O War, thou son of Hell,
Throw, in the frozen bosoms of our part,
Hot coals of vengeance, let no soldier fly;
He that is truly dedicate to war
Hath no self-love.
Shakspeare.
The impatience of Evellin to join his royal master frustrated the
hospitable wish of Dr. Beaumont to detain his brother-in-law at
Ribblesdale. A few weeks were all he would grant, and even this time was
not unemployed, for Williams was sent forward to present the levy and
supply of money to the King, to inquire where he would command his
services, and to procure arms and accoutrements.
During this interval, the Doctor found, with unspeakable pleasure, that
the intellectual disorder of Evellin, which had been caused by too keen
a sense of his wrongs, was composed rather than heightened by the severe
loss he had lately sustained. The death of that faithful partner, who
had sacrificed her life in labouring for his benefit, impressed on him
the conviction that he must either exert himself, or perish. The tender
age of his children peremptorily required his assistance, and to a mind
formed like his, a still more awakening consideration presented itself
in the dangers and difficulties of his King. Was it worthy of the true
Earl of Bellingham to wander among wilds and fastnesses, weeping for a
dead wife, or raving at a false friend, when England's throne tottered
under its legitimate Sovereign, and the lowest of the people, (like owls
and satyrs in the capital of Assyria) fixed their habitations in the
pleasant palaces where luxury late reigned! He felt that he had too long
behaved like a woman, pining in secret when he ought to have acted;
while his faithful consort, with masculine courage, opposed her tender
frame to the tempest, and, at length, sunk beneath the added terrors of
his imbecility. His weakness in lamenting an irremediable evil, was the
fault to which he owed the loss of his invaluable Isabel. He would now
shew how truly he deplored that loss, by changing moody reflection into
vigorous action, and by becoming a protector and support to the family
to which he had hitherto been a burden. To such a state of mind, the
situation of the King supplied a powerful impetus, and Dr. Beaumont saw,
with pleasure, that loyalty was likely to give full scope to those fine
qualities, which had hitherto, like smothered fire, consumed the fabric
in which they were engendered.
He, however, entreated Evellin not to compromise his own safety by acts
of rashness, which could do his Prince no good, but to wait the return
of Williams before he took the field. In raising a band of mountaineers,
he had acted under the authority of the King's commission of array,
against which Davies had preached, and Morgan had inveighed, not only
with vehemence, but with falsehood. They had told the yeomen and
peasants, that "some lords about the court said, twenty pounds a year
was enough for any peasant to live upon, and, taking advantage of the
commission being in Latin, they translated it into what English they
pleased, persuading the freeholders, that at least two parts of their
estates would be taken from them; and the poorer sort, that one day's
labour in the week would be extorted as a tax to the King[1]." These
calumnies were not peculiar to Ribblesdale, but unhappily were diffused
over all the nation, in which a vast body of people were grown up, who,
like Morgan, had acquired wealth, and were ambitious of equal
consequence with the hereditary gentry and nobility, by whom they found
themselves despised for their ignorance and coarse manners, and
therefore endeavoured to supplant them. Such men were every-where fast
friends to the Parliament, and by their freer intercourse with the
common people, whose habits and ideas were originally their own, they
misrepresented the King's designs, and counteracted the measures of
those noble and brave patriots, who, notwithstanding their dislike of
some former measures, felt it was their duty now to rally round the
throne. "Nor can it be remembered without much horror, that this strange
wild-fire among the people was not so much and so furiously kindled by
the breath of the Parliament, as by that of their clergy, who both
administered fuel and blowed the coals. These men having crept into and
at last driven all learned and orthodox divines from the pulpits, had,
from the commencement of this 'memorable Parliament,' under the notion
of reformation and extirpation of popery, infused seditious inclinations
into the hearts of men against the present government of the church with
many libellous invectives against the state. But now they contained
themselves in no bounds, and as freely and without controul inveighed
against the person of the King, prophanely and blasphemously applying
whatever had been spoken by God himself or the Prophets, against the
most wicked and impious Kings, to incense and stir up the people against
their most gracious Sovereign. Besides licensed divines, preaching and
praying was at that time practiced by almost all men in the kingdom
except scholars."
Thus as every parish had its Davies and its Morgan, the unhappy Charles,
faultless as a man, and at worst only ill-advised as a Monarch, found
himself, after much ineffectual submission, and many unconstitutional
abridgements of his lawful rights, required to surrender the scanty
remains of his prerogative, and consent to be a state-engine, in the
hands of his enemies. When, driven from his capital by riots, his fleet,
army, militia, garrisons, magazines, revenues, nay, his palaces and
personalities seized, by those who still called themselves his most
dutiful subjects, and prefaced their requisitions, that he would
virtually surrender as their prisoner with the title of an humble
petition; when, after all these humiliations and privations, the King
found it necessary to throw himself on the allegiance of his faithful
subjects, and to appeal to arms by raising the royal standard, only a
few hundred, out of the millions he governed, joined him. Discouraged by
this apparent defection, some of his friends advised him to treat with
the Parliament, or, in other words, to submit unconditionally. In
abandoning his own personal rights, His Majesty had gone as far as his
conscience would permit, and he chose rather to suffer banishment or
death, than yield to abolish the church he had sworn to defend, as
Parliament now required him to do, in the phrase of "casting out an
idle, unsound, unprofitable, and scandalous ministry, and providing a
sound, godly, profitable, and preaching ministry, in every congregation
through the land." Yet he so far conceded as to make an offer of
reconciliation, secretly convinced that the latent insolence with which
it would be rejected, though couched in smooth language, would awaken
the nation to a sense of duty. The event justified his expectation, and
the King was enabled to make a glorious, but unsuccessful resistance,
during which, though many excellent persons fell (himself among the
number), the principles of reciprocal duty between King and subject were
defined, and hypocrites, fanatics, and republicans, were completely
unmasked.
It was during this lowering aspect of the political horizon, while the
clouds, congregating from all quarters, menaced a tremendous storm, that
Evellin sheltered his woe-worn head at Ribblesdale. The time was not
lost; for the well-informed piety of the Doctor succeeded in completely
tranquillizing Evellin's mind, who, admitting him to unbounded
confidence, told him all his early sorrows, the enmity of Buckingham,
the falsehood of De Vallance, and the loss of his estate, title, and
high connection. When in the sequel of his narrative, he stated that his
perfidious friend was at this time Earl of Bellingham, the blood
recoiled from Dr. Beaumont's heart, and he almost fainted with horror.
"Do I understand you," said he; "was De Vallance thus exalted by the
King? Was his wife the Queen's confidante, the dispenser of her favours
and the adviser of her conduct?" He then shewed Evellin the British
Mercury, which stated, that this same Bellingham had accepted a
commission under the Parliament; that the treacherous favourite of the
unfortunate Henrietta Maria had charged her mistress with the design of
introducing popery and arbitrary power, as well as of secretly fomenting
the Irish rebellion, and that she had involved in her slanders the
merciful and truly religious King.
"This infinitely transcends all," exclaimed Evellin, "and drives from my
remembrance the recollection of my private wrongs. I consider the
infernal pair not merely as my enemies, but as the common foes of man; I
regard them as a tiger and hyaena, whom I ought to hunt down and destroy.
They are not depraved human beings, tempted by ambition to sin greatly;
but demons, who know no moral feelings either of honour, pity,
attachment, or gratitude."
"Restrain your warmth," said Dr. Beaumont; "this is only the natural
progress of inordinate desires unchecked by principle, and gorged, not
satiated, by indulgence. She who would betray a brother would never
adhere to a fallen benefactress. He who would ruin a confiding friend,
would desert his King in adversity. A coronet, a large estate, a
magnificent castle, and splendid retinue, were the baubles for which
these offenders forfeited their immortal souls. The compact once made,
cannot (they think) be broken. Habit here becomes fixed as the Ethiop's
die or the leopard's spots; and greater crimes must secure what lesser
offences purchased."
The friends now consulted on their future measures. Evellin was for
concealing his real self from the King, but Dr. Beaumont advised that
though he should retain his borrowed name, as a personal security in
case he should fall into the enemy's hands, the King should know him for
the injured Allan Neville. "It will add to his distress," said Evellin,
"to see a man whom he has wronged, and has now no power to redress." "It
will console him," returned Beaumont, "to find one generous and loyal
enough to forget injuries, when others renounce benefits. Affliction is
sent by Providence, to teach us to recollect our ways. My loyalty does
not make me forget that the King is equally subject to one great Master,
nor am I so desirous to secure his temporal repose as to wish him to
lose the advantages of adversity. Let him by seeing you be taught to
distinguish between flatterers and friends. It will be happy for England
if he regains his high station; it will do good to his own soul when he
comes to give an account of his stewardship, at that tribunal before
which the emperor and the slave must one day stand."
"Beaumont," said Evellin, grasping the Doctor's hand, "you are still
that angel of truth who in my early life led my proud and rebellious
thoughts to seek the consolation of religious humility; but in one
circumstance you must give my weakness way. My gallant boy, ignorant of
his noble birth, pants for military fame with all that generous ardour
which during five centuries distinguished his ancestors. He is the last
hope of an illustrious house. Accuse me not of malice, or of folly, when
I own that, (next to the restoration of my King,) I beg of heaven that
he may be spared to tear the polluted ermine from the shoulders of this
branded rebel, and to purify the coronet of Bellingham from the foul
contamination it receives by binding a villain's brow. Toss this
storm-beaten carcase into any trench where it may in future serve as a
mound against traitors; but let my young nursling be planted where the
tempest that unroots the cedars shall pass over without injuring his
tender growth. You, Beaumont, are a man of peace, bound by your
functions to that bloodless warfare which attacks opinions, not men.
Take him with you, wherever you go; keep him in your sight; cultivate in
him every noble propensity, except his passion for military renown. In
all else he is the son of my desires; and were it not for my peculiar
circumstances, he would be so in this also. Consider him as a young
avenger destined by heaven to punish the guilty, and never let despair
of the royal cause induce you to yield him to his own impetuosity. While
a branch of the Stewart stock remains, fear not, though these cursed
malcontents cut down the royal tree; the scion, watered by a nation's
tears, shall still grow, and the soiled regalia of England again look
splendid among contemporary kingdoms. At that period the descendants of
your Isabel shall reclaim the honours to which my services, and perhaps
my death, will ensure them a renewed patent."
The Doctor complied with Evellin's wishes, thinking the youth and
extreme impetuosity of Eustace rendered him unfit to take arms for a
cause which required coolness and experience, and which zeal,
unrestrained by such adjuncts, was likely to injure. He promised to use
every effort to direct the youth's studies and guide his judgment, to
consider him as his son, and Isabel as his daughter. "She is a worthy
singular girl," said Evellin, "but I have little fear for her; not that
I love her less; but she is one of those safe useful beings whose active
and benevolent character always secures friends, and whose self-controul
and indifference to their own ease make them comfortable in every
situation."
It was determined by the gentlemen that the young people should be kept
in perfect ignorance of Evellin's rank, but since it seemed prudent to
increase the number of living witnesses of his identity, Mrs. Mellicent
was admitted into their counsels. Though a woman, and an old maid, she
belonged to that extraordinary class of people who can keep a secret;
and I must do her the justice to say, that she never directly or
indirectly betrayed her trust. And whenever she reproved the girls for
what she called rompish tricks, which, she insisted, were very
unbecoming in young ladies, she constantly endeavoured to look at
Constantia as expressively as she did at the 'brown bird of the
mountains.'
All that now was wanting was the return of Williams, for which the
impatience of Evellin increased every hour.--During this period of
suspence, the family were surprised one morning by a visit from Sir
William Waverly, who came to inquire after the Doctor's health, and to
condole with him on the destruction of his library. He earnestly advised
him to apply for indemnification, and offered his services at the
ensuing assizes. Nothing could be more friendly than Sir Williams's
manner, or more liberal than his promises; but it unluckily happened
that Mrs. Melicent, than whom no judge was ever more attentive to facts
and dates, as well as to collateral circumstances, discovered that the
polite Baronet, ere he paid this visit, had just time to hear of the
King's victory at Edgehill, which event she was severe enough to
believe, brought to recollection the loss sustained by his worthy pastor
three months before. She also thought that the improved aspect of the
royal cause had occasioned a hamper of game and venison to arrive at the
rectory, which the keeper confessed had once been directed to Squire
Morgan. It must however be admitted, that Mrs. Mellicent had a decided
contempt for all the family of Waverly, which made her scarcely just to
their real deserts.
Dr. Beaumont answered the Baronet's expressions of condolence with the
firmness of a man who shewed himself superior even to the loss of the
most rational and innocent delights. He soon changed the conversation to
public affairs, when Sir William, having first commended caution and
moderation, observed, that it began to be time for a wise man to choose
his party.
"An honest man must have chosen his long ago," said Eustace, darting his
animated eyes from Caesar's Commentaries to the countenance of the
Baronet. "Was that remark in your book?" inquired Dr. Beaumont, with a
look of calm reproof. "No uncle," replied the spirited boy, "but I loved
my King as soon as I knew I had one, and thought every body did the
same."
"That is a fine youth," said Sir William, smiling; "may I crave his
name." "My sister Isabel's son," replied the Doctor; "and Colonel
Evellin's, I presume," added Sir William, "for it is now known that His
Majesty has conferred on him that dangerous military title."
Evellin coolly answered, that his life was his country's and his King's,
and that those who highly valued safety never ought to buckle on a
sword.
Sir William Waverly warmly reprobated a cold, selfish, time-serving
character, declaring that, in the opinion of all his friends, his great
fault consisted in absolutely disregarding himself, while he was
sedulously attempting to benefit mankind. After a few flaming periods of
egotism and flattery to a personage whom he held most dear, namely
himself, he reverted to the possibility of duties being suspended in an
equipoize so nice that a reflecting man could not know how to act
between his King and his country.
Evellin answered, that he thought it easy to distinguish between the
free voice of a well-informed people and the proceedings of an aspiring
party, who, by misrepresentation, terror, and an appeal to the worst
passions, had gained an undue influence; a party who, supported by men
detesting every species of restraint, and hoping every change will
benefit their condition, pass themselves upon the world as the British
nation. "As well," said he, "may we venture to call their language to
the King loyalty, or their actions law and justice, as to misname the
present House of Commons, the representatives of England; when every
friend to His Majesty or the constitution has been ejected, banished, or
imprisoned, by votes passed under the immediate influence of hired mobs
of apprentices, prostitutes, and the worst rabble London contains."
"Quite my opinion," resumed Sir William; "yet, Sir, though I excessively
condemn and lament the unfortunate length to which Parliament has gone,
I must say, that at the beginning there were faults on both sides. His
Majesty was wrong, evidently wrong, and then Parliament went too far,
and then the King promised and retracted, and then they applied to more
coercive measures, till really it becomes doubtful who is most to
blame."
"When," said Evellin, "you can find in the King's actions any violation
of the constitution as flagrant as either the legal assassination of
Lord Strafford, in which all forms and usages of Parliament were
violated; the accusation of Laud, that eminent defender of the
Protestant faith, for Popery; the imprisonment of the bishops for
claiming their ancient privileges; or, lastly, a dependent and elective
body voting itself supreme and permanent, and in that state levying war
upon the King, by whose writs they were first summoned and consolidated;
when you can find, I say, in the arbitrary proceedings of the Star
Chamber, or of the High Commission courts, actions as repugnant to our
fundamental laws as these, I will then agree with you, Sir William
Waverly, and admit that a wise and considerate man would doubt what
party to choose, as not knowing which was most to blame."
Sir William protested that there was not a man in England who lamented,
more bitterly than himself, the excess which had brought the popular
cause into disrepute; yet he thought candour required us to make
allowances for the heat of debate, and the ebullition of passion
incident to deliberative assemblies, which made the members often push
matters further than they intended; and he extremely regretted that the
King, by some ill-advised steps, such as that of violating the freedom
of Parliament, by personally demanding five members to be given up to
his vengeance, had fomented a spirit of animosity which mild counsels
might have subdued.
These qualifying remarks irritated Evellin. "After a series of not
merely passive, but submissive actions," said he, "after yielding one
member of the Council to the Tower, and another to the block, from which
even a King's prayer, for a friend and servant, could not procure
unhappy Wentworth a day's respite, His Majesty did, I must own, adopt
rash counsels. But it is not their illegality so much as his weakness in
threatening when he wanted strength to punish, that I condemn. If your
objection to the royal cause be founded on the distraction and
imbecility that have marked the measures by which it has been supported,
I must cease to rouse your dormant loyalty. It is not in the defenceless
tents of our Prince that we must seek for safety; we must leave him to
his fate, on the same principle that we abandon a naked child to the
attacks of a man clad in complete armour."
Dr. Beaumont now took part in the debate. "If," said he, "we look back
to the original pretences of those who set out as reformers, I think we
shall be able to form a clear decision as to the part we ourselves
should act, where the confusion they labour to excite has actually
commenced. They first unsettle our obedience by discovering what they
call the iniquity of our governors; and indeed it is not difficult for
those who look with a malignant eye on their conduct to perceive such
errors, or, if you will, vices, as an artful and censorious temper may
dress up into glaring enormities, especially if it deals in those
exaggerations which people, who give up their understandings to the
views of a party, call true representations. The man of dullest
intellect can discover faults in extensive complicated systems, and the
more he confines his view, the more must he see matters in detail, and
not in their general tendency. Yet these illiberal censors are sure to
be regarded, because in all countries the majority of the people (I mean
such as are uninformed) wish for nothing so much as to be their own
masters, which they suppose will be the immediate consequence of
overthrowing the existing system. A reformer thus sets off with every
possible advantage, with an auditory predisposed to listen, and a fair
field for censure, in which malice and ingenuity have space to
expatiate; nor can his own pretensions to purity and wisdom at first be
questioned, for as he generally rises from an obscure station, his
former conduct is not known, and the glibness of his oratory, and the
popularity of his topics, gain him ample credence for all the excellent
qualities to which he lays claim. 'Tis true, when he has gained the
ascendancy he aims at, his behaviour generally shews him to be not only
frail and faulty, but a worse knave than any he has exposed; but before
he thus discovers himself, he has gained a hold either of the affections
or the fears of the multitude, which, added to their reluctance to
owning their own mistake, maintains his popularity till a rival
incendiary rises to dispossess him. In the mean time, candour, who was
pushed behind the scenes, when she came to plead for our lawful
governors, is brought into play, and made to utter fine declamations on
the impossibility of always acting right, and on the distinction between
public and private virtue, bespeaking that indulgence for usurpers or
factious demagogues which was denied to the lapses of lawful rulers,
whose inclinations at least must be on the side of an upright and wise
administration, because they have a permanent interest in the welfare of
the nation. The delusions of which I speak seldom last long; an
enlightened people perceives the cheat; but it is lamentable that the
tricks of these political puritans should never grow stale by practice,
and that as often as a pseudo-reformer starts up with pretensions to
great honesty and great wisdom, England should forget how often she has
been deceived, and allow him to excite a tumult which wiser heads and
better hearts cannot allay."
Sir William found no difficulty in replying to the Doctor. He had only
to admit that his remarks were very just; but, at the same time, he must
say, that, if pushed to their full extent, they would tend to establish
abuses; since, who would dare to arrest the strong arm of tyranny, if
liable to the odium which was thus cast on all promoters of reformation?
"I spake not of reformers truly so called," said Dr. Beaumont, "but of
those factious persons who, to promote their own ends, tamper with the
inflammable passions of the populace, and, instead of amending errors,
snarl at restraints. A true patriot points out defects with a view to
have them removed, and brings himself into as little notice as possible.
We may as well pretend that Wickliffe and Jack Cade were moved by the
same spirit, as say, that we cannot discern between those who seek to do
good, and those who would breed distractions. Yet, as the mass of
mankind are either too ignorant or too much occupied to discover the
sophistry by which, for a time, falsehood passes for truth, 'it is an
ill sign of the situation of a kingdom when controversy gets among the
ignorant, the illiberal, or the ill-designing, or even when it descends
to those who should practise, being too unskilful to debate, and too
violent to differ, without breach of charity.' I have fortified my
opinion by the words of an able, uncorrupt statesman, who, though he
shared the grace and favour of many mighty Kings, died in honest
poverty, knowing the weakness of mankind, but scorning to apply it to
his own emolument--I mean Sir Henry Wootton. And his sentiments are
confirmed by the son of Sirach, whose reflections have been thought
worthy of being annexed to the volume of inspiration. After observing
that 'the wisdom of the wise man cometh by opportunity of leisure,' and
that they whose time is occupied in husbandry or handicraft-work, are
devoted to those necessary but humble employments which render
themselves respectable, and benefit the public, he asserts, 'they shall
not be sought for in public councils, nor sit high in the congregation.
They cannot declare justice and judgment, and they shall not be found
where dark parables are spoken.' Yet, Sir, these are the men who, in our
disastrous times, have menaced and governed the popular branch of our
legislature, till they have drawn away all but their own partizans, and
denied their King the rights of conscience, while they claim for
themselves unbounded licence. These men are now virtually our rulers;
nor will they be content with dethroning the King and annihilating the
nobles, for they will not rest till they have levelled every gentleman
who pretends to hereditary distinctions of rank, fortune, or privilege,
and torn down every symbol of greatness which offends their ambitious
littleness. So then, every one who has any thing valuable to lose,
ought, in policy, as well as in conscience, to support the throne, with
whose rights his own are inseparably blended."
Sir William answered, that though, from the great mildness of his
temper, he seldom expressed himself with warmth, he always acted with
decision. He had that morning issued orders to raise a regiment among
his own tenantry.
"And you will march them to join the King?" said Eustace.
"A very fine precipitate youth!" returned the Baronet, smiling; "no,
brave young man, your good uncle has taught me another lesson, and I
trust you will also allow him to restrain your ardour. He has himself
set us the example of staying at his post in the hour of danger. The
peace of our own county is of the first consequence. I shall therefore
train my force, and keep it ready to call out, in case any disturbance
should arise in our own neighbourhood."
"Aye," replied Eustace, "protect Waverly Park; 'twere a pity it should
be despoiled and plundered."
"No good could accrue to the King from the ruin of a loyal subject,"
said Sir William.
"But," observed Eustace, "you have a son who has just attained full
majority, do you not find it difficult to keep him out of action? Surely
his heart beats high to join the noble Stanley, to whom the King has
intrusted the whole County Palatine."
"You know not," returned Sir William, "how you distress me by this
inquiry. Heaven forbid I should insinuate any thing against so brave a
gentleman and so loyal a subject as the Earl of Derby; but he has lived
so little with his equals that he knows not how to treat his inferiors;
and, unhappily, the stateliness of his manners has so indisposed this
county, that people of no name, and contemned interest, have snatched it
out of his hands, the disaffected being moved, not so much by dislike to
the King or favour to Parliament, as by impatience of the Earl's humour,
and a resolution not to be subject to his commands."
Sir William then expatiated on the impolicy of oppressive haughty
demeanor in people in eminent stations, especially when the times were
so big with peril. His remarks had been wise and instructive, had he not
tried to illustrate them by the popularity and liberality of his own
conduct; yet, as it may be said he was the only evidence of his own
urbanity, which must have been lost to posterity had he not recorded it,
he now pleaded it in extenuation of the blameable sensibility of his
son, who, educated in these liberal notions, had felt so hurt by the
negligence of the Earl of Derby at Preston fair, that he had been
provoked by it to offer his services to Parliament, from whom he had
received a commission, and was now serving in the army of Lord Essex.
Mrs. Mellicent, who saw in this ostensibly-lamented defection a scheme
to secure Waverly-hall and its dependencies, whichever party finally
predominated, remarked that it was a very prudent arrangement.
"So my friends suggest," returned Sir William, "to console me; but my
regret, that any of the name of Waverly should be seen, in what severe
people will call actual rebellion, is too acute for such soothing
consolation. I have only to take care that the rectitude of my own
behaviour shall refute every suspicion that I am conniving at, or even
apologizing for Henry's errors. And though I know the poor fellow's
feelings were too keen for his peace, and though, in my own exquisite
susceptibility of kindness, I could find motives to mitigate his fault,
I will leave his conduct to the mercy of candid people. I will now end
my perhaps tedious visit, lamenting that my corps was not raised when
Dr. Beaumont's library was destroyed by that infuriate rabble. I
extremely regret the loss of the precious museum and valuable
manuscripts, which his taste, learning, science, and piety had
collected, and with a request that you will consider me as your friend
and protector, should any further disturbances arise, I sincerely bid
you farewell."
"I trust," said Eustace, after he was gone, "my uncle will never apply
to that man for redress; he is no better than a rebel in his heart."
"Not so," replied Mrs. Mellicent, "and for the best of reasons--he has
no heart at all."
"You forget," observed the Doctor, "that when he was the admirer of our
beloved Isabel, he shewed by his warmth and assiduity, that he was
capable of loving something beside himself."
"And never," said Mrs. Mellicent, "brother, had I so much cause to think
meanly of my own judgment, and own the superiority of dear Isabel's
penetration, as when she rejected my advice, and refused that
vacillating time-server; shewing that she needed not the light of
prosperity to discover the deserving."
Her eye glanced on Evellin, who, overpowered by these allusions to his
beloved wife, left the room without listening to the compliment paid to
himself. His impetuous son stormed with fury, that such a man should
even pretend to have felt the power of his mother's charms. "Had he been
my father," said he, "I would have fled my country, and disowned my
name. But why did you not, dear uncle, convince him it is not loyalty
but self-preservation which makes him arm his tenants."
"And why do you not convert that cricket-ball, which you are pressing
with so much vehemence, into a pure and solid gem? I never attempt
impossibilities. One reason why admonitions are so little attended to,
is, that mentors think too little of the dispositions of those they
reprove, and so seek to work a miracle, not to perform a cure. Talk to a
selfish person about being disinterested, and he will utter a few fine
sentences till you fancy his heart is enlarged, when, in fact, he is but
more wedded to the idol he worships, by recollecting that he has spoken
liberally: but shew him 'honesty is the best policy,' and that he is
most likely to succeed by keeping straight courses, and he will quit his
crooked paths through policy, which is something gained on the side of
integrity; and perhaps acting right, may, in time, induce him to change
his motives too. I have looked on all sorts of offenders, and there is
no violator of scriptural holiness of whom I have so little hope as the
self-idolator, for so I deem him who is not only wise in his own
conceit, but who sees no other object worthy the favour or attention of
God or man. Such a one considers misfortune not as a chastisement but as
a wrong; nor can he be grateful for mercies, because he esteems the
greatest to be merely his due. Yet of all men he is the most pitiable,
for his overflowing vanity makes him betray his self-conceit; so that
though he is surrounded by flatterers, he has no friend; no one dare
tell him of his faults, but all seek to profit by his follies. I am no
pretender to prophecy; I know my own house totters in this storm, and I
have more need to prop and secure it than to concern myself as to what
will befall my neighbours. Sir William Waverly and I have chosen two
different methods of steering our barks; probably both may end in
shipwreck, but my eyes are fixed on the pole-star in the heavens, while
he has attended to deceitful charts and treacherous pilots. We will now
close the subject of his faults with inferences for our own improvement.
Let us be careful not to think too much of ourselves, and too little of
others. It is an excellent way of subduing the acute sense of
affliction, to employ our minds in assuaging the miseries of our
fellow-creatures; and prosperity is never so well enjoyed as when we
call in the stranger and the destitute, as well as our friends and
kindred, to share in its blessings. Let us ever consider ourselves as
responsible servants in one large family, and we shall never grow vain
or self-devoted."
"My dear uncle," said Eustace, "can you think it possible we should any
of us become the creature we so abhor?"
"Remember Hazael's answer to Elisha," replied the Doctor; "nor think it
is needless vigilance to make a strict inquiry how you approximate to
the vices you seem most to detest. I have heard you say Eustace, that
for a thousand worlds you would not grieve your father. Yet you have
just said, were you young Waverly, you would renounce parental
authority, and abjure your name. This shews that there is an innate
principle in your composition at enmity with filial obedience; touch but
the chord that moves it, and duty is exposed to instant danger."
"My father," answered Eustace, "will never suffer me to despise him. His
honour, his afflictions, are alike my security. If tempted to
disobedience I will recall to my mind his woe-worn majestic form, and
ere I dare to grave another furrow on his brow, or whiten one more hair,
the dying injunctions of my mother will rush to my mind, and I shall
remember that when she could no longer minister relief to his
afflictions, she consigned him to my care."
[1] This and many of the following extracts are from Lord Clarendon.