Mr. and Mrs. Clermont invited their little niece, Elizabeth Sinclair, to
spend a month with them in the country. Mr. Clermont was extremely fond
of children, but his partiality to their company never extended to any
who had been improperly and foolishly indulged, and were whimsical and
discontented; and had he known that his sister had suffered her little
girl to have those disagreeable qualities, he never would have asked her
to his house; but he had been two years abroad, and knew nothing of
her.
The day on which she was expected, her uncle and aunt went to meet her,
and were very much pleased with her appearance, as well as the
affectionate manner in which she returned the caresses they bestowed
upon her. She was extremely pretty, had fine teeth, fine hair, and a
beautiful complexion; and Mr. Clermont said to his wife, "I shall be
delighted to have this sweet little creature with me, and to shew all my
friends what a charming niece I have." But he was not long in changing
his opinion, and very soon discovered that her beauty, much as he had
thought of it, did not prevent her being the most disagreeable girl he
had ever met with.
She was no sooner in the house than she complained of being too warm,
then too cold, and a minute after, too warm again--too tired to sit up,
yet not choosing to go to bed--wishing for some tea, and then not liking
any thing but milk and water--now drinking it without sugar, then
desiring to have some, and, after saying she never supped, bursting into
tears because she was going to be sent to bed without supper.
"I perceive I was mistaken," said Mr. Clermont; "this _sweet little
creature_ will be a pretty torment to us, if we permit her to have her
own way; but I shall put a stop to it immediately."
Accordingly, the next day at dinner, he asked her if she would be helped
to some mutton, but she refused it, saying she never could eat any thing
roasted. "Then, my dear," replied Mr. Clermont, "here is a boiled
potatoe for you; eat that, for you will have nothing else."
Elizabeth was extremely disconcerted, and thought, if she had been at
home, her mamma would have ordered half a dozen different things for
her, rather than suffer her to eat any thing she disliked, or to dine
upon potatoes. She made a very bad dinner, and was cross and out of
humour the whole evening.
The next day at table Mr. Clermont offered to help her to some boiled
lamb; but Elizabeth, according to her usual custom of never liking what
was offered to her, said she could not eat lamb when it was boiled. "So
I expected," said Mr. Clermont, "and (taking off the cover from a small
dish which was placed next to him) here are some _roasted_ potatoes,
which I have provided on purpose, fearing you might not happen to like
the rest of the dinner."
Elizabeth began to cry bitterly, but her uncle paid no kind of attention
to her tears, only saying that if she preferred a basin of water-gruel,
she should have some made in an instant. She was extremely hungry
(having quarrelled with her breakfast, and had nothing since), and
perceiving that her tears were not likely to produce any good effect,
was glad to dine very heartily on lamb and spinage, and to eat some
currant tart, which she had said she could not bear even the smell of.
She insisted, however, on returning to her mamma immediately, saying she
would not stay any longer in a house where she was in danger of being
starved, and was sure her mamma would be very angry if she knew how she
was treated.
"I am sorry to inform you, my dear niece," said Mr. Clermont, "that you
must endeavour to put up with it at least a month or six weeks, for your
mamma is gone into Wales on business of consequence, and will not be at
home to receive you till that time is expired."
This was sad news for Elizabeth; she was extremely unhappy, and wished a
thousand times she had never quitted her own home, where she was
indulged in all her whims, and where every one's time was employed in
trying to please and amuse her; "And now," thought she, "on the
contrary, I never have any thing I like, and my uncle appears to take
pleasure in teazing and vexing me from morning to night." Finding,
however, that she must either eat what was provided for her, or suffer
hunger, and conscious that she had no _real_ dislike to any thing in
particular, though she had a great pleasure in plaguing every body about
her, she thought it advisable to submit, and consequently dined
extremely well every day, whether the meat was roasted or boiled, stewed
or fried.
One day, when she was going with her uncle and aunt to take a walk to
the next village, a poor miserable woman, with a child in her arms, and
followed by two others, met them at the gate, and begged, for God's
sake, they would take pity upon her and her helpless infants, who she
said had not tasted food since the foregoing day.
Cold meat and bread being immediately brought out to them, both the
woman and her children seized upon it with so much eagerness, that they
might really be believed to be almost famished.
Mr. Clermont desired Elizabeth would observe them attentively, and,
after making her take particular notice of the joy with which the poor
people were feasting on the scraps that came from their table, asked her
if she thought she ever again could, without being guilty of a dreadful
sin, despise, as she frequently had done, and refuse to eat of the
wholesome and plentiful food which, through the great goodness of God,
her friends were enabled to provide for her.
Elizabeth was struck with her uncle's words, and with the sight before
her; she felt that she had, by her ingratitude and unthankfulness to
God, rendered herself very undeserving of the comforts he had bestowed
upon her, and of which the poor children she was then looking at stood
so much in need; and she never, from that day, was heard to find fault
with any thing, but prayed that she might in future deserve a
continuance of such blessings.