in her gratitude
+to her father; for he was a man of sense, and knew that so good a
+daughter and sister would, in all probability, make a good wife.
+
+We must now give some account of what Fanny has been doing all this
+time. Upon her return to Mrs. Hungerford's, after the death of her
+brother, she was received with the greatest kindness by her mistress,
+and by all the children, who were really fond of her; though she had
+never indulged them in anything that was contrary to their mother's
+wishes.
+
+Mrs. Hungerford had not forgotten the affair of the kettle-drum. One
+morning she said to her little son, "Gustavus, your curiosity about the
+kettle-drum and the clarionet shall be satisfied: your cousin Philip
+will come here in a few days, and he is well acquainted with the colonel
+of the regiment which is quartered in Monmouth: he shall ask the colonel
+to let us have the band here, some day. We may have them at the farthest
+end of the garden; and you and your brothers and sisters shall dine in
+the arbour, with Fanny, who upon this occasion particularly deserves to
+have a share in your amusement."
+
+The cousin Philip, of whom Mrs. Hungerford spoke, was no other than
+Frankland's landlord, young Mr. Folingsby. Besides liking fine horses
+and fine curricles, this gentleman was a great admirer of fine women.
+
+He was struck with Fanny's beauty the first day he came to Mrs.
+Hungerford's: every succeeding day he thought her handsomer and
+handsomer; and every day grew fonder and fonder of playing with
+his little cousins. Upon some pretence or other, he contrived to be
+constantly in the room with them when Fanny was there: the modest
+propriety of her manners, however, kept him at that distance at which it
+was no easy matter for a pretty girl, in her situation, to keep such a
+gallant gentleman. His intention, when he came to Mrs. Hungerford's, was
+to stay but a week; but when that week was at an end, he determined to
+stay another: he found his aunt Hungerford's house uncommonly agreeable.
+The moment she mentioned to him her wish of having the band of music in
+the garden, he was charmed with the scheme, and longed to dine out in
+the arbour with the children; but he dared not press this point, lest he
+should excite suspicion.
+
+Amongst other company who dined this day with Mrs. Hungerford was a Mrs.
+Cheviott, a blind lady, who took the liberty, as she said, to bring with
+her a young person, who was just come to live with her as a companion.
+This young person was Jessy Bettesworth; or, as she is henceforth to
+be called, Miss Jessy Bettesworth. Since her father had "come in for
+Captain Bettesworth's fortin," her mother had spared no pains to push
+Jessy forward in the world; having no doubt that "her beauty, when well
+dressed, would charm some great gentleman; or, may be, some great lord!"
+Accordingly, Jessy was dizened out in all sorts of finery: her thoughts
+were wholly bent on fashions and flirting; and her mother's vanity,
+joined to her own, nearly turned her brain.
+
+Just as this fermentation of folly was gaining force, she happened to
+meet with Ensign Bloomington at a ball at Monmouth: he fell, or she
+thought he fell, desperately in love with her; she of course coquetted
+with him: indeed, she gave him so much encouragement, that every
+body concluded they were to be married. She and her sister Sally were
+continually seen walking arm in arm with him in the streets of Monmouth;
+and morning, noon, and night, she wore the drop-earrings, of which he
+had made her a present. It chanced, however, that Jilting Jessy heard an
+officer, in her ensign's regiment, swear she was pretty enough to be
+the captain's lady instead of the ensign's; and, from that moment, she
+thought no more of the ensign.
+
+He was enraged to find himself jilted thus by a country girl, and
+determined to have his revenge: consequently he immediately transferred
+all his attentions to her sister Sally; judiciously calculating that,
+from the envy and jealousy he had seen between the sisters, this would
+be the most effectual mode of mortifying his perfidious fair. Jilting
+Jessy said her sister was welcome to her cast-off sweethearts: and Saucy
+Sally replied, her sister was welcome to be her bridemaid; since, with
+all her beauty, and all her airs, she was not likely to be a bride.
+
+Mrs. Bettesworth had always confessed that Jessy was her favourite: like
+a wise and kind mother, she took part in all these disputes; and set
+these amiable sisters yet more at variance, by prophesying that "her
+Jessy would make the grandest match."
+
+To put her into fortune's way, Mrs. Bettesworth determined to get
+her into some genteel family, as companion to a lady. Mrs. Cheviott's
+housekeeper was nearly related to the Bettesworths, and to her Mrs.
+Bettesworth applied. "But I'm afraid Jessy is something too much of a
+flirt," said the housekeeper, "for my mistress, who is a very strict,
+staid lady. You know, or at least we in Monmouth know, that Jessy was
+greatly talked of about a young officer here in town. I used myself to
+see her go trailing about, with her muslin and pink, and fine coloured
+shoes, in the dirt."
+
+"Oh! that's all over now," said Mrs. Bettesworth: "the man was quite
+beneath her notice--that's all over now: he will do well enough for
+Sally; but, ma'am, my daughter Jessy has quite laid herself out for
+goodness now, and only wants to get into some house where she may learn
+to be a little genteel."
+
+The housekeeper, though she had not the highest possible opinion of the
+young lady, was in hopes that, since Jessy had now laid herself out for
+goodness, she might yet turn out well; and, considering that she was
+her relation, she thought it her duty to speak in favour of Miss
+Bettesworth. In consequence of her recommendation, Mrs. Cheviott
+took Jessy into her family; and Jessy was particularly glad to be the
+companion of a blind lady.
+
+She discovered, the first day she spent with Mrs. Cheviott, that,
+besides the misfortune of being blind, she had the still greater
+misfortune of being inordinately fond of flattery. Jessy took advantage
+of this foible, and imposed so far on the understanding of her
+patroness, that she persuaded Mrs. Cheviott into a high opinion of her
+judgment and prudence.
+
+Things were in this situation when Jessy, for the first time,
+accompanied the blind lady to Mrs. Hungerford's. Without having the
+appearance or manners of a gentlewoman, Miss Jessy Bettesworth was,
+notwithstanding, such a pretty, showy girl, that she generally contrived
+to attract notice. She caught Mr. Folingsby's eye at dinner, as she was
+playing off her best airs at the side-table; and it was with infinite
+satisfaction that she heard him ask one of the officers, as they were
+going out to walk in the garden, "Who is that girl? She has fine eyes,
+and a most beautiful long neck!" Upon the strength of this whisper,
+Jessy flattered herself she had made a conquest of Mr. Folingsby; by
+which idea she was so much intoxicated, that she could scarcely restrain
+her vanity within decent bounds.
+
+"Lord! Fanny Frankland, is it you? Who expected to meet you sitting
+here?" said she, when, to her great surprise, she saw Fanny in the
+arbour with the children. To her yet greater surprise, she soon
+perceived that Mr. Folingsby's attention was entirely fixed upon Fanny;
+and that he became so absent he did not know he was walking upon the
+flower-borders.
+
+Jessy could scarcely believe her senses when she saw that her rival, for
+as such she now considered her, gave her lover no encouragement. "Is
+it possible that the girl is such a fool as not to see that this here
+gentleman is in love with her? No; that is out of the nature of things.
+Oh! it's all artifice; and I will find out her drift, I warrant, before
+long!"
+
+Having formed this laudable resolution, she took her measures well for
+carrying it into effect. Mrs. Cheviott, being blind, had few amusements:
+she was extremely fond of music, and one of Mrs. Hungerford's daughters
+played remarkably well on the piano-forte. This evening, as Mrs.
+Cheviott was listening to the young lady's singing, Jessy exclaimed,
+"Oh! ma'am, how happy it would make you to hear such singing and music
+every day."
+
+"If she would come every day, when my sister is practising with the
+music-master, she might hear enough of it," said little Gustavus. "I'll
+run and desire mamma to ask her; because," added he, in a low voice, "if
+I was blind, may be I should like it myself."
+
+Mrs. Hungerford, who was good-natured as well as polite, pressed Mrs.
+Cheviott to come, whenever it should be agreeable to her. The poor blind
+lady was delighted with the invitation, and went regularly every morning
+to Mrs. Hungerford's at the time the music-master attended. Jessy
+Bettesworth always accompanied her, for she could not go any where
+without a guide. Jessy had now ample opportunities of gratifying her
+malicious curiosity; she saw, or thought she saw, that Mr. Folingsby was
+displeased by the reserve of Fanny's manners; and she renewed all
+her own coquettish efforts to engage his attention. He amused himself
+sometimes with her, in hopes of rousing Fanny's jealousy; but he found
+that this expedient, though an infallible one in ordinary cases, was
+here totally unavailing. His passion for Fanny was increased so much, by
+her unaffected modesty, and by the daily proofs he saw of the sweetness
+of her disposition, that he was no longer master of himself: he plainly
+told her that he could not live without her.
+
+"That's a pity, sir," said Fanny laughing, and trying to turn off what
+he said, as if it were only a jest. "It is a great pity, sir, that you
+cannot live without me; for, you know, I cannot serve my mistress, do my
+duty, and live with you."
+
+Mr. Folingsby endeavoured to convince, or rather to persuade her, that
+she was mistaken; and swore that nothing within the power of his fortune
+should be wanting to make her happy.
+
+"Ah! sir," said she, "your fortune could not make me happy, if I were to
+do what I know is wrong, what would disgrace me for ever, and what would
+break my poor father's heart!"
+
+"But your father shall never know any thing of the matter. I will keep
+your secret from the whole world: trust to my honour."
+
+"Honour! Oh! sir, how can you talk to me of honour! Do you think I do
+not know what honour is, because I am poor? Or do you think I do not set
+any value on mine, though you do on yours? Would you not kill any man,
+if you could, in a duel, for doubting of your honour? And yet you
+expect me to love you, at the very moment you show me, most plainly, how
+desirous you are to rob me of mine!"
+
+Mr. Folingsby was silent for some moments; but, when he saw that Fanny
+was leaving him, he hastily stopped her, and said, laughing, "You have
+made me a most charming speech about honour; and, what is better still,
+you looked most charmingly when you spoke it; but now take time to
+consider what I I have said to you. Let me have your answer to-morrow;
+and consult this book before you answer me, I conjure you."
+
+Fanny took up the book as soon as Mr Folingsby had left the room; and,
+without opening it, determined to return it immediately. She instantly
+wrote a letter to Mr. Folingsby, which she was just wrapping up with the
+book in a sheet of paper, when Miss Jessy Bettesworth, the blind lady,
+and the music-master, came into the room. Fanny went to set a chair for
+the blind lady; and, whilst she was doing so, Miss Jessy Bettesworth,
+who had observed that Fanny blushed when they came in, slily peeped into
+the book, which lay on the table. Between the first pages she opened
+there was a five-pound bank-note; she turned the leaf, and found
+another, and another, and another at every leaf! Of these notes she
+counted one-and-twenty! whilst Fanny, unsuspicious of what was doing
+behind her back, was looking for the children's music-books.
+
+"Philip Folingsby! So, so! Did he give you this book, Fanny Frankland?"
+said Jessy, in a scornful tone: "it seems truly to be a very valuable
+performance; and, no doubt, he had good reasons for giving it to you."
+
+Fanny coloured deeply at this unexpected speech; and hesitated, from the
+fear of betraying Mr. Folingsby. "He did not give me the book: he only
+lent it to me," said she, "and I am going to return it to him directly."
+
+"Oh! no; pray lend it to me first," replied Jessy, in an ironical tone;
+"Mr. Folingsby, to be sure, would lend it to me as soon as to you.
+I'm growing as fond of reading as other folks, lately," continued she,
+holding the book fast.
+
+"I dare say, Mr. Folingsby would--Mr. Folingsby would lend it to you,
+I suppose," said Fanny, colouring more and more deeply; "but, as it is
+trusted to me now, I must return it safe. Pray let me have it, Jessy."
+
+"Oh! yes; return it, madam, safe! I make no manner of doubt you will! I
+make no manner of doubt you will!" replied Jessy, several times, as she
+shook the book; whilst the bank-notes fell from between the leaves, and
+were scattered upon the floor. "It is a thousand pities, Mrs. Cheviott,
+you can't see what a fine book we have got, full of bank-notes! But Mrs.
+Hungerford is not blind at any rate, it is to be hoped," continued she,
+turning to Mrs. Hungerford, who at this instant opened the door.
+
+She stood in dignified amazement. Jessy had an air of malignant triumph.
+Fanny was covered with blushes; but she looked with all the tranquillity
+of innocence. The children gathered round her; and blind Mrs. Cheviott
+cried, "What is going on? What is going on? Will nobody tell me what is
+going on? Jessy! What is it you are talking about, Jessy?"
+
+"About a very valuable book, ma'am; containing more than I can easily
+count, in bank-notes, ma'am, that Mr. Folingsby has lent, only lent,
+ma'am, she says, to Miss Fanny Frankland, ma'am, who was just going to
+return them to him, ma'am, when I unluckily took up the book, and shook
+them all out upon the floor, ma'am."
+
+"Pick them up, Gustavus, my dear," said Mrs. Hungerford, coolly. "From
+what I know of Fanny Frankland, I am inclined to believe that whatever
+she says is truth. Since she has lived with me, I have never, in the
+slightest instance, found her deviate from the truth; therefore I must
+entirely depend upon what she says."
+
+"Oh! yes, mamma," cried the children, all together, "that I am sure you
+may."
+
+"Come with me, Fanny," resumed Mrs. Hungerford; "it is not necessary
+that your explanation should be public, though I am persuaded it will be
+satisfactory."
+
+Fanny was glad to escape from the envious eye of Miss Jessy Bettesworth,
+and felt much gratitude to Mrs. Hungerford for this kindness and
+confidence; but, when she was to make her explanation, Fanny was in
+great confusion. She dreaded to occasion a quarrel between Mr. Folingsby
+and his aunt; yet she knew not how to exculpate herself, without
+accusing him.
+
+"Why these blushes and tears, and why this silence, Fanny?" said Mrs.
+Hungerford, after she had waited some minutes, in expectation she would
+begin to speak. "Are not you sure of justice from me; and of protection,
+both from slander and insult? I am fond of my nephew, it is true; but I
+think myself obliged to you, for the manner in which you have conducted
+yourself towards my children, since you have had them under your care.
+Tell me then, freely, if you have any reason to complain of young Mr.
+Folingsby."
+
+"Oh! madam," said Fanny, "thank you a thousand times for your goodness
+to me. I do not, indeed, I do not wish to complain of any body; and I
+would not for the world make mischief between you and your nephew. I
+would rather leave your family at once; and that," continued the poor
+girl, sobbing, "that is what I believe I had best; nay, is what I must
+and will do."
+
+"No, Fanny, do not leave my house, without giving me an explanation of
+what has passed this morning; for, if you do, your reputation is at the
+mercy of Miss Jessy Bettesworth's malice."
+
+"Heaven forbid!" said Fanny, with a look of real terror. "I must beg,
+madam, that you will have the kindness to return this book, and these
+bank-notes, to Mr. Folingsby; and that you will give him this letter,
+which I was just going to wrap up in the paper, with the book, when
+Jessy Bettesworth came in and found the bank-notes, which I had never
+seen. These can make no difference in my answer to Mr. Folingsby:
+therefore I shall leave my letter just as it was first written, if you
+please, madam."
+
+Fanny's letter was as follows:
+
+
+"SIR,
+
+"I return the book, which you left with me, as nothing it contains
+can ever alter my opinion on the subject of which you spoke to me this
+morning. I hope you will never speak to me again, sir, in the same
+manner. Consider, sir, that I am a poor unprotected girl. If you go
+on as you have done lately, I shall be obliged to leave good Mrs.
+Hungerford, who is my only friend. Oh! where shall I find so good a
+friend? My poor old father is in the almshouse! and there he must remain
+till his children can earn money sufficient to support him. Do not
+fancy, sir, that I say this by way of begging from you; I would not, nor
+would he, accept of any thing that you could offer him, whilst in your
+present way of thinking. Pray, sir, have some compassion, and do not
+injure those whom you cannot serve.
+
+"I am, sir,
+
+"Your humble servant,
+
+"FANNY FRANKLAND."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mr. Folingsby was surprised and confounded, when this letter, and the
+book containing his bank-notes, were put into his hand by his aunt. Mrs.
+Hungerford told him by what means the book had been seen by Miss Jessy
+Bettesworth, and to what imputations it must have exposed Fanny.
+"Fanny is afraid of making mischief between you and me," continued Mrs.
+Hungerford "and I cannot prevail upon her to give me an explanation,
+which I am persuaded would be much to her honour."
+
+"Then you have not seen this letter! Then she has decided without
+consulting you! She is a charming girl!" cried Mr. Folingsby; "and
+whatever you may think of me, I am bound, in justice to her, to show
+you what she has written: that will sufficiently explain how much I have
+been to blame, and how well she deserves the confidence you place in
+her."
+
+As he spoke, Mr. Folingsby rang the bell to order his horses. "I will
+return to town immediately," continued he; "so Fanny need not leave the
+house of her only friend to avoid me. As to these bank-notes, keep them,
+dear aunt. She says her father is in great distress. Perhaps, now that
+I am come 'to a right way of thinking,' she will not disdain my
+assistance. Give her the money when and how you think proper. I am sure
+I cannot make a better use of a hundred guineas; and wish I had never
+thought of making a worse."
+
+Mr. Folingsby returned directly to town; and his aunt thought he had in
+some measure atoned for his fault by his candour and generosity. Miss
+Jessy Bettesworth waited all this time, with malicious impatience,
+to hear the result of Fanny's explanation with Mrs. Hungerford. How
+painfully was she surprised and disappointed, when Mrs. Hungerford
+returned to the company, to hear her speak in the highest terms of
+Fanny! "Oh, mamma," cried little Gustavus, clapping his hands, "I am
+glad you think her good, because we all think so; and I should be very
+sorry indeed if she was to go away, especially in disgrace."
+
+"There is no danger of that, my dear," said Mrs. Hungerford. "She shall
+never leave my house, as long as she desires to stay in it. I do not
+give, or withdraw, my protection, without good reasons."
+
+Miss Jessy Bettesworth bit her lips. Her face, which nature intended
+to be beautiful, became almost ugly; envy and malice distorted her
+features; and, when she departed with Mrs. Cheviott, her humiliated
+appearance was a strong contrast to the air of triumph with which she
+had entered.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+After Jessy and Mrs. Cheviott had left the room, one of the little girls
+exclaimed, "I don't like that Miss Bettesworth; for she asked me whether
+I did not wish that Fanny was gone, because she refused to let me have a
+peach that was not ripe. I am sure I wish Fanny may always stay here."
+
+There was a person in the room who seemed to join most fervently in
+this wish: this was Mr. Reynolds, the drawing-master. For some time his
+thoughts had been greatly occupied by Fanny. At first, he was struck
+with her beauty; but he had discovered that Mr. Folingsby was in love
+with her, and had carefully attended to her conduct, resolving not to
+offer himself till he was sure on a point so serious. Her modesty and
+prudence fixed his affections; and he now became impatient to declare
+his passion. He was a man of excellent temper and character; and his
+activity and talents were such as to ensure independence to a wife and
+family.
+
+Mrs. Hungerford, though a proud, was not a selfish woman: she was glad
+that Mr. Reynolds was desirous to obtain Fanny, though she was sorry to
+part with one who was so useful in her family. Fanny had now lived
+with her nearly two years; and she was much attached to her. A distant
+relation, about this time, left her five children a small legacy of ten
+guineas each. Gustavus, though he had some ambition to be master of
+a watch, was the first to propose that this legacy should be given to
+Fanny. His brothers and sisters applauded the idea; and Mrs. Hungerford
+added fifty guineas to their fifty. "I had put by this money," said she,
+"to purchase a looking-glass for my drawing-room; but it will be much
+better applied in rewarding one who has been of real service to my
+children."
+
+Fanny was now mistress of two hundred guineas; a hundred given to her by
+Mr. Folingsby, fifty by Mrs. Hungerford, and fifty by the children. Her
+joy and gratitude were extreme: for with this money she knew she could
+relieve her father; this was the first wish of her heart; and it was a
+wish in which her lover so eagerly joined that she smiled on him, and
+said, "Now I am sure you really love me."
+
+"Let us go to your father directly," said Mr. Reynolds. "Let me be
+present when you give him this money."
+
+"You shall," said Fanny; "but first I must consult my sister Patty and
+my brothers; for we must all go together; that is our agreement. The
+first day of next month is my father's birthday; and, on that day, we
+are all to meet at the almshouse. What a happy day it will be!"
+
+But what has James been about all this time? How has he gone on with his
+master, Mr. Cleghorn, the haberdasher?
+
+During the eighteen months that James had spent in Mr. Cleghorn's shop,
+he never gave his master the slightest reason to complain of him; on
+the contrary, this young man made his employer's interests his own; and,
+consequently, completely deserved his confidence. It was not, however,
+always easy to deal with Mr. Cleghorn; for he dreaded to be flattered,
+yet could not bear to be contradicted. James was very near losing his
+favour for ever, upon the following occasion.
+
+One evening, when it was nearly dusk, and James was just shutting up
+shop, a strange-looking man, prodigiously corpulent, and with huge
+pockets to his coat, came in. He leaned his elbows on the counter,
+opposite to James, and stared him full in the face without speaking.
+James swept some loose money off the counter into the till. The stranger
+smiled, as if purposely to show him this did not escape his quick eye.
+There was in his countenance an expression of roguery and humour: the
+humour seemed to be affected, the roguery natural. "What are you pleased
+to want, sir?" said James.
+
+"A glass of brandy, and your master."
+
+"My master is not at home, sir; and we have no brandy. You will find
+brandy, I believe, at the house over the way."
+
+"I believe I know where to find brandy a little better than you do; and
+better brandy than you ever tasted, or the devil's in it," replied the
+stranger. "I want none of your brandy. I only asked for it to try what
+sort of a chap you were. So you don't know who I am?"
+
+"No, sir; not in the least."
+
+"No! Never heard of Admiral Tipsey! Where do you come from? Never heard
+of Admiral Tipsey! whose noble paunch is worth more than a Laplander
+could reckon," cried he, striking the huge rotundity he praised. "Let me
+into this back parlour; I'll wait there till your master comes home."
+
+"Sir, you cannot possibly go into that parlour; there is a young lady,
+Mr. Cleghorn's daughter, sir, at tea in that room: she must not be
+disturbed," said James, holding the lock of the parlour door. He thought
+the stranger was either drunk or pretending to be drunk; and contended,
+with all his force, to prevent him from getting into the parlour.
+
+Whilst they were struggling, Mr. Cleghorn came home. "Heyday! what's
+the matter? O admiral, is it you?" said Mr. Cleghorn in a voice of
+familiarity that astonished James. "Let us by, James; you don't know the
+admiral."
+
+Admiral Tipsey was a smuggler: he had the command of two or three
+smuggling vessels, and thereupon created himself an admiral: a dignity
+which few dared to dispute with him, whilst he held his oak stick in his
+hand. As to the name of Tipsey, no one could be so unjust as to question
+his claim to it; for he was never known to be perfectly sober, during
+a whole day, from one year's end to another. To James's great surprise,
+the admiral, after he had drunk one dish of tea, unbuttoned his
+waist-coat from top to bottom, and deliberately began to unpack his huge
+false corpulence! Round him were wound innumerable pieces of lace, and
+fold after fold of fine cambric. When he was completely unpacked, it was
+difficult to believe that he was the same person, he looked so thin and
+shrunk.
+
+He then called for some clean straw, and began to stuff himself out
+again to what he called a passable size. "Did not I tell you, young man,
+I carried that under my waistcoat which would make a fool stare? The
+lace that's on the floor, to say nothing of the cambric, is worth full
+twice the sum for which you shall have it, Cleghorn. Good night. I'll
+call again to-morrow, to settle our affairs; but don't let your young
+man here shut the door, as he did to-day, in the admiral's face. Here is
+a cravat for you, notwithstanding," continued he, turning to James, and
+throwing him a piece of very fine cambric. "I must 'list you in Admiral
+Tipsey's service."
+
+James followed him to the door, and returned the cambric in despite of
+all his entreaties that he would "wear it, or sell it, for the admiral's
+sake."
+
+"So, James," said Mr. Cleghorn, when the smuggler was gone, "you do not
+seem to like our admiral."
+
+"I know nothing of him, sir, except that he is a smuggler; and for that
+reason I do not wish to have any thing to do with him."
+
+"I am sorry for that," said Mr. Cleghorn, with a mixture of shame and
+anger in his countenance: "my conscience is as nice as other people's;
+and yet I have a notion I shall have something to do with him, though he
+is a smuggler; and, if I am not mistaken, shall make a deal of money by
+him. I have not had any thing to do with smugglers yet; but I see many
+in Monmouth who are making large fortunes by their assistance. There is
+our neighbour, Mr. Raikes; what a rich man he is become! And why should
+I, or why should you, be more scrupulous than others? Many gentlemen,
+ay, gentlemen, in the country are connected with them; and why should
+a shopkeeper be more conscientious than they? Speak; I must have your
+opinion."
+
+With all the respect due to his master, James gave it as his opinion
+that it would be best to have nothing to do with Admiral Tipsey, or with
+any of the smugglers. He observed that men who carried on an illicit
+trade, and who were in the daily habit of cheating, or of taking false
+oaths, could not be safe partners. Even putting morality out of the
+question, he remarked that the smuggling trade was a sort of gaming, by
+which one year a man might make a deal of money, and another might be
+ruined.
+
+"Upon my word!" said Mr. Cleghorn, in an ironical tone, "you talk very
+wisely, for so young a man! Pray, where did you learn all this wisdom?"
+
+"From my father, sir; from whom I learned every thing that I know; every
+thing that is good, I mean. I had an uncle once, who was ruined by his
+dealings with smugglers; and who would have died in jail, if it had not
+been for my father. I was but a young lad at the time this happened; but
+I remember my father saying to me, the day my uncle was arrested, when
+my aunt and all the children were crying, 'Take warning by this, my dear
+James: you are to be in trade, some day or other, yourself: never forget
+that honesty is the best policy. The fair trader will always have the
+advantage, at the long run.'"
+
+"Well, well, no more of this," interrupted Mr. Cleghorn. "Good night
+to you. You may finish the rest of your sermon against smugglers to my
+daughter there, whom it seems to suit better than it pleases me."
+
+The next day, when Mr. Cleghorn went into the shop, he scarcely spoke
+to James, except to find fault with him. This he bore with patience,
+knowing that he meant well, and that his master would recover his temper
+in time.
+
+"So the parcels were all sent, and the bills made out, as I desired,"
+said Mr. Cleghorn. "You are not in the wrong there. You know what you
+are about, James, very well; but why should not you deal openly by me,
+according to your father's maxim, that 'honesty is the best policy?' Why
+should not you fairly tell me what were your secret views, in the advice
+you gave me about Admiral Tipsey and the smugglers?"
+
+"I have no secret views, sir," said James, with a look of such sincerity
+that his master could not help believing him: "nor can I guess what
+you mean by _secret views_. If I consulted my own advantage instead of
+yours, I should certainly use all my influence with you in favour of
+this smuggler: for here is a letter, which I received from him this
+morning, 'hoping for my friendship,' and enclosing a ten pound note,
+which I returned to him."
+
+Mr. Cleghorn was pleased by the openness and simplicity with which James
+told him all this; and immediately throwing aside the reserve of his
+manner, said, "James, I beg your pardon; I see I have misunderstood you.
+I am convinced you were not acting like a double dealer, in the advice
+you gave me last night. It was my daughter's colouring so much that led
+me astray. I did, to be sure, think you had an eye to her more than to
+me, in what you said: but if you had, I am sure you would tell me so
+fairly."
+
+James was at a loss to comprehend how the advice that he gave concerning
+Admiral Tipsey and the smugglers could relate to Miss Cleghorn, except
+so far as it related to her father. He waited in silence for a farther
+explanation.
+
+"You don't know, then," continued Mr. Cleghorn, "that Admiral Tipsey, as
+he calls himself, is able to leave his nephew, young Raikes, more than
+I can leave my daughter? It is his whim to go about dressed in that
+strange way in which you saw him yesterday; and it is his diversion to
+carry on the smuggling trade, by which he has made so much; but he is
+in reality a rich old fellow, and has proposed that I should marry my
+daughter to his nephew. Now you begin to understand me, I see. The lad
+is a smart lad: he is to come here this evening. Don't prejudice my girl
+against him. Not a word more against smugglers, before her, I beg."
+
+"You shall be obeyed, sir," said James. His voice altered, and he turned
+pale as he spoke; circumstances which did not escape Mr. Cleghorn's
+observation.
+
+Young Raikes, and his uncle, the rich smuggler, paid their visit. Miss
+Cleghorn expressed a decided dislike to both uncle and nephew. Her
+father was extremely provoked; and in the height of his anger, declared
+he believed she was in love with James Frankland; that he was a
+treacherous rascal; and that he should leave the house within three
+days, if his daughter did not, before that time, consent to marry the
+man he had chosen for her husband. It was in vain that his daughter
+endeavoured to soften her father's rage, and to exculpate poor James, by
+protesting he had never directly or indirectly attempted to engage her
+affections; neither had he ever said one syllable that could prejudice
+her against the man whom her father recommended. Mr. Cleghorn's high
+notions of subordination applied, on this occasion, equally to his
+daughter and to his foreman: he considered them both as presumptuous and
+ungrateful; and said to himself, as he walked up and down the room in
+a rage, "My foreman to preach to me indeed! I thought what he was about
+all the time! But it sha'n't do--it sha'n't do! My daughter shall do
+as I bid her, or I'll know why! Have not I been all my life making a
+fortune for her? and now she won't do as I bid her! She would, if this
+fellow were out of the house; and out he shall go, in three days, if she
+does not come to her senses. I was cheated by my last shopman out of my
+money: I won't be duped by this fellow out of my daughter. No! no! Off
+he shall trudge! A shopman, indeed, to think of his master's daughter
+without his consent! What insolence! What the times are come to! Such
+a thing could not have been done in my days! I never thought of my
+master's daughter, I'll take my oath! And then the treachery of the
+rascal! To carry it all on so slily! I could forgive him anything but
+that: for that he shall go out of this house in three days, as sure as
+he and I are alive, if this young lady does not give him up before that
+time."
+
+Passion so completely deafened Mr. Cleghorn that he would not listen
+to James, who assured him he had never, for one moment, aspired to the
+honour of marrying his daughter. "Can you deny that you love her? Can
+you deny," cried Mr. Cleghorn, "that you turned pale yesterday, when you
+said I should be obeyed?"
+
+James could not deny either of these charges; but he firmly persisted
+in asserting that he had been guilty of no treachery; that he had never
+attempted secretly to engage the young lady's affections; and that, on
+the contrary, he was sure she had no suspicion of his attachment. "It is
+easy to prove all this to me, by persuading my girl to do as I bid her.
+Prevail on her to marry Mr. Raikes, and all is well."
+
+"That is out of my power, sir," replied James. "I have no right to
+interfere, and will not. Indeed, I am sure I should betray myself, if I
+were to attempt to say a word to Miss Cleghorn in favour of another man:
+that is a task I could not undertake, even if I had the highest opinion
+of this Mr. Raikes; but I know nothing concerning him, and therefore
+should do wrong to speak in his favour merely to please you. I am sorry,
+very sorry, sir, that you have not the confidence in me which I hoped
+I had deserved; but the time will come when you will do me justice. The
+sooner I leave you now, I believe, the better you will be satisfied;
+and far from wishing to stay three days, I do not desire to stay three
+minutes in your house, sir, against your will."
+
+Mr. Cleghorn was touched by the feeling and honest pride with which
+James spoke.
+
+"Do as I bid you, sir," said he; "and neither more nor less,--Stay out
+your three days; and may be, in that time, this saucy girl may come
+to reason. If she does not know you love her, you are not _so much_ to
+blame."
+
+The three days passed away, and the morning came on which James was
+to leave his master. The young lady persisted in her resolution not to
+marry Mr. Raikes; and expressed much concern at the injustice with which
+James was treated on her account. She offered to leave home, and spend
+some time with an aunt, who lived in the north of England. She did not
+deny that James appeared to her the most agreeable young man she had
+seen; but added, she could not possibly have any thoughts of marrying
+him, because he had never given her the least reason to believe that he
+was attached to her.
+
+Mr. Cleghorn was agitated, yet positive in his determination that James
+should quit the house. James went into his master's room to take leave
+of him. "So then you are really going?" said Mr. Cleghorn. "You have
+buckled that portmanteau of yours like a blockhead; I'll do it better:
+stand aside. So you are positively going? Why, this is a sad thing!
+But then it is a thing, as your own sense and honour tell you--it is a
+thing--" (Mr. Cleghorn took snuff at every pause of his speech; but even
+this could not carry him through it;) when he pronounced the words, "It
+is a thing that must be done," the tears fairly started from his eyes.
+"Now this is ridiculous!" resumed he. "In my days, in my younger days,
+I mean, a man could part with his foreman as easily as he could take
+off his glove. I am sure my master would as soon have thought of turning
+bankrupt as of shedding a tear at parting with me; and yet I was as good
+a foreman, in my day, as another. Not so good a one as you are, to be
+sure. But it is no time now to think of your goodness. Well! what do we
+stand here for? When a thing is to be done, the sooner it is done the
+better. Shake hands before you go."
+
+Mr. Cleghorn put into James's hand a fifty pound note, and a letter of
+recommendation to a Liverpool merchant. James left the house without
+taking leave of Miss Cleghorn, who did not think the worse of him for
+his want of gallantry. His master had taken care to recommend him to an
+excellent house in Liverpool, where his salary would be nearly double
+that which he had hitherto received; but James was notwithstanding very
+sorry to leave Monmouth, where his dear brother, sister, and father
+lived,--to say nothing of Miss Cleghorn.
+
+Late at night, James was going to the inn at which the Liverpool stage
+set up, where he was to sleep: as he passed through a street that
+leads down to the river Wye, he heard a great noise of men quarrelling
+violently. The moon shone bright, and he saw a party of men who appeared
+to be fighting in a boat that was just come to shore. He asked a person
+who came out of the public-house, and who seemed to have nothing to
+do with the fray, what was the matter? "Only some smugglers, who are
+quarrelling with one another about the division of their booty," said
+the passenger, who walked on, eager to get out of their way. James also
+quickened his pace, but presently heard the cry of "Murder! murder!
+Help! help!" and then all was silence.
+
+A few seconds afterwards he thought that he heard groans. He could not
+forbear going to the spot whence the groans proceeded, in hopes of being
+of some service to a fellow-creature. By the time he got thither, the
+groans had ceased: he looked about, but could only see the men in the
+boat, who were rowing fast down the river. As he stood on the shore
+listening, he for some minutes heard no sound but that of their oars;
+but afterwards a man in the boat exclaimed, with a terrible oath, "There
+he is! There he is! All alive again! We have not done him business! D--n
+it, he'll do ours!" The boatmen rowed faster away, and James again heard
+the groans, though they were now much feebler than before. He searched
+and found the wounded man; who, having been thrown overboard, had with
+great difficulty swam to shore, and fainted with the exertion as soon
+as he reached the land. When he came to his senses, he begged James, for
+mercy's sake, to carry him into the next public-house, and to send for
+a surgeon to dress his wounds. The surgeon came, examined them, and
+declared his fears that the poor man could not live four-and-twenty
+hours. As soon as he was able to speak intelligibly, he said he had been
+drinking with a party of smugglers, who had just brought in some fresh
+brandy, and that they had quarrelled violently about a keg of contraband
+liquor: he said that he could swear to the man who gave him the mortal
+wound.
+
+The smugglers were pursued immediately, and taken. When they were
+brought into the sick man's room, James beheld amongst them three
+persons whom he little expected to meet in such a situation: Idle Isaac,
+Wild Will, and Bullying Bob. The wounded man swore positively to their
+persons. Bullying Bob was the person who gave him the fatal blow; but
+Wild Will began the assault, and Idle Isaac shoved him overboard;
+they were all implicated in the guilt; and, instead of expressing any
+contrition for their crime, began to dispute about which was most to
+blame: they appealed to James; and, as he would be subpoenaed on their
+trial, each endeavoured to engage him in his favour. Idle Isaac took him
+aside, and said to him, "You have no reason to befriend my brothers. I
+can tell you a secret: they are the greatest enemies your family ever
+had. It was they who set fire to your father's hay-rick. Will was
+provoked by your sister Fanny's refusing him; so he determined, as
+he told me, to carry her off; and he meant to have done so, in the
+confusion that was caused by the fire; but Bob and he quarrelled the
+very hour that she was to have been carried off; so that part of the
+scheme failed. Now I had no hand in all this, being fast asleep in
+my bed; so I have more claim to your good word, at any rate, than my
+brothers can have: and so, when we come to trial, I hope you'll speak to
+my character."
+
+Wild Will next tried his eloquence. As soon as he found that his brother
+Isaac had betrayed the secret, he went to James, and assured him the
+mischief that had been done was a mere accident; that it was true he
+had intended, for the frolic's sake, to raise a cry of fire, in order to
+draw Fanny out of the house; but that he was shocked when he found how
+the jest ended.
+
+As to Bullying Bob, he brazened the matter out; declaring he had been
+affronted by the Franklands, and that he was glad he had taken his
+revenge of them; that, if the thing was to be done over again, he would
+do it; that James might give him what character he pleased upon trial,
+for that a man could be hanged but once.
+
+Such were the absurd, bravadoing speeches he made, while he had an
+alehouse audience round him, to admire his spirit; but a few hours
+changed his tone. He and his brothers were taken before a magistrate.
+Till the committal was actually made out, they had hopes of being
+bailed: they had despatched a messenger to Admiral Tipsey, whose men
+they called themselves, and expected he would offer bail for them to
+any amount; but the bail of their friend Admiral Tipsey was not deemed
+sufficient by the magistrate.
+
+"In the first place, I could not bail these men; and if I could, do you
+think it possible," said the magistrate, "I could take the bail of such
+a man as that?"
+
+"I understood that he was worth a deal of money," whispered James.
+
+"You are mistaken, sir," said the magistrate: "he is what he deserves to
+be, a ruined man. I have good reasons for knowing this. He has a nephew,
+a Mr. Raikes, who is a gamester: whilst the uncle has been carrying on
+the smuggling trade here, at the hazard of his life, the nephew, who was
+bred up at Oxford to be a fine gentleman, has gamed away all the money
+his uncle has made during twenty years, by his contraband traffic. At
+the long run, these fellows never thrive. Tipsey is not worth a groat."
+
+James was much surprised by this information, and resolved to return
+immediately to Mr. Cleghorn, to tell him what he had heard, and put him
+on his guard.
+
+Early in the morning he went to his house--"You look as if you were not
+pleased to see me again," said he to Mr. Cleghorn; "and perhaps you will
+impute what I am going to say to bad motives; but my regard to you, sir,
+determines me to acquaint you with what I have heard: you will make what
+use of the information you please."
+
+James then related what had passed at the magistrate's; and when
+Mr. Cleghorn had heard all that he had to say, he thanked him in the
+strongest manner for this instance of his regard; and begged he would
+remain in Monmouth a few days longer.
+
+Alarmed by the information he received from James, Mr. Cleghorn
+privately made inquiries concerning young Raikes and his uncle. The
+distress into which the young man had plunged himself by gambling had
+been kept a profound secret from his relations. It was easy to deceive
+them as to his conduct, because his time had been spent at a distance
+from them: he had but just returned home, after _completing his
+education._
+
+The magistrate from whom James first heard of his extravagance happened
+to have a son at Oxford, who gave him this intelligence: he confirmed
+all he had said to Mr. Cleghorn, who trembled at the danger to which he
+had exposed his daughter. The match with young Raikes was immediately
+broken off; and all connexion with Admiral Tipsey and the smugglers was
+for ever dissolved by Mr. Cleghorn.
+
+His gratitude to James was expressed with all the natural warmth of his
+character. "Come back and live with me," said he. "You have saved me and
+my daughter from ruin. You shall not be my shopman any longer, you shall
+be my partner: and, you know, when you are my partner, there can be
+nothing said against your thinking of my daughter. But all in good time.
+I would not have seen the girl again if she had married my shopman; but
+my partner will be quite another thing. You have worked your way up in
+the world by your own deserts, and I give you joy. I believe, now it's
+over, it would have gone nigh to break my heart to part with you; but
+you must be sensible I was right to keep up my authority in my own
+family. Now things are changed: I give my consent: nobody has a right to
+say a word. When I am pleased with my daughter's choice, that is enough.
+There's only one thing that goes against my pride: your father--"
+
+"Oh! sir," interrupted James, "if you are going to say any thing
+disrespectful of my father, do not say it to me; I beseech you, do not;
+for I cannot bear it. Indeed I cannot, and will not. He is the best of
+fathers!"
+
+"I am sure he has the best of children; and a greater blessing there
+cannot be in this world. I was not going to say any thing disrespectful
+of him: I was only going to lament that he should be in an almshouse,"
+said Mr. Cleghorn.
+
+"He has determined to remain there," said James, "till his children have
+earned money enough to support him without hurting themselves. I, my
+brother, and both my sisters, are to meet at the almshouse on the first
+day of next month, which is my father's birthday; then we shall join all
+our earnings together, and see what can be done."
+
+"Remember, you are my partner," said Mr. Cleghorn. "On that day you must
+take me along with you. My good-will is part of your earnings, and my
+good-will shall never be shown merely in words."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+It is now time to give some account of the Bettesworth family. The
+history of their indolence, extravagance, quarrels, and ruin, shall be
+given as shortly as possible.
+
+The fortune left to them by Captain Bettesworth was nearly twenty
+thousand pounds. When they got possession of this sum, they thought it
+could never be spent; and each individual of the family had separate
+plans of extravagance, for which they required separate supplies. Old
+Bettesworth, in his youth, had seen a house of Squire Somebody, which
+had struck his imagination, and he resolved he would build just such
+another. This was his favourite scheme, and he was delighted with the
+thoughts that it would be realized. His wife and his sons opposed
+the plan, merely because it was his; and consequently he became more
+obstinately bent upon having his own way, as he said, for once in his
+life. He was totally ignorant of building; and no less incapable, from
+his habitual indolence, of managing workmen: the house might have been
+finished for one thousand five hundred pounds; it cost him two thousand
+pounds: and when it was done, the roof let in the rain in sundry places,
+the new ceilings and cornices were damaged, so that repairs and a new
+roof, with leaden gutters, and leaden statues, cost him some additional
+hundreds. The furnishing of the house Mrs. Bettesworth took upon
+herself; and Sally _took upon herself_ to find fault with every article
+that her mother bought. The quarrels were loud, bitter, and at last
+irreconcilable. There was a looking-glass which the mother wanted
+to have in one room, and the daughter insisted upon putting it into
+another: the looking-glass was broken between them in the heat of
+battle. The blame was laid on Sally, who, in a rage, declared she would
+not and could not live in the house with her mother. Her mother was
+rejoiced to get rid of her, and she went to live with a lieutenant's
+lady in the neighbourhood, with whom she had been acquainted three
+weeks and two days. Half by scolding, half by cajoling her father, she
+prevailed upon him to give her two thousand pounds for her fortune;
+promising never to trouble him any more for any thing.
+
+As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Bettesworth gave a house-warming, as she
+called it, to all her acquaintance; a dinner, a ball, and a supper, in
+her new house. The house was not half dry, and all the company caught
+cold. Mrs. Bettesworth's cold was the most severe. It happened at this
+time to be the fashion to go almost without clothes; and as this lady
+was extremely vain and fond of dress, she would absolutely appear in the
+height of fashion. The Sunday after her ball, whilst she had still the
+remains of a bad cold, she positively would go to church, equipped in
+one petticoat, and a thin muslin gown, that she might look as young as
+her daughter Jessy. Every body laughed, and Jessy laughed more than any
+one else; but, in the end, it was no laughing matter; Mrs. Bettesworth
+"caught her death of cold." She was confined to her bed on Monday, and
+was buried the next Sunday.
+
+Jessy, who had a great notion that she should marry a lord, if she
+could but once get into company with one, went to live with blind Mrs.
+Cheviott; where, according to her mother's instructions, "she laid
+herself out for goodness." She also took two thousand pounds with
+her, upon her promise never to trouble her father more. Her brothers
+perceived how much was to be gained by tormenting a father, who
+gave from weakness, and not from a sense of justice, or a feeling of
+kindness; and they soon rendered themselves so troublesome that he was
+obliged to buy off their reproaches. Idle Isaac was a sportsman, and
+would needs have a pack of hounds: they cost him two hundred a year.
+Then he would have race-horses; and by them he soon lost some thousands.
+He was arrested for the money, and his father was forced to pay it.
+
+Bob and Will soon afterwards began to think, "it was very hard that so
+much was to be done for Isaac, and nothing for them!"
+
+Wild Will kept a mistress; and Bullying Bob was a cock-fighter: their
+demands for money were frequent and unconscionable; and their continual
+plea was, "Why, Isaac lost a thousand by his race-horses, and why should
+not we have our share?"
+
+The mistress and the cockpit had their share; and the poor old father,
+at last, had only one thousand left. He told his sons this, with tears
+in his eyes: "I shall die in a jail, after all!" said he. They listened
+not to what he said, for they were intent upon the bank-notes of this
+last thousand, which were spread upon the table before him. Will, half
+in jest, half in earnest, snatched up a parcel of the notes; and Bob
+insisted on dividing the treasure. Will fled out of the house; Bob
+pursued him, and they fought at the end of their own avenue.
+
+This was on the day that Frankland and his family were returning from
+poor George's funeral, and saw the battle betwixt the brothers. They
+were shamed into a temporary reconciliation, and soon afterwards united
+against their father, whom they represented to all the neighbours as
+the most cruel and the most avaricious of men, because he would not part
+with the very means of subsistence to supply their profligacy.
+
+Whilst their minds were in this state, Will happened to become
+acquainted with a set of smugglers, whose disorderly life struck his
+fancy. He persuaded his brothers to leave home with him, and to list in
+the service of Admiral Tipsey. Their manners then became more brutal;
+and they thought, felt, and lived like men of desperate fortunes. The
+consequence we have seen. In a quarrel about a keg of brandy, at an
+alehouse, their passions got the better of them, and, on entering their
+boat, they committed the offence for which they were now imprisoned.
+
+Mr. Barlow was the attorney to whom they applied, and they endeavoured
+to engage him to manage their cause on their trial; but he absolutely
+refused. From the moment he heard from James that Will and Bob
+Bettesworth were the persons who set fire to Frankland's hay-stack, he
+urged Frank to prosecute them for this crime. "When you only suspected
+them, my dear Frank, I strongly dissuaded you from going to law: but now
+you cannot fail to succeed, and you will recover ample damages."
+
+"That is impossible, my dear sir," replied Frank; "for the Bettesworths,
+I understand, are ruined."
+
+"I am sorry for that, on your account; but I still think you ought to
+carry on this prosecution, for the sake of public justice. Such pests of
+society should not go unpunished."
+
+"They will probably be punished sufficiently for this unfortunate
+assault, for which they are now to stand their trial. I cannot, in their
+distress, revenge either my own or my father's wrongs. I am sure he
+would be sorry if I did; for I have often and often heard him say,
+'Never trample upon the fallen.'"
+
+"You are a good, generous young man," cried Mr. Barlow, "and no wonder
+you love the father who inspired you with such sentiments, and taught
+you such principles. But what a shame it is that such a father should
+be in an almshouse! You say he will not consent to be dependent upon
+any one; and that he will not accept of relief from any but his own
+children. This is pride; but it is an honourable species of pride; fit
+for an English yeoman. I cannot blame it. But, my dear Frank, tell your
+father he must accept of your friend's credit, as well as of yours.
+Your credit with me is such, that you may draw upon me for five hundred
+pounds whenever you please. No thanks, my boy. Half the money I owe you
+for your services as my clerk; and the other half is well secured to me,
+by the certainty of your future diligence and success in business.
+You will be able to pay me in a year or two; so I put you under no
+obligation, remember. I will take your bond for half the money, if that
+will satisfy you and your proud father."
+
+The manner in which this favour was conferred touched Frank to the
+heart. He had a heart which could be strongly moved by kindness. He
+was beginning to express his gratitude, when Mr. Barlow interrupted him
+with, "Come, come! Why do we waste our time here, talking sentiment,
+when we ought to be writing law? Here is work to be done, which requires
+some expedition: a marriage settlement to be drawn. Guess for whom."
+
+Frank guessed all the probable matches amongst his Monmouth
+acquaintance; but he was rather surprised when told that the bridegroom
+was to be young Mr. Folingsby; as it was scarcely two months since this
+gentleman was in love with Fanny Frankland. Frank proceeded to draw the
+settlement.
+
+Whilst he and Mr. Barlow were writing, they were interrupted by the
+entrance of Mr. Josiah Crumpe. He came to announce Mrs. Crumpe's death,
+and to request Mr. Barlow's attendance at the opening of her will. This
+poor lady had lingered out many months longer than it was thought
+she could possibly live; and during all her sufferings, Patty, with
+indefatigable goodness and temper, bore with the caprice and peevishness
+of disease. Those who thought she acted merely from interested motives
+expected to find she had used her power over her mistress's mind
+entirely for her own advantage: they were certain a great part of the
+fortune would be left to her. Mrs. Crumpe's relations were so persuaded
+of this, that, when they were assembled to hear her will read by Mr.
+Barlow, they began to say to one another in whispers, "We'll set the
+will aside; we'll bring her into the courts: Mrs. Crumpe was not in her
+right senses when she made this will: she had received two paralytic
+strokes; we can prove that: we can set aside the will."
+
+Mr. Josiah Crumpe was not one of these whisperers; he set apart from
+them, leaning on his oaken stick in silence.
+
+Mr. Barlow broke the seals of the will, opened it, and read it to the
+eager company. They were much astonished when they found that the whole
+fortune was left to Mr. Josiah Crumpe. The reason for this bequest was
+given in these words:
+
+"Mr. Josiah Crumpe, being the only one of my relations who did not
+torment me for my money, even upon my death-bed, I trust that he will
+provide suitably for that excellent girl, Patty Frankland. On this head
+he knows my wishes. By her own desire, I have not myself left her any
+thing; I have only bequeathed fifty pounds for the use of her father."
+
+Mr. Josiah Crumpe was the only person who heard unmoved the bequest
+that was made to him; the rest of the relations were clamorous in their
+reproaches, or hypocritical in their congratulations. All thoughts of
+setting aside the will were, however, abandoned; every legal form had
+been observed, and with a technical nicety that precluded all hopes of
+successful litigation.
+
+Mr. Crumpe arose, as soon as the tumult of disappointment had somewhat
+subsided, and counted with his oaken stick the numbers that were
+present. "Here are ten of you, I think. Well! you, every soul of you,
+hate me; but that is nothing to the purpose. I shall keep up to the
+notion I have of the character of a true British merchant, for my own
+sake--not for yours. I don't want this woman's money; I have enough of
+my own, and of my own honest making, without legacy hunting. Why did
+you torment the dying woman? You would have been better off, if you had
+behaved better; but that's over now. A thousand pounds a-piece you shall
+have from me, deducting fifty pounds, which you must each of you give to
+that excellent girl, Patty Frankland. I am sure you must be all sensible
+of your injustice to her."
+
+Fully aware that it was their interest to oblige Mr. Crumpe, they now
+vied with each other in doing justice to Patty. Some even declared they
+had never had any suspicions of her; and others laid the blame on the
+false representations and information which they said they had had
+from the mischief-making Mrs. Martha. They very willingly accepted of
+a thousand pounds a-piece; and the fifty pounds deduction was paid as a
+tax by each to Patty's merit.
+
+Mistress now of five hundred pounds, she exclaimed, "Oh! my dear father!
+You shall no longer live in an almshouse! To-morrow will be the
+happiest day of my life! I don't know how to thank you as I ought, sir,"
+continued she, turning to her benefactor.
+
+"You have thanked me as you ought, and as I like best," said this
+plain-spoken merchant, "and now let us say no more about it."
+
+In obedience to Mr. Crumpe's commands, Patty said no more to him; but
+she was impatient to tell her brother Frank, and her lover, Mr. Mason,
+of her good fortune: she therefore returned to Monmouth with Mr. Barlow,
+in hopes of seeing them immediately; but Frank was not at work at the
+marriage settlement. Soon after Mr. Barlow left him, he was summoned to
+attend the trial of the Bettesworths.
+
+These unfortunate young men, depending on Frank's good nature, well
+knowing he had refused to prosecute them for setting fire to his
+father's hay-rick, thought they might venture to call upon him to give
+them a good character. "Consider, dear Frank," said Will Bettesworth, "a
+good word from one of your character might do a great deal for us. You
+were so many years our neighbour. If you would only just say that we
+were never counted wild, idle, quarrelsome fellows, to your knowledge.
+Will you?"
+
+"How can I do that?" said Frank: "or how could I be believed, if I did,
+when it is so well known in the country--forgive me; at such a time as
+this I cannot mean to taunt you: but it is well known in the country
+that you were called Wild Will, Bullying Bob, and Idle Isaac."
+
+"There's the rub!" said the attorney who was employed for the
+Bettesworths. "This will come out in open court; and the judge and jury
+will think a great deal of it."
+
+"Oh! Mr. Frank, Mr. Frank," cried old Bettesworth, "have pity upon us!
+Speak in favour of these boys of mine! Think what a disgrace it is to me
+in my old age, to have my sons brought this way to a public trial! And
+if they should be transported! Oh! Mr. Frank, say what you can for them!
+You were always a good young man, and a good-natured young man."
+
+Frank was moved by the entreaties and tears of the unhappy father; but
+his good-nature could not make him consent to say what he knew to be
+false. "Do not call me to speak to their characters upon this trial,"
+said he; "I cannot say any thing that would serve them: I shall do them
+more harm than good."
+
+Still they had hopes his good-nature would, at the last moment, prevail
+over his sense of justice, and they summoned him.
+
+"Well, sir," said Bettesworths' counsel, "you appear in favour of the
+prisoners. You have known them, I understand, from their childhood; and
+your own character is such that whatever you say in their favour will
+doubtless make a weighty impression upon the jury."
+
+The court was silent in expectation of what Frank should say. He was
+so much embarrassed betwixt his wish to serve his old neighbours and
+playfellows, and his dread of saying what he knew to be false, that
+he could not utter a syllable. He burst into tears. {Footnote: This is
+drawn from real life.}
+
+"This evidence is most strongly against the prisoners," whispered a
+juryman to his fellows.
+
+The verdict was brought in at last--Guilty!--Sentence--transportation.
+
+As the judge was pronouncing this sentence, old Bettesworth was carried
+out of the court: he had dropped senseless. Ill as his sons had behaved
+to him, he could not sustain the sight of their utter disgrace and ruin.
+
+When he recovered his senses, he found himself sitting on the
+stone bench before the court-house, supported by Frank. Many of the
+town's-people had gathered round; but regardless of every thing but his
+own feelings, the wretched father exclaimed, in a voice of despair, "I
+have no children left me in my old age! My sons are gone! And where are
+my daughters? At such a time as this, why are not they near their poor
+old father? Have they no touch of natural affection in them? No! they
+have none. And why should they have any for me? I took no care of them
+when they were young; no wonder they take none of me now I am old. Ay!
+Neighbour Frankland was right: he brought up his children 'in the way
+they should go.' Now he has the credit and the comfort of them; and see
+what mine are come to! They bring their father's grey hairs with sorrow
+to the grave!"
+
+The old man wept bitterly: then looking round him, he again asked for
+his daughters. "Surely they are in the town, and it cannot be much
+trouble to them to come to me! Even these strangers, who have never
+seen me before, pity me. But _my own_ have no feeling; no, not for one
+another! Do these girls know the sentence that has been passed upon
+their brothers! Where are they? Where are they? Jessy, at least, might
+be near me at such a time as this! I was always an indulgent father to
+Jessy."
+
+There were people present who knew what was become of Jessy; but they
+would not tell the news to her father at this terrible moment. Two of
+Mrs. Cheviott's servants were in the crowd; and one of them whispered
+to Frank, "You had best, sir, prevail on this poor old man to go to his
+home, and not to ask for his daughter: he will hear the bad news soon
+enough."
+
+Frank persuaded the father to go home to his lodgings, and did every
+thing in his power to comfort him. But, alas! the old man said, too
+truly, "There is no happiness left for me in this world! What a curse it
+is to have bad children! My children have broken my heart! And it is all
+my own fault: I took no care of them when they were young; and they take
+no care of me now I am old. But, tell me, have you found out what is
+become of my daughter?"
+
+Frank evaded the question, and begged the old man to rest in peace this
+night. He seemed quite exhausted by grief, and at last sunk into a sort
+of stupefaction: it could hardly be called sleep. Frank was obliged to
+return home, to proceed with his business for Mr. Barlow; and he was
+glad to escape from the sight of misery, which, however he might pity,
+he could not relieve.
+
+It was happy indeed for Frank that he had taken his father's advice,
+and had early broken off all connexion with Jilting Jessy. After duping
+others, she at length had become a greater dupe. She had this morning
+gone off with a common serjeant, with whom she had fallen suddenly and
+desperately in love. He cared for nothing but her two thousand pounds;
+and, to complete her misfortune, was a man of bad character, whose
+extravagance and profligacy had reduced him to the sad alternative of
+either marrying for money, or going to jail.
+
+As for Sally, she was at this instant far from all thoughts either of
+her father or her brothers; she was in the heat of a scolding match,
+which terminated rather unfortunately for her matrimonial schemes.
+Ensign Bloomington had reproached her with having forced him into his
+aunt's room, when she had absolutely refused to see him, and thus being
+the cause of his losing a handsome legacy. Irritated by this charge,
+the lady replied in no very gentle terms. Words ran high; and so high at
+last, that the gentleman finished by swearing that he would sooner marry
+the devil than such a vixen!
+
+The match was thus broken off, to the great amusement of all Saucy
+Sally's acquaintance. Her ill-humour had made her hated by all the
+neighbours; so that her disappointment at the loss of the ensign was
+embittered by their malicious raillery, and by the prophecy which she
+heard more than whispered from all sides, that she would never have
+another admirer, either for "love or money."
+
+Ensign Bloomington was deaf to all overtures of peace: he was rejoiced
+to escape from this virago; and, as we presume that none of our readers
+are much interested in her fate, we shall leave her to wear the willow,
+without following her history farther.
+
+Let us return to Mr. Barlow, whom we left looking over Mr. Folingsby's
+marriage settlements. When he had seen that they were rightly drawn, he
+sent Frank with them to Folingsby-hall.
+
+Mr. Folingsby was alone when Frank arrived. "Sit down, if you please,
+sir," said he. "Though I have never had the pleasure of seeing you
+before, your name is well known to me. You are a brother of Fanny
+Frankland's. She is a charming and excellent young woman! You have
+reason to be proud of your sister, and I have reason to be obliged to
+her."
+
+He then adverted to what had formerly passed between them at
+Mrs. Hungerford's; and concluded by saying it would give him real
+satisfaction to do any service to him or his family. "Speak, and tell me
+what I can do for you."
+
+Frank looked down, and was silent; for he thought Mr. Folingsby must
+recollect the injustice that he, or his agent, had shown in turning old
+Frankland out of his farm. He was too proud to ask favours, where he
+felt he had a claim to justice.
+
+In fact, Mr. Folingsby had, as he said, "left every thing to his agent;"
+and so little did he know either of the affairs of his tenants, their
+persons, or even their names, that he had not at this moment the
+slightest idea that Frank was the son of one of the oldest and the best
+of them. He did not know that old Frankland had been reduced to take
+refuge in an almshouse, in consequence of his agent's injustice.
+Surprised by Frank's cold silence, he questioned him more closely, and
+it was with astonishment and shame that he heard the truth.
+
+"Good heavens!" cried he, "has my negligence been the cause of all this
+misery to your father--to the father of Fanny Frankland? I remember, now
+that you recall it to my mind, something of an old man, with fine grey
+hair, coming to speak to me about some business, just as I was setting
+off for Ascot races. Was that your father? I recollect I told him I was
+in a great hurry; and that Mr. Deal, my agent, would certainly do him
+justice. In this I was grossly mistaken; and I have suffered severely
+for the confidence I had in that fellow. Thank God, I shall now have my
+affairs in my own hands. I am determined to look into them immediately.
+My head is no longer full of horses, and gigs, and curricles. There is
+a time for every thing: my giddy days are over. I only wish that my
+thoughtlessness had never hurt any one but myself.
+
+"All I now can do," continued Mr. Folingsby, "is to make amends, as fast
+as possible, for the past. To begin with your father: most fortunately,
+I have the means in my power. His farm is come back into my hands; and
+it shall, to-morrow, be restored to him. Old Bettesworth was with
+me scarcely an hour ago, to surrender the farm, on which there is a
+prodigious arrear of rent; but I understand that he has built a good
+house on the farm; and I am extremely glad of it, for your father's
+sake. Tell him it shall be his. Tell him I am ready, I am eager, to put
+him in possession of it; and to repair the injustice I have done, or
+which, at least, I have permitted to be done, in my name."
+
+Frank was so overjoyed that he could scarcely utter one word of thanks.
+In his way home he called at Mrs. Hungerford's, to tell the good news to
+his sister Fanny. This was the eve of their father's birthday; and they
+agreed to meet at the almshouse in the morning.
+
+The happy morning came. Old Frankland was busy in his little garden,
+when he heard the voices of his children, who were coming towards him.
+"Fanny! Patty! James! Frank! Welcome, my children! Welcome! I knew you
+would be so kind as to come to see your old father on this day; so I was
+picking some of my currants for you, to make you as welcome as I can.
+But I wonder you are not ashamed to come to see me in an almshouse. Such
+gay lads and lasses! I well know I have reason to be proud of you all.
+Why, I think, I never saw you, one and all, look so well in my whole
+life!"
+
+"Perhaps, father," said Frank, "because you never saw us, one and all,
+so happy! Will you sit down, dear father, here in your arbour; and we
+will all sit upon the grass, at your feet, and each tell you stories,
+and all the good news."
+
+"My children," said he, "do what you will with me! It makes my old heart
+swim with joy to see you all again around me looking so happy."
+
+The father sat down in his arbour, and his children placed themselves
+at his feet. First his daughter Patty spoke; and then Fanny; then James;
+and at last Frank. When they had all told their little histories, they
+offered to their father in one purse their common riches: the rewards of
+their own good conduct.
+
+"My beloved children!" said Frankland, overpowered with his tears, "this
+is too much joy for me! this is the happiest moment of my life! None but
+the father of such children can know what I feel! Your success in the
+world delights me ten times the more, because I know it is all owing to
+yourselves."
+
+"Oh! no, dear father!" cried they with one accord; "no, dear, dear
+father, our success is all owing to you! Every thing we have is owing to
+you; to the care you took of us, from our infancy upward. If you had not
+watched for our welfare, and taught us so well, we should not now all be
+so happy!--Poor Bettesworth!"
+
+Here they were interrupted by Hannah, the faithful maid-servant, who
+had always lived with old Frankland. She came running down the garden so
+fast, that, when she reached the arbour, she was so much out of breath
+she could not speak. "Dear heart! God bless you all!" cried she, as soon
+as she recovered breath. "But it is no time to be sitting here. Come in,
+sir, for mercy's sake," said she, addressing herself to her old master.
+"Come in to be ready; come in all of you to be ready!" "Ready! ready for
+what?"
+
+"Oh! ready for fine things! Fine doings! Only come in, and I'll tell you
+as we go along. How I have torn all my hand with this gooseberry-bush!
+But no matter for that. So then you have not heard a word of what is
+going on? No, how could you? And you did not miss me, when you first
+came into the house?"
+
+"Forgive us for that, good Hannah: we were in such a hurry to see my
+father, we thought of nothing and nobody else."
+
+"Very natural. Well, Miss Fanny, I've been up at the great house, with
+your lady, Mrs. Hungerford. A better lady cannot be! Do you know she
+sent for me, on purpose to speak to me; and I know things that you are
+not to know yet. But this much I may tell you, there's a carriage coming
+here, to carry my master away to his new house; and there's horses,
+and side-saddles beside, for you, and you, and you, and I. And Mrs.
+Hungerford is coming in her own coach; and young Mr. Folingsby is coming
+in his carriage; and Mr. Barlow in Mr. Jos. Crumpe's carriage; and Mr.
+Cleghorn, and his pretty daughter, in the gig; and--and--and heaps of
+carriages besides! friends of Mrs. Hungerford: and there's such crowds
+gathering in the streets; and I'm going on to get breakfast."
+
+"Oh! my dear father," cried Frank, "make haste, and take off this
+badge-coat before they come! We have brought proper clothes for you."
+
+Frank pulled off the badge-coat, as he called it, and flung it from him,
+saying, "My father shall never wear you more."
+
+Fanny had just tied on her father's clean neckcloth, and Patty had
+smoothed his reverend grey locks, when the sound of the carriages was
+heard. All that Hannah had told them was true. Mrs. Hungerford had
+engaged all her friends, and all who were acquainted with the good
+conduct of the Franklands, to attend her on this joyful occasion.
+
+"Triumphal cavalcades and processions," said she, "are in general
+foolish things--mere gratifications of vanity; but this is not in honour
+of vanity, but in honour of virtue. We shall do good in the country, by
+showing that we respect and admire it, in whatever station it is to be
+found. Here is a whole family who have conducted themselves uncommonly
+well; who have exerted themselves to relieve their aged father from a
+situation to which he was reduced without any fault or imprudence of his
+own. Their exertions have succeeded. Let us give them, what they will
+value more than money, SYMPATHY."
+
+Convinced or persuaded by what Mrs. Hungerford said, all her friends
+and acquaintance attended her this morning to the almshouse. Crowds
+of people followed; and old Frankland was carried in triumph by his
+children to his new habitation.
+
+The happy father lived many years to enjoy the increasing prosperity of
+his family. {Footnote: It may be necessary to inform some readers, that
+Patty and Fanny were soon united to their lovers; that James, with Mr.
+Cleghorn's consent, married Miss Cleghorn; and that Frank did not become
+an old bachelor: he married an amiable girl, who was ten times prettier
+than Jilting Jessy, and of whom he was twenty times as fond. Those who
+wish to know the history of all the wedding-clothes of the parties
+may have their curiosity gratified by directing a line of inquiry,
+post-paid, to the editor hereof.}
+
+May every good father have as grateful children!
+
+_May, 1801_.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GRATEFUL NEGRO.
+
+
+In the island of Jamaica there lived two planters, whose methods of
+managing their slaves were as different as possible. Mr. Jefferies
+considered the negroes as an inferior species, incapable of gratitude,
+disposed to treachery, and to be roused from their natural indolence
+only by force; he treated his slaves, or rather suffered his overseer to
+treat them, with the greatest severity.
+
+Jefferies was not a man of a cruel, but of a thoughtless and extravagant
+temper. He was of such a sanguine disposition, that he always calculated
+upon having a fine season, and fine crops on his plantation; and
+never had the prudence to make allowance for unfortunate accidents: he
+required, as he said, from his overseer produce and not excuses.
+
+Durant, the overseer, did not scruple to use the most cruel and
+barbarous methods of forcing the slaves to exertions beyond their
+strength. {Footnote: THE NEGRO SLAVES--a fine drama, by Kotzebue. It is
+to be hoped that such horrible instances of cruelty are not now to be
+found in nature. Bryan Edwards, in his History of Jamaica, says that
+most of the planters are humane; but he allows that some facts can be
+cited in contradiction of this assertion.} Complaints of his brutality,
+from time to time, reached his master's ears; but though Mr. Jefferies
+was moved to momentary compassion, he shut his heart against conviction:
+he hurried away to the jovial banquet, and drowned all painful
+reflections in wine.
+
+He was this year much in debt; and, therefore, being more than usually
+anxious about his crop, he pressed his overseer to exert himself to the
+utmost.
+
+The wretched slaves upon his plantation thought themselves still more
+unfortunate when they compared their condition with that of the negroes
+on the estate of Mr. Edwards. This gentleman treated his slaves with all
+possible humanity and kindness. He wished that there was no such thing
+as slavery in the world, but he was convinced, by the arguments of
+those who have the best means of obtaining information, that the sudden
+emancipation of the negroes would rather increase than diminish their
+miseries. His benevolence, therefore, confined itself within the bounds
+of reason. He adopted those plans for the amelioration of the state
+of the slaves which appeared to him the most likely to succeed without
+producing any violent agitation or revolution. {Footnote: History of
+the West Indies, from which these ideas are adopted--not stolen.} For
+instance, his negroes had reasonable and fixed daily tasks; and when
+these were finished, they were permitted to employ their time for their
+own advantage or amusement. If they chose to employ themselves longer
+for their master, they were paid regular wages for their extra work.
+This reward, for as such it was considered, operated most powerfully
+upon the slaves. Those who are animated by hope can perform what would
+seem impossibilities to those who are under the depressing influence
+of fear. The wages which Mr. Edwards promised, he took care to see
+punctually paid.
+
+He had an excellent overseer, of the name of Abraham Bayley, a man of
+a mild but steady temper, who was attached not only to his master's
+interests but to his virtues; and who, therefore, was more intent upon
+seconding his humane views than upon squeezing from the labour of the
+negroes the utmost produce. Each negro had, near his cottage, a portion
+of land, called his provision-ground; and one day in the week was
+allowed for its cultivation.
+
+It is common in Jamaica for the slaves to have provision-grounds, which
+they cultivate for their own advantage; but it too often happens, that,
+when a good negro has successfully improved his little spot of ground,
+when he has built himself a house, and begins to enjoy the fruits of his
+industry, his acquired property is seized upon by the sheriff's officer
+for the payment of his master's debts; he is forcibly separated from his
+wife and children, dragged to public auction, purchased by a stranger,
+and perhaps sent to terminate his miserable existence in the mines of
+Mexico; excluded for ever from the light of heaven; and all this without
+any crime or imprudence on his part, real or pretended. He is punished
+because his master is unfortunate!
+
+To this barbarous injustice the negroes on Mr. Edwards' plantation
+were never exposed. He never exceeded his income; he engaged in no wild
+speculations; he contracted no debts; and his slaves, therefore, were
+in no danger of being seized by a sheriff's officer: their property was
+secured to them by the prudence as well as by the generosity of their
+master.
+
+One morning, as Mr. Edwards was walking in that part of his plantation
+which joined to Mr. Jefferies' estate, he thought he heard the voice of
+distress at some distance. The lamentations grew louder and louder as
+he approached a cottage, which stood upon the borders of Jefferies'
+plantation.
+
+This cottage belonged to a slave of the name of Caesar, the best negro
+in Mr. Jefferies' possession. Such had been his industry and exertion,
+that, notwithstanding the severe tasks imposed by Durant, the overseer,
+Caesar found means to cultivate his provision-ground to a degree of
+perfection no where else to be seen on this estate. Mr. Edwards had
+often admired this poor fellow's industry, and now hastened to inquire
+what misfortune had befallen him.
+
+When he came to the cottage, he found Caesar standing with his arms
+folded, and his eyes fixed upon the ground. A young and beautiful female
+negro was weeping bitterly, as she knelt at the feet of Durant, the
+overseer, who, regarding her with a sullen aspect, repeated, "He must
+go. I tell you, woman, he must go. What signifies all this nonsense?"
+
+At the sight of Mr. Edwards, the overseer's countenance suddenly
+changed, and assumed an air of obsequious civility. The poor woman
+retired to the farther corner of the cottage, and continued to weep.
+Caesar never moved. "Nothing is the matter, sir," said Durant, "but that
+Caesar is going to be sold. That is what the woman is crying for. They
+were to be married; but we'll find Clara another husband, I tell her;
+and she'll get the better of her grief, you know, sir, as I tell her, in
+time." "Never! never!" said Clara.
+
+"To whom is Caesar going to be sold? and for what sum?"
+
+"For what can be got for him," replied Durant, laughing; "and to whoever
+will buy him. The sheriff's officer is here, who has seized him for
+debt, and must make the most of him at market."
+
+"Poor fellow!" said Mr. Edwards; "and must he leave this cottage which
+he has built, and these bananas which he has planted?"
+
+Caesar now for the first time looked up, and fixing his eyes upon Mr.
+Edwards for a moment, advanced with an intrepid rather than an imploring
+countenance, and said, "Will you be my master? Will you be her master?
+Buy both of us. You shall not repent of it. Caesar will serve you
+faithfully."
+
+On hearing these words Clara sprang forward, and clasping her hands
+together, repeated, "Caesar will serve you faithfully."
+
+Mr. Edwards was moved by their entreaties, but he left them without
+declaring his intentions. He went immediately to Mr. Jefferies, whom
+he found stretched on a sofa, drinking coffee. As soon as Mr. Edwards
+mentioned the occasion of his visit, and expressed his sorrow for
+Caesar, Jefferies exclaimed, "Yes, poor devil! I pity him from the
+bottom of my soul. But what can I do? I leave all those things to
+Durant. He says the sheriff's officer has seized him; and there's an end
+of the matter. You know, money must be had. Besides, Caesar is not worse
+off than any other slave sold for debt. What signifies talking about the
+matter, as if it were something that never happened before! Is not it a
+case that occurs every day in Jamaica?"
+
+"So much the worse," replied Mr. Edwards.
+
+"The worse for them, to be sure," said Jefferies. "But, after all, they
+are slaves, and are used to be treated as such; and they tell me the
+negroes are a thousand times happier here, with us, than they ever were
+in their own country."
+
+"Did the negroes tell you so themselves?"
+
+"No; but people better informed than negroes have told me so; and,
+after all, slaves there must be; for indigo, and rum, and sugar, we must
+have."
+
+"Granting it to be physically impossible that the world should exist
+without rum, sugar, and indigo, why could they not be produced by
+freemen as well as by slaves? If we hired negroes for labourers, instead
+of purchasing them for slaves, do you think they would not work as well
+as they do now? Does any negro, under the fear of the overseer, work
+harder than a Birmingham journeyman, or a Newcastle collier, who toil
+for themselves and their families?"
+
+"Of that I don't pretend to judge. All I know is, that the West India
+planters would be ruined if they had no slaves; and I am a West India
+planter."
+
+"So am I; yet I do not think they are the only people whose interests
+ought to be considered in this business."
+
+"Their interests, luckily, are protected by the laws of the land; and
+though they are rich men, and white men, and freemen, they have as
+good a claim to their rights as the poorest black slave on any of our
+plantations."
+
+"The law, in our case, seems to make the right; and the very reverse
+ought to be done--the right should make the law."
+
+"Fortunately for us planters, we need not enter into such nice
+distinctions. You could not, if you would, abolish the trade. Slaves
+would be smuggled into the islands."
+
+"What! if nobody would buy them? You know that you cannot smuggle slaves
+into England. The instant a slave touches English ground he becomes
+free. Glorious privilege! Why should it not be extended to all her
+dominions? If the future importation of slaves into these islands
+were forbidden by law, the trade must cease. No man can either sell or
+possess slaves without its being known: they cannot be smuggled like
+lace or brandy."
+
+"Well, well!" retorted Jefferies, a little impatiently, "as yet the law
+is on our side. I can do nothing in this business, nor can you."
+
+"Yes, we can do something; we can endeavour to make our negroes as happy
+as possible."
+
+"I leave the management of these people to Durant."
+
+"That is the very thing of which they complain; forgive me for speaking
+to you with the frankness of an old acquaintance."
+
+"Oh! you can't oblige me more: I love frankness of all things! To tell
+you the truth, I have heard complaints of Durant's severity; but I make
+it a principle to turn a deaf ear to them, for I know nothing can be
+done with these fellows without it. You are partial to negroes; but even
+you must allow they are a race of beings naturally inferior to us. You
+may in vain think of managing a black as you would a white. Do what you
+please for a negro, he will cheat you the first opportunity he finds.
+You know what their maxim is: 'God gives black men what white men
+forget.'"
+
+To these common-place desultory observations Mr. Edwards made no reply;
+but recurred to poor Caesar, and offered to purchase both him and Clara,
+at the highest price the sheriff's officer could obtain for them at
+market. Mr. Jefferies, with the utmost politeness to his neighbour, but
+with the most perfect indifference to the happiness of those whom
+he considered of a different species from himself, acceded to this
+proposal. Nothing could be more reasonable, he said; and he was happy to
+have it in his power to oblige a gentleman for whom he had such a high
+esteem.
+
+The bargain was quickly concluded with the sheriff's officer; for Mr.
+Edwards willingly paid several dollars more than the market price for
+the two slaves. When Caesar and Clara heard that they were not to be
+separated, their joy and gratitude were expressed with all the ardour
+and tenderness peculiar to their different characters. Clara was an
+Eboe, Caesar a Koromantyn negro: the Eboes are soft, languishing, and
+timid; the Koromantyns are frank, fearless, martial, and heroic.
+
+Mr. Edwards took his new slaves home with him, desired Bayley, his
+overseer, to mark out a provision-ground for Caesar, and to give him a
+cottage, which happened at this time to be vacant.
+
+"Now, my good friend," said he to Caesar, "you may work for yourself,
+without fear that what you earn may be taken from you; or that you
+should ever be sold, to pay your master's debts. If he does not
+understand what I am saying," continued Mr. Edwards, turning to his
+overseer, "you will explain it to him."
+
+Caesar perfectly understood all that Mr. Edwards said; but his feelings
+were at this instant so strong that he could not find expression for
+his gratitude: he stood like one stupefied! Kindness was new to him; it
+overpowered his manly heart; and at hearing the words "my good friend,"
+the tears gushed from his eyes: tears which no torture could have
+extorted! Gratitude swelled in his bosom; and he longed to be alone,
+that he might freely yield to his emotions.
+
+He was glad when the conch-shell sounded to call the negroes to their
+daily labour, that he might relieve the sensations of his soul by bodily
+exertion, He performed his task in silence; and an inattentive observer
+might have thought him sullen.
+
+In fact, he was impatient for the day to be over, that he might get rid
+of a heavy load which weighed upon his mind.
+
+The cruelties practised by Durant, the overseer of Jefferies'
+plantation, had exasperated the slaves under his dominion.
+
+They were all leagued together in a conspiracy, which was kept
+profoundly secret. Their object was to extirpate every white man, woman,
+and child, in the island. Their plans were laid with consummate art; and
+the negroes were urged to execute them by all the courage of despair.
+
+The confederacy extended to all the negroes in the island of Jamaica,
+excepting those on the plantation of Mr. Edwards. To them no hint of
+the dreadful secret had yet been given; their countrymen, knowing the
+attachment they felt to their master, dared not trust them with these
+projects of vengeance. Hector, the negro who was at the head of the
+conspirators, was the particular friend of Caesar, and had imparted
+to him all his designs. These friends were bound to each other by the
+strongest ties. Their slavery and their sufferings began in the same
+hour; they were both brought from their own country in the same ship.
+This circumstance alone forms, amongst the negroes, a bond of connexion
+not easily to be dissolved. But the friendship of Caesar and Hector
+commenced even before they were united by the sympathy of misfortune;
+they were both of the same nation, both Koromantyns. In Africa they had
+both been accustomed to command; for they had signalized themselves by
+superior fortitude and courage. They respected each other for excelling
+in all which they had been taught to consider as virtuous; and with them
+revenge was a virtue!
+
+Revenge was the ruling passion of Hector: in Caesar's mind it was rather
+a principle instilled by education. The one considered it as a duty, the
+other felt it as a pleasure. Hector's sense of injury was acute in the
+extreme; he knew not how to forgive. Caesar's sensibility was yet more
+alive to kindness than to insult. Hector would sacrifice his life to
+extirpate an enemy. Caesar would devote himself for the defence of a
+friend; and Caesar now considered a white man as his friend.
+
+He was now placed in a painful situation. All his former friendships,
+all the solemn promises by which he was bound to his companions in
+misfortune, forbade him to indulge that delightful feeling of gratitude
+and affection, which, for the first time, he experienced for one of
+that race of beings whom he had hitherto considered as detestable
+tyrants--objects of implacable and just revenge!
+
+Caesar was most impatient to have an interview with Hector, that he
+might communicate his new sentiments, and dissuade him from those
+schemes of destruction which he meditated. At midnight, when all the
+slaves except himself were asleep, he left his cottage, and went to
+Jefferies' plantation, to the hut in which Hector slept. Even in his
+dreams Hector breathed vengeance. "Spare none! Sons of Africa, spare
+none!" were the words he uttered in his sleep, as Caesar approached the
+mat on which he lay. The moon shone full upon him. Caesar contemplated
+the countenance of his friend, fierce even in sleep. "Spare none! Oh,
+yes! There is one that must be spared. There is one for whose sake all
+must be spared."
+
+He wakened Hector by this exclamation. "Of what were you dreaming?" said
+Caesar.
+
+"Of that which, sleeping or waking, fills my soul--revenge! Why did you
+waken me from my dream? It was delightful. The whites were weltering in
+their blood! But silence! we may be overheard."
+
+"No; every one sleeps but ourselves," replied Caesar. "I could not sleep
+without speaking to you on--a subject that weighs upon my mind. You have
+seen Mr. Edwards?" "Yes. He that is now your master."
+
+"He that is now my benefactor--my friend!"
+
+"Friend! Can you call a white man friend?" cried Hector, starting up
+with a look of astonishment and indignation.
+
+"Yes," replied Caesar, with firmness. "And you would speak, ay, and
+would feel, as I do, Hector, if you knew this white man. Oh, how unlike
+he is to all of his race, that we have ever seen! Do not turn from me
+with so much disdain. Hear me with patience, my friend."
+
+"I cannot," replied Hector, "listen with patience to one who between
+the rising and the setting sun can forget all his resolutions, all his
+promises; who by a few soft words can be so wrought upon as to forget
+all the insults, all the injuries he has received from this accursed
+race; and can even call a white man friend!"
+
+Caesar, unmoved by Hector's anger, continued to speak of Mr. Edwards
+with the warmest expressions of gratitude; and finished by declaring
+he would sooner forfeit his life than rebel against such a master. He
+conjured Hector to desist from executing his designs; but all was in
+vain. Hector sat with his elbows fixed upon his knees, leaning his head
+upon his hands, in gloomy silence.
+
+Caesar's mind was divided between love for his friend and gratitude
+to his master: the conflict was violent and painful. Gratitude at last
+prevailed: he repeated his declaration, that he would rather die than
+continue in a conspiracy against his benefactor!
+
+Hector refused to except him from the general doom. "Betray us if
+you will!" cried he. "Betray our secrets to him whom you call your
+benefactor! to him whom a few hours have made your friend! To him
+sacrifice the friend of your youth, the companion of your better days,
+of your better self! Yes, Caesar, deliver me over to the tormentors: I
+can endure more than they can inflict. I shall expire without a sigh,
+without a groan. Why do you linger here, Caesar? Why do you hesitate?
+Hasten this moment to your master; claim your reward for delivering into
+his power hundreds of your countrymen! Why do you hesitate? Away! The
+coward's friendship can be of use to none. Who can value his gratitude?
+Who can fear his revenge?" Hector raised his voice so high, as he
+pronounced these words, that he wakened Durant, the overseer, who slept
+in the next house. They heard him call out suddenly, to inquire who was
+there: and Caesar had but just time to make his escape, before Durant
+appeared. He searched Hector's cottage; but finding no one, again
+retired to rest. This man's tyranny made him constantly suspicious; he
+dreaded that the slaves should combine against him; and he endeavoured
+to prevent them, by every threat and every stratagem he could devise,
+from conversing with each other.
+
+They had, however, taken their measures, hitherto, so secretly, that he
+had not the slightest idea of the conspiracy which was forming in the
+island. Their schemes were not yet ripe for execution; but the appointed
+time approached. Hector, when he coolly reflected on what had passed
+between him and Caesar, could not help admiring the frankness and
+courage with which he had avowed his change of sentiments. By this
+avowal, Caesar had in fact exposed his own life to the most imminent
+danger, from the vengeance of the conspirators, who might be tempted to
+assassinate him who had their lives in his power. Notwithstanding the
+contempt with which, in the first moment of passion, he had treated
+his friend, he was extremely anxious that he should not break off all
+connexion with the conspirators. He knew that Caesar possessed both
+intrepidity and eloquence, and that his opposition to their schemes
+would perhaps entirely frustrate their whole design. He therefore
+determined to use every possible means to bend him to their purposes.
+
+The enlightened inhabitants of Europe may, perhaps, smile at the
+superstitious credulity of the negroes, who regard those ignorant beings
+called _Obeah_ people with the most profound respect and dread; who
+believe that they hold in their hands the power of good and evil
+fortune, of health and sickness, of life and death. The instances which
+are related of their power over the minds of their countrymen are so
+wonderful, that none but the most unquestionable authority could make us
+think them credible. The following passage, from Edwards' History of the
+West Indies, is inserted, to give an idea of this strange infatuation:
+
+"In the year 1760, when a very formidable insurrection of the Koromantyn
+or Gold Coast negroes broke out, in the parish of St. Mary, and spread
+through almost every other district of the island, an old Koromantyn
+negro, the chief instigator and oracle of the insurgents in that parish,
+who had administered the fetish, or solemn oath, to the conspirators,
+and furnished them with a magical preparation, which was to render them
+invulnerable, was fortunately apprehended, convicted, and hung up with
+all his feathers and trumperies about him; and his execution struck
+the insurgents with a general panic, from which they never afterwards
+recovered. The examinations, which were taken at that period, first
+opened the eyes of the public to the very dangerous tendency of the
+_Obeah_ practices; and gave birth to the law, which was then enacted,
+for their suppression and punishment; but neither the terror of this
+law, the strict investigation which has since been made after the
+professors of _Obi_, nor the many examples of those who, from time
+to time, have been hanged or transported, have hitherto produced the
+desired effect. A gentleman, on his returning to Jamaica, in the
+year 1775, found that a great many of his negroes had died during his
+absence; and that, of such as remained alive, at least one half were
+debilitated, bloated, and in a very deplorable condition. The mortality
+continued after his arrival; and two or three were frequently buried
+in one day; others were taken ill, and began to decline under the same
+symptoms. Every means were tried, by medicine and the most careful
+nursing, to preserve the lives of the feeblest; but in spite of all his
+endeavours, this depopulation went on for a twelvemonth longer, with
+more or less intermission, and without his being able to ascertain the
+real cause, though the _Obeah_ practice was strongly suspected, as
+well by himself as by the doctor, and other white persons upon the
+plantation; as it was known to have been very common in that part of
+the island, and particularly among the negroes of the _Popaw_ or _Popo_
+country. Still he was unable to verify his suspicions; because the
+patients constantly denied their having any thing to do with persons of
+that order, or any knowledge of them. At length, a negress, who had
+been ill for some time, came and informed him, that, feeling it was
+impossible for her to live much longer, she thought herself bound in
+duty, before she died, to impart a very great secret, and acquaint him
+with the true cause of her disorder, in hopes that the disclosure might
+prove the means of stopping that mischief which had already swept
+away such a number of her fellow slaves. She proceeded to say that her
+step-mother, a woman of the _Popo_ country, above eighty years old, but
+still hale and active, had _put Obi upon her_, as she had upon those who
+had lately died; and that the old woman had practised _Obi_ for as many
+years past as she could remember. The other negroes of the plantation
+no sooner heard of this impeachment than they ran in a body to their
+master, and confirmed the truth, of it.--Upon this he repaired directly,
+with six white servants, to the old woman's house; and, forcing open the
+door, observed the whole inside of the roof, which was of thatch, and
+every crevice of the wall, stuck with the implements of her trade,
+consisting of rags, feathers, bones of cats, and a thousand other
+articles.--The house was instantly pulled down; and, with the whole of
+its contents, committed to the flames, amidst the general acclamations
+of all his other negroes.--From the moment of her departure, his negroes
+seemed all to be animated with new spirits; and the malady spread no
+farther among them. The total of his losses, in the course of about
+fifteen years preceding the discovery, and imputable solely to the
+_Obeah practice_, he estimates at least, at one hundred negroes."
+
+Esther, an old Koromantyn negress, had obtained by her skill in
+poisonous herbs, and her knowledge of venomous reptiles, a high
+reputation amongst her countrymen. She soon taught them to believe
+her to be possessed of supernatural powers; and she then worked their
+imagination to what pitch and purpose she pleased.
+
+She was the chief instigator of this intended rebellion. It was she who
+had stimulated the revengeful temper of Hector almost to frenzy. She now
+promised him that her arts should be exerted over his friend; and it
+was not long before he felt their influence. Caesar soon perceived an
+extraordinary change in the countenance and manner of his beloved Clara.
+A melancholy hung over her, and she refused to impart to him the cause
+of her dejection. Caesar was indefatigable in his exertions to cultivate
+and embellish the ground near his cottage, in hopes of making it an
+agreeable habitation for her; but she seemed to take no interest in any
+thing. She would stand beside him immoveable, in a deep reverie; but
+when he inquired whether she was ill, she would answer no, and endeavour
+to assume an air of gaiety: but this cheerfulness was transient; she
+soon relapsed into despondency. At length, she endeavoured to avoid her
+lover, as if she feared his farther inquiries.
+
+Unable to endure this state of suspense, he one evening resolved to
+bring her to an explanation. "Clara," said he, "you once loved me: I
+have done nothing, have I, to forfeit your confidence?"
+
+"I once loved you!" said she, raising her languid eyes, and looking at
+him with reproachful tenderness; "and can you doubt my constancy? Oh,
+Caesar, you little know what is passing in my heart! You are the cause
+of my melancholy!"
+
+She paused and hesitated, as if afraid that she had said too much; but
+Caesar urged her with so much vehemence, and so much tenderness, to
+open to him her whole soul, that, at last, she could not resist his
+eloquence. She reluctantly revealed to him that secret of which she
+could not think without horror. She informed him, that unless he
+complied with what was required of him by the sorceress Esther, he was
+devoted to die. What it was that Esther required of him, Clara knew not:
+she knew nothing of the conspiracy. The timidity of her character was
+ill suited to such a project; and every thing relating to it had been
+concealed from her with the utmost care.
+
+When she explained to Caesar the cause of her dejection, his natural
+courage resisted these superstitious fears; and he endeavoured to raise
+Clara's spirits. He endeavoured in vain: she fell at his feet; and with
+tears, and the most tender supplications, conjured him to avert the
+wrath of the sorceress, by obeying her commands, whatever they might be!
+
+"Clara," replied he, "you know not what you ask!"
+
+"I ask you to save your life!" said she. "I ask you, for my sake, to
+save your life, while yet it is in your power!"
+
+"But would you, to save my life, Clara, make me the worst of criminals?
+Would you make me the murderer of my benefactor?"
+
+Clara started with horror.
+
+"Do you recollect the day, the moment, when we were on the point of
+being separated for ever, Clara? Do you remember the white man's coming
+to my cottage? Do you remember his look of benevolence--his voice of
+compassion? Do you remember his generosity? Oh! Clara, would you make me
+the murderer of this man?"
+
+"Heaven forbid!" said Clara. "This cannot be the will of the sorceress!"
+
+"It is," said Caesar. "But she shall not succeed, even though she speaks
+with the voice of Clara. Urge me no further; my resolution is fixed.
+I should be unworthy of your love if I were capable of treachery and
+ingratitude."
+
+"But is there no means of averting the wrath of Esther?" said Clara.
+"Your life--"
+
+"Think, first, of my honour," interrupted Caesar. "Your fears deprive
+you of reason. Return to this sorceress, and tell her that I dread
+not her wrath. My hands shall never be imbrued in the blood of my
+benefactor. Clara! can you forget his look when he told us that we
+should never more be separated?"
+
+"It went to my heart," said Clara, bursting into tears "Cruel, cruel
+Esther! Why do you command us to destroy such a generous master?"
+
+The conch sounded to summon the negroes to their morning's work. It
+happened this day, that Mr. Edwards, who was continually intent upon
+increasing the comforts and happiness of his slaves, sent his carpenter,
+while Caesar was absent, to fit up the inside of his cottage; and when
+Caesar returned from work, he found his master pruning the branches of
+a tamarind tree that over-hung the thatch. "How comes it, Caesar," said
+he, "that you have not pruned these branches?"
+
+Caesar had no knife. "Here is mine for you," said Mr. Edwards. "It is
+very sharp," added he, smiling; "but I am not one of those masters who
+are afraid to trust their negroes with sharp knives."
+
+These words were spoken with perfect simplicity: Mr. Edwards had no
+suspicion, at this time, of what was passing in the negro's mind. Caesar
+received the knife without uttering a syllable; but no sooner was
+Mr. Edwards out of sight than he knelt down, and, in a transport of
+gratitude, swore that, with this knife, he would stab himself to the
+heart sooner than betray his master!
+
+The principle of gratitude conquered every other sensation. The mind of
+Caesar was not insensible to the charms of freedom: he knew the negro
+conspirators had so taken their measures that there was the greatest
+probability of their success. His heart beat high at the idea of
+recovering his liberty: but he was not to be seduced from his duty,
+not even by this delightful hope; nor was he to be intimidated by the
+dreadful certainty that his former friends and countrymen, considering
+him as a deserter from their cause, would become his bitterest enemies.
+The loss of Hector's esteem and affection was deeply felt by Caesar.
+Since the night that the decisive conversation relative to Mr. Edwards
+passed, Hector and he had never exchanged a syllable.
+
+This visit proved the cause of much suffering to Hector, and to several
+of the slaves on Jefferies' plantation. We mentioned that Durant had
+been awakened by the raised voice of Hector. Though he could not find
+any one in the cottage, yet his suspicions were not dissipated; and
+an accident nearly brought the whole conspiracy to light. Durant had
+ordered one of the negroes to watch a boiler of sugar: the slave was
+overcome by the heat, and fainted. He had scarcely recovered his senses
+when the overseer came up, and found that the sugar had fermented, by
+having remained a few minutes too long in the boiler. He flew into a
+violent passion, and ordered that the negro should receive fifty lashes.
+His victim bore them without uttering a groan; but, when his punishment
+was over, and when he thought the overseer was gone, he exclaimed, "It
+will soon be our turn!"
+
+Durant was not out of hearing. He turned suddenly, and observed that
+the negro looked at Hector when he pronounced these words, and this
+confirmed the suspicion that Hector was carrying on some conspiracy. He
+immediately had recourse to that brutality which he considered as the
+only means of governing black men: Hector and three other negroes were
+lashed unmercifully; but no confessions could be extorted.
+
+Mr. Jefferies might perhaps have forbidden such violence to be used,
+if he had not been at the time carousing with a party of jovial West
+Indians, who thought of nothing but indulging their appetites in all the
+luxuries that art and nature could supply. The sufferings which had been
+endured by many of the wretched negroes to furnish out this magnificent
+entertainment were never once thought of by these selfish epicures.
+Yet so false are the general estimates of character, that all these
+gentlemen passed for men of great feeling and generosity! The human
+mind, in certain situations, becomes so accustomed to ideas of tyranny
+and cruelty, that they no longer appear extraordinary or detestable:
+they rather seem part of the necessary and immutable order of things.
+
+Mr. Jefferies was stopped, as he passed from his dining-room into his
+drawing-room, by a little negro child, of about five years old, who was
+crying bitterly. He was the son of one of the slaves who were at
+this moment under the torturer's hand. "Poor little devil!" said Mr.
+Jefferies, who was more than half intoxicated. "Take him away; and tell
+Durant, some of ye, to pardon his father--if he can."
+
+The child ran, eagerly, to announce his father's pardon; but he soon
+returned, crying more violently than before. Durant would not hear the
+boy; and it was now no longer possible to appeal to Mr. Jefferies,
+for he was in the midst of an assembly of fair ladies, and no servant
+belonging to the house dared to interrupt the festivities of the
+evening. The three men, who were so severely flogged to extort from
+them confessions, were perfectly innocent: they knew nothing of the
+confederacy; but the rebels seized the moment when their minds were
+exasperated by this cruelty and injustice, and they easily persuaded
+them to join the league. The hope of revenging themselves upon the
+overseer was a motive sufficient to make them brave death in any shape.
+
+Another incident, which happened a few days before the time destined
+for the revolt of the slaves, determined numbers who had been undecided.
+Mrs. Jefferies was a languid beauty, or rather a languid fine lady who
+had been a beauty, and who spent all that part of the day which was not
+devoted to the pleasures of the table, or to reclining on a couch, in
+dress. She was one day extended on a sofa, fanned by four slaves, two at
+her head and two at her feet, when news was brought that a large chest,
+directed to her, was just arrived from London.
+
+This chest contained various articles of dress of the newest fashions.
+The Jamaica ladies carry their ideas of magnificence to a high pitch:
+they willingly give a hundred guineas for a gown, which they perhaps
+wear but once or twice. In the elegance and variety of her ornaments,
+Mrs. Jefferies was not exceeded by any lady in the island, except by
+one who had lately received a cargo from England. She now expected to
+outshine her competitor, and desired that the chest should be unpacked
+in her presence.
+
+In taking out one of the gowns, it caught on a nail in the lid, and was
+torn. The lady, roused from her natural indolence by this disappointment
+to her vanity, instantly ordered that the unfortunate female slave
+should be severely chastised. The woman was the wife of Hector; and this
+fresh injury worked up his temper, naturally vindictive, to the highest
+point. He ardently longed for the moment when he might satiate his
+vengeance.
+
+The plan the negroes had laid was to set fire to the canes, at one and
+the same time, on every plantation; and when the white inhabitants of
+the island should run to put out the fire, the blacks were to seize
+this moment of confusion and consternation to fall upon them, and make
+a general massacre. The time when this scheme was to be carried into
+execution was not known to Caesar; for the conspirators had changed
+their day, as soon as Hector told them that his friend was no longer
+one of the confederacy. They dreaded he should betray them; and it was
+determined that he and Clara should both be destroyed, unless they could
+be prevailed upon to join the conspiracy.
+
+Hector wished to save his friend, but the desire of vengeance overcame
+every other feeling. He resolved, however, to make an attempt, for the
+last time, to change Caesar's resolution.
+
+For this purpose, Esther was the person he employed: she was to work
+upon his mind by means of Clara. On returning to her cottage one night,
+she found suspended from the thatch one of those strange fantastic
+charms with which the Indian sorceresses terrify those whom they have
+proscribed. Clara, unable to conquer her terror, repaired again to
+Esther, who received her first in mysterious silence; but, after she had
+implored her forgiveness for the past, and with all possible humility
+conjured her to grant her future protection, the sorceress deigned to
+speak. Her commands were that Clara should prevail upon her lover to
+meet her, on this awful spot, the ensuing night.
+
+Little suspecting what was going forward on the plantation of Jefferies,
+Mr. Edwards that evening gave his slaves a holiday. He and his family
+came out at sunset, when the fresh breeze had sprung up, and seated
+themselves under a spreading palm-tree, to enjoy the pleasing spectacle
+of this negro festival. His negroes were all well clad, and in the
+gayest colours, and their merry countenances suited the gaiety of their
+dress. While some were dancing, and some playing on the tambourine,
+others appeared amongst the distant trees, bringing baskets of
+avocado pears, grapes, and pine-apples, the produce of their own
+provision-grounds; and others were employed in spreading their clean
+trenchers, or the calabashes, which served for plates and dishes. The
+negroes continued to dance and divert themselves till late in, the
+evening. When they separated and retired to rest, Caesar, recollecting
+his promise to Clara, repaired secretly to the habitation of this
+sorceress. It was situated in the recess of a thick wood. When he
+arrived there, he found the door fastened; and he was obliged to wait
+some time before it was opened by Esther.
+
+The first object he beheld was his beloved Clara, stretched on the
+ground, apparently a corpse! The sorceress had thrown her into a trance
+by a preparation of deadly nightshade. The hag burst into an infernal
+laugh, when she beheld the despair that was painted in Caesar's
+countenance. "Wretch!" cried she, "you have defied my power: behold its
+victim!"
+
+Caesar, in a transport of rage, seized her by the throat: but his fury
+was soon checked.
+
+"Destroy me," said the fiend, "and you destroy your Clara. She is not
+dead: but she lies in the sleep of death, into which she has been thrown
+by magic art, and from which no power but mine can restore her to the
+light of life. Yes! look at her, pale and motionless! Never will she
+rise from the earth, unless, within one hour, you obey my commands. I
+have administered to Hector and his companions the solemn fetish oath,
+at the sound of which every negro in Africa trembles! You know my
+object."
+
+"Fiend, I do!" replied Caesar, eyeing her sternly; "but, while I have
+life, it shall never be accomplished."
+
+"Look yonder!" cried she, pointing to the moon; "in a few minutes that
+moon will set: at that hour Hector and his friends will appear. They
+come armed--armed with weapons which I shall steep in poison for their
+enemies. Themselves I will render invulnerable. Look again!" continued
+she; "if my dim eyes mistake not, yonder they come. Rash man, you die if
+they cross my threshold."
+
+"I wish for death," said Caesar. "Clara is dead!"
+
+"But you can restore her to life by a single word." Caesar, at this
+moment, seemed to hesitate. "Consider! Your heroism is vain," continued
+Esther. "You will have the knives of fifty of the conspirators in your
+bosom, if you do not join them; and, after you have fallen, the death
+of your master is inevitable. Here is the bowl of poison, in which the
+negro knives are to be steeped. Your friends, your former friends, your
+countrymen, will be in arms in a few minutes; and they will bear down
+every thing before them--Victory, Wealth, Freedom, and Revenge, will be
+theirs."
+
+Caesar appeared to be more and more agitated. His eyes were fixed upon
+Clara. The conflict in his mind was violent: but his sense of gratitude
+and duty could not be shaken by hope, fear, or ambition; nor could it
+be vanquished by love. He determined, however, to appear to yield. As
+if struck with panic, at the approach of the confederate negroes,
+he suddenly turned to the sorceress, and said, in a tone of feigned
+submission, "It is in vain to struggle with fate. Let my knife, too, be
+dipped in your magic poison."
+
+The sorceress clapped her hands with infernal joy in her countenance.
+She bade him instantly give her his knife, that she might plunge it
+to the hilt in the bowl of poison, to which she turned with savage
+impatience. His knife was left in his cottage, and, under pretence of
+going in search of it, he escaped. Esther promised to prepare Hector and
+all his companions to receive him with their ancient cordiality on his
+return. Caesar ran with the utmost speed along a bye-path out of the
+wood, met none of the rebels, reached his master's house, scaled
+the wall of his bedchamber, got in at the window, and wakened him,
+exclaiming, "Arm--arm yourself, my dear master! Arm all your slaves!
+They will fight for you, and die for you; as I will the first. The
+Koromantyn yell of war will be heard in Jefferies plantation this night!
+Arm--arm yourself, my dear master, and let us surround the rebel leaders
+while it is yet time. I will lead you to the place where they are all
+assembled, on condition that their chief, who is my friend, shall be
+pardoned."
+
+Mr. Edwards armed himself and the negroes on his plantation, as well as
+the whites; they were all equally attached to him. He followed Caesar
+into the recesses of the wood.
+
+They proceeded with all possible rapidity, but in perfect silence, till
+they reached Esther's habitation: which they surrounded completely,
+before they were perceived by the conspirators.
+
+Mr. Edwards looked through a hole in the wall; and, by the blue flame
+of a cauldron, over which the sorceress was stretching her shrivelled
+hands, he saw Hector and five stout negroes standing, intent upon her
+incantations. These negroes held their knives in their hands, ready to
+dip them into the bowl of poison. It was proposed, by one of the whites,
+to set fire immediately to the hut, and thus to force the rebels to
+surrender. The advice was followed; but Mr. Edwards charged his people
+to spare their prisoners. The moment the rebels saw that the thatch
+of the hut was in flames, they set up the Koromantyn yell of war, and
+rushed out with frantic desperation.
+
+"Yield! You are pardoned, Hector," cried Mr. Edwards, in a loud voice.
+
+"You are pardoned, my friend!" repeated Caesar.
+
+Hector, incapable at this instant of listening to anything but revenge,
+sprang forwards, and plunged his knife into the bosom of Caesar. The
+faithful servant staggered back a few paces: his master caught him in
+his arms. "I die content," said he. "Bury me with Clara."
+
+He swooned from loss of blood as they were carrying him home; but when
+his wound was examined, it was found not to be mortal. As he recovered
+from his swoon, he stared wildly round him, trying to recollect where
+he was, and what had happened. He thought that he was still in a dream,
+when he saw his beloved Clara standing beside him. The opiate, which the
+pretended sorceress had administered to her, had ceased to operate; she
+wakened from her trance just at the time the Koromantyn yell commenced.
+Caesar's joy!--we must leave that to the imagination.
+
+In the mean time, what became of the rebel negroes, and Mr. Edwards?
+
+The taking the chief conspirators prisoners did not prevent the negroes
+upon Jefferies' plantation from insurrection. The moment they heard the
+war-whoop, the signal agreed upon, they rose in a body; and, before
+they could be prevented, either by the whites on the estate, or by Mr.
+Edwards' adherents, they had set fire to the overseer's house, and to
+the canes. The overseer was the principal object of their vengeance--he
+died in tortures, inflicted by the hands of those who had suffered most
+by his cruelties. Mr. Edwards, however, quelled the insurgents before
+rebellion spread to any other estates in the island. The influence of
+his character, and the effect of his eloquence upon the minds of the
+people, were astonishing: nothing but his interference could have
+prevented the total destruction of Mr. Jefferies and his family, who,
+as it was computed, lost this night upwards of fifty thousand pounds.
+He was never afterwards able to recover his losses, or to shake off his
+constant fear of a fresh insurrection among his slaves. At length, he
+and his lady returned to England, where they were obliged to live in
+obscurity and indigence. They had no consolation in their misfortunes
+but that of railing at the treachery of the whole race of slaves. Our
+readers, we hope, will think that at least one exception may be made, in
+favour of THE GRATEFUL NEGRO. {Empty page}
+
+
+
+
+TO-MORROW
+
+
+"Oh this detestable _To-morrow!_--a thing always expected, yet never
+found."--JOHNSON.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+It has long been my intention to write my own history, and I am
+determined to begin it to-day; for half the good intentions of my life
+have been frustrated by my unfortunate habit of putting things off till
+to-morrow.
+
+When I was a young man, I used to be told that this was my only fault; I
+believed it, and my vanity or laziness persuaded me that this fault was
+but small, and that I should easily cure myself of it in time.
+
+That time, however, has not yet arrived, and at my advanced age I
+must give up all thoughts of amendment, hoping, however, that sincere
+repentance may stand instead of reformation.
+
+My father was an eminent London bookseller: he happened to be looking
+over a new biographical dictionary on the day when I was brought into
+the world; and at the moment when my birth was announced to him, he had
+his finger upon the name _Basil_; he read aloud--"_Basil_, canonized
+bishop of Caesarea, a theological, controversial, and moral writer."
+
+"My boy," continued my father, "shall be named after this great man,
+and I hope and believe that I shall live to see him either a celebrated
+theological, controversial, and moral author, or a bishop. I am not so
+sanguine as to expect that he should be both these good things."
+
+I was christened Basil according to my father's wishes, and his hopes of
+my future celebrity and fortune were confirmed, during my childhood, by
+instances of wit and memory, which were not perhaps greater than what
+could have been found in my little contemporaries, but which appeared to
+the vanity of parental fondness extraordinary, if not supernatural.
+My father declared that it would be a sin not to give me a learned
+education, and he went even beyond his means to procure for me all the
+advantages of the best modes of instruction. I was stimulated, even when
+a boy, by the idea that I should become a great man, and my masters
+had for some time reason to be satisfied; but what they called the
+_quickness of my parts_ continually retarded my progress. The facility
+with which I learned my lessons encouraged me to put off learning them
+till the last moment; and this habit of procrastinating, which was begun
+in presumption, ended in disgrace.
+
+When I was sent to a public school, I found among my companions so many
+temptations to idleness, that notwithstanding the quickness of my parts,
+I was generally flogged twice a week. As I grew older, my reason might
+perhaps have taught me to correct myself, but my vanity was excited to
+persist in idleness by certain imprudent sayings or whisperings of my
+father.
+
+When I came home from school at the holidays, and when complaints were
+preferred against me in letters from my school-master, my father, even
+while he affected to scold me for my negligence, flattered me in
+the most dangerous manner by adding--_aside_ to some friend of the
+family--"My Basil is a strange fellow!--can do any thing he pleases--all
+his masters say so--but he is a sad idle dog--all your men of genius are
+so--puts off business always to the last moment--all your men of genius
+do so. For instance, there is ----, whose third edition of odes I have
+just published--what an idle dog he is! Yet who makes such a noise in
+the world as he does?--put every thing off till _to-morrow_, like my
+Basil--but can do more at the last moment than any man in England--that
+is, if the fit seizes him--for he does nothing but by fits--has no
+application--none--says it would 'petrify him to a dunce.' I never knew
+a man of genius who was not an idle dog."
+
+Not a syllable of such speeches was lost upon me: the idea of a man
+of genius and of an idle dog were soon so firmly joined together in my
+imagination, that it was impossible to separate them, either by my own
+reason or by that of my preceptors. I gloried in the very habits which
+my tutors laboured to correct; and I never was seriously mortified by
+the consequences of my own folly till, at a public examination at Eton,
+I lost a premium by putting off till it was too late the finishing a
+copy of verses. The lines which I had written were said by all my young
+and old friends to be beautiful. The prize was gained by one Johnson, a
+heavy lad, of no sort of genius, but of great perseverance. His verses
+were finished, however, at the stated time.
+
+  "For dulness ever must be regular!"
+
+My fragment, charming as it was, was useless, except to hand about
+afterward among my friends, to prove what I might have done if I had
+thought it worth while.
+
+My father was extremely vexed by my missing an opportunity of
+distinguishing myself at this public exhibition, especially as the king
+had honoured the assembly with his presence; and as those who had gained
+premiums were presented to his majesty, it was supposed that their being
+thus early _marked_ as lads of talents would be highly advantageous to
+their advancement in life. All this my father felt, and, blaming himself
+for having encouraged me in _the indolence of genius_, he determined to
+counteract his former imprudence, and was resolved, he said, to cure me
+at once of my habit of procrastination. For this purpose he took down
+from his shelves Young's Night Thoughts; from which he remembered a
+line, which has become a _stock_ line among writing-masters' copies:
+
+  "_Procrastination_ is the thief of time."
+
+He hunted the book for the words _Procrastination, Time, To-day,_ and
+_To-morrow_, and made an extract of seven long pages on the dangers of
+delay.
+
+"Now, my dear Basil," said he, "this is what will cure you for life,
+and this you must get perfectly by heart, before I give you one shilling
+more pocket-money."
+
+The motive was all powerful, and with pains, iteration, and curses, I
+fixed the heterogeneous quotations so well in my memory that some of
+them have remained there to this day. For instance--
+
+  "_Time_ destroyed
+  Is _suicide_, where more than blood is spilt.
+  _Time_ flies, death urges, knells call, Heav'n invites,
+  Hell threatens.
+
+  We push _Time_ from us, and we wish him back.
+
+  Man flies from _Time_, and Time from man too soon;
+  In sad divorce this double flight must end;
+  And then where are we?
+
+  Be wise _to-day_, 'tis madness to defer, &c.
+  Next day the fatal precedent will plead, &c.
+
+  Lorenzo--O for _yesterdays_ to come!
+  _To-day_ is _yesterday_ return'd; return'd,
+  Full powered to cancel, expiate, raise, adorn,
+  And reinstate us on the rock of peace.
+  Let it not share its predecessor's fate,
+  Nor, like its elder sisters, die a fool.
+
+  Where shall I find him? Angels! tell me where:
+  _You_ know him; he is near you; point him out;
+  Shall I see glories beaming from his brow?
+  Or trace his footsteps by the rising flow'rs?
+  Your golden wings _now_ hov'ring o'er him shed
+  Protection: now are wav'ring in applause
+  To that blest son of foresight! Lord of fate!
+  That awful independent on _to-morrow!_
+  Whose _work is done_; who triumphs in the past;
+  Whose _yesterdays_ look backward with a smile."
+
+I spare you the rest of my task, and I earnestly hope, my dear reader,
+that these citations may have a better effect upon you than they
+had upon me. With shame I confess, that even with the addition of
+Shakspeare's eloquent
+
+  "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow," &c.
+
+which I learnt by heart gratis, not a bit the better was I for all this
+poetical morality. What I wanted was, not conviction of my folly, but
+resolution to amend.
+
+When I say that I was not a bit the better for these documentings, I
+must not omit to observe to you that I was very near four hundred pounds
+a year the better for them.
+
+Being obliged to learn so much of Young's Night Thoughts by rote, I was
+rather disgusted, and my attention was roused to criticise the lines
+which had been forced upon my admiration. Afterward, when I went
+to college, I delighted to maintain, in opposition to some of my
+companions, who were enthusiastic admirers of Young, that he was no
+poet. The more I was ridiculed, the more I persisted. I talked my self
+into notice; I became acquainted with several of the literary men at
+Cambridge; I wrote in defence of my opinion, or, as some called it, my
+heresy. I maintained that what all the world had mistaken for sublimity
+was bombast; that the Night Thoughts were fuller of witty conceits than
+of poetical images: I drew a parallel between Young and Cowley; and
+I finished by pronouncing Young to be the Cowley of the eighteenth
+century. To do myself justice, there was much ingenuity and some truth
+in my essay, but it was the declamation of a partisan, who can think
+only on one side of a question, and who, in the heat of controversy,
+says more than he thinks, and more than he originally intended.
+
+It is often the fortune of literary partisans to obtain a share of
+temporary celebrity far beyond their deserts, especially if they attack
+any writer of established reputation. The success of my essay exceeded
+my most sanguine expectations, and I began to think that my father was
+right; that I was born to be a great genius, and a great man. The
+notice taken of me by a learned prelate, who piqued himself upon being
+considered as the patron of young men of talents, confirmed me at once
+in my self-conceit and my hopes of preferment.
+
+I mentioned to you that my father, in honour of my namesake Basil,
+bishop of Caesarea, and to verify his own _presentiments_, had educated
+me for the Church. My present patron, who seemed to like me the better
+the oftener I dined with him, gave me reason to hope that he would
+provide for me handsomely. I was not yet ordained, when a living of four
+hundred per annum fell into his gift: he held it over for some months,
+as it was thought, on purpose for me.
+
+In the mean time he employed me to write a charity sermon for him, which
+he was to preach, as it was expected, to a crowded congregation. None
+but those who are themselves slaves to the habit of procrastination will
+believe that I could be so foolish as to put off writing this sermon
+till the Saturday evening before it was wanted. Some of my young
+companions came unexpectedly to sup with me; we sat late: in the vanity
+of a young author, who glories in the rapidity of composition, I said
+to myself that I could finish my sermon in an hour's notice. But, alas!
+when my companions at length departed, they left me in no condition to
+complete a sermon. I fell fast asleep, and was wakened in the morning
+by the bishop's servant. The dismay I felt is indescribable; I started
+up--it was nine o'clock: I began to write; but my hand and my mind
+trembled, and my ideas were in such confusion, that I could not, great
+genius as I was, produce a beginning sentence in a quarter of an hour.
+
+I kept the bishop's servant forty minutes by his watch; wrote and
+re-wrote two pages, and walked up and down the room; tore my two pages;
+and at last, when the footman said he could wait no longer, was obliged
+to let him go with an awkward note, pleading sudden sickness for my
+apology. It was true that I was sufficiently sick at the time when I
+penned this note: my head ached terribly; and I kept my room, reflecting
+upon my own folly, the whole of the day. I foresaw the consequences: the
+living was given away by my patron the next morning, and all hopes of
+future favour were absolutely at an end.
+
+My father overwhelmed me with reproaches; and I might perhaps have
+been reformed by this disappointment, but an unexpected piece of good
+fortune, or what I then thought good fortune, was my ruin.
+
+Among the multitude of my college-friends was a young gentleman, whose
+father was just appointed to go out upon the _famous_ embassy to China;
+he came to our shop to buy Du Halde; and upon hearing me express an
+enthusiastic desire to visit China, he undertook to apply to his father
+to take me in the ambassador's suite. His representation of me as a
+young man of talents and literature, and the view of some botanical
+drawings, which I executed upon the spur of the occasion with tolerable
+neatness, procured me the favour which I so ardently desired.
+
+My father objected to my making this voyage. He was vexed to see me quit
+the profession for which I had been educated; and he could not, without
+a severe struggle, relinquish his hopes of seeing me a bishop. But I
+argued that, as I had not yet been ordained, there could be no disgrace
+or impropriety in my avoiding a mode of life which was not suited to
+my _genius_. This word genius had now, as upon all other occasions, a
+mighty effect upon my father; and, observing this, I declared farther,
+in a high tone of voice, that from the experience I had already had,
+I was perfectly certain that the drudgery of sermon-writing would
+_paralyze my genius_; and that, to expand and invigorate my intellectual
+powers, it was absolutely necessary I should, to use a great author's
+expression, "view in foreign countries varied modes of existence."
+
+My father's hopes that one half of his prophecy would at least be
+accomplished, and that I should become a great author, revived; and he
+consented to my going to China, upon condition that I should promise to
+write a history of my voyage and journey, in two volumes octavo, or one
+quarto, with a folio of plates. The promise was readily made; for in
+the plenitude of confidence in my own powers, octavos and quartos shrunk
+before me, and a folio appeared too small for the various information,
+and the useful reflections, which a voyage to China must supply.
+
+Full of expectations and projects, I talked from morning till night
+of my journey: but notwithstanding my father's hourly remonstrances,
+I deferred my preparations till the last week. Then all was hurry and
+confusion; tailors and sempstresses, portmanteaus and trunks, portfolios
+and drawing-boxes, water-colours, crayons, and note-books, wet from the
+stationer's, crowded my room. I had a dozen small note-books, and a
+huge commonplace-book, which was to be divided and kept in the manner
+recommended by the judicious and immortal Locke.
+
+In the midst of the last day's bustle, I sat down at the corner of a
+table with compass, ruler, and red ink, to divide and rule my best of
+all possible commonplace-books; but the red ink was too thin, and the
+paper was not well sized, and it blotted continually, because I was
+obliged to turn over the pages rapidly; and ink will not dry, nor
+blotting-paper suck it up, more quickly for _a genius_ than for any
+other man. Besides, my attention was much distracted by the fear that
+the sempstress would not send home my dozen of new shirts, and that a
+vile _procrastinating_ boot-maker would never come with my boots. Every
+rap at the door I started up to inquire whether _that_ was the shirts,
+or the boots: thrice I overturned the red, and twice the black ink
+bottles by these starts; and the execrations which I bestowed upon those
+tradespeople, who will put off every thing to the last moment, were
+innumerable. I had orders to set off in the mail-coach for Portsmouth,
+to join the rest of the ambassador's suite.
+
+The provoking watchman cried "past eleven o'clock" before I had
+half-finished ruling my commonplace-book; my shirts and my boots were
+not come: the mail-coach, as you may guess, set off without me. My
+poor father was in a terrible tremor, and walked from room to room,
+reproaching me and himself; but I persisted in repeating that Lord
+M. would not set out the day he had intended: that nobody, since the
+creation of the world, ever set out upon a long journey the day he first
+appointed: besides, there were at least a hundred chances in my favour
+that his lordship would break down on his way to Portsmouth; that the
+wind would not be fair when he arrived there; that half the people in
+his suite would not be more punctual than myself, &c.
+
+By these arguments, or by mere dint of assertion, I quieted my father's
+apprehensions and my own, and we agreed that, as it was now impossible
+to go to-day, it was best to stay till to-morrow.
+
+Upon my arrival at Portsmouth, the first thing I heard was that the Lion
+and Hindostan had sailed some hours before, with the embassy for China.
+Despair deprived me of utterance. A charitable waiter at the inn,
+however, seeing my consternation and absolute inability to think or
+act for myself, ran to make farther inquiries, and brought me back
+the joyful tidings that the Jackal brig, which was to carry out the
+remainder of the ambassador's suite, was not yet under weigh; that a
+gentleman, who was to go in the Jackal, had dined at an hotel in the
+next street, and that he had gone to the water-side but ten minutes ago.
+
+I hurried after him: the boat was gone. I paid another exorbitantly to
+take me and my goods to the brig, and reached the Jackal just as she was
+weighing anchor. Bad education for me! The moment I felt myself safe on
+board, having recovered breath to speak, I exclaimed, "Here am I, safe
+and sound! just as well as if I had been here yesterday; better indeed.
+Oh, after this, I shall always trust to my own good fortune! I knew I
+should not be too late." When I came to reflect coolly, however, I was
+rather sorry that I had missed my passage in the Lion, with my friend
+and protector, and with most of the learned and ingenious men of the
+ambassador's suite, to whom I had been introduced, and who had seemed
+favourably disposed towards me. All the advantage I might have derived
+from their conversation, during this long voyage, was lost by my own
+negligence. The Jackal lost company of the Lion and Hindostan in the
+Channel. As my friends afterwards told me, they waited for us five days
+in Praya Bay; but as no Jackal appeared, they sailed again without her.
+At length, to our great joy, we descried on the beach of Sumatra a board
+nailed to a post, which our friends had set up there, with a written
+notice to inform us that the Lion and Hindostan had touched on this
+shore on such a day, and to point out to us the course that we should
+keep in order to join them.
+
+At the sight of this writing my spirits revived: the wind favoured us;
+but, alas! in passing the Straits of Banka, we were damaged so that we
+were obliged to return to port to refit, and to take in fresh provision.
+Not a soul on board but wished it had been their fate to have had a
+berth in the other ships; and I more loudly than any one else expressed
+this wish twenty times a-day. When my companions heard that I was to
+have sailed in the ambassador's ship, if I had been time enough at
+Spithead, some pitied and some rallied me: but most said I deserved
+to be punished for my negligence. At length we joined the Lion and
+Hindostan at North Island. Our friends had quite given up all hopes of
+ever seeing us again, and had actually bought at Batavia a French brig,
+to supply the place of the Jackal. To my great satisfaction, I was now
+received on board the Lion, and had an opportunity of conversing with
+the men of literature and science, from whom I had been so unluckily
+separated during the former part of the voyage. Their conversation soon
+revived and increased my regret, when they told me of all that I had
+missed seeing at the various places where they had touched: they talked
+to me with provoking fluency of the culture of manioc; of the root of
+cassada, of which tapioca is made; of the shrub called the cactus,
+on which the cochineal insect swarms and feeds; and of the
+ipecacuanha-plant; all which they had seen at Rio Janeiro, besides eight
+paintings representing the manner in which the diamond and gold mines
+in the Brazils are worked. Indeed, upon cross-examination, I found that
+these pictures were miserably executed, and scarcely worth seeing.
+
+I regretted more the fine pine-apples, which my companions assured me
+were in such abundance that they cleaned their swords in them, as being
+the cheapest acid that could be there procured. But, far beyond these
+vulgar objects of curiosity, I regretted not having learned any thing
+concerning the celebrated upas-tree. I was persuaded that, if I had been
+at Batavia, I should have extracted some information more precise than
+these gentlemen obtained from the keepers of the medical garden.
+
+I confess that my mortification at this disappointment did not arise
+solely from the pure love of natural history: the upas-tree would
+have made a conspicuous figure in my quarto volume. I consoled myself,
+however, by the determination to omit nothing that the vast empire
+of China could afford to render my work entertaining, instructive,
+interesting, and sublime. I anticipated the pride with which I should
+receive the compliments of my friends and the public upon my _valuable
+and incomparable work_; I anticipated the pleasure with which my father
+would exult in the celebrity of his son, and in the accomplishment of
+his own prophecies; and, with these thoughts full in my mind, we landed
+at Mettow, in China.
+
+I sat up late at night writing a sketch of my preface and notes for the
+heads of chapters. I was tired, fell into a profound sleep, dreamed I
+was teaching the emperor of China to pronounce 'chrononhotonthologos,'
+and in the morning was wakened by the sound of the gong; the signal that
+the accommodation junks were ready to sail with the embassy to Pekin.
+I hurried on my clothes, and was in the junk before the gong had done
+beating. I gloried in my celerity; but before we had gone two leagues up
+the country, I found reason to repent of my precipitation: I wanted to
+note down my first impressions on entering the Chinese territories; but,
+alas! I felt in vain in my pocket for my pencil and note-book: I had
+left them both behind me on my bed. Not only one note-book, but my
+whole dozen; which, on leaving London, I had stuffed into a bag with
+my night-gown. Bag, night-gown, note-books, all were forgotten! However
+trifling it may appear, this loss of the little note-books was of
+material consequence. To be sure, it was easy to procure paper and make
+others; but, because it was so easy, it was delayed from hour to hour,
+and from day to day; and I went on writing my most important remarks
+on scraps of paper, which were always to be copied to-morrow into a
+note-book that was then to be made.
+
+We arrived at Pekin, and were magnificently lodged in a palace in that
+city; but here we were so strictly guarded, that we could not stir
+beyond the courts of the palace. You will say that in this confinement
+I had leisure sufficient to make a note-book, and to copy my notes: so
+I had, and it was my firm intention so to have done; but I put it off
+because I thought it would take up but a few hours' time, and it could
+be done any day. Besides, the weather was so excessively hot, that for
+the first week, I could do nothing but unbutton my waistcoat and drink
+sherbet. Visits of ceremony from mandarins took up much of our time:
+they spoke and moved like machines; and it was with much difficulty
+that our interpreter made us understand the meaning of their formal
+sentences, which were seldom worth the trouble of deciphering. We saw
+them fan themselves, drink tea, eat sweetmeats and rice, and chew betel;
+but it was scarcely worth while to come all the way from Europe to see
+this, especially as any common Chinese paper or screen would give an
+adequate idea of these figures in their accustomed attitudes.
+
+I spent another week in railing at these abominably stupid or
+unnecessarily cautious creatures of ceremony, and made memorandums for
+an eloquent chapter in my work.
+
+One morning we were agreeably surprised by a visit from a mandarin of a
+very different description. We were astonished to hear a person in the
+habit of a Chinese, and bearing the title of a mandarin, address us in
+French: he informed us that he was originally a French Jesuit, and came
+over to China with several missionaries from Paris; but as they were
+prohibited from promulgating their doctrines in this country, most
+of them had returned to France; a few remained, assumed the dress and
+manners of the country, and had been elevated to the rank of mandarins
+as a reward for their learning. The conversation of our Chinese Jesuit
+was extremely entertaining and instructive; he was delighted to hear
+news from Europe, and we were eager to obtain from him information
+respecting China. I paid particular attention to him, and I was so
+fortunate as to win his confidence, as far as the confidence of a Jesuit
+can be won. He came frequently to visit me, and did me the honour to
+spend some hours in my apartment.
+
+As he made it understood that these were literary visits, and as his
+character for propriety was well established with the government, he
+excited no suspicion, and we spent our time most delightfully between
+books and conversation. He gave me, by his anecdotes and descriptions,
+an insight into the characters and domestic lives of the inhabitants
+of Pekin, which I could not otherwise have obtained: his talent for
+description was admirable, and his characters were so new to me that
+I was in continual ecstasy. I called him the Chinese La Bruyere; and,
+anticipating the figure which his portraits would make in my future
+work, thought that I could never sufficiently applaud his eloquence. He
+was glad to lay aside the solemn gravity of a Chinese mandarin, and
+to indulge the vivacity of a Frenchman; his vanity was gratified by my
+praises, and he exerted himself to the utmost to enhance my opinion of
+his talents.
+
+At length we had notice that it was the emperor's pleasure to receive
+the embassy at his imperial residence in Tartary, at Jehol; _the seat of
+grateful coolness, the garden of innumerable trees._ From the very
+name of this place I augured that it would prove favourable to the
+inspirations of genius, and determined to date at least one of the
+chapters or letters of my future work from this delightful retreat,
+the _Sans Souci_ of China. Full of this intention, I set out upon our
+expedition into Tartary.
+
+My good friend, the Jesuit, who had a petition to present to the
+emperor relative to some Chinese manuscripts, determined, to my infinite
+satisfaction, to accompany us to Jehol; and our conducting mandarin,
+Van-Tadge, arranged things so upon our journey that I enjoyed as much of
+my friend's conversation as possible. Never European travelling in these
+countries had such advantages as mine; I had a companion who was able
+and willing to instruct me in every minute particular of the manners,
+and every general principle of the government and policy, of the
+people. I was in no danger of falling into the ridiculous mistakes of
+travellers, who, having but a partial view of things and persons, argue
+absurdly, and grossly misrepresent, while they intend to be accurate.
+Many people, as my French mandarin observed, reason like Voltaire's
+famous traveller, who happening to have a drunken landlord and a
+red-haired landlady at the first inn where he stopped in Alsace, wrote
+down among his memorandums--"All the men of Alsace drunkards: all the
+women red-haired."
+
+When we arrived at Jehol, the hurry of preparing for our presentation
+to the emperor, the want of a convenient writing-table, and perhaps my
+habit of procrastination, prevented my writing the chapter for my future
+work, or noting down any of the remarks which the Jesuit had made upon
+our journey. One morning when I collected my papers and the scraps of
+memorandums with which the pockets of all my clothes were stuffed, I was
+quite terrified at the heap of confusion, and thrust all these materials
+for my quarto into a canvas bag, purposing to lay them smooth in a
+portfolio the next day. But the next day I could do nothing of this
+sort, for we had the British presents to unpack, which had arrived from
+Pekin; the day after was taken up with our presentation to the emperor,
+and the day after that I had a new scheme in my head. The emperor, with
+much solemnity, presented with his own hand to our ambassador a casket,
+which he said was the most valuable present he could make to the king of
+England: it contained the miniature pictures of the emperor's ancestors,
+with a few lines of poetry annexed to each, describing the character,
+and recording the principal events, of each monarch's reign. It occurred
+to me that a set of similar portraits and poetical histories of the
+kings of England would be a proper and agreeable offering to the emperor
+of China: I consulted my friend the French mandarin, and he encouraged
+me by assurances that, as far as he could pretend to judge, it would
+be at present peculiarly suited to the emperor's taste; and that in all
+probability I should be distinguished by some mark of his approbation,
+or some munificent reward. My friend promised to have the miniatures
+varnished for me in the Chinese taste; and he undertook to present the
+work to the emperor when it should be finished. As it was supposed that
+the embassy would spend the whole winter in Pekin, I thought that
+I should have time enough to complete the whole series of British
+sovereigns. It was not necessary to be very scrupulous as to the
+resemblance of my portraits, as the emperor of China could not easily
+detect any errors of this nature: fortunately, I had brought from
+London with me striking likenesses of all the kings of England, with
+the principal events of their reign, in one large sheet of paper, which
+belonged to a joining-map of one of my little cousins. In the confusion
+of my packing up, I had put it into my trunk instead of a sheet
+almanack, which lay on the same table. In the course of my life, many
+lucky accidents have happened to me, even in consequence of my own
+carelessness; yet that carelessness has afterward prevented my reaping
+any permanent advantage from my good fortune.
+
+Upon this occasion I was, however, determined that no laziness of mine
+should deprive me of an opportunity of making my fortune: I set to work
+immediately, and astonished my friend by the facility with which I made
+verses. It was my custom to retire from the noisy apartments of our
+palace to a sort of alcove, at the end of a long gallery, in one of the
+outer courts, where our corps of artillery used to parade. After their
+parade was over, the place was perfectly quiet and solitary for the
+remainder of the day and night. I used to sit up late, writing; and one
+fine moonlight night, I went out of my alcove to walk in the gallery,
+while I composed some lines on our great queen Elizabeth. I could not
+finish the last couplet to my fancy: I sat down upon an artificial rock,
+which was in the middle of the court, leaned my head upon my hand,
+and as I was searching for an appropriate rhyme to _glory_, fell fast
+asleep. A noise like that of a most violent clap of thunder awakened me;
+I was thrown with my face flat upon the ground.
+
+When I recovered my senses, the court was filled with persons, some
+European, some Chinese, seemingly just risen from their beds, with
+lanterns and torches in their hands; all of them with faces of
+consternation, asking one another what had happened. The ground was
+covered with scattered fragments of wooden pillars, mats, and bamboo
+cane-work; I looked and saw that one end of the gallery in which I had
+been walking, and the alcove, were in ruins. There was a strong smell of
+gunpowder. I now recollected that I had borrowed a powder-horn from
+one of the soldiers in the morning; and that I had intended to load my
+pistols, but I delayed doing so. The horn, full of gunpowder, lay upon
+the table in the alcove all day, and the pistols, out of which I had
+shaken the old priming. When I went out to walk in the gallery, I left
+the candle burning; and I suppose during my sleep a spark fell upon the
+loose gunpowder, set fire to that in the horn, and blew up the alcove.
+It was built of light wood and cane, and communicated only with a
+cane-work gallery; otherwise the mischief would have been more serious.
+As it was, the explosion had alarmed not only all the ambassador's
+suite, who lodged in the palace, but many of the Chinese in the
+neighbourhood, who could not be made to comprehend how the accident had
+happened.
+
+Reproaches from all our own people were poured upon me without mercy;
+and, in the midst of my contrition, I had not for some time leisure to
+lament the loss of all my kings of England: no vestige of them remained;
+and all the labour that I had bestowed upon their portraits and their
+poetical histories was lost to the emperor of China and to myself. What
+was still worse, I could not even utter a syllable of complaint, for
+nobody would sympathize with me, all my companions were so much provoked
+by my negligence, and so apprehensive of the bad consequences which
+might ensue from this accident. The Chinese, who had been alarmed, and
+who departed evidently dissatisfied, would certainly mention what had
+happened to the mandarins of the city, and they would report it to the
+emperor.
+
+I resolved to apply for advice to my friend, the Jesuit; but he
+increased instead of diminished our apprehensions; he said that the
+affair was much talked of and misrepresented at Jehol; and that the
+Chinese, naturally timid, and suspicious of strangers, could not
+believe that no injury was intended to them, and that the explosion was
+accidental. A child had been wounded by the fall of some of the ruins
+of the alcove, which were thrown with great violence into a neighbouring
+house: the butt end of one of my pistols was found in the street, and
+had been carried to the magistrate by the enraged populace, as evidence
+of our evil designs. My Jesuit observed to me that there was no
+possibility of reasoning with the prejudices of any nation; and he
+confessed he expected that this unlucky accident would have the most
+serious consequences. He had told me in confidence a circumstance that
+tended much to confirm this opinion: a few days before, when the emperor
+went to examine the British presents of artillery, and when the brass
+mortars were tried, though he admired the ingenuity of these instruments
+of destruction, yet he said that he deprecated the spirit of the people
+who employed them, and could not reconcile their improvements in the
+arts of war with the mild precepts of the religion which they professed.
+
+My friend, the mandarin, promised he would do all in his power to
+make the exact truth known to the emperor; and to prevent the evil
+impressions, which the prejudices of the populace, and perhaps the
+designing misrepresentations of the city mandarins, might tend
+to create. I must suppose that the good offices of my Jesuit were
+ineffectual, and that he either received a positive order to interfere
+no more in our affairs, or that he was afraid of being implicated in
+our disgrace if he continued his intimacy with me, for this was the last
+visit I ever received from him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+In a few days the embassy had orders to return to Pekin. The
+ambassador's palace was fitted up for his winter's residence; and,
+after our arrival, he was arranging his establishment, when, by a fresh
+mandate from the emperor, we were required to prepare with all possible
+expedition for our departure from the Chinese dominions. On Monday we
+received an order to leave Pekin the ensuing Wednesday; and all our
+remonstrances could procure only a delay of two days. Various causes
+were assigned for this peremptory order, and, among the rest, my unlucky
+accident was mentioned. However improbable it might seem that such a
+trifle could have had so great an effect, the idea was credited by many
+of my companions; and I saw that I was looked upon with an evil eye.
+
+I suffered extremely. I have often observed, that even remorse for
+my past negligence has tended to increase the original defect of my
+character. During our whole journey from Pekin to Canton, my sorrow for
+the late accident was an excuse to myself for neglecting to make either
+notes or observations. When we arrived at Canton, my time was taken up
+with certain commissions for my friends at home, which I had delayed
+to execute while at Pekin, from the idea that we should spend the whole
+winter there. The trunks were on board before all my commissions were
+ready, and I was obliged to pack up several toys and other articles in
+a basket. As to my papers, they still remained in the canvass bag into
+which I had stuffed them at Jehol: but I was certain of having leisure,
+during our voyage home, to arrange them, and to post my notes into
+Locke's commonplace-book.
+
+At the beginning of the voyage, however, I suffered much from
+sea-sickness: toward the middle of the time I grew better, and indulged
+myself in the amusement of fishing while the weather was fine; when the
+weather was not inviting, in idleness. Innumerable other petty causes of
+delay occurred: there was so much eating and drinking, so much singing
+and laughing, and such frequent card-playing in the cabin, that,
+though I produced my canvass bag above a hundred times, I never could
+accomplish sorting its contents: indeed, I seldom proceeded farther than
+to untie the strings.
+
+One day I had the state cabin fairly to myself, and had really begun my
+work, when the steward came to let me know that my Chinese basket
+was just washed overboard. In this basket were all the presents and
+commissions which I had bought at Canton for my friends at home. I ran
+to the cabin window, and had the mortification to see all my beautiful
+scarlet calibash boxes, the fan for my cousin, Lucy, and the variety of
+toys, which I had bought for my little cousins, all floating on the sea
+far out of my reach. I had been warned before that the basket would
+be washed overboard, and had intended to put it into a safe place; but
+unluckily I delayed to do so.
+
+I was so much vexed with this accident, that I could not go on with my
+writing: if it had not been for this interruption, I do believe I should
+that day have accomplished my long postponed task. I will not, indeed
+I cannot, record all the minute causes which afterwards prevented my
+executing my intentions. The papers were still in the same disorder,
+stuffed into the canvass bag, when I arrived in England. I promised
+myself that I would sort them the very day after I got home; but visits
+of congratulation from my friends upon my return, induced me to
+delay doing any thing for the first week. The succeeding week I had a
+multiplicity of engagements: all my acquaintance, curious to hear a man
+converse who was fresh from China, invited me to dinner and tea parties;
+and I could not possibly refuse these kind invitations, and shut myself
+up in my room, like a hackney author, to write. My father often urged me
+to begin my quarto; for he knew that other gentlemen, who went out with
+the embassy, designed to write the history of the voyage; and he,
+being a bookseller, and used to the ways of authors, foresaw what would
+happen. A fortnight after we came home, the following advertisement
+appeared in the papers: "Now in the press, and speedily will be
+published, a Narrative of the British Embassy to China, containing the
+various Circumstances of the Embassy; with Accounts of the Customs and
+Manners of the Chinese; and a Description of the Country, Towns, Cities,
+&c."
+
+I never saw my poor father turn so pale or look so angry as when he saw
+this advertisement: he handed it across the breakfast table to me.
+
+"There, Basil," cried he, "I told you what would happen, and you would
+not believe me. But this is the way you have served me all your life,
+and this is the way you will go on to the day of your death, putting
+things off till to-morrow. This is the way you have lost every
+opportunity of distinguishing yourself; every chance, and you have had
+many, of advancing yourself in the world! What signifies all I have done
+for you, or all you can do for yourself? Your genius and education are
+of no manner of use! Why, there is that heavy dog, as you used to call
+him at Eton, Johnson: look how he is getting on in the world, by mere
+dint of application and sticking steadily to his profession. He will
+beat you at every thing, as he beat you at Eton in writing verses."
+
+"Only in copying them, sir. My verses, every body said, were far better
+than his; only, unluckily, I had not mine finished and copied out in
+time." "Well, sir, and that is the very thing I complain of. I suppose
+you will tell me that your voyage to China will be far better than this
+which is advertised this morning."
+
+"To be sure it will, father; for I have had opportunities, and collected
+materials, which this man, whoever he is, cannot possibly have obtained.
+I have had such assistance, such information from my friend the
+missionary--"
+
+"But, what signifies your missionary, your information, your abilities,
+and your materials?" cried my father, raising his voice. "Your book is
+not out, your book will never be finished; or it will be done too late,
+and nobody will read it; and then you may throw it into the fire. Here
+you have an opportunity of establishing your fame, and making yourself
+a great author at once; and if you throw it away, Basil, I give you fair
+notice, I never will pardon you."
+
+I promised my father that I would set about my work _to-morrow_; and
+pacified him by repeating that this hasty publication, which had just
+been advertised, must be a catchpenny, and that it would serve only to
+stimulate instead of satisfying the public curiosity. My quarto, I said,
+would appear afterwards with a much better grace, and would be sought
+for by every person of science, taste, and literature.
+
+Soothed by these assurances, my father recovered his good-humour, and
+trusted to my promise that I would commence my great work the ensuing
+day. I was fully in earnest. I went to my canvass bag to prepare my
+materials. Alas! I found them in a terrible condition. The sea-water,
+somehow or other, had got to them during the voyage; and many of my
+most precious documents were absolutely illegible. The notes, written
+in pencil, were almost effaced, and when I had smoothed the crumpled
+scraps, I could make nothing of them. It was with the utmost difficulty
+I could read even those that were written in ink; they were so
+villainously scrawled and so terribly blotted. When I had made out the
+words, I was often at a loss for the sense; because I had trusted so
+much to the excellence of my memory, that my notes were never either
+sufficiently full or accurate. Ideas which I had thought could never
+be effaced from my mind were now totally forgotten, and I could not
+comprehend my own mysterious elliptical hints and memorandums. I
+remember spending two hours in trying to make out what the following
+words could mean: _Hoy--alla--hoya;--hoya, hoya--hoy--waudihoya_.
+
+At last, I recollected that they were merely the sounds of the words
+used by the Chinese sailors, in towing the junks, and I was much
+provoked at having wasted my time in trying to remember what was not
+worth recording. Another day I was puzzled by the following memorandum:
+"W: C: 30. f. h.--24 b.--120 m--1--mandarin--C. tradition--2000--200
+before J. C.--" which, after three quarters of an hour's study, I
+discovered to mean that the wall of China is 30 feet high, 24 feet
+broad, and 120 miles long; and that a mandarin told me, that, according
+to Chinese tradition, this wall had been built above 2000 years, that
+is, 200 before the birth of our Saviour.
+
+On another scrap of paper, at the very bottom of the bag, I found
+the words, "Wheazou--Chanchin--Cuaboocow--Caungcimmfoa--Callachottueng,
+Quanshanglin--Callachotre shansu," &c.; all which I found to be a list
+of towns and villages through which we had passed, or palaces that we
+had seen; but how to distinguish these asunder I knew not, for all
+recollection of them was obliterated from my mind, and no farther notes
+respecting them were to be found.
+
+After many days' tiresome attempts, I was obliged to give up all hopes
+of deciphering the most important of my notes, those which I had made
+from the information of the French missionary. Most of what I
+had trusted so securely to my memory was defective in some slight
+circumstances, which rendered the whole useless. My materials for my
+quarto shrunk into a very small compass. I flattered myself, however,
+that the elegance of my composition, and the moral and political
+reflections with which I intended to intersperse the work, would
+compensate for the paucity of facts in my narrative. That I might devote
+my whole attention to the business of writing, I determined to leave
+London, where I met with so many temptations to idleness, and set off
+to pay a visit to my uncle Lowe, who lived in the country, in a retired
+part of England. He was a farmer, a plain, sensible, affectionate man;
+and as he had often invited me to come and see him, I made no doubt that
+I should be an agreeable guest. I had intended to have written a few
+lines the week before I set out, to say that I was coming; but I put it
+off till at last I thought that it would be useless, because I should
+get there as soon as my letter.
+
+I had soon reason to regret that I had been so negligent; for my
+appearance at my uncle's, instead of creating that general joy which
+I had expected, threw the whole house into confusion. It happened that
+there was company in the house, and all the beds were occupied: while
+I was taking off my boots, I had the mortification to hear my aunt Lowe
+say, in a voice of mingled distress and reproach, "Come! is he?--My
+goodness! What shall we do for a bed?--How could he think of coming
+without writing a line beforehand? My goodness! I wish he was a hundred
+miles off, I'm sure."
+
+My uncle shook hands with me, and welcomed me to old England again,
+and to his house; which, he said, should always be open to all his
+relations. I saw that he was not pleased; and, as he was a man who,
+according to the English phrase, scorned _to keep a thing long upon his
+mind_, he let me know, before he had finished his first glass of ale to
+my good health, that he was _inclinable to take it very unkind indeed_
+that, after all he had said about my writing a letter now and then, just
+to say how I did, and how I was going on, I had never put pen to paper
+to answer one of his letters since the day I first promised to write,
+which was the day I went to Eton school, till this present time of
+speaking. I had no good apology to make for myself, but I attempted all
+manner of excuses; that I had put off writing from day to day, and from
+year to year, till I was ashamed to write at all; that it was not from
+want of affection, &c.
+
+My uncle took up his pipe and puffed away, while I spoke: and when I had
+said all that I could devise, I sat silent; for I saw by the looks of
+all present that I had not mended the matter. My aunt pursed up her
+mouth, and "wondered, if she must tell the plain truth, that so great a
+scholar as Mr. Basil could not, when it must give him so little trouble
+to indite a letter, write a few lines to an uncle who had begged it so
+often, and who had ever been a good friend."
+
+"Say nothing of that," said my uncle: "I scorn to have that put into
+account. I loved the boy, and all I could do was done, of course: that's
+nothing to the purpose; but the longest day I have to live I'll never
+trouble him with begging a letter from him no more. For now I see he
+does not care a fig for me; and of course I do not care a fig for he.
+Lucy, hold up your head, girl; and don't look as if you were going to be
+hanged."
+
+My cousin Lucy was the only person present who seemed to have any
+compassion for me; and, as I lifted up my eyes to look at her when her
+father spoke, she appeared to me quite beautiful. I had always
+thought her a pretty girl, but she never struck me as any thing very
+extraordinary till this moment. I was very sorry that I had offended my
+uncle: I saw he was seriously displeased, and that his pride, of which
+he had a large portion, had conquered his affection for me.
+
+"'Tis easier to lose a friend than gain one, young man," said he; "and
+take my word for it, as this world goes, 'tis a foolish thing to lose
+a friend for want of writing a letter or so. Here's seven years I have
+been begging a letter now and then, and could not get one. Never wrote a
+line to me before you went to China; should not have known a word about
+it but for my wife, who met you by mere chance in London, and gave you
+some little commission for the children, which it seems you forgot till
+it was too late. Then, after you came back, never wrote to me."
+
+"And even not to write a line to give one notice of his coming here
+to-night," added my aunt.
+
+"Oh, as to that," replied my uncle, "he can never find our larder at a
+nonplus; we have no dishes for him dressed Chinese fashion; but as to
+roast beef of old England, which, I take it, is worth all the foreign
+meats in the world, he is welcome to it, and to as much of it as he
+pleases. I shall always be glad to see him as a relation and so forth,
+as a good Christian ought, but not as the favourite he used to be--that
+is out of the question; for things cannot be both done and undone, and
+time that's past cannot come back again, that is clear; and cold water
+thrown on a warm heart puts it out; and there's an end of the matter.
+Lucy, bring me my nightcap."
+
+Lucy, I think, sighed once; and I am sure I sighed above a dozen times;
+but my uncle put on his red nightcap, and heeded us not. I was in hopes
+that the next morning he would have been better disposed towards me
+after having slept off his anger. The moment that I appeared in the
+morning, the children, who had been in bed when I arrived the preceding
+night, crowded round me, and one cried, "Cousin Basil, have you brought
+me the tumbler you promised me from China?"
+
+"Cousin Basil, where's my boat?"
+
+"O Basil, did you bring me the calibash box that you promised me?"
+
+"And pray," cried my aunt, "did you bring my Lucy the fan that she
+commissioned you to get?"
+
+"No, I'll warrant," said my uncle. "He that cannot bring himself to
+write a letter in the course of seven years to his friends, will not be
+apt to trouble his head about their foolish commissions, when he is in
+foreign parts."
+
+Though I was abashed and vexed, I summoned sufficient courage to
+reply that I had not neglected to execute the commissions of any of my
+friends; but that, by an unlucky accident, the basket into which I had
+packed all their things was washed overboard.
+
+"Hum!" said my uncle.
+
+"And pray," said my aunt, "why were they all packed in a basket? Why
+were not they put into your trunks, where they might have been safe?"
+
+I was obliged to confess that I had delayed to purchase them till after
+we left Pekin; and that the trunks were put on board before they were
+all procured at Canton. My vile habit of procrastination! How did I
+suffer for it at this moment! Lucy began to make excuses for me, which
+made me blame myself the more: she said that, as to her fan, it would
+have been of little or no use to her; that she was sure she should
+have broken it before it had been a week in her possession; and that,
+therefore, she was glad that she had it not. The children were clamorous
+in their grief for the loss of the boat, the tumbler, and the calibash
+boxes; but Lucy contrived to quiet them in time, and to make my peace
+with all the younger part of the family. To reinstate me in my uncle's
+good graces was impossible; he would only repeat to her--"The young man
+has lost my good opinion; he will never do any good. From a child upward
+he has always put off doing every thing he ought to do. He will never
+do any good; he will never be any thing." My aunt was not my friend,
+because she suspected that Lucy liked me; and she thought her daughter
+might do much better than marry a man who had quitted the profession to
+which he was bred, and was, as it seemed, little likely to settle to any
+other. My pretensions to genius and my literary qualifications were
+of no advantage to me, either with my uncle or my aunt; the one being
+_only_ a good farmer, and the other _only_ a good housewife. They
+contented themselves with asking me, coolly, what I had ever made by
+being an author? And when I was forced to answer _nothing_, they smiled
+upon me in scorn. My pride was roused, and I boasted that I expected
+to receive at least 600_l_. for my "Voyage to China," which I hoped to
+complete in a few weeks. My aunt looked at me with astonishment; and, to
+prove to her that I was not passing the bounds of truth, I added,
+that one of my travelling companions had, as I was credibly informed,
+received 1000_l_. for his narrative, to which mine would certainly be
+far superior.
+
+"When it is done, and when you have the money in your hand to show us, I
+shall believe you," said my aunt; "and then, and not till then, you may
+begin to think of my Lucy."
+
+"He shall never have her," said my uncle; "he will never come to good.
+He shall never have her."
+
+The time which I ought to have spent in composing my quarto I now wasted
+in fruitless endeavours to recover the good graces of my uncle. Love,
+assisted as usual by the spirit of opposition, took possession of my
+heart; and how can a man in love write quartos? I became more indolent
+than ever, for I persuaded myself that no exertions could overcome my
+uncle's prejudice against me; and, without his approbation, I despaired
+of ever obtaining Lucy's hand.
+
+During my stay at my uncle's, I received several letters from my father,
+inquiring how my work went on, and urging me to proceed as rapidly
+as possible, lest another "Voyage to China," which it was reported a
+gentleman of high reputation was now composing, should come out, and
+preclude mine for ever. I cannot account for my folly: the power of
+habit is imperceptible to those who submit passively to its tyranny.
+From day to day I continued procrastinating and sighing, till at last
+the fatal news came that Sir George Staunton's History of the Embassy to
+China, in two volumes quarto, was actually published.
+
+There was an end of all my hopes. I left my uncle's house in despair;
+I dreaded to see my father. He overwhelmed me with well-merited
+reproaches. All his expectations of my success in life were
+disappointed; he was now convinced that I should never make my talents
+useful to myself or to my family. A settled melancholy appeared in his
+countenance; he soon ceased to urge me to any exertion, and I idled away
+my time, deploring that I could not marry my Lucy, and resolving upon
+a thousand schemes for advancing myself, but always delaying their
+execution till to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Two years passed away in this manner, about the end of which time my
+poor father died. I cannot describe the mixed sensations of grief
+and self-reproach which I felt at his death. I knew that I had never
+fulfilled his sanguine prophecies, and that disappointment had long
+preyed upon his spirits. This was a severe shock to me: I was roused
+from a state of stupefaction by the necessity of acting as my father's
+executor.
+
+Among his bequests was one which touched me particularly, because I was
+sensible that it was made from kindness to me. "I give and bequeath the
+full-length picture of my son Basil, taken when a boy (a very promising
+boy) at Eton school, to my brother Lowe--I should say to my sweet niece,
+Lucy Lowe, but am afraid of giving offence."
+
+I sent the picture to my uncle Lowe, with a copy of the words of the
+will, and a letter written in the bitterness of grief. My uncle, who
+was of an affectionate though positive temper, returned me the following
+answer:
+
+"DEAR NEPHEW BASIL,
+
+"Taking it for granted you feel as much as I do, it being natural
+you should, and even more, I shall not refuse to let my Lucy have the
+picture bequeathed to me by my good brother, who could not offend me
+dying, never having done so living. As to you, Basil, this is no time
+for reproaches, which would be cruel; but, without meaning to look back
+to the past, I must add that I mean nothing by giving the picture to
+Lucy but respect for my poor brother's memory. My opinions remaining
+as heretofore, I think it a duty to my girl to be steady in my
+determination; convinced that no man (not meaning you in particular) of
+what I call a _putting off_ temper could make her happy, she being too
+mild to scold and bustle, and do the man's business in a family. This
+is the whole of my mind without malice; for how could I, if I were
+malicious, which I am not, bear malice, and at such a time as this,
+against my own nephew? and as to anger, that is soon over with me; and
+though I said I never would forgive you, Basil, for not writing to me
+for seven years, I do now forgive you with all my heart. So let that be
+off your conscience. And now I hope we shall be very good friends all
+the rest of our lives; that is to say, putting Lucy out of the question;
+for, in my opinion, it is a disagreeable thing to have any bickerings
+between near relations. So, my dear nephew, wishing you all health and
+happiness, I hope you will now settle to business. My wife tells me she
+hears you are left in a good way by my poor brother's care and industry;
+and she sends her love to you, in which all the family unite; and hoping
+you will write from time to time, I remain,
+
+"My dear nephew Basil,
+
+"Your affectionate uncle,
+
+"THOMAS LOWE."
+
+My aunt Lowe added a postscript, inquiring more particularly into the
+state of my affairs. I answered, by return of post, that my good father
+had left me much richer than I either expected or deserved: his credit
+in the booksellers' line was extensive and well established; his shop
+was well furnished, and he had a considerable sum of money in bank;
+beside many _good_ debts due from authors, to whom he had advanced cash.
+
+My aunt Lowe was governed by her interest, as decidedly as my uncle
+was swayed by his humour and affection; and, of course, became more
+favourable toward me, when she found that my fortune was better than she
+had expected. She wrote to exhort me to attend to my business, and to
+prove to my uncle that I could cure myself of my negligent habits. She
+promised to befriend me, and to do every thing to obtain my uncle's
+consent to my union with Lucy, upon condition that I would for six
+months steadily persevere, or, as she expressed herself, _show that I
+could come to good_.
+
+The motive was powerful, sufficiently powerful to conquer the force of
+inveterate habit. I applied resolutely to business, and supported the
+credit which my father's punctuality had obtained from his customers.
+During the course of six entire months, I am not conscious of having
+neglected or delayed to do anything of consequence that I ought to have
+done except whetting my razor. My aunt Lowe faithfully kept her word
+with me, and took every opportunity of representing, in the most
+favourable manner to my uncle, the reformation that love had wrought in
+my character.
+
+I went to the country, full of hope, at the end of my six probationary
+months. My uncle, however, with a mixture of obstinacy and good sense,
+replied to my aunt in my presence: "This reformation that you talk of,
+wife, won't last. 'Twas begun by love, as _you_ say; and will end with
+love, as _I_ say. You and I know, my dear, love lasts little longer than
+the honeymoon; and Lucy is not, or ought not to be, such a simpleton as
+to look only to what a husband will be for one short month of his life,
+when she is to live with him for twenty, thirty, may be forty long
+years; and no help for it, let him turn out what he will. I beg your
+pardon, nephew Basil; but where my Lucy's happiness is at stake, I must
+speak my mind as a father should. My opinion, Lucy, is, that he is not a
+whit changed; and so I now let you understand, if you marry the man, it
+must be without my consent."
+
+Lucy turned exceedingly pale, and I grew extremely angry. My uncle had,
+as usual, recourse to his pipe; and to all the eloquence which love and
+indignation could inspire, he would only answer; between the whiffs of
+his smoking, "If my girl marries you, nephew Basil, I say she must do so
+without my consent."
+
+Lucy's affection for me struggled for some time with her sense of duty
+to her father; her mother supported my cause with much warmth; having
+once declared in my favour, she considered herself as bound to maintain
+her side of the question. It became a trial of power between my uncle
+and aunt; and their passions rose so high in the conflict, that Lucy
+trembled for the consequences.
+
+One day she took an opportunity of speaking to me in private. "My dear
+Basil," said she, "we must part. You see that I can never be yours with
+my father's consent; and without it I could never be happy, even in
+being united to you. I will not be the cause of misery to all those
+whom I love best in the world. I will not set my father and mother at
+variance. I cannot bear to hear the altercations, which rise higher
+and higher between them every day. Let us part, and all will be right
+again."
+
+It was in vain that I combated her resolution: I alternately resented
+and deplored the weakness which induced Lucy to sacrifice her own
+happiness and mine to the obstinate prejudices of a father; yet I could
+not avoid respecting her the more for her adhering to what she believed
+to be her duty. The sweetness of temper, gentleness of disposition, and
+filial piety, which she showed on this trying occasion, endeared her to
+me beyond expression.
+
+Her father, notwithstanding his determination to be as immoveable as a
+rock, began to manifest symptoms of internal agitation; and one night,
+after breaking his pipe, and throwing down the tongs and poker twice,
+which Lucy twice replaced, he exclaimed, "Lucy, girl, you are a fool!
+and, what is worse, you are grown into a mere shadow. You are breaking
+my heart Why, I know this man, this Basil, this cursed nephew of mine,
+will never come to good. But cannot you marry him without my consent?"
+
+Upon this hint, Lucy's scruples vanished; and, a few days afterward, we
+were married. Prudence, virtue, pride, love, every strong motive which
+can act upon the human mind, stimulated me to exert myself to prove that
+I was worthy of this most amiable woman. A year passed away, and my Lucy
+said that she had no reason to repent of her choice. She took the most
+affectionate pains to convince her father that she was perfectly happy,
+and that he had judged of me too harshly. His delight at seeing his
+daughter happy, vanquished his reluctance to acknowledge that he had
+changed his opinion. I never shall forget the pleasure I felt at hearing
+him confess that he had been too positive, and that his Lucy had made a
+good match for herself.
+
+Alas! when I had obtained this testimony in my favour, when I had
+established a character for exertion and punctuality, I began to relax
+in my efforts to deserve it: I indulged myself in my old habits of
+procrastination. My customers and country correspondents began to
+complain that their letters were unanswered, and that their orders were
+neglected. Their remonstrances became more and more urgent in process of
+time, and nothing but actually seeing the dates of their letters could
+convince me that they were in the right, and that I was in the wrong. An
+old friend of my father's, a rich gentleman, who loved books, and bought
+all that were worth buying, sent me, in March, an order for books to
+a considerable amount. In April, he wrote to remind me of his first
+letter.
+
+
+"MY DEAR SIR, April 3.
+
+"Last month I wrote to request that you would send me the following
+books:--I have been much disappointed by not receiving them; and I
+request you will be so good as to forward them _immediately_.
+
+"I am, my dear sir,
+
+"Yours sincerely,
+
+"J. C."
+
+
+In May he wrote to me again:
+
+
+"DEAR SIR,
+
+"I am much surprised at not having yet received the books I wrote for
+last March--beg to know the cause of this delay; and am,
+
+"Dear sir,
+
+"Yours, &c.
+
+"J. C."
+
+
+A fortnight afterward, as I was packing up the books for this gentleman,
+I received the following:
+
+"SIR,
+
+"As it is now above a quarter of a year since I wrote to you for books,
+which you have not yet sent to me, I have been obliged to apply to
+another bookseller.
+
+"I am much concerned at being compelled to this: I had a great regard
+for your father, and would not willingly break off my connexion with his
+son; but really you have tried my patience too far. Last year I never
+had from you any one new publication, until it was in the hands of all
+my neighbours; and I have often been under the necessity of borrowing
+books which I had bespoken from you months before. I hope you will take
+this as a warning, and that you will not use any of your other friends
+as you have used,
+
+"Sir,
+
+"Your humble servant,
+
+"J. C."
+
+
+This reprimand had little effect upon me, because, at the time when I
+received it, I was intent upon an object, in comparison with which the
+trade of a bookseller appeared absolutely below my consideration. I was
+inventing a set of new taxes for the minister, for which I expected to
+be liberally rewarded. I was ever searching for some _short cut_ to the
+temple of Fame, instead of following the beaten road.
+
+I was much encouraged by persons intimately connected with those high in
+power to hope that my new taxes would be adopted; and I spent my time
+in attendance upon my patrons, leaving the care of my business to my
+foreman, a young man whose head the whole week was intent upon riding
+out on Sunday. With such a master and such a foreman affairs could not
+go on well.
+
+My Lucy, notwithstanding her great respect for my abilities, and her
+confidence in my promises, often hinted that she feared ministers
+might not at last make me amends for the time I devoted to my system
+of taxation; but I persisted. The file of unanswered letters was filled
+even to the top of the wire; the drawer of unsettled accounts made me
+sigh profoundly, whenever it was accidentally opened. I soon acquired a
+horror of business, and practised all the arts of apology, evasion, and
+invisibility, to which procrastinators must sooner or later be
+reduced. My conscience gradually became callous; and I could, without
+compunction, promise, with a face of truth, to settle an account
+_to-morrow_, without having the slightest hope of keeping my word.
+
+I was a publisher as well as a bookseller, and was assailed by a tribe
+of rich and poor authors. The rich complained continually of delays that
+affected their fame; the poor of delays that concerned their interest,
+and sometimes their very existence. I was cursed with a compassionate as
+well as with a procrastinating temper; and I frequently advanced
+money to my poor authors, to compensate for my neglect to settle their
+accounts, and to free myself from the torment of their reproaches.
+
+They soon learned to take a double advantage of my virtues and my
+vices. The list of my poor authors increased, for I was an encourager of
+genius. I trusted to my own judgment concerning every performance that
+was offered to me; and I was often obliged to pay for having neglected
+to read, or to send to press, these multifarious manuscripts.
+After having kept a poor devil of an author upon the tenterhooks of
+expectation for an unconscionable time, I could not say to him, "Sir, I
+have never opened your manuscript; there it is, in that heap of rubbish:
+take it away, for Heaven's sake." No, hardened as I was, I never failed
+to make some compliment, or some retribution; and my compliments were
+often in the end the most expensive species of retribution.
+
+My rich authors soon deserted me, and hurt my credit in the circles of
+literary fashion by their clamours. I had ample experience, yet I have
+never been able to decide whether I would rather meet the "desperate
+misery" of a famishing pamphleteer, or the exasperated vanity of a rich
+_amateur_. Every one of my authors seemed convinced that the fate of
+Europe or the salvation of the world depended upon the publication of
+their book on some particular day; while I all the time was equally
+persuaded that their works were mere trash, in comparison with my new
+system of taxation; consequently I postponed their business, and pursued
+my favourite tax scheme.
+
+I have the pride and pleasure to say that all my taxes were approved and
+adopted, and brought in an immense increase of revenue to the state; but
+I have the mortification to be obliged to add, that I never, directly or
+indirectly, received the slightest pecuniary reward; and the credit of
+all I had proposed was snatched from me by a rogue, who had no other
+merit than that of being shaved sooner than I was one frosty morning.
+If I had not put off whetting my razor the preceding day, this would not
+have happened. To such a trifling instance of my unfortunate habit of
+procrastination, must I attribute one of the most severe disappointments
+of my life. A rival financier, who laid claim to the prior invention and
+suggestion of my principal taxes, was appointed to meet me at the house
+of my great man at ten o'clock in the morning. My opponent was punctual;
+I was half an hour too late: his claims were established; mine were
+rejected, because I was not present to produce my proofs. When I arrived
+at my patron's, the insolent porter shut the door in my face; and so
+ended all hopes from my grand system of taxation.
+
+I went home and shut myself up in my room, to give vent to my grief at
+leisure; but I was not permitted to indulge my sorrow long in peace.
+I was summoned by my foreman to come down stairs to one of my enraged
+authors, who positively refused to quit the shop without seeing me. Of
+the whole irritable race, the man who was now waiting to see me was
+the most violent. He was a man of some genius and learning, with great
+pretensions, and a vindictive spirit. He was poor, yet lived among the
+rich; and his arrogance could be equalled only by his susceptibility.
+He was known in our house by the name of _Thaumaturgos, the retailer of
+wonders_, because he had sent me a manuscript with this title; and once
+or twice a week we received a letter or message from him, to inquire
+when it would be published. I had unfortunately mislaid this precious
+manuscript. Under this circumstance, to meet the author was almost
+as dreadful as to stand the shot of a pistol. Down stairs I went,
+unprovided with any apology.
+
+"Sir," cried my angry man, suppressing his passion, "as you do not find
+it worth your while to publish _Thaumaturges_, you will be so obliging
+as to let me have my manuscript."
+
+"Pardon me, my dear sir," interrupted I; "it shall certainly appear this
+spring." "Spring! Zounds, sir, don't talk to me of spring. Why, you told
+me it should be out at Christmas; you said it should be out last June;
+you promised to send it to press before last Easter. Is this the way I
+am to be treated?"
+
+"Pardon me, my dear sir. I confess I have used you and the world very
+ill; but the pressure of business must plead my apology."
+
+"Look you, Mr. Basil Lowe, I am not come here to listen to commonplace
+excuses. I have been ill used, and know it; and the world shall know
+it. I am not ignorant of the designs of my enemies; but no cabal shall
+succeed against me. Thaumaturgos shall not be suppressed! Thaumaturgos
+shall see the light! Thaumaturgos shall have justice, in spite of all
+the machinations of malice. Sir, I demand my manuscript."
+
+"Sir, it shall be sent to you to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow, sir, will not do for me. I have heard of to-morrow from you
+this twelvemonth past. I will have my manuscript to-day. I do not leave
+this spot without Thaumaturgos."
+
+Thus driven to extremities, I was compelled to confess that I could not
+immediately lay my hand upon it; but I added that the whole house
+should be searched for it instantly. It is impossible to describe the
+indignation which my author expressed. I ran away to search the house.
+He followed me, and stood by while I rummaged in drawers and boxes full
+of papers, and tossed over heaps of manuscripts. No Thaumaturges could
+be found. The author declared that he had no copy of the manuscript;
+that he had been offered 500_l_. for it by another bookseller; and
+that, for his own part, he would not lose it for twice that sum. Lost,
+however, it evidently was. He stalked out of my house, bidding me
+prepare to abide by the consequences. I racked my memory in vain, to
+discover what I had done with this bundle of wonders. I could recollect
+only that I carried it a week in my great-coat pocket, resolving every
+day to lock it up; and that I went to the Mount Coffee-house in this
+coat several times. These recollections were of little use.
+
+A suit was instituted against me for the value of Thaumaturgos; and the
+damages were modestly laid by the author at eight hundred guineas. The
+cause was highly interesting to all the tribe of London booksellers
+and authors. The court was crowded at an early hour; several people of
+fashion, who were partisans of the plaintiff, appeared in the gallery;
+many more, who were his enemies, attended on purpose to hear my counsel
+ridicule and abuse the pompous _Thaumaturgos_. I had great hopes,
+myself, that we might win the day, especially as the lawyer on the
+opposite side was my old competitor at Eton, that Johnson, whom I had
+always considered as a mere laborious drudge, and a very heavy fellow.
+How this heavy fellow got up in the world, and how he contrived to
+supply, by dint of study, the want of natural talents, I cannot tell;
+but this I know, to my cost, that he managed his client's cause so ably,
+and made a speech so full of sound law and clear sense, as effectually
+to decide the cause against me. I was condemned to pay 500_l_. damages,
+and costs of suit. Five hundred pounds lost, by delaying to lock up a
+bundle of papers! Every body pitied me, because the punishment seemed so
+disproportioned to the offence. The pity of every body, however, did not
+console me for the loss of my money.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+The trial was published in the papers: my uncle Lowe read it, and all
+my credit with him was lost for ever. Lucy did not utter a syllable of
+reproach or complaint; but she used all her gentle influence to prevail
+upon me to lay aside the various schemes which I had formed for making a
+rapid fortune, and urged me to devote my whole attention to my business.
+
+The loss which I had sustained, though great, was not irremediable. I
+was moved more by my wife's kindness than I could have been by the most
+outrageous invective. But what is kindness, what is affection, what are
+the best resolutions, opposed to all-powerful habit? I put off settling
+my affairs till I had finished a pamphlet against government, which my
+friends and the critics assured me would make my fortune, by attaching
+to my shop all the opposition members.
+
+My pamphlet succeeded, was highly praised, and loudly abused: answers
+appeared, and I was called upon to provide rejoinders. Time thus passed
+away, and while I was gaining fame, I every hour lost money. I was
+threatened with bankruptcy. I threw aside my pamphlets, and in the
+utmost terror and confusion, began, too late, to look into my affairs.
+I now attempted too much: I expected to repair by bustle the effects of
+procrastination. The nervous anxiety of my mind prevented me from doing
+any thing well; whatever I was employed about appeared to me of less
+consequence than a hundred other things which ought to be done. The
+letter that I was writing, or the account that I was settling, was
+but one of a multitude, which had all equal claims to be expedited
+immediately. My courage failed; I abandoned my business in despair. A
+commission of bankruptcy was taken out against me; all my goods were
+seized, and I became a prisoner in the King's Bench.
+
+My wife's relations refused to give me any assistance; but her father
+offered to receive her and her little boy, on condition that she would
+part from me, and spend the remainder of her days with them. This she
+positively refused; and I never shall forget the manner of her refusal.
+Her character rose in adversity. With the utmost feminine gentleness and
+delicacy, she had a degree of courage and fortitude which I have seldom
+seen equalled in any of my own sex. She followed me to prison, and
+supported my spirits by a thousand daily instances of kindness. During
+eighteen months that she passed with me in a prison, which we then
+thought must be my abode for life, she never, by word or look, reminded
+me that I was the cause of our misfortunes: on the contrary, she drove
+this idea from my thoughts with all the address of female affection.
+I cannot even, at this distance of time, recall these things to memory
+without tears.
+
+What a woman, what a wife had I reduced to distress! I never saw her,
+even in the first months of our marriage, so cheerful and so tender as
+at this period. She seemed to have no existence but in me and in our
+little boy, of whom she was dotingly fond. He was at this time just able
+to run about and talk; his playful caresses, his thoughtless gaiety,
+and at times a certain tone of compassion for _poor papa_, were very
+touching. Alas! he little foresaw.... But let me go on with my history,
+if I can, without anticipation.
+
+Among my creditors was a Mr. Nun, a paper-maker, who, from his frequent
+dealings with me, had occasion to see something of my character and of
+my wife's; he admired her, and pitied me. He was in easy circumstances,
+and delighted in doing all the good in his power. One morning my Lucy
+came into my room with a face radiant with joy.
+
+"My love," said she, "here is Mr. Nun below, waiting to see you; but he
+says he will not see you till I have told you the good news. He has
+got all our creditors to enter into a compromise, and to set you at
+liberty."
+
+I was transported with joy and gratitude; our benevolent friend was
+waiting in a hackney-coach to carry us away from prison. When I began to
+thank him, he stopped me with a blunt declaration that I was not a bit
+obliged to him; for that, if I had been a man of straw, he would have
+done just the same for the sake of my wife, whom he looked upon to be
+one or other the best woman he had ever seen, Mrs. Nun always excepted.
+
+He proceeded to inform me how he had settled my affairs, and how he had
+obtained from my creditors a small allowance for the immediate support
+of myself and family. He had given up the third part of a considerable
+sum due to himself. As my own house was shut up, he insisted upon taking
+us home with him: "Mrs. Nun," he said, "had provided a good dinner; and
+he must not have her ducks and green peas upon the table, and no friends
+to eat them."
+
+Never were ducks and green peas more acceptable; never was a dinner
+eaten with more appetite, or given with more good-will. I have
+often thought of this dinner, and compared the hospitality of this
+simple-hearted man with the ostentation of great folks, who give
+splendid entertainments to those who do not want them. In trifles and
+in matters of consequence this Mr. Nun was one of the most liberal and
+unaffectedly generous men I ever knew; but the generous actions of men
+in middle life are lost in obscurity. No matter: they do not act from a
+love of fame; they act from a better motive, and they have their reward
+in their own hearts.
+
+As I was passing through Mr. Nun's warehouse, I was thinking of writing
+something on this subject; but whether it should be a poetic effusion,
+in the form of "An Ode to him who least expects it," or a prose work,
+under the title of "Modern Parallels," in the manner of Plutarch, I had
+not decided, when I was roused from my reverie by my wife, who, pointing
+to a large bale of paper that was directed to "Ezekiel Croft, merchant,
+Philadelphia," asked me if I knew that this gentleman was a very near
+relation of her mother? "Is he, indeed?" said Mr. Nun. "Then I can
+assure you that you have a relation of whom you have no occasion to be
+ashamed: he is one of the most respectable merchants in Philadelphia."
+
+"He was not very rich when he left this country about six years ago,"
+said Lucy.
+
+"He has a very good fortune now," answered Mr. Nun.
+
+"And has he made this very good fortune in six years?" cried I. "My dear
+Lucy, I did not know that you had any relations in America. I have a
+great mind to go over there myself."
+
+"Away from all our friends!" said Lucy.
+
+"I shall be ashamed," replied I, "to see them after all that has
+happened. A bankrupt cannot have many friends. The best thing that I can
+possibly do is to go over to a new world, where I may establish a new
+character, and make a new fortune."
+
+"But we must not forget," said Mr. Nun, "that in the new world, as in
+the old one, a character and a fortune must be made by much the same
+means; and forgive me if I add, the same bad habits that are against a
+man in one country will be as much against him in another."
+
+True, thought I, as I recollected at this instant my unfortunate voyage
+to China. But now that the idea of going to America had come into my
+mind, I saw so many chances of success in my favour, and I felt so much
+convinced I should not relapse into my former faults, that I could not
+abandon the scheme. My Lucy consented to accompany me. She spent a week
+in the country with her father and friends, by my particular desire; and
+they did all they could to prevail upon her to stay with them, promising
+to take the best possible care of her and her little boy during my
+absence; but she steadily persisted in her determination to accompany
+her husband. I was not too late in going on ship-board this time; and,
+during the whole voyage, I did not lose any of my goods; for, in the
+first place, I had very few goods to lose, and, in the next, my wife
+took the entire charge of those few.
+
+And now behold me safely landed at Philadelphia, with one hundred pounds
+in my pocket--a small sum of money; but many, from yet more trifling
+beginnings, had grown rich in America. My wife's relation, Mr. Croft,
+had not so much, as I was told, when he left England. Many passengers,
+who came over in the same ship with me, had not half so much. Several of
+them were, indeed, wretchedly poor.
+
+Among others, there was an Irishman who was known by the name of Barny,
+a contraction, I believe, for Barnaby. As to his surname he could not
+undertake to spell it; but he assured me there was no better. This man,
+with many of his relatives, had come to England, according to their
+custom, during harvest-time, to assist in reaping, because they gain
+higher wages than in their own country. Barny heard that he should get
+still higher wages for labour in America, and accordingly he and his two
+sons, lads of eighteen and twenty, took their passage for Philadelphia.
+A merrier mortal I never saw. We used to hear him upon deck, continually
+singing or whistling his Irish tunes; and I should never have guessed
+that this man's life had been a series of hardships and misfortunes.
+
+When we were leaving the ship, I saw him, to my great surprise, crying
+bitterly; and upon inquiring what was the matter, he answered that it
+was not for himself, but for his sons, he was grieving, because they
+were to be made _redemption-men_, that is, they were to be bound
+to work, during a certain time, for the captain, or for whomever he
+pleased, till the money due for their passage should be paid. Though I
+was somewhat surprised at any one's thinking of coming on board a vessel
+without having one farthing in his pocket, yet I could not forbear
+paying the money for this poor fellow. He dropped down on the deck upon
+both his knees as suddenly as if he had been shot, and, holding up
+his hands to heaven, prayed, first in Irish, and then in English, with
+fervent fluency, that "I and mine might never want; that I might live
+long to reign over him; that success might attend my honour wherever
+I went; and that I might enjoy for evermore all sorts of blessings and
+crowns of glory."
+
+As I had an English prejudice in favour of silent gratitude, I was
+rather disgusted by all this eloquence; I turned away abruptly, and got
+into the boat which waited to carry me to shore.
+
+As we rowed away I looked at my wife and child, and reproached myself
+with having indulged in the luxury of generosity, perhaps at their
+expense.
+
+My wife's relation, Mr. Croft, received us better than she expected, and
+worse than I hoped. He had the face of an acute money-making man; his
+manners were methodical; caution was in his eye, and prudence in all his
+motions. In our first half hour's conversation he convinced me that he
+deserved the character he had obtained, of being upright and exact in
+all his dealings. His ideas were just and clear, but confined to the
+objects immediately relating to his business; as to his heart, he seemed
+to have no notion of general philanthropy, but to have perfectly learned
+by rote his duty to his neighbour. He appeared disposed to do charitable
+and good-natured actions from reason, and not from feeling; because
+they were proper, not merely because they were agreeable. I felt that I
+should respect, but never love him; and that he would never either
+love or respect me, because the virtue which he held in the highest
+veneration was that in which I was most deficient--punctuality. But I
+will give, as nearly as I can, my first conversation with him; and from
+that a better idea of his character may be formed than I can afford by
+any description.
+
+I presented to him Mr. Nun's letter of introduction, and mentioned that
+my wife had the honour of being related to him. He perused Mr. Nun's
+letter very slowly. I was determined not to leave him in any doubt,
+respecting who and what I was; and I briefly told him the particulars
+of my history. He listened with immoveable attention: and when I had
+finished, he said, "You have not yet told me what your views are in
+coming to America."
+
+I replied, "that my plans were not yet fixed."
+
+"But of course," said he, "you cannot have left home without forming
+some plan for the future. May I ask what line of life you mean to
+pursue?"
+
+I answered, "that I was undetermined, and meant to be guided by
+circumstances."
+
+"Circumstances!" said he. "May I request you to explain yourself more
+fully? for I do not precisely understand to what circumstances you
+allude."
+
+I was provoked with the man for being so slow of apprehension; but, when
+driven to the necessity of explaining, I found that I did not myself
+understand what I meant.
+
+I changed my ground; and, lowering my tone of confidence, said, that as
+I was totally ignorant of the country, I should wish to be guided by the
+advice of better informed persons; and that I begged leave to address
+myself to him, as having had the most successful experience.
+
+After a considerable pause, he replied, it was a hazardous thing to give
+advice; but that, as my wife was his relation, and as he held it a duty
+to assist his relations, he should not decline giving me--all the advice
+in his power.
+
+I bowed, and felt chilled all over by his manner.
+
+"And not only my advice," continued he, "but my assistance--in reason."
+
+I said, "I was much obliged to him."
+
+"Not in the least, young man; you are not in the least obliged to me
+yet, for I have done nothing for you."
+
+This was true, and not knowing what to say, I was silent.
+
+"And that which I may be able to do for you in future must depend as
+much upon yourself as upon me. In the first place, before I can give any
+advice, I must know what you are worth in the world?"
+
+My worth in money, I told him, with a forced smile, was but very
+trifling indeed. With some hesitation, I named the sum.
+
+"And you have a wife and child to support!" said he, shaking his head.
+"And your child is too young and your wife too delicate to work. They
+will be sad burdens upon your hands; these are not the things for
+America. Why did you bring them with you? But, as that is done, and
+cannot be mended," continued he, "we must make the best of it, and
+support them. You say you are ignorant of the country. I must explain
+to you then how money is to be made here, and by whom. The class of
+labourers make money readily, if they are industrious, because they
+have high wages and constant employment; artificers and mechanics,
+carpenters, shipwrights, wheelwrights, smiths, brick-layers, masons,
+get rich here, without difficulty, from the same causes; but all these
+things are out of the question for you. You have head, not hands, I
+perceive. Now mere head, in the line of bookmaking or bookselling,
+brings in but poor profit in this country. The sale for imported books
+is extensive; and our printers are doing something by subscription here,
+in Philadelphia, and in New York, they tell me. But London is the place
+for a good bookseller to thrive; and you come from London, where you
+tell me you were a bankrupt. I would not advise you to have any thing
+more to do with bookselling or bookmaking. Then, as to becoming a
+planter: our planters, if they are skilful and laborious, thrive well;
+but you have not capital sufficient to clear land and build a house;
+or hire servants to do the work, for which you are not yourself
+sufficiently robust. Besides, I do not imagine you know much of
+agricultural concerns, or country business; and even to oversee and
+guide others, experience is necessary. The life of a back settler I do
+not advise, because you and your wife are not equal to it. You are
+not accustomed to live in a log-house, or to feed upon racoons and
+squirrels: not to omit the constant dread, if not imminent danger, of
+being burnt in your beds, or scalped, by the Indians with whom you would
+be surrounded. Upon the whole, I see no line of life that promises well
+for you but that of a merchant; and I see no means of your getting into
+this line without property and without credit, except by going into
+some established house as a clerk. You are a good penman, and ready
+accountant, I think you tell me; and I presume you have a sufficient
+knowledge of book-keeping. With sobriety, diligence, and honesty, you
+may do well in this way; and may look forward to being a partner, and in
+a lucrative situation, some years hence. This is the way I managed, and
+I raised myself by degrees to what you see. It is true, I was not at
+first encumbered with a wife and young child. In due time I married my
+master's daughter, which was a great furtherance to me; but then, on the
+other hand, your wife is my relation; and to be married to the relation
+of a rich merchant is next best to not being married at all in your
+situation. I told you I thought it my duty to proffer assistance as well
+as advice: so take up your abode with me for a fortnight; in that time I
+shall be able to judge whether you are capable of being a clerk; and, if
+you and I should suit, we will talk farther. You understand that I enter
+into no engagement, and make no promise; but shall be glad to lodge you,
+and your wife, and little boy, for a fortnight; and it will be your
+own fault, and must be your own loss, if the visit turns out waste of
+time.--I cannot stay to talk to you any longer at present," added he,
+pulling out his watch, "for I have business, and business waits for no
+man. Go back to your inn for my relation, and her little one. We dine at
+two precisely."
+
+I left Mr. Croft's house with a vague indescribable feeling of
+dissatisfaction and disappointment; but when I arrived at my inn, and
+repeated all that had passed to my wife, she seemed quite surprised and
+delighted by the civil and friendly manner in which this gentleman
+had behaved. She tried to reason the matter with me; but there is no
+reasoning with imagination.
+
+The fact was, Mr. Croft had destroyed certain vague and visionary ideas,
+that I had indulged, of making, by some unknown means, a rapid fortune
+in America; and to be reduced to real life, and sink into a clerk in a
+merchant's counting-house, was mortification and misery. Lucy in vain
+dwelt upon the advantage of having found, immediately upon my arrival in
+Philadelphia, a certain mode of employment, and a probability of rising
+to be a partner in one of the first mercantile houses, if I went on
+steadily for a few years. I was forced to acknowledge that her relation
+was very good; that I was certainly very fortunate; and that I ought
+to think myself very much obliged to Mr. Croft. But, after avowing
+all this, I walked up and down the room in melancholy reverie for a
+considerable length of time. My wife reminded me repeatedly that
+Mr. Croft said he dined precisely at two o'clock; that he was a very
+punctual man; that it was a long walk, as I had found it, from the inn
+to his house; that I had better dress myself for dinner; and that my
+clean shirt and cravat were ready for me. I still walked up and down
+the room in reverie till my wife was completely ready, had dressed the
+child, and held up my watch before my eyes to show me that it wanted
+but ten minutes of two. I then began to dress in the greatest hurry
+imaginable: and, unluckily, as I was pulling on my silk stocking, I tore
+a hole in the leg, or as my wife expressed it, a stitch dropped, and I
+was forced to wait while she repaired the evil. Certainly this operation
+of _taking up a stitch_, as I am instructed to call it, is one of the
+slowest operations in nature; or, rather, one of the most tedious
+and teazing manoeuvres of art. Though the most willing and the most
+dexterous fingers that ever touched a needle were employed in my
+service, I thought the work would never be finished.
+
+At last, I was _hosed_ and shod, and out we set. It struck a quarter
+past two as we left the house; we came to Mr. Croft's in the middle of
+dinner. He had a large company at table; every body was disturbed; my
+Lucy was a stranger to Mrs. Croft, and was to be introduced; and
+nothing could be more awkward and embarrassing than our _entree_ and
+introduction. There were such compliments and apologies, such changing
+of places, such shuffling of chairs, and running about of servants, that
+I thought we should never be seated.
+
+In the midst of the bustle my little chap began to roar most horribly,
+and to struggle to get away from a black servant, who was helping him
+up on his chair. The child's terror at the sudden approach of the negro
+could not be conquered, nor could he by any means be quieted. Mrs.
+Croft, at last, ordered the negro out of the room, the roaring ceased,
+and nothing but the child's sobs were heard for some instants.
+
+The guests were all silent, and had ceased eating; Mrs. Croft was vexed
+because _every thing was cold_; Mr. Croft was much discomfited, and
+said not a syllable more than was absolutely necessary, as master of the
+house. I never ate, or rather I was never at a more disagreeable dinner.
+I was in pain for Lucy, as well as for myself; her colour rose up to her
+temples. I cursed myself a hundred times for not having gone to dress in
+time.
+
+At length, to my great relief, the cloth was taken away; but even
+when we came to the wine after dinner, the cold formality of my
+host continued unabated, and I began to fear that he had taken an
+insurmountable dislike to me, and that I should lose all the advantages
+of his protection and assistance: advantages which rose considerably in
+my estimation, when I apprehended I was upon the point of losing them.
+
+Soon after dinner, a young gentleman of the name of Hudson joined the
+company; his manners and appearance were prepossessing; he was frank
+and well-bred; and the effect of his politeness was soon felt, as if by
+magic, for every body became at their ease; his countenance was full
+of life and fire; and though he said nothing that showed remarkable
+abilities, everything he said pleased. As soon as he found that I was a
+stranger, he addressed his conversation principally to me. I recovered
+my spirits, exerted myself to entertain him, and succeeded. He was
+delighted to hear news from England, and especially from London; a city
+which he said he had an ardent desire to visit. When he took leave of
+me in the evening, he expressed very warmly the wish to cultivate my
+acquaintance, and I was the more flattered and obliged by this
+civility, because I was certain that he knew exactly my situation and
+circumstances, Mrs. Croft having explained them to him very fully even
+in my hearing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+In the course of the ensuing week, young Mr. Hudson and I saw one
+another almost every day, and our mutual liking for each other's company
+increased. He introduced me to his father, who had been a planter; and,
+having made a large fortune, came to reside at Philadelphia, to enjoy
+himself, as he said, for the remainder of his days. He lived in what the
+sober Americans called a most luxurious and magnificent style. The best
+company in Philadelphia met at his house: and he delighted particularly
+in seeing those who had convivial talents, and who would supply him with
+wit and gaiety, in which he was naturally rather deficient.
+
+On my first visit, I perceived that his son had boasted of me as one
+of the best companions in the world; and I determined to support the
+character that had been given of me; I told two or three good stories,
+and sang two or three good songs. The company were charmed with me; old
+Mr. Hudson was particularly delighted; he gave me a pressing general
+invitation to his house, and most of the principal guests followed his
+example. I was not a little elated with this success. Mr. Croft was
+with me at this entertainment; and I own I was peculiarly gratified by
+feeling that I at once became conspicuous, by my talents, in a company
+where he was apparently of no consequence, notwithstanding all his
+wealth and prudence.
+
+As we went home together, he said to me very gravely, "I would not
+advise you, Mr. Basil Lowe, to accept of all these invitations, nor
+to connect yourself intimately with young Hudson. The society at Mr.
+Hudson's is very well for those who have made a fortune, and want to
+spend it; but for those who have a fortune to make, in my opinion, it is
+not only useless but dangerous."
+
+I was in no humour, at this moment, to profit by this sober advice;
+especially as I fancied it might be dictated, in some degree, by envy of
+my superior talents and accomplishments. My wife, however, supported
+his advice by many excellent and kind arguments. She observed that these
+people, who invited me to their houses as a good companion, followed
+merely their own pleasure, and would never be of any real advantage to
+me; that Mr. Croft, on the contrary, showed, from the first hour when I
+applied to him, a desire to serve me; that he had pointed out the means
+of establishing myself; and that, in the advice he gave me, he could be
+actuated only by a wish to be of use to me; that it was more reasonable
+to suspect him of despising than of envying talents which were not
+directed to the grand object of gaining money.
+
+Good sense, from the lips of a woman whom a man loves, has a mighty
+effect upon his understanding, especially if he sincerely believe that
+the woman has no desire to rule. This was my singular case. I promised
+Lucy I would refuse all invitations for the ensuing fortnight, and
+devote myself to whatever business Mr. Croft might devise. No one could
+be more assiduous than I was for ten days; and I perceived that Mr.
+Croft, though it was not his custom to praise, was well satisfied with
+my diligence. Unluckily, on the eleventh day I put off in the morning
+making out an invoice, which he left for me to do, and I was persuaded
+in the evening to go out with young Mr. Hudson. I had expressed,
+in conversation with him, some curiosity about the American
+_frog-concerts_, of which I had read, in modern books of travels,
+extraordinary accounts.
+
+Mr. Hudson persuaded me to accompany him to a swamp, at some miles'
+distance from Philadelphia, to hear one of these concerts. The
+performance lasted some time, and it was late before we returned to
+town: I went to bed tired, and waked in the morning with a cold, which
+I had caught by standing so long in the swamp. I lay an hour after I was
+called, in hopes of getting rid of my cold: when I was at last up and
+dressed, I recollected my invoice, and resolved to do it the first thing
+after breakfast; but, unluckily, I put it off till I had looked for some
+lines in Homer's "Battle of the Frogs and Mice." There was no Homer,
+as you may guess, in Mr. Croft's house, and I went to a bookseller's to
+borrow one: he had Pope's Iliad and Odyssey, but no Battle of the Frogs
+and Mice. I walked over half the town in search of it; at length I found
+it, and was returning in triumph, with Homer in each pocket, when at the
+door of Mr. Croft's house I found half a dozen porters, with heavy loads
+upon their backs.
+
+"Where are you going, my good fellows?" said I.
+
+"To the quay, sir, with the cargo for the Betsy."
+
+"My God!" cried I. "Stop. Can't you stop a minute? I thought the Betsy
+was not to sail till to-morrow. Stop one minute."
+
+"No, sir," said they, "that we can't; for the captain bade us make what
+haste we could to the quay to load her."
+
+I ran into the house; the captain of the Betsy was bawling in the hall,
+with his hat on the back of his head; Mr. Croft on the landing-place of
+the warehouse-stairs with open letters in his hand, and two or three of
+the under-clerks were running different ways with pens in their mouths.
+
+"Mr. Basil! the invoice!" exclaimed all the clerks at once, the moment I
+made my appearance.
+
+"Mr. Basil Lowe, the invoice and the copy, if you please," repeated Mr.
+Croft. "We have sent three messengers after you. Very extraordinary to
+go out at this time of day, and not even to leave word where you were
+to be found. Here's the captain of the Betsy has been waiting this half
+hour for the invoice. Well, sir! Will you go for it now? And at the same
+time bring me the copy, to enclose in this letter to our correspondent
+by post."
+
+I stood petrified. "Sir, the invoice, sir!--Good Heavens! I forgot it
+entirely."
+
+"You remember it now, sir, I suppose. Keep your apologies till we have
+leisure. The invoices, if you please."
+
+"The invoices! My God, sir! I beg ten thousand pardons! They are not
+drawn out."
+
+"Not drawn out. Impossible!" said Mr. Croft.
+
+"Then I'm off," cried the captain, with a tremendous oath. "I can't wait
+another tide for any clerk breathing."
+
+"Send back the porters, captain, if you please," said Mr. Croft, coolly.
+"The whole cargo must be unpacked. I took it for granted, Mr. Basil,
+that you had drawn the invoice, according to order, yesterday morning;
+and of course the goods were packed in the evening. I was certainly
+wrong in taking it for granted that you would be punctual. A man of
+business should take nothing for granted. This is a thing that will not
+occur to me again as long as I live."
+
+I poured forth expressions of contrition; but apparently unmoved by
+them, and without anger or impatience in his manner, he turned from me
+as soon as the porters came back with the goods, and ordered them all to
+be unpacked and replaced in the warehouse. I was truly concerned.
+
+"I believe you spent your evening yesterday with young Mr. Hudson?" said
+he, turning to me.
+
+"Yes, sir,--I am sincerely sorry------"
+
+"Sorrow, in these cases, does no good, sir," interrupted he. "I thought
+I had sufficiently warned you of the danger of forming that intimacy.
+Midnight carousing will not do for men of business."
+
+"Carousing, sir!" said I. "Give me leave to assure you that we were not
+carousing. We were only at a _frog-concert_."
+
+Mr. Croft, who had at least suppressed his displeasure till now,
+looked absolutely angry; he thought I was making a joke of him. When
+I convinced him that I was in earnest, he changed from anger to
+astonishment, with a large mixture of contempt in his nasal muscles.
+
+"A frog-concert!" repeated he. "And is it possible that any man could
+neglect an invoice merely to go to hear a parcel of frogs croaking in a
+swamp? Sir, you will never do in a mercantile house." He walked off to
+the warehouse, and left me half mortified and half provoked.
+
+From this time forward all hopes from Mr. Croft's friendship were at
+an end. He was coldly civil to me during the few remaining days of the
+fortnight that we stayed at his house, He took the trouble, however, of
+looking out for a cheap and tolerably comfortable lodging for my wife
+and boy; the rent of which he desired to pay for his relation, he said,
+as long as I should remain in Philadelphia, or till I should find myself
+in some eligible situation. He seemed pleased with Lucy, and said she
+was a very properly conducted, well disposed, prudent young woman, whom
+he was not ashamed to own for a cousin. He repeated, at parting, that
+he should be happy to afford me every assistance _in reason_, towards
+pursuing any feasible plan of advancing myself; but it was his decided
+opinion that I could never succeed in a mercantile line.
+
+I never liked Mr. Croft; he was much too _punctual_, too much of an
+automaton, for me; but I should have felt more regret at leaving him,
+and losing his friendship, and should have expressed more gratitude for
+his kindness to Lucy and my boy, if my head had not at the time
+been full of young Hudson. He professed the warmest regard for me,
+congratulated me on getting free from old Croft's mercantile clutches,
+and assured me that such a man as I was could not fail to succeed in
+the world by my own talents and the assistance of friends and good
+connexions.
+
+I was now almost every day at his father's house in company with numbers
+of rich and gay people, who were all _my friends_. I was the life of
+society, was invited every where, and accepted every invitation, because
+I could not offend Mr. Hudson's intimate acquaintance.
+
+From day to day, from week to week, from month to month, I went on in
+this style. I was old Hudson's grand favourite, and every body told me
+he could do any thing he pleased for me. I had formed a scheme, a bold
+scheme, of obtaining from government a large tract of territory in
+the ceded lands of Louisiana, and of collecting a subscription in
+Philadelphia among _my friends_, to make a settlement there: the
+subscribers to be paid by instalments, so much the first year, so much
+the second, and so onward, till the whole should be liquidated. I was
+to collect hands from the next ships, which were expected to be full
+of emigrants from Ireland and Scotland. I had soon a long list of
+subscribers, who gave me their names always after dinner, or after
+supper. Old Hudson wrote his name at the head of the list, with an
+ostentatiously large sum opposite to it.
+
+As nothing could be done until the ensuing spring, when the ships were
+expected, I spent my time in the same convivial manner. The spring came,
+but there was no answer obtained from government respecting the ceded
+territory; and a delay of a few months was necessary. Mr. Hudson, the
+father, was the person who had undertaken to apply for the grant; and
+he spoke always of the scheme, and of his own powers of carrying it into
+effect, in the most confident manner. From his conversation any body
+would have supposed that the mines of Peru were upon his plantation; and
+that in comparison with his the influence of the President of the United
+States was nothing. I was a full twelvemonth before I was convinced that
+he was a boaster and a _fabulist_; and I was another twelvemonth before
+I could persuade myself that he was one of the most selfish, indolent,
+and obstinate of human beings. He was delighted to have me always at his
+table to entertain him and his guests, but he had not the slightest real
+regard for me, or care for my interests. He would talk to me as long as
+I pleased of his possessions, and his improvements, and his wonderful
+crops; but the moment I touched upon any of my own affairs, he would
+begin to yawn, throw himself on a sofa, and seem going to sleep.
+Whenever I mentioned his subscription, he would say with a frown--"We
+will talk of that, Basil, _to-morrow_."
+
+Of my whole list of subscribers, not above four ever paid a shilling
+into my hands: their excuse always was, "When government has given an
+answer about the ceded territory, we will pay the subscriptions;" and
+the answer of government always was--"When the subscriptions are paid,
+we will make out a grant of the land." I was disgusted, and out of
+spirits; but I thought all my chance was to persevere, and to keep _my
+friends_ in good-humour: so that I was continually under the necessity
+of appearing the same jovial companion, laughing, singing, and drinking,
+when, Heaven knows, my heart was heavy enough.
+
+At the end of the second year of promises, delays, and disappointments,
+my Lucy, who had always foretold how things would turn out, urged me
+to withdraw myself from this idle society, to give up my scheme, and
+to take the management of a small plantation in conjunction with the
+brother of Mr. Croft. His regard for my wife, who had won much upon this
+family by her excellent conduct, induced him to make me this offer; but
+I considered so long, and hesitated so much, whether I should accept of
+this proposal, that the time for accepting it passed away.
+
+I had still hopes that my friend, young Hudson, would enable me to carry
+my grand project into execution; he had a considerable plantation in
+Jamaica, left to him by his grandfather on the mother's side; he was
+to be of age, and to take possession of it the ensuing year, and he
+proposed to sell it, and to apply some of the purchase-money to our
+scheme, of the success of which he had as sanguine expectations as I had
+myself. He was of a most enthusiastic, generous temper. I had obtained
+the greatest influence over him, and I am convinced, at this time, there
+was nothing in the world he would not have sacrificed for my sake.
+All that he required from me was to be his constant companion. He was
+extravagantly fond of field sports; and, though a Londoner, I was a good
+shot, and a good angler; for, during the time I was courting Lucy, I
+found it necessary to make myself a sportsman to win the favour of
+her brothers. With these accomplishments, my hold upon the esteem and
+affections of my friend was all-powerful. Every day in the season we
+went out shooting or fishing together: then, in the winter-time, we had
+various employments, I mean, various excuses for idleness. Hudson was a
+great skaiter, and he had infinite diversion in teaching me to skait
+at the hazard of my skull. He was also to initiate me in the American
+pastime of _sleighing_, or sledging. Many a desperately cold winter's
+day I have submitted to be driven in his sledge, when I would much
+rather, I own, have been safe and snug by my own fireside, with my wife.
+
+Poor Lucy spent her time in a disagreeable and melancholy way during
+these three years: for, while I was out almost every day and all day
+long, she was alone in her lodging for numberless hours. She never
+repined, but always received me with a good-humoured countenance when
+I came home, even after sitting up half the night to wait for my return
+from Hudson's suppers. It grieved me to the heart to see her thus
+seemingly deserted, but I comforted myself with the reflection that this
+way of life would last but for a short time; that my friend would soon
+be of age, and able to fulfil all his promises; and that we should then
+all live together in happiness. I assured Lucy that the present idle, if
+not dissipated, manner in which I spent my days was not agreeable to my
+taste; that I was often extremely melancholy, even when I was forced
+to appear in the highest spirits; and that I often longed to be quietly
+with her, when I was obliged to sacrifice my time to friendship.
+
+It would have been impossible that she and my child could have subsisted
+all this time independently, but for her steadiness and exertions. She
+would not accept of any pecuniary assistance except from her relation,
+Mr. Croft, who regularly paid the rent of her lodgings. She undertook
+to teach some young ladies, whom Mrs. Croft introduced to her, various
+kinds of fine needlework, in which she excelled; and for this she was
+well paid. I know that she never cost me one farthing, during the three
+years and three months that we lived in Philadelphia. But even for this
+I do not give her so much credit as for her sweet temper during these
+trials, and her great forbearance in never reproaching or disputing with
+me. Many wives, who are called excellent managers, make their husbands
+pay tenfold in suffering what they save in money. This was not my Lucy's
+way; and, therefore, with my esteem and respect, she ever had my fondest
+affections. I was in hopes that the hour was just coming when I should
+be able to prove this to her, and when we should no longer be doomed to
+spend our days asunder. But, alas! her judgment was better than mine.
+
+My friend Hudson was now within six weeks of being of age, when,
+unfortunately, there arrived in Philadelphia a company of players from
+England. Hudson, who was eager for every thing that had the name of
+pleasure, insisted upon my going with him to their first representation.
+Among the actresses there was a girl of the name of Marion, who seemed
+to be ordinary enough, just fit for a company of strolling players, but
+she danced passably well, and danced a great deal between the acts that
+night. Hudson clapped his hands till I was quite out of patience. He was
+in raptures, and the more I depreciated, the more he extolled the girl.
+I wished her in Nova Zembla, for I saw he was falling in love with her,
+and had a kind of presentiment of all that was to follow. To tell the
+matter briefly, (for what signifies dwelling upon past misfortunes?) the
+more young Hudson's passion increased for this dancing girl, the more
+his friendship for me declined; for I had frequent arguments with him
+upon the subject, and did all I could to open his eyes. I saw that the
+damsel had art, that she knew the extent of her power, and that she
+would draw her infatuated lover in to marry her. He was headstrong and
+violent in all his passions; he quarrelled with me, carried the girl
+off to Jamaica, married her the day he was of age, and settled upon his
+plantation. There was an end of all my hopes about the ceded territory.
+
+Lucy, who was always my resource in misfortune, comforted me by saying I
+had done my duty in combating my friend's folly at the expense of my own
+interest; and that, though he had quarrelled with me, she loved me the
+better for it.
+
+Reflecting upon my own history and character, I have often thought it
+a pity that, with certain good qualities, and I will add talents, which
+deserved a better fate, I should have never succeeded in any thing I
+attempted, because I could not conquer one seemingly slight defect in
+my disposition, which had grown into a habit. Thoroughly determined by
+Lucy's advice to write to Mr. Croft, to request he would give me another
+trial, I put off sending the letter till the next day; and that very
+morning Mr. Croft set off on a journey to a distant part of the country,
+to see a daughter who was newly married.
+
+I was vexed, and from a want of something better to do, went out
+a-shooting, to get rid of disagreeable thoughts. I shot several
+pheasants, and when I came home, carried them, as was my custom, to old
+Mr. Hudson's kitchen, and gave them to the cook. I happened to stay in
+the kitchen to feed a favourite dog, while the cook was _preparing_ the
+birds I had brought. I observed, in the crop of one of the pheasants,
+some bright green leaves, and some buds, which I suspected to be the
+leaves and buds of the _kalmia latifolia_, a poisonous shrub. I was not
+quite certain, for I had almost forgotten the little botany which I knew
+before I went to China. I took the leaves home with me, to examine them
+at leisure, and to compare them with the botanical description; and I
+begged that the cook would not dress the birds till she saw or heard
+from me again. I promised to see her, or send to her the next day. But
+the next day, when I went to the library, to look into a book of botany,
+my attention was caught by some new reviews, which were just arrived
+from London. I put off the examination of the _kalmia latifolia_ till
+the day after. To-morrow, said I, will do just as well, for I know the
+cook will not dress the pheasants to-day: old Hudson does not like them
+till they have been kept _a day or two_.
+
+To-morrow came, and the leaves were forgotten till evening, when I saw
+them lying on my table, and put them out of the way; lest my little boy
+should find and eat them. I was sorry that I had not examined them
+this day, but I satisfied myself in the same way as I had done before:
+to-morrow will do as well; the cook will not dress the pheasants to-day;
+old Hudson thinks them the better for being kept _two or three days_.
+
+To-morrow came; but, as the leaves of the _kalmia latifolia_ were out
+of my sight, they went out of my mind. I was invited to an entertainment
+this day at the mayor's: there was a large company, and after dinner I
+was called upon, as usual, for a song; the favourite song of
+
+  "Dance and sing, Time's on the wing,
+  Life never knows return of spring;"
+
+when a gentleman came in, pale and breathless, to tell us that Mr.
+Hudson and three gentlemen, who had been dining with him, were suddenly
+seized with convulsions after eating of a pheasant, and that they were
+not expected to live. My blood ran cold: I exclaimed, "My God! I am
+answerable for this." On my making this exclamation, there was immediate
+silence in the room; and every eye turned upon me with astonishment and
+horror. I fell back in my chair, and what passed afterward I know not;
+but when I came to myself, I found two men in the room with me, who were
+set to guard me. The bottles and glasses were still upon the table, but
+the company were all dispersed; and the mayor, as my guards informed me,
+was gone to Mr. Hudson's to take his dying deposition.
+
+In this instance, as in all cases of sudden alarm, report had
+exaggerated the evil: Mr. Hudson, though extremely ill, was not dying;
+his three guests, after some hours' illness, were perfectly recovered.
+Mr. Hudson, who had eaten the most plentifully of the pheasant, was not
+_himself_, as he said, for two days; the third day he was able to
+see company at dinner as usual, and my mind was relieved from an
+insupportable state of anxiety.
+
+Upon examination, the mayor was convinced that I was perfectly innocent:
+the cook told the exact truth, blamed herself for not sending to me
+before she dressed the birds; but said that she concluded I had found
+the leaves I took home were harmless, as I never came to tell her the
+contrary.
+
+I was liberated, and went home to my wife. She clasped me in her arms,
+but could not articulate a syllable. By her joy at seeing me again, she
+left me to judge of what she must have suffered during this terrible
+interval.
+
+For some time after this unfortunate accident happened, it continued to
+be the subject of general conversation in Philadelphia. The story was
+told a thousand different ways, and the comments upon it were in various
+ways injurious to me. Some blamed me, for what indeed I deserved to be
+most severely blamed, my delaying one hour to examine the leaves found
+in the crop of the pheasant; others affected to think it absolutely
+impossible that any human being could be so dilatory and negligent,
+where the lives of fellow-creatures and _friends_, and friends by whom I
+had been treated with the utmost hospitality for years, were concerned.
+Others, still more malicious, hinted that, though I had been favoured by
+the mayor, and perhaps by the goodness of poor Mr. Hudson, there must be
+something more than had come to light in the business; and some boldly
+pronounced that the story of the leaves of the _kalmia latifolia_ was a
+mere blind, for that the pheasant could not have been rendered poisonous
+by such means. {Footnote: "In the severe winter of the years 1790 and
+1791, there appeared to be such unequivocal reasons for believing that
+several persons in Philadelphia had died in consequence of their eating
+pheasants, in whose crops the leaves and buds of the _kalmia latifolia_
+were found, that the mayor of the city thought it prudent and his
+duty to warn the people against the use of this bird, by a public
+proclamation. I know that by many persons, especially by some lovers
+of pheasants' flesh, the circumstance just mentioned was supposed to be
+destitute of foundation: but the foundation was a solid one."
+
+_Vide_ a paper by B. Smith Barton, M.D., American Transactions, vol.
+li.}
+
+That a motive might not be wanting for the crime, it was whispered that
+old Mr. Hudson had talked of leaving me a considerable legacy, which I
+was impatient to touch, that I might carry my adventuring schemes into
+execution. I was astonished as much as shocked at the sudden alteration
+in the manners of all my acquaintances. The tide of popularity changed,
+and I was deserted. That those who had lived with me so long in
+convivial intimacy, that those who had courted, admired, flattered me,
+those who had so often professed themselves my friends, could suddenly,
+without the slightest probability, believe me capable of the most
+horrible crime, appeared to me scarcely credible. In reality, many would
+not give themselves the trouble to _think_ about the matter, but were
+glad of a pretence to shake off the acquaintance of a man of whose
+stories and songs they began to be weary, and who had put their names to
+a subscription, which they did not wish to be called upon to pay. Such
+is the world! Such is the fate of all _good fellows_, and excellent
+bottle companions! Certain to be deserted, by their dear friends, at the
+least reverse of fortune.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+My situation in Philadelphia was now so disagreeable, and my disgust
+and indignation were so great, that I determined to quit the country. My
+real friend, Mr. Croft, was absent all this time from town. I am sure,
+if he had been at home, he would have done me justice; for, though he
+never liked me, he was a just, slow-judging man, who would not have been
+run away with by the hurry of popular prejudice: I had other reasons for
+regretting his absence: I could not conveniently quit America without
+money, and he was the only person to whom I could or would apply for
+assistance. We had not many debts, for which I must thank my excellent
+wife; but, when every thing to the last farthing was paid, I was obliged
+to sell my watch and some trinkets, to get money for our voyage. I
+was not accustomed to such things, and I was ashamed to go to the
+pawnbroker's, lest I should be met and recognized by some of my friends.
+I wrapped myself up in an old surtout, and slouched my hat over my face.
+
+As I was crossing the quay, I met a party of gentlemen walking arm in
+arm. I squeezed past them, but one stopped to look after me; and, though
+I turned down another street to escape him, he dogged me unperceived.
+Just as I came out of the pawnbroker's shop, I saw him posted opposite
+to me: I brushed by; I could with pleasure have knocked him down for his
+impertinence. By the time that I had reached the corner of the street, I
+heard a child calling after me. I stopped, and a little boy put into my
+hands my watch, saying, "Sir, the gentleman says you left your watch and
+these thingumbobs by mistake."
+
+"What gentleman?"
+
+"I don't know, but he was one that said I looked like an honest chap,
+and he'd trust me to run and give you the watch. He is dressed in a blue
+coat. He went toward the quay. That's all I know."
+
+On opening the paper of trinkets I found a card with these words:
+"_Barny_--with kind thanks."
+
+Barny! Poor Barny! The Irishman whose passage I paid coming to America
+three years ago. Is it possible?
+
+I ran after him the way which the child directed, and was so fortunate
+as just to catch a glimpse of the skirt of his coat, as he went into a
+neat, good-looking house. I walked up and down some time, expecting him
+to come out again; for I could not suppose that it belonged to Barny.
+I asked a grocer, who was leaning over his hatch door, if he knew who
+lived in the next house?
+
+"An Irish gentleman, of the name of O'Grady."
+
+"And his Christian name?"
+
+"Here it is in my books, sir--Barnaby O'Grady."
+
+I knocked at Mr. O'Grady's door, and made my way into the parlour; where
+I found him, his two sons and his wife, sitting very sociably at tea. He
+and the two young men rose immediately to set me a chair.
+
+"You are welcome, kindly welcome, sir," said he. "This is an honour
+I never expected any way. Be pleased to take the seat near the fire.
+'Twould be hard indeed if you _would_ {Footnote: Should.} not have the
+best seat that's to be had in this house, where we none of us never
+should have sat, nor had seats to sit upon, but for you."
+
+The sons pulled off my shabby great coat, and took away my hat, and the
+wife made up the fire. There was something in their manner altogether
+which touched me so much, that it was with difficulty I could keep
+myself from bursting into tears. They saw this, and Barny, (for I shall
+never call him any thing else,) as he thought that I should like better
+to hear of public affairs than to speak of my own, began to ask his sons
+if they had _seen the day's_ papers, and what news there were?
+
+As soon as I could command my voice, I congratulated his family upon the
+happy situation in which I found them; and asked by what lucky accidents
+they had succeeded so well?
+
+"The luckiest accident ever _happened me_ before or since I came to
+America," said Barny, "was being on board the same vessel with such a
+man as you. If you had not given me the first lift, I had been down for
+good and all, and trampled under foot long and long ago. But after that
+first lift, all was as easy as life. My two sons here were not taken
+from me--God bless you! for I never can bless you enough for that. The
+lads were left to work for me and with me; and we never parted, hand or
+heart, but just kept working on together, and put all our earnings as
+fast as we got them, into the hands of that good woman, and lived hard
+at first, as we were bred and born to do, thanks be to Heaven! Then we
+swore against drink of all sorts entirely. And, as I had occasionally
+served the masons, when I lived a labouring man in the county of Dublin,
+and knew something of that business, why, whatever I knew I made the
+most of, and a trowel felt no ways strange to me; so I went to work, and
+had higher wages at first than I deserved. The same with the two boys:
+one was as much of a blacksmith as would shoe a horse; and t'other a
+bit of a carpenter; and the one got plenty of work in the forges,
+and t'other in the dockyards, as a ship carpenter. So early and late,
+morning and evening, we were all at the work, and just went this way
+struggling on even for a twelvemonth, and found, with the high wages and
+constant employ we had met, that we were getting greatly better in the
+world. Besides, the wife was not idle. When a girl, she had seen baking,
+and had always a good notion of it, and just tried her hand upon it now,
+and found the loaves went down with the customers, and the customers
+coming faster and faster for them; and this was a great help. Then I
+grew master mason, and had my men under me, and took a house to build
+by the job, and that did; and then on to another and another; and after
+building many for the neighbours, 'twas fit and my turn, I thought, to
+build one for myself, which I did out of theirs, without wronging them
+of a penny. And the boys grew master-men in their line; and when they
+got good coats, nobody could say against them, for they had come fairly
+by them, and became them well perhaps for that reason. So, not to be
+tiring you too much, we went on from good to better, and better to best;
+and if it pleased God to question me how it was we got on so well in the
+world, I should answer, Upon my conscience, myself does not know; except
+it be that we never made Saint Monday, {Footnote: _Saint Monday_, or
+Saint Crispin. It is a custom in Ireland, among shoemakers, if they
+intoxicate themselves on Sunday, to do no work on Monday; and this they
+call making a Saint Monday, or keeping Saint Crispin's day. Many have
+adopted this good custom from the example of the shoemakers.} nor never
+put off till the morrow what we could do the day." I believe I sighed
+deeply at this observation, notwithstanding the comic phraseology in
+which it was expressed.
+
+"But all this is no rule for a gentleman born," pursued the good-natured
+Barny, in answer, I suppose, to the sigh which I uttered; "nor is it any
+disparagement to him if he has not done as well in a place like America,
+where he had not the means; not being used to bricklaying and slaving
+with his hands, and striving as we did. Would it be too much liberty to
+ask you to drink a cup of tea, and to taste a slice of my good woman's
+bread and butter? And happy the day we see you eating it, and only wish
+we could serve you in any way whatsoever."
+
+I verily believe the generous fellow forgot, at this instant, that he
+had redeemed my watch and wife's trinkets. He would not let me thank him
+as much as I wished, but kept pressing upon me fresh offers of service.
+When he found I was going to leave America, he asked what vessel we
+should go in? I was really afraid to tell him, lest he should attempt to
+pay for my passage. But for this he had, as I afterwards found, too much
+delicacy of sentiment. He discovered, by questioning the captains, in
+what ship we were to sail; and, when we went on board, we found him
+and his sons there to take leave of us, which they did in the most
+affectionate manner; and, after they were gone, we found in the state
+cabin, directed to me, every thing that could be useful or agreeable to
+us, as sea-stores, for a long voyage.
+
+How I wronged this man, when I thought his expressions of gratitude were
+not sincere, because they were not made exactly in the mode and with the
+accent of my own countrymen! I little thought that Barny and his sons
+would be the only persons who would bid us a friendly adieu when we were
+to leave America.
+
+We had not exhausted our bountiful provision of sea-stores when we were
+set ashore in England. We landed at Liverpool; and I cannot describe the
+melancholy feelings with which I sat down, in the little back parlour
+of the inn, to count my money, and to calculate whether we had enough to
+carry us to London. Is this, thought I, as I looked at the few guineas
+and shillings spread on the table, is this all I have in this world? I,
+my wife, and child! And is this the end of three years' absence from my
+native country? As the negroes say of a fool who takes a voyage in vain,
+I am come back "_with little more than the hair upon my head_." Is this
+the end of all my hopes, and all my talents? What will become of my wife
+and child? I ought to insist upon her going home to her friends, that
+she may at least have the necessaries and comforts of life, till I am
+able to maintain her.
+
+The tears started from my eyes; they fell upon an old newspaper, which
+lay upon the table under my elbow. I took it up to hide my face from
+Lucy and my child, who just then came into the room: and, as I read
+without well knowing what, I came among the advertisements to my own
+name.
+
+"If Mr. Basil Lowe, or his heir, will apply to Mr. Gregory, attorney,
+No. 34, Cecil-street, he will hear of something to his advantage."
+
+I started up with an exclamation of joy, wiped my tears from the
+newspaper, put it into Lucy's hand, pointed to the advertisement, and
+ran to take places in the London coach for the next morning. Upon
+this occasion I certainly did not delay. Nor did I, when we arrived in
+London, put off one moment going to Mr. Gregory's, No. 34, Cecil-street.
+
+Upon application to him I was informed that a very distant relation
+of mine, a rich miser, had just died, and had left his accumulated
+treasures to me, "because I was the only one of his relations who had
+never cost him a single farthing." Other men have to complain of their
+ill fortune, perhaps with justice; and this is a great satisfaction,
+which I have never enjoyed; for I must acknowledge that all my disasters
+have arisen from my own folly. Fortune has been uncommonly favourable
+to me. Without any merit of my own, or rather, as it appeared, in
+consequence of my negligent habits, which prevented me from visiting a
+rich relation, I was suddenly raised from the lowest state of pecuniary
+distress to the height of affluent prosperity.
+
+I took possession of a handsome house in an agreeable part of the town,
+and enjoyed the delight of sharing all the comforts and luxuries which
+wealth could procure, with the excellent woman who had been my support
+in adversity. I must do myself the justice to observe that I did not
+become dissipated or extravagant; affection and gratitude to my Lucy
+filled my whole mind, and preserved me from the faults incident to
+those who rise suddenly from poverty to wealth. I did not forget my good
+friend, Mr. Nun, who had relieved me formerly from prison; of course I
+paid the debt which he had forgiven, and lost no opportunity of showing
+him kindness and gratitude.
+
+I was now placed in a situation where the best parts of my character
+appeared to advantage, and where the grand defect of my disposition was
+not apparently of any consequence. I was not now obliged, like a man of
+business, to be punctual; and delay, in mere engagements of pleasure,
+was a trifling offence, and a matter of raillery among my acquaintance.
+My talents in conversation were admired, and, if I postponed
+letter-writing, my correspondents only tormented me a little with polite
+remonstrances. I was conscious that I was not cured of my faults; but
+I rejoiced that I was not now obliged to reform, or in any danger of
+involving those I loved in distress, by my negligence.
+
+For one year I was happy, and flattered myself that I did not waste
+my time; for, at my leisure, I read with attention all the ancient
+and modern works upon education. I resolved to select from them what
+appeared most judicious and practicable; and so to form, from the
+beauties of each, a perfect system for the advantage of my son. He was
+my only child; he had lived with me eighteen months in prison: he was
+the darling of his mother, whom I adored, and he was thought to be in
+mind and person a striking resemblance of myself. How many reasons had
+I to love him!--I doted upon the child. He certainly showed great
+quickness of intellect, and gave as fair a promise of talents as could
+be expected at his age. I formed hopes of his future excellence and
+success in the world, as sanguine as those which my poor father had
+early formed of mine. I determined to watch carefully over his temper,
+and to guard him particularly against that habit of procrastination
+which had been the bane of my life.
+
+One day, while I was alone in my study, leaning on my elbow, and
+meditating upon the system of education which I designed for my son, my
+wife came to me and said, "My dear, I have just heard from our friend,
+Mr. Nun, a circumstance that alarms me a good deal. You know little
+Harry Nun was inoculated at the same time with our Basil, and by the
+same person. Mrs. Nun, and all the family, thought he had several spots,
+just as much as our boy had, and that that was enough; but two years
+afterwards, while we were in America, Harry Nun caught the small-pox in
+the natural way, and died. Now it seems the man who inoculated him was
+quite ignorant; for two or three other children, whom he attended, have
+caught the disease since, though he was positive that they were safe.
+Don't you think we had better have our boy inoculated again immediately,
+by some proper person?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, my dear; undoubtedly. But I think we had better have him
+vaccined. I am not sure, however; but I will ask Dr. ------'s opinion
+this day, and be guided by that; I shall see him at dinner: he has
+promised to dine with us."
+
+Some accident prevented him from coming, and I thought of writing to him
+the next day, but afterward put it off. Lucy came again into my study,
+where she was sure to find me in the morning. "My dear," said she, "do
+you recollect that you desired me to defer inoculating our little boy
+till you could decide whether it be best to inoculate him in the common
+way or the vaccine?"
+
+"Yes, my dear, I recollect it perfectly well. I am much inclined to the
+vaccine. My friend, Mr. L------, has had all his children vaccined, and
+I just wait to see the effect."
+
+"Oh, my love!" said Lucy, "do not wait any longer; for you know we run a
+terrible risk of his catching the small-pox, every day, every hour."
+
+"We have run that risk, and escaped for these three years past," said I;
+"and, in my opinion, the boy has had the small-pox."
+
+"So Mr. and Mrs. Nun thought, and you see what has happened. Remember
+our boy was inoculated by the same man. I am sure, ever since Mr. Nun
+mentioned this, I never take little Basil out to walk, I never see him
+in a shop, I never have him in the carriage with me, without being in
+terror. Yesterday a woman came to the coach-door with a child in
+her arms, who had a breaking out on his face. I thought it was the
+small-pox, and was so terrified that I had scarcely strength or presence
+of mind enough to draw up the glass. Our little boy was leaning out of
+the door to give a halfpenny to the child. My God! if that child had the
+small-pox!"
+
+"My love," said I, "do not alarm yourself so terribly; the boy shall be
+inoculated to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow! Oh, my dearest love, do not put it off till to-morrow," said
+Lucy; "let him be inoculated to-day."
+
+"Well, my dear, only keep your mind easy, and he shall be inoculated
+to-day, if possible; surely you must know I love the boy as well as you
+do, and am as anxious about him as you can be."
+
+"I am sure of it, my love," said Lucy; "I meant no reproach. But since
+you have decided that the boy shall be vaccined, let us send directly
+for the surgeon, and have it done, and then he will be safe."
+
+She caught hold of the bell-cord to ring for a servant: I stopped her.
+
+"No, my dear, don't ring," said I; "for the men are both out. I have
+sent one to the library for the new Letters on Education, and the other
+to the rational toy-shop for some things I want for the child."
+
+"Then if the servants are out, I had better walk to the surgeon's, and
+bring him back with me."
+
+"No, my dear," said I; "I must see Mr. L------'s children first. I am
+going out immediately; I will call upon them: they are healthy children;
+we can have the vaccine infection from them, and I will inoculate the
+boy myself."
+
+Lucy submitted. I take a melancholy pleasure in doing her justice, by
+recording every argument that she used, and every persuasive word that
+she said to me, upon this occasion. I am anxious to show that she was
+not in the least to blame. I alone am guilty! I alone ought to have
+been the sufferer! It will scarcely be believed--I can hardly believe it
+myself, that, after all Lucy said to me, I delayed two hours, and stayed
+to finish making an extract from Rousseau's Emilius before I set out.
+When I arrived at Mr. L------'s, the children were just gone out to take
+an airing, and I could not see them. A few hours may sometimes make all
+the difference between health and sickness, happiness and misery: I put
+off till the next day the inoculation of my child.
+
+In the mean time a coachman came to me to be hired: my boy was playing
+about the room, and, as I afterward collected, went close up to the man,
+and, while I was talking, stood examining a greyhound upon his buttons.
+I asked the coachman many questions, and kept him for some time in the
+room. Just as I agreed to take him into my service, he said he could not
+come to live with me till the next week, because _one of his children
+was ill of the small-pox_.
+
+These words struck me to the heart. I had a dreadful presentiment of
+what was to follow. I remember starting from my seat, and driving the
+man out of the house with violent menaces. My boy, poor innocent victim!
+followed, trying to pacify me, and holding me back by the skirts of my
+coat. I caught him up in my arms. I could not kiss him; I felt as if I
+was his murderer. I set him down again; indeed I trembled so violently
+that I could not hold him. The child ran for his mother.
+
+I cannot dwell on these things. Our boy sickened the next week; and the
+week afterward died in his mother's arms! Her health had suffered
+much by the trials which she had gone through since our marriage. The
+disapprobation of her father, the separation from all her friends, who
+were at variance with me, my imprisonment, and then the death of her
+only child, were too much for her fortitude. She endeavoured to conceal
+this from me; but I saw that her health was rapidly declining. She was
+always fond of the country; and, as my sole object now in life was to
+do whatsoever I could to console and please her, I proposed to sell
+our house in town, and to settle somewhere in the country. In the
+neighbourhood of her father and mother there was a pretty place to be
+let, which I had often heard her mention with delight; I determined to
+take it: I had secret hopes that her friends would be gratified by this
+measure, and that they would live upon good terms with us. Her mother
+had seemed, by her letters, to be better disposed towards me since my
+rich relation had left me his fortune. Lucy expressed great pleasure at
+the idea of going to live in the country, near her parents; and I was
+rejoiced to see her smile once more. Being naturally of a sanguine
+disposition, hope revived in my heart; I flattered myself that we might
+yet be happy, that my Lucy would recover her peace of mind and her
+health, and that perhaps Heaven might bless us with another child.
+
+I lost no time in entering into treaty for the estate in the country,
+and I soon found a purchaser for my excellent house in town. But my evil
+genius prevailed. I had neglected to renew the insurance of my house;
+the policy was out but nine days, {Footnote: Founded on fact.} when a
+fire broke out in one of my servants' rooms at midnight, and, in spite
+of all the assistance we could procure, the house was burnt to the
+ground. I carried my wife out senseless in my arms; and, when I had
+deposited her in a place of safety, returned to search for a portfolio,
+in which was the purchase-money of the country estate, all in
+bank-notes. But whether this portfolio was carried off by some of the
+crowd, which had assembled round the ruins of my house, or whether it
+was consumed in the flames, I cannot determine. A more miserable wretch
+than I was could now scarcely be found in the world; and, to complete my
+misfortunes, I felt the consciousness that they were all occasioned by
+my own folly.
+
+I am now coming to the most extraordinary and the most interesting part
+of my history. A new and surprising accident happened.
+
+
+{_Note by the Editor_.--What this accident was can never now be known;
+for Basil put off finishing his history till TO-MORROW.
+
+This fragment was found in an old escritoir, in an obscure lodging in
+Swallow-street.
+
+_August_, 1803.}
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales And Novels, Volume 2 (of 10), by
+Maria Edgeworth
+
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