Pickle seems tolerably well reconciled to his Cage; and is by the
Clergyman entertained with the Memoirs of a Noted Personage, whom he
sees by accident in the Fleet.
The knight had scarce finished his narrative, when our hero was told,
that a gentleman in the coffee-room wanted to see him; and when he
went thither, he found his friend Crabtree, who had transacted all his
affairs, according to the determination of the preceding day; and now
gave him an account of the remarks he overheard, on the subject of
his misfortune; for the manner of the arrest was so public and
extraordinary, that those who were present immediately propagated it
among their acquaintance, and it was that same evening discoursed upon
at several tea and card tables, with this variation from the truth, that
the debt amounted to twelve thousand, instead of twelve hundred pounds.
From which circumstance it was conjectured, that Peregrine was a bite
from the beginning, who had found credit on account of his effrontery
and appearance, and imposed himself upon the town as a young gentleman
of fortune. They rejoiced, therefore, at his calamity, which they
considered as a just punishment for his fraud and presumption, and began
to review certain particulars of his conduct, that plainly demonstrated
him to be a rank adventurer, long before he had arrived at this end of
his career.
Pickle, who now believed his glory was set for ever, received this
intelligence with that disdain which enables a man to detach himself
effectually from the world, and, with great tranquility, gave the
misanthrope an entertaining detail of what he had seen and heard since
their last parting. While they amused themselves in this manner over
a dish of coffee they were joined by the parson, who congratulated our
hero upon his bearing mischance with such philosophic quite, and began
to regale the two friends with some curious circumstances relating to
the private history of the several prisoners, as they happened to come
in. At length a gentleman entered; at sight of whom the clergyman rose
up, and saluted him with a most reverential bow, which was graciously
returned by the stranger, who, with a young man that attended him,
retired to the other end of the room. They were no sooner out of
hearing, than the communicative priest desired his company to take
particular notice of this person to whom he had paid his respects.
“That man,” said he, “is this day one of the most flagrant instances
of neglected virtue which the world can produce. Over and above a cool
discerning head, fraught with uncommon learning and experience, he
is possessed of such fortitude and resolution, as no difficulties can
discourage, and no danger impair; and so indefatigable in his humanity,
that even now, while he is surrounded with such embarrassments as would
distract the brain of an ordinary mortal, he has added considerably to
his encumbrances, by taking under his protection that young gentleman,
who, induced by his character, appealed to his benevolence for redress
of the grievances under which he labours from the villainy of guardian.”
Peregrine's curiosity being excited by this encomium, asked the name of
this generous patron, of which when he was informed, “I am no stranger,”
said he, “to the fame of that gentleman, who has made a considerable
noise in the world, on account of that great cause he undertook in
defence of an unhappy orphan; and, since he is a person of such an
amiable disposition, I am heartily sorry to find that his endeavours
have not met with that successful issue which their good fortune in the
beginning seemed to promise. Indeed, the circumstance of his espousing
that cause was so uncommon and romantic and the depravity of the
human heart so universal, that some people, unacquainted with his real
character, imagined his views were altogether selfish; and some were not
wanting, who affirmed he was a mere adventurer. Nevertheless, I must do
him the justice to own, I have heard some of the most virulent of those
who were concerned on the other side of the question, bear testimony
in his favour, observing, that he was deceived into the expense of the
whole, by the plausible story which at first engaged his compassion.
Your description of his character confirms me in the same opinion,
though I am quite ignorant of the affair; the particulars of which I
should be glad to learn, as well as the genuine account of his own life,
many circumstances of which are by his enemies, I believe, egregiously
misrepresented.”
“Sir,” answered the priest, “that is a piece of satisfaction which I am
glad to find myself capable of giving you. I have had the pleasure of
being acquainted with Mr. M-- from his youth, and everything which I
shall relate concerning him, you may depend upon as a fact which hath
fallen under my own cognizance, or been vouched upon the credit of
undoubted evidence.
“Mr. M--'s father was a minister of the established church of Scotland,
descended from a very ancient clan, and his mother nearly related to a
noble family in the northern part of that kingdom. While the son was
boarded at a public school, where he made good progress in the Latin
tongue, his father died, and he was left an orphan to the care of an
uncle, who, finding him determined against any servile employment, kept
him at school, that he might prepare himself for the university, with a
view of being qualified for his father's profession.
“Here his imagination was so heated by the warlike achievements he found
recorded in the Latin authors, such as Caesar, Curtius, and Buchanan,
that he was seized with an irresistible thirst of military glory, and
desire of trying his fortune in the army. His Majesty's troops taking
the field, in consequence of the rebellion which happened in the year
seventeen hundred and fifteen, this young adventurer, thinking no life
equal to that of a soldier, found means to furnish himself with a fusil
and bayonet, and, leaving the school, repaired to the camp near Stirling
with a view of signalizing himself in the field, though he was at that
time but just turned of thirteen. He offered his service to several
officers, in hope of being enlisted in their companies; but they would
not receive him, because they rightly concluded, that he was some
schoolboy broke loose, without the knowledge or consent of his
relations. Notwithstanding this discouragement, he continued in camp,
curiously prying into every part of the service; and such was the
resolution conspicuous in him, even at such a tender age, that, after
his small finances were exhausted, he persisted in his design; and,
because he would not make his wants known, actually subsisted for
several days on hips, haws, and sloes, and other spontaneous fruits,
which he gathered in the woods and fields. Meanwhile, he never failed
to be present, when any regiment or corps of men were drawn out to be
exercised and reviewed, and accompanied them in all their evolutions,
which he had learned to great perfection, by observing the companies
which were quartered in the place where he was at school. This eagerness
and perseverance attracted the notice of many officers, who, after
having commended his spirit and zeal, pressed him to return to his
parents, and even threatened to expel him from the camp, if he would not
comply with their advice.
“These remonstrances having no other effect than that of warning him to
avoid his monitors, they thought proper to alter their behaviour towards
him, took him into their protection, and even into their mess, and
what, above all other marks of favour, pleased the young soldier most,
permitted him to incorporate in the battalion, and take his turn of
duty with the other men. In this happy situation he was discovered by a
relation of his mother, who was a captain in the army, and who used all
his authority and influence in persuading M-- to return to school; but,
finding him deaf to his admonitions and threats, he took him under his
own care, and, when the army marched to Dumblane, left him at Stirling
with express injunctions to keep himself within the walls.
“He temporized with his kinsman, fearing that, should he seem
refractory, the captain would have ordered him to be shut up in the
castle. Inflamed with the desire of seeing a battle, his relation no
sooner marched off the ground, than he mixed in with another regiment,
to which his former patrons belonged, and proceeded to the field,
where he distinguished himself, even at that early time of life, by his
gallantry, in helping to retrieve a pair of colours belonging to M--n's
regiment; so that, after the affair, he was presented to the duke of
Argyll, and recommended strongly to Brigadier Grant, who invited him
into his regiment, and promised to provide for him with the first
opportunity. But that gentleman in a little time lost his command upon
the duke's disgrace, and the regiment was ordered for Ireland, being
given to Colonel Nassau, whose favour the young volunteer acquired to
such a degree, that he was recommended to the king for his ensigncy,
which in all probability he would have obtained, had not the regiment
been unluckily reduced.
“In consequence of this reduction, which happened in the most severe
season of the year, he was obliged to return to his own country, through
infinite hardships, to which he was exposed from the narrowness of his
circumstances. And continuing still enamoured of a military life, he
entered into the regiment of Scots Greys, at that time commanded by
the late Sir James Campbell, who, being acquainted with his family and
character, encouraged him with a promise of speedy preferment. In this
corps he remained three years, during which he had no opportunity of
seeing actual service, except at the affair of Glensheel; and this
life of insipid quiet must have hung heavy upon a youth of M--'s active
disposition, had not he found exercise for the mind, in reading books
of amusement, history, voyages, and geography, together with those that
treated of the art of war, ancient and modern, for which he contracted
such an eager appetite, that he used to spend sixteen hours a day in
this employment. About that time he became acquainted with a gentleman
of learning and taste, who observing his indefatigable application,
and insatiable thirst after knowledge, took upon himself the charge of
superintending his studies; and, by the direction of such an able guide,
the young soldier converted his attention to a more solid and profitable
course of reading. So inordinate was his desire of making speedy
advances in the paths of learning, that within the compass of three
months, he diligently perused the writings of Locke and Malebranche,
and made himself master of the first six and of the eleventh and twelfth
books of Euclid's Elements. He considered Puffendorf and Grotius with
uncommon care, acquired a tolerable degree of knowledge in the French
language, and his imagination was so captivated with the desire of
learning, that, seeing no prospect of a war, or views of being provided
for in the service, he quitted the army, and went through a regular
course of university education. Having made such progress in his
studies, he resolved to qualify himself for the church, and acquired
such a stock of school divinity, under the instructions of a learned
professor at Edinburgh, that he more than once mounted the rostrum
in the public hall, and held forth with uncommon applause. But being
discouraged from a prosecution of his plan, by the unreasonable
austerity of some of the Scotch clergy, by whom the most indifferent
and innocent words and actions were often misconstrued into levity and
misconduct, he resolved to embrace the first favourable opportunity
of going abroad, being inflamed with the desire of seeing foreign
countries; and actually set out for Holland, where, for the space of
two years, he studied the Roman law, with the law of nature and nations,
under the famous professors Tolieu and Barbeyrac.
“Having thus finished his school education, he set out for Paris, with
a view to make himself perfect in the French language, and learn such
useful exercises, as might be acquired with the wretched remnant of his
slender estate, which was by that time reduced very low. In his journey
through the Netherlands, he went to Namur, and paid his respects to
Bishop Strickland and General Collier, by whom he was received with
great civility, in consequence of letters of recommendation, with which
he was provided from the Hague; and the old general assured him of his
protection and interest for a pair of colours, if he was disposed to
enter into the Dutch service. Though he was by that time pretty well
cured of his military quixotism, he would not totally decline the
generous proffer, for which he thanked him in the most grateful terms,
telling the general that he would pay his duty to him on his return from
France, and then, if he could determine upon re-engaging in the army,
should think himself highly honoured in being under his command.
“After a stay of two months in Flanders, he proceeded to Paris, and, far
from taking up his habitation in the suburbs of St. Germain, according
to the custom of English travellers, he hired a private lodging on the
other side of the river, and associated chiefly with French officers,
who, their youthful sallies being over, are allowed to be the politest
gentlemen of that kingdom. In this scheme he found his account so much,
that he could not but wonder at the folly of his countrymen, who lose
the main scope of their going abroad, by spending their time and fortune
idly with one another.
“During his residence in Holland, he had made himself acquainted with
the best authors in the French language, so that he was able to share
in their conversation; a circumstance from which he found great benefit;
for it not only improved him in his knowledge of that tongue, but also
tended to the enlargement of his acquaintance, in the course of which he
contracted intimacies in some families of good fashion, especially those
of the long robe, which would have enabled him to pass his time very
agreeably, had he been a little easier in point of fortune. But his
finances, notwithstanding the most rigid economy, being in a few months
reduced to a very low ebb, the prospect of indigence threw a damp upon
all his pleasures, though he never suffered himself to be thereby in any
degree dispirited; being in that respect of so happy a disposition, that
conscious poverty or abundance made very slight impressions upon his
mind. This consumption of his cash, however, involved him in some
perplexity, and he deliberated with himself, whether he should return to
General Collier, or repair to London, where he might possibly fall
into some business not unbecoming a gentleman; though he was very much
mortified to find himself incapable of gratifying an inordinate desire
which possessed him of making the grand tour, or, at least, of visiting
the southern parts of France.
“While he thus hesitated between different suggestions, he was one
morning visited by a gentleman who had sought and cultivated his
friendship, and for whom he had done a good office, in supporting him
with spirit against a brutal German, with whom he had an affair of
honour. This gentleman came to propose a party for a fortnight, to
Fontainebleau, where the court then was; and the proposal being declined
by M-- with more than usual stiffness, his friend was very urgent to
know the reason of his refusal, and at length, with some confusion,
said, 'Perhaps your finances are low?' M-- replied, that he had
wherewithal to defray the expense of his journey to London, where he
could be furnished with a fresh supply; and this answer was no sooner
made, than the other taking him by the hand, 'My dear friend,' said he,
'I am not unacquainted with your affairs, and would have offered you my
credit long ago, if I had thought it would be acceptable; even now, I do
not pretend to give you money, but desire and insist upon it, that you
will accept of the loan of these two pieces of paper, to be repaid when
you marry a woman with a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, or obtain an
employment of a thousand a year.' So saying, he presented him with two
actions of above two thousand livres each.
“M-- was astonished at this unexpected instance of generosity, in a
stranger, and, with suitable acknowledgment, peremptorily refused to
incur such an obligation; but at length he was, by dint of importunity
and warm expostulation, prevailed upon to accept one of the actions, on
condition that the gentleman would take his note for the sum; and this
he absolutely rejected, until M-- promised to draw upon him for double
the value or more, in case he should at any time want a further supply.
This uncommon act of friendship and generosity, afterwards had an
opportunity to repay tenfold, though he could not help regretting the
occasion, on his friend's account. That worthy man having, by placing
too much confidence in a villainous lawyer, and a chain of other
misfortunes, involved himself and his amiable lady in a labyrinth of
difficulties, which threatened the total ruin of his family, M-- felt
the inexpressible satisfaction of delivering his benefactor from the
snare.
“Being thus reinforced by the generosity of his friend, M-- resolved to
execute his former plan of seeing the south of France, together with the
sea-ports of Spain, as far as Cadiz, from whence he proposed to take a
passage for London by sea; and, with this view, sent forward his trunks
by the diligence to Lyons, determined to ride post, in order to enjoy a
better view of the country, and for the conveniency of stopping at those
places where there was anything remarkable to be seen or inquired into.
While he was employed in taking leave of his Parisian friends, who
furnished him with abundant recommendation, a gentleman of his own
country, who spoke little or no French, hearing of his intention,
begged the favour of accompanying him in his expedition. With this new
companion, therefore, he set out for Lyons, where he was perfectly well
received by the intendant and some of the best families of the place, in
consequence of his letters of recommendation; and, after a short stay
in that city, proceeded down the Rhone to Avignon, in what is called the
coche d'eau; then visiting the principal towns of Dauphiny, Languedoc,
and Provence, he returned to the delightful city of Marseilles, where he
and his fellow-traveller were so much captivated by the serenity of the
air, the good-nature and hospitality of the sprightly inhabitants, that
they never dreamed of changing their quarters during the whole winter
and part of the spring: here he acquired the acquaintance of the Marquis
d'Argens, attorney-general in the parliament of Aix, and of his eldest
son, who now makes so great a figure in the literary world; and when the
affair of Father Girard and Mademoiselle Cadiere began to make a noise,
he accompanied these two gentlemen to Toulon, where the marquis was
ordered to take a precognition of the facts.
“On his return to Marseilles, he found a certain noble lord of great
fortune, under the direction of a Swiss governor, who had accommodated
him with two of his own relations, of the same country, by way of
companions, together with five servants in his train. They being
absolute strangers in the place, M--introduced them to the intendant,
and several other good families, and had the good fortune to be so
agreeable to his lordship, that he proposed and even pressed him to live
with him in England as a friend and companion, and to take upon him the
superintendence of his affairs, in which case he would settle upon him
four hundred a year for life.
“This proposal was too advantageous to be slighted by a person of no
fortune, or fixed establishment: he therefore made no difficulty of
closing with it; but, as his lordship's departure was fixed to a short
day, and he urged him to accompany him to Paris, and from thence to
England, M-- thought it would be improper and indecent to interfere with
the office of his governor, who might take umbrage at his favour, and
therefore excused himself from a compliance with his lordship's request,
until his minority should be expired, as he was within a few months of
being of age. However, he repeated his importunities so earnestly, and
the governor joined in the request with such appearance of cordiality,
that he was prevailed upon to comply with their joint desire; and in a
few days set out with them for Paris, by the way of Lyons. But, before
they had been three days in the city, M-- perceived a total change
in the behaviour of the Swiss and his two relations, who, in all
probability, became jealous of his influence with his lordship; and he
no sooner made this discovery, than he resolved to withdraw himself from
such a disagreeable participation of that young nobleman's favour. He,
therefore, in spite of all his lordship's entreaties and remonstrances,
quitted him for the present, alleging, as a pretext, that he had a
longing desire to see Switzerland and the banks of the Rhine, and
promising to meet him again in England.
“This his intention being made known to the governor and his friends,
their countenances immediately cleared up, their courtesy and
complaisance returned, and they even furnished him with letters for
Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, and Soleures; in consequence of which he met
with unusual civilities at these places. Having made this tour with his
Scotch friend, who came up to him before he left Lyons, and visited the
most considerable towns on both sides of the Rhine, and the courts of
the electors Palatine, Mentz, and Cologne, he arrived in Holland; and
from thence, through the Netherlands, repaired to London, where he found
my lord just returned from Paris.
“His lordship received him with expressions of uncommon joy, would not
suffer him to stir from him for several days, and introduced him to his
relations. M-- accompanied his lordship from London to his country seat,
where he was indeed treated with great friendship and confidence, and
consulted in everything; but the noble peer never once made mention of
the annuity which he had promised to settle upon him, nor did M--
remind him of it, because he conceived it was his affair to fulfil his
engagements of his own accord. M-- being tired of the manner of living
at this place, made an excursion to Bath, where he stayed about a
fortnight, to partake of the diversions, and, upon his return, found his
lordship making dispositions for another journey to Paris.
“Surprised at this sudden resolution, he endeavoured to dissuade
him from it; but his remonstrances were rendered ineffectual by the
insinuations of a foreigner who had come over with him, and filled his
imagination with extravagant notions of pleasure, infinitely superior
to any which he could enjoy while he was in the trammels and under the
restraints of a governor. He, therefore, turned a deaf ear to all M--'s
arguments, and entreated him to accompany him in the journey; but
this gentleman, foreseeing that a young man, like my lord, of strong
passions, and easy to be misled, would, in all probability, squander
away great sums of money, in a way that would neither do credit to
himself, or to those who were concerned with him, resisted all his
solicitations, on pretence of having business of consequence at London;
and afterwards had reason to be extremely well pleased with his own
conduct in this particular.
“Before he set out on this expedition, M--, in justice to himself,
reminded him of the proposal which he had made to him at Marseilles,
desiring to know if he had altered his design in that particular; in
which case he would turn his thoughts some other way, as he would not
in the least be thought to intrude or pin himself upon any man. My lord
protested in the most solemn manner, that he still continued in his
former resolution, and, again beseeching him to bear him company into
France, promised that everything should be settled to his satisfaction
upon their return to England. M--, however, still persisted in his
refusal, for the above-mentioned reasons, and, though he never heard
more of the annuity, he nevertheless continued to serve his lordship
with his advice and good offices ever after; particularly in directing
his choice to an alliance with a lady of eminent virtue, the daughter of
a noble lord, more conspicuous for his shining parts than the splendour
of his titles; a circumstance upon which he always reflected with
particular satisfaction, as well on account of the extraordinary merit
of the lady, as because it vested in her children a considerable part
of that great estate, which of right belonged to her grandmother, and
afterwards put him in a way to retrieve his estate from a heavy load of
debt he had contracted. When my lord set out on his Paris expedition,
the money M-- had received from his generous friend at Paris was almost
reduced to the last guinea. He had not yet reaped the least benefit from
his engagements with his lordship; and, disdaining to ask for a supply
from him, he knew not how to subsist, with any degree of credit, till
his return.
“This uncomfortable prospect was the more disagreeable to him, as, at
that time of life, he was much inclined to appear in the gay world, had
contracted a taste for plays, operas, and other public diversions, and
acquired an acquaintance with many people of good fashion, which could
not be maintained without a considerable expense. In this emergency,
he thought he could not employ his idle time more profitably than in
translating, from foreign languages, such books as were then chiefly in
vogue; and upon application to a friend, who was a man of letters, he
was furnished with as much business of that kind as he could possibly
manage, and wrote some pamphlets on the reigning controversies of that
time, that had the good fortune to please. He was also concerned in a
monthly journal of literature, and the work was carried on by the two
friends jointly, though M-- did not at all appear in the partnership.
By these means he not only spent his mornings in useful exercise but
supplied himself with money for what the French call the menus plaisirs,
during the whole summer. He frequented all the assemblies in and about
London, and considerably enlarged his acquaintance among the fair sex.
“He had, upon his first arrival in England, become acquainted with a
lady at an assembly not far from London; and though, at that time, he
had no thoughts of extending his views farther than the usual gallantry
of the place, he met with such distinguishing marks of her regard in
the sequel, and was so particularly encouraged by the advice of another
lady, with whom he had been intimate in France, and who was now of
their parties, that he could not help entertaining hopes of making an
impression upon the heart of his agreeable partner, who was a young lady
of an ample fortune and great expectations. He therefore cultivated her
good graces with all the assiduity and address of which he was master,
and succeeded so well in his endeavours, that, after a due course of
attendance, and the death of an aunt, by which she received an accession
of fortune to the amount of three and twenty thousand pounds, he
ventured to declare his passion, and she not only heard him with
patience and approbation, but also replied in terms adequate to his
warmest wish.
“Finding himself so favourably received, he pressed her to secure his
happiness by marriage; but, to this proposal, she objected the recency
of her kinswoman's death, which would have rendered such a step highly
indecent, and the displeasure of her other relations, from whom she had
still greater expectations, and who, at that time, importuned her to
marry a cousin of her own, whom she could not like. However, that M--
might have no cause to repine at her delay, she freely entered with
him into an intimacy of correspondence; during which nothing could have
added to their mutual felicity, which was the more poignant and refined,
from the mysterious and romantic manner of their enjoying it; for,
though he publicly visited her as an acquaintance, his behaviour on
these occasions was always so distant, respectful, and reserved, that
the rest of the company could not possibly suspect the nature of their
reciprocal attachment; in consequence of which they used to have private
interviews, unknown to every soul upon earth, except her maid, who was
necessarily entrusted with the secret.
“In this manner they enjoyed the conversation of each other for above
twelve months, without the least interruption; and though the stability
of Mr. M--'s fortune depended entirely upon their marriage, yet as
he perceived his mistress so averse to it, he never urged it with
vehemence, nor was at all anxious on that score, being easily induced
to defer a ceremony, which, as he then thought, could in no shape
have added to their satisfaction, though he hath since altered his
sentiments. Be that as it will, his indulgent mistress, in order to
set his mind at ease in that particular, and in full confidence of his
honour, insisted on his accepting a deed of gift of her whole fortune,
in consideration of her intended marriage; and, after some difficulty,
he was prevailed upon to receive this proof of her esteem, well knowing
that it would still be in his power to return the obligation. Though she
often entreated him to take upon himself the entire administration of
her finances, and upon divers occasions pressed him to accept of large
sums, he never once abused her generous disposition, or solicited her
for money, except for some humane purpose, which she was always more
ready to fulfil than he to propose.
“In the course of this correspondence, he became acquainted with some
of her female relations, and, among the rest, with a young lady, so
eminently adorned with all the qualifications of mind and person, that,
notwithstanding all his philosophy and caution, he could not behold and
converse with her, without being deeply smitten with her charms. He did
all in his power to discourage this dangerous invasion in the beginning,
and to conceal the least symptom of it from her relation; he summoned
all his reflection to his aid, and, thinking it would be base and
dishonest to cherish any sentiment repugnant to the affection which he
owed to a mistress who had placed such unlimited confidence in him, he
attempted to stifle the infant flame, by avoiding the amiable inspirer
of it. But the passion had taken too deep a root in his heart to be
so easily extirpated; his absence from the dear object increased
the impatience of his love: the intestine conflict between that and
gratitude deprived him of his rest and appetite. He was, in a short
time, emaciated by continual watching, anxiety, and want of nourishment,
and so much altered from his usual cheerfulness, that his mistress,
being surprised and alarmed at the change, which, from the symptoms, she
judged was owing to some uneasiness of mind, took all imaginable
pains to discover the cause. In all probability it did not escape her
penetration; for she more than once asked if he was in love with her
cousin; protesting that, far from being an obstacle to his happiness,
she would, in that case, be an advocate for his passion. However,
this declaration was never made without manifest signs of anxiety and
uneasiness, which made such an impression upon the heart of M--, that he
resolved to sacrifice his happiness, and even his life, rather than take
any step which might be construed into an injury or insult to a person
who had treated him with such generosity and goodness.
“In consequence of this resolution, he formed another, which was to go
abroad, under pretence of recovering his health, but in reality to avoid
the temptation, as well as the suspicion of being inconstant; and in
this design he was confirmed by his physician, who actually thought him
in the first stage of a consumption, and therefore advised him to repair
to the south of France. He communicated his design, with the doctor's
opinion, to the lady, who agreed to it with much less difficulty than he
found in conquering his own reluctance at parting with the dear object
of his love. The consent of his generous mistress being obtained, he
waited upon her with the instrument whereby she had made the conveyance
of her fortune to him; and all his remonstrances being insufficient
to persuade her to take it back, he cancelled it in her presence,
and placed it in that state upon her toilet, while she was dressing;
whereupon she shed a torrent of tears, saying, she now plainly perceived
that he wanted to tear himself from her, and that his affections were
settled upon another. He was sensibly affected by this proof of her
concern, and endeavoured to calm the perturbation of her mind, by vowing
eternal fidelity, and pressing her to accept of his hand in due form
before his departure. By these means her transports were quieted for the
present, and the marriage deferred for the same prudential reasons which
had hitherto prevented it.
“Matters being thus compromised, and the day fixed for his departure,
she, together with her faithful maid, one morning visited him for the
first time at his own lodgings; and, after breakfast, desiring to speak
with him in private, he conducted her into another room, where assuming
an unusual gravity of aspect, 'My dear M--,' said she, 'you are now
going to leave me, and God alone knows if ever we shall meet again;
therefore, if you really love me with that tenderness which you profess,
you will accept of this mark of my friendship and unalterable affection;
it will at least be a provision for your journey, and if an accident
should befall me, before I have the happiness of receiving you again
into my arms, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that you are
not altogether without resource.' So saying, she put an embroidered
pocket-book into his hand. He expressed the high sense he had of her
generosity and affection in the most pathetic terms, and begged leave
to suspend his acceptance, until he should know the contents of her
present, which was so extraordinary, that he absolutely refused to
receive it. He was, however, by her repeated entreaties, in a manner
compelled to receive about one-half, and she afterwards insisted upon
his taking a reinforcement of a considerable sum for the expense of his
journey.
“Having stayed with her ten days beyond the time he had fixed for his
departure, and settled the method of their correspondence, he took his
leave, with a heart full of sorrow, anxiety, and distraction, produced
from the different suggestions of his duty and love. He then set out for
France, and, after a short stay at Paris, proceeded to Aix in Provence,
and from thence to Marseilles, at which two places he continued for some
months. But nothing he met with being able to dissipate those melancholy
ideas which still preyed upon his imagination, and affected his spirits,
he endeavoured to elude them with a succession of new objects; and, with
that view, persuaded a counsellor of the parliament of Aix, a man of
great worth, learning, and good-humour, to accompany him in making a
tour of those parts of France which he had not yet seen. On their return
from this excursion, they found at Aix an Italian abbe, a person of
character, and great knowledge of men and books, who, having travelled
all over Germany and France, was so far on his return to his own
country.
“M-- having, by means of his friend the counsellor, contracted an
acquaintance with this gentleman, and, being desirous of seeing some
parts of Italy, particularly the carnival at Venice, they set out
together from Marseilles in a tartan for Genoa, coasting it all the
way, and lying on shore every night. Having shown him what was most
remarkable in this city, his friend the abbe was so obliging as to
conduct him through Tuscany, and the most remarkable cities in Lombardy,
to Venice, where M-- insisted upon defraying the expense of the whole
tour, in consideration of the abbe's complaisance, which had been
of infinite service to him in the course of this expedition. Having
remained five weeks at Venice, he was preparing to set out for Rome,
with some English gentlemen whom he had met by accident, when he was
all of a sudden obliged to change his resolution by some disagreeable
letters which he received from London. He had, from his first departure,
corresponded with his generous, though inconstant mistress, with a
religious exactness and punctuality; nor was she, for some time, less
observant of the agreement they had made. Nevertheless, she, by degrees,
became so negligent and cold in her expression, and so slack in her
correspondence, that he could not help observing and upbraiding her with
such indifference; and her endeavours to palliate it were supported by
pretexts so frivolous, as to be easily seen through by a lover of very
little discernment.
“While he tortured himself with conjectures about the cause of this
unexpected change, he received such intelligence from England, as, when
joined with what he himself had perceived by her manner of writing,
left him little or no room to doubt of her fickleness and inconstancy.
Nevertheless, as he knew by experience that informations of that kind
are not to be entirely relied upon, he resolved to be more certainly
apprised: and, for that end, departed immediately for London, by the
way of Tyrol, Bavaria, Alsace, and Paris. On his arrival in England, he
learned, with infinite concern, that his intelligence had not been
at all exaggerated; and his sorrow was inexpressible to find a person
endowed with so many other noble and amiable qualities, seduced into
an indiscretion, that of necessity ruined the whole plan which had been
concerted between them for their mutual happiness. She made several
attempts, by letters and interviews, to palliate her conduct, and soften
him into a reconciliation; but his honour being concerned, he remained
deaf to all her entreaties and proposals. Nevertheless, I have often
heard him say, that he could not help loving her, and revering the
memory of a person to whose generosity and goodness he owed his fortune,
and one whose foibles were overbalanced by a thousand good qualities. He
often insisted on making restitution; but far from complying with that
proposal, she afterwards often endeavoured to lay him under yet greater
obligations of the same kind, and importuned him with the warmest
solicitations to renew their former correspondence, which he as often
declined.
“M-- took this instance of the inconstancy of the sex so much to
heart, that he had almost resolved for the future to keep clear of all
engagements for life, and returned to Paris, in order to dissipate his
anxiety, where he hired an apartment in one of the academies, in the
exercises whereof he took singular delight. During his residence at
this place, he had the good fortune to ingratiate himself with a
great general, a descendant of one of the most ancient and illustrious
families in France; having attracted his notice by some remarks he had
written on Folard's Polybius, which were accidentally shown to that
great man by one of his aides-de-camp, who was a particular friend of
M--. The favour he had thus acquired was strengthened by his assiduities
and attention. Upon his return to London, he sent some of Handel's
newest compositions to the prince, who was particularly fond of that
gentleman's productions, together with Clark's edition of Caesar; and,
in the spring of the same year, before the French army took the field,
he was honoured with a most obliging letter from the prince, inviting
him to come over, if he wanted to see the operations of the campaign,
and desiring he would give himself no trouble about his equipage.
“M-- having still some remains of a military disposition, and this to be
a more favourable opportunity than any he should ever meet with again,
readily embraced the offer, and sacrificed the soft delights of love,
which at that time he enjoyed without control, to an eager, laborious,
and dangerous curiosity. In that and the following campaign, during
which he was present at the siege of Philipsburgh, and several other
actions, he enlarged his acquaintance among the French officers,
especially those of the graver sort, who had a taste for books and
literature; and the friendship and interest of those gentlemen were
afterwards of singular service to him, though in an affair altogether
foreign from their profession. He had all along made diligent inquiry
into the trade and manufactures of the countries through which he had
occasion to travel, more particularly those of Holland, England, and
France; and, as he was well acquainted with the revenue and farms of
this last kingdom, he saw with concern the great disadvantages under
which our tobacco trade, the most considerable branch of our commerce
with that people, was carried on; what inconsiderable returns were made
to the planters, out of the low price given by the French company; and
how much it was in the power of that company to reduce it still lower.
M-- had formed a scheme to remedy this evil, so far as it related to the
national loss or gain, by not permitting the duty of one penny in
the pound, old subsidy, to be drawn back, on tobacco, re-exported. He
demonstrated to the ministry of that time, that so inconsiderable a duty
could not in the least diminish the demand from abroad, which was the
only circumstance to be apprehended, and that the yearly produce of that
revenue would amount to one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, without
one shilling additional expense to the public; but the ministry having
the excise scheme then in contemplation, could think of no other till
that should be tried; and that project having miscarried, he renewed his
application, when they approved of his scheme in every particular, but
discovered a surprising backwardness to carry it into execution.
“His expectations in this quarter being disappointed, he, by the
interposition of his friends, presented a plan to the French company, in
which he set forth the advantages that would accrue to themselves from
fixing the price, and securing that sort of tobacco which best suited
the taste of the public and their manufacture; and finally proposed to
furnish them with any quantity, at the price which they paid in the port
of London.
“After some dispute, they agreed to this proposal, and contracted
with him for fifteen thousand hogsheads a year, for which they obliged
themselves to pay ready money, on its arrival in any one or more
convenient ports in the south or western coasts of Great Britain that he
should please to fix upon for that purpose. M-- no sooner obtained this
contract, than he immediately set out for America, in order to put it
in execution; and, by way of companion, carried with him a little French
abbe, a man of humour, wit, and learning, with whom he had been long
acquainted, and for whom he had done many good offices.
“On his arrival in Virginia, which opportunely happened at a time when
all the gentlemen were assembled in the capital of that province, he
published a memorial, representing the disadvantages under which their
trade was carried on, the true method of redressing their own grievances
in that respect, and proposing to contract with them for the yearly
quantity of fifteen thousand hogsheads of such tobacco as was fit for
the French market, at the price which he demonstrated to be considerably
greater than that which they had formerly received. This remonstrance
met with all the success and encouragement he could expect. The
principal planters, seeing their own interest concerned, readily
assented to the proposal, which, through their influence, was also
relished by the rest; and the only difficulty that remained, related to
the security for payment of the bills on the arrival of the tobacco in
England, and to the time stipulated for the continuance of the contract.
“In order to remove these objections, Mr. M-- returned to Europe, and
found the French company of farmers disposed to agree to everything he
desired for facilitating the execution of the contract, and perfectly
well pleased with the sample which he had already sent; but his
good friend the abbe, whom he had left behind him in America, by an
unparalleled piece of treachery, found means to overturn the whole
project. He secretly wrote a memorial to the company, importing, that he
found, by experience, M-- could afford to furnish them at a much lower
price than that which they had agreed to give; and that, by being in
possession of the contract for five years, as was intended according to
the proposal, he would have the company so much in his power, that they
must afterwards submit to any price he should please to impose; and
that, if they thought him worth of such a trust, he would undertake to
furnish them at an easier rate, in conjunction with some of the leading
men in Virginia and Maryland, with whom, he said, he had already
concerted measures for that purpose.
“The company were so much alarmed at these insinuations, that they
declined complying with Mr. M--'s demands until the abbe's return; and,
though they afterwards used all their endeavours to persuade him to be
concerned with that little traitor in his undertaking, by which he
might still have been a very considerable gainer, he resisted all their
solicitations, and plainly told them, in the abbe's presence, that
he would never prostitute his own principles so far, as to enter into
engagements of any kind with a person of his character, much less in a
scheme that had a manifest tendency to lower the market price of tobacco
in England.
“Thus ended a project the most extensive, simple, and easy, and, as
appeared by the trial made, the best calculated to raise an immense
fortune of any that was ever undertaken or planned by a private person;
a project, in the execution of which M-- had the good of the public, and
the glory of putting in a flourishing condition the valuable branch of
our trade which gives employment to two great provinces and above two
hundred sail of ships, much more at heart than his own private interest.
It was reasonable to expect, that a man whose debts M-- had paid more
than once, whom he had obliged in many other respects, and whom he had
carried with him at a very considerable expense, on this expedition,
merely with a view of bettering his fortune, would have acted with
common honesty, if not with gratitude; but such was the depravity
of this little monster's heart, that, on his deathbed, he left a
considerable fortune to mere strangers, with whom he had little or no
connection, without the least thought of refunding the money advanced
for him by M--, in order to prevent his rotting in a jail.
“When M-- had once obtained a command of money, he, by his knowledge
in several branches of trade, as well as by the assistance of some
intelligent friends at Paris and London, found means to employ it to
very good purpose; and had he been a man of that selfish disposition,
which too much prevails in the world, he might have been at this day
master of a very ample fortune; but his ear was never deaf to the voice
of distress, nor his beneficent heart shut against the calamities of his
fellow-creatures. He was even ingenious in contriving the most
delicate methods of relieving modest indigence, and, by his industrious
benevolence, often anticipated the requests of misery.
“I could relate a number of examples to illustrate my assertions, in
some of which you would perceive the most disinterested generosity;
but such a detail would trespass too much upon your time, and I do not
pretend to dwell upon every minute circumstance of his conduct. Let it
suffice to say, that, upon the declaration of war in Spain, he gave up
all his commercial schemes, and called in his money from all quarters,
with a view of sitting down, for the rest of his life, contented with
what he had got, and restraining his liberalities to what he could spare
from his yearly income. This was a very prudential resolution, could
he have kept it; but, upon the breaking out of the war, he could not
without concern see many gentlemen of merit, who had been recommended
to him, disappointed of commissions, merely for want of money to satisfy
the expectations of the commission-brokers of that time; and therefore
launched out considerable sums for them on their bare notes, great part
whereof was lost by the death of some in the unfortunate expedition
to the West Indies. He at length, after many other actions of the like
nature, from motives of pure humanity, love of justice, and abhorrence
of oppression, embarked in a cause, every way the most important that
ever came under the discussion of the courts of law in these kingdoms;
whether it be considered in relation to the extraordinary nature of the
case, or the immense property of no less than fifty thousand pounds a
year, and three peerages that depended upon it.
“In the year 1740, the brave admiral who at that time commanded his
majesty's fleet in the West Indies, among the other transactions of his
squadron transmitted to the duke of Newcastle, mentioned a young man,
who, though in the capacity of a common sailor on board one of the ships
under his command, laid claim to the estate and titles of the earl of
A--. These pretensions were no sooner communicated in the public papers,
than they became the subject of conversation in all companies; and the
person whom they chiefly affected, being alarmed at the appearance of a
competitor, though at such a distance, began to put himself in motion,
and take all the precautions which he thought necessary to defeat
the endeavour of the young upstart. Indeed, the early intelligence he
received of Mr. A--'s making himself known in the West Indies, furnished
him with numberless advantages over that unhappy young gentleman; for,
being in possession of a splendid fortune, and lord of many manors in
the neighbourhood of the very place where the claimant was born, he
knew all the witnesses who could give the most material evidence of his
legitimacy; and, if his probity did not restrain him, had, by his power
and influence, sufficient opportunity and means of applying to the
passions and interests of the witnesses, to silence many, and gain over
others to his side; while his competitor, by an absence of fifteen
or sixteen years from his native country, the want of education and
friends, together with his present helpless situation, was rendered
absolutely incapable of taking any step for his own advantage. And
although his worthy uncle's conspicuous virtue, and religious regard for
justice and truth, might possibly be an unconquerable restraint to his
taking any undue advantages, yet the consciences of that huge army
of emissaries he kept in pay were not altogether so very tender and
scrupulous. This much, however, may be said, without derogation from,
or impeachment of, the noble earl's nice virtue and honour, that he
took care to compromise all differences with the other branches of the
family, whose interests were, in this affair, connected with his own,
by sharing the estate with them, and also retained most of the eminent
counsel within the bar of both kingdoms against this formidable bastard,
before any suit was instituted by him.
“While he was thus entrenching himself against the attack of a poor
forlorn youth, at the distance of fifteen hundred leagues, continually
exposed to the dangers of the sea, the war, and an unhealthy climate,
Mr. M--, in the common course of conversation, chanced to ask some
questions relating to this romantic pretender, of one H--, who was at
that time the present Lord A--'s chief agent. This man, when pressed,
could not help owning that the late Lord A-- actually left a son, who
had been spirited away into America soon after his father's death, but
said he did not know whether this was the same person. This information
could not fail to make an impression on the humanity of Mr. M--, who,
being acquainted with the genius of the wicked party who had possessed
themselves of this unhappy young man's estate and honours, expressed
no small anxiety and apprehension lest they should take him off by some
means or other; and, even then, seemed disposed to contribute
towards the support of the friendless orphan, and to inquire more
circumstantially into the nature of his claim. In the meantime his
occasions called him to France, and during his absence Mr. A-- arrived
in London in the month of October, 174l.”
Here the clergyman was interrupted by Peregrine, who said there was
something so extraordinary, not to call it improbable, in the account he
had heard of the young gentleman's being sent into exile, that he would
look upon himself as infinitely obliged to the doctor, if he would
favour him with a true representation of that transaction, as well as of
the manner in which he arrived and was known at the Island of Jamaica.
The parson, in compliance with our hero's request, taking up the story
from the beginning, “Mr. A--,” said he, “is the son of Arthur, late lord
baron of A--, by his wife Mary S--, natural daughter to John, duke of
B-- and N--, whom he publicly married on the 21st day of July, 1706,
contrary to the inclination of his mother, and all his other relations,
particularly of Arthur, late earl of A--, who bore an implacable enmity
to the duke her father, and, for that reason, did all that lay in his
power to traverse the marriage; but, finding his endeavours ineffectual,
he was so much offended, that he would never be perfectly reconciled to
Lord A--, though he was his presumptive heir. After their nuptials,
they cohabited together in England for the space of two or three years,
during which she miscarried more than once; and he being a man of
levity, and an extravagant disposition, not only squandered away all
that he had received of his wife's fortune, but also contracted many
considerable debts, which obliged him to make a precipitate retreat into
Ireland, leaving his lady behind him in the house with his mother and
sister, who, having also been averse to the match, had always looked
upon her with eyes of disgust.
“It was not likely that harmony should long subsist in this family,
especially as Lady A-- was a woman of a lofty spirit, who could not
tamely bear insults and ill-usage from persons who, she had reason to
believe, were her enemies at heart. Accordingly, a misunderstanding
soon happened among them, which was fomented by the malice of one of her
sisters-in-law. Divers scandalous reports of her misconduct, to which
the empty pretensions of a vain wretched coxcomb, who was made use of
as an infamous tool for that purpose, gave a colourable pretext,
were trumped up, and transmitted, with many false and aggravating
circumstances, to her husband in Ireland; who, being a giddy, unthinking
man, was so much incensed at these insinuations, that, in the first
transports of his passion, he sent to his mother a power of attorney,
that she might sue for a divorce in his behalf. A libel was thereupon
exhibited, containing many scandalous allegations, void of any real
foundation in truth; but being unsupported by any manner of proof, it
was at length dismissed with costs, after it had depended upwards of two
years.
“Lord A-- finding himself abused by the misrepresentations of his mother
and sister, discovered an inclination to be reconciled to his lady. In
consequence of which, she was sent over to Dublin by her father, to the
care of a gentleman in that city; in whose house she was received by her
husband with all the demonstrations of love and esteem. From thence he
conducted her to his lodgings, and thence to his country house, where
she had the misfortune to suffer a miscarriage, through fear and
resentment of my lord's behaviour, which was often brutal and indecent.
From the country they removed to Dublin, about the latter end of July,
or beginning of August, 1714, where they had not long continued, when
her ladyship was known to be again with child.
“Lord A-- and his issue being next in remainder to the honours and
estate of Arthur, earl of A--, was extremely solicitous to have a son;
and, warned by the frequent miscarriages of his lady, resolved to curb
the natural impatience and rusticity of his disposition, that she might
not, as formerly, suffer by his outrageous conduct. He accordingly
cherished her with uncommon tenderness and care; and her pregnancy being
pretty far advanced, conducted her to his country seat, where she was
delivered of Mr. A--, about the latter end of April, or beginning of
May; for none of the witnesses have been able, at this distance, with
absolute certainty to fix the precise time of his birth, and there
was no register kept in the parish. As an additional misfortune, no
gentleman of fashion lived in that parish; nor did those who lived at
any considerable distance care to cultivate an acquaintance with a man
of Lord A--'s strange conduct.
“Be that as it will, the occasion was celebrated by his lordship's
tenants and dependents upon the spot, and in the neighbouring town of
New-R--, by bonfires, illuminations, and other rejoicings; which have
made such an impression upon the minds of the people, that in the
place where they happened, and the contiguous parishes, several hundred
persons have already declared their knowledge and remembrance of this
event, in spite of the great power of the claimant's adversary in
that quarter, and the great pains and indirect methods taken by his
numberless agents and emissaries, as well as by those who are interested
with him in the event of the suit, to corrupt and suppress the evidence.
“Lord A--, after the birth of his son, who was sent to nurse in the
neighbourhood, according to the custom of the country, where people of
the highest distinction put their children out to nurse into farmhouses
and cabins, lived in harmony with his lady for the space of two years.
But having, by his folly and extravagance, reduced himself to great
difficulties, he demanded the remainder of her fortune from her father,
the duke of B--, who absolutely refused to part with a shilling until a
proper settlement should be made on his daughter, which, by that time,
he had put out of his own power to make, by his folly and extravagance.
“As her ladyship, by her endeavours to reform the economy of her house,
had incurred the displeasure of some idle profligate fellows, who
had fastened themselves upon her husband, and helped to consume his
substance, they seized this opportunity of the duke's refusal; and, in
order to be revenged upon the innocent lady, persuaded Lord A--, that
the only means of extracting money from his grace, would be to turn her
away, on pretence of infidelity to his bed, for which they hinted there
was but too much foundation. At their suggestions, a most infamous
plan was projected; in the execution of which, one P--, a poor, unbred,
simple country booby, whom they had decoyed into a snare, lost one of
his ears, and the injured lady retired that same day to New-R--, where
she continued several years. She did not, however, leave the house,
without struggling hard to carry her child along with her; but far from
enjoying such indulgence, strict orders were given, that the boy should
not, for the future, be brought within her sight. This base, inhuman
treatment, instead of answering the end proposed, produced such a
contrary effect, that the duke of B--, by a codicil to his will, in
which he reflects upon Lord A--'s evil temper, directed his executors to
pay to his daughter an annuity of one hundred pounds, while her lord and
she should continue to live separate; and this allowance was to cease on
Lord A--'s death.
“While she remained in this solitary situation, the child was
universally known and received as the legitimate son and heir of her
lord, whose affection for the boy was so conspicuous, that, in the midst
of his own necessities, he never failed to maintain him in the dress and
equipage of a young nobleman. In the course of his infancy, his father
having often changed his place of residence, the child was put under
the instructions of a great many different schoolmasters, so that he was
perfectly well known in a great many different parts of the kingdom; and
his mother seized all opportunities, which were but rare, on account of
his father's orders to the contrary, of seeing and giving him proofs
of her maternal tenderness, until she set out for England, after having
been long in a declining state of health, by a paralytical disorder;
upon the consequence of which, such dependence was placed by her
inconsiderate husband, who was by this time reduced to extreme poverty,
that he actually married a woman whom he had long kept as a mistress.
This creature no sooner understood that Lady A-- was departed from
Ireland, than she openly avowed her marriage, and went about publicly
with Lord A--, visiting his acquaintances in the character of his wife.
“From this era may be dated the beginning of Mr. A--'s misfortune. This
artful woman, who had formerly treated the child with an appearance of
fondness, in order to ingratiate herself with the father, now looking
upon herself as sufficiently established in the family, thought it was
high time to alter her behaviour with regard to the unfortunate boy;
and accordingly, for obvious reasons, employed a thousand artifices to
alienate the heart of the weak father from his unhappy offspring.
Yet, notwithstanding all her insinuations, nature still maintained her
influence in his heart; and though she often found means to irritate
him by artful and malicious accusations, his resentment never extended
farther than fatherly correction. She would have found it impossible
to accomplish his ruin, had not her efforts been reinforced by a new
auxiliary, who was no other than his uncle, the present usurper of
his title and estate; yet even this confederacy was overawed, in some
measure, by the fear of alarming the unfortunate mother, until her
distemper increased to a most deplorable degree of the dead palsy, and
the death of her father had reduced her to a most forlorn and abject
state of distress. Then they ventured upon the execution of their
projects; and, though their aims were widely different, concurred in
their endeavours to remove the hapless boy, as the common obstacle to
both.
“Lord A-- who, as I have already observed, was a man of weak intellects,
and utterly void of any fixed principle of action, being by this time
reduced to such a pitch of misery, that he was often obliged to pawn his
wearing apparel in order to procure the common necessaries of life; and
having no other fund remaining, with which he could relieve his present
necessities, except a sale of the reversion of the A-- estate, to
which the nonage of his son was an effectual bar, he was advised by
his virtuous brother, and the rest of his counsellors, to surmount this
difficulty, by secreting his son, and spreading a report of his death.
This honest project he the more readily embraced, because he knew that
no act of his could frustrate the child's succession. Accordingly, the
boy was removed from the school at which he was then boarded, to the
house of one K--, an agent and accomplice of the present earl of A--,
where he was kept for several months closely confined; and, in the
meantime, it was industriously reported that he was dead.
“This previous measure being taken, Lord A-- published advertisements
in the gazettes, offering reversions of the A-- estate to sale; and
emissaries of various kinds were employed to inveigle such as were
ignorant of the nature of the settlement of these estates, or strangers
to the affairs of his family. Some people, imposed upon by the report of
the child's death, were drawn in to purchase, thinking themselves safe
in the concurrence of his lordship's brother, upon presumption that
he was next in remainder to the succession; others, tempted by the
smallness of the price, which rarely exceeded half a year's purchase, as
appears by many deeds, though they doubted the truth of the boy's being
dead, ran small risks, on the contingency of his dying before he should
be of age, or in hopes of his being prevailed upon to confirm the grants
of his father; and many more were treating with him on the same notions,
when their transactions were suddenly interrupted, and the scheme
of raising more money for the present, defeated by the unexpected
appearance of the boy, who, being naturally sprightly and impatient of
restraint, had found means to break from his confinement, and wandered
up and down the streets of Dublin, avoiding his father's house, and
choosing to encounter all sorts of distress, rather than subject himself
again to the cruelty and malice of the woman who supplied his mother's
place. Thus debarred his father's protection, and destitute of any fixed
habitation, he herded with all the loose, idle, and disorderly youths in
Dublin, skulking chiefly about the college, several members and students
of which, taking pity on his misfortunes, supplied him at different
times with clothes and money. In this unsettled and uncomfortable way
of life did he remain, from the year 1725 to the latter end of November,
1727; at which time his father died, so miserably poor, that he was
actually buried at the public expense.
“This unfortunate nobleman was no sooner dead, than his brother Richard,
now earl of A--, taking advantage of the nonage and helpless situation
of his nephew, seized upon all the papers of the defunct, and afterwards
usurped the title of Lord A--, to the surprise of the servants,
and others who were acquainted with the affairs of the family. This
usurpation, bold as it was, produced no other effect than that of his
being insulted by the populace as he went through the streets, and the
refusal of the king-at-arms to enrol the certificate of his brother's
having died without issue. The first of these inconveniences he bore
without any sense of shame, though not without repining, conscious that
it would gradually vanish with the novelty of his invasion; and as to
the last, he conquered it by means well known and obvious.
“Nor will it seem strange, that he should thus invade the rights of an
orphan with impunity, if people will consider, that the late Lord
A-- had not only squandered away his fortune with the most ridiculous
extravagance, but also associated himself with low company, so that he
was little known, and less regarded, by persons of any rank and figure
in life; and his child, of consequence, debarred of the advantages
which might have accrued from valuable connections. And though it was
universally known, that Lady A-- had a son in Ireland, such was the
obscurity in which the father had lived, during the last years of his
life, that few of the nobility could be supposed to be acquainted with
the particular circumstances of a transaction in which they had no
concern, and which had happened at the distance of twelve years before
the date of this usurpation. Moreover, as their first information was no
other than common fame, the public clamour occasioned by the separation
might inspire such as were strangers to the family affairs with a
mistaken notion of the child's having been born about or after the time
of that event. The hurry and bustle occasioned by the arrival of the
lord-lieutenant about this period, the reports industriously propagated
of the claimant's death, the obscurity and concealment in which the boy
was obliged to live, in order to elude the wicked attempts of his uncle,
might also contribute to his peaceable enjoyment of an empty title. And
lastly, Lord Chancellor W--, whose immediate province it was to issue
writs for parliament, was an utter stranger in Ireland, unacquainted
with the descents of families, and consequently did not examine farther
than the certificate enrolled in the books of the king-at-arms. Over and
above these circumstances, which naturally account for the success of
the imposture, it may be observed, that the hapless youth had not one
relation alive, on the side of his father, whose interest it was not to
forward or connive at his destruction; that his grandfather, the duke
of B--, was dead; and that his mother was then in England, in a forlorn,
destitute, dying condition, secreted from the world, and even from her
own relations, by her woman Mary H--, who had a particular interest to
secrete her, and altogether dependent upon a miserable and precarious
allowance from the duchess of B--, to whose caprice she was moreover a
most wretched slave.
“Notwithstanding these concurring circumstances in favour of the
usurper, he did not think himself secure while the orphan had any chance
of finding a friend who would undertake his cause; and therefore laid
a plan for his being kidnapped, and sent to America as a slave. His
coadjutor in this inhuman scheme was a person who carried on the trade
of transporting servants to our plantations, and was deeply interested
on this occasion, having, for a mere trifle, purchased of the late
Lord A--, the reversion of a considerable part of the A-- estate, which
shameful bargain was confirmed by the brother, but could never take
place, unless the boy could be effectually removed.
“Everything being settled with this auxiliary, several ruffians were
employed in search of the unhappy victim; and the first attempt that was
made upon him, in which his uncle personally assisted, happening near
one of the great markets of the city of Dublin, an honest butcher, with
the assistance of his neighbours, rescued him by force from their cruel
hands. This, however, was but a short respite; for, though warned by
this adventure, the boy seldom crept out of his lurking-places, without
the most cautious circumspection, he was, in March, 1727, discovered
by the diligence of his persecutors, and forcibly dragged on board of
a ship bound for Newcastle, on Delaware river in America, where he
was sold as a slave, and kept to hard labour, much above his age
or strength, for the space of thirteen years, during which he was
transferred from one person to another.
“While he remained in this servile situation, he often mentioned,
to those in whom he thought such confidence might be placed, the
circumstances of his birth and title, together with the manner of his
being exiled from his native country, although, in this particular, he
neglected a caution which he had received in his passage, importing that
such a discovery would cost him his life. Meanwhile the usurper quietly
enjoyed his right; and to those who questioned him about his brother's
son, constantly replied, that the boy had been dead for several years.
And Arthur, earl of A--, dying in April 1737, he, upon pretence of being
next heir, succeeded to the honours and estate of that nobleman.
“The term of the nephew's bondage, which had been lengthened out beyond
the usual time, on account of his repeated attempts to escape, being
expired in the year 1739, he hired himself as a common sailor in a
trading vessel bound to Jamaica; and there, being entered on board of
one of his majesty's ships under the command of Admiral Vernon, openly
declared his parentage and pretensions. This extraordinary claim, which
made a great noise in the fleet, reaching the ears of one Lieutenant
S--, nearly related to the usurper's Irish wife, he believed the young
gentleman to be an impostor; and, thinking it was incumbent on him to
discover the cheat, he went on board the ship to which the claimant
belonged, and, having heard the account which he gave of himself, was,
notwithstanding his prepossessions, convinced of the truth of what
he alleged. On his return to his own ship, he chanced to mention this
extraordinary affair upon the quarter-deck, in the hearing of Mr. B--,
one of the midshipmen, who had formerly been at school with Mr. A--.
This young gentleman not only told the lieutenant, that he had been
school-fellow with Lord A--'s son, but also declared that he should know
him again, if not greatly altered, as he still retained a perfect idea
of his countenance.
“Upon this intimation, the lieutenant proposed that the experiment
should be tried; and went with the midshipman on board the ship that
the claimant was on, for that purpose. After all the sailors had been
assembled upon deck, Mr. B--, casting his eyes around, immediately
distinguished Mr. A-- in the crowd, and, laying his hand on his
shoulder, 'This is the man,' said he; affirming, at the same time, that,
while he continued at school with him, the claimant was reputed and
respected as Lord A--'s son and heir, and maintained in all respects
suitable to the dignity of his rank. Nay, he was, in like manner,
recognised by several other persons in the fleet, who had known him in
his infancy.
“These things being reported to the admiral, he generously ordered him
to be supplied with necessaries, and treated like a gentleman; and, in
his next despatches, transmitted an account of the affair to the duke of
Newcastle, among the other transactions of the fleet.
“In September or October, 1741, Mr. A-- arrived in London; and the first
person to whom he applied for advice and assistance was a man of the
law, nearly related to the families of A-- and A--, and well acquainted
with the particular affairs of each; who, far from treating him as a
bastard and impostor, received him with civility and seeming kindness,
asked him to eat, presented him with a piece of money, and, excusing
himself from meddling in the affair, advised him to go to Ireland, as
the most proper place for commencing a suit for the recovery of his
right.
“Before the young gentleman had an opportunity, or indeed any
inclination, to comply with this advice, he was accidentally met in
the street by that same H--, who, as I have mentioned, gave Mr. M-- the
first insight into the affair. This man immediately knew the claimant,
having been formerly an agent for his father, and afterwards a creature
of his uncle's, with whom he was, not without reason, suspected to be
concerned in kidnapping and transporting his nephew. Be that as it will,
his connections with the usurper were now broken off by a quarrel, in
consequence of which he had thrown up his agency; and he invited the
hapless stranger to his house, with a view of making all possible
advantage of such a guest.
“There he had not long remained, when his treacherous landlord,
tampering with his inexperience, effected a marriage between him and the
daughter of one of his own friends, who lodged in his house at the same
time. But afterwards, seeing no person of consequence willing to espouse
his cause, he looked upon him as an encumbrance, and wanted to rid
his hands of him accordingly. He remembered that Mr. M-- had expressed
himself with all the humanity of apprehension in favour of the
unfortunate young nobleman, before his arrival in England; and, being
well acquainted with the generosity of his disposition, he no sooner
understood that he was returned from France, than he waited upon him
with an account of Mr. A--'s being safely arrived. Mr. M-- was sincerely
rejoiced to find, that a person who had been so cruelly injured, and
undergone so long and continued a scene of distress, was restored to
a country where he was sure of obtaining justice, and where every good
man, as he imagined, would make the cause his own. And being informed
that the youth was in want of necessaries, he gave twenty guineas to H--
for his use, and promised to do him all the service in his power;
but had no intention to take upon himself the whole weight of such an
important affair, or indeed to appear in the cause, until he should be
fully and thoroughly satisfied that the claimant's pretensions were well
founded.
“In the meantime, H-- insinuating that the young gentleman was not
safe in his present lodging from the machinations of his enemies, M--
accommodated him with an apartment in his own house; where he was at
great pains to remedy the defect in his education, by rendering him fit
to appear as a gentleman in the world. Having received from him all the
intelligence he could give relating to his own affair, he laid the case
before counsel, and despatched a person to Ireland, to make further
inquiries upon the same subject; who, in his first arrival in that
kingdom, found the claimant's birth was as publicly known as any
circumstance of that kind could possibly be, at so great a distance of
time.
“The usurper and his friends gave all the interruption in their power to
any researches concerning that affair; and had recourse to every art
and expedient that could be invented, to prevent its being brought to
a legal discussion. Privilege, bills in chancery, orders of court
surreptitiously and illegally obtained, and every other invention was
made use of to bar and prevent a fair and honest trial by a jury. The
usurper himself, and his agents, at the same time that they formed
divers conspiracies against his life, in vain endeavoured to detach
Mr. M-- from the orphan's cause, by innumerable artifices, insinuating,
cajoling, and misrepresenting, with surprising dexterity and
perseverance.
“His protector, far from being satisfied with their reasons, was not
only deaf to their remonstrances, but, believing him in danger from
their repeated efforts, had him privately conveyed into the country;
where an unhappy accident, which he hath ever since sincerely regretted,
furnished his adversary with a colourable pretext to cut him off in the
beginning of his career.
“A man happening to lose his life by the accidental discharge of a piece
that chanced to be in a young gentleman's hands, the account of this
misfortune no sooner reached the ears of his uncle, than he expressed
the most immoderate joy at having found so good a handle for destroying
him, under colour of law. He immediately constituted himself prosecutor,
set his emissaries at work to secure a coroner's inquest suited to his
cruel purposes; set out for the place in person, to take care that the
prisoner should not escape; insulted him in jail, in the most inhuman
manner; employed a whole army of attorneys and agents, to spirit up and
carry on a most virulent prosecution; practised all the unfair methods
that could be invented, in order that the unhappy gentleman should be
transported to Newgate, from the healthy prison to which he was at first
committed; endeavoured to inveigle him into destructive confessions;
and, not to mention other more infamous arts employed in the affair of
evidence, attempted to surprise him upon his trial in the absence of
his witnesses and counsel, contrary to a previous agreement with the
prosecutor's own attorney. Nay, he even appeared in person upon the
bench at the trial, in order to intimidate the evidence, and browbeat
the unfortunate prisoner at the bar, and expended above a thousand
pounds in that prosecution. In spite of all his wicked efforts, however,
which were defeated by the spirit and indefatigable industry of Mr.
M--, the young gentleman was honourably acquitted, to the evident
satisfaction of all the impartial; the misfortune, that gave a handle
for that unnatural prosecution, appearing to a demonstration to have
been a mere accident.
“In a few months, his protector, who had now openly espoused his cause,
taking with him two gentlemen to witness his transactions, conducted him
to his native country, with a view to be better informed of the strength
of his pretensions, than he could be by the intelligence he had
hitherto received, or by the claimant's own dark and almost obliterated
remembrance of the facts which were essential to be known. Upon their
arrival in Dublin, application was made to those persons whom Mr.
A-- had named as his schoolmasters and companions, together with
the servants and neighbours of his father. These, though examined
separately, without having the least previous intimation of what the
claimant had reported, agreed in their accounts with him, as well as
with one another, and mentioned many other people as acquainted with the
same facts, to whom Mr. M-- had recourse, and still met with the same
unvaried information. By these means, he made such progress in his
inquiries, that, in less than two months, no fewer than one hundred
persons, from different quarters of the kingdom, either personally,
or by letters, communicated their knowledge of the claimant, in
declarations consonant with one another, as well as with the accounts
he gave of himself. Several servants who had lived with his father, and
been deceived with the story of his death, so industriously propagated
by his uncle, no sooner heard of his being in Dublin, than they came
from different parts of the country to see him; and though great pains
were taken to deceive them, they, nevertheless, knew him at first
sight; some of them fell upon their knees to thank for his preservation,
embraced his legs, and shed tears of joy for his return.
“Although the conduct of his adversary, particularly in the
above-mentioned prosecution, together with the evidence that already
appeared, were sufficient to convince all mankind of the truth of the
claimant's pretensions, Mr. M--, in order to be further satisfied,
resolved to see how he would be received upon the spot where he was
born; justly concluding, that if he was really an impostor, the bastard
of a kitchen-wench, produced in a country entirely possessed by his
enemy and his allies, he must be looked upon in that place with the
utmost detestation and contempt.
“This his intention was no sooner known to the adverse party, than their
agents and friends from all quarters repaired to that place with all
possible despatch, and used all their influence with the people, in
remonstrances, threats, and all the other arts they could devise, not
only to discountenance the claimant upon his arrival, but even to spirit
up a mob to insult him. Notwithstanding these precautions, and the
servile awe and subjection in which tenants are kept by their landlords
in that part of the country, as soon as it was known that Mr. A--
approached the town, the inhabitants crowded out in great multitudes
to receive and welcome him, and accompanied him into town, with
acclamations, and other expressions of joy, insomuch that the agents
of his adversary durst not show their faces. The sovereign of the
corporation, who was a particular creature and favourite of the usurper,
and whose all depended upon the issue of the cause, was so conscious of
the stranger's right, and so much awed by the behaviour of the people,
who knew that consciousness, that he did not think it safe even to
preserve the appearance of neutrality upon this occasion, but actually
held the stirrup while Mr. A-- dismounted from his horse.
“This sense of conviction in the people manifested itself still more
powerfully when he returned to the same place in the year 1744, about
which time Lord A-- being informed of his resolution, determined again
to be beforehand with him, and set out in person, with his agents
and friends, some of whom were detached before him to prepare for his
reception, and induced the people to meet him in a body, and accompany
him to town, with such expressions of welcome as they had before
bestowed on his nephew; but, in spite of all their art and interest,
he was suffered to pass through the street in a mournful silence; and
though several barrels of beer were produced to court the favour of the
populace, they had no other effect than that of drawing their ridicule
upon the donor, whereas, when Mr. A--, two days afterwards, appeared,
all the inhabitants, with garlands, streamers, music, and other ensigns
of joy, crowded out to meet him, and ushered him into town with such
demonstrations of pleasure and goodwill, that the noble peer found it
convenient to hide himself from the resentment of his own tenants, the
effects of which he must have severely felt, had not he been screened
by the timely remonstrances of Mr. M--, and the other gentlemen who
accompanied his competitor.
“Nor did his apprehension vanish with the transaction of this day; the
town was again in uproar on the Sunday following, when it was known that
Mr. A-- intended to come thither from Dunmain to church; they went
out to meet him as before, and conducted him to the church door with
acclamations, which terrified his uncle to such a degree, that he fled
with precipitation in a boat, and soon after entirely quitted the place.
“It would be almost an endless task to enumerate the particular steps
that were taken by one side to promote, and by the other to delay, the
trial. The young gentleman's adversaries finding that they could not, by
all the subterfuges and arts they had used, evade it, repeated attempts
were made to assassinate him and his protector; and every obstruction
thrown in the way of his cause which craft could invent, villainy
execute, and undue influence confirm. But all these difficulties were
surmounted by the vigilance, constancy, courage, and sagacity of M--;
and, at last, the affair was brought to a very solemn trial at bar,
which being continued, by several adjournments, from the eleventh to the
twenty-fifth day of November, a verdict was found for the claimant by a
jury of gentlemen, which, in point of reputation and property, cannot
be easily paralleled in the annals of that or any other country; a jury,
that could by no means be suspected of prepossessions in favour of Mr.
A--, to whose person they were absolute strangers; especially if we
consider, that a gentleman in their neighbourhood, who was nephew to
the foreman, and nearly related to some of the rest of their number,
forfeited a considerable estate by their decision.
“This verdict,” said the parson, “gave the highest satisfaction to all
impartial persons that were within reach of being duly informed of their
proceedings, and of the different genius and conduct of the parties
engaged in the contest, but more especially to such as were in court, as
I was, at the trial, and had an opportunity of observing the characters
and behaviour of the persons who appeared there to give evidence. To
such it was very apparent, that all the witnesses produced there on the
part of the uncle, were either his tenants, dependents, pot-companions,
or persons some way or other interested in the issue of the suit, and
remarkable for a low kind of cunning; that many of them were persons
of profligate lives, who deserved no credit; that, independent of
the levity of their characters, those of them who went under the
denomination of colonels, Colonel L-- alone excepted, who had nothing to
say, and was only brought there in order to give credit to that party,
made so ridiculous a figure, and gave so absurd, contradictory, and
inconsistent an evidence, as no court or jury could give the least
degree of credit to. On the other hand, it was observed, that the
nephew and Mr. M--, his chief manager, being absolute strangers in that
country, and unacquainted with the characters of the persons they had to
deal with, were obliged to lay before the court and jury such evidence
as came to their hand, some of whom plainly appeared to have been
put upon them by their adversaries with a design to hurt. It was also
manifest, that the witnesses produced for Mr. A--, were such as could
have no manner of connection with him, nor any dependence whatsoever
upon him, to influence their evidence; for the far greatest part of them
had never seen him from his infancy till the trial began; and many of
them, though poor, and undignified with the title of colonels, were
people of unblemished character, of great simplicity, and such as no man
in his senses would pitch upon to support a bad cause. It is plain that
the jury, whose well-known honour, impartiality, and penetration, must
be revered by all who are acquainted with them, were not under the least
difficulty about their verdict; for they were not enclosed above half
an hour, when they returned with it. These gentlemen could not help
observing the great inequality of the parties engaged, the great
advantages that the uncle had in every other respect, except the
truth and justice of his case, over the nephew, by means of his vast
possessions, and of his power and influence all round the place of his
birth; nor could the contrast between the different geniuses of the two
parties escape their observation. They could not but see and conclude,
that a person who had confessedly transported and sold his orphan nephew
into slavery,--who, on his return, had carried on so unwarrantable and
cruel a prosecution to take away his life under colour of law,--and who
had also given such glaring proofs of his skill and dexterity in the
management of witnesses for that cruel purpose,--was in like manner
capable of exerting the same happy talent on this occasion, when his all
was at stake; more especially, as he had so many others who were equally
interested with himself, and whose abilities in that respect fell
nothing short of his own, to second him in it. The gentlemen of the
jury had also a near view of the manner in which the witnesses delivered
their testimonies, and had from thence an opportunity of observing
many circumstances, and distinguishing characteristics of truth and
falsehood, from which a great deal could be gathered, that could not
be adequately conveyed by any printed account, how exact soever;
consequently, they must have been much better judges of the evidence on
which they founded their verdict than any person who had not the same
opportunity, can possibly be.
“These, Mr. Pickle, were my reflections on what I had occasion to
observe concerning that famous trial; and, on my return to England
two years after, I could not help pitying the self-sufficiency of some
people, who, at this distance, pretended to pass their judgment on that
verdict with as great positiveness as if they had been in the secrets
of the cause, or upon the jury who tried it; and that from no better
authority than the declamations of Lord A--'s emissaries, and some
falsified printed accounts, artfully cooked up on purpose to mislead and
deceive.
“But to return from this digression. Lord A--, the defendant in that
cause, was so conscious of the strength and merits of his injured
nephew's case, and that a verdict would go against him, that he ordered
a writ of error to be made out before the trial was ended; and the
verdict was no sooner given, than he immediately lodged it, though
he well knew he had no manner of error to assign. This expedient was
practised merely for vexation and delay, in order to keep Mr. A-- from
the possession of the small estate he had recovered by the verdict,
that, his slender funds being exhausted, he might be deprived of other
means to prosecute his right; and by the most oppressive contrivances
and scandalous chicanery, it has been kept up to this day, without his
being able to assign the least shadow of any error.
“Lord A-- was not the only antagonist that Mr. A-- had to deal with;
all the different branches of the A-- family, who had been worrying one
another at law ever since the death of the late earl of A--, about the
partition of his great estate, were now firmly united in an association
against this unfortunate gentleman; mutual deeds were executed among
them, by which many great lordships and estates were given up by the
uncle to persons who had no right to possess them, in order to engage
them to side with him against his nephew, in withholding the unjust
possession of the remainder.
“These confederates having held several consultations against their
common enemy, and finding that his cause gathered daily strength since
the trial, by the accession of many witnesses of figure and reputation,
who had not been heard of before, and that the only chance they had
to prevent the speedy establishment of his right, and their own
destruction, was by stripping Mr. M-- of the little money that yet
remained, and by stopping all further resources whereby he might be
enabled to proceed; they therefore came to a determined resolution to
carry that hopeful scheme into execution; and, in pursuance thereof,
they have left no expedient or stratagem, how extraordinary or
scandalous soever, unpractised, to distress Mr. A-- and that
gentleman. For that end, all the oppressive arts and dilatory expensive
contrivances that the fertile invention of the lowest pettifoggers
of the law could possibly devise, have with dexterity been played off
against them, in fruitless quibbling, and malicious suits, entirely
foreign to the merits of the cause. Not to mention numberless other acts
of oppression, the most extraordinary and unprecedented proceeding, by
means whereof this sham writ of error hath been kept on foot ever since
November, 1743, is to me,” said the doctor, “a most flagrant instance
not only of the prevalency of power and money, when employed, as in the
present case, against an unfortunate helpless man, disabled, as he is,
of the means of ascertaining his right, but of the badness of a cause
that hath recourse to so many iniquitous expedients to support it.
“In a word, the whole conduct of Lord A-- and his party, from the
beginning to this time, hath been such as sufficiently manifests that
it could proceed from no other motives than a consciousness of Mr.
A--'s right, and of their own illegal usurpations, and from a terror of
trusting the merits of their case to a fair discussion by the laws
of their country; and that the intention and main drift of all their
proceedings plainly tends to stifle and smother the merits of the
case from the knowledge of the world, by oppressive arts and ingenious
delays, rather than trust it to the candid determination of an honest
jury. What else could be the motives of kidnapping the claimant, and
transporting him when an infant? of the various attempts made upon his
life since his return? of the attempts to divest him of all assistance
to ascertain his right, by endeavouring so solicitously to prevail on
Mr. M-- to abandon him in the beginning? of retaining an army of counsel
before any suit had been commenced? of the many sinister attempts to
prevent the trial at bar? of the various arts made use of to terrify any
one from appearing as witness for the claimant, and to seduce those who
had appeared? of the shameless, unprecedented, low tricks now practised,
to keep him out of the possession of that estate for which he had
obtained the verdict, thereby to disable him from bringing his cause to
a further hearing; and of the attempts made to buy up Mr. M--'s debts,
and to spirit up suits against him? Is it not obvious from all these
circumstances, as well as from the obstruction they have given to the
attorney-general's proceeding to make a report to his majesty on the
claimant's petition to the king for the peerage, which was referred
by his majesty to that gentleman, so far back as 1743, that all their
efforts are bent to that one point, of stifling, rather than suffering
the merits of this cause to come to a fair and candid hearing; and that
the sole consideration at present between them and this unfortunate man
is not whether he is right or wrong, but whether he shall or shall not
find money to bring this cause to a final determination?
“Lord A-- and his confederates, not thinking themselves safe with all
these expedients, while there was a possibility of their antagonist's
obtaining any assistance from such as humanity, compassion, generosity,
or a love of justice, might induce to lay open their purses to his
assistance in ascertaining his right, have, by themselves and their
numerous emissaries, employed all the arts of calumny, slander, and
detraction against him, by traducing his cause, vilifying his person,
and most basely and cruelly tearing his character to pieces, by a
thousand misrepresentations, purposely invented and industriously
propagated in all places of resort, which is a kind of cowardly
assassination that there is no guarding against; yet, in spite of all
these machinations, and the shameful indifference of mankind, who
stand aloof unconcerned, and see this unhappy gentleman most inhumanly
oppressed by the weight of lawless power and faction, M--, far from
suffering himself to be dejected by the multiplying difficulties
that crowd upon him, still exerts himself with amazing fortitude and
assiduity, and will, I doubt not, bring the affair he began and
carried on with so much spirit, while his finances lasted, to a happy
conclusion.
“It would exceed the bounds of my intention, and, perhaps, trespass too
much upon your time, were I to enumerate the low artifices and shameful
quibbles by which the usurper has found means to procrastinate the
decision of the contest between him and his hapless nephew, or to give
a detail of the damage and perplexity which Mr. M-- has sustained, and
been involved in, by the treachery and ingratitude of some who listed
themselves under him in the prosecution of this affair; and by the
villainy of others, who, under various pretences of material discoveries
they had to make, etc., had fastened themselves upon him, and continued
to do all the mischief in their power, until the cloven foot was
detected.
“One instance, however, is so flagrantly flagitious, that I cannot
resist the inclination I feel to relate it, as an example of the most
infernal perfidy that perhaps ever entered the human heart. I have
already mentioned the part which H--n acted in the beginning of M--'s
connection with the unfortunate stranger, and hinted that the said H--
lay under many obligations to that gentleman before Mr. A--'s arrival
in England. He had been chief agent to Lord A--, and, as it afterwards
appeared, received several payments of a secret pension which that
lord enjoyed, for which he either could not or would not account.
His lordship, therefore, in order to compel him to it, took out writs
against him, and his house was continually surrounded with catchpoles
for the space of two whole years.
“Mr. M-- believing, from H--'s own account of the matter, that the poor
man was greatly injured, and prosecuted on account of his attachment to
the unhappy young gentleman, did him all the good offices in his power,
and became security for him on several occasions; nay, such was his
opinion of his integrity, that, after Mr. A-- was cleared of the
prosecution carried on against him by his uncle, his person was
entrusted to the care of this hypocrite, who desired that the young
gentleman might lodge at his house for the convenience of air, M--'s own
occasions calling him often into the country.
“Having thus, by his consummate dissimulation, acquired such a valuable
charge, he wrote a letter to one of Lord A--'s attorneys, offering to
betray Mr. A--, provided his lordship would settle his account, and give
him a discharge for eight hundred pounds of the pension which he had
received and not accounted for. Mr. M--, informed of this treacherous
proposal, immediately removed his lodger from his house into his own,
without assigning his reasons for so doing, until he was obliged to
declare it, in order to free himself from the importunities of H--, who
earnestly solicited his return. This miscreant finding himself detected
and disappointed in his villainous design, was so much enraged at his
miscarriage, that, forgetting all the benefits he had received from M--
for a series of years, he practised all the mischief that his malice
could contrive against him; and at length entered into a confederacy
with one G--, and several other abandoned wretches, who, as before said,
under various pretences of being able to make material discoveries, and
otherwise to serve the cause, had found means to be employed in some
extra business relating to it, though their real intention was to betray
the claimant.
“These confederates, in conjunction with some other auxiliaries of
infamous character, being informed that Mr. M-- was on the point of
securing a considerable sum, to enable him to prosecute Mr. A--'s right,
and to bring it to a happy conclusion, contrived a deep-laid scheme
to disappoint him in it, and at once to ruin the cause. And, previous
measures being taken for that wicked purpose, they imposed upon the
young gentleman's inexperience and credulity by insinuations equally
false, plausible, and malicious; to which they at length gained his
belief, by the mention of some circumstances that gave what they alleged
an air of probability, and even of truth. They swore that Mr. M-- had
taken out an action against him for a very large sum of money; that they
had actually seen the writ; that the intention of it was to throw him
into prison for life, and ruin his cause, in consequence of an agreement
made by him with Lord A--, and his other enemies, to retrieve the money
that he had laid out in the cause.
“This plausible tale was enforced with such an air of truth, candour,
and earnest concern for his safety, and was strengthened by so many
imprecations and corroborating circumstances of their invention, as
would have staggered one of much greater experience and knowledge of
mankind than Mr. A-- could be supposed at that time to possess. The
notion of perpetual imprisonment, and the certain ruin they made him
believe his cause was threatened with, worked upon his imagination to
such a degree, that he suffered himself to be led like a lamb to the
slaughter by this artful band of villains, who secreted him at the
lodgings of one P--, an intimate of G--'s, for several days, under
colour of his being hunted by bailiffs employed by Mr. M--, where he was
not only obliged by them to change his name, but even his wife was not
suffered to have access to him.
“Their design was to have sold him, or drawn him into a ruinous
compromise with his adversaries, for a valuable consideration to
themselves. But as no ties are binding among such a knot of villains,
the rest of the conspirators were jockeyed by G--, who, in order to
monopolize the advantage to himself, hurried his prize into the country,
and secreted him even from his confederates, in a place of concealment
one hundred miles from London, under the same ridiculous pretence of
M--'s having taken out a writ against him, and of bailiffs being in
pursuit of him everywhere round London.
“He was no sooner there, than G--, as a previous step to the other
villainy he intended, tricked him out of a bond for six thousand pounds,
under colour of his having a person ready to advance the like sum upon
it, as an immediate fund for carrying on his cause; assuring him, at
the same time, that he had a set of gentlemen ready, who were willing
to advance twenty-five thousand pounds more for the same purpose, and to
allow him five hundred pounds a year for his maintenance, till his cause
should be made an end of, provided that Mr. M-- should have no further
concern with him and his cause.
“Mr. A--, having by this time received some intimations of the deceit
that had been put upon him, made answer, that he should look upon
himself as a very ungrateful monster indeed, if he deserted a person who
had saved his life, and so generously ventured his own, together with
his fortune, in his cause, until he should first be certain of the truth
of what was alleged of him, and absolutely rejected the proposal. G--,
who had no other view in making it, than to cover the secret villainy he
meditated against him, and to facilitate the execution thereof, easily
receded from it, when he found Mr. A-- so averse to it, and undertook
nevertheless to raise the money, adding, that he might, if he pleased,
return to Mr. M-- whenever it was secured. The whole drift of this
pretended undertaking to raise the twenty-five thousand pounds, was only
to lay a foundation for a dexterous contrivance to draw Mr. A-- unwarily
into the execution of a deed, relinquishing all his right and title,
under a notion of its being a deed to secure the repayment of that sum.
“G-- having, as he imagined, so far paved the way for the execution of
such a deed, enters into an agreement with an agent, employed for that
purpose by Mr. A--'s adversaries, purporting that in consideration of
the payment of a bond for six thousand pounds, which he, G--, had, as
he pretended, laid out in Mr. A--'s cause, and of an annuity of seven
hundred pounds a year, he was to procure for them from Mr. A-- a deed
ready executed, relinquishing all right and title to the A-- estate and
honours. Everything being prepared for the execution of this infernal
scheme, unknown to Mr. A--, G-- then thought proper to send for him
to town from his retirement, in order, as he pretended, to execute a
security of twenty-five thousand pounds.
“This intended victim to that villain's avarice no sooner arrived in
town, full of hopes of money to carry on his cause, and of agreeably
surprising his friend and protector Mr. M--, with so seasonable and
unexpected a reinforcement, than an unforeseen difficulty arose,
concerning the payment of G--'s six-thousand-pound bond. That money was
to have been raised out of the estate of a lunatic, which could not be
done without the leave of the Court of Chancery, to whom an account must
have been given of the intended application of it. While preparations
were making to rectify this omission, G-- immediately carried Mr. A--
again into the country, lest he should happen to be undeceived by some
means or other.
“In the meantime, this wicked machination was providentially discovered
by Mr. M--, before it could be carried into execution, by means of the
jealousies that arose among the conspirators themselves; and was, at the
same time, confirmed to him by a person whom the very agent for the A--
party had entrusted with the secret. M-- no sooner detected it, than he
communicated his discovery to one of Mr. A--'s counsel, a man of great
worth, and immediately thereupon took proper measures to defeat it. He
then found means to lay open to Mr. A-- himself the treacherous scheme
that was laid for his destruction. He was highly sensible of it, and
could never afterwards reflect on the snare that he had so unwarily been
drawn into, and had so narrowly escaped, without a mixture of horror,
shame, and gratitude to his deliverer.
“The consummate assurance of the monsters who were engaged in this plot,
after they had been detected, and upbraided with their treachery, is
scarce to be paralleled; for they not only owned the fact of spiriting
Mr. A-- away in the manner above mentioned, but justified their doing it
as tending to his service. They also maintained, that they had actually
secured the twenty-five thousand pounds for him, though they never could
name any one person who was to have advanced the money. No man was more
active in this scheme than H--, nor any man more solicitous to keep
Mr. A-- up in the false impressions he had received, or in projecting
methods to ruin his protector, than he.
“Among many other expedients for that purpose, a most malicious attempt
was made to lodge an information against him, for treasonable practices,
with the secretary of state, notwithstanding the repeated proofs he had
given of his loyalty; and, as a preparatory step to his accusation, a
letter, which this traitor dictated, was copied by another person, and
actually sent to the earl of C--, importing, that the person who copied
the letter had an affair of consequence to communicate to his lordship,
if he would appoint a time of receiving the information. But that
person, upon full conviction of the villainy of the scheme, absolutely
refused to proceed further in it; so that his malice once more proved
abortive; and before he had time to execute any other contrivance of the
same nature, he was imprisoned in this very jail for debt.
“Here, finding his creditors inexorable, and himself destitute of all
other resource, he made application to the very man whom he had injured
in such an outrageous manner, set forth his deplorable case in the most
pathetic terms, and entreated him, with the most abject humility, to
use his influence in his behalf. The distress of this varlet immediately
disarmed M-- of his resentment, and even excited his compassion. Without
sending any answer to his remonstrances, he interceded for him with his
creditors; and the person to whom he was chiefly indebted, refusing to
release him without security, this unwearied benefactor joined with the
prisoner in a bond for above two hundred and forty pounds, for which he
obtained his release.
“He was no sooner discharged, however, than he entered into fresh
combinations with G-- and others, in order to thwart his deliverer in
his schemes of raising money, and otherwise to distress and deprive him
of liberty; for which purpose, no art or industry, perjury not excepted,
hath been spared. And, what is still more extraordinary, this perfidious
monster having found money to take up the bond, in consequence of which
he regained his freedom, hath procured a writ against M--, upon that
very obligation; and taken assignments to some other debts of that
gentleman, with the same Christian intention. But hitherto he hath, by
surprising sagacity and unshaken resolution, baffled all their infernal
contrivances, and retorted some of their machinations on their own
heads. At this time, when he is supposed by some, and represented by
others, as under the circumstances of oblivion and despondence, he
proceeds in his design with the utmost calmness and intrepidity,
meditating schemes, and ripening measures, that will one day confound
his enemies, and attract the notice and admiration of mankind.”
Peregrine, having thanked the priest for his obliging information,
expressed his surprise at the scandalous inattention of the world to
an affair of such importance; observing, that, by such inhuman neglect,
this unfortunate young gentleman, Mr. A--, was absolutely deprived of
all the benefit of society; the sole end of which is, to protect
the rights, redress the grievances, and promote the happiness
of individuals. As for the character of M--, he said, it was so
romantically singular in all its circumstances, that, though other
motives were wanting, curiosity alone would induce him to seek his
acquaintance. But he did not at all wonder at the ungrateful returns
which had been made to his generosity by H-- and many others, whom he
had served in a manner that few, besides himself, would have done; for
he had been long convinced of the truth conveyed in these lines of a
celebrated Italian author:--
Li beneficii che, per la loro grandezza, non ponno esser guiderdonati,
con la scelerata moneta dell' ingratitudine sono pagati.
“The story which you have related of that young gentleman,” said he,
“bears a very strong resemblance to the fate of a Spanish nobleman, as
it was communicated to me by one of his own intimate friends at Paris.
The Countess d'Alvarez died immediately after the birth of a son, and
the husband surviving her but three years, the child was left sole heir
to the honours and estate, under the guardianship of his uncle, who
had a small fortune and a great many children. This inhuman relation,
coveting the wealth of his infant ward, formed a design against the
life of the helpless orphan, and trusted the execution of it to his
valet-de-chambre, who was tempted to undertake the murder by the promise
of a considerable reward. He accordingly stabbed the boy with a knife
in three different places, on the right side of his neck; but, as he was
not used to such barbarous attempts, his hand failed in the performance;
and he was seized with such remorse, that, perceiving the wounds were
not mortal, he carried the hapless victim to the house of a surgeon,
by whose care they were healed; and, in the meantime, that he might not
forfeit his recompense, found means to persuade his employer, that
his orders were performed. A bundle being made up for the purpose, was
publicly interred as the body of the child, who was said to have been
suddenly carried off by a convulsion; and the uncle, without opposition,
succeeded to his honours and estate. The boy being cured of his hurts,
was, about the age of six, delivered, with a small sum of money, to a
merchant just embarking for Turkey; who was given to understand, that he
was the bastard of a man of quality and that for family reasons, it was
necessary to conceal his birth.
“While the unfortunate orphan remained in this deplorable state of
bondage, all the children of the usurper died one after another; and he
himself being taken dangerously ill, attributed all his afflictions to
the just judgment of God, and communicated his anxiety on that subject
to the valet-de-chambre, who had been employed in the murder of his
nephew. That domestic, in order to quiet his master's conscience, and
calm the perturbation of his spirits, confessed what he had done, and
gave him hopes of still finding the boy by dint of industry and expense.
The unhappy child being the only hope of the family of Alvarez, the
uncle immediately ordered a minute inquiry to be set on foot; in
consequence of which he was informed, that the orphan had been sold to a
Turk, who had afterwards transferred him to an English merchant, by whom
he was conveyed to London.
“An express was immediately despatched to this capital, where he
understood that the unhappy exile had, in consideration of his faithful
services, been bound apprentice to a French barber-surgeon; and, after
he had sufficiently qualified himself in that profession, been received
into the family of the Count de Gallas, at that time the emperor's
ambassador at the court of London. From the house of this nobleman he
was traced into the service of Count d'Oberstorf, where he had married
his lady's chambermaid, and then gone to settle as a surgeon in Bohemia.
“In the course of these inquiries, several years elapsed: his uncle, who
was very much attached to the house of Austria, lived at Barcelona when
the father of this empress-queen resided in that city, and lent him a
very considerable sum of money in the most pressing emergency of his
affairs; and when that prince was on the point of returning to Germany,
the old count, finding his end approaching, sent his father confessor
to his majesty, with a circumstantial account of the barbarity he had
practised against his nephew, for which he implored forgiveness, and
begged he would give orders, that the orphan, when found, should inherit
the dignities and fortune which he had unjustly usurped.
“His majesty assured the old man, that he might make himself easy
on that score, and ordered the confessor to follow him to Vienna,
immediately after the count's death, in order to assist his endeavours
in finding out the injured heir. The priest did not fail to yield
obedience to this command. He informed himself of certain natural marks
on the young count's body, which were known to the nurse and women who
attended him in his infancy; and, with a gentleman whom the emperor
ordered to accompany him, set out for Bohemia, where he soon found the
object of his inquiry, in the capacity of major-domo to a nobleman
of that country, he having quitted his profession of surgery for that
office.
“He was not a little surprised, when he found himself circumstantially
catechised about the particulars of his life, by persons commissioned
for that purpose by the emperor. He told them, that he was absolutely
ignorant of his own birth, though he had been informed, during his
residence in Turkey, that he was the bastard of a Spanish grandee,
and gave them a minute detail of the pilgrimage he had undergone. This
information agreeing with the intelligence which the priest had already
received, and being corroborated by the marks upon his body, and the
very scars of the wounds which had been inflicted upon him in his
infancy, the confessor, without further hesitation, saluted him by
the name of Count d'Alvarez, grandee of Spain, and explained the whole
mystery of his fortune.
“If he was agreeably amazed at this explanation, the case was otherwise
with his wife, who thought herself in great danger of being abandoned
by a husband of such high rank; but he immediately dispelled her
apprehension, by assuring her, that, as she had shared in his adversity,
she should also partake of his good fortune. He set out immediately for
Vienna, to make his acknowledgments to the emperor, who favoured him
with a very gracious reception, promised to use his influence, so that
he might enjoy the honours and estate of his family; and in the meantime
acknowledged himself his debtor for four hundred thousand florins, which
he had borrowed from his uncle. He threw himself at the feet of his
august protector, expressed the most grateful sense of his goodness, and
begged he might be permitted to settle in some of his imperial majesty's
dominions. This request was immediately granted; he was allowed to
purchase land in any part of the hereditary dominions of the house of
Austria, to the amount of the sum I have mentioned; and made choice of
the country of Ratibor, in Silesia, where, in all probability, he still
resides.”
Peregrine had scarce finished the narrative, when he perceived Mr. M--
slip something into the hand of the young man with whom he had been
conversing at the other end of the room, and rise up from the table
in order to take his leave. He at once understood the meaning of this
conveyance, and longed for an opportunity to be acquainted with such
a rare instance of primitive benevolence; but the consciousness of his
present situation hindered him from making any advance that might be
construed into forwardness or presumption.