argument too far. The present day furnishes us some admirable
samples in the department of fiction; but I question much if you
will not find, that novels, with a large portion of existing men,
and women, make the _business_, as well as the relaxation of their
reading hours. The novels of our time are like letters of marque.
They are _armés en flute_ for war or merchandize, _alias_ for
instruction or entertainment; and if people will not read any thing
more serious we must be happy that there _is_ a method of riveting
attention by cloathing good sense in the light drapery of fiction.
Thousands are led on to better things than they are promised by
a pleasant tale; and I rejoice to perceive a growing sense of
accountableness in the writers who supply the present rage for
new publications. I see a consciousness arising amongst novelists
and the editors of reviews and magazines that the morbid diseases
induced by _mental_ opium eating (if you will allow me the image)
threaten paralysis and, would inevitably lead to dissolution of all
intellectual energy, if not arrested in their progress. Several
are usefully employed in applying alterations, and endeavouring to
bring about a more healthful action of the rational powers. Let
us earnestly desire a blessing on every effort of this nature,
and give our best individual support even to story, when, like
the useful wedge, it is successful in sliding in, what would not
find its way into the hands of half mankind unaided by such an
instrument." The remark struck me as valid, and I had the grace to
say so. Led on from one topic to another, in which this excellent
man discovered so much knowledge of life as perfectly to amaze me,
I turned to young Bentley, and said, "I have often heard people
obtain credit for extraordinary acquaintance with the world, and
wherever this has been the case, such skill has been attributed to
travelling, and a widely spreading communion with various classes
of men; but it sometimes strikes me as matter of surprise to find
the acutest sense of all that is doing on the great theatre, in
a retired corner of the earth, apparently shut out from all the
bustle, vice, and folly, that pervade the world."
Bentley replied, "I know not to whom you may apply for information
on _this_ head, more appropriately than to my good friend of
Lisfarne, who contrives to know mankind so well without going
amongst them. Let us ask him how he manages to find them out?"
"Were it really the case," answered Phil. "that I am better
informed than my neighbours in the science which you ascribe to me;
a point which I utterly dissent from, I should be apt perhaps to
take credit for my skill as resulting from the very reason that,
according to your view, might excuse its deficiency, namely, to
those retired habits which lead me to study a few, rather than
glance my eye over a multitude. It is with men as with books. You
may skim over too great a number to read any with profit. With some
few exceptions, the characters of which mankind is made up, are
easily classified; and if you master a score of distinct specimens
from each tribe with care and accuracy, you will find the sum of
your knowledge considerably to exceed that which has been gleaned
from a larger surface, where less attention has been brought to
the task of investigation. A certain impatience of decision leads
people frequently to pronounce upon as anomalies, what a severer
scrutiny would prove to be well understood, and belonging to
accredited divisions of human character."
"I seldom meet with a _real_ non-descript, though appearances may
puzzle me for a time, and though I have not been in a crowd for
many years, I meet in succession with individuals of all sorts, and
perhaps am enabled to form a more discriminating judgment of each
single figure as it passes before me than I could do were my mind
distracted by many objects together. The whole being made up of
parts, one may give a shrewd guess at the collective effect from
acquaintance with the separate atoms."
"From what you say," said I, "a man ought to live _out_ of the
world, to judge rightly of those men who compose it."--"No, my
young friend, not quite so _terse_. There is no more _necessary_
connection between knowledge of the world and retirement, than
between naval tactics and an old gentleman sitting by his fireside
in Hampshire; yet it so happened, that the present system of
breaking the line, which was of such astonishing importance to
us in the last war, was the invention of a man unconnected with
naval affairs, and who, marshalling a parcel of cherry-stones
after dinner upon his table, proved to a practical understanding
how the object could be achieved, and what a Clarke projected, was
accomplished by a Rodney."
"_In_ the world or _out_ of the world sagacity may find materials
upon which to work, and it will depend on the acuteness of that
sagacity to arrive at eminence in the knowledge of man.--Where this
is furnished, I should believe retirement, I do not mean solitude,
to be more favorable to sound discrimination than a busy scene,
because more likely to secure against precipitancy of judgment.
On the whole, we may see, and hear, a great deal too much with
our _outward_ senses. The principal defect of the present day is
want of reflection. The provision, the apparatus for conveying
instruction to the mind is superb, but exactly in proportion to
these "tricking facilities" is the deficiency of original thinking.
When books were few, and purchased with difficulty, they were
intensely studied. The mind was forced to be in some sort its
own library. The treasures of learning were committed to memory,
and the intellect traded upon its internal resources; the capital
was frequently turned, and mental riches crowned exertion; but
the multiplication of _means_ often retards the _end_, and the
understanding is encumbered with help."
"But pray, sir, if we gain more in expansion than we lose in depth,
is not the balance on our side? Now that the press is teeming
with instruction brought down to the level of _all_ capacities,
are we not advancing by rapid strides to a full developement of
the reasoning faculty, and approaching that happy termination of
ignorance so devoutly to be wished for?"
"I do not agree with you, Howard. If you desire my opinion, it must
be given in the negative. I am an old-fashioned fellow, and many of
my notions are desperately heretical in these days of display. I
cannot help prefering substance to shadows, and depth to surface.
I love real improvements, not mere changes. In some instances
we _are_ improving. The exact sciences are making progress, and
so are those arts which depend upon the application of their
principles. Chemistry, mechanics, &c. advance, and there is a
disposition to reward the talent that is exhibited in forwarding
them to perfection; but I maintain that the system of school and
collegiate education for our youth requires reform. The best part
of life, as regards some of our mental powers, is frittered away
in learning badly two dead languages, to the neglect of better
things at school; and at the Universities much might be done to
effect a better order of things than prevails in any of them. Then,
with respect to the prevailing taste in literature, it is too
much devoted to _stimulus_. We have too many new books, and too
many young authors. Some expatiating in the labyrinths of moral
paradox--others in the wild regions of uncontrolled imagination;
and so on. Whatever is _new_, is devoured with avidity, and so
great is the quantity, so pulp-like the quality, of this literary
pabulum, that the digestive organs are destroyed, and the mind is
seldom exercised for itself."
As Phil. finished the last sentence, his old servant opened the
door, and in ran Frederick, followed by the redoubtable Domine. A
general commotion ensued. Much shaking of hands, inquiries after
health, friends, and all the etceteras which are hurried over in
the first ten minutes after meeting succeeded, I was presented;
and while Mr. Otway was engaged with Oliphant, and Fred. was
interchanging civilities with Mr. Bentley, I sat examining the
object of my fearful anticipations. Imprimis, he has no wig, but
a fine expansive front with a clean bald pate. His hair "a sable
silvered," scantily _set_, but curling naturally in a _fringe_
round the back of his head, and a countenance full of benevolence,
and sparkling with affection.
Yes, it is a true bill. Here are more fruits of Prophecy and
Prejudice, quoth you!--I will give up _anticipating_.--It will save
me a great deal of plague in future, not to think of people till
they cross my path, and are actually before my eyes.
Before we set out on the return to Glenalta, I was as easy as
an old shoe with Oliphant; but all his quaint practice and
methodistical habits are hanging over _in terrorem_.
On the following day, which was Saturday, we met as usual at
breakfast, and immediately afterwards, I was called by the girls
and Frederick to come and see the treasures of which their tutor
had been the escort. On entering the Library, I saw a valuable
addition to the book-shelves; Clarke's Bible, handsomely, but
unshewily bound, for my aunt; the Flora and Pomona Londinensis for
Emily; a capital Biographical Dictionary for Charlotte; a fine
Herodotus for Fred; and Withering's Botany for Fan. Besides these
were writing-desks, drawing-books, pencils, port-folios, and a
parcel containing the Pirates, Kenilworth, Quentin Durward, and the
Inheritance, as food for the "Evening hour." In short, Domine must
have been literally built up in the _stack_ which brought him, as
tightly as poor Rose de Beverley in the dungeon wall; and to have
seen the good man _deterré_ from such a mass of matter must have
been diverting enough.
These various objects of acquisition were all gifts of Mr. Otway,
who had made his own remarks upon the wants and wishes of his
neighbours, and written to Oliphant accordingly, to come laden
with whatever he thought most likely to gratify the family group.
It is impossible to form an idea of the advantages in _one_ respect
which people living in these outposts of mankind possess over the
civilized world. If my mother and sisters require a packet of
books, or any thing else, from town, Gibson is ordered to write,
the things come per next mail. Turner, my mother's maid, opens
the store, and the contents are spread upon tables, where perhaps
they lie for days before they are observed, and when looked at,
are either to be returned, or if retained, it is ten to one if
they produce the slightest degree of animation. Here the minds
of the little party are so alive and fresh, that one catches the
contagion; and I found myself bustling through wrapping papers and
twine with an eagerness which I certainly never experienced upon
the arrival of a similar importation at Selby.
"We have been so long _wishing_ for these," said Emily, "that they
are quite a mine of happiness."
"Yes," answered Charlotte, "and how magical are our dear Phil.'s
guesses, for he always discovers what one _wants_ most." "And I,"
added Fanny, "am just expiring to be off to Lisfarne, with a budget
of thanks to our necromancer."
We all dispersed after this library scene; the young people to shew
Mr. Oliphant puppies, kittens, young pheasants, and sundry other
live stock, which had either grown or been acquired during his
absence, and I, after promising to walk with my aunt in an hour
or two, filed off to my room to fold up this enormous volume. On
looking over my journal before doing so, I perceived an omission:
you desired me to tell you more of the _tastes_ of my fair friends
in dress, furniture, _etcetera_, I thought that I had given you a
_coup d'[oe]il_ which might have sufficed; but if you must have
more, learn now, and for ever after hold your peace, that you may
walk from top to bottom of this house without hitching your skirts
in any of the fopperies of a modern _boudoir_. There is no danger
of being entangled amongst a nest of spider-tables covered with
china, or of overturning a chiffoniere burthened with flower-pots.
There are no scraps of japan, nor _odds_ and _ends_ of any sort to
molest a visitor, and interrupt conversation. Glenalta is furnished
with simplicity and convenience: the general _character_, is that
of chaste uniformity, without any thing of the _drab_ of quakerism.
A few good pictures ornament the walls both of drawing-room and
parlour. Some handsome busts in bronze give a finish to the
bookcases of the library; and the hall, which is light and airy,
has a very good appearance as you enter the house. The furniture is
solid, and there is every real comfort of polished life to be found
in its place without any exhibition of finery or _nick-knackery_,
if I may coin a word for the occasion.--Altogether the best idea
I can convey of my aunt's dwelling, is by telling you what it
is _not_: it is _not_ a _shew_-house--it is _not_ a fashionable
house, neither has it the cold, raw, uninhabited look of an English
provincial residence; but it is strictly clean, bright, _easy_
looking, and has an air of unpretending elegance.
Now, as to dress, hang me if I know the names of any manufacture;
but I told you before, that the cousins have very pretty figures,
beautiful hair, and are always perfectly _presentable_. They do
not wear the gaudy colouring of the French school, nor are they
squeezed as if in a vice, to look like wasps, without any visible
connecting link to unite the upper and lower parts of the body.
There is a natural grace and gentility in every movement; and the
_effect_ is pleasing to the eye from the _repose_ which it meets
with, equally remote from _excitement_ on the one hand, and torpor
on the other.
What can I tell you more particular? And had I not better say Adieu
at once, than add to this mighty mass of paper by further general
description?
Your affectionate friend,
ARTHUR HOWARD.
LETTER VII.
FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.
My dear Falkland,
My last despatch, you will remember, was sealed just after it had
been arranged that I should accompany my aunt in a walk. At the
appointed hour I tapped at her door, to put her in mind of our
assignation; and was not sorry to have a _tête à tête_ in prospect,
thinking that I might take advantage of this opportunity to edge
in a little word of counsel, that might be of use, at _least_ in
Fanny's, though Emily and Charlotte might be beyond my reach in
effecting a change in _their_ destiny.
My sweet aunt (for she is really quite delightful) was speedily
equipped, and we set out upon our rambles. As soon as we had
cleared the house, and were not in danger of being overheard, I
expressed my gratitude for her kindness in asking me to Glenalta;
spoke of the pleasure which I already felt in its society, and my
admiration, as well as surprise, at finding my cousins every thing
that could be wished. My aunt smiled. "Then," said she, "you had
heard, I suppose, but an unflattering account of us, and expected
to see a very _outrè_ sort of a family." "I expected," answered
I, "to find, as I _have_ found, very superior attainments; but
you know, dearest lady, the prejudice which universally subsists
against _Blue-Stockings_; and though you have succeeded so
admirably in the result of your system, and may therefore triumph,
as 'those who win may laugh,' yet you must allow the experiment
to have been a bold one." "And why so, my dear Arthur? I should
not have felt at all inclined to make bold experiments, and am not
conscious how I have done so. You must explain yourself." "Well
then, I will; and hope that I may venture to do so without running
any risk of offending you." "Certainly, I cannot be offended,
having requested you to tell me what you mean; and I, on my part,
shall not only thank you for your observations, but shall be
ready, with the most perfect candour, to satisfy you as far as I
can, respecting my conduct."
"Dear aunt, then," said I, "the great object to which a girl's
prospects should tend from infancy to maturity is marriage; and
every prudent mother, I need not say to you, is perpetually intent
upon this termination of all her cares and anxiety. To marry a
daughter _well_ is no easy matter now-a-days, and often requires a
vast deal of address to bring about the event. Beauty, though very
captivating, will not do without money, and young men have learned
to be philosophers; they can see and admire, but, like the Baron
of Moubray, they must know how 'to love and to ride away,' unless
they would entail ruin on their posterity. Almost every man's
circumstances are dipped more or less, either by his own folly or
that of his predecessors; and most men look to a fortunate marriage
some time or other in their lives, for the purpose of paying off
charges on their property, and clearing a load of debt. Now, girls
of large fortune, may certainly take some liberties; for even
were they old, ugly, or _Blue_, thousands _will_ tell, and they
may generally command a choice amongst the other sex; but young
women, even of such personal attraction as my cousins ought 'to be
with caution bold.' I do assure you, that were you at this moment
suddenly removed to London, I would not, for any consideration
that I can name, that Emily and Charlotte were discovered to know
a syllable of Greek, Latin, botany, chemistry, or any of the arts
and sciences: it is unheard of in town, except to be laughed at, or
avoided; and as your girls have pretensions that might secure their
being courted in the best society, it would mortify any one who
loves them to witness a complete failure in their _debut_, through
a want of that circumspection which mothers, _so_ inferior to you,
know how to exercise. Dear little Fan is young and volatile; there
is more danger of her betraying herself than of her sisters' being
giddy. Much might be done still with your elder girls, who are so
reasonable and so docile, that they would probably take a hint
immediately; but it is quite a _sin_ not to snatch Fanny from
perdition, by allowing what _azure_ she has already contracted, to
fade away as quickly as possible. Elegant and accomplished, pretty
and pleasing, my cousins are formed for the world, and would shine
in it: but Greek, Latin, chemistry, _etcetera_, are like forgery,
never to be forgiven."
Here I paused, and my aunt calmly replied, "I fear, my dear boy,
that I shall make matters worse rather than better by my answer to
your advice; but, notwithstanding, I must run the risk, and boldly
hazard the loss of your esteem, by detailing some opinions of
mine, which do not harmonize at all with your's. First, then, you
will stare at me perhaps when I tell you, that I am very far from
thinking marriage necessary to the happiness of my children, though
should I live to see them find such partners as I think worthy of
them, I should rejoice, inasmuch as, under _certain_ circumstances,
I look upon marriage as the happiest lot of life in this chequered
scene; but, Arthur, rank and fortune are only _accidents_, and
make no part of the _essence_ in my creed of such requisites as
constitute felicity in domestic union. My dear girls will not be
rich, but they will have enough to make them independent. If they
marry, I think I may venture to say, that it will not be through
worldly motives of aggrandizement; and should they remain single,
they will, I trust in the Almighty, be both useful and contented."
I certainly _did_ stare. What! a mother, and disregard the
establishment of daughters! My aunt continued: "According to your
ideas, a woman is merely an appendage, and, I dare say, frequently
considered a very troublesome one to her fortune, the acquisition
of which seems to be, even under favourable circumstances of youth
and beauty thrown into the scale, the _principal_ object, and where
these may be wanting, the _sole_ incentive which leads a man of
fashion to permit a young lady the honour of bearing his name.
Now in a country where the blessing of freedom has never been
known, where parents possess absolute power over their children,
and masters over their slaves, I can perceive a reason for such
an order of things; but I confess myself so ignorant as not to
comprehend why liberty and affluence _here_ should be sacrificed
without any valuable consideration. It would be better to subscribe
a part of one's property to the necessities of a needy gentleman
than be obliged to give up the whole, and tie oneself to him for
ever. May I ask you how women are compensated in your scheme for
the relinquishment of independence?" "Bless me, dear aunt, the
question is so extraordinary, that really I feel at a loss to
believe that you can ask it: _compensated_?--Why, by being married;
by being promoted to a state in society of more consideration than
they previously occupied; by being provided for, established, and,
finally, as the acme of all female hope and ambition, taken out of
the never-ending defile of recruits through which a man has to make
his way at every ball, concert, or theatre in town."
"Well," said Mrs. Douglas, "I am not a little amazed that these
_recruits_, as you call them, should be ready to place themselves
under the control of officers so little disposed to regard them
with tenderness; but, as this is a serious subject in which the
happiness of mankind at large is concerned, we will treat it
gravely. Providence has so ordered the affairs of earth, that
marriage will always be a primary object of concern with _both_
sexes; for remember, that the idea of _wife_, involves that of
_husband_; and to supply each _aspirant_ of either sex, you must
find a disengaged individual of the other. Now if it appear that
the mass of human beings are intended by their Creator for the
state of matrimony, and that their own wishes generally coincide
with the original purpose of creation, would it not seem a
reasonable consequence that a condition which almost all men and
women anticipate, should be rendered as desirable, as suitable, as
happy, and as wise as a reflecting choice can make it?" "Surely,"
said I, "and _there_ lies the difference between an improvident
silly mother, or one who is governed by a prudent knowledge of
the world, and clear views of her childrens' advantage. Women
are, you will confess, great fools when they allow their girls
to flirt with younger sons who have nothing; military men, whose
fortunes are on their backs, and all the idle host who furnish
a drawing-room and excel in a quadrille. Maternal solicitude
ought unquestionably to be directed to a good settlement, liberal
pin-money--if _possible_ a distinguished connection; and in short,
all the circumstances which constitute what every one admits to be
a _good match_. How painful must it be to read a paragraph in the
public papers announcing that on such a day Mr. Such-an-one, whom
nobody knows, was married by some clergyman whose name was never
heard of, in a parish church not to be found in any map, to Miss
Douglas of Glenalta! If I am doomed to suffer such disgrace, I
shall set out directly for Greece, or some other distant quarter to
which my countrymen do not flock in the crowds that one is certain
to meet in France and Italy, _there_ to remain till the event is
forgotten, and the unfortunate actors in it, are consigned to
well-merited oblivion. Forgive me if I am warm; I do not mean to
be disrespectful, but my energies rise in proportion to the hourly
increase of love and admiration which I feel towards relations so
near and so deserving."