REACTION.
“Pray Heaven for firmness thy whole soul to bend
To this thy purpose—to begin, pursue,
With thoughts all fixed and feelings purely kind;
Strength to complete, and with delight review,
And grace to give the praise where all is due.”—_Charles Wilcox._
It was over. Until this, he had not realized his true position. Nay, he
did not fully realize it now. He sat, as one stunned, in the seat into
which he had dropped when the door closed behind her. Until now, he had
been elevated by a high enthusiasm in his purpose, and supported by a
firm faith in her sympathy and co-operation—a faith, the strength of
which he had not known until it was stricken from him, and he was left
weaker than a child.
Why! it really had not seemed so great a sacrifice to resign wealth and
position with _her_ by his side—with _her_ approving looks, and smiles,
and words—with _her_ cordial, affectionate concurrence. And how often
the picture had glowed before his imagination, as he recalled her
kindling cheek, and kindling eye, and fervent imagination, while reading
with him of some heroic deed of self-devotion in _another_! And when he
thought of all that earnest enthusiasm with himself for its
object——forgive him, it was no better than a lover’s aspiration,
perhaps; but all his soul took fire at her image, and all things seemed
easy to do, to be, or to suffer, for such an unspeakable joy. That _he_
should be her Curtius, her Bayard, her Hampden, Sydney, her _hero_. And
until now, he had believed this, and had lived and acted under a strange
illusion. And if for an instant his faith in her sympathy had ever been
shaken, it was merely as the Christian believer’s trust is shaken, only
to strike its roots the deeper after the jar.
But now—oh! this was indeed the bitterness of death! In the first
stunned moment after his fall from such a height of confidence and joy,
into such a depth of desolation and wretchedness, he could scarcely
believe in his misery, far less analyze it, and detect its hidden and
bitterest element. And _this_ was its bitterest element—the ascertained
antagonism of his India—her _utter_ antagonism! This was the weapon that
had felled him to the earth. This was the fang of the adder, struck deep
in his heart, and poisoning all his soul!—with what? With
distrust!—distrust of her, of himself, of all men and women! As yet, all
this he felt, without acknowledging, nay, without perceiving it. He sat
there as one in a trance. And the hours that passed over him were as a
blank.
He was aroused by psychological disturbance. Why should he immolate
himself upon the altar of a principle that one half of the Christian
world would consider a mere madness? And how if, after all, it _was_
madness? How if he was self-deceived?—actuated by fanaticism, and not
by legitimate heroism? _She_ whose whole soul had glowed at the mere
mention of _true_ magnanimity—_she_ whose approbation had been the
ardently desired reward of his sacrifice—the object of his young
heart’s passionate aspiration—how had _she_ regarded him? As a hero or
a fanatic! How had she received him in his new aspect? Not as he had
often fondly prevised—not with a faithful, loving clasp, strengthening
his hands—not with a fervent, inspiring gaze, imparting courage and
energy to his soul—not with approval and sympathy, and faithful
cordial concurrence, confirming his faith—arming him for any
conflict—strengthening him for any sacrifice. Oh! no, no; far
otherwise. She had heard him with repelling hand and averted eye, and
scorn, and loathing, and repulsion, that had left him bitterly
disappointed, humbled, weakened, prostrated, _paralyzed_ by
self-doubt!
Was she right? Was he a madman?
Oh! there had been an element of worship and of aspiration in his love
for India. And was this idol a mere stone, upon which he had broken
himself in vain? He could not bear to think so. He was willing to
believe himself a fool or a madman, so that her image remained undimmed,
unspotted, unchanged in its shrine—so that she was still a perfect
woman, angel, goddess!
And was this not truly so? Was her decision not really just, and was he
not indeed a fanatic?
To _believe_ this, would end the struggle and the agony at once. To
_confess_ this, would restore harmony and happiness to the
grievously-disturbed family circle, and peace and joy to himself and his
India! How easy to step down from his pedestal of principle, frankly
confess it to have been a false position, taken in a fit of generous,
youthful enthusiasm; to jest over it with his friends—_friends recovered
by that step_; to call himself Don Quixote the younger, laugh at the
matter, and dismiss it to oblivion. And then India! This beautiful,
bewildering girl would be his own in five days. That vision whelmed him
in vague, intense delirium.
_Would_ it be so easy to step from his post, to abjure his principles,
to silence his conscience?
No! Even amid the intoxicating dream of his beautiful India’s love, his
stern soul answered, No!
He knew that he had _not_ taken a false position—the Tempter could not
persuade him that he had done so. He knew himself to be right; he knew
that he was not self-deceived. Not even now, in this hour of bitter
trial, would his moral sense be so confused. In his conscience, the
dividing line between right and wrong was too clearly, distinctly,
sharply defined, and there was no possibility of confusing or mistaking
the boundary.
And so the mental sophistry of the temptation ended.
And now for the moral conflict. Admitted that his convictions were those
of pure rational duty, why should he sacrifice so much to them? Did
_others_ around him do so? Did _any one_ live up to his or her high idea
of right? On the contrary, _who_ did not silence the voice of conscience
every day of their lives? _Who_ in this world was not, in their turn,
and in their way, more or less unjust, selfish? And did they not, the
best of them, compound for all this by going to church, and confessing
themselves “lost and ruined sinners,” and returning with a clean
conscience, like a tablet newly sponged over, and prepared to be
inscribed all over again with the same sins, to be effaced in the same
manner? Now, why could not he also do his pleasure, enjoy his wealth,
hold to this world, and secure heaven—all on these easy terms? It was
only to make a profession.
It would not do. His heart, it is true, had not been touched by the
spirit of Christianity, yet his mind was too clear and right to deceive
itself so delightfully about this matter. That grace of God which hath
appeared unto _all_ men, taught him that Christ was not the minister of
sin—not one who gave out patents conferring impunity in sin, and signed
with his own life-blood—not one who wiped out the sins of the soul, as
men sponge out marks from a note-book, to make room for more of the same
sort of matter—not one to make his own righteousness the shield for our
wilful unrighteousness. In a word, he felt and knew that Christ was not
the minister of sin.
This sorely tried and tempted man had made no professions, had used no
cant, but he nevertheless possessed a large portion of natural
conscientiousness, and he had a frank, light-hearted manner of doing
right, bordering on levity and nonchalance—a manner tending to mislead
superficial observers into making too shallow an estimate of the depth
and earnestness of his convictions and principles.
All his family, from the cold-hearted, clear-headed Clement Sutherland,
down to the ardent and impulsive India, had miscalculated the strength
of his character and the firmness of his purpose. And hence the
_comparative indifference_ with which they had hitherto received the
communication of his intentions. I say comparative indifference; for
though indeed the family were much disturbed that he should for a moment
entertain such purposes as he had revealed, yet none of them had doubted
that the influences which should be brought to bear upon him would
compel him to abandon his project. And thus agitation at this time was
calmness, perfect halcyon peace, in comparison with the confusion, the
chaos, the tremendous storm of indignation, opposition, and persecution,
that afterwards arose and hurtled around him. There are no wars so
bloody as civil wars; there are no feuds so deadly as family feuds;
there are no enemies so bitter, so cruel, so unrelenting, as those of
our own blood, when they _are_ enemies! Others may spare, but they will
_never_ spare! Others may in time become sated with vengeance, but
_they_ never! while their victim has one faculty of mind left uncrazed,
or one heartstring unwrung. Others may in time be touched by some sense
of justice; _they_ never! they hold to and defend their cruelty. Others
may repent; _they_ never. It would seem that a fatal blindness of sight
and hardness of heart fell upon them as a judgment from Heaven for their
unnatural sin.
Perhaps _you_ think that the days of martyrdom have been passed ever
since the stake and the faggot went into disrepute; and that the spirit
of persecution went out with the fires of Smithfield. If you do, may you
never have more reason for thinking otherwise than is contained in the
simple narrative before you. I am not going to enter minutely into the
details of all the scenes that followed that last interview between Mark
and India. I have all this time gone around and about the subject,
fearing or disliking to approach it. In real life, evil, malignant
passion is not really the graceful and dignified and all but too
fascinating thing that we see it represented on the stage—for instance,
in the toga and buskins of Brutus, and Cassius, or the train and plumes
of Lucretia Borgia. Nor has it a stately, measured gait, a sonorous
utterance, or a grand gesture. It is a humiliating fact, but it _is_ a
fact, that it looks and behaves very much more like an excited Terry or
Judy at a fair. It shakes its fists, and strides, and vociferates, and
chokes, and stutters. Fierce anger, hatred, and vengeance are of _no_
rank. They show just as hideous, revolting, and _vulgar_, in the prince
or princess, as in the meanest peasant. And all this has been suggested
by the recollection of the manner in which Mark Sutherland was treated
by his family.
He had made one more attempt to obtain another interview with India, by
addressing to her a note. This note was returned, with the seal
undisturbed, and with an insulting menace to the effect that any
communication addressed by Mr. Mark Sutherland to Miss Sutherland must
be preceded by a complete and final renunciation of his present
purposes, before it could be received by her. Full of bitterness, he
wrote to her again, and concluded his note thus:—
“I know you now, India; I know you perfectly. I no longer worship you.
Alas! there is nothing in you to worship, or even to approve beyond your
enchanting beauty. And yet I love you still for that bewildering beauty
and for the dream that is passing away. And you love me for something
better than that; you love me, now that for conscience I withstand you,
as you never loved me before. You wrong me in taking yourself away. You
take from me mine own. There is a voice in your heart that assures you
of this. But you stifle that voice. You outrage Nature—but beware! Be
sure that Nature is a dread goddess, and Nemesis waits upon her
bidding!”
There is something awful in the just anger of a noble-minded,
pure-hearted, high-spirited man; and thrice awful is it to the woman who
loves him, when that anger falls upon herself.
India received _this_ letter, and as she read it, bitter and scalding
tears fell upon it. He had surmised the truth—she _did_ love him now
with ten-fold strength and fervour, now that she had tried and proved
his strength. There was something in him to love, to lean upon, to
worship—something far more reliable, more attractive, and more binding
than mere masculine beauty—than the stately form, the dark, spirited
countenance, and the fascinating gaiety, that had pleased her childish
fancy. There was firmness, courage, fortitude, _moral strength_;
something that a true woman loves to rest upon, serve, adore. A wild and
passionate longing seized her heart—to go and stand by him in his
emergency—to help to sustain him, if it were ever so slight a help, in
this storm of opposition.
While the soul of India was convulsed in the terrible struggle between
her strong and passionate affection, and her invincible spirit of
antagonism, Mark Sutherland lingered at Cashmere. The habit of
considering himself a son of the house could not easily be uprooted; and
the absorption of all his thoughts and feelings in the subject of his
broken relations with India, prevented him, for a time, from perceiving
the cold and scornful demeanour of the master of the house. Had he not
been totally abstracted in mind, he would not for an hour have borne the
arrogance, which neither age nor relationship justified.
Miss Sutherland had perseveringly absented herself from the
drawing-room, and from the table—confining herself to her own room, and
taking her meals there.
At length one day, the family, as usual, with the exception of India,
sat down to dinner. There were present Clement and Paul Sutherland, Mrs.
Vivian, Miss Vivian, Mr. Bolling, Mark, and Lincoln—a party of seven
persons claiming to be refined women, or honorable men; in a word,
ladies and gentlemen—enough, under any emergency, to preserve the
decencies of a family dinner-table. Clement Sutherland, the host, sat
with the usual cloud upon his brow. When the waiter was about to lift
the cover from the dish before him, he arrested his act, by
saying—“Stop, sir! where is Miss Sutherland? Go, and let her know that
dinner waits.”
The man bowed and left the room. An embarrassing pause and silence
ensued, during which Clement Sutherland sat back in his chair, with a
scowl upon his yellow forehead, with an expression and an attitude that
he doubtless supposed to be awfully tragic and imposing, and which, in
truth, was inexpressibly disagreeable, and even alarming; for all
present felt that under all that ridiculous dramatic acting there was
some real offence meant—some mean, unmanly, inhospitable act to be
perpetrated. In about ten minutes, the servant returned. Entering, and
stepping lightly, he went up to his master’s side, bowed, and in a low
voice said—“Miss Sutherland, sir, has ordered me to say that she desires
to be excused.” And, with another bow, the waiter retired, and stood
behind his master’s chair. Clement Sutherland started up with an angry
gesture, pushed his chair violently behind him, to the risk of upsetting
my gentleman-waiter, and exclaimed—“Sirs, I have to ask you if the laws
of hospitality are to be so abused as to exile my daughter from the head
of the table, and how long it is your pleasure that this state of things
shall continue?”
This explosion was just as shocking as though something like it had not
been expected.
Mark Sutherland, with a crimsoned brow, arose from his chair.
Lincoln, with perfect self-possession, deliberately arose, walked into
the hall, took down his hat, returned, and, standing before Clement
Sutherland, deliberately said—“Mr. Sutherland, permit me to make a due
acknowledgment of the hospitality you have extended me, and also to
express my regret that it has been so unpardonably trespassed against. I
shall be most happy if you will afford me the opportunity to reciprocate
the hospitality, and atone for the trespass. Good day, sir.
“Oh! young man, you have nothing to thank me for.” Bowing to the ladies
present, Lincoln withdrew. Mark Sutherland snatched his hat, and,
without a word of leave-taking, left the room.
All the other members of the family circle remained seated at the table,
with the exception of Miss Vivian, who, rising, excused herself, and
retired.
When Mark Sutherland reached the rose terrace, he called to Lincoln to
stop, and wait until their horses were saddled. And then he hastened off
to the stables to give his orders.
In a very short time the horses were brought up, and the young men
mounted, and gallopped away from the house. They rode on in silence for
some time—Lincoln buried in calm thought, and Mark enrapt in a sort of
fierce reverie. At length he backed his horse close up to Lincoln’s
steed, seized his hand, and exclaimed, “Lauderdale, how can I ever atone
for exposing you to such insult?”
“Insult? My dear fellow”—(he was just about to say, “Mr. Clement
Sutherland _cannot_ insult me;” but, delicate and generous in his
consideration for the feelings of Mark, he only said)—“look into my
face, and see if you think I am very much troubled.”
And, indeed, the pleasant countenance of the youth was well calculated
to re-assure his friend.
They relapsed into silence as they approached the river. Sutherland was
absorbed in mournful and bitter reverie, which Lauderdale forbore to
break. They crossed the Pearl in perfect silence; Lincoln glancing from
the beautiful semi-transparent river, with its surface softly flushed
with rose and saffron clouds, to the gorgeous fields of cotton, with its
myriads beyond myriads of golden white flowers. When they left the
ferry-boat, and cantered up the gradual ascent of the road, and entered
upon the domain of Silentshade, once more Mark put out his hand and
seized that of his friend, saying, “Here at last is _my_ home, where I
may welcome any friend of mine for any length of time; and I do not so
much _invite_ you, as I _entreat_ you, to come and stay with me as long
as you can give me your company, if it be only, dear Lincoln, to prove
that you forgive me the offence that has been offered to you.”
“Pray say no more about it, dear Mark; how are you responsible for an
affront offered _yourself_ as well as me? As for staying with you, I
will do so with the greatest pleasure as long as I may.”
And once more Mark Sutherland fell into silence—into bitter and
sorrowful meditation—into deep despondency. Since India’s haughty
rejection of his hand, his life had grown very real to him. Before that,
he had thought, spoken, and acted, as one under the influence of some
inspiring dream. His anticipation and appreciation of the trials that
awaited him, differed as much from the real experience of them as the
imagining of some glorious martyrdom falls short of the suffering it.
Young enthusiast that he was, he had thought only of the excitement and
glory of the heroism, and not of the fierce torture and maddening shame
of the sacrifice. But now he felt his position in all its dreadful
reality. And it was well that he should so feel it. It would test his
sincerity, try his strength, prove his character. And now he rode on
despairing, almost heart-broken. Yet even in this dark and clouded hour,
one bright star of hope, and promise, and strength, shone on him—a
mother’s love—a mother’s undying, unchanging love. It has been the theme
of poets, of philosophers, and of novelists, since hearts first beat
with affections, and tongues first gave them utterance. It is the chosen
Scripture illustration to express even the divine love of God. The young
man rode along, deeply musing on that mother’s love—deeply thirsting for
it. He felt—man as he was—that it would be a sweet and grateful relief
to sit by her side, to drop his proud, but weary head upon her shoulder,
and for a little while to give vent to the flood of sorrow now stifled
in his bosom—sure, that if others thought even such a transient yielding
to grief unmanly, she, that tender and affectionate mother, never would
think so. And so he mused upon that love—the only earthly love that
never faileth—that neither misfortune can abate, nor crime alienate.
And, unfortunate and suffering in the cause of conscience as he was, how
confidently he trusted in that mother’s sympathy and support! Yea,
though all other affection might fail him—though friends should forsake,
and relatives abandon him, and even his bride discard him—she, his
mother, would be true!
He would have staked his salvation upon this, as they turned into the
avenue of limes leading up to the house, and saw Mrs. Sutherland
standing, smiling, upon the piazzi. But, on seeing the young men
approach, in one instant, the lady’s countenance changed.
_She had had her lesson._
Without advancing one step to meet and welcome them, she allowed them,
after dismounting from their horses, to walk quite up the steps, and to
the very spot where she stood, and to bow and speak, before she relaxed
one muscle of her countenance.
She replied to their greeting in the coldest tones, inviting them to
enter the house.
For an instant, Mark and Lincoln raised their eyes to each other’s face,
and their glances met. A pang of mortification and disappointment sped
through the heart of Sutherland; and Lauderdale, apparently not the
least surprised or disconcerted, took his resolution.
Preceded by the lady, they entered the house, and passed into a front
parlour, and at her cold invitation, which seemed more like a strained
and reluctant permission granted, they took seats. Nothing could be more
deeply disagreeable and embarrassing than the next few minutes. Mrs.
Sutherland took her sofa in perfect silence, turned her face towards
them with a look of cold enquiry, and assumed the air of waiting to hear
what might be their business with her—what they might have to
communicate.
This was very perplexing. They did not come on business—indeed, they
were made to feel that _they had no business there_. They had come to be
entertained, and comforted, and compensated, after the Clement
Sutherland infliction. They had nothing particular to answer to that
cold, questioning look, except Lauderdale, who, cool as his own clime,
informed Mrs. Sutherland that the day was “very fine.” The lady bowed in
silent assent.
“The weather for many days past has been very pleasant,” continued
Lincoln, without the least embarrassment.
“Yes—I think the present state of the atmosphere highly favourable to
_travelling_,” said the lady.
“Your climate here, madam, is not near so sultry as we of the North have
supposed it to be,” persevered Lincoln.
“Hem—yet at this season we think it too hot to be wholesome to you of
the North,” said the lady, with a curling lip.
“Humph,” thought Lauderdale, “your courtesy, madam, is cold enough to
cool the hottest hour of the hottest day, in the hottest clime under the
sun.” But, turning to his friend Mark, said—
“Sutherland, if madame will excuse us, will you be kind enough to let me
have my room?”
And Mark, released from the vice into which he had felt himself
compressed for the last ten minutes, very gladly sprang up to accompany
him. Lauderdale bowed to Mrs. Sutherland, with some pardonable formality
of ceremony, perhaps, as they left the parlour.
When they had reached Lincoln’s chamber, in the second story, Mark threw
himself into a chair, and covered his face with his hands. Lincoln went
calmly to work, packing up his wardrobe. After a while, seeing that
Sutherland kept his attitude of humiliation, he went up to him, clapped
him upon the shoulder cheerfully, and said—
“_Never_ mind, my dear Mark! _never_ mind! You take this to heart far
more than necessary. Now, I dare say that one of your hot-blooded,
fire-eating Mississippians, treated as I have been, would call somebody
out, and do something desperate; but I really do not feel obliged to do
anything of the sort.”
“_I_ am a Mississippian—do you consider _me_ a very hot-blooded person?
Am I not rather a miserable poltroon, to see my friend and guest
outraged and insulted as you have been?”
“Well, that is as fine a piece of self-accusation as I have met with
since reading the formula of confession in a Roman Catholic missal. You
could not help it, Mark—you could not affront age or womanhood, in my
defence or your own,” said Lauderdale; and he resumed his packing.
In a very few minutes it was completed, and then he came to announce his
departure to Mark, and to take leave of him.
“I have nothing to say to you, dear Lincoln—nothing whatever, except
once more to entreat your pardon for what has passed, and to wish you
well with all my heart.”
He could not seek to change his guest’s purpose—could not ask him to
remain; how could he do so, indeed? He wished to order the carriage, but
Lincoln positively refused to avail himself of it, saying that he would
walk to the next village, and send for his trunks. Mark impressed upon
him the use of his own riding-horse, and Lincoln, to avoid wounding him,
accepted it.
The young men then went down stairs; Lincoln entered the parlour, to bid
adieu to his hostess, and Mark left the house to order the horses, for
he was resolved to accompany his friend.
In a few minutes they were in their saddles, and on the road leading to
C——, a muddy, miserable town, about five miles down the river.
Here the friends finally separated, but not until Lincoln’s trunks had
been sent for, and had arrived, and Lincoln himself had entered the
stage that passed through the village that night, and was to convey him
to the steamboat landing on the Mississippi, by which route he preferred
to return north. They took leave with mutual assurance of remembrances,
and promises of frequent correspondence.
It was late at night when Mark Sutherland returned to his home, and he
immediately went to his room.
He arose the next morning, with the full determination to set
immediately to work.
“I must plunge myself into action, lest I wither by despair,” might have
been his thought. His mother received him at the breakfast table with
coldness. He told her respectfully what he intended to do during the
day. She curled her lip, and begged him to proceed, without remorse or
fear, to unroof the house that sheltered her head—and she trusted Heaven
would give her strength to bear even that.
After breakfast, he set out, and rode to Jackson, to engage the services
of a lawyer to assist him in making out the deeds, and taking the legal
measures required in emancipating his people. As the distance to the
city was a full day’s journey, and he had business enough to occupy the
whole of the second day, he did not reach home until the evening of the
third day.
He came, accompanied by a lawyer. They were both tired and hungry, but
found no supper prepared, and no one to make them welcome. Mr.
Sutherland went out, and enquired for his mother, and was told that the
lady desired to be excused from receiving an official, that had come to
make her homeless. Mark stifled a sigh; he ordered refreshments for his
guest, and soon after showed him to his sleeping chamber.
The next day was a very busy, yet a very trying one. On coming down into
the breakfast-room, Mark Sutherland heard with poignant sorrow that his
mother had departed from the house, carrying with her many of her
personal effects, as if for a long or permanent absence, and had gone to
take up her abode in Cashmere. In consternation at this act, Mark
Sutherland rushed out to institute further enquiries, and found in front
of the house a baggage-waggon, with Billy Bolling standing up in the
midst, receiving and packing away trunks, boxes, and packages, that were
lifted to him by two negro men in attendance.
“In the name of Heaven, what is the meaning of all this, uncle?” asked
Mark with trepidation.
Mr. Bolling stood up, took his handkerchief leisurely from his pocket,
wiped his flushed, perspiring face, replaced it, and answered—
“It means, sir, that you have turned my sister out of doors; that is all
it means.”
“But, uncle, my dear mother has perfect”——
“D——n it, sir, don’t call my sister mother, or me uncle! You are no son
or nephew of ours; we wash our hands of you! We cast you off! We’ll have
nothing to do with you!”
“Why, Mr. Bolling, what is the”——
“Confound it, sir, don’t talk to me; you are a villain, sir! James,
drive on!” And clapping his hat upon his head, Mr. Bolling sat down and
settled the last box in its place, and the waggon was driven off.
It is impossible to describe the state of mind in which Mark Sutherland
found himself. The distracting thoughts and emotions that whirled
through his brain and heart, excited him almost to frenzy. He
immediately wrote an imploring, passionate note to his mother, briefly
alluding to the independence he intended to secure to her, and
supplicating her to return to her own home. He sent it off; and, in a
few minutes, unsatisfied with that note, he wrote another, more
affectionate, more ardent, more supplicating, and despatched that also.
And then, half-maddened as he was, he turned and set himself to his
business. He caused all the servants to be assembled on the lawn. He
went out to them, and announced his intention of setting free, and
sending all who were willing to go, to Liberia. He explained to them the
good that must accrue to the younger, and more intelligent and
industrious among them, who might emigrate and settle in the last-named
place. This news did not take the negroes the least by surprise. They
had heard whisperings of the cause that had broken off their master’s
marriage, and set all his family and friends at feud with him. After
closing his little speech to the assembled slaves, he singled out some
dozen among them—heads of cabin families—old and steady men; and he took
them with him into his library, where he explained to them, at greater
length, the advantages of the plan of emigration to Liberia. And then he
dismissed them, to converse with each other, to reflect, and decide what
they wished to do.
Next, he left his study to go and enquire if the messenger sent to his
mother had returned. He found the man watching for him in the hall. He
held a letter in his hand. Mr. Sutherland eagerly snatched it. It
contained a few lines, formally advising him that no further
communication would be received from him, which was not preceded by a
full and complete renunciation of his obnoxious plans. While his gaze
was painfully riveted upon this note, the second messenger arrived,
bringing a letter in his hand. He seized it. _It was his own, returned
unopened._
“Did you see Mrs. Sutherland, Flamingo?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did she say?”
“I gave her the letter, sir; she took it, and read the direction, and
handed it back to me, and told me to take it back to him who sent it,
and not to bring her another one.”
“That will do—you may go,” said Mark, and a spasm of pain twitched his
countenance, as he tore up the letter, and threw the fragments away.
“That is not all, sir—there is something else.”
“Well, what new stab?” he thought; but he _said_—
“Well, what is it?”
Flamingo took from under his arm a small packet, wrapped in tissue
paper, and handed it to him.
“What is this? Where did you get this?”
“Miss Rosalie gave it to me to bring to you.”
“You may go now,” said Mr. Sutherland, as he opened a door, and passed
into the parlour, and sat down to look at the packet. It was a little
morocco case, containing a lady’s small pocket Bible, bound in white
velvet and silver, with silver clasps. An elegant little _bijou_ it was.
Upon the fly-leaf was written, “_Rosalie Vivian, from her affectionate
and happy mother._” And this writing bore a date of several years
before.
On the opposite page was inscribed, “_Mark Sutherland, with the deep
respect of Rosalie Vivian._” And this inscription bore the date of
to-day. A leaf was folded down, and when he opened it at the 27th Psalm,
he saw marked this passage: “When my father and my mother forsake me,
then will the Lord take me up.” There was still another page turned
down, and another pencil stroke, enclosing these words, (Mark x. 29,)
“And Jesus answered, and said, Verily, I say unto you, there is no man
hath left home, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife,
or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel’s, but he shall
receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and
sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in
the world to come, eternal life.”
He turned over the little book with a fond look and smile—partly given
to the elegant little _bijou_ itself, such an inappropriate sort of copy
to be sent to a man—and partly to the fair, gentle girl, its donor. The
little incident came to him like a soft, encouraging pressure of the
hand, or a kind word at his greatest need—like a loving benediction. And
for those blessed words that were marked, they were dropped into his
broken and tearful heart, like good seeds into the ploughed and watered
earth, to bring forth fruit in due season.
He replaced the little book in its case, wrapped it again in its tissue
paper, and, for the present, lodged it within the ample breast of his
coat. He had never in his life heard Rosalie give expression to one fine
heroic sentiment, such as fell plenteously from the lips of India, as
the pearls and diamonds from the fairy favoured maiden of the child’s
story. But now he could not suppress the painful regret that the
brilliant and enthusiastic India had not possessed more of the
tenderness, sympathy, and real independence, found in the fragile,
retired Rosalie.
It were tedious, as needless, to follow Mr. Sutherland through all the
multifarious and harassing details of business that filled up the next
few weeks. His path was full of difficulties. Not only social and
domestic discouragements, and legal obstacles and delays, but
difficulties that arose on the part of the negroes themselves. A few of
them did not want the old state of things, with its familiar
associations, and close attachments, broken up. Some of them, who were
anxious to be free, had wives and children, or husbands, upon some
neighbouring plantation, and so were held bound by their affections.
Nay, indeed, often a mere fraternal love was sufficient to produce this
effect. This class of negroes, proved to be a great trial and vexation
to Mark, not only by throwing nearly insurmountable obstacles in the way
of their own emancipation, but also affording his opponents much
material for laughter. It was in vain their benefactor told these men,
that, after a few years of labour and saving, they would be able to
purchase their wives or children. They shook their heads—they
feared—their spirits were too faint. As far as his means would go, Mr.
Sutherland purchased these wives or children, and sent them off with
their husbands and fathers.
At length, it was all over—the slaves were emancipated and gone, each
with a sum of money to pay their transport, and provide their immediate
necessities, until they should find work. Many misgivings troubled the
head of Mr. Sutherland, as to whether they would do well with the
liberty, so unaccustomed, and so newly given; but no doubts as to the
righteousness of his own act ever crossed his mind. And so he committed
the result to Providence.
He had taken care to secure the homestead to his mother. For her
benefit, he had also placed at interest thirty thousand dollars, which,
at six per cent., would yield her an income of eighteen hundred.
Having thus wound up his business, he went over to Cashmere to seek an
interview—a _farewell_ interview—with his mother and relatives. He
learned that they had, a few days before, left Cashmere for the North.
The next morning, Mark Sutherland, with only ninety dollars in his
pocket-book, with his wardrobe and his law books, departed from his
childhood’s home.
It may be as well to state here, that when the Sutherlands returned, in
the autumn, Mrs. Sutherland, with some ten or twelve slaves, her own
personal property, took up her abode at Silentshades, availed herself of
the income her son had secured to her, and made herself comfortable.