my father's servant informed me that the mowers had been gone forward
nearly half an hour, and that they had left the bottles to be filled and
carried to the field by me. Finding that I was rather behind my time, I
merely then pulled off my coat and waistcoat, and put on my frock. I did
not wait to take off either my tight leather breeches, (which were the
fashion at that time,) or my boots; but as soon as the servant had filled
the bottles with ale, I mounted a poney, and reached the field of oats,
just as the other four men were stripped and whetting their scythes in
order to begin; a thing which they had never before had an opportunity of
doing, throughout the whole harvest, as the first stroke was uniformly
struck by myself. They waited while I threw off my frock and took off my
spurs, and having unbuttoned the knees of my breeches, we set to; and in
ten minutes after the sun had sunk below the horizon, the last swarth was
laid flat, and not an oat left standing; a day's work which stands
unrivalled in that country, and which is the more uncommon, as, in fact,
there were only four scythes at work during the greater part of the day;
for, it being excessively hot, one of the men, the worst mower of course,
was principally employed in riding to and from the Inn at Everly, to
replenish the bottles. This was indispensible, every man being allowed as
much ale as he could drink, with the exception of the two last bottles,
containing three quarts each, which I was obliged to prohibit from being
tapped till the oats were all down, as some of my partners by this time
began to discover evident symptoms of inebriety. As we finished the last
stroke, a very severe flash of lightning announced the approach of a
storm, which had been gathering for several hours. I advised the men to
hasten home, but they declared, now that the mowing was finished, they
would finish the bottles before they left the field, and they kept their
words. I hurried home as fast as my pony could gallop, and got in doors
just in time to escape one of the most tremendous thunder-storms I ever
witnessed; my four companions got jollily drunk, and slept upon the open
down, drenched in rain all night; and although I met two of them returning
home, the next morning at four o'clock, in a most wretched state, yet such
was their hardy nature that neither of them took the least cold.
I have detailed this day's work as the last perhaps of the sort with which
I shall trouble the reader. It was, as I have already intimated, such a
day's work as had never been accomplished by five mowers before, or has
been since, in that part of the world; and it will be recollected that I
performed my share with out having had any sleep or rest. But to me, at
that time, I never appeared to want any rest--I frequently worked till ten
o'clock, and after taking my supper, and conversing with my father,
arranging the proceedings for the next morning, I was very often not in
bed till after eleven; yet I was very commonly up and dressed again by
half past 3, and never in the summer time was in bed after four. It is a
very extraordinary fact, that those who labour hard in the fields all day
require the least sleep; at all events the smallest quantity of time in
bed; for when they get thither, they enjoy and receive as much real sleep,
they receive as much real refreshment in four hours, as the indolent, the
idle, or the sedentary do in double the time. When the mind is active and
well employed I now find it has the same effect upon me as laborious
bodily exercise, for I sleep as sound as a rock here, and when my mind is
fully occupied, and kept upon a proper stretch during the day, six or
seven hours rest in bed is quite ample; but when my mind is less employed,
or occupied by light reading, and not exerted in its usual way, then I
require more rest in bed, and I can sleep eight or even nine hours. It is,
however, very seldom indeed that I give way to such negligence and
sluggishness. I go to rest usually between eleven and twelve, and I am
always up before seven. I was always instructed by my father to consider
indolence as one of the greatest faults; it was, in fact, a sin of the
first magnitude in his vocabulary.--Indolence, he always said was the
harbinger of every vice, of every evil. And the Songs of Solomon and his
Proverbs were on every occasion ready to support his opinion. He would say
to the sluggard, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be
wise." He would forgive many a fault in a servant, but at habitual lyer in
bed, he would get rid of immediately, unless he could break him of the bad
habit.
My father for some time was very positive, and very determined to prevent
me from marrying an Innkeeper's daughter; and at length I undertook to
reason with him upon the subject. I demanded if he knew any thing in the
slightest degree affecting the character of the young lady? His answer was
"No; quite the reverse." I asked if he had not, at all times, and
perpetually, spoken in the highest terms of her conduct, and whether he
had not, in my hearing, held her up as a pattern of propriety, and an
example to my sisters? All this he admitted to be true: but she had no
fortune, and he had expected me to marry a lady of fortune and family; at
the same time he pointed out several, whom he should have been pleased to
acknowledge as his daughter-in-law. I then demanded, whether, if she were,
fit to be held up by him as a pattern for his daughters, she were likely
to degrade his son as his wife? But, then, she had no fortune, and she was
an Innkeeper's daughter. I begged then to know if he had any thing to urge
against her father? No, indeed, he was a truly honourable and upright man.
Then I would reply, "how often, Sir, have I been taught by you, in the
language of your favourite author Pope, to look upon "_an honest man as
the noblest work of God._"["] This would make him fly off, and, although
he would admit this to be very true, yet he would not give his consent.
At length, having found that I persevered in my visits to the young lady,
and having ascertained from my sister that I was preparing for the
wedding, he addressed me as follows, one evening when we were alone:--"So,
I find from your sister, that you are determined, in spite of my
remonstrances, to marry Miss Halcomb? It is very true that, as you are of
age, I cannot prevent your union with that young lady; the law empowers
you to make your own choice; but, recollect the law does not compel me to.
If you had selected Miss ---- or Miss ----," naming several young ladies
of fortune, "I would have come down handsomely, and you might have lived
like a gentleman; and if you had chosen to be a farmer, you might have
occupied your own estate; but if you '_make a hard bed you must lie upon
it._' Although this is a vulgar saying, yet it is a very just one; and you
may rely upon it that it applies to your case most pointedly." I began to
be impatient, and replied warmly, that I had to thank God for a sound body
and an ardent mind, and I also had to thank him, any father, for the best
of instruction and example; and that he had given me a proof, by his own
industry and perseverance, that a man might not only be happy, but that he
might also acquire wealth, without having much capital to begin with; and
that I was not in the least afraid of the effects of lying upon a hard-bed
by night, so that I had peace and comfort by day.--"Ah, my dear son," said
he, "it is very true that I have devoted my life to business, and by
incessant application and industry have acquired a considerable fortune;"
and with tears in his eyes, he added "alas! you are now going, by one
false step, to blast my fondest hopes: by this match you are going, in one
hour, to beat down and destroy all the bright prospects, all my plans for
promoting your future well-being and consequence in life! Do you believe,
can you for a moment be so silly as to imagine, that I have toiled from
morning till night, that I have laboured with such incessant assiduity,
scarcely giving myself time to enjoy even my meals; and do you think that
I have been so anxious, merely to get money, merely to acquire riches?
Believe me, my dear son, I have never been led away by any such grovelling
notions; I have had higher and more noble objects in view. In fact, and in
truth, my great, my sole aim has always been to make _you a man of
consequence_ in the county; and although I know that riches alone will
neither make a man happy nor respected, yet without wealth I know not how
a man in this country can acquire any celebrity in it. With wealth, if a
man have but a common share of understanding, he is at once pronounced a
wise man, and he is looked up to as a prodigy; when his own native talent
alone would not more than fit him for a menial office. Look for instance
at our neighbours; there is. Mr. Astley of Everly, who is surrounded by
every comfort; he has at his command not only horses, servants, and
carriages, but he has a numerous body of tenantry, who submit to be his
mere vassals, and will do any act, however dirty or mean, at his nod. He
is your commander of the troop of Yeomanry; he keeps hounds; and has many
manors well stocked with game; and he is a Magistrate of the county, and
ignorant as he is, yet he dispenses the laws, or rather issues his
arbitrary mandates to the whole surrounding neighbourhood. In fact, he
possesses great power, and _all his power is derived from his wealth
alone._ Let me ask you, who know him well, what would he be without his
wealth? Strip him of his estates and his riches, what would he be fit for?
I wait," said he firmly, "for your honest reply."--The question was put so
home and so unexpected, and when I turned my thoughts towards our gallant
captain, without wealth and power, he presented to my imagination such a
_forlorn, helpless, wretched being_--that I actually burst out a laughing.
"Really," said my father, "I am not in a laughing mood; but tell me,
seriously, if you know of any situation in life in which, either on the
score of his talent, his knowledge, or his ability of any kind, he would
be capable of keeping his wife and family from starving? Tell me honestly
whether, if he were left to provide for himself, you do not think he would
be upon the parish books in a fortnight?"
I answered that, in my opinion, no one who knew the captain would, for a
moment, dispute the correctness of the conclusion which he had drawn; but,
I added, "I hope, Sir, that you do not compare me to such a man as Captain
Astley; and I hope, too, that you will allow me to ask you a question in
return. Do you not believe, Sir, that if I, your son, were obliged to go
to day-labour to-morrow, I could earn sufficient to support, not only
myself, but also a wife and family, by that sort of industry and zealous
application which I have always shewn in your business?" The reply was, "I
know you are able and willing to do as much as any man; but, do you
consider that I have given you an education which cost me upwards of five
hundred pounds, and have you spent ten years and a half of your life at
the best schools, under the best masters whom I could procure you, only to
enable you to earn twenty or thirty shillings a week as a day-labourer;
have you, no higher ambition than that?"
I rejoined warmly, "Yes, Sir, my ambition made me always aspire to much
higher things and so did the treatment which I always received from you
heretofore; but now, that you talk of abandoning me to 'lie upon a hard
bed,' and intimate that, unless I give up the object of my choice, I am
not to expect any thing from you, the scene is changed, and, under such
circumstances, my spirit would, I trust, never suffer me to be dependent
upon any one, while I have health and strength to obtain an honest though
a plain livelihood."
I plainly perceived that this sort of reasoning did not suit my father, he
reddened, and sneeringly exclaimed, "your spirit, indeed! I suppose your
spirit will ultimately induce you to drive one of your intended
father-in-law's coaches; or, perhaps, you may be promoted to the situation
of head-ostler, and that will be a post considerably above a
day-labourer." This was said with a degree of bitter ironry that was
little calculated to lead me into submission. By such a course he meant to
work upon my pride, but his language produced a contrary effect to that
which he intended: for I found any indignation arise to such a pitch, that
I sternly answered "No, sir! whatever you may think of my spirit, you will
find that I inherit too much of my father's character either to degrade
myself by any such course, or be intimidated by any false notions of
pride, from doing that which is honourable."
Having said this, I quitted the room, without waiting for a reply, and
retired to bed much earlier than usual. I was, however, too much ruffled
to go to sleep, and, after having tossed and turned about for half an
hour, I suddenly rose, dressed myself, walked quietly down stairs, and
going into the back kitchen I put on my boots, and then went deliberately
into the stable, where I saddled my horse, and in a few minutes I was on
my road to Devizes. I arrived at that place just as the family were
locking up to go to rest, and, while a bed was preparing for me, I
explained to Miss H. the object of my visit, which was to demand her hand
from her father in the morning, and to fix the day of our nuptials before
I left the house. The lady had often before witnessed, with some degree of
pain, the warmth of my disposition, for I was, as I have already hinted,
of a sanguine, volatile nature; and she had always observed, that, when
bent upon any particular object, I was never deterred, and seldom
persuaded, from attempting to accomplish it; but she had never before seen
me so determined and resolved upon any point as I now was. She
endeavoured, nevertheless, to persuade me from so rash a step; arguing
that she had little hope of her father being brought over to comply with
my wishes, by means of any such peremptory arguments as I had used to her.
But it was all in vain. I assured her that before I left the house, I
would solicit her father's consent to fix the day for our wedding; and
that, if he refused to comply, I should demand the performance of her
promise, to consent at once to our union without it. She first reminded me
of her being under age, and next, with a degree of firmness that I did not
expect, she expressed considerable doubts about acceding to my demand,
under such circumstances. I hastily, and as firmly, added, that the day
should be fixed before I left the house, _or never_. She started at my
vehement and peremptory manner, and with much good sense, began to reason
with me, and to shew how ill-calculated such overbearing proceedings were
either to prevail upon her father, or, what was of more consequence, to
secure her love. If before marriage I evinced such an arbitrary
disposition, and uttered my commands in such a peremptory tone, what
security, she said, should she have for my not playing the tyrant
afterwards? She, therefore, not only felt it to be her duty to refuse, but
really I had so alarmed her, that she could not give her consent under any
such sort of threat; as her compliance would appear to come rather from
terror than inclination. This was followed by her bursting into tears,
occasioned by the exertion she had made to tell me her resolve. I repeated
my protestations, and did every thing to soothe her fears, and, as she was
now summoned by her sister to retire to rest, we parted for the night,
both of us in a very wretched state of mind.
Affected as I was by her agitated feelings, my composition was of too
determined a nature to allow me to give way; having once determined,
nothing but death could have deterred me from persevering, and, while I
was going to bed, I deliberately resolved to keep my word. Nor was this
only the start of the moment; on the contrary, I am quite sure that had
not the parties complied with my wish, to fix the day before I left the
house, I should never have been the husband of Miss Halcomb.
I was resolved to be plain and honest with the father, and to disguise
nothing from him, and in case he should refuse his consent, I was equally
resolved to leave nothing untried to gain the consent of the lady; if she
withheld it I had brought myself, much as I loved her, to give up for ever
all hopes, all intention, of being united, or of having any further
communication, with her. With this determination I went to sleep, though
with full confidence that I should succeed, notwithstanding the repulse I
had received from her before we parted. My fair readers, will, I fear,
call me a conceited puppy for my pains; but I assure them it was not
vanity; it was part of my nature to be sanguine and determined in any
thing, in every thing, that I undertook; for I believed that success
seldom completely crowned an enterprise, unless he who wished to obtain it
had confidence that he should succeed.
When I came to the breakfast table in the morning, I could perceive that
the fair object of my hopes had not enjoyed so much repose as I had done
daring the night. Her heart appeared to be ill at ease. I had never slept
better or sounder in my life. This is another extraordinary part of my
composition, or rather of my constitution; namely, the physical operation
of the Mental power over the animal frame. The more intense the operation
of my mind during the day, the better do I sleep at night; the greater the
object which I have to accomplish in the morning, the more serene is my
sleep; so that when I have any weighty business to perform that requires
the exertion of my whole mental as well as bodily powers, instead of being
agitated with the anxiety arising from the importance of the undertaking,
I am quite the reverse, I am perfectly tranquil, I am sure to sleep well;
and to awake so much refreshed in the morning, as to enable me to commence
the business of the day not only with vigour, but also with my senses
quite collected, and with the greatest calmness of mind.
I appeared upon this occasion so easy and so quiet, yet altogether so
determined, that I often afterwards heard my wife say that she, for the
first time, began to suspect the sincerity of my passion; its ardour she
never doubted. The fact was, that if I had harboured all the doubts that
she did, as to the success of my application to her father, I might have
felt as uneasy as she did; and should have been thereby rendered incapable
of successfully combating his arguments or objections.
The moment the breakfast was over I requested a private conference with
him, when I honestly told him every thing that had passed between my
father and me, and that I had given up all hopes of gaining his consent,
adding, that I had come to the resolution of laying the case fairly before
him, but that I was determined to have his answer at once whether he would
consent to our union, so that a day might be fixed, or whether he would
leave me to do my best to obtain his daughter's consent, which I was
resolved to do in case of his opposing my wishes.
Seeing my determination, the old gentleman answered that, although he
lamented the absence of my father's sanction, yet he would keep his word
with me and his daughter, and would not withhold his consent, if it were
her desire that he should give it. He valued the happiness of his child he
said, and, as he thought I had always acted a fair and open part with him,
he would do the same by me. He would, however, leave it entirely to his
daughter; if she chose to fix the day he would not object to it; and if it
were so, he would do all in his power to render us happy. He likewise
expressed a sincere hope that his old friend, my father, would do nothing
to make us otherwise, and that he would become reconciled to the match
hereafter, even if he would not give his consent before. Mr. Halcomb then,
for the first time, hinted what sum he intended to give his daughter as a
portion. I told him that, for the present, I would hear nothing of the
sort; that, as my father would not enable me to make a settlement upon his
daughter, I would trust entirely to him, and that I never wished him to
mention the subject to me till we were married.
I now flew to the young lady with the joyful tidings, and was received, as
I expected, with open arms; and before ten o'clock that evening the day
was fixed for our wedding, about six weeks from that time. Thus was I, at
the age of twenty-two, and very young and inexperienced of my age also,
about to take a wife against the consent of my father, without a house, a
home, or twenty pounds in the world and perfectly careless whether her
father gave its five or five hundred pounds. To have a wife was my
determination, and, now the day was fixed, I returned to my father's
house, and entered into his business again with all my usual zeal and
assiduity.
The first opportunity I informed him of the arrangement that was made,
upon hearing which he flew into a violent passion, and vowed vengeance.
Nor did he fail to try the last effort, which was to endeavour to make Mr.
Halcomb's pride operate, so as to prevent the match. The next market day
he had a private interview with him, and did every thing in his power to
accomplish his object. His opponent had the best of the argument, but he
retorted his insinuations with such a degree of spirit, that, for a while,
my father had hopes of success. Mr. Halcomb, however, soon crushed his
hopes, by telling him that he had given me and his daughter his word, and
that nothing which he had said in his anger should induce him to break it.
My father when requested to see the young lady, which was readily assented
to. In the course of his interview with her, he made every effort to
persuade her to abandon such a "_mad project_," as he was pleased to term
it, and she listened to, and answered, all his arguments with great
modesty and forbearance. He urged the folly of such a match, and told her
he was sure she would live to repent it; he warned her that such sudden
and inconsiderate unions seldom if ever turned out well; he pointed out to
her my hasty, enthusiastic, volatile disposition; he said that I had seen
nothing of the world, and that, whatever might be her charms, when I got
into the world I might see other objects that might induce me to repent of
having been so hasty; he mentioned the probability of a large family of
children, without the means of supporting them; in fact, he tried every
thing that man could do; he begged, he prayed, and he threatened. All was
in vain. The only promise that he could obtain from her was, that she
would inform me of all he said, and that she would leave the decision to
me.