Richard Cumberland

“ Ah venerable sir, is this your son? ah my beloved John, is this your father? sorry I am to speak with such contempt of one so near to those, whom I respect and love. Forgive me, my good sir, it is my zeal for you my patron, and for this my pupil, that has betrayed me into this intemperance—But I’ll offend no further. This only you will suffer me to say—He is De Lancaster, and must be saved. By whom, you’ll ask: by whom but by his son? nature demands it; duty calls him forth; honour imperiously compels him to it. ”

“ What kind of opinion would you form of a man, who should act and argue in that way? You would despise him, Amelia; you would say to him in earnest what you say to me in jest—Don’t let us meet, if it be possible to avoid it: should I come to visit your family, take care not to be at home—Ah Amelia, Amelia, if so you wished to have disposed of me, why did not you contrive to make your visit to Kray Castle, as my aunt proposed to you, when you knew I could not be there? ”

“ Alas for thee, poor babe! being so fathered and so mothered, child, from whom can’st thou derive or heart or head—?
From you, his grandfather, replied Cecilia: Come, come, my dearest sir, I’ll not allow of this despondency. Rise from your chair, and come with me and visit this new scyon of your stock! Look in his lovely face; contemplate the bright promise of a true De Lancaster, a virtuous hero, born to crown your name with honour: See him! you’ll own how Providence has blessed you, and blush for having doubted. ”

“ When my poor mother died, she left her what she had in her disposal, a slender portion, but enjoined me on her death bed to consider it as my especial duty to protect her, and make her happiness, her honour and her interests in all respects my own: from that moment such they have been, and ever will be—This is the history of my Amelia. It is my happy fortune to have gained an interest in her pure and virtuous heart, and, if we live to meet, let a few months pass by without fresh cause of sorrow, she will be my wife. ”

“ In one word, my dear sir, you, who are destined to so high a lot, must show some pity for a lowly creature that looks up to you with love and admiration, and must absolutely promise me to fill up your time at Glen Morgan, whilst I in obedience to Mr. De Lancaster’s commands pay a short visit of respect at Kray Castle.
If you think that I ought to be at Glen Morgan when you are at Kray Castle, John replied, I much doubt if I ought to be where I am at this moment; but why my lovely Amelia should mistrust either her own power, or my principle, I cannot tell. ”

“ Here’s my old friend Wilson, who has literally one leg in the grave, why he makes battle still, like a stout fellow, and fights upon his stumps, as Whittington did in Chevy Chase. Was there ever in the annals of good fortune such a happy father as he is? ’Tis not in the order of things probable, that a fellow, like his son Henry, with all the disadvantages of modest merit, refined high principle and rigid unrelenting honour, should find himself invited, nay, compelled, to be one of the happiest and most prosperous gentlemen, that beauty, wealth and virtue ever joined to bless. ”

“ So the world would think, sir, replied the colonel, had it been your case; but we poor soldiers sometimes want our legs to save our lives.
Your wounds sometimes, said De Lancaster, will save your lives: the scars, that Caius Marius bore about him, rendered his visage so terrible, that the assassinating soldier did not dare to strike him.—I have painted him in that very crisis, replied the artist; but I confess I have trusted to his natural expression, and left out the scars.—You have done right as a painter, rejoined De Lancaster; an historian is tied down to facts. ”

“ The tree, which emblematically bears the fortunes of my house, is withering at the top, dead in its middle branches, whilst there is yet one scyon, that has life and vigour: Yes, my child, I am passing{148} away; thy father is gone by, but thou, with the blessing of providence, art springing up and bursting into bloom, I have thy tutor’s testimony strongly vouched in thy favour, and with rapture I contemplate the auspicious promise of those dawning virtues, which in the riper character of the man will be the ornament and safe-guard of our ancient stock. ”

“ I am sorry for it, said the grandfather, but I am myself no performer on the harp, though a lover of its melody, and sure I am that no man can possess a spirit prepared to meet the vicissitudes of fortune with equanimity and calmness, unless his passions have been disciplined by music. Let the boy’s genius therefore be watched, and, if it points to any other instrument, indulge him. ”

“ Knowing in whose company I have the happiness to be, and highly grateful as I am for the kind reception you have given me, though as yet a perfect stranger, it is fit that I should briefly tell you who and what I am; briefly it needs must be, for one dull scene of industry, one uniform pursuit, comprize the whole history of my unimportant solitary life. If it were the sole purpose of man in this world to make his fortune, I have accomplished that purpose; for in colonial property I am superfluously rich. I was an orphan in my infancy, and have no recollection of my parents ”

“ I hope, rejoined Cecilia, my dear little nephew in no future time will form acquaintance or connection with him. He never will be cruel I am sure; his little hands already are held out to every living thing he sees, and his sweet smile bespeaks humanity.
Yes, and as surely as he lives, my dear, replied De Lancaster, his hands will be held out to all his fellow creatures in distress, or I am a false prophet. As for my friend Sir Owen, I pity him from my heart, poor man. ”

“ I am your friend, said Wilson, looking him stedfastly in the face, and if you do not consider me as such because I did not suffer you to disgrace the hospitality of your grandfather by a fray with one of his guests, you do not judge of me with truth and candour, but in the heat of passion and resentment.
Disarmed, and brought to instant recollection by this temperate remonstrance, the brave youth cried out{78}—I’m wrong, I’m wrong! I pray you to forgive me. ”

“ I have not a moment’s hesitation, De Lancaster replied, what to answer; for in the person of my friend Sir Arthur Floyd, luckily here present, I recognize every quality, that can constitute a character at all points worthy of their choice—an active magistrate, an honourable gentleman, a loyal subject, an able incorrupt and independent senator.
Before the baronet could reply, a joyous shout from our young hero John, followed by a general plaudit of hands, seemed to leave Sir Arthur without the power of recollection, or the privilege of choice. ”

“ When a hasty youth is mounted on a hasty horse, who can foresee where the spur of passion will transport him? The patience of an ass, or the obstinacy of a mule might either weary out his anger, or so divert it, as to give him some chance for recollection; but John and his steed were in the same humour for a start at score, and it seemed equally indifferent to both which way they bent their course, so they did but agree to outrun discretion. ”

“ I acknowledge a degree of prejudice for a well-born gentleman, and so long as you display the wings of King Bladud only on the shoulders of King Bardus’s harp, I look with respect upon your ancient banners;{102} and henceforward when blind David Williams shall make your castle hall resound with his melodious harp, I shall recollect with pleasure that you have not only a natural delight, but also an hereditary interest, in that noble instrument. I am myself a lover of music ”

“ Alas, when I had the honour of your company at Glen-Morgan, I little thought of making any other visit but to the place, from which no traveller returns. Providence has decreed it otherwise—Well, well, well! a man must have a stubborn heart, that could not find some cause to be thankful, when a blessing, such as I am now enjoying is vouchsafed to him. Take notice, brother De Lancaster, I understand my own unworthiness too well to intrude upon Heaven’s mercy with many petitions, but I hope I am not altogether deficient in my thanksgivings. ”

“ Life becomes a burden, and the sooner we are quit of it, the better.
In truth, my good friend, said De Lancaster, I cannot wonder, if a life, that furnishes no intellectual enjoyments, becomes burdensome: and since it must be resigned when the disposer of our fate sees fit, it is happy for us, when called upon to quit this world, if we find upon reflection that the pleasures of it are not worthy of our regret. ”

“ John lifted up the shade from off his eyes, to look at him, and the melancholy spectacle, which, through the misty medium of his feeble optics, he imperfectly discerned, struck so hard upon his feeling heart, that he suffered the very keenest pang, that pity could inflict. Food, clothes, medicine, bed, every thing, that could relieve a suffering{193} fellow creature at the point to die, was immediately to be prepared. ”

“ Still nature pleaded to the filial heart of John De Lancaster—That mangled corpse, on which you look, gave life to you, and was your father—Keenly he felt the appeal, and, whilst his eyes dwelt on the piteous object, the big tears rolled down his cheeks: nor could he quite abstain from exclamation, or keep his fiery spirit in command, whilst the last words his dying father uttered still sounded in his ears—Never, he cried, bear witness for me, Nature! ”

“ Whilst Cecilia and the women in attendance were busied in assisting her, De Lancaster stood in deep and pensive meditation with his eyes fixed upon her pallid countenance, and as the tear dropt upon his aged cheek, he said to his daughter—Your endeavours to restore her will be fruitless: and, if an easy death is what we helpless mortals ought to wish for, ’tis hardly to be hoped you may. ”

“ This side speech of the baronet’s, so unseasonably true, had scarce passed his lips, when little David bolted into the room, and having fixed his piercing eyes upon the person of De Lancaster, ran up to his mother, and in a screaming voice cried out—Look, look, mamma, there’s a man in a black wig, for all the world like our old governor of Cadiz!—Hush, hush, saucy child, cried the mother, stopping his mouth with her hand.—Don’t stop him, I pray you, said the good man; when children find out likenesses, ’tis a proof that they make observations. ”

“ We will support the industrious, who struggle against hard fortune, and the helpless, who would else sink under it; but we will not confound the lazy drone with the laborious bee. And now, beloved of my soul, as I have occupied you with a long homily, and wearied you with a long walk, here is a baiting place to repose in; sit down with me upon this shady bench, and let me read my answer in those heavenly eyes.
Oh, my dear sir, replied the fond and happy Amelia, your just and generous sentiments instruct and charm me. ”

“ De Lancaster, addressing himself to his friend Wilson, said—I perceive, my good colonel, that the knowledge, which a man gets in his library is of very little use to himself or others in the world at large: I suspect that I have been reading every thing to no purpose, whilst Cecilia, who has read scarce any thing, is wiser than I am.
Aye my good sir, replied Wilson, ’tis even so: we must carry our grey hairs to school, and learn wisdom of our children. ”

“ Get thee hence, blind bard, and be merry!
Old David devoutly drew the ring on his finger, and with a profound obeisance replied—I thank you and I bless you, my munificent patron. I will drink prosperity to the illustrious house of De Lancaster and the new-born heir thereof. It has stood from the time when the old world was deluged, may it stand till the time when the new one shall be dissolved! ”

“ Why tell Miss Devereux, women may be charming, and men be charmed? She knows it, and we feel it. If love be named in any lady’s hearing, it should be love particular, not general—How am I sure, if I should speak of love in any way that I can speak, the topick would be pleasing to Miss Devereux, who has such powers to inspire it, but may not want to be told any thing of those, who feel it? ”

“ Whilst conversation of this sort was carried on in shady walks and groves propitious to the cause of love, the seniors of the family, lame Morgan and lame Wilson, who mustered only one effective leg between them, kept house, and whil’d away the lagging hours partly in talk, and partly in such humble resources as human nature is fain to resort to, when age and decrepitude conspire to narrow our enjoyments, and, shutting out all hope of future pleasure, confine us to the recollection only of the past. ”

“ Don’t be offended with me, if I seem to step out of my office, when I speak to one of your great knowledge in the learned languages, but I presume you hardly can expect your grandson to understand Greek and Latin, unless he has a teacher.
Perhaps not, replied De Lancaster; yet, if it were so to happen, it would not be the first wonder of the sort, that hath come to pass. It is well known what prodigies of learning have started up into notice, even in their infant years, and possessed themselves of arts, sciences and languages, without being ever put into the trammels of a teacher. ”

“ Don’t let me wound your filial feelings, when I remind you, that the blow, which made you fatherless, might have fallen where it would have extinguished more lives than one, and blotted out the very name of De Lancaster for ever. If I went so far as to say, that probably there are few beings in existence, whose loss society has less cause to mourn than that of him, whose remains we are now bearing to the grave, I should not at least offend against truth, tho’ I might need your pardon for addressing the remark to you. ”

“ If it were put to me in the way of question, he said to Cecilia, whether I{185} am prepared to recommend a public school, I answer, no: if you should persist to ask what other system I would recommend, I should observe to you, that system is subordinate to nature, and that none such ought to be laid down, till it is apparent and made clear to what the genius of my grandson points. When I make use of the term genius, let me not be understood as if admitting any inborn influence, which might seem to favour the absurd chimeras about innate ideas. ”

“ Alas, my beloved grand-father, how deeply do I regret that it should have been my lot so early in life, and for so long a portion of it, to have been in any degree implicated with a miscreant, who, after being convicted of the most disgraceful and unmanly conduct in various instances, has by gradations in cruelty proceeded to the extreme of all atrocity, and effected the violation of an innocent and virtuous girl by means, that amount, as I conceive, to actual murder. ”