Six years of uninterrupted happiness had rolled away, since my brother's
marriage. The sound of war had been heard, but it was at such a distance
as to enhance our enjoyment by affording objects of comparison. The
Indians were repulsed on the one side, and Canada was conquered on the
other. Revolutions and battles, however calamitous to those who occupied
the scene, contributed in some sort to our happiness, by agitating our
minds with curiosity, and furnishing causes of patriotic exultation.
Four children, three of whom were of an age to compensate, by their
personal and mental progress, the cares of which they had been, at a
more helpless age, the objects, exercised my brother's tenderness. The
fourth was a charming babe that promised to display the image of her
mother, and enjoyed perfect health. To these were added a sweet girl
fourteen years old, who was loved by all of us, with an affection more
than parental.
Her mother's story was a mournful one. She had come hither from England
when this child was an infant, alone, without friends, and without
money. She appeared to have embarked in a hasty and clandestine
manner. She passed three years of solitude and anguish under my aunt's
protection, and died a martyr to woe; the source of which she could, by
no importunities, be prevailed upon to unfold. Her education and manners
bespoke her to be of no mean birth. Her last moments were rendered
serene, by the assurances she received from my aunt, that her daughter
should experience the same protection that had been extended to herself.
On my brother's marriage, it was agreed that she should make a part of
his family. I cannot do justice to the attractions of this girl. Perhaps
the tenderness she excited might partly originate in her personal
resemblance to her mother, whose character and misfortunes were
still fresh in our remembrance. She was habitually pensive, and this
circumstance tended to remind the spectator of her friendless condition;
and yet that epithet was surely misapplied in this case. This being was
cherished by those with whom she now resided, with unspeakable fondness.
Every exertion was made to enlarge and improve her mind. Her safety
was the object of a solicitude that almost exceeded the bounds of
discretion. Our affection indeed could scarcely transcend her merits.
She never met my eye, or occurred to my reflections, without exciting
a kind of enthusiasm. Her softness, her intelligence, her equanimity,
never shall I see surpassed. I have often shed tears of pleasure at her
approach, and pressed her to my bosom in an agony of fondness.
While every day was adding to the charms of her person, and the stores
of her mind, there occurred an event which threatened to deprive us
of her. An officer of some rank, who had been disabled by a wound
at Quebec, had employed himself, since the ratification of peace, in
travelling through the colonies. He remained a considerable period at
Philadelphia, but was at last preparing for his departure. No one had
been more frequently honoured with his visits than Mrs. Baynton, a
worthy lady with whom our family were intimate. He went to her house
with a view to perform a farewell visit, and was on the point of taking
his leave, when I and my young friend entered the apartment. It is
impossible to describe the emotions of the stranger, when he fixed his
eyes upon my companion. He was motionless with surprise. He was unable
to conceal his feelings, but sat silently gazing at the spectacle before
him. At length he turned to Mrs. Baynton, and more by his looks and
gestures than by words, besought her for an explanation of the scene.
He seized the hand of the girl, who, in her turn, was surprised by his
behaviour, and drawing her forward, said in an eager and faultering
tone, Who is she? whence does she come? what is her name?
The answers that were given only increased the confusion of his
thoughts. He was successively told, that she was the daughter of one
whose name was Louisa Conway, who arrived among us at such a time, who
sedulously concealed her parentage, and the motives of her flight, whose
incurable griefs had finally destroyed her, and who had left this child
under the protection of her friends. Having heard the tale, he melted
into tears, eagerly clasped the young lady in his arms, and called
himself her father. When the tumults excited in his breast by this
unlooked-for meeting were somewhat subsided, he gratified our curiosity
by relating the following incidents.
"Miss Conway was the only daughter of a banker in London, who discharged
towards her every duty of an affectionate father. He had chanced to fall
into her company, had been subdued by her attractions, had tendered her
his hand, and been joyfully accepted both by parent and child. His wife
had given him every proof of the fondest attachment. Her father, who
possessed immense wealth, treated him with distinguished respect,
liberally supplied his wants, and had made one condition of his consent
to their union, a resolution to take up their abode with him.
"They had passed three years of conjugal felicity, which had been
augmented by the birth of this child; when his professional duty called
him into Germany. It was not without an arduous struggle, that she was
persuaded to relinquish the design of accompanying him through all the
toils and perils of war. No parting was ever more distressful. They
strove to alleviate, by frequent letters, the evils of their lot. Those
of his wife, breathed nothing but anxiety for his safety, and impatience
of his absence. At length, a new arrangement was made, and he was
obliged to repair from Westphalia to Canada. One advantage attended this
change. It afforded him an opportunity of meeting his family. His
wife anticipated this interview, with no less rapture than himself. He
hurried to London, and the moment he alighted from the stage-coach, ran
with all speed to Mr. Conway's house.
"It was an house of mourning. His father was overwhelmed with grief, and
incapable of answering his inquiries. The servants, sorrowful and mute,
were equally refractory. He explored the house, and called on the names
of his wife and daughter, but his summons was fruitless. At length,
this new disaster was explained. Two days before his arrival, his wife's
chamber was found empty. No search, however diligent and anxious, could
trace her steps. No cause could be assigned for her disappearance. The
mother and child had fled away together.
"New exertions were made, her chamber and cabinets were ransacked, but
no vestige was found serving to inform them as to the motives of her
flight, whether it had been voluntary or otherwise, and in what corner
of the kingdom or of the world she was concealed. Who shall describe the
sorrow and amazement of the husband? His restlessness, his vicissitudes
of hope and fear, and his ultimate despair? His duty called him to
America. He had been in this city, and had frequently passed the door of
the house in which his wife, at that moment, resided. Her father had not
remitted his exertions to elucidate this painful mystery, but they had
failed. This disappointment hastened his death; in consequence of which,
Louisa's father became possessor of his immense property."
This tale was a copious theme of speculation. A thousand questions were
started and discussed in our domestic circle, respecting the motives
that influenced Mrs. Stuart to abandon her country. It did not appear
that her proceeding was involuntary. We recalled and reviewed every
particular that had fallen under our own observation. By none of these
were we furnished with a clue. Her conduct, after the most rigorous
scrutiny, still remained an impenetrable secret. On a nearer view, Major
Stuart proved himself a man of most amiable character. His attachment
to Louisa appeared hourly to increase. She was no stranger to the
sentiments suitable to her new character. She could not but readily
embrace the scheme which was proposed to her, to return with her father
to England. This scheme his regard for her induced him, however, to
postpone. Some time was necessary to prepare her for so great a change
and enable her to think without agony of her separation from us.
I was not without hopes of prevailing on her father entirely to
relinquish this unwelcome design. Meanwhile, he pursued his travels
through the southern colonies, and his daughter continued with us.
Louisa and my brother frequently received letters from him, which
indicated a mind of no common order. They were filled with amusing
details, and profound reflections. While here, he often partook of
our evening conversations at the temple; and since his departure, his
correspondence had frequently supplied us with topics of discourse.
One afternoon in May, the blandness of the air, and brightness of the
verdure, induced us to assemble, earlier than usual, in the temple.
We females were busy at the needle, while my brother and Pleyel were
bandying quotations and syllogisms. The point discussed was the merit of
the oration for Cluentius, as descriptive, first, of the genius of the
speaker; and, secondly, of the manners of the times. Pleyel laboured to
extenuate both these species of merit, and tasked his ingenuity, to shew
that the orator had embraced a bad cause; or, at least, a doubtful one.
He urged, that to rely on the exaggerations of an advocate, or to
make the picture of a single family a model from which to sketch the
condition of a nation, was absurd. The controversy was suddenly diverted
into a new channel, by a misquotation. Pleyel accused his companion of
saying "polliciatur" when he should have said "polliceretur." Nothing
would decide the contest, but an appeal to the volume. My brother was
returning to the house for this purpose, when a servant met him with
a letter from Major Stuart. He immediately returned to read it in our
company.
Besides affectionate compliments to us, and paternal benedictions
on Louisa, his letter contained a description of a waterfall on the
Monongahela. A sudden gust of rain falling, we were compelled to remove
to the house. The storm passed away, and a radiant moon-light succeeded.
There was no motion to resume our seats in the temple. We therefore
remained where we were, and engaged in sprightly conversation. The
letter lately received naturally suggested the topic. A parallel was
drawn between the cataract there described, and one which Pleyel had
discovered among the Alps of Glarus. In the state of the former, some
particular was mentioned, the truth of which was questionable. To settle
the dispute which thence arose, it was proposed to have recourse to the
letter. My brother searched for it in his pocket. It was no where to be
found. At length, he remembered to have left it in the temple, and he
determined to go in search of it. His wife, Pleyel, Louisa, and myself,
remained where we were.
In a few minutes he returned. I was somewhat interested in the dispute,
and was therefore impatient for his return; yet, as I heard him
ascending the stairs, I could not but remark, that he had executed his
intention with remarkable dispatch. My eyes were fixed upon him on his
entrance. Methought he brought with him looks considerably different
from those with which he departed. Wonder, and a slight portion of
anxiety were mingled in them. His eyes seemed to be in search of some
object. They passed quickly from one person to another, till they rested
on his wife. She was seated in a careless attitude on the sofa, in the
same spot as before. She had the same muslin in her hand, by which her
attention was chiefly engrossed.
The moment he saw her, his perplexity visibly increased. He quietly
seated himself, and fixing his eyes on the floor, appeared to be
absorbed in meditation. These singularities suspended the inquiry which
I was preparing to make respecting the letter. In a short time, the
company relinquished the subject which engaged them, and directed their
attention to Wieland. They thought that he only waited for a pause in
the discourse, to produce the letter. The pause was uninterrupted by
him. At length Pleyel said, "Well, I suppose you have found the letter."
"No," said he, without any abatement of his gravity, and looking
stedfastly at his wife, "I did not mount the hill."--"Why
not?"--"Catharine, have you not moved from that spot since I left the
room?"--She was affected with the solemnity of his manner, and laying
down her work, answered in a tone of surprise, "No; Why do you ask that
question?"--His eyes were again fixed upon the floor, and he did not
immediately answer. At length, he said, looking round upon us, "Is it
true that Catharine did not follow me to the hill? That she did not just
now enter the room?"--We assured him, with one voice, that she had not
been absent for a moment, and inquired into the motive of his questions.
"Your assurances," said he, "are solemn and unanimous; and yet I must
deny credit to your assertions, or disbelieve the testimony of my
senses, which informed me, when I was half way up the hill, that
Catharine was at the bottom."
We were confounded at this declaration. Pleyel rallied him with great
levity on his behaviour. He listened to his friend with calmness, but
without any relaxation of features.
"One thing," said he with emphasis, "is true; either I heard my
wife's voice at the bottom of the hill, or I do not hear your voice at
present."
"Truly," returned Pleyel, "it is a sad dilemma to which you have reduced
yourself. Certain it is, if our eyes can give us certainty that your
wife has been sitting in that spot during every moment of your absence.
You have heard her voice, you say, upon the hill. In general, her voice,
like her temper, is all softness. To be heard across the room, she is
obliged to exert herself. While you were gone, if I mistake not, she did
not utter a word. Clara and I had all the talk to ourselves. Still it
may be that she held a whispering conference with you on the hill; but
tell us the particulars."
"The conference," said he, "was short; and far from being carried on in
a whisper. You know with what intention I left the house. Half way to
the rock, the moon was for a moment hidden from us by a cloud. I never
knew the air to be more bland and more calm. In this interval I glanced
at the temple, and thought I saw a glimmering between the columns. It
was so faint, that it would not perhaps have been visible, if the moon
had not been shrowded. I looked again, but saw nothing. I never visit
this building alone, or at night, without being reminded of the fate
of my father. There was nothing wonderful in this appearance; yet it
suggested something more than mere solitude and darkness in the same
place would have done.
"I kept on my way. The images that haunted me were solemn; and I
entertained an imperfect curiosity, but no fear, as to the nature of
this object. I had ascended the hill little more than half way, when a
voice called me from behind. The accents were clear, distinct, powerful,
and were uttered, as I fully believed, by my wife. Her voice is
not commonly so loud. She has seldom occasion to exert it, but,
nevertheless, I have sometimes heard her call with force and eagerness.
If my ear was not deceived, it was her voice which I heard.
"Stop, go no further. There is danger in your path." The suddenness
and unexpectedness of this warning, the tone of alarm with which it was
given, and, above all, the persuasion that it was my wife who spoke,
were enough to disconcert and make me pause. I turned and listened to
assure myself that I was not mistaken. The deepest silence succeeded. At
length, I spoke in my turn. Who calls? is it you, Catharine? I stopped
and presently received an answer. "Yes, it is I; go not up; return
instantly; you are wanted at the house." Still the voice was
Catharine's, and still it proceeded from the foot of the stairs.
"What could I do? The warning was mysterious. To be uttered by Catharine
at a place, and on an occasion like these, enhanced the mystery. I could
do nothing but obey. Accordingly, I trod back my steps, expecting that
she waited for me at the bottom of the hill. When I reached the
bottom, no one was visible. The moon-light was once more universal and
brilliant, and yet, as far as I could see no human or moving figure
was discernible. If she had returned to the house, she must have used
wondrous expedition to have passed already beyond the reach of my eye.
I exerted my voice, but in vain. To my repeated exclamations, no answer
was returned.
"Ruminating on these incidents, I returned hither. There was no room
to doubt that I had heard my wife's voice; attending incidents were not
easily explained; but you now assure me that nothing extraordinary has
happened to urge my return, and that my wife has not moved from her
seat."
Such was my brother's narrative. It was heard by us with different
emotions. Pleyel did not scruple to regard the whole as a deception of
the senses. Perhaps a voice had been heard; but Wieland's imagination
had misled him in supposing a resemblance to that of his wife, and
giving such a signification to the sounds. According to his custom
he spoke what he thought. Sometimes, he made it the theme of grave
discussion, but more frequently treated it with ridicule. He did not
believe that sober reasoning would convince his friend, and gaiety, he
thought, was useful to take away the solemnities which, in a mind like
Wieland's, an accident of this kind was calculated to produce.
Pleyel proposed to go in search of the letter. He went and speedily
returned, bearing it in his hand. He had found it open on the pedestal;
and neither voice nor visage had risen to impede his design.
Catharine was endowed with an uncommon portion of good sense; but her
mind was accessible, on this quarter, to wonder and panic. That her
voice should be thus inexplicably and unwarrantably assumed, was a
source of no small disquietude. She admitted the plausibility of the
arguments by which Pleyel endeavoured to prove, that this was no more
than an auricular deception; but this conviction was sure to be shaken,
when she turned her eyes upon her husband, and perceived that Pleyel's
logic was far from having produced the same effect upon him.
As to myself, my attention was engaged by this occurrence. I could not
fail to perceive a shadowy resemblance between it and my father's death.
On the latter event, I had frequently reflected; my reflections never
conducted me to certainty, but the doubts that existed were not of a
tormenting kind. I could not deny that the event was miraculous, and
yet I was invincibly averse to that method of solution. My wonder was
excited by the inscrutableness of the cause, but my wonder was unmixed
with sorrow or fear. It begat in me a thrilling, and not unpleasing
solemnity. Similar to these were the sensations produced by the recent
adventure.
But its effect upon my brother's imagination was of chief moment.
All that was desirable was, that it should be regarded by him with
indifference. The worst effect that could flow, was not indeed very
formidable. Yet I could not bear to think that his senses should be the
victims of such delusion. It argued a diseased condition of his frame,
which might show itself hereafter in more dangerous symptoms. The will
is the tool of the understanding, which must fashion its conclusions
on the notices of sense. If the senses be depraved, it is impossible to
calculate the evils that may flow from the consequent deductions of the
understanding.
I said, this man is of an ardent and melancholy character. Those ideas
which, in others, are casual or obscure, which are entertained in
moments of abstraction and solitude, and easily escape when the scene is
changed, have obtained an immoveable hold upon his mind. The conclusions
which long habit has rendered familiar, and, in some sort, palpable to
his intellect, are drawn from the deepest sources. All his actions and
practical sentiments are linked with long and abstruse deductions
from the system of divine government and the laws of our intellectual
constitution. He is, in some respects, an enthusiast, but is fortified
in his belief by innumerable arguments and subtilties.
His father's death was always regarded by him as flowing from a direct
and supernatural decree. It visited his meditations oftener than it did
mine. The traces which it left were more gloomy and permanent. This new
incident had a visible effect in augmenting his gravity. He was less
disposed than formerly to converse and reading. When we sifted his
thoughts, they were generally found to have a relation, more or less
direct, with this incident. It was difficult to ascertain the exact
species of impression which it made upon him. He never introduced the
subject into conversation, and listened with a silent and half-serious
smile to the satirical effusions of Pleyel.
One evening we chanced to be alone together in the temple. I seized that
opportunity of investigating the state of his thoughts. After a pause,
which he seemed in no wise inclined to interrupt, I spoke to him--"How
almost palpable is this dark; yet a ray from above would dispel it."
"Ay," said Wieland, with fervor, "not only the physical, but moral night
would be dispelled." "But why," said I, "must the Divine Will address
its precepts to the eye?" He smiled significantly. "True," said he, "the
understanding has other avenues." "You have never," said I, approaching
nearer to the point--"you have never told me in what way you considered
the late extraordinary incident." "There is no determinate way in which
the subject can be viewed. Here is an effect, but the cause is utterly
inscrutable. To suppose a deception will not do. Such is possible, but
there are twenty other suppositions more probable. They must all be set
aside before we reach that point." "What are these twenty suppositions?"
"It is needless to mention them. They are only less improbable than
Pleyel's. Time may convert one of them into certainty. Till then it is
useless to expatiate on them."