Madame de Cambon

“ LANDBERGEN. You will despise me, Sir.
CHARLES. No; any one who goes astray, and returns again to virtue, merits our respect.
153LANDBERGEN. Will you retain any regard for me, when I tell you, that on leaving my father I stole a small sum he had saved, in order to try my fortune at cards; I had already lost a great deal of money with the same people, whom I now wished to play with again.
CHARLES. Yes, certainly; you weep; those tears do you honour; your heart is not bad, but it has been too weak to resist the allurements of vice in bad company. ”

“ There is no need of a storm to destroy us, we are every moment in danger, if we lose his protection. A chimney, or only a tile may fall on us from a house:—there are a thousand things which we have reason to be afraid of, if we fear any. Dr. Bartlett says, he only fears offending God.
EDWARD. You are a foolish girl, to be afraid of thunder. Come let us play and sing, then the noise will not reach us.
CHARLES. No, we can play and sing, when the storm is over. It is not now the time when God lets us see such an astonishing token of his almighty Power—let us view the tempest with reverence. ”

“ CHARLES. It is noble in you not to wish to be a burthen to your mother; a son of your age should not expect a support, except his parents are blest with affluence. But I have been informed you are very ingenious, and have received a good education; heaven has not given you these talents for no purpose.
BRADLEY. I must endeavour to advance my fortune in a foreign country.
23CHARLES. You will find no mother in a foreign country; and can you leave a parent already overwhelmed by misfortune? would you snatch from her her last support? Surely you have no affection for her. ”

“ EMILIA. I am almost inconsolable—I wish there were no cats in the world.
CHARLES. That wish is wrong, sister. God knew best when he created them. We should find the rats and mice very troublesome and mischievous; but for the assistance of a cat, how should we preserve our grain?
EMILIA. I shall never forget my sweet little bird.
178CHARLES. Not forget a creature without sense! after all, there are more canary-birds.
EMILIA. Not so tame.
CHARLES. I will endeavour to get you another, which shall be just as tame.
EMILIA. You are very good, brother ”

“ SIR CHARLES. Providence has placed men in different situations, to facilitate the main end of life, improvement in virtue; yet distress brings us all on a level again, we are then no longer master and servant, but men; worldly distinctions are forgot, and nature asserts her primitive equality. I would not neglect paying to the meanest of my fellow-creatures, the attention I might need from them, if I did, I should forfeit my own esteem. Was Lady Grandison well, I would stay this night to nurse Harry, and to-morrow send him one of his fellow-servants.—Charles eagerly caught his father’s hand. ”

“ Yes, answered Charles, a little disconcerted, I am going to fight against the cold, to preserve this poor man from it, who might, perhaps, catch his death. He then helped him to put it on, and hastily left him, not only to avoid his thanks, but to prevent any one else from observing what he termed a common act of humanity. Edward still went on, extolling his benevolence; he stopped him, saying—What have I done? Is it such a great act of benevolence for one who is in good health and strong, to give his great coat to a poor sick man benumbed with cold? ”

“ CHARLES. It is indeed a very perverse pride, for with all their riches, they could not do without those useful men. O, thought I, when I saw the weaver, who sat sweating before his loom, this man exhausts his vigour to procure me a great comfort, linen. Without him, the flax, that valuable plant, which the earth produces for this purpose, would be useless. Every one will allow, that shoe-makers and taylors are necessary; in short, since I find that laborious people are so essential to the well-being of the world, I cannot imagine how men can treat them with so much contempt. ”

“ EMILIA. Why, brother, are you not sick?
CHARLES. This proof of your sisterly affection raises you in my esteem, but your tenderness ought not to blind your reason; I am not well, it is true, yet there is not the least appearance of danger.
82EMILIA. You are so good, God must certainly love you; why then are you afflicted?
CHARLES. My tutor has often told me it is no sign that God does not love us, because we are in affliction. Sickness and sorrow are as necessary for us in this world as every other event ”

“ Lady Grandison sits silent; Emilia does nothing but cry; and Edward runs through the house quite frantic: Sir Charles endeavours to comfort his Lady, and has need of comfort himself. He has sent several servants different ways, and waits impatiently for day-break, when he intends going himself.—O that he would take me with him!
One o’clock, and no news of Charles. We are none of us in bed—and indeed who could sleep! My eyes feel as if they would never close again—I cannot cry. ”

“ I agree with you, William, that it is very pleasant to be employed; but I am afraid I should not always have thought so if Dr. Bartlett had not taken so much pains to make my employments amusements. He has frequently reminded me, that every duty soon becomes a pleasure. How then can men neglect their duties merely to be idle; the most lazy burthens on society, he added, would think it a severe punishment, if during their whole life they were not allowed to do any thing. How miserable would they be, though surrounded with all the conveniences, and even superfluities of life. ”

“ CHARLES. I know your good heart, Emilia.
EMILIA. Dear brother, I am very anxious, who knows what may happen to us in this lonely road; we have nobody with us.
CHARLES. Do not let us be too solicitous about our own safety; do you not see a fellow-creature dying near you: and can you think of the trifling inconveniences we may be exposed to?—God is with us. ”

“ EMILIA. But what say you of rats and mice?
EDWARD. They fear us yet more. You have often seen how they run away, if they hear the least noise. I for my part am more afraid of fleas and gnats than of rats and mice. What do all these creatures in the world? They are of no use.
DR. BARTLETT. How do you know that they are not serviceable? I think, nay, I am sure they are. All that we discover the cause of in God’s works, is good: and our ignorance ought not to make us doubt of his goodness. A spider, for instance, you would say, is a disagreeable useless insect. ”

“ EDWARD. And I still continue to wish it had not rained till night.
CHARLES. They who have to travel to-night, would wish to put it off till to-morrow. Whose wish is to be gratified?
EMILIA. Charles is right. We are in God’s sight, no more than other men.
WILLIAM. It is impossible to know what to wish for at all times.
CHARLES. Believe me, Dr. Bartlett has convinced me, we should be miserable, if 154God always gave us what we desire. And, dear sister, is our pleasure for a day to be compared with the good that so many will experience from the rain?
EMILIA. But the poor birds, I pity them. ”

“ May you quickly be restored, for the danger I see you in is almost too much for me.
CHARLES. You imagine, then, that I am in greater danger now than when I am in health.
83EMILIA. And so you are, I believe.
CHARLES. No, my dear, we have no more reason to fear upon our sick bed, than when we are in lively company, taking a walk, or on the stormy sea. We are always under the protection of our Creator; he can preserve us, or call us hence whenever he thinks fit.
EMILIA. We appear, I think, nearer death when we are sick than when we are in a good state of health. ”

“ EDWARD. I do not blame you, Charles; but those common people are always asking for something.
222CHARLES. If they did not ask they would seldom get any thing. Dear Edward, we ask daily of God; permit then at least that those industrious people ask of us, who are made of the same materials, and in whose veins the same blood flows. It is as much our duty to spare part of our superfluities to relieve their accidental distress; as it is theirs to work to supply their daily wants.
EMILIA. And we should not, in any degree, merit the abundance we enjoy, if we refused to give a part of it to the poor. ”

“ Have a little patience, and in a year or two you may be able to offer your hand to the girl your heart has chosen, and your father may be happy in the bosom of your family. Do you think that he could be happy if your peace was sacrificed to procure him a few of the conveniences of life? You know little of him, if you think so; he would be doubly distressed if he saw you unhappy. Believe me, a father like yours can only find his happiness in the happiness of his child; open your heart to him, and never think of marrying without his approbation. ”

“ Charles kissed his mother’s cheek, and said, forgive me, I see you will do more for him, than I could presume to ask.
SIR CHARLES. Yes, I am glad that your sentiments so well accord with mine. We do the poor an essential service when we put them in a way to earn their own subsistence; for then we support the body without injuring the mind. Idleness in every station leads to vice. Do you go and speak to Harry, and ask him how much will be requisite for this purpose, and then we will give him it as a reward for his fidelity, and to comfort him under his misfortune. ”

“ Charles to Landbergen. With what pleasure did I read over your letter! how happy am I to find that you have such a just sense of your duty! I agree with you that an old man, whose health has been injured by cares and sorrows, ought not to work for his bread, when he has young and healthy children. Allow him as much of your salary as you can spare; it is the first debt you ought to pay. You may, by this means, be obliged to deny yourself some superfluities, and even what the world calls necessaries, but how richly will you be repaid for this self-denial! ”