by Walter Scott
LETTER VII
THE SAME TO THE SAME (In continuation.)
Little Benjie, with the pony, having been sent off on the left side ofthe brook, the Quaker and I sauntered on, like the cavalry and infantryof the same army occupying the opposite banks of a river, and observingthe same line of march. But, while my worthy companion was assuring meof a pleasant greensward walk to his mansion, little Benjie, who hadbeen charged to keep in sight, chose to deviate from the path assignedhim, and, turning to the right, led his charge, Solomon, out of ourvision.
'The villain means to mount him!' cried Joshua, with more vivacity thanwas consistent with his profession of passive endurance.
I endeavoured to appease his apprehensions, as he pushed on, wiping hisbrow with vexation, assuring him that, if the boy did mount, he would,for his own sake, ride gently.
'You do not know him,' said Joshua, rejecting all consolation; 'HE doanything gently!--no, he will gallop Solomon--he will misuse the soberpatience of the poor animal who has borne me so long! Yes, I was givenover to my own devices when I ever let him touch the bridle, for such alittle miscreant there never was before him in this country.'
He then proceeded to expatiate on every sort of rustic enormity of whichhe accused Benjie. He had been suspected of snaring partridges--wasdetected by Joshua himself in liming singing-birds--stood fully chargedwith having worried several cats, by aid of a lurcher which attendedhim, and which was as lean, and ragged, and mischievous, as his master.Finally, Benjie stood accused of having stolen a duck, to hunt it withthe said lurcher, which was as dexterous on water as on land. I chimedin with my friend, in order to avoid giving him further irritation, anddeclared I should be disposed, from my own experience, to give up Benjieas one of Satan's imps. Joshua Geddes began to censure the phrase astoo much exaggerated, and otherwise unbecoming the mouth of a reflectingperson; and, just as I was apologizing for it, as being a term of commonparlance, we heard certain sounds on the opposite side of the brook,which seemed to indicate that Solomon and Benjie were at issue together.The sandhills behind which Benjie seemed to take his course, hadconcealed from us, as doubtless he meant they should, his ascent intothe forbidden saddle, and, putting Solomon to his mettle, which he wasseldom called upon to exert, they had cantered away together ingreat amity, till they came near to the ford from which the palfrey'slegitimate owner had already turned back.
Here a contest of opinions took place between the horse and his rider.The latter, according to his instructions, attempted to direct Solomontowards the distant bridge of stone; but Solomon opined that the fordwas the shortest way to his own stable. The point was sharply contested,and we heard Benjie gee-hupping, tchek-tcheking, and, above all,flogging in great style; while Solomon, who, docile in his generalhabits, was now stirred beyond his patience, made a great trampling andrecalcitration; and it was their joint noise which we heard, withoutbeing able to see, though Joshua might too well guess, the cause of it.
Alarmed at these indications, the Quaker began to shout out,'Benjie--thou varlet! Solomon--thou fool!' when the couple presentedthemselves in full drive, Solomon having now decidedly obtained thebetter of the conflict, and bringing his unwilling rider in high careerdown to the ford. Never was there anger changed so fast into humanefear, as that of my good companion. 'The varlet will be drowned!' heexclaimed--'a widow's son!--her only son!--and drowned!--let me go'--Andhe struggled with me stoutly as I hung upon him, to prevent him fromplunging into the ford.
I had no fear whatever for Benjie; for the blackguard vermin, though hecould not manage the refractory horse, stuck on his seat like a monkey.Solomon and Benjie scrambled through the ford with little inconvenience,and resumed their gallop on the other side.
It was impossible to guess whether on this last occasion Benjie wasrunning off with Solomon, or Solomon with Benjie; but, judging fromcharacter and motives, I rather suspected the former. I could not helplaughing as the rascal passed me, grinning betwixt terror and delight,perched on the very pommel of the saddle, and holding with extended armsby bridle and mane while Solomon, the bit secured between his teeth,and his head bored down betwixt his forelegs, passed his master in thisunwonted guise as hard as he could pelt.
'The mischievous bastard!' exclaimed the Quaker, terrified out of hisusual moderation of speech--'the doomed gallows-bird!--he will breakSolomon's wind to a certainty.'
I prayed him to be comforted--assured, him a brushing gallop would dohis favourite no harm and reminded him of the censure he had bestowed onme a minute before, for applying a harsh epithet to the boy.
But Joshua was not without his answer; 'Friend youth,' he said, 'thoudidst speak of the lad's soul, which thou didst affirm belonged to theenemy, and of that thou couldst say nothing of thine own knowledge; onthe contrary, I did but speak of his outward man, which will assuredlybe suspended by a cord, if he mendeth not his manners. Men say that,young as he is, he is one of the laird's gang.'
'Of the laird's gang!' said I, repeating the words in surprise. 'Do youmean the person with whom I slept last night? I heard you call him thelaird. Is he at the head of a gang?'
'Nay, I meant not precisely a gang,' said the Quaker, who appeared inhis haste to have spoken more than he intended--a company, or party, Ishould have said; but thus it is, friend Latimer, with the wisest menwhen they permit themselves to be perturbed with passion, and speak asin a fever, or as with the tongue of the foolish and the forward. Andalthough thou hast been hasty to mark my infirmity, yet I grieve notthat thou hast been a witness to it, seeing that the stumbles of thewise may be no less a caution to youth and inexperience, than is thefall of the foolish.'
This was a sort of acknowledgement of what I had already begun tosuspect--that my new friend's real goodness of disposition, joined tothe acquired quietism of his religious sect, had been unable entirely tocheck the effervescence of a temper naturally warm and hasty.
Upon the present occasion, as if sensible he had displayed a greaterdegree of emotion than became his character, Joshua avoided furtherallusion to Benjie and Solomon, and proceeded to solicit my attention tothe natural objects around us, which increased in beauty and interest,as, still conducted by the meanders of the brook, we left the commonbehind us, and entered a more cultivated and enclosed country, wherearable and pasture ground was agreeably varied with groves and hedges.Descending now almost close to the stream, our course lay through alittle gate, into a pathway kept with great neatness, the sides of whichwere decorated with trees and flowering shrubs of the hardier species;until, ascending by a gentle slope, we issued from the grove, and stoodalmost at once in front of a low but very neat building, of an irregularform; and my guide, shaking me cordially by the hand, made me welcome toMount Sharon.
The wood through which we had approached this little mansion was thrownaround it both on the north and north-west, but, breaking off intodifferent directions, was intersected by a few fields well watered andsheltered. The house fronted to the south-east, and from thence thepleasure-ground, or, I should rather say, the gardens, sloped downto the water. I afterwards understood that the father of the presentproprietor had a considerable taste for horticulture, which had beeninherited by his son, and had formed these gardens, which, with theirshaven turf, pleached alleys, wildernesses, and exotic trees and shrubs,greatly excelled anything of the kind which had been attempted in theneighbourhood.
If there was a little vanity in the complacent smile with which JoshuaGeddes saw me gaze with delight on a scene so different from the nakedwaste we had that day traversed in company, it might surely be permittedto one who, cultivating and improving the beauties of nature, had foundtherein, as he said, bodily health, and a pleasing relaxation for themind. At the bottom of the extended gardens the brook wheeled round in awide semicircle, and was itself their boundary. The opposite side wasno part of Joshua's domain, but the brook was there skirted by aprecipitous rock of limestone, which seemed a barrier of nature's ownerecting around his little Eden of beauty, comfort, and peace.
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'But I must not let thee forget,' said the kind Quaker, 'amidst thyadmiration of these beauties of our little inheritance, that thybreakfast has been a light one.'
So saying, Joshua conducted me to a small sashed door, opening undera porch amply mantled by honeysuckle and clematis, into a parlourof moderate size; the furniture of which, in plainness and excessivecleanliness, bore the characteristic marks of the sect to which theowner belonged.
Thy father's Hannah is generally allowed to be an exception to allScottish housekeepers, and stands unparalleled for cleanliness amongthe women of Auld Reekie; but the cleanliness of Hannah is sluttishnesscompared to the scrupulous purifications of these people, who seem tocarry into the minor decencies of life that conscientious rigour whichthey affect in their morals.
The parlour would have been gloomy, for the windows were small and theceiling low; but the present proprietor had rendered it more cheerfulby opening one end into a small conservatory, roofed with glass, anddivided from the parlour by a partition of the same. I have never beforeseen this very pleasing manner of uniting the comforts of an apartmentwith the beauties of a garden, and I wonder it is not more practisedby the great. Something of the kind is hinted at in a paper of theSPECTATOR.
As I walked towards the conservatory to view it more closely, theparlour chimney engaged my attention. It was a pile of massive stone,entirely out of proportion to the size of the apartment. On the fronthad once been an armorial scutcheon; for the hammer, or chisel, whichhad been employed to deface the shield or crest, had left uninjuredthe scroll beneath, which bore the pious motto, 'TRUST IN GOD.'Black-letter, you know, was my early passion, and the tombstones in theGreyfriars' churchyard early yielded up to my knowledge as a deciphererwhat little they could tell of the forgotten dead.
Joshua Geddes paused when he saw my eye fixed on this relic ofantiquity. 'Thou canst read it?' he said.
I repeated the motto, and added, there seemed vestiges of a date.
'It should be 1537,' said he; 'for so long ago, at the leastcomputation, did my ancestors, in the blinded times of Papistry, possessthese lands, and in that year did they build their house.'
'It is an ancient descent,' said I, looking with respect upon themonument. 'I am sorry the arms have been defaced.'
It was perhaps impossible for my friend, Quaker as he was, to seemaltogether void of respect for the pedigree which he began to recountto me, disclaiming all the while the vanity usually connected withthe subject; in short, with the air of mingled melancholy, regret, andconscious dignity, with which Jack Fawkes used to tell us at college ofhis ancestor's unfortunate connexion with the Gunpowder Plot.
'Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,' thus harangued Joshua Gleddesof Mount Sharon; 'if we ourselves are nothing in the sight of Heaven,how much less than nothing must be our derivation from rotten bones andmouldering dust, whose immortal spirits have long since gone to theirprivate account? Yes, friend Latimer, my ancestors were renowned amongthe ravenous and bloodthirsty men who then dwelt in this vexed country;and so much were they famed for successful freebooting, robbery, andbloodshed, that they are said to have been called Geddes, as likeningthem to the fish called a Jack, Pike, or Luce, and in our countrytongue, a GED--a goodly distinction truly for Christian men! Yet didthey paint this shark of the fresh waters upon their shields, and theseprofane priests of a wicked idolatry, the empty boasters called heralds,who make engraven images of fishes, fowls, and four-footed beasts, thatmen may fall down and worship them, assigned the ged for the device andescutcheon of my fathers, and hewed it over their chimneys, and placedit above their tombs; and the men were elated in mind, and became yetmore ged-like, slaying, leading into captivity, and dividing the spoil,until the place where they dwelt obtained the name of Sharing-Knowe,from the booty which was there divided amongst them and theiraccomplices. But a better judgement was given to my father's father,Philip Geddes, who, after trying to light his candle at some of the vainwildfires then held aloft at different meetings and steeple-houses, atlength obtained a spark from the lamp of the blessed George Fox, whocame into Scotland spreading light among darkness, as he himself hathwritten, as plentifully as fly the sparkles from the hoof of the horsewhich gallops swiftly along the stony road.'--Here the good Quakerinterrupted himself with, 'And that is very true, I must go speedily tosee after the condition of Solomon.'
A Quaker servant here entered the room with a tray, and inclining hishead towards his master, but not after the manner of one who bows, saidcomposedly, 'Thou art welcome home, friend Joshua, we expected thee notso early; but what hath befallen Solomon thy horse?'
'What hath befallen him, indeed?' said my friend; 'hath he not beenreturned hither by the child whom they call Benjie?'
'He hath,' said his domestic, 'but it was after a strange fashion; forhe came hither at a swift and furious pace, and flung the child Benjiefrom his back, upon the heap of dung which is in the stable-yard.'
'I am glad of it,' said Joshua, hastily,--'glad of it, with all my heartand spirit! But stay, he is the child of the widow--hath the boy anyhurt?'
'Not so' answered the servant, 'for he rose and fled swiftly.'
Joshua muttered something about a scourge, and then inquired afterSolomon's present condition.
'He seetheth like a steaming cauldron,' answered the servant; 'andBauldie, the lad, walketh him about the yard with a halter, lest he takecold.'
Mr. Geddes hastened to the stable-yard to view personally the conditionof his favourite, and I followed to offer my counsel as a jockey. Don'tlaugh, Alan, sure I have jockeyship enough to assist a Quaker--in thisunpleasing predicament.
The lad who was leading the horse seemed to be no Quaker, though hisintercourse with the family had given him a touch of their prim sobrietyof look and manner. He assured Joshua that his horse had received noinjury, and I even hinted that the exercise would be of service to him.Solomon himself neighed towards his master, and rubbed his head againstthe good Quaker's shoulder, as if to assure him of his being quite well;so that Joshua returned in comfort to his parlour, where breakfast wasnow about to be displayed.
I have since learned that the affection of Joshua for his pony isconsidered as inordinate by some of his own sect; and that he has beenmuch blamed for permitting it to be called by the name of Solomon, orany other name whatever; but he has gained so much respect and influenceamong them that they overlook these foibles.
I learned from him (whilst the old servant, Jehoiachim, entering andre-entering, seemed to make no end of the materials which he brought infor breakfast) that his grandfather Philip, the convert of George Fox,had suffered much from the persecution to which these harmless devoteeswere subjected on all sides during that intolerant period, and muchof their family estate had been dilapidated. But better days dawnedon Joshua's father, who, connecting himself by marriage with a wealthyfamily of Quakers in Lancashire, engaged successfully in variousbranches of commerce, and redeemed the remnants of the property,changing its name in sense, without much alteration of sound, from theBorder appellation of Sharing-Knowe, to the evangelical appellation ofMount Sharon.
This Philip Geddes, as I before hinted, had imbibed the taste forhorticulture and the pursuits of the florist, which are not uncommonamong the peaceful sect he belonged to. He had destroyed the remnantsof the old peel-house, substituting the modern mansion in its place;and while he reserved the hearth of his ancestors, in memory of theirhospitality, as also the pious motto which they had chanced to assume,he failed not to obliterate the worldly and military emblems displayedupon the shield and helmet, together with all their blazonry.
In a few minutes after Mr. Geddes had concluded the account; of himselfand his family, his sister Rachel, the only surviving member of it,entered the room. Her appearance is remarkably pleasing, and althoughher age is certainly thirty at least, she still retains the shape andmotion of an earlier period. The absence of everything like fashionor ornament was, as usual, atoned for by the most perfect neatness andcleanliness o
f her dress; and her simple close cap was particularlysuited to eyes which had the softness and simplicity of the dove's.Her features were also extremely agreeable, but had suffered a littlethrough the ravages of that professed enemy to beauty, the small-pox; adisadvantage which was in part counterbalanced by a well-formed mouth,teeth like pearls, and a pleasing sobriety of smile, that seemed to wishgood here and hereafter to every one she spoke to. You cannot makeany of your vile inferences here, Alan, for I have given a full-lengthpicture of Rachel Geddes; so that; you cannot say, in this case, as inthe letter I have just received, that she was passed over as a subjecton which I feared to dilate. More of this anon.
Well, we settled to our breakfast after a blessing, or rather anextempore prayer, which Joshua made upon the occasion, and whichthe spirit moved him to prolong rather more than I felt altogetheragreeable. Then, Alan, there was such a dispatching of the good thingsof the morning as you have not witnessed since you have seen DarsieLatimer at breakfast. Tea and chocolate, eggs, ham, and pastry, notforgetting the broiled fish, disappeared with a celerity which seemedto astonish the good-humoured Quakers, who kept loading my platewith supplies, as if desirous of seeing whether they could, by anypossibility, tire me out. One hint, however, I received, which put me inmind where I was. Miss Geddes had offered me some sweet-cake, which, atthe moment, I declined; but presently afterwards, seeing it withinmy reach, I naturally enough helped myself to a slice, and had just;deposited it beside my plate, when Joshua, mine host, not with theauthoritative air of Sancho's doctor, Tirteafuera, but in a very calmand quiet manner, lifted it away and replaced it on the dish, observingonly, 'Thou didst refuse it before, friend Latimer.'
These good folks, Alan, make no allowance for what your good fathercalls the Aberdeen-man's privilege, of 'taking his word again;' or whatthe wise call second thoughts.
Bating this slight hint that I was among a precise generation, therewas nothing in my reception that was peculiar--unless, indeed, I were tonotice the solicitous and uniform kindness with which all the attentionsof my new friends were seasoned, as if they were anxious to assure methat the neglect of worldly compliments interdicted by their sect, onlyserved to render their hospitality more sincere. At length my hunger wassatisfied, and the worthy Quaker, who, with looks of great good nature,had watched my progress, thus addressed his sister:--
'This young man, Rachel, hath last night sojourned in the tents of ourneighbour whom men call the laird. I am sorry I had not met him theevening before, for our neighbour's hospitality is too unfrequentlyexercised to be well prepared with the means of welcome.'
'Nay, but, Joshua,' said Rachel, 'if our neighbour hath done a kindness,thou shouldst not grudge him the opportunity; and if our young friendhath fared ill for a night, he will the better relish what Providencemay send him of better provisions.'
'And that he may do so at leisure,' said Joshua, 'we will pray him,Rachel, to tarry a day or twain with us: he is young, and is but nowentering upon the world, and our habitation may, if he will, be like aresting-place, from which he may look abroad upon the pilgrimage whichhe must take, and the path which he has to travel.--What sayest thou,friend Latimer? We constrain not our friends to our ways, and thou art,I think, too wise to quarrel with us for following our own fashions; andif we should even give thee a word of advice, thou wilt not, I think, beangry, so that it is spoken in season.'
You know, Alan, how easily I am determined by anything resemblingcordiality--and so, though a little afraid of the formality of my hostand hostess, I accepted their invitation, provided I could get somemessenger to send to Shepherd's Bush for my servant and portmanteau.
'Why, truly, friend,' said Joshua, 'thy outward frame would be improvedby cleaner garments; but I will do thine errand myself to the WidowGregson's house of reception, and send thy lad hither with thy clothes.Meanwhile, Rachel will show thee these little gardens, and then will putthee in some way of spending thy time usefully, till our meal callsus together at the second hour after noon. I bid thee farewell forthe present, having some space to walk, seeing I must leave the animalSolomon to his refreshing rest.'
With these words, Mr. Joshua Geddes withdrew. Some ladies we have knownwould have felt, or at least affected, reserve or embarrassment, atbeing left to do the honours of the grounds to (it will be out, Alan)--asmart young fellow--an entire stranger. She went out for a few minutes,and returned in her plain cloak and bonnet, with her beaver gloves,prepared to act as my guide, with as much simplicity as if she had beento wait upon thy father. So forth I sallied with my fair Quakeress.
If the house at Mount Sharon be merely a plain and convenient dwelling,of moderate size and small pretensions, the gardens and offices, thoughnot extensive, might rival an earl's in point of care and expense.Rachel carried me first to her own favourite resort, a poultry-yard,stocked with a variety of domestic fowls, of the more rare as well asthe most ordinary kinds, furnished with every accommodation which maysuit their various habits. A rivulet which spread into a pond for theconvenience of the aquatic birds, trickled over gravel as it passedthrough the yards dedicated to the land poultry, which were thus amplysupplied with the means they use for digestion.
All these creatures seemed to recognize the presence of their mistress,and some especial favourites hastened to her feet, and continued tofollow her as far as their limits permitted. She pointed out theirpeculiarities and qualities, with the discrimination of one who had madenatural history her study; and I own I never looked on barn-doorfowls with so much interest before--at least until they were boiledor roasted. I could not help asking the trying question, how she couldorder the execution of any of the creatures of which she seemed socareful.
'It was painful,' she said, 'but it was according to the law of theirbeing. They must die; but they knew not when death was approaching; andin making them comfortable while they lived, we contributed to theirhappiness as much as the conditions of their existence permitted to us.'
I am not quite of her mind, Alan. I do not believe either pigs orpoultry would admit that the chief end of their being was to be killedand eaten. However, I did not press the argument, from which my Quakerseemed rather desirous to escape; for, conducting me to the greenhouse,which was extensive, and filled with the choicest plants, she pointedout an aviary which occupied the farther end, where, she said, sheemployed herself with attending the inhabitants, without being disturbedwith any painful recollections concerning their future destination.
I will not trouble you with any account of the various hot-housesand gardens, and their contents. No small sum of money must have beenexpended in erecting and maintaining them in the exquisite degreeof good order which they exhibited. The family, I understood, wereconnected with that of the celebrated Millar, and had imbibed his tastefor flowers, and for horticulture. But instead of murdering botanicalnames, I will rather conduct you to the POLICY, or pleasure-garden,which the taste of Joshua or his father had extended on the banksbetwixt the house and river. This also, in contradistinction to theprevailing simplicity, was ornamented in an unusual degree. There werevarious compartments, the connexion of which was well managed, andalthough the whole ground did not exceed five or six acres, it was somuch varied as to seem four times larger. The space contained closealleys and open walks; a very pretty artificial waterfall; a fountainalso, consisting of a considerable jet-d'eau, whose streams glittered inthe sunbeams and exhibited a continual rainbow. There was a cabinet ofverdure, as the French call it, to cool the summer heat, and there wasa terrace sheltered from the north-east by a noble holly hedge, with allits glittering spears where you might have the full advantage of the sunin the clear frosty days of winter.
I know that you, Alan, will condemn all this as bad and antiquated; for,ever since Dodsley has described the Leasowes, and talked of Brown'simitations of nature and Horace Walpole's late Essay on Gardening, youare all for simple nature--condemn walking up and down stairs in theopen air and declare for wood and wilderness. But NE QUID NIMIS. I wouldnot deface a sce
ne of natural grandeur or beauty, by the introductionof crowded artificial decorations; yet such may, I think, be veryinteresting, where the situation, in its natural state, otherwise has noparticular charms.
So that when I have a country-house (who can say how soon?) you maylook for grottoes, and cascades, and fountains; nay if you vex me bycontradiction, perhaps I may go the length of a temple--so provoke menot, for you see of what enormities I am capable.
At any rate, Alan, had you condemned as artificial the rest of FriendGeddes's grounds, there is a willow walk by the very verge of thestream, so sad, so solemn, and so silent, that it must have commandedyour admiration. The brook, restrained at the ultimate boundary of thegrounds by a natural dam-dike or ledge of rocks, seemed, even inits present swollen state, scarcely to glide along: and the palewillow-trees, dropping their long branches into the stream, gatheredaround them little coronals of the foam that floated down from the morerapid stream above. The high rock, which formed the opposite bank of thebrook, was seen dimly through the branches, and its pale and splinteredfront, garlanded with long streamers of briers and other creepingplants, seemed a barrier between the quiet path which we trod, and thetoiling and bustling world beyond. The path itself, following the sweepof the stream, made a very gentle curve; enough, however, served by itsinflection completely to hide the end of the walk until you arrived atit. A deep and sullen sound, which increased as you proceeded, preparedyou for this termination, which was indeed only a plain root-seat, fromwhich you looked on a fall of about six or seven feet, where the brookflung itself over the ledge of natural rock I have already mentioned,which there crossed its course.
The quiet and twilight seclusion of this walk rendered it a fit scenefor confidential communing; and having nothing more interesting tosay to my fair Quaker, I took the liberty of questioning her about thelaird; for you are, or ought to be, aware, that next to discussing theaffairs of the heart, the fair sex are most interested in those of theirneighbours.
I did not conceal either my curiosity, or the check which it hadreceived from Joshua, and I saw that my companion answered withembarrassment. 'I must not speak otherwise than truly,' she said; 'andtherefore I tell thee, that my brother dislikes, and that I fear, theman of whom thou hast asked me. Perhaps we are both wrong--but he is aman of violence, and hath great influence over many, who, followingthe trade of sailors and fishermen, become as rude as the elements withwhich they contend. He hath no certain name among them, which isnot unusual, their rude fashion being to distinguish each otherby nicknames; and they have called him the Laird of the Lakes (notremembering there should be no one called Lord, save one only) in idlederision; the pools of salt water left by the tide among the sands beingcalled the Lakes of Solway.'
'Has he no other revenue than he derives from these sands?' I asked.
'That I cannot answer,' replied Rachel; 'men say that he wants notmoney, though he lives like an ordinary fisherman, and that he impartsfreely of his means to the poor around him. They intimate that he isa man of consequence, once deeply engaged in the unhappy affair of therebellion, and even still too much in danger from the governmentto assume his own name. He is often absent from his cottage atBroken-burn-cliffs, for weeks and months.'
'I should have thought,' said I, 'that the government would scarce, atthis time of day, be likely to proceed against any one even of the mostobnoxious rebels. Many years have passed away'--
'It is true,' she replied; 'yet such persons may understand that theirbeing connived at depends on their living in obscurity. But indeed therecan nothing certain be known among these rude people. The truth is notin them--most of them participate in the unlawful trade betwixt theseparts and the neighbouring shore of England; and they are familiar withevery species of falsehood and deceit.'
'It is a pity,' I remarked, 'your brother should have neighbours of sucha description, especially as I understand he is at some variance withthem.'
'Where, when, and about what matter?' answered Miss Geddes, with aneager and timorous anxiety, which made me regret having touched on thesubject.
I told her, in a way as little alarming as I could devise, the purportof what passed betwixt this Laird of the Lakes and her brother, at theirmorning's interview.
'You affright me much,' answered she; 'it is this very circumstancewhich has scared me in the watches of the night. When my brother Joshuawithdrew from an active share in the commercial concerns of my father,being satisfied with the portion of worldly substance which he alreadypossessed, there were one or two undertakings in which he retained aninterest, either because his withdrawing might have been prejudicial tofriends, or because he wished to retain some mode of occupying his time.Amongst the more important of these is a fishing station on the coast,where, by certain improved modes of erecting snares, opening at theadvance of the tide, and shutting at the reflux, many more fish aretaken than can be destroyed by those who, like the men of Broken-burn,use only the boat-net and spear, or fishing-rod. They complain of thesetide-nets, as men call them, as an innovation, and pretend to a rightto remove and destroy them by the strong hand. I fear me, this man ofviolence, whom they call the laird, will execute these his threats,which cannot be without both loss and danger to my brother.'
'Mr. Geddes,' said I, 'ought to apply to the civil, magistrate; thereare soldiers at Dumfries who would be detached for his protection.'
'Thou speakest, friend Latimer,' answered the lady, 'as one who isstill in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. God forbid thatwe should endeavour to preserve nets of flax and stakes of wood, or theMammon of gain which they procure for us, by the hands of men of war andat the risk of spilling human blood.'
'I respect your scruples,' I replied; 'but since such is your wayof thinking, your brother ought to avert the danger by compromise orsubmission.'
'Perhaps it would be best,' answered Rachel; 'but what can I say? Evenin the best-trained temper there may remain some leaven of the old Adam;and I know not whether it is this or a better spirit that maketh mybrother Joshua determine, that though he will not resist force by force,neither will he yield up his right to mere threats, or encourage wrongto others by yielding to menaces. His partners, he says, confide in hissteadiness: and that he must not disappoint them by yielding up theirright for the fear of the threats of man, whose breath is in hisnostrils.'
This observation convinced me that the spirit of the old sharers ofthe spoil was not utterly departed even from the bosom of the peacefulQuaker; and I could not help confessing internally that Joshua had theright, when he averred that there was as much courage in sufferance asin exertion.
As we approached the farther end of the willow walk, the sullen andcontinuous sound of the dashing waters became still more and moreaudible, and at length rendered it difficult for us to communicatewith each other. The conversation dropped, but apparently my companioncontinued to dwell upon the apprehensions which it had excited. At thebottom of the walk we obtained a view of the cascade, where the swollenbrook flung itself in foam and tumult over the natural barrier of rock,which seemed in vain to attempt to bar its course. I gazed with delight,and, turning to express my sentiment to my companion, I observed thatshe had folded her hands in an attitude of sorrowful resignation, whichshowed her thoughts were far from the scene which lay before her.When she saw that her abstraction was observed, she resumed her formerplacidity of manner; and having given me sufficient time to admire thistermination of our sober and secluded walk, proposed that me shouldreturn to the house through her brother's farm. 'Even we Quakers, aswe are called, have our little pride,' she said; 'and my brother Joshuawould not forgive me, were I not to show thee the fields which he takethdelight to cultivate after the newest and best fashion; for which, Ipromise thee, he hath received much praise from good judges, as well assome ridicule from those who think it folly to improve on the customs ofour ancestors.'
As she spoke, she opened a low door, leading through a moss andivy-covered wall, the boundary of the pleasure-ground, into the
openfields; through which we moved by a convenient path, leading, with goodtaste and simplicity, by stile and hedgerow, through pasturage, andarable, and woodland; so that in all ordinary weather, the good manmight, without even soiling his shoes, perform his perambulation roundthe farm. There were seats also, on which to rest; and though notadorned with inscriptions, nor quite so frequent in occurrence as thosementioned in the account of the Leasowes, their situation was alwayschosen with respect to some distant prospect to be commanded, or somehome-view to be enjoyed.
But what struck me most in Joshua's domain was the quantity and thetameness of the game. The hen partridge scarce abandoned the roost, atthe foot of the hedge where she had assembled her covey, though the pathwent close beside her; and the hare, remaining on her form, gazed at usas we passed, with her full dark eye, or rising lazily and hopping toa little distance, stood erect to look at us with more curiosity thanapprehension. I observed to Miss Geddes the extreme tameness of thesetimid and shy animals, and she informed me that their confidence arosefrom protection in the summer, and relief during the winter.
'They are pets,' she said, 'of my brother, who considers them as thebetter entitled to his kindness that they are a race persecuted by theworld in general. He denieth himself,' she said, 'even the company of adog, that these creatures may here at least enjoy undisturbed security.Yet this harmless or humane propensity, or humour, hath given offence,'she added, 'to our dangerous neighbours.'
She explained this, by telling me that my host of the preceding nightwas remarkable for his attachment to field-sports, which he pursuedwithout much regard to the wishes of the individuals over whose propertyhe followed them. The undefined mixture of respect and fear with whichhe was generally regarded induced most of the neighbouring land-holdersto connive at what they would perhaps in another have punished as atrespass; but Joshua Geddes would not permit the intrusion of anyone upon his premises, and as he had before offended several countryneighbours, who, because he would neither shoot himself nor permitothers to do so, compared him to the dog in the manger, so he nowaggravated the displeasure which the Laird of the Lakes had alreadyconceived against him, by positively debarring him from pursuing hissport over his grounds--'So that,' said Rachel Geddes, 'I sometimes wishour lot had been cast elsewhere than in these pleasant borders, where,if we had less of beauty around us, we might have had a neighbourhood ofpeace and, goodwill.'
We at length returned to the house, where Miss Geddes showed me a smallstudy, containing a little collection of books, in two separate presses.
'These,' said she, pointing to the smaller press, 'will, if thoubestowest thy leisure upon them, do thee good; and these,' pointing tothe other and larger cabinet, 'can, I believe, do thee little harm. Someof our people do indeed hold, that every writer who is not with usis against us; but brother Joshua is mitigated in his opinions, andcorrespondeth with our friend John Scot of Amwell, who hath himselfconstructed verses well approved of even in the world. I wish thee manygood thoughts till our family meet at the hour of dinner.'
Left alone, I tried both collections; the first consisted entirelyof religious and controversial tracts, and the latter formed a smallselection of history and of moral writers, both in prose and verse.
Neither collection promising much amusement, thou hast, in these closepages, the fruits of my tediousness; and truly, I think, writing history(one's self being the subject) is as amusing as reading that of foreigncountries, at any time.
Sam, still more drunk than sober, arrived in due time with myportmanteau, and enabled me to put my dress into order, better befittingthis temple of cleanliness and decorum, where (to conclude) I believe Ishall be a sojourner more days than one. [See Note 1.]
PS.--I have noted your adventure, as you home-bred youths may perhapsterm it, concerning the visit of your doughty laird. We travellers holdsuch an incident no great consequence, though it may serve to embellishthe uniform life of Brown's Square. But art thou not ashamed to attemptto interest one who is seeing the world at large, and studying humannature on a large scale, by so bald a narrative? Why, what does itamount to, after all, but that a Tory laird dined with a Whig lawyer? novery uncommon matter, especially as you state Mr. Herries to have lostthe estate, though retaining the designation. The laird behaves withhaughtiness and impertinence--nothing out of character in that: is NOTkicked down stairs, as he ought to have been, were Alan Fairford halfthe man that he would wish his friends to think him. Aye, but then, asthe young lawyer, instead of showing his friend the door, chose to makeuse of it himself, he overheard the laird aforesaid ask the old lawyerconcerning Darsie Latimer--no doubt earnestly inquiring after thehandsome, accomplished inmate of his family, who has so lately madeThemis his bow and declined the honour of following her farther. Youlaugh at me for my air-drawn castles; but confess, have they not surerfooting, in general, than two words spoken by such a man as Herries?And yet--and yet--I would rally the matter off, Alan; but in dark nightseven the glow-worm becomes an object of lustre, and to one plunged inmy uncertainty and ignorance, the slightest gleam that promisesintelligence is interesting. My life is like the subterranean river inthe Peak of Derby, visible only where it crosses the celebrated cavern.I am here, and this much I know; but where I have sprung from, orwhither my course of life is like to tend, who shall tell me? Yourfather, too, seemed interested and alarmed, and talked of writing; wouldto Heaven he may!--I send daily to the post-town for letters.
