Blest order, which in power dost so excel,
* * * * *
Fain would I draw nigh,
Fain put thee on; exchanging my lay sword
For that of th' Holy Word.
HERBERT.
About a year from this time an uncle of Mrs. Trevor's died, leaving
twenty thousand pounds to his niece's second son, Eustace, his god-son;
and the persecuted young man thus found himself, by this unexpected
behest, placed in a position which rendered him to a degree independent
of the tyranny and bondage to which he had been hitherto subjected by
his father, and at liberty, if so had been his pleasure, to relinquish
the profession which had in such an arbitrary manner been forced upon
him. But it was not thus to be. Very different now was the nature of
the case. He stood a free man--free to choose or to reject the path of
life before him, and the spirit which had struggled so fiercely in the
ignoble chains which bound it to that course, now disenthralled, turned
as naturally as the eagle to the sun, to that high and holy service for
which he had been prepared.
The proud and restless spirit, soothed and tranquillized, yielded itself
as a little child to the scarcely-breathed wishes of his mother, that
the struggles he had so long and nobly endured in bringing down his
rebellious thoughts and contrary inclinations--the hard studies to which
he had devoted himself to fit him according to his own high standard for
the important vocation, might not be thrown away; but that before she
left this world of sin and sorrow, she might have the happiness of
seeing her beloved son wedded to that profession, which in her eyes
offered the only fold of security and protection from the snares and
temptations which beset the path of manhood--"the bosom of the Church."
Eustace was fully persuaded that his father would now withdraw the
living he had before so pertinaciously awarded him; for he plainly
perceived the increasing enmity the bestowal of his uncle's little
fortune, had raised against him in the breast of his unnatural parent,
an act purposely, no doubt, made by the testator, to secure it from the
well-known cupidity of his niece's husband. But what if this were the
case? The forfeiture of this benefice would but the more fully satisfy
his own mind, as to the disinterestedness of the change affected in his
feelings with respect to that profession.
Therefore from this period did Eustace Trevor set himself with heart and
soul more fully to prepare for the sacred office, and having shone with
increased brilliancy in the path of learning, covered with honours and
distinctions, stood ready for the ceremony of ordination.
But this event was retarded; first, by the severe attack of brain-fever,
the result probably of the course of hard and long-sustained study,
which nearly brought him to the brink of the grave, and prostrated his
strength for many an after day; and by the time he had sufficiently
recovered, another event had occurred, the nature of which seemed likely
to effect a most important change in the aspect of his future career.
Mr. Trevor's words, spoken in cruel levity, with reference to his eldest
son, became verified in a manner not often found precedented in the
course of the world's history. The body of the unfortunate Henry Trevor
was brought home one morning to his father's house, it having been found
lying on the road, where, on returning home the night before in a state
of intoxication--a vice to which he had been unhappily addicted--he had
been thrown from his horse, and, as it appeared, killed upon the spot.
And Eustace Trevor stood in that brother's place--eldest son, and heir
to all that would have been his!
It is not often that such instances are afforded us in the order of
God's dealings; instances which, to our blind sight, cannot but appear
wisely and providentially appointed.
We would fain cut down the barren tree, that the good and fruitful may
flourish in its room. But the husbandman wills it not. We would fain
root out the tares: but he orders that they should flourish on. The evil
weeds grow apace; whilst too often the flower withers, and fades ere it
be yet noon.
But here men said all was right. Poor Henry Trevor! removed from a
sphere in which he could never have played but so ignoble a part; making
room for one of whom none could desire better to fill his place, as heir
and future representative of a house and family of such wealth and
consideration as that of Trevor, and so noble and brilliant a successor
to its present miserly head.
Few in any way acquainted with Eustace's superiority of character,
hesitated to look upon the death of the first-born but as a source of
congratulation rather than of condolence to the new heir, and to
posterity. So do men err in their calculations of good and evil!
Little did they know the wild heritage of woe this seeming good did
bring about! Seldom has the death of an unlamented eldest son proved so
direful in its consequences.
The catastrophe in question, of course interrupted, for a while, the
intended ordination of Eustace Trevor. It was naturally supposed that no
further thought would be entertained of his entering the Church, either
by himself or family. Indeed, we will not say but that his change of
circumstances altered also, in some degree, his own ideas upon the
subject.
New prospects, new duties, new spheres of action for his transcendant
talents, seemed to open before his view. Even Mrs. Trevor might have
seemed tacitly to bend to the new position of circumstances. It was,
however, difficult for the son to gain any insight into the wishes of
his father upon the subject; for some time after his brother's death he
was denied all access to that parent's presence: Mr. Trevor's vindictive
feeling against his second son not suffering him to bear the sight of
him in the new position he now was placed.
No one, indeed, save Eugene and Marryott, from this time were suffered
often to approach him. The former, from the period recorded in the last
chapter, spent much of his time at Montrevor; his favour and influence
with his father increasing day by day. At this treatment, Eustace could
be neither much astonished or grieved. For his mother's sake alone did
he ever make Montrevor his abode, and her failing health, which had
received a further shock from the violent end of her unfortunate son,
drew him more anxiously than ever to her side.
He laid his future destiny in her hands. If she still desired him to
embrace the office of priesthood, no change of fortune should induce him
further to demur.
And no change of fortune _could_ alter the mother's heart's desire on
that score; but she knew that worldly consideration spoke otherwise. Was
it for her to gainsay the wisdom of the world, perhaps the dictates of
her son's own heart?
She bade him further pause and consider the question ere he took the
indissoluble step, which would bind him so firmly to the service of his
God. She advised him to go and try the world, to look upon its pride,
its ambition, and its pleasure. He went. Courted, flattered, and
admired, all these allurements beckoned him away. The world smiled upon
the eldest son, and not only the world; he in whose heart of hearts
hatred and envy were darkly smouldering against one whom fortune had at
once so unexpectedly favoured, and raised above himself--he also in
that smiling world spoke him fair, and walked with him as friend--and
this was his brother.
How was it then that Eustace Trevor finally returned to his original
intention? Was his eye even then opened to see the hollowness of all
that thus surrounded him, or that returning thence to his mother's side,
he beheld her fading form, her anxious eye, and determined in his heart
that her fainting spirit should be rejoiced--her last days cheered by
the accomplishment of her soul's earnest desire.
Was it in bitterness of soul at his father's cruel hatred? The still
more cruel suspicion that dawned upon his perception, in spite of all
outward seeming, that the heart of his brother was turned against him
more darkly still; and that he felt it to be absolutely necessary to
secure himself a definite occupation and object in life, ere the time
came when the only light of his paternal home would be quenched with his
mother's life, and he become a voluntary exile from its portals? Be it
as it may, Eustace Trevor, without giving notice of his intentions to
any of his family, went to Oxford, and was finally ordained, having by
consent of the bishop, in consideration of the long preparation and many
accidental delays which had postponed the event--his long-tested
readiness and ability for the important vocation--been excused the
year's probation which must generally intervene, and was admitted on the
close coming occasion to the office of priesthood.
"Dread searcher of the hearts,
Thou who didst seal
Thy servant's choice, oh help him in his parts,
Else helpless found, to turn and teach Thy love."