by Mrs. West
CHAP. VII.
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 thehospitable wish of Dr. Beaumont to detain his brother-in-law atRibblesdale. A few weeks were all he would grant, and even this time wasnot unemployed, for Williams was sent forward to present the levy andsupply of money to the King, to inquire where he would command hisservices, and to procure arms and accoutrements.
During this interval, the Doctor found, with unspeakable pleasure, thatthe intellectual disorder of Evellin, which had been caused by too keena sense of his wrongs, was composed rather than heightened by the severeloss he had lately sustained. The death of that faithful partner, whohad sacrificed her life in labouring for his benefit, impressed on himthe conviction that he must either exert himself, or perish. The tenderage of his children peremptorily required his assistance, and to a mindformed like his, a still more awakening consideration presented itselfin the dangers and difficulties of his King. Was it worthy of the trueEarl of Bellingham to wander among wilds and fastnesses, weeping for adead wife, or raving at a false friend, when England's throne totteredunder its legitimate Sovereign, and the lowest of the people, (like owlsand satyrs in the capital of Assyria) fixed their habitations in thepleasant palaces where luxury late reigned! He felt that he had too longbehaved like a woman, pining in secret when he ought to have acted;while his faithful consort, with masculine courage, opposed her tenderframe to the tempest, and, at length, sunk beneath the added terrors ofhis imbecility. His weakness in lamenting an irremediable evil, was thefault to which he owed the loss of his invaluable Isabel. He would nowshew how truly he deplored that loss, by changing moody reflection intovigorous action, and by becoming a protector and support to the familyto which he had hitherto been a burden. To such a state of mind, thesituation of the King supplied a powerful impetus, and Dr. Beaumont saw,with pleasure, that loyalty was likely to give full scope to those finequalities, which had hitherto, like smothered fire, consumed the fabricin which they were engendered.
He, however, entreated Evellin not to compromise his own safety by actsof rashness, which could do his Prince no good, but to wait the returnof 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 onlywith vehemence, but with falsehood. They had told the yeomen andpeasants, that "some lords about the court said, twenty pounds a yearwas enough for any peasant to live upon, and, taking advantage of thecommission being in Latin, they translated it into what English theypleased, persuading the freeholders, that at least two parts of theirestates would be taken from them; and the poorer sort, that one day'slabour in the week would be extorted as a tax to the King[1]." Thesecalumnies were not peculiar to Ribblesdale, but unhappily were diffusedover all the nation, in which a vast body of people were grown up, who,like Morgan, had acquired wealth, and were ambitious of equalconsequence with the hereditary gentry and nobility, by whom they foundthemselves despised for their ignorance and coarse manners, andtherefore endeavoured to supplant them. Such men were every-where fastfriends to the Parliament, and by their freer intercourse with thecommon people, whose habits and ideas were originally their own, theymisrepresented the King's designs, and counteracted the measures ofthose noble and brave patriots, who, notwithstanding their dislike ofsome former measures, felt it was their duty now to rally round thethrone. "Nor can it be remembered without much horror, that this strangewild-fire among the people was not so much and so furiously kindled bythe breath of the Parliament, as by that of their clergy, who bothadministered fuel and blowed the coals. These men having crept into andat last driven all learned and orthodox divines from the pulpits, had,from the commencement of this 'memorable Parliament,' under the notionof reformation and extirpation of popery, infused seditious inclinationsinto the hearts of men against the present government of the church withmany libellous invectives against the state. But now they containedthemselves in no bounds, and as freely and without controul inveighedagainst the person of the King, prophanely and blasphemously applyingwhatever had been spoken by God himself or the Prophets, against themost wicked and impious Kings, to incense and stir up the people againsttheir most gracious Sovereign. Besides licensed divines, preaching andpraying was at that time practiced by almost all men in the kingdomexcept 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, foundhimself, after much ineffectual submission, and many unconstitutionalabridgements of his lawful rights, required to surrender the scantyremains of his prerogative, and consent to be a state-engine, in thehands of his enemies. When, driven from his capital by riots, his fleet,army, militia, garrisons, magazines, revenues, nay, his palaces andpersonalities seized, by those who still called themselves his mostdutiful subjects, and prefaced their requisitions, that he wouldvirtually surrender as their prisoner with the title of an humblepetition; when, after all these humiliations and privations, the Kingfound it necessary to throw himself on the allegiance of his faithfulsubjects, and to appeal to arms by raising the royal standard, only afew hundred, out of the millions he governed, joined him. Discouraged bythis apparent defection, some of his friends advised him to treat withthe Parliament, or, in other words, to submit unconditionally. Inabandoning his own personal rights, His Majesty had gone as far as hisconscience would permit, and he chose rather to suffer banishment ordeath, than yield to abolish the church he had sworn to defend, asParliament now required him to do, in the phrase of "casting out anidle, unsound, unprofitable, and scandalous ministry, and providing asound, godly, profitable, and preaching ministry, in every congregationthrough the land." Yet he so far conceded as to make an offer ofreconciliation, secretly convinced that the latent insolence with whichit would be rejected, though couched in smooth language, would awakenthe nation to a sense of duty. The event justified his expectation, andthe King was enabled to make a glorious, but unsuccessful resistance,during which, though many excellent persons fell (himself among thenumber), the principles of reciprocal duty between King and subject weredefined, and hypocrites, fanatics, and republicans, were completelyunmasked.
It was during this lowering aspect of the political horizon, while theclouds, congregating from all quarters, menaced a tremendous storm, thatEvellin sheltered his woe-worn head at Ribblesdale. The time was notlost; for the well-informed piety of the Doctor succeeded in completelytranquillizing Evellin's mind, who, admitting him to unboundedconfidence, told him all his early sorrows, the enmity of Buckingham,the falsehood of De Vallance, and the loss of his estate, title, andhigh connection. When in the sequel of his narrative, he stated that hisperfidious friend was at this time Earl of Bellingham, the bloodrecoiled from Dr. Beaumont's heart, and he almost fainted with horror."Do I understand you," said he; "was De Vallance thus exalted by theKing? Was his wife the Queen's confidante, the dispenser of her favoursand the adviser of her conduct?" He then shewed Evellin the BritishMercury, which stated, that this same Bellingham had accepted acommission under the Parliament; that the treacherous favourite of theunfortunate Henrietta Maria had charged her mistress with the design ofintroducing popery and arbitrary power, as well as of secretly fomentingthe Irish rebellion, and that she had involved in her slanders themerciful and truly religious King.
"This infinitely transcends all," exclaimed Evellin, "and drives from myremembrance the recollection of my private wrongs. I consider theinfernal pair not merely as my enemies, but as the common foes of man; Iregard 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 naturalprogress of inordinate desires unchecked by principle, and gorged, notsatiated, by indulgence. She who would betray a brother would neveradhere to a fallen benefactress. He who would ruin a confiding friend,would desert his King in adversity. A coronet, a large estate, amagnificent castle, and splendid retinue, were the baubles for whichthese offenders forfeited their immortal souls. The compact once made,cannot (they think) be broken. Habit here becomes fixed as the Ethiop'sdie or the leopard's spots; and greater crimes must secure what lesseroffences purchased."
The friends now consulted on their future measures. Evellin was forconcealing his real self from the King, but Dr. Beaumont advised thatthough he should retain his borrowed name, as a personal security incase he should fall into the enemy's hands, the King should know him forthe 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." "Itwill console him," returned Beaumont, "to find one generous and loyalenough to forget injuries, when others renounce benefits. Affliction issent by Providence, to teach us to recollect our ways. My loyalty doesnot 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 tolose the advantages of adversity. Let him by seeing you be taught todistinguish between flatterers and friends. It will be happy for Englandif he regains his high station; it will do good to his own soul when hecomes to give an account of his stewardship, at that tribunal beforewhich the emperor and the slave must one day stand."
"Beaumont," said Evellin, grasping the Doctor's hand, "you are stillthat angel of truth who in my early life led my proud and rebelliousthoughts to seek the consolation of religious humility; but in onecircumstance you must give my weakness way. My gallant boy, ignorant ofhis noble birth, pants for military fame with all that generous ardourwhich during five centuries distinguished his ancestors. He is the lasthope of an illustrious house. Accuse me not of malice, or of folly, whenI own that, (next to the restoration of my King,) I beg of heaven thathe may be spared to tear the polluted ermine from the shoulders of thisbranded rebel, and to purify the coronet of Bellingham from the foulcontamination it receives by binding a villain's brow. Toss thisstorm-beaten carcase into any trench where it may in future serve as amound against traitors; but let my young nursling be planted where thetempest that unroots the cedars shall pass over without injuring histender growth. You, Beaumont, are a man of peace, bound by yourfunctions to that bloodless warfare which attacks opinions, not men.Take him with you, wherever you go; keep him in your sight; cultivate inhim every noble propensity, except his passion for military renown. Inall else he is the son of my desires; and were it not for my peculiarcircumstances, he would be so in this also. Consider him as a youngavenger destined by heaven to punish the guilty, and never let despairof the royal cause induce you to yield him to his own impetuosity. Whilea branch of the Stewart stock remains, fear not, though these cursedmalcontents cut down the royal tree; the scion, watered by a nation'stears, shall still grow, and the soiled regalia of England again looksplendid among contemporary kingdoms. At that period the descendants ofyour Isabel shall reclaim the honours to which my services, and perhapsmy death, will ensure them a renewed patent."
The Doctor complied with Evellin's wishes, thinking the youth andextreme impetuosity of Eustace rendered him unfit to take arms for acause which required coolness and experience, and which zeal,unrestrained by such adjuncts, was likely to injure. He promised to useevery effort to direct the youth's studies and guide his judgment, toconsider him as his son, and Isabel as his daughter. "She is a worthysingular girl," said Evellin, "but I have little fear for her; not thatI love her less; but she is one of those safe useful beings whose activeand benevolent character always secures friends, and whose self-controuland indifference to their own ease make them comfortable in everysituation."
It was determined by the gentlemen that the young people should be keptin perfect ignorance of Evellin's rank, but since it seemed prudent toincrease the number of living witnesses of his identity, Mrs. Mellicentwas admitted into their counsels. Though a woman, and an old maid, shebelonged to that extraordinary class of people who can keep a secret;and I must do her the justice to say, that she never directly orindirectly betrayed her trust. And whenever she reproved the girls forwhat she called rompish tricks, which, she insisted, were veryunbecoming in young ladies, she constantly endeavoured to look atConstantia as expressively as she did at the 'brown bird of themountains.'
All that now was wanting was the return of Williams, for which theimpatience of Evellin increased every hour.--During this period ofsuspence, the family were surprised one morning by a visit from SirWilliam Waverly, who came to inquire after the Doctor's health, and tocondole with him on the destruction of his library. He earnestly advisedhim to apply for indemnification, and offered his services at theensuing assizes. Nothing could be more friendly than Sir Williams'smanner, or more liberal than his promises; but it unluckily happenedthat Mrs. Melicent, than whom no judge was ever more attentive to factsand dates, as well as to collateral circumstances, discovered that thepolite Baronet, ere he paid this visit, had just time to hear of theKing's victory at Edgehill, which event she was severe enough tobelieve, brought to recollection the loss sustained by his worthy pastorthree months before. She also thought that the improved aspect of theroyal cause had occasioned a hamper of game and venison to arrive at therectory, which the keeper confessed had once been directed to SquireMorgan. It must however be admitted, that Mrs. Mellicent had a decidedcontempt for all the family of Waverly, which made her scarcely just totheir real deserts.
Dr. Beaumont answered the Baronet's expressions of condolence with thefirmness of a man who shewed himself superior even to the loss of themost rational and innocent delights. He soon changed the conversation topublic affairs, when Sir William, having first commended caution andmoderation, observed, that it began to be time for a wise man to choosehis party.
"An honest man must have chosen his long ago," said Eustace, darting hisanimated eyes from Caesar's Commentaries to the countenance of theBaronet. "Was that remark in your book?" inquired Dr. Beaumont, with alook of calm reproof. "No uncle," replied the spirited boy, "but I lovedmy King as soon as I knew I had one, and thought every body did thesame."
"That is a fine youth," said Sir William, smiling; "may I crave hisname." "My sister Isabel's son," replied the Doctor; "and ColonelEvellin's, I presume," added Sir William, "for it is now known that HisMajesty 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 asword.
Sir William Waverly warmly reprobated a cold, selfish, time-servingcharacter, declaring that, in the opinion of all his friends, his greatfault consisted in absolutely disregarding himself, while he wassedulously attempting to benefit mankind. After a few flaming periods ofegotism and flattery to a personage whom he held most dear, namelyhimself, he reverted to the possibility of duties being suspended in anequipoize so nice that a reflecting man could not know how to actbetween his King and his country.
Evellin answered, that he thought it easy to distinguish between thefree voice of a well-informed people and the proceedings of an aspiringparty, who, by misrepresentation, terror, and an appeal to the worstpassions, had gained an undue influence; a party who, supported by mendetesting every species of restraint, and hoping every change willbenefit their condition, pass themselves upon the world as the Britishnation. "As well," said he, "may we venture to call their language tothe King loyalty, or their actions law and justice, as to misname thepresent House of Commons, the representatives of England; when everyfriend to His Majesty or the constitution has been ejected, banished, orimprisoned, by votes passed under the immediate influence of hired mobsof apprentices, prostitutes, and the worst rabble London contains."
"Quite my opinion," resumed Sir William; "yet, Sir, though I excessivelycondemn and lament the unfortunate length to which Parliament has gone,I must say, that at the beginning there were faults on both sides. HisMajesty was wrong, evidently wrong, and then Parliament went too far,and then the King promised and retracted, and then they applied to morecoercive measures, till really it becomes doubtful who is most toblame."
"When," said Evellin, "you can find in the King's actions any violationof the constitution as flagrant as either the legal assassination ofLord Strafford, in which all forms and usages of Parliament wereviolated; the accusation of Laud, that eminent defender of theProtestant faith, for Popery; the imprisonment of the bishops forclaiming their ancient privileges; or, lastly, a dependent and electivebody voting itself supreme and permanent, and in that state levying warupon the King, by whose writs they were first summoned and consolidated;when you can find, I say, in the arbitrary proceedings of the StarChamber, or of the High Commission courts, actions as repugnant to ourfundamental laws as these, I will then agree with you, Sir WilliamWaverly, and admit that a wise and considerate man would doubt whatparty 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 popularcause into disrepute; yet he thought candour required us to makeallowances for the heat of debate, and the ebullition of passionincident to deliberative assemblies, which made the members often pushmatters further than they intended; and he extremely regretted that theKing, by some ill-advised steps, such as that of violating the freedomof Parliament, by personally demanding five members to be given up tohis vengeance, had fomented a spirit of animosity which mild counselsmight have subdued.
These qualifying remarks irritated Evellin. "After a series of notmerely passive, but submissive actions," said he, "after yielding onemember of the Council to the Tower, and another to the block, from whicheven a King's prayer, for a friend and servant, could not procureunhappy Wentworth a day's respite, His Majesty did, I must own, adoptrash counsels. But it is not their illegality so much as his weakness inthreatening when he wanted strength to punish, that I condemn. If yourobjection to the royal cause be founded on the distraction andimbecility that have marked the measures by which it has been supported,I must cease to rouse your dormant loyalty. It is not in the defencelesstents of our Prince that we must seek for safety; we must leave him tohis fate, on the same principle that we abandon a naked child to theattacks of a man clad in complete armour."
Dr. Beaumont now took part in the debate. "If," said he, "we look backto the original pretences of those who set out as reformers, I think weshall be able to form a clear decision as to the part we ourselvesshould act, where the confusion they labour to excite has actuallycommenced. They first unsettle our obedience by discovering what theycall the iniquity of our governors; and indeed it is not difficult forthose who look with a malignant eye on their conduct to perceive sucherrors, or, if you will, vices, as an artful and censorious temper maydress up into glaring enormities, especially if it deals in thoseexaggerations which people, who give up their understandings to theviews of a party, call true representations. The man of dullestintellect can discover faults in extensive complicated systems, and themore he confines his view, the more must he see matters in detail, andnot in their general tendency. Yet these illiberal censors are sure tobe regarded, because in all countries the majority of the people (I meansuch as are uninformed) wish for nothing so much as to be their ownmasters, which they suppose will be the immediate consequence ofoverthrowing the existing system. A reformer thus sets off with everypossible advantage, with an auditory predisposed to listen, and a fairfield for censure, in which malice and ingenuity have space toexpatiate; nor can his own pretensions to purity and wisdom at first bequestioned, for as he generally rises from an obscure station, hisformer conduct is not known, and the glibness of his oratory, and thepopularity of his topics, gain him ample credence for all the excellentqualities to which he lays claim. 'Tis true, when he has gained theascendancy he aims at, his behaviour generally shews him to be not onlyfrail and faulty, but a worse knave than any he has exposed; but beforehe thus discovers himself, he has gained a hold either of the affectionsor the fears of the multitude, which, added to their reluctance toowning their own mistake, maintains his popularity till a rivalincendiary rises to dispossess him. In the mean time, candour, who waspushed behind the scenes, when she came to plead for our lawfulgovernors, is brought into play, and made to utter fine declamations onthe impossibility of always acting right, and on the distinction betweenpublic and private virtue, bespeaking that indulgence for usurpers orfactious demagogues which was denied to the lapses of lawful rulers,whose inclinations at least must be on the side of an upright and wiseadministration, because they have a permanent interest in the welfare ofthe nation. The delusions of which I speak seldom last long; anenlightened people perceives the cheat; but it is lamentable that thetricks of these political puritans should never grow stale by practice,and that as often as a pseudo-reformer starts up with pretensions togreat honesty and great wisdom, England should forget how often she hasbeen deceived, and allow him to excite a tumult which wiser heads andbetter hearts cannot allay."
Sir William found no difficulty in replying to the Doctor. He had onlyto admit that his remarks were very just; but, at the same time, he mustsay, that, if pushed to their full extent, they would tend to establishabuses; since, who would dare to arrest the strong arm of tyranny, ifliable to the odium which was thus cast on all promoters of reformation?
"I spake not of reformers truly so called," said Dr. Beaumont, "but ofthose factious persons who, to promote their own ends, tamper with theinflammable passions of the populace, and, instead of amending errors,snarl at restraints. A true patriot points out defects with a view tohave them removed, and brings himself into as little notice as possible.We may as well pretend that Wickliffe and Jack Cade were moved by thesame spirit, as say, that we cannot discern between those who seek to dogood, and those who would breed distractions. Yet, as the mass ofmankind are either too ignorant or too much occupied to discover thesophistry by which, for a time, falsehood passes for truth, 'it is anill sign of the situation of a kingdom when controversy gets among theignorant, the illiberal, or the ill-designing, or even when it descendsto those who should practise, being too unskilful to debate, and tooviolent to differ, without breach of charity.' I have fortified myopinion by the words of an able, uncorrupt statesman, who, though heshared the grace and favour of many mighty Kings, died in honestpoverty, knowing the weakness of mankind, but scorning to apply it tohis own emolument--I mean Sir Henry Wootton. And his sentiments areconfirmed by the son of Sirach, whose reflections have been thoughtworthy of being annexed to the volume of inspiration. After observingthat 'the wisdom of the wise man cometh by opportunity of leisure,' andthat they whose time is occupied in husbandry or handicraft-work, aredevoted to those necessary but humble employments which renderthemselves respectable, and benefit the public, he asserts, 'they shallnot be sought for in public councils, nor sit high in the congregation.They cannot declare justice and judgment, and they shall not be foundwhere dark parables are spoken.' Yet, Sir, these are the men who, in ourdisastrous times, have menaced and governed the popular branch of ourlegislature, till they have drawn away all but their own partizans, anddenied their King the rights of conscience, while they claim forthemselves unbounded licence. These men are now virtually our rulers;nor will they be content with dethroning the King and annihilating thenobles, for they will not rest till they have levelled every gentlemanwho pretends to hereditary distinctions of rank, fortune, or privilege,and torn down every symbol of greatness which offends their ambitiouslittleness. So then, every one who has any thing valuable to lose,ought, in policy, as well as in conscience, to support the throne, withwhose rights his own are inseparably blended."
Sir William answered, that though, from the great mil
dness of histemper, he seldom expressed himself with warmth, he always acted withdecision. He had that morning issued orders to raise a regiment amonghis 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 Itrust you will also allow him to restrain your ardour. He has himselfset us the example of staying at his post in the hour of danger. Thepeace of our own county is of the first consequence. I shall thereforetrain my force, and keep it ready to call out, in case any disturbanceshould arise in our own neighbourhood."
"Aye," replied Eustace, "protect Waverly Park; 'twere a pity it shouldbe 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 fullmajority, do you not find it difficult to keep him out of action? Surelyhis heart beats high to join the noble Stanley, to whom the King hasintrusted the whole County Palatine."
"You know not," returned Sir William, "how you distress me by thisinquiry. Heaven forbid I should insinuate any thing against so brave agentleman and so loyal a subject as the Earl of Derby; but he has livedso little with his equals that he knows not how to treat his inferiors;and, unhappily, the stateliness of his manners has so indisposed thiscounty, that people of no name, and contemned interest, have snatched itout of his hands, the disaffected being moved, not so much by dislike tothe 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 haughtydemeanor in people in eminent stations, especially when the times wereso big with peril. His remarks had been wise and instructive, had he nottried to illustrate them by the popularity and liberality of his ownconduct; yet, as it may be said he was the only evidence of his ownurbanity, which must have been lost to posterity had he not recorded it,he now pleaded it in extenuation of the blameable sensibility of hisson, who, educated in these liberal notions, had felt so hurt by thenegligence of the Earl of Derby at Preston fair, that he had beenprovoked by it to offer his services to Parliament, from whom he hadreceived a commission, and was now serving in the army of Lord Essex.
Mrs. Mellicent, who saw in this ostensibly-lamented defection a schemeto secure Waverly-hall and its dependencies, whichever party finallypredominated, remarked that it was a very prudent arrangement.
"So my friends suggest," returned Sir William, "to console me; but myregret, that any of the name of Waverly should be seen, in what severepeople will call actual rebellion, is too acute for such soothingconsolation. I have only to take care that the rectitude of my ownbehaviour shall refute every suspicion that I am conniving at, or evenapologizing for Henry's errors. And though I know the poor fellow'sfeelings were too keen for his peace, and though, in my own exquisitesusceptibility of kindness, I could find motives to mitigate his fault,I will leave his conduct to the mercy of candid people. I will now endmy perhaps tedious visit, lamenting that my corps was not raised whenDr. Beaumont's library was destroyed by that infuriate rabble. Iextremely regret the loss of the precious museum and valuablemanuscripts, which his taste, learning, science, and piety hadcollected, and with a request that you will consider me as your friendand protector, should any further disturbances arise, I sincerely bidyou farewell."
"I trust," said Eustace, after he was gone, "my uncle will never applyto 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 hasno heart at all."
"You forget," observed the Doctor, "that when he was the admirer of ourbeloved Isabel, he shewed by his warmth and assiduity, that he wascapable of loving something beside himself."
"And never," said Mrs. Mellicent, "brother, had I so much cause to thinkmeanly of my own judgment, and own the superiority of dear Isabel'spenetration, as when she rejected my advice, and refused thatvacillating time-server; shewing that she needed not the light ofprosperity to discover the deserving."
Her eye glanced on Evellin, who, overpowered by these allusions to hisbeloved wife, left the room without listening to the compliment paid tohimself. His impetuous son stormed with fury, that such a man shouldeven pretend to have felt the power of his mother's charms. "Had he beenmy father," said he, "I would have fled my country, and disowned myname. But why did you not, dear uncle, convince him it is not loyaltybut self-preservation which makes him arm his tenants."
"And why do you not convert that cricket-ball, which you are pressingwith so much vehemence, into a pure and solid gem? I never attemptimpossibilities. One reason why admonitions are so little attended to,is, that mentors think too little of the dispositions of those theyreprove, and so seek to work a miracle, not to perform a cure. Talk to aselfish person about being disinterested, and he will utter a few finesentences till you fancy his heart is enlarged, when, in fact, he is butmore wedded to the idol he worships, by recollecting that he has spokenliberally: but shew him 'honesty is the best policy,' and that he ismost likely to succeed by keeping straight courses, and he will quit hiscrooked paths through policy, which is something gained on the side ofintegrity; and perhaps acting right, may, in time, induce him to changehis motives too. I have looked on all sorts of offenders, and there isno violator of scriptural holiness of whom I have so little hope as theself-idolator, for so I deem him who is not only wise in his ownconceit, but who sees no other object worthy the favour or attention ofGod or man. Such a one considers misfortune not as a chastisement but asa wrong; nor can he be grateful for mercies, because he esteems thegreatest 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 thatthough he is surrounded by flatterers, he has no friend; no one daretell him of his faults, but all seek to profit by his follies. I am nopretender to prophecy; I know my own house totters in this storm, and Ihave more need to prop and secure it than to concern myself as to whatwill befall my neighbours. Sir William Waverly and I have chosen twodifferent methods of steering our barks; probably both may end inshipwreck, but my eyes are fixed on the pole-star in the heavens, whilehe has attended to deceitful charts and treacherous pilots. We will nowclose 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 ofothers. It is an excellent way of subduing the acute sense ofaffliction, to employ our minds in assuaging the miseries of ourfellow-creatures; and prosperity is never so well enjoyed as when wecall in the stranger and the destitute, as well as our friends andkindred, to share in its blessings. Let us ever consider ourselves asresponsible servants in one large family, and we shall never grow vainor self-devoted."
"My dear uncle," said Eustace, "can you think it possible we should anyof us become the creature we so abhor?"
"Remember Hazael's answer to Elisha," replied the Doctor; "nor think itis needless vigilance to make a strict inquiry how you approximate tothe vices you seem most to detest. I have heard you say Eustace, thatfor a thousand worlds you would not grieve your father. Yet you havejust said, were you young Waverly, you would renounce parentalauthority, and abjure your name. This shews that there is an innateprinciple in your composition at enmity with filial obedience; touch butthe chord that moves it, and duty is exposed to instant danger."
"My father," answered Eustace, "will never suffer me to despise him. Hishonour, his afflictions, are alike my security. If tempted todisobedience I will recall to my mind his woe-worn majestic form, andere 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 shallremember that when she could no longer minister relief to hisafflictions, she consigned him to my care."
[1] This and many of the following extracts are from Lord Clarendon.
