THE

MAN

O F

FEELING.

A NEW EDITION.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN; AND

T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND.

MDCCLXXXJII,

.;/V~

-

INTRODUCTION.

IVl Y dog had made a point on a piece of fallow-ground, and led the curate and me two or three hundred yards over that and fome ftubble adjoining, in a breathlefs ftate of expectation, on a burning firft of September.

It was a falfe point, and our labour was vain : yet, to do Rover juftice (for he's an excellent dog, though I have loft his pedigree), the fault was none of his, the birds were gone : the curate fliewed me the fpot where they had lain baflcing, at the roct of an old hedge.

I flopped and cried Hem ! The cu- rate is fatter than I ; he wiped the fweat from his brow.

There is no ftate where one is apter

to paufe and look round one, than after

A 2 fuch

iv INTRODUCTION

fuch a difappointment. It is even fo m

life. When we have been hurrying on,

impelled by fome warm wifh or other,

looking neither to the right hand nor to

the left — we find of a fudden that all

our gay hopes are flown j and the only

flender conib'ation that fume friend

can give us, ib to point where they were

once to be found. And lu I if we are

not of that combuilible race, who will

rather beat their heads in fpite, than

wipe their brows with the curate, we

look round and fay, with the naufeated

Micfinefs of the king of Ifrael, " All

is vanity and vexation of fpirit."

Hooked round with fome fuch grave apophthegm in my mind when I difco- *vered, for the firft time, a venerable pile, to which the inclofure belonged. An I air of melancholy hung about it. There was a languid tfiilnefs in the day, and a

fingle

INTRODUCTION. v

fingle crow, that perched on an old tree by the fide of the gate, Teemed to delight in the echo of its own croaking.

I leaned on my gun and looked j but I had not breath enough to afk the cu- rate a queftion. I obferved carving on the bark of fome of the trees : 'twas indeed the only mark of human art about the place, except that fome branches appeared to have been lopped, to give a view of the cafrade, which was formed by a little rill at fome diftance.

Juft at thatinftant I law pafs between the trees, a young lady with a book in- her hand. I flood upon a ftone to ob- ferve her i but the curate fat him down on the grafs, and leaning his back where I ftood, told me, " That was the daugh^ ter of a neighbouring gentleman of the name of WALTON, whom he had feen walking there more than once.

3 (t Some

vi INTRODUCTION.

" Some time ago" he faid", " one HARLEY lived there, a whimfical fort of a man I am told, but I was not then in the cure j though, if I had a turn for thofe things, I might know a good deal of his hiftory, for the greateft part of it is ftill in my pofiefiion."

' tf His hiftory! faid I. " Nay, you may call it what you pleafe, faid the curate^ for indeed it is no more a hif- tory than it is a fermon. The way I came by it was this : fome time ago, a grave, oddifli kind of man boarded at a farmer's in this parifh : The coun- try people called him The Ghod; and he was known by the fiouch in his gait, and the length of his ftride. I was but little acquainted with him, for he never frequented any of the clubs hereabouts. Yet for all he ufed to walk a-nights, he was as gentle as a lamb at times ; for I have feen him i play-

INTRODUCTION. vii

playing at te-totum with the children on the great ftone at the door of our church-yard.

" Soon afcer I was made curate, he left the parilh, and went no body knows whither -3 and in his room was found a bundle of papers, which was brought to me by his landlord. I began to read them, but I foon grew weary of the tafk -, for, befides that the harlti is in- tolerably bad, I could never find the author in one ftrain for two chapters I together; and I don't believe there's a U fingle fyllogifmfrom beginning toend."

" 1 ihould be glad to fee this med- ley," faid I. " You (hall fee it now," anlVered the curate, " for I always take it along with me a-fhooting." "How came it fo torn ?" " 'Tis excellent wad- ding," faid the curate. — This was a pica of expediency I was not in a con- dition to anfweri for I had actually in

my

viii INTRODUCTION.

my pocket great part of an edition of one of the German IlluftrifTuni, for the very fame purpofe. We exchanged books j and by that means (for the curate was a ftrenuous logician) we probably faved both.

When I returned to town, I had lei- fure to.peru.'e the acq1 iiuion I had > maJe !i|I found it a burr.: it ot'little epi- PTodeSj put together v/i. \iout art, and of • no importance on the whole, with fome- l' thing of nature, and little clre in them.

1 I was a good aeal affected with fome very trifling paiTages in itj and had the name of Marmontel, or a Richardlbn,

been on the title-page 'tis odds that

I Ihould have wept : But

One is afhamed to be pleafed with the works of one knows not whom. (/

THE

THE

MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XI *.

Of bajhfulnefs. — A charafter. — His opi- nion on that fubjeff.

THERE is fome ruft about every man at the beginning ; though in Tome nations (among tlVe^French, for inftance) the ideas of the inhabitants, from climate, or what other caufe you

* The reader will remember, that the Editor is accountable only for fcattered chapters, and fragments of chapters ; the curate muft anfwer/ for the reft. The number at the top, when the chapter was entire, he has given as it originally flood, with the^itle which its author had affixed to it.

B will,

2 THE MAN OF FEELING.

will, are fo vivacious, fo eternally on the wing, that they muft, even in fmall focieties, have a frequent collifion ; the ruft therefore will wear off fooner : but in Britain, it often goes with a man to his grave; nay, he dares not even pen a bic jacct to fpeak out for him after his death.

, " Let them rub it off by travel," faid the baronet's brother, who .was a flriking inflance of excellent metal, fhamefully rufted. I had drawn my chair near his. Let me paint the Koncft old man : 'tis but one paffing fentence to preferve his image in my mind.

He fat in his ufual attitude, with his elbow refted on his knee, and his fingers prefied on his cheek. His face was fhaded by his hand \ yet it was a face

that

THE MAN OF FEELING. 3

th at might once have been well account- ed handfome ; its features were manly and ftriking, and a certain dignity re- fided on his eyebrows, which were the largeft I remember to have feen. His perfon was tall and well-made ; but the indolence of his nature had nowinclined it to corpulency.

His remarks were few, and made only to his familiar friends j but they were fuch as the world might have heard with veneration : and his heart, uncorrupted by its ways, was ever warm in the caufe' of virtue and his friends.

He is now forgotten and gone! The laft time I was aTS ikon- hallTTTaw his chair ftand in its corner by the fire-fide^ there was an additional cufhion on if, and ic was occupied by my young lady's B 2 favourite

4 THE MAN OF FEELING.

I favourite lap-dog. I drew near unper- ceived, and pinched itsear in the bitter- nefs of my foul ; the creature howled,

v and ran to its miftrefs. She did not fufpect the author of its misfortune, but fhe bewailed it in the mod pathetic terms 5 and killing its lips, laid it gently on her lap, and covered it with a cam- brick handkerchief. I fat in my old friend's feat ; I heard the roar of mirth and gaiety around me : poor Ben Sil- ton ! I gave thee a tear then : accept of one cordial drop that falls to thy me- mory now.

Cf They fhould wear it off by travel." — Why, it is true, faid I, that will go far ; but then it will often happen, that in the velocity of a modern tour, and amidft the materials through which it is commonly made, the fri&ion is fo vio- lent,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 5

lent, that not only the ruft, but the metal too, is loft in the progrefs.

Give me leave to correct the expref- fion of your metaphor, laid Mr. Silton : that is not always ruft which is acquired by the inactivity of the body on which it preys ; fuch, perhaps, is the cafe with me, though indeed I was never cleared from my youth ; but (taking it in its firft ftage) it is rather an encruftation, which nature has given for purpofes of the greateft wifdom.

You are right, I returned 3 and fome- times, like certain precious foflils, there may be hid under it gems of the pureft brilliancy.

Nay, farther, continued Mr. Silton.,

there are two diftin<5t forts of what we

B 3 call

6 THE MAN OF FEELING.

call bafhfulnefs ; this, the awkvvardnefs of a booby, which a few fteps into the world will convert into the pertnefs of a coxcomb ; that, a confcioufneis, which the moft delicate feelings produce, and the rnoft extenfive knowledge cannot

^.always remove. *

From the incidents I have already related, I imagine it will be concluded, fthat Harley was of the latter fpecies of

^^•fc^BS^ ^ i * •-• i' '••

bafhful animals j at lead, if Mr. Sil- ton's principle is juft, it may be argued on this fide : for the gradation of the firft mentioned fort, it is certain, he never attained. Some part of his ex- ternal appearance was modelled from the company of thofe gentlemen, whom the antiquity of a family, now poflefled of bare 250!. a year, entitled its repre- fentative to approach: thefe indeed

were

THE MAN OF FEELING. 7

were not manyj great part of the pro- perty in his neighbourhood being in the hands of merchants, who had got rich by their lawful calling abroad, and the fons of fte wards, who had got rich by their lawful calling at home : per- fons fo perfectly verfed in the ceremo- nial' of thoufands, tens of thoufands, and hundreds of thoufands (whofe de- grees of precedency are plainly demon- ftrable from the firft page of the Com- plete Accomptant, or Young Man's beft Pocket Companion), that a bow at church from them to luch a man as Harley, — would have made the parfon look back into his fermon for fome pre- cept of Chrjftian humility.

B 4 CHAP.

8 THE MAN OF FEELING,

CHAP. XII.

Of worldly interefts.

are certain interefts which A the world fuppofes every man to have, and which therefore are properly enough termed worldly i but the world is apt to make an erroneous eftimate : ignorant of the difpofitions which con- ftitute our happinefs or mifery, they bring to an undiftinguilhed fcale the means of the one, as connected with power, wealth or grandeur^ and of the other with their contraries. Philofo- phers and poets have often protefted againft this decifion ; but their argu- ments have been defpifed as declama- tory, or ridiculed as romantic.

There

THE MAN OF FEELING. 9.

There are never wanting to a young man fome grave and prudent friends to fet him right in this particular, if he need it : to watch his ideas as they arife, and point them to thofe objects which. a wife man Ihould never forget.

Harley did not want for fome moni- tors of this fort. He was frequently told of men, whofe fortunes enabled them to command all the luxuries of life, whofe fortunes were of their own acquirement : his envy was invited by a defcription of their happinefs, and his emulation by a recital of the. means which had procured it.

\

Harley was apt to hear thofe lectures

with indifference; nay fometimes they

got the better of his temper ; and as the

inftances were not always amiable, pro-

B 5 voked,,

jo THE MAN OF FEELING.

voked, on his part, fome reflexions, which I am perfuaded his good-nature would elfe have avoided.

Indeed I have obferved one ingre- dient, fomewhat necefiary in a man's compofition towards happinefs, which people of feeling would do well to ac- quire ; a certain refpedt for the follies of mankind : for there are fo many fools whom the opinion of the world entitles to regard, whom accident has placed in heights of which they are unworthy, that he who cannot retrain his con- tempt, or indignation at the fight, will betoooften quarrelling widi thedifpofal of things, to relifti that fhare which is al- lotted to himfclf. I do not mean, how- ever, to infmuate this to have been the cafe with Hurley ; on the contrary, if we might rely on his own teftimony,the conceptions

THE MAN OF FEELING, n

conceptions he had of pomp and gran-V deur ferved to endear the ftate which; Providence had affigned him.

f He loft his father, the laft furviving

f

of his parents, as I have already related, ^hen he was a boy. The good man, from a fear of offending, as well as a re- gard to his fon,. had named him a va- riety of guardians ; one confequence of which was, that they feldom met at all ' to confider the affairs of their ward j and when they did meet, their opinions were fo oppofite, that the only poffible method of conciliation, was the media- tory power of a dinner and a bottle,, which commonly interrupted, not end- ed, the difpute ; and after that inter- ruption ceafed, left the confulting par- ties in a condition not very proper for adjufting it. His education therefore B6 had:

12 THE MAN OF FEELING.

had been but indifferently attended to ^ and after being taken from a country- fchool, at which he had been boarded, the young gentleman was fuffered to be his own matter in the fubfequent branches of literature, with fome afiift- ance from the parfbn of the parifh in lan- guages and philofophy, and from the excifeman in arithmetic and book- keeping. One of his guardians, indeed, who, in his youth, had been an inha- bitant of the Temple, fet him to read Coke upon Lyttelton j a book which is very properly put into the hands of beginners in that fcience, as its fim- plicity is accommodated to their under- Handings, and its fize to their inclina- tion. He profited but little by the perufal •, but it was not without its ufe in die family : for his maiden aunt ap- plied it commonly to the laudable pur-

pofe

THE MAN OF FEELING. 13

pofe of preffing her rebellious linens to the folds fhe had allotted them.

There were particularly two ways of increafmg his for tune, which might have occurred to people of lefs forefight than the counfellors we have mentioned. One of thefe was, the profpect of his fucceed- ing to an old lady, a diftant relation, who was known to be poflefTed of a very large fum in the flocks : but in this their hopes were difappointed i for the young man was fo untoward in his diff pofition, that, notwithftanding the inj ftrutftions he daily received, his vifits rather tended to alienate than gain the good-will of his kinfwoman. He fome- times looked grave when the old lady told the jokes of her youth j he often refuted to eat when fhe prefled him, and was feldom or never provided with

fugar-

i4 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fugar-candy or liquorice when fhe was feized with a fir of coughing : nay, he had once the rudenefs to fall afleep, while (he was defcribing the compofi- tion and virtues of her favourite cholic- (water. In ihort, he accommodated himfelf fo ill to her humour, that fhe died, and did not leave him a far- thing.

The other method pointed out to hirrr was, an endeavour to get a leafe of fome crown-lands, which lay contiguous to his little paternal eftate. This, it was imagined, might be eafily procured, as the crown did not draw fo much rent as Harley could afford to give, with very, confiderable profit to himfelf ; and the then lefiee had rendered himfelf fo ob- noxious to the miniftry, by the difpofal of his vote at an election, that he could 7 net

THE MAN OF FEELING. 15

not expect a renewal. This, however, needed fome intereft with the great, •which Harley or his father never pof- felled.

His neighbour, Mr. Walton, having heard of this affair, generoufly offered his afiiftanee to accomplifli it. He told him, that though he had long been a ftranger to courtiers, yet he believed there were fome of them who might pay regard to his recommendation j and that, if he thought it worth the while to take a London-journey upon the bufmefs, he would furnifh him with a letter of introduction to a baronet of his acquaintance, who had a great deal to fay with the firft lord of the trea- fury.

When

16 THE MAN OF FEELING.

When his friends heard of this offerr they prefied him with the utmoft ear- neftnefs to accept of it. They did not fail to enumerate the many advantages which a certain degree of fpirit and af- fnrance gives a man who would make a figure in the world : they repeated their inftances of good fortune in others, afcribed them all to a happy forward- nefs of difpofition; and made fo copious a recital of the difad vantages which at- tend the oppofite weaknefs, that a ftran- ger, who had heard them, would have been led to imagine, that in the Britifh. code there was fome disqualifying fta- tute againft any citizen who fnould be \ con v idled of— modefty.

Harley, though he had no great re- lifh for the attempt, yet could not

refift

THE MAN OF FEELING. 17

refift the torrent of motives that af- faulted him ; and as he needed 'but little preparation for his journey, a day, not very diftant, was fixed for his de- parture.

CHAP.

i8 THE MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XIIL

The Man of Feeling in love.

THE day before that on which he fet our, he went to take leave

of Mr. Walton. We would conceal

nothing; — there was another perfon of the family to whom alfo the vifit was intended, on whofe account, perhaps, therewere fome tenderer feelings in the bofom of Harley, than his gratitude for the friendly notice of that gentleman (though he was feldom deficient in that virtue) could infpire. Mr. Walton had a daughter ; and fuch a daughter ! we will attempt fome defcription of her by and by.

Harley's

THE MAN OF FFELING. 19

Harley's notions of the X.OAOV, or beautiful, were not always to be de- fined, nor indeed fuch as the world would always aflent to, though we could define them. A blufli, a phrafe of affability to an inferior, a tear at a moving tale, were to him, like the Ceftus of Cytherea, unequalled in con- ferring beauty. For all thefe Mifs Walton was remarkable j but as thefe, like the above-mentioned Ceftus, are perhaps (till more powerful, when the wearer is poflfefled of fome degree of beauty, commonly fo called ; it hap- pened, that, from this caufe, they had more than ufual power in the perfon of that young lady.

She was now arrived at that period of life which takes, or is fuppofed to take, from the flippancy of girlhood thofe

fpright-

20 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fprightlinefles with which fome good- natured old maids oblige the world at three-fcore. She had been ulhered into life (as that word is ufed in the dialed of St. James's) at feventeen, her father being then in parliament, and living in /London : at feventeen, therefore, fhe I had been a univerfal toaft -, her health, inow fhe was four-and-twenty, was only idrank by thofe who knew her face at jleaft. -Her complexion was mellowed into a palenefs, which certainly took from her beauty -, but agreed, at lead Harley ufed to fay fo, with the penfive foftnefs of her mind. Her eyes were of that gentle hazel colour which is ra- ther mild than piercing ; and, except when they were lighted up by good hu- mour, which was frequently the cafe, were fuppofed by the fine gentlemen to want fire. Her air and manner were

elegant

THE MAN OF FEELING. 21

elegant in the higheft degree, and were as lure of commanding refpect, as their miftrefs was far from demanding it. Her voice was inexpreffibly foftj^it was, according to that incomparable fimile of Otway's,

f£ like the fhepherd's pipe upon

the mountains,

" When all his little flock's at feed before him."

The erTeft it had upon Harley,himfclf ufed to paint ridiculoufly enough j and afcribed it to powers, which few be- lieved, and nobody cared for.

' Her converfation was always cheer- fuU.j3utjj.rely witty; and without the fmalleft affectation of learning, had as much Jenrjrnrnr in it as would have 6 puzzled

22 THE MAN OF FEELING.

puzzled a Turk, upon his principles of female materialifm, to account for. Her benjkence was urrbotmdejdj in- deed the natural tendernefs of her heart might have been argued, by the frigi- •.dity of a cafuift, as detracting from her [virtue in this refpect, for her humanity fas a feeling, not a principle : but linds like Harley's are not very apt k> make this diftinction, and generally £ive our virtue credit for all that be- ^evolence which is inftinclive in our

As her father had fome years retired to the country, Harley had frequent opportunities of feeing her. He looked on her for fome time merely with that refpect and admiration which her ap- pearance feemed to demand, and the opinion of others conferred upon her :

from

THE MAN OF FEELING. 23

from this caufe, perhaps, and from that extreme fenfibility of which we have taken frequent notice, Harley was re- markably filent in her prefence. He heard her fentiments with peculiar at- tention, fometimes with looks very ex- preffive of approbation ; but feldom declared his opinion on the fubjefr, much lefs made compliments to the lady on the juftnefs of her remarks.

From this very reafon it was, that Mifs Walton frequently took more par- ticular notice of him than of other vifit- ors, who, by the laws of precedency, were better entitled to it : it was a mode of politenefs fhe had peculiarly ftudied, to bring to the line of that equality, which is ever neceflary for the eafe of our guefts, thofe whofe fen- fibility had placed them below it.

Harley

24 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Harley faw this ; for though he was a child in the drama of the world j yet was it not altogether owing to a want of knowledge in his part ; on the con- /trary, the moft delicate confcioufnefs of ( propriety often kindled that blufh which marred the performance of it : this raifed his efleem fomething above what the moft fanguine defcriptions of her goodnefs had been able to doj for cer- tain it is, that notwithftanding the la- fboured definitions which very wife men have given us of the inherent beauty of virtue, we are always inclined to think her handfomeft when fhe condefcends to fmile upon ourfelves.

It would be trite to obferve the eafy

\ gradation from efteem to love : in the

bofom of Harley there fcarce needed a

tranfition j for there were certain feafons

when

THE MAN OF FEELING. 25

wfren his ideas were flufhed to a degree much above their common complexion. In times not credulous of infpiration> we fhould account for this from fome natural caufe ; but we do not mean to account for it at all; it were fufficienc to defcribe its effects -, but they were fometimes fo ludicrous, as might dero- gate from the dignity of the fenfations which produced them to defcribe. They were treated indeed as fuch by mod of Harley'sfober friends, who often laugh- ed very heartily at the awkward blun* \ ders of the real Harlty, when the dif- ferent faculties, which fhould have pre- vented therm, were entirely occupied by the ideaJ. In fome of thefe pa-j roxifms of fancy, Mils Walton did nos fail to be introduced ; and the picture? which had been drawn aonidft the fur- C rounding;

26 THE MAN OF FEELING.

rounding objects of unnoticed levity, •was now fingled out to be viewed [through the medium of romantic ima- j gination : it was improved of courfe, i and efteem was a word inexprefiive of Lthe feelings which it excited.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING, af

C HAP. XIV.

£/<? fets out on bis journey. — The beggar and his dog.

HE had taken leave of his aunt on the eve of his intended departure ; but the good lady's afFe&ion for her nephew interrupted herfleep, and early as it was next morning when Harley came down flairs to fet out, he found her in the parlour with a tear on her -cheek, and her caudle-cup in her hand. She knew enough of phyfic to pre- fcribe againft going abroad of a morn- ing with an empty ftomach. She gave her blefling with the draught ; her in- ftruclions fhe had delivered the night before. They confided moftly of ne- C 2 gatives ;

28 THE MAN OF FEELING.

gatives j for London, in her idea, was fo replete with temptations, that it needed the whole armour of her friendly cautions to repel their attacks.

Peter flood at the door. We have mentioned this faithful fellow formerly: Harley's father had taken him up an 1, orphan, and faved him from being caft on the parifh ; and he had ever fmce remained in the fervice of him and of his fon. Harley fhook him by the hand as he palled, fmiling, as if he had faid, " I will not weep." He fprung haftily into the chaife that waited for him : Peter folded up the ftep. V" My dear mafter (faid he, fhaking the foli- tary lock that hung on either fide of his head), I have been told as how London

is a fad place." He was choaked*

with the thought, and his benediction

could

THE MAN OF FEELING. 29

could not be heard: — but it fliall be heard, honed Peter! — where thefe tears will add to its energy. \^s^

In a few hours Harley reached the inn where he propofed brcakfafting; but the fulnefs of his heart would not fufFer him to eat a morfel. tie walked out on the road, and gaining a little height, flood gazing on that quarter he had left. He looked for his wonted profpeft, his fields, his woods, and his hills : they were loft in the diftant clouds ! He penciled them on the clouds, and bade them farewel with a figh !

He fat down on a large ftone to take out a little pebble from his fhoe, when he faw, at fome diftance, a beggar ap- proaching him. He had on a loofe fort Cj of

30 THE MAN OF F'E E'L I N"<?..

of coat, mended with different-coloured rags, amongft which the blue and the rujQet were predominant. He had a, Ihort knotty (lick in his hand, and on the top of it was ftuck a ram's horn ; his knees (though he was no pilgrim) had worn the fluff of his breeches ; he •wore no fhoes, and his ftockings had entirely loft that part of them which fhould have covered his feet and ancles t in his face, however, was the plump appearance of good humour $ he walk- ed a good round pace, and a crook legged dog trotted at his heels.

" Onr delicacies, fakl Harley to him- felf, are fantaftic ; they are not in na». ture! that beggar walks over the fharpeft of thefe ftones barefooted, whilft I have loft the moft delightful dreajri in the world, from the fmalleft

of

THE MAN OF FEELING. 31

of them happening to get into my fhoe." — The beggar had by this time come up, and pulling off a piece of hat,, afked charity of Harley j the dog be- gan to beg too : — it was impoflible to refift both j and, in truth, the want of fhoes and {lockings had made both un- necefiary, for Harley had deflined fix- pence for him before. The beggar, on receiving it, poured forth bleflings without number ; and, with a fort of fmile on his countenance, faid to Har- ley, <f that if he wanted to have his fortune told" — Harley turned his eye brifkly on the beggar : it was an un- promifing look for the fubjed of a prediction, and filenced the prophec immediately. " I would much rather learn, faid Harley, what it is in your power to tell me : your trade muft be an entertaining one : fit down on this C 4 ftone,

32 THE MAN OF FEELING.

jftone, and let me know fomething of your profeffion j I have often thought of turning fortune-teller for a week or two myfelf."

" Matter, replied the beggar, I like your franknefs much ; God knows I had the humour of plain-dealing in me from a child j but there is no doing with it in this world ; we mutt live as we can, and lying is, as you call it, my profefilon: but I was in fome fort forced to the trade, for I dealt once in telling truth.

" I was a labourer, Sir, and gained as much as to make me live : I never laid by indeed : for I was reckoned a piece of a wag, and your wags, I take it, are feldom rich, Mr. Harley." _f? So, faid Harley, you feem to know

THE MAN OF FEELJNG. 33

me." " Ay, there are few folks in the country that I don't know fomething of: How fhould I tell fortunes elfe ?" " True ; but to go o-n with your ftory : you were a labourer, you fay, and a wag ; your indu.ftry, I fuppofe, you left with your old trade ; but your humour you preferve to be of ufe to you in your new."

" What fignifks fadnefs, Sir? a man- grows lean on't : but I was brought to my idlenefs by degrees -, firft I could not work, and it went againft my fto- nnacb to work ever after. I was feized with a jail fever at the time of the affizes being in the county where I lived j for I was always curious to get acquainted with the felons, becaufe they are com-

monly fellows of much mirth and little^

thought, qualities I had ever an efteem '

C5 for. \

34 THE MAN OF FEELING,

for. In the height of this fever, Miv 'Harley, the houfe where I lay took fire, and burnt to the ground : I was carried out in that condition, and lay all the reft of my illnefs in a barn. I got the better of my difeafe, however, but I was fo weak that I fpit blood- whenever I attempted to work. I had /io relation living that I knew of, and I never kept a friend above a week, when J was able to joke ; I feldom remained above fix months in a parifh, fo that I might have died before I had found a fettlement in any: thus I was forced to beg my bread, and a forry trade I found it, Mr. Harley. I told all my misfor- tunes truly, but they were feldom be- lieved ; and the few who gave me a halfpenny as they pafifed, did it with a fliake of the head, and an injunction JBOt to trouble them with a long ftory.

In

THE MAN OF FEELING. 35

In fhort, I found that people don't care ^ to give alms without fome fecurity for their moneys a wooden leg or a wither- ed arm is a fort of draught upon heaven for thofe who chufe to have their money 1 placed to account there -, fo I changed \ my plan, and, inftead of telling my own misfortunes, began to prophefy happinefs to others. This I found by much the better way : folks will always Jiften when the tale is their own ; and of many who fay they do not believe in fortune-telling, I have known few on whom it had not a very fenfible effect. I pick up the names of their acquaint- ance; amours and little fquabbles are eafily gleaned among fervants and neigh- bours; and indeed people themfelves are the bed intelligencers in the world for our purpofe : they dare not puzzle C 6 u*

36 THE MAN OF FEELING,

us for their own fakes, for every one is anxious to hear what they wifli to be- lieve i and they who repeat it to laugh at it when they have done, are gene- rally more ferious than their hearers are apt to imagine. With a tolerable good memory, and fome (hare of cunning, •with the help of walking a-nights over heaths and church-yards, with this, and fhewing the tricks of that there dog, whom I ftole from the ferjeant of » marching regiment (and by the way he can fteal too upon occafion), I make fhift to pick up a livelihood. My trade, indeed, is none of the honefteft; yet people are not much cheated nei- ther, who give a few half- pence for a profpect of happinefs, which I have heard fome perfons fay is all a man can arrive at in this world. — But I muft bid

you

THE MAN OF FEELING. 37

you good-day, Sir ; for I have three miles to walk before noon, to inform fome boarding-fchool young ladies, whether their hufbands are to be peers of the realm, or captains in the army : a queftion which I promifed to anfwer them bv that time."

fr' t J /"CX-C *

Harley had drawn a Shilling from his, pocket j but Virtue bade him confider on whom he was going to beftow it. — Virtue held back his arm :— but a milder form, a younger fifter of Vir- tue's, not fo fevere as Virtue nor fo ferious as Pity, fmiled upon him: His fingers loft their comprefiioni — nor did Virtue offer to catch the money as it fell. It had no fooner reached the ground than the watchful cur (a trick he had been taught) fnappeditupj

andj

157347

J

38 THE MAN OF FEELING.

and, contrary to the mod approved method of ftewardfhip, delivered it immediately into the hands of hit matter.

•. * * * ******

CHAP,

THE MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XIX,

He makes afecond expedition to the Bara- uet's. The laudable ambition of a young man to be thought fomething by the world.

WE have related, in a former chapter, the little fuccefs of his firft vifit to the great man, for whom he had the introductory letter from Mr.. Walton. To people of equal fenfibi- lity, the influence of thofe trifles we mentioned on his deportment will not appear furprifing ; but to his friends in the country, they could not be ftated, nor would they have allowed them any place in the account. In fome of their letters, therefore, which he received foon after, they exprefied their furprife

at

40 THE MAN OF FEELING.

^at his not having been more urgent in (Jiis application, and again recommend- ed the bluihkfs aflldu-ity of fuccefsful merit.

He refolved to make another attempt at the baronet's; fortified with higher notions of his own dignity, and with lefs apprehenfion of repulfe. In his way to Grofvenor-fquare he began to ruminate on the folly of jmnkmcj, who affixed thofe ideas of fuperiority to riches, which reduced the minds of men, by nature equal with the more fortunate, to that fort of fervility which he felt in his own. By the'time he had reached the Square, and was walking along the pavement which led to the baronet's, he had brought his reafoning en the fubject to fuch a point, that the ji by every rule of logic,, fliould

THE MAN OF FEELING. 41

fhould have led him to a thorough in- difference in his approaches to a fellow- mortal, whether that fellow- mortal was pofiefied of fix, or fix thoufand pounds a year. It is probable, however, that the premifes had been improperly form- ed : for it is certain, that when he ap- proached the great man's door, he felt his heart agitated by an unufual pulfa- tion.

He had almoft reached it, when he obferved a young gentleman coming out, drefied in a white frock, and a red laced waiftcoat, with a fmall fwitch in his hand, which he feemed to manage with a particular good grace. As he patted him on the fteps, the ftranger very politely made him a bow, which Harley returned, though he could not remember ever having feen him before.

He

42 THE MAN OF FEELING,

He alked Harley, in the fame civil man- ner, if he was going to wait on his friend the Baronet? (t For I was juft calling, faid he, and am forry to find that he is gone for fome days into the country »" Harley thanked him for his inform- ation j and was turning from the door, when the other obferved that it would be proper to leave his name, and very obligingly knocked for that purpofe. *' Here is a gentleman,. Tom, who tf meant to have waited on your mafter."4 "•Your name, if you pleafe, Sir?'* '«* Harley." — "You'll remember, Tom,. Harley." — The door was fhut. " Since we are here, faid he, we fliall not lofe our walk, if we add a little to it by a turn or two in Hyde-park." He ac- companied this propofal with a fecond bow, and Harley accepted of it by an- other in return..

Th*

THE MAN OF FFELING. 4.3

The converfation, as they walked, was brilliant on the fide of his compa- nion. The playhoufe, the opera, with every occurrence in high-life, he feem- ed perfectly mafter ofj and talked of fome reigning beauties of quality, in a. manner the moft feeling in the world. Harley admired the happinefs of his vivacity ; and, oppofite as it was to the refejre_of his own nature, began to be much pleafed with its effects.

Though I am not of opinion with" fome wife men, that the exiftence of objects depends on idea j yet, I am convinced, that their appearance is not a little influenced by it. The .optics of fome minds are in fo unlucky a per- fpectlve, as to throw a cejtaTnihade on every picture that is prefented to them ; while thofe of others (of which number

•was-

44 THE MAN OF FEELING.

was Harley), like the mirrors of the la-

ies, have a wonderful ffiVfi in better

no; their complexions. Through fuch

a medium perhaps he was looking on

his prefent companion.

When they had finifned their walk, and were returning by the corner of the Park, they obferved a board hung out of a window, fignifying, " an excel- lent ORDINARY on Saturdays and Sun- days." It happened to be Saturday, and the table was covered for the pur- pofe. " What if we fhould go in and dine here, if you happen not to be en- gaged, Sir ?" faid the young gentleman. " It is not impofiible but we fhall meet with fome original or other •» it is a fort of humour I like hugely." Harley made no objection j and the ftranger fhowed him the way into the parlour.

He

THE MAN OF FEELING. 45

He was placed, by the courtefy of his introdu&or, in an arm-chair that ftood at one fide of the fire. Over againft him was felted a man of a grave confi- dering afpecl, with that look of fober prudence which indicates what is com- monly called a warm man. He wore a pretty large wig, which had once been white, but was now of a brownifh yel- low j his coat was one of thofe modeft- coloured drabs which mock the injuries of dud and dirt ; two jack-boots con- cealed, in part, the well-mended knees of an old pair of bucklkin breeches, while the fpotted handkerchief round his neck, preferved at once its owner from catching cold, and his neckcloth from being dirtied. Next him fat an- other man, with a tankard in his hand, and a quid of tobacco in his check, 3 whofe

.46 THE MAN OF FEELING,

whofe eye was rather more vivacious, and whofe drefs was fomething fmarter.

The firft-mentioned gentleman took notice, that the room had been fo lately wafhed, as not to have had time to dry; and remarked, that wet lodging was unwholefome for man or bead. He looked round at the fame time for a poker to ftir the fire with, which, he at laft obferved to the company, the peo- ple of the houfe had removed, in order to fave their coals. This difficulty, however, he overcame, by the help of Harley's flick, faying, " that as they fliould, no doubt, pay for their fire in fome fhape or other, he faw no reafon why they fhould not have the ufe of ic while they fat."

4 The

'THE M'AN OF FEELING. 47 The door was now opened for the ad- miffion of dinner. " I don't know how it is with you, gentlemen, faid Harley's new acquaintance; but I am afraid I fhall not be able to get down a morfel at this horrid mechanical hour of din- ing." He fat down, however, and did not Ihow any want of appetite by his eating. He took upon him the carv- ing of the meat, and criticifed on the goodnefs of the pudding.

"When the table-cloth was removed, he propofed calling for fome punch, •which was readily agreed to i he feem- ed at firfl inclined to make it himfelf, but afterwards changed his mind, and left that province to the waiter, telling him to have it pure Weft Indian, or he could not tafte a drop of it.

When

48 THE MAN OF FEELING.

When the punch was brought, he undertook to fill the glaftes and call the toads.—" The king."— The toaft na- turally produced politics. It is the privilege of Englifhmen to drink the king's healch, and to talk of his con- duct. The man who fat oppofite to Harley (and who by this time, partly from himfelf, and partly from his ac- quaintance on his left hand, was difco- vered to be a grazier) obferved, c< That it was a fname for fo many ptnfioners 'o be allowed to take the bread out of the mouth of the poor." " Ay, and pro- vifions, faid his friend, were never fo dear in the memory of man ; Iwifhthe king, and his counfellors, would look to that." cc As for the matter of pro- vifions, neighbour Wrightfon, he re- plied, I am fure the prices of cattle — " A difpuce would have probably enfued,

hut

THE MAN OF FEELING. 49

but it was prevented by the fpruce toaft mafter, who gave a fentiment; and turning to the two politicians, " Pray, gentlemen, faid he, let us have done with thefe mufty politics : I would always leave them to the beer- fuckers in Butcher- row* Come, let us have fomething of the fine arts. That was a dainn'd hard match betwixt the Nailor- and Tim Bucket. The knowing ones were curfedly taken in there ! I loft a cool hundred myfclf, faith."

At mention of the cool hundred, the grazier threw his eyes aflant, with a min- gled look of doubt and furprife ; while the man at his elbow looked arch, and gave a fhort emphatical fort of cough.

Both feemed to be filenced, hov/ever,

by this intelligence j and, while the re-

D mainder

5o THE MAN OF FEELING.

mainder of the punch lafted, the con- verfation was wholly engrofTed by the gentleman with the fine waiftcoat, who told a great many f( immenfe comi- cal flories," and " confounded fmart things," as he termed them, acted and fpoken by lords, ladies, and young bucks of quality, of his acquaintance* At laft, the grazier, pulling out a •watch, of a very unufual fize, and tell- ing the hour, faid, that he had an ap- pointment. " Is it fo late ? faid the young gentleman j then I am afraid I have mifled an appointment already j but the truth is, I am curfedly given to miffing of appointments."

"When the grazier and he were gone,

Harley turned to the remaining perfon-

2ge, and aflced him, If he knew that

young gentleman ? " A gentleman 1

L-~ faid

THE MAN OF FEELING. 51

faid he j ay, he is one of your gentle- men, at the top of an affidavit. I knew him, fome years ago, in the^uality of ' a footman j and, I believe, he had fome- /

times the honour to be a _pimp. Ati

laft,, fome of the great folks, to whom he had been ferviceable in both ca- pacities, had him made a ganger; irt which ftation he remains, and has afiurance to pretend an acquaint with men of quality. The impu-. dog ! with a few (hillings in his poc he will talk you three times as muc rny friend Mundy there, who is vvor ' nine thoufand, if he's worth a farthing./ But I know the rafcal, and defpife himJ as he deferves."

Harley began to defpife him too, and to conceive fome indignation at havi; fat with patience to hear fuch a ft D 2 fp

52 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fpeak nonfenfe. But he corrected him- felf, by reflecting, that he was perhaps as well entertained, and inftrufted too, by this fame modeft ganger, as he fhould have been by fuch a man as he had thought proper to perfonate. And furely the fault may more properly be imputed to that rank where the futility is real, than where it is feigned; to that rank, whofe opportunities for nobler accomplishments have only ferved to rear a fabric of folly, which the untu- tored hand of affectation, even among the meaneft of mankind, can imitate with fuccefs.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 53

CHAP. XX.

He vifits Bedlam. T'he diftrejfis of a

daughter.

OF thofe things called Sights in London,- which every ftranger is fuppofed defirous to fee, Bedlam is one. To that place, therefore, an acquaint- ance of Harley's, after having accom- panied him to feveral other (hows, pro- pofed a vifit. Harley objected to it, '< becaufe, faid he, I think it an inhu-> man practice to expofe the greateft mi- fery with which our nature is afflicted, to every idle vifitant who can afford i trifling perquifite to the keeper j efpe* cially as it is a diftrefs which the hu- mane muft fee with the painful reflec- tion, that it is not in their power to D 3 alleviate

54 THE MAN OF FEELING.

alleviate it.*' He was overpowered, however, by the folicitations of his friend and the other perfons of the party (amongft whom were feveral la- dies) ; and they went in a body to Moorfields.

Their conductor led them firft to the ^ difmal manfions of thofe who are in the moft horrid ftate of incurable madncfs. The clanking of chains, the wildnefs of their cries, and the imprecations which fome of them uttered, formed a fcene inexprefilbly {hocking. Harley and his companions, efpecially the female parr of them, begged their guide to return : he feemed furprifed at their uneafmefs, and was with difficulty prevailed on to have that part of the hou-fe without fhowingthem fome others j who, as he exprefTed it in the phrafe of thofe that

keep

IKE MAN OF FEELING. 55

keep wild beafts for iliow, were much better worth feeing than any they had patted, being ten times more fierce and unmanageable*

He led them next to that quarter where thofe refide, who, as they are not dangerous to themfelves or others, en- joy a certain degree of freedom, accord- ing to the ftfltc of their diftemper.

Harley had fallen behind his compa- nions, looking at a man, who was mak- ing pendulums with bits of thread, and little balls of clay. He had delineated a fegment of a circle on the wall with chalky and marked their different vi- brations, by interfering it with crofs lines. A decent looking man came up, and fmiling at the maniac, turned to Harley, and told him, that gentleman D4 had

56 THE MAN OF FEELING.

had once been a very celebrated mathe- matician. " He fell a facrifice, faid he, to the theory of comets j for hav- ing, with infinite labour, formed a table on the conjectures of Sir Ifaac Newton, he was difappointed in the return of one of thofe luminaries, and was very foon after obliged to be placed here by his friends. If you pleafe to follow me, Sir, continued the ftranger, I believe I fhall be able to give you a more fatif- factory account of the unfortunate peo- ple you fee here, than the man who attends your companions." Harley bowed, and accepted his offer,

The next perfon they came up to had fcrawled a variety of figures on a piece of flate. Harley had the curiofity to take a nearer view of them. They con- fifted of different columns, on the top

of

THE MAN OF FEELING. 57

of which were marked South-fea an- nuities, India-flock, and Three per cent, annuities confol. " This, faid Harley's inftructor, was a gentleman well known in Change -alley. He was once worth fifty thoufand pounds, and had actually agreed for the pur chafe of an eflate in the Weft, in order to realize his money; but he quarrelled with the proprietor about the repairs of the garden-wall, and fo returned to town to follow his old trade of flock-jobbing a little longer j when an unlucky fluc- tuation of flock, in which he was en- gaged to an immenfe extent, reduced him at once to poverty and to madnefs. Poor wretch ! he told me t'other day, that againfl the next payment of differ- ences, he (hould be fome hundreds above a plum," —

D 5 « It

58 THE MAN OF FEELING.

** It is a fpondee, and 1 will main- tain it," interrupted a voice on his left hand. This aflertion was followed by a very rapid recital of fome verfes from Homer. te That figure, faid the gen-

f tleman, whofe clothes are fo bedaubed with fnufF, was a fchoolmafter of fome

/ reputation : he came hither to be re- folved of fome doubts he entertained concerning the genuine pronunciation of the Greek vowels. In his higheft fits, he makes frequent mention of one

s Mr. Bentley.

" Burdejiufive ideas, Sir, are the mo- tives of the greateft parFeT7 mankind, and a heated imagination the power by which their actions are incited : the world, in the eye of aphilofopher,- may be faid tQ,he-a~large madhQufe." " It is true, anfwered Harleypttie paffions * of

THE MAN OF FEELING. 59

of men are temporary madnefies; ancf fometimes very fatal in their effects.

From Macedonia's madman to the Swede."

" It was indeed, faid the ftranger, a very mad thing in Charles, to think of adding fo vail a country as Ruffia to his dominions j that would have been fatal indeed ; the balance of the North would then have been loft; but the Sultan and I would never have allowed

it." « Sir !" faid Harley, with no*

fmall furprife on his countenance. ** Why, yes, anfwered the other, the Sultan and I j do you know me? I am the Chan of Tartary."

Harley was a good deal (truck by this

difcovery j he had prudence enougl*,

D 6 however,

60 THE MAN OF FEELING.

however, to conceal his amazement, and bowing as low to the monarch, as his dignity required, left him imme- diately, and joined his companions.

He found them in a quarter of the houfe fet apart for the infane of the other fex, feveral of whom had gathered about the female vifitors, and were ex- amining, with rather more accuracy than might have been expected, the particulars of their drefs.

* Separate from the reft ftood one, •\vhofe appearance had fomething of fu- ; perior dignity. Her face, though pale and wafted, was lefs fqualid than thofe of the others, and Ihowed a dejection of that decent kind, which moves our pity unmixed with horror : upon her, there- fore, the eyes of all were immediately

turned.1

THE MAN OF FEELING, 61

turned. The keeper, who accompa- nied them, obferved it : " This, faid he, is a young lady, who was born to ride in her coach and fix, She was be- loved, if the ftory I have heard is true, by a young gentleman, her equal in birth, though by no means her match in fortune : but love, they fay, is > blind, and fo fhe fancied him as much as he did her. Her father, it feems, i would not hear of their marriage, and \ threatened to turn her out of doors, if ) ever Ihe faw him again. Upon this the young gentleman took a voyage to the Weft Indies, in hopes of bettering his fortune, and obtaining his miftrefs ; but he was fcarce landed, when he was feized with one of the fevers which are common in thofe iflands, and died in a few days, lamented by every one that knew him. This news foon reached

his

$2 THE MAN OF FEELING.

his miftrefs, who was at the fame time prdTed by her father to marry a rich miferly fellow, who was old enough to be her grandfather. The death of her lover had no effect on her inhuman pa- rent : he was only the more earneft for her marriage with the man he had pro- vided for her j and what between her defpair at the death of the one, and her averfion to the other, the poor young lady was reduced to the condition you '• fee her in. But God would not pro- ;fper fuch cruelty ; her fathers affairs \foon after went to wreck, and he died almoft a beggar."

Though this flory was told in very plain language, it had particularly at- tracted Harley's notice ; he had given it the tribute of fome tears. The un- fortunate young lady had till now fecm-

cd

THE MAN OF FEELING. 63

ed entranced in thought, with her eyes fixed on a little garnet ring fhe wore on her finger: fhe turned them now upon Harley. tf My Billy is no more ! faid fhe, do you weep for my Billy ? Blefif- ings on your tears ! I would weep too, but my brain is dry; and it burns, it burns, it burns !" — She drew nearer to Harley. — " Be comforted, young lady, faid he, your Billy is in heaven."— " Is he, indeed ? and fhall we meet again ? and fliall that frightful man (pointingto the keeper) not be there ?— Alas ! I am grown naughty of late; I have almoft forgotten to think of hea- ven: yet I pray fometimes; when I can, I pray ; and fometimes I fingj jvhenj arnjaddeft, I fing:—You fhall hear me, hufh \

Light

64 THE MAN OF FEELING.

" Light be the earth onBilly's bread, ef And green the fod that wraps his grave !"

There was a plaintive wildnefs in the air not to be withftood; and except the keeper's, there was not an unmoiftened eye around her.

<f Do you weep again ? faid fhej I would not have you weep : you are like my Billy : you are, believe me; jufl To he looked when he gave me this rings poor Billy ! 'twas the laft time ever we met! —

" 'Twas when the feas were roaring — I love you for refembling my Billy; but I {hall never love any man like him." — She ftretched out her hand to Harlcy j he preffed it between both of his, and

bathed

THE MAN OF FEELING. 65

bathed it with his tears. — " Nay, that is Billy's ring, faid fhe, you cannot have it, indeed; but here is another, look here, which I plated to-day of ibme gold-thread from this bit of fluff j will you keep it for my fake ? I am a ftrange girl j — but my heart is harm- lefs : my poor heart ; it will burft fome day j feel how it beats!" — She prefs'd his hand to her bofom, then holding her head in the attitude of liftening— " Hark ! one, two, three ! be quiet, thou little trembler; my Billy's is cold! —but I had forgotten the ring." — She put it on his finger. — ff Farewell ! I muft leave you now." — She would have withdrawn her hand; Harley held it to his lips. -^" I dare not ftay longer j my

head- throbs fadly : farewell !" She

walked with a hurried ftep to a little apartment at fome diftance, Harley

ftood

66 THE MAN OF FEELING.

flood fixed in aftoniihment and pity ! his friend gave money to the keeper.— Harley looked on his ring. — He put a couple of guineas into the man's hand : " Be kind to that unfortunate" — He burft into tears, and left them.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 67

CHAP. XXL

<Tbe Mifantbropijt .

THE friend, who had conducted him to Moorfields, called upon him again the next evening. After fome talk on the adventures of the pre- ceding day i " I carried you yefterday, faid he to Harley, to vifit the mad j let me introduce you to-night, at fupper, to one of the wife : but you muft not look for any thing of the Socratic plea- fantry about him ; on the contrary, I warn you to expect the fpirit of a Dio- genes. That you may be a little pre- pared for his extraordinary manner, I will let you into fome particulars of his hiftory.

"He

68 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fc He is the elder of the two fons of a ; gentleman of confiderable eftate in the Urountry. Their father died when they were young : both were remarkable at fchool for quicknefs of parts, and extent of genius ; this had been bred to no profefllon, becaufe his father's fortune, which defcended to him, was thought fufficient to fet him above it ; the other was put apprentice to an eminent attor- ney. In this the expectations of his friends were more confulted than his own inclination j for both his brother and he had feelings of that warm kind, that could ill brook a ftudy fo dry as the law, efpecially in that department of it which was allotted to him. But the difference of their tempers made the cha- rade rift ical diftinflion between them. '. The younger, from the gentlenefs of his nature, bore with patience a fitua-

tion

THE MAN OF FEELING. 69

tion en:m ly difcordant to his genius J and diipofition. At times, indeed, his pride would fuggeft, of how little im- portance thofe talents were, which the partiality of his friends had often extol- led : they were now incumbrances in~a]| walk of life where the dull and the ig- norant pafied him at every turn ; his fancy and his feeling were invincible obftacles to eminence in a fituation, where his fancy had no room for exer- tion, and his feeling experienced per- petual difguft. But thefe murmurings he never fuffered to be heard ; and that he might not offend the prudence of thole who had been concerned in the choice of his profeflion, he continued to labour in it feveral years, till, by the death of a relation, he fucceeded to an eilateofalittle better than lool, a year, with which, and the fmall patrimony

kft

ro THE MAN OF FEELING.

left him, he retired into the country, and made a love-match with a young iady of a temper fimilar to his own,

f with whom the fagacious v/orld pitied

\ him for finding happinefs.

K But his elder brother, whom you

are to fee at fupper, if you will do us

? the favour of your company, was na-

; turally impetuous, decifive, and over-

•* bearing. He entered into life with

thofe ardent expectations by which

young men are commonly deluded : in

his friendfhips, warm to excefs j and

equally violent in his dillikes. He was

on the brink of marriage with a

young lady when one of thofe friends,

for whofe honour he would have

pawned his life, made an elopement

with that very goddefs, and left him

befides deeply engaged for fums which

that

THE MAN OF FEELING. 71

that good friend's extravag ...^ uad fquandered.

<e The dreams he had formerly en^\ joyed were now changed for ideas of ai very different nature. He abjured all/ confidence in any thing of human form J fold his lands, which dill produced him a very large reverfion, came to town, and immured himfelf with a woman who had been his nurfe, in little better than a garret j and has ever fince applied hisl talents to the vilifying of his fpecies./ In one thing I muft take the liberty to inftrucl: you j however different your fentiments may be (and different they muft be), you will fuffer him to go on without contradiction ; otherwife he will be filent immediately, and we fhall not get a word from him all the night after." Harky promifed to remember

this

72 THE MAN OF FEELING.

this injunsflion, and accepted the invi- tation of his friend.

When they arrived at the houfe, they were informed that the gentleman was come, and had been fnown into the par- lour. They found him fitting with a daughter of his friend's about three years old, on his knee, whom he was teaching the alphabet from a horn- book : at a little diftance flood a fitter of hers, fome years older. " Get you away, Mifs, faid he to this lad, you are .a pert goffip, and I will have nothing to do with you.'* " Nay, anfwercd fhe, Nancy is your favourite ; you are quite in love with Nancy." <c Take away that girl, faid he to her father, whom he now obferved to have entered the room, fhehaswoman about her already." The children were accordingly difmifled. 9 Betwixt

THE MAN OF FEELING. 73

Betwixt that and (upper-time he did not utter a fyllable. When (upper came, he quarreled with every difh at table, but eat of them all; only ex- empting from his cenfures a fallad, which you have not fpoiled, faid he, becaufc you have not attempted to cook it.

When the wine was fet upon the table, he took from his pocket a parti- cular fmoking apparatus, and filled his pipe, without taking any more notice of Harley, or his friend, than if no fuch perfons had been in the room.

Harley could not help dealing a look of furprife at him j but his friend, who knew his humour, returned it, by an- nihilating his prefence in the like man- ner, and, leaving him to his own me- E ditations,

74 THE MAN OF FEELING.

ditations, addrefied himfelf entirely to Harley.

In their difcourfe fome mention hap- pened to be made of an amiable charac- ter, and the words honour and politenefs were applied to it. Upon this the gen- tleman, laying down his pipe, and changing the tone of his countenance, from an ironical grin to fomething more intently contemptuous: "Honour, faid he, Honour and Politenefs I this is the coin of the world, and pafles current •with the fools of it. You have fubfli- tuted the fhadow Honour, inftead of S the fubftance Virtue; and have banilh- ed the reality of friendfhip for the fictitious femblance, which you have termed Politenefs : politenefs, which confifts in a certain ceremonious jargon, more ridiculous to the ear of reafon

than

THE MAN OF FEELING. 75

than the voice of a puppet. You have invented founds, which you worfhip, though they tyrannize over your peace j and are furrounded with empty forms, which take from the honeft emotions of joy, and add to the poignancy of mif- fortune."— " Sir !" faid Harley— His friend winked to him, to remind him of the caution he had received. He was filenced by the thought — The philofo- pher turned his eye upon him : he ex- amined him from top to toe, with a fort of triumphant contempt. Harley's coat happened to be a new one -t the other's was as fhabby as could poflibly be fup- pofed to be on the back of a gentleman : there was much fignificance in his look with regard to this coat : it fpoke of the fieeknefs of folly, and the threadbare- nefs of wifdom.

£2 " Truth,

76 THE MAN OF FEELING.

" Truth, continued he, the mod amiable, as well as' the mod natural of virtues, you are at pains to eradicate. Your very nurferies are feminaries of falfehood j and what is called Fafhion in manhood, compleres the fyftem of avowed infincerity. Mankind, in the grofs, is a gaping moniler, that loves to be deceived,, and has feldom been difappointed : nor is their vanity lefs fallacious to your philofophers, who adopt modes of truth to follow them through the paths of error, and defend paradoxes merely to be finguiar in de- fending them. Thefe are they whom ye term Ingenious ; 'tis a phrafe of commendation I detail ; it implies an attempt to impofe on my judgment, by flattering my imagination: yet thefe are they whofe works are read by the old with delight, which they oung are taught

•

THE MAN OF FEELING. 77

to look upon as the codes of knowledge and philofophy.

" Indeed, the edu cation ofyour you tri] is every way prepofterous; you wafte at fchool years in improving talents, with- out having ever fpent an hour in difco- vering them j one promifcuous line of inftruction is followed, without regard to genius, capacity, or probable fitua- tion in the commonwealth. From this bear-garden of the pedagogue, a raw u principled boy is turned loofe upon the world to travel •> without any ideas but thofe of improving his drefs at Paris, or ftarting into tafte by gazing en fome paintings at Rome. Afk him of the manners of the people, and he will tell you, That the fkirt is worn much fhorter in France, and that every body eats macaroni in Italy. When he re- E 3 turns

78 THE MAN OF FEELING.

turns home, he buys a feat in parlia- ment, and {Indies the constitution at Arthur's.

<f Nor are your females trained to any more ufeful purpofe : they are taught^ by the very rewards which their nurfes propofe for good behaviour, by the firft thing like a jeft which they hear from every male vifitor of the family, that a young woman is a creature to be mar- lied ; and when they are grown fome- what older, are inftru&ed, that it is the purpofe of marriage to have the en- joyment of pin-money, and the ex- pectation of a jointure.*'

* " Thefe indeed are the effects of luxury, which is perhaps infeparable

from

* Though the Curate could not remember having ftiown this chapter to any body, I ftrongly

fufped

THE MAN OF FEELING, 79-

from a certain degree of power and grandeur in a nation. But it is no£ fimply of the progrefs of luxury that we have to complain : did its votaries keep in their own fphere of thoughdefs diffipation, we might defpife them with- out emotion j but the frivolous purfuits of pleafure are mingled with the mod important concerns of the ftate ; and public enterprife (hall deep till he who fhould guide its operation has decided his bets at Newmarket, or fulfilled his engagement with a favourite miftrefs in

fufpedl that thefe political obfervations are the work of a later pen than the reft of this perform- ance. There feems to have been, by fome acci- dent, a gap in the manufcript, from the words, *•' Expectation of a jointure," to thefe, " In Ihort, man is an animal," where the prefenc blank ends ; and fome other perfon (for the hand is different, and the ink whiter) has filled part of it with fentiments of his own. Whoever he was, he feems to have caught fome portion of the fpirit of the man he perfonates.

E 4 the

8o THE MAN OF FEELING.

the country. "We want fome man of acknowledged eminence to point our counfels with that firmnefs which the counfels of a great people require. We have hundreds of minifters, who prefs /forward into office, without having ever / learned that art which is neceflary for every bufinefs, the art of thinking; and miflake the petulance, which could give infpiration to fmart farcafms on an obnoxious meafure in a popular afiem- bly, for the ability which is to balance the intereft of kingdoms, and inveftigate the latent fources of national fuperio- rity. With the adminiftration of fuch men the people can never be fatisfied; for befides that their confidence is gained only by the view of fuperior ta- lents, there needs that depth of know- ledge, which is not only acquainted with thejuft extent of power, but can

alfo

THE MAN OF FEELING. 81

alfo trace its connexion with the expe- dient, to preferve its pofiefibrs from the contempt which attends irrefolution, or therefentment which follows temerity."

[Here a confiderable part is wanting.]

* * " In fhort, man is an animal equally felfifh and vain. Qfanity^ in- deedjis bu t a modification of felfifhnefs. From the latter^ there are fome who pre- tend to be free : they are generally fuch as declaim againft the luftof wealth and power, becaufe they have never been able to attain any high degree in either: they boaft of generofity and feeling. They tell us (perhaps they tell us in rhime^ that the fenfations of an honeft heart, of a mind univerfally benevolent, make up the quiet blifs which they en- E 5 joy j

82 THE MAN OF FEELING!

joy j but they will not, by this, be ex- empted from the charge of felfifhnefs. Whence the luxurious happinefs they defcribe in their little family- circles ? Whence the pleafure which they feel, when they trim their evening fires, and liften to the howl of winter's wind I Whence, but from the fecret reflection of what houfelefs wretches feel from it ? " Or do you adminifter comfort in afflic- tion — the motive is at hand j I have had it preached to me in nineteen out of twenty of yourconfolatory difcourfes— the comparative littlenefs of our own misfortunes.

" With vanity your beft virtues are grofsly tainted : your benevolence^ which ye deduce immediately from the natural impulfe of the heart, fquints to it for its reward. There are fome, indeed, who 4 tell,

THE MAN OF FEELING. £3:

tell us of the fatisfaftion which flows from a fecret confcioufnefs of good ac- tions : this fecret fatisfaftion is truly-? excellent — when we have fome friend to whom we may difcover its excellence.'*

He now paufed a moment to relight his pipe, when a clock, that flood at his back, ftruck eleven •> he ftarted up at the found, took his hat and his cane, and nodding good night with his head,, walked out of the room. The gentle- man of the houfe called a fervant to- bring the ftranger's furtout. (t What fort of a night is it, fellow?" faid he. " It rains, Sir, anfwered the fervant,, with an eafterly wind." — (f Kafterly for ever!"-— He made no other reply ;. but Ihrugging up his fhoulders till they al- moft touched his ears, wrapped himfelf tight in his great coat, and difappeared. E 6 " This.

84 THE MAN OF FEELING.

<c This is a ftrange creature," faid his friend to Harley. " I cannot fay, anfvvered he, that his remarks are of the pleafant kind : it is curious to ob- ferve how the nature of truth may be changed by the garb it wears j foftened to the admonition of friendlhip, or foured into the feverity of reproof : yet this feverity may be ufeful to fome tempers ; it fomewhat refembles a file ; dilagreeable in its operation, but hard metals may be the brighter for it."

C H A P.

THE MAN OF FEELING. B$

CHAP. XXV.

His /kill in phyfiognomy.

THE company at the baronet's re- moved to the playhoufe accord- ingly, and Harley took his ufual route into the Park. He obferved, as he en- tered, a frefh-looking elderly gentle- man in converfation with a beggar, who, leaning on his crutch, was recounting the hardfhips he had undergone, and explaining the wretchednefs of his pre- fent condition. This was a very inte- refting dialogue to Harley •, he was rude enough therefore to fiacken his pace as he approached, and at laft to make a full flop at the gentleman's back, who was juft then exprefling his companion for the beggar, and regretting that he

had

86 THE MAN O-F FEELING,

had not a farthing of change about him- At faying this he looked piteoufly on the fellow : there was fomething in his phyfiognomy which caught Harley's notice : indeed phyfiognomy was one of Harley's foibles, for which he had been often rebuked by his aunt in the coun- try j who ufed to tell him, that when he was come to her years and experi- ence, he would know that all's not gold that glifters: and it muft be owned, that his aunt was a very fenfible, harfii- looking, maiden-lady of threefcore and upwards. But he was too apt to forget thii caution ;. and now, it fee ms, it had not occurred to. him.: ftepping upv therefore, to the gentleman, who was lamenting the want of filver, " Your intentions, Sir, faid he, are fo good,, that I cannot help lending you my af- fiftance to. carry them into execution,'*

and.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 87

and gave the beggar a (hilling. The other returned a fuitable compliment, and extolled the benevolence of Harley. They kept walking together, and. bene- volence grew the topic of difcourfe..

The ftranger was fluent on the fub- jeft. " There is no ufe of money, faicT] he, equal to that of beneficence : with/ the profufe, it is loft; and even with thofe who lay it out according to the prudence of the world, the objects ac- quired by it pall on the fenfe, and have fcarce become our own till they lofe their value with the power of pleafing; but here the enjoyment grows on reflec- tion, and our money is moft truly ours,, when it ceafes being in our pofleiftorx"

" Yet I agree in fbme meafure, an- fwered Harley, with thofe who think,

that

gg THE MAN OF FEELING. that charit^jto_our common be^arsjs often mifplaced j there are objefls Jefs obtrulive whofe tide is a better one."

<f We cannot eafily diftinguifh, faid the ftranger j and even of the worthlefs, are there not many whofe impudence, or whofe vice, may have been one dreadful confequence of misfortune ?"

Harley looked again in his face, and blefled himfelf for his fkill in phyfiog- nomy.

By this time they had reached the end of the walk, the old gentleman leaning on the rails to take breath, and in the meantime they were joined by a younger man, whofe figure was much above the appearance of his drefs, which was poor and fhabby : Harley '$ former compa- i nion

THE MAN OF FEELING. 89

nion addrefied him as an acquaintance, and they turned on the walk together.

The elder of the Grangers complained of the clofenefs of the evening, and afked the other, if he would go with him into a houfe hard by, and take one draught of excellent cyder. " The man who keeps this houfe, faid he to Harley, was once a fervant of mine : I could not think of turning ioofe upon the world a faithful old fellow, for no other reafon but that his age had inca- pacitated him; fo I gave him an annuity of ten pounds, with the help of which he has fet up this little place here, and his daughter goes and fells milk in the city, while her father manages his tap- room, as he calls it, at home. I can't well afk a gentleman of your appear- ance to accompany me to fo paltry a

place."

90 THE MAN OF FEELING.

place." — " Sir, replied Harley, inter- rupting him, I would much rather enter it than the moft celebrated tavern in

tOWn : tnjtiv* tp fhejTpremrnng., may

fometirries iifr-^-geaknefs in the man ; to encourage induftry, is a duty in the /^citizen." They entered the houfe ac- cordingly.

On a table at the corner of the room }ay a pack of cards, loofely thrown to- gether. The old gentleman reproved the man of the houfe for encouraging fo idle an amufemeiH. Harley attempted to defend him, from the necefllty of ac- commodating himfelf to the humour of his guefls, and taking up the cards, be- gan to fhuffle them backwards and for- wards in his hand. (( Nay, I don't think cards fo unpardonable an amufe- mcnt as fome do, replied the other. -t and

now

THE MAN OF FEELING. 91

now and then, about this time of the evening, when my eyes begin to- fail me for my book, .1 divert myfeif with a game at piquet, without finding my morals a bit relaxed by it." " Do you* play piquet, Sir?" (to Harley) Harley anfwered in the affirmative} upon which the other propofed playing a pool at a Shilling the game, doubling the (lakes ^ adding, that he never played higher with any body.

Harley^s good nature could not re- 1 fufe the benevolent old man; and the younger flranger, though he at firft pleaded prior engagements, yet being/ earneftly folicited by his friend, at laft. yielded to felicitation.

When they began to play, the old' gentleman, fomewhat to the furprife of

Harleyj,

92 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Harley, produced ten (hillings to ferve for markers of his fcore. " He hadjio

phangp for fh

himiel£i.but I can eafily account for it ^ fit is curious to obferve the affection that inanimate things will create in us by a .Jong acquaintance : if I mayjudge from nny own feelings, the old man would' not: part with one of thefe counters for ten times its intrinfic value •, it even got the better of his benevolence ! I myielf haveapairofoldbraisfleeve-buttons"— - Here he was interrupted by being told, that the old gentleman had beat the younger, and that it was his turn to take up the conqueror. Ci Your game has been fhort," faid Harley. " I re- piqued him,'* anfwered the old man, with joy fparkling in his countenance. Harley wifhed to be repiqued too, but he was difappointed ; for he had the

fame

THE MAN OF FEELING. 93

fame good fortune againft his opponent. Indeed, never did fortune, mutable as (he rs, delight in mutability fo much as at that moment : the victory was fo quick, and fo conftantly alternate, that the flake, in a fhort time, amounted to no lefs a fum than 12!. Harley's pro- portion of which was within half a gui- nea of the money he had in his pocket. He had before propofed a divifion, but the old gentleman oppofed it with fuch a pleafant warmth in his manner, that it was always over- r If J. Now, how- ever, he told them, that he had an ap- pointment with fome gentlemen, and it was within a few minutes of his hour. The young ftranger had gained one game, and was engaged in the fecond with the other j they agreed therefore that the ftake Ihould be divided, if the old gentleman won that -, which was

more

94 THE MAN OF FEELING.

more than probable, as his fcore was 90 to 35, and he was elder hand j but a momentous repique decided it in fa- vour of his adverfary, who feemed to enjoy his vi&ory mingled with regret, for having won too much, while his friend, with great ebullience of paf- fion, many praifes of his own good play, and many maledictions on the power of chance., took up the cards, and threw them into the fire.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 95

CHAP. XXVI.

The Man of Feeling in a brothel.

TH E company he was engaged to meet were afiembled in Fleet- flreet. He had walked fome time along the Strand, amidft a crowd of thofe wretches who wait the uncertain wages of proftitution, with ideas of pity fuit- able to the fcene around him, and the feelings he poffeffed, and had got as far as Somerfet-houfe, when one of them laid hold of his arm, and, with a voice tremulous and faint, afked him for a pint of wine, in a manner more fiipplicatory than is ufual with thofe whom the infamy of their profeffion has deprived of fhame : he turned round at the demand, and looked fted- faftly on the perfon who made it.

She

$6 THE MAN OF FEELING.

She was above the common fize, and elegantly formed ; her face W4S thin and hollow, and fhowcd the remains of tar- nifhed beauty. Her eyes were black, but had little of their luftre left : her checks had fomc paint laid on without art, and productive of no advantage to her complexion, which exhibited a deadly palenefs on the other parts of her face.

Harley flood in the attitude of hefi- tation j which fhe interpreting to her advantage, repeated her requeft, and endeavoured to force a leer of invita- tion into her countenance. He took her arm, and they walked on to one of thofe obfequious taverns in the neighbour- hood, where the dearnefs of the wine is a difcharge in full for the character of the houfe. From what impulfe he did

this,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 97

this, we do not mean to enquire ; as it has ever been againft our nature to fearch for motives where bad ones are to be found. — They entered, and a

waiter fhewed them a room, and placed a bottle of claret on the table.

Harley filled the lady's glafs; which Ihe had no fooner tailed, than dropping it on the floor, and eagerly catching his arm, her eye grew fixed, her lipaffumed a clayey whitenefs, and ftie fell back lifelefs in her chair.

Harley ftarted from his feat, and, catching her in his arms, fupported her from falling to the ground, looking wildly at the door, as if he wanted to run for affiftance, but durft not leave the miferable creature. It was not till fome minutes after, that it occurred to F him

98 THE MAN OF FEELING.

him to ring the bell, which at laft how- ever he thought of, and rung with re* peated violence even after the waiter appeared. Luckily the waiter had his fenfes fomewhat more about him ; and fnatching up a bottle of water, which flood on a buffet at the end of the room, he fprinkled it over the ha*nds and face of the dying figure before him. She began to revive, and with the afii fiance of fome hartfhorn drops, which Harley now for the firft time drew from his pocket, was able to defire the waiter to bring her a cruft of bread ; of which fhe fwallowed fomc mouthfuls with the appearance of the keeneft hunger. The waiter withdrew : when turning to Har- ley, fobbing at the fame time, and fhed- ding tears, " I am forry, Sir, faid fhe, that I fhould have given you fo mucfi trouble j but you will pity me when I 6 tell

THE M-AN OF FEELING. 99

tell you, that till now I have not tafled 1 a morfelthcfe two dayspaft."— Hefixed1> his eyes on her's — every circumftance 1 but the lad was forgotten ; and he tookj her hand with as much refpect as if fhe had been a dutchefs. It was ever the i privilege of misfortune to be revered by 1 him. — " Two days!— faid he; and I j have fired fumptuoufly every day !"— *' He was reaching to the bell; (he under- lie od his meaning, and prevented him. " I beg, Sir, faid (he, that you would give yourfdf no more trouble about a \vretch who does not wifh to live ; but, at preient, I could not eat a bit ; my ilomach even rofe at the laft mouthful of that cruft. — He offered to call a chair, faying, that he hoped a little reft would relieve her.— -He had one half- guinea left : " I am forry, he faid, that at prefent I fhould be able to make you F 2 an

ioo THE MAN OF FEELING.

an offer of no more than this paltry fum." — She burft into tears : « Your generality, Sir, is abufed j to beftow it on me is to take it from the virtuous : I have no title but mifery to plead ; mifery of my own procuring." " No more of that, anfwered Harley j there is virtue in thefe tears j let the fruit of them be virtue." — He rung, and order- ed a chair. — " Though I am the vileft of beings, faid (he, 1 have not forgotten every virtue j gratitude, I hope, I (hall flill have left, did I but know who is my benefactor." — " My name is Har- ley"— e< Could I ever have an oppor- tunity"— " You fhall, and a glorious one too ! your future conduit — but I do not mean to reproach you — if, I fay — it will be the nobleft reward — I will do myfeif the pleafure of feeing you again." — Here the waiter entered, and told

them

THE MAN OF FEELING. 101

them the chair was at the door $ the- lady informed Harley of her lodgings, and he promifed to wait on her at ten next morning.

He led her to the chair, and returned to clear with the waiter, witiiout ever once reflecting that he had no money in his pocket. He was afliamed to make an excufe; yet an excufe muft be made: he was beginning to frame one, when the waitercut him fiiort, by telling him, that he could not run fcores j but that, if he would leave his watch, or any other pledge, it would be as fafe as if it lay in his pocket. Harley jumped at the propofal, and pulling out his watch delivered it into his hands immediately j and having, for once, had the precau- tion to take a note of the lodging he in- tended to vifit next morning, fallied F 3 forth

102 THE MAN OF FEELING,

forth with a blufli of triumph oa his face, without taking notice of the fneer of the waiter, who, twirling the watch in his hand, made him a profound bow at the door, and vvhifpered to a girl, who ftood in the paflage, fomething, in which the word CULLY was honoured with a particular emphafis.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 103

CHAP. XXVII.

His Jkill in plyfiognomy is doubted.

AFTER he had been fome time with the company he had ap- pointed to meet, and the tafl: bottle was called for, he firft recollected that he would be again at a lofs how to dif- charge his fhare of the reckoning. He applied therefore to one of them, with whom he was moft intimate, acknow- ledging that he had not a farthing of money about him j and, upon being jocularly afkecFthe reafon, acquainted them with the two adventures we have juft now related. One of the company afked him, if-the old man in Hyde-park I did not wear a brownifh coat, with a I narrow gold edging, and his companion an old green frock, with a buff-coloured

E 4. waiftcoau '

jo4 THE MAN OF FEELING, waiftcoar. Upon Harley's recollecting that they did, " Then, faid he, you may be thankful you have come off fo well; they are two as noted fhar^exs, in their way, as in any town, and but t'o- ther night took me in for a much larger fum : I had fome thoughts of applying to a juftice, but one does not like to be feen in thofe matters."

Harley anfwered, " That he could not but fancy the gentleman was mif- taken, as he never faw a face promife more honefty than that of the old man he had met with." — " His face !" faid a grave-looking man, who fat oppofite to him, fquirting thejuice of his tobacco obliquely into the grate. There was fomething veryemphatical intheaftion: for it was followed by a burft of laugh- ter round the table. " Gentlemen, faid

Harley,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 105

Harley, you are difpofed to be merry; it may be as you imagine, for I confefs myfelf ignorant of the town : but there is one thing which makes me bear the lofs of my money with temper : the young fellow who won it muft have been miferably poor; iobferved him borrow money for the flake from his friend : he had diftrefs and hunger in his coun- tenance : be his character what it may, his neceflities at leail plead for him."— At this there was a louder laugh than before. " Gentlemen, faid the lawyer, one of whofe converfations with Harley we have already recorded, here's a very pretty fellow for you : to have heard him talk fome nights ago, as I did, you might have fworn he was a faint ; yet now he games with (harpers, and lofes his money $ and is bubbled by a fine (lory invented by a whore3 and pawns F 5 his

jo6 THE MAN OF FEELING.

his watch j here are fanftified doings with a witnefs ?"

cc Young gentleman, faid his friend on the other fide of the table, let me advife you to be a little more cautious for the futures and as for faces — you may look into them to know, whether a man's nofe be a long or a fhort one."

CHAP.

TH'E MAN OF FEELING. 107

CHAP. XXVIII. He keeps bis appointment*

THE lafl night's raillery of his com- panions was recalled to his remem- brance when he awoke, and the colder homilies of prudence began to fugged fome things which were nowife favour- able for a performance of his promife to the unfortunate female he had met with before. He rofe uncertain of his pur- pofe ; but the torpor of fueh confidera- tions \vas feldom prevalent over the warmth of his nature. He walked fome turns backwards and forwards in his room j he recalled the languid form of the fainting wretch to his mind j he wept at the recollection of her tears.. " Though I am the vileft of beings, I F 6 have

io8 THE MAN OF FEELING,

have not forgotten every virtue j grati- tude, I hope, I fhall ftill have left."— he took a larger ftride — <f Powers of mercy that furround me ! cried he, do ye not fmile upon deeds like thefe ? to calculate the chances of deception is too tedious a bufmefs for the life of man !" — The clock ftruck ten ! — When he was got down ftairs, he found that he had forgot the note of her lodgings ; he gnawed his lips at the delay : he was fairly on the pavement, when he recol- lected having left his purfe -, he did but juft prevent himfelf from articulating an imprecation. He rufaed a fecond time up into his chamber. " What a wretch I am, faid he ; ere this time per- haps— " 'Twas a perhaps not to be born j— two vibrations of a pendulum would have ferved him to lock his bu- reau i — but they could not be fpared.

Wheti

THE MAN OF FEELING. 109

When he reached thehoufe, and in- quired for Mils Atkins (for that was the lady's name), he was fhown up three pair of flairs into afmall roomlighted by one narrow lattice, and patched round with fhreds of different- colon red paper. In the darkeft corner flood fomething like a bed, before which a tattered co- verlet hung by way of curtain. He had not waited long when (he appeared. Her face had the glifter of new-wafhed tears on it. " I am afhamed, Sir, faid flie, that you fhould have taken this frefh piece of trouble about one fo little worthy of it -, bur, to the humane, I know there is a pleafure in goodnefs for its own fake : if you have patience for the recital of my flory, it may palliate, though it cannot excufe my faults." Harley bowed, as a fign of aflent ; and

fhe began as follows :

3 « I am

iro THE MAN OF FEELING.

" I am the daughter of an officer, whom a fervice of forty years had ad- vanced no higher than the rank of cap- tain. I have had hints from himfelfV and been informed by others, that it was in fome meafure owing to thofe prin- ciples of rigid honour, which it was his boaft to pofTefs, and which he early in- culcated on me, that he had been able to arrive at no better ftation. My mo- ther died.whren I was a child; old enough to grieve for her'dcath, but in- capable of remembering her precepts. Though my father was doatingly fond of her, yet there were fome fentiments in which they materially differed : fhe had been bred from her infancy in the ilricleft principles of religion, and took the morality of her conduct from the motives which an adherence to thofe principles fuggefted. My father, who

who

THE MAN OF FEEDING, in

had been in the army from his youth, affixed an idea of pufillanimity to that virtue, which was formed by the doc- trines, excited by the rewards, or guard- ed by the terrors of revelation -, his dar- ling idol was the honour of a foldierj' a term which he held in fuch reverence, that he ufed it for his moft facred afle- veration. When my mother died, I was fome time fuffered to continue in thofe fentiments wruch her inftruclions had produced j but foon after, though, from refpecl: to her memory, my father did not abfolutely ridicule them, yet he fhewed, in his difcourfe to others, fo little regard to them, and at times fuggefted to me motives of action fo different, that I was foon weaned from opinions, which I began to confider as the dreams of fuperftition, or the artful inventions of defigning hypocrify. My

mother's

ii2 THE MAN OF FEELING.

mother's books were left behind at the different quarters we removed to, and my reading was principally confined to plays, novels, and thofe poetical de- fcriptions of the beauty of virtue and honour, which the circulating libraries eafily afforded.

" As I was generally reckoned hand- fome, and the quicknefs of my parts extolled by all our vifitors, my father had a pride in fhowing me to the world. I was young, giddy, open to adulation, and vain of thofe talents which acquired it.

" After the lad war, my father was reduced to half-pay; with which we re- tired to a village in the country, which the acquaintance of fome genteel fami- lies who refided in it, and the cheapnefs

of

THE MAN OF FEELING. 113

of living, particularly recommended. My father rented a fmall houfe, with a piece of ground fufficient to keep a horfe for him, and a cow for the bene- fit of his family. Aa old man fervant managed his ground j while a maid, who had formerly been my mother's, and had fince been mine, undertook the care of our little dairy : they were afiifted in each of their provinces by my father and me j and we pafled our time in a ftate of tranquillity, which he had always talked of with delight, and my train of reading had taught me to admire.

" Though I had never feen the po- lite circles of the metropolis, the com- pany my father had introduced me into had given me a degree of good-breed- ing, which foon difcovered a fuperiority

over

ii4 THE MAN OF FEELING.

over the young ladies of our village. I was quoted as an example of polite- nefs, and my company courted by mod of the confiderable families in the neighbourhood.

" Amongft the houfes where I was frequently invited, was Sir George Winbrooke's* He had two daughters nearly of my age, with whom, though they had been bred up in thofe maxims of vulgar dodlrine, which my fuperior underftanding could not but defpife, yet as their good-nature led them to an imitation of my manners in every thing elfe, I cultivated a particular friend- Ihip.

'" Some months after our firft ac- quaintance, Sir George's elded fon came home from his travels. His figure, his

THE MAN OF FEELING, 115

addrefsj and converfation, were not un- like thofe warm ideas of an accomplifh- ed man which my favourite novels had taught me to form j and hisfentiments, on the article of religion, were as libe- ral as my own : when any of thefe happened to be the topic of our dif- courfe, I, who before had been filent, from a fear of being fingle in oppofi/- tion, now kindled at the fire he railed, and defended our mutual opinions with all the eloquence I was miftrefs of. He would be refpectfully attentive all the while -, and when I had ended, would raife his eyes from the ground, look at me with a gaze of admiration, and ex- prefs his applaufe in the higheft ftrain of encomium. This was an incenfe the more pleafing, as I feldom or never had met with it before; for the young gen- tlemen who vifited Sir George were for

the

Ii6 THE MAN OF FEELING.

the moft part of that athletic order, the pleafure of whofe lives is derived from fox-hunting : thefe are feldom felicit- ous to pleafe the women at all : or if they were, would never think of apply- ing their flattery to the mind.

" Mr.Winbrookeobfervedtheweak- nefs of my foul, and took every occa- fion of improving the efleem he had gained. He afked my opinion of every author, of every fentiment, with that fubmifTive diffidence, which (hewed an unlimited confidence in my underftand- ing. I fa w my felf revered, as a fuperior being, by one whofe judgment my va- nity told me was not likely to err : pre- ferred by him to all the other vifitors of my fex, whofe fortunes and rank fhould have entitled them to a much higher degree of notice : I faw their

little

THE MAN OF FEELING. 117

little jealoufies at the diftinguifhed at- tention he paid me j it was gratitude, it was pride, it was love! Love which had made too fatal a progrefs in my heart, before any declaration on his part fhould have warranted a return : but I interpreted every look of attention, every exprefiion of compliment, to the pafiion I imagined him infpired with, and imputed to his fenfibility that fi- lence which was the effecT: of art and defign. At length, however, he took an opportunity of declaring his love : he now exprefTed himfelf in fuch ardent terms, that prudence might have fuf- pe&ed their fmcerity j but prudence is rarely found in the fituation 1 had been unguardedly led into j befides, that the courfe^of reading to which I had been accuftomed, did not lead me to con- clude, that his expreflions could be too

warm

1*8 THE MAN OP FEELING.

warm to be fmcere : nor was I even alarmed at the manner in which he talk- ed of marriage, a fubjeclion, he often hinted, to which genuine love fhould fcorn to be confined. The woman, he would often fr.y, who had merit like mine to fix his affection, could eafily command it for ever. That honour too which I revered, was often called in to enforce his fentiments. I did nor, however, abfolutely affent to them ; but I found my regard for their oppo- fites diminifh by degrees. If it is dan- gerous to be convinced, it is dangerous to liften { for our reafon is fo much of a machine, that it will not always be able to refift, when the ear is perpetual* ly afiailed.

" In fhort, Mr. Harley, (for I qre you with a relation, the cataftrophe of

which

THE MAN OF FEELING. 119

which you will already have imagined) I fell a p'ey to his artifices. He had not been able-fo thoroughly to convert me, that my confcience was filent on the fubjectj but he was fo affiducus to give repeated proofs of unabated affec- tion, that I huihed its fuggetlions as they rofe. The world, however, I knew, was not to be filencedj and therefore I took occafion to exprefs my uneafinefs to my feducer, and entreat him, as he valued the peace of cne to 'whom he profeiTed fuch attachment, to remove it by a marriage. He made ex- cufe from his dependance on the will of his father, but quieted my fears by the promife of endeavouring to win his aflfent.

" My father had been fome days ab- fcnt on a vifit .to a dying relation, from

\vhom

120 THE MAN OF FEELING.

whom he had confiderable expectations. I was left at home, with no other company than my books : my books I found were not now fuch companions as they ufed to be ; I was reftlefs, me- lancholy, unfatisfied with myfelf. But judge my fituaeion when I received a billet from Mr. Winbrooke informing me, that he had founded Sir George on the fubjecl: we had talked of, and found him fo averfe to any match fo unequal to his own rank and fortune, that he was obliged, with whatever reluctance, to bid adieu to a place, the remem- brance of which fhould ever be dear to him.

<c I read this letter a hundred times over. Alone, helplefs, confcious of guilt, and abandoned by every better thought, my mind was one motley

fcenc

THE MAN OF FEELING. 121

fcene of terror, confufion, and re- morfe. A thoufand expedients fuggeft- ed themfelves, and a thoufand fears told me they would be vain : at lafr, in an agony of defpair, I packed up a few clothes, took what money and trin- kets were in the houfe, and fet out for London, whither I underftood he was gone, pretending to my maid, that I had received letters from my father re- quiring my immediate attendance, I had no other companion than a boy, a fervant to the man from whom I hired my horfes. I arrived in London within an hour of Mr. Winbrooke, and acci- dentally alighted at the very inn where he was.

" He ftarted and turned pale when

he faw me ; but recovered himfelf in

time enough to make many new proteft-

G ations

122 THE MAN OF FEELING.

ations of regard, and beg me to make myfelf eafy under a difappointment which was equally afflicting to him. He procured me lodgings, where I flept, or rather endeavoured to deep, for that night. Next morning I faw him again ; he then mildly obferved on the imprudence of my precipitate flight from the country, and propofed my removing to lodgings at another end of the town, to elude the fearch of my father, till he fliould fall upon fome method of excufing my conduct to him, and reconciling him to my return. We took a hackney-coach, and drove to the houfe he mentioned.

ff It was fituated in a dirty lane, fur- nifhed with a taudry affectation of finery, with fome ;,old family-pictures hanging on walls which their own cob- webs

THE MAN OF FEELING. 123

webs would better have fuited. I was ftruck with a fecret dread at entering; nor was it lefiened by the appearance of the landlady, who had that look of felfifh ihrewdnefs, which, of all others, is the mod hateful to thofe whofe feel- ings are untinclured with the world. A girl, who ftie told us was her niece, fat by her, playing on a guitar, while her- felf was ac work, with the afilftance of fpectacles, and had a prayer-book, with the leaves folded down in feveral places, lying on the table before her. Perhaps, Sir, I tire you with my minutenefs; but the place, and every circumftance about it, is fo imprefied on my mind, that I fhall never forget it.

ff I dined that day with Mr. Win-

brooke alone. He loft by degrees that

reftraint which I perceived too well to

G 2 hang

t24 THE MAN OF FEELING, hang about him before, and, with his former gaiety and good-humour, re- peated the flattering things, which, though they had once been fatal, I durft not now diftruft. At laft, taking my hand and kiffing it, " It is thus, faid he, that love will laft, while freedom is preferved -, thus let us ever be bleft, without the galling thought that we are tied to a condition where we may ceafe to be fo." I anfwered, " That the world thought otherwife ; that it had certain ideas of good fame, which it was impofiible not to wifh to maintain." f " The world, faid he, is a tyrant •> they are (laves who obey it: let us be happy ^ without the pale of the world. To- morrow I (hall leave this quarter of it, for one, where the talkers of the world (hall be foiled, and lofe us. Could not my Emily accompany me? my friend,

my

THE MAN OF FEELING. 125

my companion, the miftrefs of my foul! Nay, do not look fo, Emily ! your fa- ther may grieve for a while, but your father fhall be taken care of; this bank- bill I intend as the comfort for his daughter."

" I could contain myfelf no longer r " Wretch, I exclaimed, dofl thou ima- gine that my father's heart could brook dependance on the deftroyer of his child, and tamely accept of a bafe equi- valent for her honour and his own !" " Honour, my Emily, faid he, is the word of fools, or of thofe wifer men who cheat them. 'Tis a fantaftic bauble that does not fuitthe gravity of your father's age j but, whatever it is, I am afraid it can never be perfectly reftored to you : exchange the word then, and let pleafure be your object G 3 now."

126 THE MAN OF FEELING, now." At theie words he clafped me in his arms, and prefled his lips rudely to my bofom. I darted from my feat. " Perfidious villain ! faid I, who dar'ft infult the weaknefs thou haft undone ; were that father here, thy coward foul would (brink from the vengeance of his honour! Curft be that wretch who has deprived him of it ! oh! doubly curft, who has dragged on his hoary head the infamy which fhould have cruflied her own ! I fnatched a knife which lay be- fide me, and would have plunged it in my breaft; but the monfter prevented my purpofe, and fmiling with a grin of barbarous infult, <f Madam, faid he, I confefs you are rather too much in he- roics for me: I am forry we fhould differ about trifles; but as I feem fome- how to have offended you, I would willingly remedy it by taking my leave.

You

THE ,MAN OF FEELING. 127

You have been put to fome foolifii ex- pence in this journey on my account j allow me to reimburfe you." So fay- ing, he laid a bank-bill, or what amount I had no patience to fee, upon the table. Shame, grief, and indig- nation, choaked my utterance; unable to fpeak my wrongs, and unable to bear them in fiknce, I fell in a fwoon at his feet.

" What happened in the interval I cannot tell ; but when I came to my- felf, I was in the arms of the landlady, with her niece charing my temples, and doing all in her power for my recovery. She had much compaffion in her coun- tenance : the old woman affumed the fofteft look fhe was capable of, and both endeavoured to bring me comfort. They continued to fhow me many civi- G 4 lities,

128 THE MAN OF FEELING.

lities, and even the aunt began to be lefs difagreeable in my fight. . To the wretched, to the forlorn, as I was, ftnall offices of kindnefs are endearing.

" Mean time my money was far fpent, nor did I attempt to conceal my wants from their knowledge. I had frequent thoughts of returning to my father ; but the dread of a life of fcorn is infurmountable. I'avoided therefore going abroad when I had a chance of being feen by any former acquaintance, nor indeed did my health for a great while permit it j and fuffered the old woman, at her own fuggeftion, to call me niece at home, where we now and then faw (when they could prevail on me to leave my room) one or two other elderly women, and fometimes a grave bufmefs-Iike man, who ihowed great

com-

THE MAN OF FEELING. 129

companion for my indifpofition, and made me very obligingly an offer of a room at his country-houfe for the reco- very of my health. This offer I did not chufe to accept ; but told my land- lady, " that I fhould be glad to be em- ployed in any way of bufmefs which my fkill in needlework could recommend me to; confeffing, at the fame time, that I was afraid I (hould fcarce be able to pay her what I already owed for board and lodging, and that for her other good offices, I had nothing but thanks to give her."

" My dear child, faid fhe, do not talk of paying j fince I loft my own fweet girl (here fhe wept), your very picture fhe was, Mifs Emily, I have no body, except my niece, to whom I Ihould leave any little thing I have been G 5 able

130 THE MAN O£ FEELING.

able to fave : you fhall live with me, my dean and I have fometimes a little millinery work, in which, when you are inclined to it, you may afiift us. By the way, here are a pair of ruffles we have juft fmifhed for that gentleman you faw here at tea ; a diftant relation of mine, and a worthy man he is. 'Twas pity you refufed the offer of an apartment at his country-houfe j my niece, yon know, was to have accom- panied you, and you might have fancied yourfelf .at home : a mod fweet place it is, and but a fhort mile beyond Hampftead. Who knows, Mifs Emi- ly, what effect fuch a vifit might have had ! if I had half your beauty, I Ihould not wafte it pining after e'er a worthlefs fellow of them all." I felt my heart fwell at her words j I would have been angry if I could -t but I was

in

THE MAN OF FEELING. 131

in that ftupid flate which is not eafily awakened to anger : when I would have chid her, the reproof {tuck in my throat; I could-only weep !

fe Her want of refpect increafed, as I had not fpirit to affert it ; my work was now rather impofed than offered, and I became a drudge for the bread I eat : but my dependance and fervility grew in proportion, and I was now in a fituation which could not make any extraordinary exertions to difengage / itfelf from either -, I found myfelf with child.

ce At laft the wretch, who had thus trained me to deftruction, hinted the purpofe for- which thofe means had been ufed. I difcovered her to be an artfulprQCiirefs for the pleafures of G 6 thofe>

I32 THE MAN OF FEELING.

thofe, who are men of decency to the world in the midft of debauchery.

<c I roufed every fpark of courage within me at the horrid propofal. She treated my pafllon at firft fomewhae mildly i but when I continued to exert it, fhe refented it with infult, and told me plainly, That if I did not foon comply with her defires, I fhould pay her every farthing I owed, or rot in a jail for life. I trembled at the thought ; ftill, however, I refitted her importu- nities, and fhe put her threats in exe- cution. I was conveyed to prifon, weak from my condition, weaker from that flruggle of grief and mifery which for fome time I had fuffered. A mifcar- riage was the confequcnce.

** Amidft all the horrors of fuch a ftate, furrounded with wretches totally

callous,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 133;

callous, loft alike to humanity and to fhame, think, Mr. Harley, think what I endured : nor wonder that I at laflr yielded to the felicitations of that mif- creant I had ften at her houfe, and funk to the proftitution which he tempted. But that was happinefs compared to- what I have fuffered fince. He foon abandoned me to the common ufe of the town, and I was caft among thofe mi- ferable beings in whofe fociety I have fince remained.

" Oh ! did the daughters of virtue" know our fufferings j did they fee our hearts torn with anguilh amidft the af- fectation of gaiety which our faces are obliged to afTume ! our bodies tortured by difeafe, our minds with that con- fcioufnefs which they cannot lofe ! Did they know, did they think of this, Mr. 3 Harley I

I34 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Harley ! — their cenfures are juft ; but their pity perhaps might fpare the wretches whom their juftice fliould condemn.

(t Laft night, but for an exertion of benevolence which the infection of our infamy prevents even in the humane, had I been thruf: out from this mifer- able place which misfortune has yet left mej expofed to the brutal infults of drunkennefs, or dragged by that juftice which I couid not bribe, to the f>uniihment which may correct, but, alas ! can never amend the abandoned objects of its terrors. From that Mr. Harley, your goodnefs has relieved me."

He beckoned with his hand : he would have flopped the mention of his

favours $

THE MAN OF FEELING. 135

favours ; but he could not fpeak, had it been to beg a diadem.

She faw his tears -, her fortitude began to fail at the fight, when the voice of fome fl ranger on the flairs awakened her attention. She liftened for a mo- ment ; then darting up, exclaimed, " Merciful God ! my father's voice !"

She had fcarce uttered the word, when the door burft open, and a man entered in the garb of an officer. When he difcovered his daughter and Harley, he flarted back a few paces ; his look af- fumed a furious wildnefs ! he laid his hand on bis fword. The two objects of his wrath did not utter a fyllable. " Villain, he cried, thou feed a father who had once a daughter's honour to preferve ; blafted as it now is, behold him ready to avenge its lofs !"

5 Harley

136 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Harley had by this time fome power of utterance. " Sir, faid he, if you will be a moment calm" — <f Infamous coward ! interrupted the other, doft thou preach calmnefs to wrongs like mine ?'* He drew his fword. " Sir, faid Harley, let me tell you" — The blood ran quicker to his cheek — his pulfe beat one—no more — and regained the temperamentof humanity ! — " You are deceived, Sir, faid he, you are much deceived j but I forgive fufpicions which your misfor- tunes have juftified : I would not wrong you, upon my foul I would not, for the deareft gratification of a thoufand worlds j my heart bleeds for you 1"

I His daughter was now proftrate at

his feet. " Strike, faid (he, ftrike here

\ a wretch, whofe mifery cannot end but

: with that death fhe deferves." Her hair

had

THE MAN OF FEELING. i

had fallen on her fhoulders ! her loo*k"\ had the horrid calmnefs of out-breathed defpair ! Her father would have fpoken; his lip quivered, his cheek grew pale; his eyes loft the lightning of their fury I there was a reproach in them, but with a mingling of pity ! He turned them up to heaven— then on his daughter.-— He laid his left hand on his heart — the fword dropped from his right— he burit into tears.

CHAP.

138 THE MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XXIX.

T'he dijlrejfes of a father.

HARLEY kneeled alfo at the fide of the unfortunate daughter : c< Allow me, Sir, faid he, to entreat your pardon for one whofe offences have been already fo fignaUy punifhed. I know, I feel, that thofe tears, wrung from the heart of a father, are more dreadful to her than all the punifhments your fword could have inflicted: accept the contrition of a child whom heaven has reftored to you." " Is fhe not loft, anfwered he, irrecoverably loft? Dam- nation ! a common proftitute to the meaneft ruffian!" — " Calmly, my dear Sir, faid Harley, did you know by

what

THE MAN OF FEELING, 139

what complicated misfortunes fhe had fallen to that miferable ftate in which you now behold her, I fhould have no need of words to excite your compaf- iion. Think, Sir, of what once fhe was ! Would you abandon her to the infuks of an unfeeling world, deny her opportunity of penitence, and cut oft" the little comfort that ftill remains for your afflictions and her own t" <{ Speak, faid he, addrefiing himfelf to his daugh- ter; fpeak, I will hear thee." — The defperation that fupported her was loft ; fhe fell to the ground, and bathed his feet with her tears !

Harley undertook her caufe : he re- lated the treacheries to which fhe had fallen a facrifice, and again folicited the forgivenefs of her father. He looked on her for fome time in filence j the

pride

I4o THE MAN OF FEELING.

pride of a foldier's honour checked for a while the yearnings of his heart ; but nature at laft prevailed, he fell on her neck, and mingled his tears with hers.

Harley, who difcovered from the drefs of the ftranger that he was juft ar- rived from a journey, begged that they would both remove to his lodgings, till he could procure others for them. At- kins looked at him with fome marks of furprife. His daughter now firft re- covered the power of fpeech : " Wretch as I am, faid (he, yet there is fome gratitude due to the preferver of your child. See him now before you. To him I owe my life, or at lead the com- fort of imploring your forgivenefs be- fore I die." " Pardon me, young gentleman, faid Atkins, I fear my paf- fion wronged you.'*

" Never,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 141

<f Never, never, Sir, faid Harley; if it had, your reconciliation to your daughter were an atonement a thou- fand fold." He then repeated his re- queft that he might be allowed to con- du6t them to his lodgings] to which Mr. Atkins at laft confented. He took his daughter's arm, " Come, my Emily, faid he, we can never, never recover that happinefs we have loft ! but time may teach us to remember our misfor- tunes with patience."

When they arrived at the houfe where Harley lodged, he was informed, that the firft floor was then vacant, and that the gentleman and his daughter might be accommodated there. While he was upon his enquiry, Mifs Atkins informed her father more particularly what fhe owed to his benevolence.

When

142 THE MAN OF FEELING.

When he turned into the room where they were, Atkins ran and embraced him ; begged him again to forgive the offence he had given him, and made the warmeft proteftations of gratitude /'for his favours. We would attempt to defcribe the joy which Harley felt on this occafion, did it not occur to us, that one half of the world could not underftand it though we did ; and the other half will, by this time, have underftood it without any defcription - at all.

Mifs Atkins now retired to her cham- ber, to take fome reft from the violence of the emotions (he had fuffered. When Ihe was gone, her father, addrefiing himfelf to Harley, faid, " You hav,e a right, Sir, to be informed of the pre- fent fituationofone who owes fo much

to

THE MAN OF FEELING. 143

to your compaflion for his misfortunes. My daughter I find has informed you what that was at the fatal juncture when they began. Her diftreffes you have heard, you have pitied as they de- ferved j with mine perhaps I cannot fo eafily make you acquainted. You have a feeling heart, Mr. Harley ; I blefs it that it has favedmy child j bu^vc^u never were a father, a father, torn_by that mo ft dreadful of calamities, the diihon-our_ojl_a_child he doated on ! •You have been already informed of fome of the circumftances of her elope- ment- I was then from home, called by the death of a relation, who, though he would never advanceme a {hilling on the utmoft exigency in his life-time, left me all the gleanings of his frugality at ills death. I would not v/rite this in- telligence

I44 THE MAN OF FEELING.

telligence to my daughter, becaufe I in- tended to be the bearer myfelf j and as foon as my bufmefs would allow me, I fet out on my return, winged with all the hade of paternal affection. I fondly built thofe fchemes of future happinefs, which prefent profperity is ever bufy to fuggeft : my Emily was concerned in them all. As I approached our little dwelling, my heart throbbed with the an- ticipation of joy and welcome. I ima- gined the cheering fire, the blifsful con- tentment of a frugal meal, made luxu- rious by a daughter's fmile : I painted to myfelf her furprife at the tidings of our new-acquired riches, our fond dif- putes about the difpofal of them.

« The road was fhortened by the dreams of happinefs I enjoyed, and it

began

THE MAN OF FEELING. 1-45

began to be dark as I reached the honfe : I alighted from my horfe, and walked foftly up flairs to the room we common, ly fat in. I was fomewhat difappointed at not finding my daughter there. I rung the bellj her maid appeared, and fhewed no fmall figns of wonder at the fummons. She blefled herfelf as flie entered the room : I fmiled at her fur- prife. " Where is Mifs Emily, Sir ?" faid fhe. " Emily !" " Yes, Sin fhe has been gone hence fome days, upon receipt of thofe letters you fent her.'* " Letters! faid I. « Yes, Sir; fo fhe told me, and went off in all hafte that very night."

" I flood aghaft as fhe fpoke -, but

was able fo far to recollect myfelf, as to

put on the affectation of calmnefs, and

telling her there was certainly Tome mif-

H take

i46 THE MAN OF FEELING.

take in the affair, defired her to leave me.

fe When fhe was gone, I threw rny- felf into a chair in that flate of uncer- tainty which is of all others the mod dreadful. The gay vifions with which I had delighted myfelf, vanifhed in an inilant : 1 was tortured with tracing back the fame circle of doubt and dif- appointment. My head grew dizzy as I thought : I called the fervant again, and afked her a hundred queftions to no purpofe j there was not room even for Conjecture.

*e Something at laft arofe in my mind, which we call Hope, without knowing what it is. I wifhed myfelf deluded by itj but it could not prevail over my returning fears, I rofe and

walked

THE MAN OF FEELING. 147

walked through the room. My Emily's fpinnet flood at the end of it, open, with a book of mufic folded down at fome of my favourite leflbns. I touch- ed the keys; there was a vibration in the found that froze my blood: I look- ed around, and methought the family- pi&ures on the walls gazed on me with companion in their faces. I fat down again with an attempt at more com- pofure } I ftarted at every creaking of the door, and my ears rung with ima- ginary noifes 1

" I had not remained long in this fituation, when the arrival of a friend, who had accidentally heard of my re- turn, put an end to my doubts, by the recital of my daughter's difhonour. He told me he had his information from a young gentleman, to whom Win- H 2 brookc

i48 THE MAN OF FEELING.

brooke had boafted of having feduced her.

(< I ftarted from my feat, with broken curfes on my lips, and without knowing whither I Ihould purfue them, ordered my fervant to load my piftols, and faddle my horfes. My friend, however, with great difficulty, perfuaded me to com- pofe myfelf for that night, promifing to accompany me on the morrow to Sir George Winbrooke's in quefl of his fon.

" The morrow came, after a night fpent in a flate little diftant from mad- nefs. We went as early as decency would allow to Sir George's: he receiv- ed me with politenefs, and indeed com- pafilon ; protefted his abhorrence of his jbn's conduct, and told me that he had let out fome days before for London, on which place he had procured a

draught

THE MAN OF FEELING. 149

draught for a large fum, on pretence of finifhing his travels j but that he had not heard from him fmce his departure.

" I did not wait for any more, either of information or comfort, but againft the united remonftrances of Sir George and my friend, fet out inftantly for Lon- don, with a frantic uncertainty of pur- pofe j but there all manner of fearch was in vain. I could trace neither of them any farther than the inn where they firft put up on their arrival j and after fome days fruitlefs inquiry, returned home deftitute of every little hope that had hitherto fupported me. The jour- neys I had made, the refllefs nights I had fpent, above all, the perturbation of my mind, had the effect which natu- rally might be expected j a very dan- gerous fever was theconfequence. From H £ this,,

150 THE MAN OF FEELING.

this, however, contrary to the expec- tation of my phyficians, I recovered. It was now that I firfl felt fomething like calmnefs of mind j probably from be- ing reduced to a ftate which could not produce the exertions of anguifh or de- fpair. A ftupid melancholy fettled on my foul; I could endure to live with an apathy of life 3 at times I forgot my refentmenr, and wept at the remem- brance of my child.

<f Such has been the tenor of my days fince that fatal moment when thefc misfortunes began, till yeflerday, that I received a letter from a friend in town, acquainting me of her prefent fituation. Could fuch tales as mine, Mr. Harley, be fometimes fuggefled to the daughters of levity, did they but know with what anxiety the heart of a parent flutters round the child he loves, they would be

lefs

THE MAN OF FEELING. 151

kfs apt to conftrue into harfhnefs that delicate concern for theirconduct, which they often complain ofas laying reftraint upon things, to the young, the gay, and the thoughtlefs, feemingly harmlefs and indifferent. Alas ! I fondly imagined that I needed not even thefe common cautions ! my Emily was the joy of my age, and the pride of my foul! — Thofe things are now no more ! they are loft for ever ! Her death I could have born 1 but the death of her honour has added obloquy and fhame to that forrow which bends my grey hairs to the duft !"

As he fpoke thefe laft words, his voice trembled in his throat; it was now loft in his tears ! He fat with his face half turned from Harley, as if he would have hid the forrow which he felt. Harley was in the fame attitude H 4 himfelf ;

I52 THE MAN OF FEELING,

himfelf i he durfl not meet his eye with a tear i but gathering his (tifled breatha *f Let me in treat you, Sir, faid he, to hope better things. The world is ever tyrannical j it warps our forrows to edge them with keener affliction : let us not be flaves to the names it affixes to mo- tive or to aftion. I know an ingenuous mind cannot help feeling when they fling : but there are confiderations by which it may be overcome: its fantaftic ideas vanifh as they rife; they teach U& i— to look beyond it."

A FRAG-

THE MAN OF FEELING. 153

A FRAGMENT.

Showing bis fuccefs with tbe baronet.

X HE card he received was in the policed ftyle in which difappoint- ment could be communicated : the baronet " was under a necefiity o£-> giving up his application for Mr. Har- / ley, as he was informed, that the leafe / was engaged for a gentleman who had long ferved his majefty in another ca- \ pacity, and whofe merit had entitled \ him to the firft lucrative thing thac-^ fhould be vacant." Even Harley could not murmur at fuch a difpofal. — " Per- haps, faid he to himfelf, fome war- worn officer, who, like poor Atkins, H 5 had

154 THE MAN OF FEELING.

had been neglected from reafons which merited the higheft advancement jwhofe honour could not ftoop to folicit the preferment he deferved ; perhaps, with a family, taught the principles of de- licacy, without the means of fupport- ing it j a wife and children — gracious heaven ! whom my wifties would have deprived of bread."-

He was interrupted by his reverie by fome one tapping him on the fhoulder, and, on turning round, he difcovered it to be the very man who had explain- ed to him the condition of his gay com- panion at Hydepark-corner. <f I am glad to fee you, Sir, faid he ; I believe we are fellows in difappointment." Harley ftarted, and faid, that he was at a lofs to under/land him. " Poh ! you need not be fofhy, anfwered the other;

every

THE MAN OF FEELING. 155 every one for himfelf is but fair, and I had much rather you had got it than the rafcally gauger." Harley ftill pro- tefted his ignorance of what he meant. *c Why, the leafe of Bancroft-manor j had not you been applying for it ?" <; I confefs I was, replied Harley ; but I cannot conceive how you Ihould be interefled in the matter." — ec Why, I was making intereft for it myfelf^ faid he, and I think I had fome title : I voted for this fame baronet at the laft election, and made fome of my friends do fo too ; though I would not have you imagine that I fold my vote; no, I fcorn it, let me tell you, I fcorn it ; but I thought as how this man was {launch and true, and I find he's but a double-faced fellow after all, and fpeechifies in the houfe for any fide he hopes to make moft by. Oh ! how H 6 many

156 THE MAN OF FEELING,

many fine fpeeches and fqueezings by the hand we had of him on the canvas I " And if ever I fhall be fo happy as to have an opportunity of ferving you>5r !— A murrain on the fmooth-tongned knave ! and after all to get it for this pimp of a gauger." — " The gauger t there muft be fome miilalceTTaidmar- ley ! he writes me, that it was engaged for one whofe long fervices" — " Ser- vices ! interrupted the other j you fhall hear: Services ! Yes, his filter arrived in town a few days ago, and is now iempftrefs to the baronet. A plague on all rogues ! fays honeft Sam Wright- ion : I Ihall but jult drink damnation to them to-night, in a crown's-worth of Alhley's, and Leave London to-mor- row by fun-rife."—" I Ihall leave it too," faid Harley ! and fo he accord- ingly did.

In

THE MAN OF FEELING. 157

In pafling through Piccadilly, he had obferved on the window of an inn a no- tification of the departure of a ftage- coach for a place in his road home- wards j in the way back to his lodgings he took a feat in it for his return.

CHAP.

I58 THE MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XXXIII.

He leaves London. — Characters in afiagi* coach.

THE company in the flage-coach confifted of a grocer and his wife, who were going to pay a vifit to fome of their country friends j a young of- ficer, who took this way of marching to quarters ; a middle-aged gentle- woman, who had been hired as houfe- keeper to fome family in the country ; and an elderly well-looking man, with a remarkable old-fafhioned periwig.

Harley, upon entering, difcovered but one vacant feat, next the grocer's wife, which, from his natural Ihynefs of temper, he made no fcruple to occupy,

how-

THE MAN OF FEELING. 159

however aware that riding backwards always difagreed with him.

Though his inclination to phyfiogno- my had met with fome rubs in the me- tropolis, he had not yet loft his attach- ment to that fcience : he fet himfelf therefore to examine, as ufual, the countenances of his companions. Here indeed he was not long in doubt as to the preference ; for befides that the el- derly gentleman, who fat oppofite to him, had features by nature more ex- preflive of good difpofitions, there was fomething in that periwig we mention- ed, peculiarly attractive of Harley's re- gard.

He had not been long employed in thefe fpeculations, when he found him- felf attacked with that faintifh ficknefs3

which

i6o THE MAN OF FEELING.

which was the natural confequence of his fituation in the coach. The pale- nefs of his countenance was firft ob- ferved by the houfekeeper, who imme- diately made offer of her finell ing- bottle, which Harley however declined, telling at the fame time the caufe of his uneafinefs. The gentleman on the op- pofite fide of the coach now firft turned his eye from the fide-direction in which it had been fixed, and begged Harley to exchange places with him, exprefiing his regret that he had not made the propofal before. Harley thanked him, and, upon being allured that both feats were alike to him, was about to accept of his offer, when the young gentle- man of the fword, putting on an arch look, laid hold of the other's arm, «e So, my old boy, faid he, I find you have ftill fome youthful blood about

you,,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 161

you, but, with your leave* I will do myfelf the honour of fitting by this ladyj" and took his place accordingly. The grocer flared him as full in the face as his own fliort neck would al- low j and his wife, who was a little round faced woman, with a great deal of colour in her cheeks, drew up at the compliment that was paid her, look* ing firft at the officer, and then at the houfekeeper.

This incident was productive of Tome difcourfej for before, though there was fometimes a cough or a hem from the grocer, and the officer now and then humm'd a few notes of a fong, there had not a fmgle word pafTed the lips of any of the company.

Mrs. Grocer obferved, how ill-con- venient it was for people, who could

not

1 62 THE MAN OF FEELING.

not be drove backwards, to travel in a flage. This brought on a difiertation on ftage coaches in general, and the pleafure of keeping a chay of one's own j which led to another, on the great riches of Mr. Deputy Bearfkin, who, according to her, had once been of that induftrious order of youths who fweep the croffings of the flreets for the conveniency of patten gers, but, by va- rious fortunate accidents, had now ac- quired an immenfe fortune, and kept his coach and a dozen livery-fervants. All this afforded ample fund for con- verfation, if converfation it might be called, that was carried on folely by the before-mentioned lady, nobody offer- ing to interrupt her, except that the of- ficer fometimes fignified his approbation by a variety of oaths, a fort of phrafeology in which he feemed extremely verfanr.

She

THE MAN OF FEELING. 163

She appealed indeed frequently to her hufband for the authenticity of certain facts, of which the good man as often protefted his total ignorance ; but as he was always called fool, or fomething very like it, for his pains, he at laft con- trived to fupport the credit of his wife without prejudice to his confcience, and fignified his aflent by a noife not unlike the gruntingof that animal which / in ihape and fatnefs he fomewhat re- fembled.

The houfekeeper, and the old gentle- man who fat next to Harley, were now obferved to be fad afleep ; at which the lad}?, who had been at fuch pains to en- tertain them, muttered fome words of difpleafure, and, upon the officer's whif- pering to fmoke the old put, both fhe and her hufband purs'd up their mouths into a contemptuous fmile. Harley

looked

-

164 THE MAN OF FEELING.

looked fternly on the grocer : " You are come, Sir, faid he, to thole years when you might have learned fome re- verence for age: as for this young man, who has fo lately efcaped from the nur- fery, he may be allowed to divert him- felf." « Dam'-me, Sir, faid the of- ficer, do you call me young?" ftriking tip the front of his hat, and ftretching forward on his fear, till his face aimed touched Harley's. It is probable* however, that he difcovered fomtthing there which tended to pacify him ; for on the lady's entreating them not to quarrel, he very foon refumed his pof- ture, and calmnefs together, and was rather lefs profufe of his oaths during the reft of the journey.

It is poffible the old gentleman had waked time enough to hear the lafl part

of

THE MAN OF FEELING. 165

of this difcourfe ; at leaft (whether from that caufe, or that he too was a phyfiognomift) he wore a look remark- ably complacent to Harley, who, on his part, fhewed a particular obfer- vance of him : indeed they had foon a / better opportunity of making their ac- j quaintance, as the coach arrived that night at the town where the officer's regiment lay, and the places of deftina- tion of their other fellow-travellers, it feems, were at no great diftance $ for next morning the old gentleman and Harley were theonlypaflfengers remain- ing.

When they left the inn in the morn- ing, Harley, pulling out a little pocket- book, began to examine the contents, and make fome corrections with a pen- cil. " This, faid he, turning to his

com-

i66 THE MAN OF FEELING.

companion, is an amufement with which I fometimes pafs idle hours at an inn : thefe are quotations from thofe humble poets, who truft their fame to the brittle tenure of windows and drinking-glaf- fes." " From our inns, returned the gentleman, a ftranger might imagine that we were a nation of poets : ma- chines at leaft containing poetry, which the motion of a journey emptied of their contents : is it from the vanity of being thought geniufes, or a mere mechanical imitation of the cuftom of others, that we are tempted to fcrawl rhyme upon fuch places ?"

" Whether vanity is the caufe of our becoming rhimeflers or not, anfwered Harley, it is a pretty certain effect of it. An old man of my acquaintance, who deals in apothegms, ufed to fay, That he

had

THE MAN OF FEELING. 167

had known few men without envy, few wits without ill-nature, and nqjx)et__ without vajiity j and I believe his re- mark is a pretty juft one : vanity has been immcmorially the charter of poe ts. In this the ancients were more honeft than we are : the old poets frequently make boaftful predictions of the im- mortality their works fhall acquire them ; ours, in their dedications and prefatory difcourfes, employ much elo- quence to praife their patrons, and m.ujcji--^€aii]ag__m^de{iy to condemn themfelvesj or at leaft to apologize for their productions to the world : but this, in my opinion, is the more afTum- ing manner of thetwoj_ for of all the garbs I ever ~faw herJuimility is to_

it

*68 THE MAN OF FEELING.

<f It is natural enough for a poet to be vain, faid the ftranger: the little worlds which he raifes, the infpiration which he claims, may eafily be productive of felf- importance ; though that infpiration is fabulous, it brings on egotifm, which is always the parent of vanity."

" It may be fuppofed, anfwered Har- ley, that infpiration of old was an article of religious faith j in modern times it may be tranflated a propenfity to com- pofe $ and I believe it is not always moft readily found where the poets have fixed its refidence, amidft groves and plains, and the fcenes of paftoral retirement. The mind may be there unbent from the cares of the world ; but it will fre- quently, at the fame time, be unnerved from any great exertion : it will feel imperfect ideas which it cannot exprefs> 2 and

THE MAN OF FEELING. 169

and wander without effort over the re- gions of reflection."

" There is at leaft, faid the ftranger, one advantage in the poetical inclina- tion, that it is an incentive to philan- thropy. There is a certain poetic ground, on which a man cannot tread without feelings that enlarge the heart : the caufes of human depravity vanifh before the romantic enthufiafm he pro- fefTes, and many who are not able to reach the Parnaffian heights, may yet approach fo near as to be bettered by the air of the climate."

" I have always thought fo, replied Harley; but this is an argument with the prudent againft it : they urge the 1 danger of unfitnefs for the world."

'sr

I « I allow

170 THE MAN OF FEELING,

" I allow it, returned the orher j but I believe it is not always rightfully im- puted to the bent for poetry : that is only one effect of the common caufe. — Jack, fays his father, is indeed no fcho- iar; nor could all the drubbings from his matter ever bring him one ftep for- \vard in his accidence or fyntax : but I intend him for a merchant.— Allow the fame indulgence to Tom. — Tom reads Yrirgil and Horace when he fhould be cafting accounts ; and but t'other day he pawned his great-coat for an edition of Shakefpeare.— -But Tom would have been as he is, though Virgii and Ho- race had never been born, though Shakefpeare had died a link-boy j for his nurfe will tell you, that when he was a child, he broke his rattle, to difcover what it was that founded within itj and burnt the fticks of his go- cart, becaufe

he

THE MAN OF FEELING. i7r

Tie liked to fee the fparkling of timber in the fire.— 'Tis a fad cafe; but what is to be done ?— Why, Jack fhall make a fortune, dine on venifon, and drink cla- ret.— Ay, but Tom— Tom fhall dine with his brother, when his pride will let 'him ; at other times, he fliall blefs God over a half-pint of ale and a Welfh-rab- bitj and both uSall go to heaven as they may. — That's a poor profpect for Tom, fays the father. — To go to heaven ! I cannot aree with him."

" PerhapSj faid Harley, v/e daysdifcourage the romantic turn a little too much. Our boys are prudent too foon. Mi flake me not, I do not mean to blame them for want of levity or difii- pation; but their pleafures are thofe of hackneyed vice, blunted to every finer e motion by the repetition of debauch ; I 2 and

172 THE MAN OF FEELING.

and their define of pleafure is warped to the defire of wealth, as the means ofpro- curing it. The immenfe riches acquired by individuals have erected aftandard of ambition, deftruflive of private morals, and of public virtue. The weaknefTes of vice are left usj but the moft allow- able of our failings we are taught to de-

Mpife. Love, the pafiion inoft natural to the fenfibility of youth, has loft the

I plaintive dignity he once poffeffed, for

I the unmeaningiimperof a danglingcox- comb i and the only ferious concern,

* that of a dowry, is fettled, even amongft the beardlefs leaders of the dancing- fchool. The Frivolous and the Intereft- cd (might a fatirift fay) are the charac- teriftical features of the age j they are vifible even in the cffays of our philofo- phers. They laugh at the pedantry of our fathers, who complained .of the times

in

THE MAN OF FEELING. 173

in which they lived ; they are at pains to perfuade us how much thofe. were deceived ; they prjde themfelves in de- fending things as they find them, and in exploding the barren founds which had been reared into morives for action. To this their ftyle is fuited ; and the manly tone of reafon is exchanged for perpetual efforts at fneer and ndicule. This I hold to be an alarming crifis in the corruption of a ftate ; when not only is virtue declined, and vice pre- vailing, but when the praifes of virtue are forgotten, and the infamy of vice unfelt."

They foon after arrived at the next inn upon the route of the ftage-coach, when the ftranger told Harley, that his brother's houfe, to which he was return- ingj lay at no great diftance, and he I 3 mud

j74 THE MAN OF FEELING,

muft therefore unwillingly bid him: adieu.

" I fhould like, faid Harley, taking his hand, to have fome word to remem- ber fo much feeming worth by : my name is Harley." — " I lhall remember it, anfwered the old gentleman, in my -^prayers 5 mine is Silton."

And Silton indeed it was ! Ben Sil- ton himfelf ! Once more, my honoured

friend, farewell! Born to be happy

•without the world, to that peaceful happinefs which the world has not to beftow ! Envy never fcowled on thy life, v nor hatred fmiled on thy grave.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 175

CHAP. XXXIV.

He meets an old acquaintance.

WH EN the ftage-coach arrived at the place of its defti nation, Har- iey began toconfider how he fhould pro- ceed the remaining part of his journey. He was very civilly accofted by the ma- iler of the inn, who offered to accom- modate him either with a poft-chaife or horfes, to any diftance he had a mind : but as he did things frequently in a way different from what other people call na- tural, he refufed thefe offers, and fet ou-c immediately a-foot, having firfl put a fpare fhirt in his pocket, and given direc- tions for the forwarding of his portman- teau. This was a method of travelling which he' was accuftomed to take -, it faved the trouble of provifion for any I 4 animal

t76 THE MAN OF FEELING, animal but himfelf, and left him at li- berty to chufe his quarters, either at an inn, or at the firft cottage in which he faw a face he liked : nay, when he was not peculiarly attracted by the reafon- able creation, he would fometimes con- fort with a fpecies of inferior rank, and lay himfelf down to fleep by the fide of a rock, or on the banks of a rivulet. He did few things without a motive, but his motives were rather eccentric : and the ufeful and expedient were terms which he held to be very indefinite, and which therefore he did not always apply to the fenfe in which they are commonly underftood.

The fun was now in his decline, and the evening remarkably ferene, when he entered a hollow part of the road, which winded between the furrounding banks,

and

THE MAN OF FEELING. 177

and Teamed the fward in different lines, ,as the choice of travellers had directed them to tread it. It feemed to be little frequented now, for fome of thofe had partly recovered their former verdure. The fcene was fuch as induced Harley to ftand and enjoy it j when, turning round, his notice was attracted by an object, which the fixture of his eye on* the ipot he walked had before prevent- ed him from obferving.

An old man, who from hisdrefs feem- . ed to have been a foldier, lay fad afleep on the ground j a knapfack refted on a (tone at his right hand, while his ftaff and brafs- hiked fword were crofled at his left.

Harley looked on him with the moft

earned attention. He was one of thofe

figures which Salvator would have

I 5 drawn *

I78 THE MAN OF FEELING.

drawn ; nor was the furrounding fcenery unlike the wildnefs of that painter's back-grounds. The banks on each fide were covered with fantaftic (hrub-wood, and at a little divtance, on the top of one of them, flood a finger- poft, to mark the directions of two roads which di- verged from the point where it was placed. A rock, with fome dangling wild flowers, jutted out above where the foldierlay; on which grew the (lump of a large tree, white with age, and a fingle twifted branch (haded his face as he fiept. His face had the marks of manly comelinefs impaired by time ; his fore- head was not altogether bald, but its hairs might have been numbered j while a few white locks behind crofTed the brown of his neck with a contrafl the mod venerable to a mind like Har- ley's. " Thou art old, faid he tohim- felf, but age has not brought thce reft

for

THE MAN OF FEELING. 179

for its infirmities : I fear thofe filver hairs have not found Ihelter from thy country, though that neck has been bronzed in its fervice." The granger waked. He looked at Harley with the appearance of fome confufion : it was a pain the latter knew too well to think of caufing in another j he turned and went on. The old man readjufted his knapfack, and followed in one of the tracks on the oppofite fide of the road.'

When Harley heard the tread of his feet behind him, he could not help ftealing back a glance at his fellow- traveller. He feemed to bend under the weight of his knapfack j he halted on his walk, and one of his arms was fupported by a fling, and lay motion- lefs acrofs his bread. He had that I 6 fleady

i8o THE MAN OF FEELING.

Heady look of forrow, which indicates that its owner has gazed upon his griefs till he has forgotten to lament them j yet not without thole ftreaks of compla- cency, which a good mind will fome- times throw into the countenance, through all the incumbent load of its "deprefilon.

He had now advanced nearer to Harley, and, with an uncertain fort of voice, begged to know 'what it was o'clock j " I fear, faid he, fleep has beguiled me of my time, and I fhall hardly have light enough left to carry me to the end of my journey." lc Fa- ther ! faid Harley, (who by this time found the romantic enthufiafm rifing

ift him) how far do you mean to go ?" " But a little way, Sir, returned the other; and indeed it is but a little

way

THE MAN OF FEELING. 181

way I can manage now : 'tis juft four miles from the height to the village, thither I am going." " I am going there too, faid Harley ; we may make the road fhorter to each other. You feem to have ferved your country, Sir, to have ferved it hardly too; 'tis a cha- racter I have the higheft efteem for. — I would not be impertinently inquifitive$ but there is that in your appearance which excites my curiofity to know fomething more of you : in the^mean time,fuffer me to carry that knapfack."

The old man gazed on him j a tear flood in his eye ! " Young gentleman, faid he, you are too good ; may heaven blefs you for an old man's fake, who has nothing but his blefimg to give 1 but my knapfack is fo familiar to my fhoulders, that I (hould walk the worfe

for

ifo THE MAN OF FEELING.

for wanting it j and it would be trou- blefomc to you, who have not been ufed to its weight." (t Far from it, anfwered Barley, I fhould tread the lighter 3 it would be the moft honour- able badge I ever wore."

<c Sir, faid the ftranger, who had looked earneftly in Harley's face during the laft part of his difcourfe, is not your name Harley ?" "It is, replied he; I am afhamed to fay I have forgotten yours." You may well have forgot- ten my face, faid the ftranger, 'tis a long time fince you faw it; but pof- fibly you may remember fomething of

old Edwards." " Edwards ! cried

Harley, oh ! heavens ! and fprung to embrace him; let me clafp thofe knees on which I have fat fo often: Ed- wards! 1 fhall never forget that

_t fire~

THE MAN OF FEELING'. x«3

fire-fide, round which I have been fo happy ! But where, where have you> been ? where is Jack ? where is your daughter ? How has it fared with them,: when fortune, I fear, has been fo un-\ kind to you?1'—" 'Tis a long tale, re- ; plied Edwards j but I will try to tell-; it you as we walk.

" When you were at fchool in the" neighbourhood, you remember me at South-hill: that farm had been pofiefTed by my father, grandfather, and great- grandfather, which Jaft was a younger brother of that very man's anceftor, who is now lord of the manor. I thought I managed it, as they had done, with pru- dence ; I paid my rent regularly as it be- came due, and had always as much be- hind as gave bread to me and my chil- dren. But my laft leafe was out foon

after

184 THE MAN OF FEELING.

after you left that part of the country j and the fquire, who had lately got a London- attorney for his fteward, would not renew it, becaule, he faid, he did not chufe to have any farm under 300 1. a-year value on his eftate ; but offered to give me the preference on the fame terms with another, if I chofc to take the one he had marked out, of which mine was a part.

" What could I do, Mr. Harley ? I feared the undertaking was too great for me j yet to leave, at my age, the houfe I had lived in from my cradle ! I could not, Mr. Harley, I could not ; there was not a tree about it that I did not look on as my father, my brother, or my child : fo I even ran the riik, and took the fquire's offer of the whole. But I had foon reafon to repent of my

bargain 3

THE MAN OF FEELING. 185

bargain ; the (teward had taken care that my former farm (hould be the bed land of the divifion : I was obliged to hire more fervants, and I could not have my eye over them all ; fbme un- favourable feafons followed one another, and I found my affairs entangling on my hands. To add to my diftrefs, a confiderable corn-faclor turned bank- rupt with a fum of mine in his pofief- fion : I failed paying my rent fo punc- tually as I was wont to do, and the fame fteward had my (lock taken in execution in a few days after. So, Mr. Harley, there was an end of my profperity. However, there was as much produced from the fale of my ef- fects as paid my debts and faved me from a jail : I thank God I wronged no man, and the world could never charge me with diftionefty.

"Had

186 THE MAN OF FEELING,

<£ Had you feen us, Mr. Harley, when we were turned out of South- hill, I am fure you would have wept at the fight. You remember old Trufty,. my fhag houfe-dog j I fhall never forget it while I live ; the poor creature was blind with age, and could fcarce crawl after us to the door j he went however as far as the goofeberry-buflij that you may remem- ber flood on the left fide of the yard ; he was wont to balk in the fun there j when he had reached that fpot, he (top- ped ; we went on: I called to him 5 he wagged his tail, but did not flir : «I called again ; he lay down : I whittled, jand cried Trufty; he gave a fhort howl, jand died ! I could have lain down and /died too ; but God gave me ftrengtii (to live for my children."

The old man now paufed a moment to take breath. He eyed Harley 's face ;

it

THE MAN OF FEELING. 187

h was bathed with tears : the (lory was grown familiar to himfelf ; he dropped one tear, and no more.

" Though I was poor, continued he, I was not altogether without credit. A gentleman in the neighbourhood, who had a fmall farm unoccupied at the time, offered to let me have it, on giv- ing fecurity for the rent; which I made- fhift to procure. It was a piece of ground which required management to make any thing of 5 but it was nearly within the compafs of my fon's labour and my own. We exerted all our in- duftry to bring it into fome heart. We began to fucceed tolerably, and lived contented on its produce, when an un- lucky accident brought us under the- difpleafure of a neighbouring juftice of the peace, and broke all our family-

happinefs again,

" My

188 THE MAN OF FEELING.

" My foon was a remarkable good fhooter; he had always kept a polrner on our former farm, and thought no harm in doing fo nowj when one day, having fprung a covey in our own ground, the dog, of his own accord, followed them into the juftice's. My fon laid down his gun, and went after his dog to bring him back : the game- keeper, who had marked the birds, came up, and feeing the pointer, ihoc him jufl as my fon approached. The creature fell j my fon ran up to him : he died with a complaining fort of cry at his matter's feet. Jack could bear it no longer j but flying at the game- keeper, wrenched his gun out of his hand, and with the butt end of it, fell- ed him to the ground.

" He

THE MAN OF FEELINJ3. 189

<{ He had fcarce got home, when a conftable came with a warrant, and dragged him to prifon -, there he lay, for the juftices would not take bail, till he was tried at 'the quarter- fefiions for the affault and battery. His fine was hard upon us to pay ; we contrived however to live the worfe for it, and make up the lofs by our frugality : but the juflice was not concent with that punilhment, and foon after had an op- portunity of punifhing us indeed.

" An officer with prefs-orders came down to our county, and having met with thejufticesj agreed that they fhould pitch on a certain number, who could mod eafily be fpared from the county, of whom he would take care to clear it : my fon's name was in the juftices' lift.

" 'Twas

o THE MAN OF FEELING.

" 'Twas on a Chriflmas eve, and the 'l)irth-day too of my Ton's little boy. The night was piercing cold, and it blew a dorm, with fhowers of hail and fnow. We had made up a cheering fire in an inner room •, I fat before it in my wicker-chair, bleffing providence, that had ftill left a ffielter for me and my children. My fon's two little ones were holding their gambols around us j 'my heart warmed at the Tight: I brought -iubottle of my beft ale, and all our mif- "fortunes were forgotten.

" It had long been our cuflom to play a game at blind man's burFon that night, and it was not omitted now j fo to it we fell, I, and my fon, and his wife, the daughter of a neighbouring farmer, who happened to be with us at the time, the two children, and an old

maid

THE MAN OF FEELING. 191

maid fervant, who had lived with me from a child. The lot fell on my fon to be blindfolded : we had continued fome time in our game, when he grop- ed his way into an outer room in purfuit of fome of us, who, he imagined, had taken (belter there $ we kept fnug in •our places, and enjoyed his miftake. He had not been long there, when he was fuddenly feized from behind* t( I fhall have you now, faid he, and turned about." c< Shall you fo, matter ? an- fvvcred the ruffian, who had laid hold of him j we fhall make you play at another fort of game by and by." — At thefe < words Harley darted with a convulfive fortofmotion> and grafping Edwards's fword, drew it half out of the fcabbard, with a look of the mod frantic wildnefs. Edwards gently replaced it in its flieath,

and went on with his relation.

" On

192 THE MAN OF FEELING,

On hearing thefe words in a ftrange voice, we all rufhed out to difcoverthe caufe ; the room by this time was al- moft full of the gang. My daughter- in-law fainted at the fight ; the maid and I ran to afiift her, while my poor fon remained motionlefs, gazing by turns on his children and their mo-» then We foon recovered her to life, and begged her to retire and wait the iffue of the affair ; but Hie flew to her-hufband, and clung round him in an agony of terror and grief.

" In the gang was one of a fmoother afpecl, whom, by his drefs, we difco- vered to be a fcrjeant of foot: he came up to me, and told me, that my fon had his choice of the lea or land fer- vice, whifpering at the fame time, that 7 if

THE MAN OF FEELING. 19%

if he chofe the land, he might g« on procuring him another ma;,, paying a certain fum for his freedom. The money we could juft mufler up in the hoiife, by the affiftance of the maid, who produced, in a green bag, all the little favings of her fervice -, but the man we could not expe'lt to find. My daughter-in-law gazed upon her children with a look of the wildeft defpair : (( My poor infants ! faid fhe, your father is forced from you j who (hall now labour for your bread ? or muft your mother beg for herfelf and you ?" I prayed her to be patient •, but comfort I had none to give her. At laft, calling the ferjeant afide, I afked him, " If I was too old to be accepted in place of my fon ?" " Why, I don't know, faid he ; you are rather old to be fure, but yet the money may do K much.5'

194 THE MAN OF FEELING.

much.'* I put the money in his hand ; and coming back to my children, *e Jack, faid I, you are free j live to , i give your wife and thefe little ones 1 bread j I will go, my child, in your ttead : I have but little life to lofe, and if I ftaid, I Ihould add one to the wretches you left behind." " No, replied my fon, I am not that coward you imagine rnc ; heaven forbid, that my father's grey hairs fhould be fo ex- pofed, while I fat idle at home j I am young, and able to endure much, and God will take care of you and my fa- i mily." f< Jack, faid I, I will put an end to this matter ; you have never hitherto difobeyed me; I will not be contradicted in this ; flay at home, I charge you, and, for my fake, be kind to my children.

"Our

THE MAN OF FEELING. 195

" Our parting, Mr. Harley, I can- not defcribe to you ; it was the firft time we ever had parted : the very prefs-gang could fcarce keep from tears ; but the ferjeant, who had feem- ed the fofteft before, was now the leaft moved of them all. He conduced me to a party of new-raifed recruits, who lay at a village in the neighbour- hood ; and we foon after joined the regiment. I had not been long with, it, when we were ordered to the Eaft Indies, where I was foon made a fer- jeant, and might have picked up fome money, if my heart had been as hard as fome others were j but my nature was never of that kind, that could think of getting rich at the expence of my confcience.

K 2 « Amongft

196 THE MAN OF FEELING,

" Amongft our prifoners was an old Indian, whom fome of our officers fup- pafed to hav-e a treafure hidden fome- where; which is no uncommon practice in that country. They prefied him to difcover it. He declared he had none j but that would not fatisfy them : fo they ordered him to be tied to a (lake, and fuffcr fifty laihes every morning, tiU he fhould learn to fpeak out, as they faid. Oh ! Mr. Harley, had you feen him, as I did, with his hands bound behind him, fuffering in filence, while the big drops trickled down his fhri- veiled cheeks, and wet his grey beard, which fome of the inhuman fol- die-rs plucked in fcorn ! I could not bear it, I could not for my foul j and one morning, when the refl of the guard were out of the way, I found mt>ns to let him cfcape, I was tried

by

THE MAN OF FEELING. 1-97

by a court-martial for negligence of my poft, and ordered, in companion of my age, and having got this wound in my arm, and that in my leg, in the fervice, only to fuffer 300 lafhes, and' be turned out of the regiment j but my fentence was mitigated as to the lafhes, and' I had only 200. When I had fuffer red thefe, I was turned out of the camp, and had betwixt three and four hundred miles to travel before I could reach a fea-port, without guide to conduct me, or money to buy me provifions by the way. I fet out, how- ever, refolved to walk as far as I could, and then to lay myfelf down and die. But I had fcarce gone a mile, when I was met by the Indian whom I had delivered. He prefTed -me in his arms, and kified the marks of the lafhes on my back a thoufand times ; he led me K 3 to

j98 THE MAN OF FEELING.

to a little hut, where fome friend of his dwelt; and after I was recovered of my wounds, conducted me fo far on my journey himfelf, and fent another Indian to guide me through the reft. "When we parted, he pulled out a purfe with two hundred pieces of gold in it : " Take this,- faid he, my dear preferver, it is all I have been able to procure." I begged him not to bring himfelf to poverty for my fake, who fhould probably have no need of it long j but he infifted on my accept- ing it. He embraced me : — " You are an Englifliman, faid he, but the Great Spirit has given you an Indian heart; may he bear up the weight of your old age, and blunt the arrow that brings it reft !" We parted ; and not long after I made fhift to get my paf- fage to England. JTis but about a

week

THE MAN OF FEELING. 199

week fince 1 landed, and I am going to end my days in the arms of my fon. This fum may be of ufe to him and his children j 'tis all the value I put upoa it. I thank heaven I never was covet- ous of wealth j I neve_r_had_rnuch, but was-- alw&y-fr-ibLjiappy^s to be content wuluny little."

When Edwards had ended his rela-" tion, Harley flood a while looking at him in filence ; at laft he prefied him in his arms, and when he had given rent to the fullnefs of his heart by a fhower of tears, " Edwards, faid he, kt me hold thee ta my bofom j let me imprint the virtue of thy fufferings on my foul. Come, my honoured vete- ran ! let me endeavour to foften the laft days of a life, worn out in the fer- vice of humanity : call me alfo thy fon-, K 4 and

200 THE MAN OF FEELING, and let me cheriih thee as a father." Edwards, from whom the recollection of his own fufferings had fcarce farced a tear, now blubbered like a boy ; he could not fpeak his gratitude, but by fome (hort exclamations of blefiings upon Harley.

CHAP.

THE MAN OF FEELING. 201

CHAP. XXXV.

He mtffes an old acquaintance.— An adventure confcquent upon it.

WHEN they had arrived' within a little way of the village they journeyed to, Harky flopped fhort, and looked fledfaflly on the mouldering walls of a ruined houfe that flood on the road-fide. " Oh heavens! he cried, what do I fee : filent, unroofed, and dcfolate 1 Are all thy gay tenants gone ? do I hear their hum no more-? . Edwards, look there, look there -.1 :the fcene of my iafant joys, my earliefl friendfhips, laid wafte and ruinous! That was the very fchool where I was boarded when you were at South-hil}1; K 5 'tis

202 THE MAN OF FEELING.

'tis but a twelvemonth fince I faw it flanding, and its benches filled with cherubs: that oppofite fide of the road •was the green on which they fported; fee it now ploughed up ! I would have given fifty times its value to have faved it from the facrilege of that plough."

" Dear Sir, replied Edwards, per- haps they have left it from choice, and may have got another fpot as good." *f They cannot, faid Harley, they can- not ; I (hall never fee the fward cover- ed with its daifies, nor prefied by the dance of_thc dear innocents : I lhall never fee that flump decked with the garlands which their little hands had gathered. Thefe two long ftones which now lie at the foot of it, were once the fupport$ of a hut I myfelf affifted to

rear:

THE MAN OF FEELING. 203 rear : I have fat on the fods within ir, when we had fpread our banquet of apples before us, and been more bleft •Oh ! Edwards ! infinitely more bleft than ever I fhall be again."

Juft then a woman pafied them on the road, and difcovered fome figns of wonder at the attitude of Harley, who flood, with his hands folded together, looking with a moiftened eye on the fallen pillars of the hut. He was too much entranced in thought to obfervc her at all j but Edwards civilly accoft- ing her, defired to know, if that had not been the fchool-houfe, and how it came into the condition in which they now faw it ? " Alack a day ! faid Ihe, it was the fchool-houfe indeed \ but to be fure, Sir, the fquire has pulled it down, becaufe it flood in the way of his K6

2Q4 THE MAN OF FEELING. profpecls."— - — ff What! how! pro-

! pulled down !" cried Harley, " Yes, to be fure> Sir -, and the green> where the children ufed to play he has ploughed up, becaufe, he faid, they hurt his fence on the other fide of it.——-" Curfes on his narrow heart, cried Harley, that could violate a right fo facred ! Heaven blaft the wretch !

" And from his derogate body never fpring A babe to honour him 1" - •

But I need not, Edwards, I need not (recovering himfelf a little), heiscurfed enough already : to him the nobleft fource of happinefs is denied; and the cares of his fordid foul ftiall gnaw if, while thou fitteft over a brown cruft, fmiling on thofe mangled limbs that have faved thy fon and his children !"

"If

THE MAN OF FEELING. 205

cc If you want any thing with the fchool-miftrefs, Sir, faid the woman, I can fhew you the way to her houfe." He followed her without knowing whi- ther he went*

They ftopped at the door of a fnug habitation, where fat an elderly woman with a boy and. a girl before her, each of whom held a fupper of bread and milk in their hands. " There, Sir, is the fchool-miftrefs.'* — <e Madam, faid Harley, was not an old venerable man fchool-m after here fome time ago ?" " Yes, Sir,, he was ; poor man ! the lofs of his former fchool-houfe, I be- lieve, broke his heart, for he died foon after it was taken down ; and as another has not yet been found, I have that charge in the mean time." — lf And this boy and girl, I prefume, are your

pupils ?"

206 THE MAN OF FEELING.

pupils ?" — " Ay, Sir, they are poor orphans, put under my care by the pa- rifh; and more promrfing children I never faw." ."Orphans!" faid Har- ley. " Yes, Sir, of honeft creditable parents as any in the parifh $ and it is a fhame for fome folks to forget their re- lations, at a time when they have moft need to remember them." " Ma- dam, faid Harley, let us never forget that we are all relations." He luffed the children.

" Their father, Sir, continued fhe, was a farmer here in the neighbour- hood, and a fober induflrious man he vvasj but nobody can help misfortunes : •what with bad crops, and bad debts, which are worfe, his affairs went to. wreck, and both he and his wife died of broken hearts. And a fvveet couple "they were, Sir j there was not a pro-

perer

THE MAN OF FEELING. 207

perer man to look on in the county than John Edwards, and fo indeed were all the Edwardses." " What Edwardses ?" cried the old foldier haftily. " The Edwardses of South- hill ; and a worthy family they were." — tc South-hill !" faid he, in languid voice, and fell back into the arms of the aftonilhed Harley. The fchool- miftrefs ran for fome water, and a fmell- ing-bottle, with the affiftanceof which they foon recovered the unfortunate Edwards. He flared wildly for fome time, then folding his orphan grand- children in his arms, " Oh ! my chil- dren, my children ! he cried, have I found you thus ? My poor Jack ! art thou gone ? I thought thou fhouldfl have carried thy father's grey hairs to the grave I and thefe little ones" — his tears choaked his utterance, and he

fell

208 THE MAN OF FEELING*.

fell again on the necks of the chil- dren.

r~" My dear old, man ! faid Harlcy, /Providence Has fent you to relieve I them j it willblefs me, if I can be the means of affifting you.'* — « Yes, in- deed, Sir, anfwered the boy j father, when he was a-dying, bade God blefs us 5 and prayed, that if grandfather lived, he might fend him to fupport us."—" Where did they lay my .boy ?'.* faid Edwards. " In the. Old Church, yard, replied the woman, hard by his mother." — " I will fhow it you, an- fWered the boy i for I have wept over ft many a time, , when firft I came> amongft ftrange folks.'* He took the old man's hand, Harley laid hold of his fitter's, and they walked, in filence to the church-yard.

There

THE MAN OF FEELING. 209

There was an old ftone, with the cor- ner broken off, and fome letters, half covered with mofs, to denote the names of the dead : there was a cyphered R. E. plainer than the reft : it was the tomb they fought. " Here it is, grandfather,'* faid the boy. Edwards gazed upon i£ without uttering a word : the girl, who had only fighed before, now wept out- right : her brother fobbed^ but he ftifled his fobbing. " I have told fitter, faid he, that fhe fhould not take it fo to heart ; fhe can knit already, and I (hall foon be able to dig : we fhall not flarve, fifteo indeed we fhall not, nor fhall grandfather neither." — The girl cried afrefh j Harley kifTed off her tears as they flowed, and wept betweea every kifs.

CHAP.

210 THE MAN OF FEELING.

CHAP. XXXVI.

He returns home. — A defcription of his retinue.

IT was with fome difficulty that Har- ley prevailed on the old man to leave the fpot where the remains of his fon were laid. At laft, with the afftftance of the fchool-miftrefs, he prevailed j and fhe accommodated Edwards and him with beds in her houfe, there being nothing like an inn nearer than the di- flance of fome miles.

In the morning, Harley perfuaded Edwards to come with the children to his houfej which was diftant but a fhort day's journey. The boy walked in his grandfather's hand j and the name of Edwards procured him a neighbour- ing

THE MAN OF FEELING. 2ir

ing farmer's horfe, on which a fervant mounted, with the girl on a pillow be- fore him.

With this train Harley returned to the abode of his fathers : and we cannot but think, that his enjoyment was as great as if he had arrived from the tour of Europe, with a Swifs valet for his companion, and half a dozen fnuff- boxes, with invifible hinges, in his pocket. But we take our ideas from) founds which folly has invented j Fa-| fhion, Bon ton, and Vertu, are the names* of certain idols, to which we facrifice the genuine pleafures of the foul : in \ this world of femblance, we are con- j tented with perfonating happinefs 5 to l feel it, is an art beyond us.

It was otherwife with Harley; he ran up flairs to his aunt, with the hiftory of

his

&I2 THE MAN OF FEELIN.G.

his fellow- travellers glowing on his lips. His aunt was an economiftj but flae knew the pleafure of doing charitable things, and withal was fond of her ne- phew, and felicitous to oblige him. She received old Edwards therefore with a look of more complacency than is per- haps natural to maiden ladies of three- fcore, and was remarkably attentive to his grand-children : fhe roafted apples with her own hands for their fupper, and made up a little bed befide her own for the girl. Edwards made fame at- tempts towards an acknowledgment for thefe favours j but his young friend flopped them in their beginnings. " Whofoever receiveth any of thefe children" — faid his aunt; for her ac- quaintance with her bible was habi:jal.

Early next morning, Harley ftole into the room where Edwards lay : he

expected

THE MAN OF FEELING. 213

expected to have found him a-bedj but in this he was mi-ftaken : the old man had rifen, and was leaningover his fleep- ing grandfon, with the tears flowing down his cheeks. At firft he did not perceive Harley j when he did, he en- deavoured to hide his grief, and crofting his eyes with his hand, exprefied his furprife at feeing him fo earJy aftir. " I was thinking of you, faid Harley, and your children : I learned laft night that a frnall farm of mine in the neigh- bourhood is now vacant : if you will occupy it, I lhall gain a good neigh- bour, and be able in fome meafure to repay the notice you took of me when a boy j and as the furniture of the houfe is mine, it will be fo much trouble faved." Edwards's tears gufhed afrefli, and Harley led him to fee the place he intended for him.

The

214 THE MAN OF FEELING.

The houfe upon this farm was indeed little better than a hutj its fituation, however, was pleafant, and Edwards, affifted by the beneficence of Harley,fet about improving its neatnefs and con- venience. He flaked out a piece of the green before for a garden, and Peter, who afled in Harley's family as valet, butler, and gardener, had orders to fur- nifh him with parcels of the different feeds he chofe to fow in it. I have feen his mafter at work in this little fpoat, with his coat off, and his dibble in his hand : it was a fcene of tranquil virtue to have flopped an angel on his errands of mercy ! Harley had con- trived to lead a little bubbling brook through a green walk in the middle of j the ground, upon which he had erected a mill in miniature for the diverfion of Edwards's infant grandfon, and made

fhift

THE MAN OF FEELING. 215

Ihift in its con ft ruction to introduce a pliant bit of wood, that anfwered with* its fairy clack to the murmuring of the" rill that turned it. I have feen him ftand, liftening to thefe mingled founds, with his eye fixed on the boy, and the fmile of confcious fatisfadion on his cheek ; while the old man, with a look half turned to Harley, and half to Heaven, breathed an ejaculation of ' gratitude and piety.

Father of mercies ! I alfo would thank thee ! that not only haft thou afllgned eternal rewards to virtue, but that, even in this bad world, the lines of our duty, and our happinefs, are fo frequently woven together.

A FRAG-

ai6 THE MAN OF FEELING.

A FRAGMENT.

The Man of Feeling talks of what he does not under/land. — An incident,

* * * * " INWARDS, faid he, I have a proper regard for the profperity of my country: every native of it ap- propriates to himfelf fome fhare of the power, or the fame, which, as a nation, It acquires j but I cannot throw off the man fo much, as to rejoice at our con- quefts in India. You tell me of im- menfe territfcrries fubjecltotheEnglifh: I cannot think of their poffefiions, without being led to enquire, by what right they poffefs them. They came there as traders, bartering the commo* dities they brought for others which i their

THE MAN OF FEELING, 217

their purchafers could fpare* and how- ever great their profits were, they were then equitable. But what title have the fubje&s of another kingdom to eftablifh an empire in India ? to give laws to a country where the inhabitants received them on the terms of friendly commerce ? You fay they are happier under our regulations than the tyranny of their own petty princes. I mufl doubt it, from the conduct of thofe by whom thefe regulations have been made. They have drained the treafu- ries of Nabobs, who mufl fill them by oppreffing the induftry of their fubjects. Nor is this to be wondered at, when we •confider the motive upon which thofe gentlemen do not deny their going to India. The fame of conqueft, barba- rous as that motive is, is but a fecon- •dary confideration : there are certain L ftations

2i8 THE MAN OF FEELING.

ftations in wealth to which the warriors of the Eaft afpire. It is there indeed where the wiflies of their friends affign them eminence, where the queftion of their country is pointed at their retuin. When fhall I fee a commander return from India in the pride of honourable poverty ? — You defcribe the victories they have gained ; they are fullied by the caufe in which they fought : you enumerate the fpoils of thofe victories; they are covered with the blood of the vanquifhed !

" Could you tell me'of fome con- queror giving peace and happinefs to the conquered ? did he accept the gifts of their princes to ufe them for the comfort of thofe whofe fathers, fons, or hufbands, fell in battle? did he ufe his power to gain fecurity and freedom

to

THE MAN OF FEELING. 219

to the regions of opprefiion and flavery ? did he endear the Britifh name by ex- amples of generofity, which the moft barbarous or moft depraved are rarely able to refifl ? did he return with the confciouihefs of duty difchargcd to his country, and humanity to his fellow- creatures ? did he return with no lace on his coat, no flaves in his retinue, no chariot at his door, and no burgun- dy at his table ?— thefe were laurels which princes might envy — which art honed man would not condemn !"

cc Your maxims, Mr. Harley*, are certainly right, faid Edwards. I am not capable of arguing with you ; but I imagine there are great temptations in a great degree of riches, which it is no eafy matter to refift ; thofe a poor man like me cannot defcribe, becaufe he never knew them j and perhaps I have L 2 reafon

THE MAN OF FEELING.

reafon to blefs God that I never did j for then, it is likely, I fhould have •withftood them no better than my neighbours. For you know, Sir, that it is not the fafhion now, as it was in .former times, that I have read of in books, when your great generals died fo poor, that they did not leave where- withal to buy them a coffin j and people thought the better of their memories for it : if they did ,fo now-a-days, I queftion if any body, except yourfelf, and fome few like you, would thank .them."

-*1" I am forry, replied Harley, that there is fo much truth in what you fay .; but however the general current of opi- nion may point, the feelings are not yet loft that applaud .benevolence, and cen- iure inhumanitv. Let us endeavour to

THE MAN OF FEELING; 22r

ftrengthen them in ourfelves j and we, who live fequeftered from the noife of the multitude, have better opportuni- ties of littening: undifturbed to their voice.'-'

They now approached the little dwelling of Edwards. A maid-fervant, whom he had hired to affift him in the care of his grandchildren, met them a little way from the houfe : " There is a young lady within with the children," faid fhe. Edwards expreffed his fur- prife at the vifit : it was however noc the lefs true; and we mean to account for it.

This young lady then was no other

than Mifs Walton. She had heard the

old man's hiftory from Harley, as we

have already related it. Curiofity, or

J, 3 fomc

222 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fome other motive, made her defirou-s to fee his grandchildren j this (he had an opportunity of gratifying foon, the children, in fome of their walks, having ftrolled as far as her father's avenue. She put feveral queftions to both; flie was delighted with the fimplicity of their .anfwers, and promifed, that if they continued to be good children, and do as their grandfather bid them, fhe would foon fee them again, and bring fome prefent or other for their reward. This promife Ihe had performed now : fhe came attended only by her maid, and brought with her a complete fuit of green for the boy, and a chintz gown, a cap, and a fuit df ribbands, for his fifter. She had time enough, with her maid's affiftance, to equip them in their new habiliments before Harley and Edwards returned. The boy heard his

grancU

THE MAN OF FEELING. 2*3

grandfather's voice, and, with that filent joy which his prefent finery infpired, ran to the door to meet him : putting one hand in his, with the other point- ed to his fitter, " See, .faid he, what Mils Walton has brought us !" — Ed- wards gazed on them. Harley fixed his eyes on Mifs Walton ; hers were turn- ed to the ground •, — in Edwards's was. a beamy moifture. — He folded his hands,

together " I cannot fpeak, young

lady, faid he, to thank you.'* Neither could Harley. There were a thoufand fentimentsi but they gulhed fo impe- tuoufly on his heart, that he could not utter a fyllablc. * * * *

L 4 CHAP.

224 THE MAN OF FEELING.

T

CHAP. XL.

<Tbe Man of Feeling jealous*

H E defire of communicating knowledge or intelligence, is an argument with thofe who hold that man is naturally a focial animal. It is in- deed one of the earlieft propenfities we difcover j but it may be doubted whe- ther the pleafure (for pleafure there certainly is) arifing from it be not often more fctfiih than focial : for we fre- quently obferve the tidings of 111 com- municated as eagerly as the annuncia- tion of Good. Is it that we delight in obferving the effects of the ftronger pafiions ? for we are all philofophers in this refpect; and it is perhaps amongfl: the fpe&ators at Tyburn that the mod genuine are to be found.

Was

THE MAN OF FEELING. 225

Was it from this motive that Peter came one morning into his matter's room with a meaning face of recital ? : His matter indeed did not at firft ob- ferve it i for he was fitting, with one • ihoe buckled, delineating portraits in the fire. " I have bruflied thofe clothes, .

Sir, as you ordered me."- Harley

nodded his head ; but Peter obferved that his hat wanted brufhing too : his matter nodded again. At laft Peter bethought him, that the fire needed ftirringj and taking up the poker, demolifhed the turban'd head of a Sara-\ cen, while his matter was feeking out a i J body fork. " The morning is main cold, Sir," faid Peter. « Is it'*'* faid Harley. " Yes, Sirj I have, been as far as Tom Dowfon's to fetch fome bar- berries he had picked for Mrs. Marge- ry.. , There was a rare junketting laft L 5 . night

226 THE MAN OF FEELING.

night at Thomas's among Sir Harry Benfon's fervants j he lay at Squire Walton's, but he would not fuffer his fervants to trouble the family : fo, to be fure, they were all at Tom's, and had a fiddle and a hot fupper in the big room where the juftices meet about the destroying of hares and partridges, and them things j and Tom's eyes looked fo red and fo bleared when I called him to get the barberries: — And I hear as how Sir Harry is going to be

married to Mifs Walton." " How !

Mifs Walton married !'" faid Harley. «' Why, it may'nt be true, Sir, for all that; but Tom's wife told it me, and to be fure the fervants told her, and their mafter told them, aslguefs, Sirj but it mayn't be true for all that, as I faid before." — " Have done with your idle information, faid Harley :— Is my

aun.c

THE MAN OF FEELING. 227

aunt come down into the parlour to breakfaft ?"— " Yes, Sir."—" Tell her I'll be with her immediately."

When Peter was gone, he flood with his eyes fixed on the ground, and the lafl words of his intelligence vibrating in his eafs. " Mifs Walton married !" he fighed — and walked down flairs, with his (hoe as it was, aad the buckle in his hand. His aunt, however, was pretty well accuftomed to thofe appear- ances of abfence; befides, that the na- tural gravity of her temper, which was commonly called into exertion by the care of her houfehold concerns, was fuch, as not eafily to be difcompofed by any circumftance of accidental im- propriety. She too had been informed of the intended match between Sir Harry Benfon and Mifs Walton. " I L 6 have

228 THE MAN OF FEELING.

have been thinking, faid fhe, that they are diftant relations : for the great- grandfather of this Sir Harry Benfon, who was knight of the fhire in the reign of Charles the Firft, and one of the Cavaliers of thofe times, was married to a daughter of the Walton family." Harley anfwered drily, that it might be fo; but that he never troubled him- felf about thofe matters. ff Indeed, faid fhe, you are to blame, nephew, for not knowing a little more of them : before I was near your age, I had fevved the pedigree of our family in a fet of chair-bottoms, that were made a pre- fent of to my grandmother, who was a very notable woman, and had a proper regard for gentility, I'll allure you j f but now-a-days, it is money, not birth, that makes people refpe&ed j the more fliame for the times."

Harley

THE MAN OF FEELING, 229

Harley was in no very good humour for entering into a difcufiion of this queftion ; but he always entertained fo much filial refpect for his aunt, as to attend to her difcourfe.

c« We blame the pride of the rich, faid he, but are not we afhamed of our poverty ?"

" Why, one would not chufe, re- plied his aunt, to make a much worfe figure than one's neighbours} but, as I was faying before, the times (as my friend Mrs. Dorothy Walton obferves) are fhamefully degenerated in this.re- fpec~h There was but t'other day, at Mr. Walton's, that fat fellow's daugh- ter, the London Merchant, as he calls himfelf, though I have heard that he was little better than the keeper

of

2jo THE MAN OF FEELING-.

of a chandler's fhop : — We were leav- ing the gentlemen to go to tea. She had a hoop forfooth as large and as ftifF —and it fhewed a pair of bandy legs,

as thick as two 1 was nearer the

door by an apron's length, and the pert hufly brufhed by me, as who fhould fay, Make way for your betters, and with one of her London-bobs — but Mrs. Dorothy did not let her pafs with it j for all the time of drinking tea, fhe fpoke of the precedency of fa- mily, and the difparity there is between people who are come of fomething, and your mufhroom-gentry who wear their coats of arms in their purfes."

Her indignation was interrupted by the arrival of her maid with a damaik table-cloth, and afet of napkins, from the loom, which had been fpun by her

miitrefs's

THE MAN OF FEELING. 231

miftrefs's own hand. There was the family-creft in each corner, and in the middle a view of the battle of Wor- cefter, where one of her anceftors had been a captain in the king's forces ; and with a fort of poetical licence in per- fpeftive, *there was feen the Royal Oak, with more wig than leaves upon it.

On all this the good lady was very copious,, and took up the remaining in- tervals of filling tea, to defcribe its ex- cellencies to Harleyj adding, thatlhe intended this as a prefent for his wife, when he fhould get one. He fjghed and looked foolifh, and commending the ferenity of the day, walked out in- to the garden*

He fat down on a little feat which

commanded anextenfive profpeft round

8 the

232 THE MAN OF FEELING.

the houfe. He leaned on his hand, and fcored the ground with his ftick : " Mifs Walton married ! faid he j but what is that to me? May fhe be hap- py ! her virtues deferve it j to me her marriage is otherwife indifferent :— I had romantic dreams ! they are fled I—- it, is perfectly indifferent."

Juft at that moment he faw a fer- vant, with a knot of ribbands in his hat, go into the houfe. His cheeks grew flufhed at the fight ! He kept his eye fixed for fome time on the door by , which he had entered, then ftarting to his feet, haftily followed him.

When he approached the door of the kitchen where he fuppofed the man had entered, his heart throbbed fo violently, that when he would have called Peter,

his

THE MAN OF FEELING. 233

his voice failed in the attempt. He flood a moment liftening in this breath- kfs ftate of palpitation :. Peter came out by chance. <c Did yout^honour want any thing E" — tc Where is the fervant that came juft now from Mr»

Walton's:" "From Mr. Walton's,

Sir ! there is none of his fervants here that I know of/' — <c Nor of Sir Harry Benfon's ?" — He did not wait for ait anfwerj but having by this time ob- ferved the hat with its party-coloured ornament hanging on a peg near the door, he prefled forwards into the- kitchen,. and addreffing himfelf to. a fir anger whom he faw there, afked him, with no fmall tremor in his voice, "If he had any commands for him r" The man looked filly, and faid, ec That he had no- thing to trouble his honour with." — " Are not you a fervant of Sir Harry Ben- fon's r

234 THE MAN OF FEELING.

fon's?"— « No, Sir."—" You'll par- •don me, young man j I judged by the favour in your hat." — " Sir, I'm his majesty's fervant, God blefs him ! and thefe favours we always wear when we are recruiting." — fc Recruiting !" his eyes gliftened at the word : he feized the foldier's hand, and fhaking it vio- lently, ordered Peter to fetch a bottle of his aunt's bed dram. The bottle was brought: " You (hall drink the king's health, faid Harley, in a bum- per." " The king and your ho- nour."— f< Nay, you fhall drink the king's health by itfelf; you may drink mine in another.31 Peter looked in his matter's face, and filled with fome little reluclance. " Now to your nniftrefs, faid Harley -, every foldier has a mif- trefs." The man excufed himfelf— - <c To your miftrefs I you cannot refufe

THE MAN OF FEELING. 235 it." 'T was Mrs. Margery's beft dram! Peter flood with the bottle a little in- clined, but not lo as to-difcharge a drop of its contents : " Fill it, Peter, faid his mafter, fill it to the brim." Peter filled it i and the foldier having named Suky Simpfon, difpatched it in a twink- ling." " Thou art an honeft fellow, faicl Harley, and I love thee ;" and fhaking his hand again, defired Peter to make him his gueil at dinner, and walked tip into his room with a pace much quicker and more fpringy than ufual.

This agreeable difappointment how- ever he was not long fuffered to enjoy. The curate happened that day to dine with him : his vifits indeed were more properly to the aunt than the nephew j and many of the intelligent ladies in

the

236 THE MAN OF FEELING.

the pariih, who, like fome very great philofophers, have the happy knack at accounting for every thing, gave our, that there was a particular attachment between them, which wanted only to be matured by fome more years of courtfhip to end in the tendereft con- nexion. In this conclufion indeed, fup- pofing the premifes to have been true, , they were fomewhat juftiiied by the known opinion of the lady,, who fre- quently declared herfelf a friend to the ceremonial of former times, ,. when a lover might have fighed feven years at his miftrefs's feet, before he was allowed the liberty of kiffing her hand. 'Tis true Mrs. Margery was now about her grand clima<5leric.$ . no matter : that is jufl the age when we expect to grow younger. But I verily believe there was nothing in the reports the curate's

connexion

THE MAN OF FEELING. 237

connexion was only that of a genealo- gift i for in that character he was no way inferior to Mrs. Margery herfelf. He dealt alfo in the prefent times ; for he was a politician and a newfmonger.

He had hardly faid grace afterdinner, Avhen he told Mrs. Margery, that fhe might foon expect a pair of white gloves, .as Sir Harry Benfon, he was 'very well informed, was jud going to be married to M ifs Walton. Harley fpilt the wine he was carrying to his mouth:: he had time however to recollecl himfelf be- fore'the.curate had finifbed the different ^particulars of his intelligence, and iumming up all the beroifm he was matter of, rilled a bumper, and drank •ijto'Mifs Walton. " With all my heart, faid the curate, the bride- that is to be." Harley would have faid Bride too j but

the

238 THE MAN OF FEELING.

the word Bride fluck in his throat. His confufion indeed was manifeft : but the curate began to enter on fome point of defcent with Mrs. Margery, and Harley had very foon after an op- portunity of leaving them, while they were deeply engaged in a queftion, whe- ther the name of fome great man in the time of Henry the Seventh was Richard or Humphrey.

He did not fee his aunt again till fup- per; the time between he fpent in walk- ing, like fome troubled ghoft, round the place where his treafure lay. He

«•*

went as far as a little gate, that led into a copfe near Mr. Walton's houfe, to which that gentleman had been fo obliging as to let him have a key. He- had juft begun to open it, when he faw, On a terrace below, Mifs Walton walk- ing

THE MAN OF FEELING. 239

ing with a gentleman in a riding drefs, •whom he immediately guefled to be Sir Harry Benfon. He (lopped of a fud- dtn; his hand fhook fo much that he could hardly turn the key; he opened the gate, however, and advanced a few paces. The lady's lap-dog pricked up its ears, and barked : he flopped again —

" the little dogs and all,

Tray, Blanch, and Sweetheart, fee they bark at me !

His refolution failed j he flunk back, and locking the gaie as foftly as he could, flood on tiptoe looking over the wall till they were gone. At that in- flant afhepherd blew his horn : the ro- mantic melancholy of the found quite overcame him !-— it was the very note

that

»40 THE MAN OF FEELING.

that wanted to be touched — he fighed 1 he dropped a tear! — and returned.

At fupper his aunt obferved that he was graver than ufual j but Ihe did not fufpect the caufe : indeed it may feern odd than fhe was the only perfon in the family who had no fufpicion of his at- tachment to Mifs Walton. It was fre- quently matter of difcourfe amor.gft the fervantsi .perhaps her maiden-cold- nefs — but for thofe things we need not account.

In a day or two he was fo much ma- tter of himfelf as to be able to rhime upon the fuhject. The following paf- toral he left, fome time after, oa the handle of a tea-kettle, at a neighbour- ing houfe where we were vifiting j and as I filled the tea-pot after him, I hap- i pened

THE MAN OF FEELING. 241

pcned to put it in my pocket by a fimi- lar a£t of forgetfulnefs. It is fuch as might be expected from a man who makes verfes For amufement. I am pleafed with fomewhat of good-nature that runs through it, becaufe I have commonly obferved the writers of thofe complaints to beftow epithets on their loft miftrefies rather too harfh for the mere liberty of choice, which led them to- prefer another to the poet himfelf : I do not doubt the vehemence of their paffion j but, alas ! the fenfations of love are fomething more than the returns of gratitude.

LAVINIA. A PASTORAL.

WH Y fteals from my bofom the figh ? Why fix'd is my gazeon the ground ? Come, give me my pipej and I'll try To banilh my cares with the found.

M Ere-

242 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Erewhile were its notes of accord

With the fmile of the flow'r-footed Mufe;

Ah ! why by its mafter implor'd Shou'd it now the gay carrol refufe ?

'Twas taught byLAViNiA's fweet fmile

In the mirth-loving chorus to join : Ah me ! how unweeting the while ! can never be mine !

Another, more happy, the maid By fortune is deftin'd to blcfs -

'Tho' the hope has forfook that betray'd, Yet why fhould I love her the lefs ?

Her beauties are bright as the morn, With rapture I counted them o'er;

Such virtues thefe beauties adorn,

1 knew her, and prais'd them no more.

I term'd her no goddefs of love, I call'd not her beauty divine :

Thefe far other pafiions may prove, But they could not be figures of mine,

It

THE MAN OF FEELING. 243

It ne'er was apparel'd with art,

On words it could never rely ; It reign'd in the throb of my heart,

It gleam'd in the glance of my eye.

Oh fool ! in the circle to fhine

That Fafhion's gay daughters approve.

You muft fpeak as the faftiions incline; — • Alas ! are there famions in love ?

Yet fure they are fimple who prize The tongue that is fmooth to deceive ;

Yet fure {he had fenfe to defpife The tinfel that Folly may weave.

When I talk'd, I have feen her recline With an afpecl fo penfively fweet, - -—

Tho' I fpolce what the (hepherds opine, A fop were afham'd to repeat.

She is foft as the dew-drops that fall From the lip of the fweet-fcented pea j

Perhaps when fhe fmil'd upon all,

I have thought that fhe fmil'd upon me.

Ma But

144 THE MAN OF FEELING.

But why of her charms fliould I tell?

Ah me ! whom her charms have undone ! Yet I love the reflexion too well,

The painful refle&ion to {hun.

Ye fouls of more delicate kind, Who feaft not on pleafure alone,

Who wear the foft fenfe of the mind, To the fons of the world ftill unknown,

Ye know, tho' I cannot exprefs, Why I foolifhly doat on my pain ;

Nor will ye believe it the lefs

That I have not the flcill to complain.

I lean on my hand with a figh,

My friends the foft fadnefs condemn;

Yet, methinks, tho' I cannot tell why, I fliould hate to be merry like them.

When I walk'd in the pride of the dawn, Methought all the region look 'd bright:

Has fweetnefs forfaken the lawn ?

For, methinks, I ^row fad at the fight.

When

THE MAN OF FEELING. 245

When I flood by the frream, I have thought There was mirth in the gurgling foftfound $

But now 'tis a forrowful note,

And the banks are all gloomy around !

I have laugh'd at the jeft of a friend ;

Now they laugh and I know not the caufe, Tho' I feem with my looks to attend,

How filly ! I afk what it was !

They fmg the fweet fong of the May, They fmg it with mirth and with glee ;

Sure I once thought the fonnet was gay, But now 'tis all fadnefs to me.

Oh ! give me the dubious light

That gleams thro' the quivering {hade j

Oh ! give me the horrors of night By gloom and by filence array'd !

Let me walk where the foft-rifing wave Has pi&ur'd the moon on its breaft :

Let me walk where the new-cover'd grave Allows the pale lover to reft !

M 3 When

246 THE MAN OF FEELING.

When fhall I in its peaceable womb Be laid with my forrows afleep !

Should LAVINTIA but chance on my tomb — J could die if I thought fhe would weep*

Perhaps, if the fouls of the juft

Revifit thefe manfions of care, It may be iny favourite truft

To watch o'er the fate of the fair.

Perhaps the foft thought of her breafl With rapture more favour'd to warm -t

Perhaps, if with forrow opprefs'd, Her forrow with patience to arm.

Then ! then ! in the tendereft part May I whifper, " Poor COLIN was true j

And mark if a heave of her heart The thought of her COLIN purfue.

THE

THE MAN OF FEELING. 247 THE PUPIL. A FRAGMENT.

* * * * „ J3 U T as to the higher part of education, Mr. Harley, the culture of the mind j — let the feelings be awakened, let the heart be brough forth to its objecl, placed in the light in which nature would have it ftand, and its decifions will ever be juft. The world

Will fmile, and fmile, and be a villain ; and the youth, who does not fufpect its deceit, will be content to fmile with it.— Men will put on the moft forbidding afpect in nature, and tell him of the beauty of virtue.

I have not, under thefe grey hairs,

forgotten that I was once a young man,

M 4 warm

248 THE MAN OF FEELING.

warm in the purfuit of pleafure, but meaning to be honeft as well as happy. I had ideas of virtue, of honour, of benevolence, which I had never been at the pains to define; but I felt my bofom heave at the thoughts of them, and I made the moft delightful folilo-

quies. It is impofilble, faid 1, that-

there can be halffo many rogues as are imagined.

I travelled, becaufe it is the fafhioa for young men of my fortune to travel : I had a travelling tutor, which is the falhion too j but my tutor was a gentle- man, which it is not always the fafhion for tutors to be. His gentility indeed was all he had from his father, whofe prodigality had not left him a (hilling to fupport it,

« I have.-

THE MAN OF FEELING. 449

fc I have a favour to afk of you, my dear Mountford, faid my father, which I will not be refufed : You have travel- led as became a man > neither France nor Italy have made any thingofMount- ford, which Mountford' before he left England would have been afhamcd of: my fon Edward goes abroad, would you take him under your protection ?"— He blufhed — my father's face was fear-- let— he preffed his hand to his bofom, as if he had faid,-Umy heart does not mean to offend you. Mountford fighed twice — <? I am a proud fool, faid he, and you will pardon it; — there! (he fighed again) I can hear of dependance,. fince it is dependance on my Sedley."— " Dependance ! anfwered my father -f there can be no fuch word between us : what is there in 9000!, a-year that ftiould make me unworthy of Mount- M 5 ford'*

2^o THE MAN OF FEELING.

ford's friendfhip ?" — They embraced ^ and fooa .after I fee out on my travels, with Mouniford for my guardian.

<{ We were at Milan, where my fa- ther happened to have an Italian friend, to whom he had been of fome fervice in England. , The count, for he was of quality, was felicitous to return the obligation, by a particular attention to his fon : We lived in his palace, vifited with his family, were carefTed by his friends, and 1 began to be fo well plealed with my entertainment, that I thought of England as of fome foreign country!

<c The count had a fon not much older than myfelf. At that age a friend is an eafy acquifuion : we were friends the firil n,ght of our acquaintance.

"He

THE MAN, OF FEELING. 251

<f He introduced ,me into the com- pany of a fet of young gentlemen, whofe fortunes .gave them the command of pleafure, and whofe inclinations incited them to the purchafe. After having- fpent fome joyous evenings in their fo- cicty, it became a foit of habit which I could not mifs without uneafinefsj and our meetings, which before were frequent, were now ftated and regular.

<f Sometimes in the paufes of our mirth, gaming was introduced as an amufement : it was an art in which I was a novice : I received instruction, as other novices do, by lofing pretty large- ly to my teachers. Nor was this the only evil which Mountford forefaw would arife from the connexion I had formed i but a lecture of four injunc- tions wasnot his method of reclaiming. M6 He

252 THE MAN OF FEELING,

He fometimes afked me queftions a- bout the company -t but they were fuch as the curiofity of any indifferent man might have prompted : I told him of their wit, their eloquence, their warmth of friendfhip, and their fenfibility of heart : *' And their honour, faid I, lay- ing my hand on my bread, isunquefti- onable." Mountford feemed to rejoice at my good fortune, and begged that J would introduce him to their acquaint- ance. At the next meeting I intro- duced him accordingly.

ic The converfation was as animated as ufual j they difplayed all that fpright- linefs and good-humour which my praifes had led Mountford to expect; fubjecls too of fentiment occurred, and their fpeeches, particularly thofe of our friend the fon of count Refpino, glow- ed

THE MAN OF FEELING, 253

cd with the warmth of honour, and foftened into the tendernefs of feeling.. Mountford was charmed with his com- panions ; when we parted, he made the higheft eulogiumsupon them: " When fliall we fee them again?" faid he. I was delighted with the demand, and promifed to reconduct him on the mor- row.

" In going to their place of rendez- vous, he took me a little out of the road, to fee, as he told me, the perform- ances of a young ftatuary. When we were near the houfe in which Mount- ford faid he lived, a boy of about fever* years old crofled us in the flreet. At fight of Mountford he Hopped, and grafping his hand, " My deareft Sir, faid he, my father is likely to do well ; he will live to pray for you, and to blefs

you :

254 THE MAN OF FEELING.

you: fycs, he will blefs. you, though, you are an Enolifhman, and Tome other hard word that the monk talked of this morning which I have forgot, but it. meant that you Ihould not go to hea- ven j but he fhall go to heaven, faid I, for he has laved my father : come- and fee him, Sir, that \\t may be hap- py." " My dear, I am engaged at

prefent with this gentleman." — " But he fhall come along with you j he is an Engliihman too; I fancy $ he fiiall come and Jearn how an Englifhman may go to heaven. "r— Mountford fmiled, and \ve followed the boy together.

" After crofling the next dreet, we arrived at the gate of a prifon. I feem- ed furpriied at the fight j our little conduflor obferved it. " Are you afraid, Sir ? faid he j I was afraid once

too,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 255

too, but my father and mother are here, and I am never afraid when I am with them." He took my hand, and led me through a dark pafTage that fronted the gate. When we came to a little door at the end, he tapped •, a boy, ftili younger than himielf, opened it to re- ceive us. Mountford entered with a look in which was pictured the benign afifurance of a fuperior being. I fol- lowed in filence and amazement.

" On fomethinglike a bed, lay a man, with a face feemingly emaciated with ficknefs, and a look of patient dejedlion; a bundle of dirty (hreds ferved him for a. pillow j but he had a better fupport — the arm of a female who kneeled befide him, beautiful as an angel, but with a fading languor in her countenance, the ftill life of melancholy, that feemed to

borrow

256 THE MAN OF FEELING.

borrow its fhade from the object on which fhe gazed. There was a tear in her eye ! — the fick man kitted it off in its bud, fmiling through the dimnefs of his own ! — when fhe faw Mountfordy fhe crawled forward on the ground, and clafped his knees ; he railed her from the floor ; fhe threw her arms round his neck, and fobbed out a fpeech of thankfulnefs, eloquent be- yond the power of language.

" Compofe yourfelf, 'rny love, faid the man on the bed j but he, whofe goodnefs has caufed that emotion, will pardon its effefts."— " How is this* Mountford? faid Ij what do I fee? what muft I do?" " You fee, re- plied the ftranger, a wretch, funk in po- verty, ftarving in prifon, ftretchcd on a fick bed 1 but that is little : -there are his wife and children, wanting the bread

which

THE MAN OF FEELING. 257

which he has not to give them 1 Yet you cannot eafily imagine the confcious ferenity of his mind ; in the gripe of affliction, his heart fwells with the pride of virtue \ it can even look down with pity on the man whofe cruelty has wrung it almoft to burfting. You are, I fancy* a friend of Mr. Mountford's ; come nearer and I'll tell you ; for, fhort as my ftory is, I can hardly command breath enough for a recital. The for* Of count Refpino (I ftarted as if I had trod on a viper) has long had a criminal pafTion for my wife •, this her prudence had concealed from mej but he had lately the boldnefs to declare it to my- felf. He promifed me affluence in ex- change for honour •> and threatened mi- fery, as its attendant, if I kept it. I treated him with the contempt he de-> ferved : the confequence was, that he

hired

2:58 THE MAN OF FEELING.

hired a couple of bravocs (for I am per- fuaded they acted under his direction) who attempted to affaflmate me in the ftreet ; but I made fuch a defence as obliged them to fly, after having given me two or three ftabs, none of which however were mortal. But his revenge was not thus to be difappointed : in the little dealings of my trade I had con- tracted fome debts, of which he had made himfelf mafter for my ruin ; I was confined here, at has fuit, when not yet recovered frofln the wounds I had received ; the dear- woman, and thefe two boys, followed me, that we might flarve together; but Providence inter- pofed, and fent Mr. Moumford to our fupport : he has relieved my family from the gnawings of hunger, and re- fcued me from death, to which a fever, confequent on my wounds and increaf-

cd

THE MAN OF FEELING. 259 cd by the want of every ncccflary, had almoil reduced me."

" Inhuman villain !" I exclaimed, lifting up my eyes to heaven. " Inhu- man indeed ! faid the lovely woman who flood at my fide : Alas ! Sir, what had we done to offend him ? what had thefe little ones done, that they fhould perifti

in the toils of his vengeance ?" 1

reached a pen which ftood in the ink- ftandilh at the bed-fide— " May I afk what is the amount of the fum for which, you are imprifoned ?" — " I was able, he replied, to pay all but 500 crowns."—" I wrote a draught on the banker with whom I had a credit from my father for 2500, and prefenting it to the Granger's wife, " You will re- ceive, Madam, on prefenting this note, a fum more than fufficient for your huf-

band's

26o THE MAN OF FEELING.

band's difcharge ; the remainder I leave for his induftry to improve." I would have left the room : each of them laid hold of one of my hands; the children clung to my coat : — Oh ! Mr. Harley, methinks I feel their gentle violence at this moment; it beats here with delight inexprefiible !— " Stay, Sir, faid he, I do not mean attempting to thank you ; (he took a pocket-book from under his pillow) let me but know what name I lhall place here next to Mr. Mount- ford ?" — et Sedley*' — he writ it down— f< An Englifhman too, I prefume."— • <c He fhall go to heaven notwithftand- ing," faid the boy who had been our guide. It began to be too much forme; I fqueezed his hand that was clafped in mine ; his wife's I prefled to my lips, 'and burft from the place to give vent to the feelings that laboured within me. ^ « Oh t

THE MAN OF FEELING. 261

" Oh! Mountford ! faid I, when he had overtaken me at the door: <c It is time, replied he, that we fhould think of our appointment j young Refpinc*! and his friends are waiting us."— tc Damn him, damn him ! faid I; let us leave Milan inftantly j but foft I will be calm s Mountford, your pen- cil." I wrote on a flip of paper.

To Signor RESPINO, ef When you receive this I am at a di fiance from Milan. Accept of my thanks for the civilities I have received from you and your family. As to the friendfhip with which you were pleafed to honour me, the prifon, which I have juft left, has exhibited afcene to cancel it for ever. You may poflibly be merry with your companions at my weaknefs, as I fuppofe you will term it. I give

you

262 THE MAN OF FEELING.

you leave for derifion : you may affeft a triumph j I (hail feel ic.

EDWARD SEDLEY."

<c You may fend this if you will, faid Mountford coolly ; but dill Refpino is a man of honour -, the world will continue to call him Io7 — " It is probable, I an- iwered, they may; I envy not the ap- pellation. If this is the world's honour, if thefe men are the guides of its man- ners"— Tut ! faid Mountford, do you eat macaroni ?"

[At this place had the greatefl depre- dations of the curate begun. There were fo very few connected pafiages of the fubfequent chapters remaining, that even the partiality of an Editor could not offer them to the Public. I dif- 3 covered,

THE MAN OF FEELING. 263

covered, from fome fcattered fentences, that they were of much the fame tenor with the preceding j recitals of little adventures, in which the difpofitionsotf a man, fenfible tojudge, and (till mofdj warm to feel, had room to unfold them- felves. Some inftruflion, and fome example, I make no doubt they con- tained ; but it is likely that many of thofe, whom chance has led to a peru- fal of what I have already prefented, may have read it with little pieafure, and will feel no difappointment from the want of thofe parts which. I have been unable to procure: to fuch as mayt have expected the intricacies of a novel, ) a few incidents in a life undiftingiiifliedJ except by fome features of the heart, cannot have afforded much entertain- ment,

Harley's

«64 THE MAN OF FEELING.

Harley'sown ftory,from the mutilat- ed paflfages I have mentioned, as well as from fome inquiries I was at the trouble of making in the country, I found to fiave been fimple to excefs. His mif- trefs, I could perceive, was not married to Sir Harry Benfon : but it would feem, by one of the following chapters, which is ftill entire, that Harley had not profited on the occafion by making any declaration of his own paflion, after thofe of the other had been unfuccefs- ful. The ftate of his health, for fome part of this period, appears to have been fuch as to forbid any thoughts of that kind : he had been feized with a very dangerous fever, caught by at- tending old Edwards in one of an in- fectious kind. From this he had re- covered but imperfectly, and though he had no formed complaint, his health

was manifeftly on the decline.

2 It

THE MAN OF FEELING. 265

It appears that the fagacity of fome friend had at length pointed out to his aunt acaufe from which this might be fuppofed to proceed, to wit, his hope- lefs love for Mifs Walton j for, accord- ing to the conceptions of the world, the love of a man of Harley's fortune for the heirefs of 4000 1. a year, is in- deed defperate. Whether it was fo in this cafe may be- gathered from the next chapter, which, with the two fub- fequent, concluding the performance, have efcaped thofe accidents that proved fatal to the reft.]

N CHAP.

2€6 THE MAN OF FEELING,

CHAP. LV,

He fees Mifs Walton, and is happy.

HA R L E Y was one of thofe few friends whom the malevolence of fortune had yet left me : I could not therefore but be fenfibly concerned for his prefent indifpofition j there feldom pafled a day on which I did not make inquiry about him.

The phyfician who attended him had informed me the evening before, that he thought him confiderably better than he had been for fume time pad. I called next morning to be confirmed in a piece of intelligence fo welcome to me.

When I entered his apartment, I found . him fitting on a couch, leaning on his hand, with his eye turned upwards in the

attitude

THE MAN OF FEELING. 267

attitude of thoughtful infpiration. His look had always an open benignity, which commanded efleem j there was now ibmething more— a gentle triumph in it.

He rofe, and met me with his uftial kindnefs. When I gave him the good accounts I had had from his phyfician, " I am foolifh enough, faid he, to rely but little, in this inftance, upon phyfic : my prefentiment may be falfe ; but I think I feel myfelf approaching to my end, by fleps fo cai/, that they woo me to approach it.

There is a certain dignity in retir- ing from life at a time, when the infir- mities of age have not fapped our facul- ties. This world, my dear Charles, was a fcene in which I never much de- lighted. I was not formed for the N 2 buttle

268 THE MAN OF FEELING.

buftle of the bufy, nor the difilpation of the gay : a thoufand things occurred, •where I blufhed for the impropriety of my conduct when I thought on the world, though my reafon told me I fhould have blufhed to have doneother- wife. — It was a fcene of diflimulation, of reftraint, of difappointment. I leave it to enter on that ftate, which I have learned to believe, is replete with the genuine happinefs attendant upon virtue. I look back on the tenor of my life, with the confcioufnefs of few great offences to account for. There are blemifhes, I confefs, which deform in fome degree the pidlure. But I know the benignity of the Supreme Being, and rejoice at the thoughts of its ex- ertion in my favour. My mind expands at the thought I lhall enter into the fociety of the blefled, wife as angels,

with

THE MAN OF FEELING. 269

with the fimplicity of children." He had by this time clafped my hand, and/ found it wet by a tear which had juftj fallen upon it. — His eye began to moif- ten too — we fat for fome time filent— • At laft, with an attempt to a look of more compofure, " There are fome remembrances (laid Harley) which rife involuntarily on my heart, and make me almoft wilh to live. I have been blefled with a few friends, who redeem my opi- nion of mankind. I recollect, with the tenderefl emotion, thefcenesofpleafure I have patied among them j but we fhall meet again, my friend, never to befepa- rated. There are fome feelings which perhaps are too tender to be fuffered by the world. The world is in general f fifh, interefted, and unthinking, and throws the imputation of romance or melancholy on every temper more fuf- N 3 ceptible

270 THE MAN OF FEELING.

ceptible than its own. I cannot thinlc but in thofe regions which I contem- plate, if there is any thing of mortality left about us, that theie feelings will fubfiftj — they are called, — perhaps they are — weaknefies here -, — but there may be fome better modifications of them in heaven, which may deferve the name of virtues." He fighed as he fpoks thefe laft words. He had fcarcely finifli- ed them, when the door opened, and his aunt appeared leading in Mifs Wal- ton. " My dear, fays flie, here is Mifs Walton, who has been fo kind as to come and enquire for you herfelf." I could obferve a tranfient glow upon his face. He rofe from his feat — <c If to know Mifs Walton's goodnefs, faid he, be a title to deferve it, I have fome claim." She begged him to refume his feat, and placed herfelf on the fofa-

befide

THE MAN OF FEELING. 271

befide him. I took my leave. Mrs. Margery accompanied me to the door. He was left with Mifs Walton alone. She inquired anxioufly abouthis health. " I believe, faid he, from the accounts which my phyficians unwillingly give me, that they have no great hopes of my recovery/' — She ftarted as he fpoke ; but recollecting herfelf immediately, endeavoured to flatter him into a belief that his apprehenfions were groundlefs. " I know, faid he, that it is ufual with perfonsat my time of life to have thtfe hopes, which your kindnefs ftiggeftsj but I would not wifh to be received. To meet death as becomrs a man, is a privilege beftowed on few. — I would endeavour to make it mine j — nor do I think that I can ever be better prepared for it than now : — It is that chiefly which determines the fitnefs of its approach." N 4 " Thofe

272 THE MAN OF FEELING.

"_Thofe fentiments, anfwered Mifs Walton, arejuft; but your good fenfe, Mr. Harley, will own, that life has its (proper value. — As the province of vir- tue, life is ennobled j as fuch, it is to be defired. — To virtue has the Supreme Director of all things afiigned rewards enough even here to fix its attachment."

The fubjecT: began to overpower her. —Harley lifted his eyes from the ground — <f There are, faid he, in a very low voice, there are attachments, Mifs Walton" — His glance met her's— They both betrayed a confufion, and were both inftandy withdrawn. — He paufed fome moments — " I am in fuch a ftate as calls for fincerity, let that alfo excufe it — It is perhaps the laft time we fhall ever meet. I feel fomething par- ticularly fokmn in the acknowledgment,

yet

THE MAN OF FEELING. 273

yet my heart fwells to make it, awed as it is by a fenfe of my preemption, by a fenfe of your perfections"— -He paufed

again <f Let it not offend you to

know their power over one fo unworthy — It will, I believe, foon ceafe to beat3 even with that feeling which it (hall lofe the lateft. — To love Mifs Walton could not be a crime; — if to declare it is one •—the expiation will be made." — Her tears were now flowing without con- troul. — " Let me intreat you, faid flie, to have better hopes — Let not life be " fo indifferent to you j if my wifhes can put any value on it — I will not pretend to mifunderfland you — I know your worth — I have known it long — I have ! efteemed it — What would you have me I fay ! — I have loved it as it deferved."— • j He feized her hand — a languid colour reddened his cheek — a fmile brighten- ed

274 THE MAN OF FEELING.

ed faintly in his eye. As he gazed on her, it grew dim, it fixed, it clofed— He fighed, and fell back on his feat — Mifs Walton fcreamed at the fight— His aunt and the fervants rufhed into the room — They found them lying mo- tionlefs together.— His phyfician hap- pened to call at that inftant. Every art was tried to recover them — With Mifs Walton they fucceeded — But Harley was gone for ever !.

G H A P.

THE MAN OF FEELING, 275

CHAP. LVI. The emotions of the heart. "T Entered the room where his body lay; -*- I approached it with reverence, not fear : I looked ; the recollection of the pad crowded upon me. I faw that form which, but a little before, was animated with a foul which did honour to huma- nity, flretched without fenfe or feeling before me. 'Tis a connexion we cannot eafily forget : — I took his hand in mine ; I repeated his name involuntarily ;— I felt a pulfe in every vein at the found. I looked earneflly in his face;, his eye was clofed, his lip pale and motionlefs. There is an enthufiafm in forrow that forgets impoffibility ; I wondered that. it was fo. The fight drew a prayer from my heart : it was the voice of frailty and of man ! the confufion of my mind began to fubfide into thoughts

I had time to meet!

I turned,

276 THE MAN OF FEELING.

I turned, with the laft farewell upon my lips, when I obierved old Edwards (landing behind me. I looked him full in the face ; but his eye was fixed on another object : he preiTed between me and the bed, and ftood gazing on the breathlels remains of his benefactor. I fpoke to him I know not what ; but he took no notice of what I laid, and remained in the fame attitude as before. He flood fome minutes in that pofture, then turned and walked towards the door. He paufed as he went -, — he re- turned a fecond time : I could obferve his lips move as he looked : but the voice they would have uttered was loft. He attempted going again; and a third time he returned as before. — I faw him wipe his cheek; then covering his face with his hands, his bread heaving with themoftconvulfive throbs, he flung out of the room.

THE

THE MAN OF FEELING. 277

THE CONCLUSION.

HE had hinted that he fhould like to be buried in a certain fpot near the grave of his mother. This is a weaknefs i but it is univerfally incident to humanity : 'tis at lead a memorial for thofe who furvive : for fome indeed a {lender memorial will ferve; and the foft affections, when they are bufy that way, will build their ftrudtures, were it but on the paring of a nail.

He was buried in the place he had defired. It was fliaded by an old tree, the only one in the church-yard, in which was a cavity worn by time. I have fat with him in it, and counted thei tombs. The laft time we paffed there, methought he looked wiftfully on that tree: there was a branch of it, that bent

towards

2.7-8 THE MAN OF FEELING.

towards us, waving in the wind j he waved his hand, as if he mimicked its motion. There was fomething predic- tive in his look! perhaps it is foolifh to remark it; but there are times and places when I am a child at thofe things.

I fometimes vifit his grave ; I fit in the hollow of the tree. It is worth a thoufand homilies ; every noble feeling rifes within me ! every beat of my heart awakens a virtue ! — but it will make

you hate the world No: there is

fuch an air of gentlenefs around, that I can hate nothing ; but, as to the world — I pity the men of it.

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