Madame de Cambon

“ 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. 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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. There is nothing shameful in pursuing any honest employment; but you are not reduced to that situation. Any one who has a tolerable understanding, and has had a good education, may make himself friends by his diligence: in short, there is no one who is virtuous and industrious but may gain a subsistence, and secure himself respect and esteem. Come, consent; let me conduct you to your mother; she has lived for you, you in your turn ought to live for her. Our parents are our best friends, whose loss nothing can recompense ”

“ 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! ”

“ You despise my poverty, and force me to recollect that one man is as good as another, in order to comfort myself and not repine at my fate. If you keep your money, I shall not, I cannot, contest with you. ”

“ We must one day give an account of what heaven has intrusted to us, and what would my account be, if I could only say, I had the means in my hands to save a good man from a misfortune which might have fatal consequences, and I chose rather to spend my money in useless diversions and selfish pleasures. If the bill is good, I shall be no loser; if not, it will be a source of perpetual satisfaction to think that I delivered a good father from the shame his ungrateful son would have entailed on him. ”

“ CHARLES. And dare you hope for compassion; you who had no compassion on your own mother, for whom you ought to have worked as your brother did. He is, in my esteem, no better than a monster in nature, who forgets to honour and love his parents. Of what do you complain? Do you not know that the Supreme Being sends down his judgments upon such children as you are? Did your mother nourish you in your 210youth, and preserve you from all harm, to be abused by you when she was grown old, and to see you give yourself up entirely to idleness, and from idleness to vice? ”

“ 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. ”

“ I should feel compassion. But where is your Englishman? let me see him. Come with us, William. We all three went to the door, and found a young man who seemed about four and twenty, who had an appearance of extreme poverty. Your brother Charles expressed some astonishment; I suppose he had prepared himself to meet an old man, for I have often heard him say that healthy young ones, except in particular circumstances, need never want, and that their distress is generally a proof of their idleness. ”

“ CHARLES. You are very obliging, Edward, but let us be serious. Must it not be very painful to an artist to hear his labour and trouble undervalued, by those who are unable to produce any thing like it themselves; nay, is it not unjust to endeavour to cheapen a thing, when you are conscious that only a reasonable price was demanded for it? In the present case, the French gentleman was impelled by his distress to offer them as a bargain; 205and could I take advantage of the distress of a fellow-creature?
WILLIAM. My mother is entirely of your opinion. ”

“ Annette stood a moment irresolute, then ran to her mother, and said, it is from pure goodness that you indulge me; but I know you would rather I did not neglect my writing. Besides, good Mr. M—— might be displeased with me; it would not be right to send such an old man away, I will take my lesson. Would not Emilia do so? and she skipped out of the room.
I believe all children might be induced to learn to read and write, if it was made an amusement to them, without all that gloom which generally accompanies lessons. ”

“ I may forgive a cheat practised on myself, and I would do it as far as was consistent with my honour, but I must, when I see a fellow-creature deceived, exert myself to maintain his right.
WILLIAM. Many who are called Christians think there is no harm in cheating a Jew, but my mother has given me a very different definition of humanity.
CHARLES. A Jew is a man as well as we are, and we ought no more to cheat a Jew 133or a Turk, than we would a Christian: we must not despise, much less hate, those who profess a different religion: created by the same God, we are all brethren. ”

“ This little solitary apartment, said he, must seem to you very homely after Grandison Hall? It is just that neat simplicity which suits my taste, answered I; it is all adorned with your works; you look cheerful, and are sincere, what more is wanted to give dignity to the place? How much more honour do these drawings do you, which are a proof of your diligence and skill, than the most excellent pictures, which are purchased 119for show, by those who do not even know their value. ”

“ I have now to mention another circumstance to you since you led me to see the charms of virtue, and experience its heart-felt pleasures. I have been attached to a very amiable young woman, who has a small fortune, and I should not hesitate a moment about marrying her, only I am afraid to entangle myself with a family before I have provided for my father. ”

“ We then again viewed the landscapes, and Charles remarked that he had very pleasing manners, and very much the air of a gentleman. Yes, said Mr. Landbergen, he is a good young man and a gentleman, though an unfortunate one. He received a very liberal education, but the loss of his parents and some other misfortunes, obliged him to exert his talents in order to earn a subsistence.
CHARLES. I pity any one who loses their parents early in life; for they are our dearest and most faithful friends. ”

“ She who formed your heart to virtue is better able to advise you than I am. Her liberality will provide for that unfortunate girl some other means of supporting her mother than that of being your waiting maid. Nay, what an honour 175would it be for my Emilia to do without one, and give her wages to a sick widow. My sister knows well enough how to dress herself, and such a pleasing reflection would render her little troubles sweet. Let the mean spirited Lady Jane glory in having useless servants, Emilia Grandison will find more satisfaction in waiting on herself to be able to do more good. ”

“ Every day they produced new difficulties. What an advantage 183to the mind to be satisfied with itself. How happy it is when in the evening we can reflect upon the day without being ashamed of our conduct. Formerly I was afraid to pray to God, because I had not sufficient resolution to alter my conduct; but now I feel that a prayer affords me comfort. I dare hope that the Supreme Being has again received me into favour. I lately dreaded the sight of my father as if he was an enemy, now he is my bosom friend. My former companions treat me with a kind of disdain, and that disdain is my triumph. ”

“ SIR CHARLES. I have at last prevailed on my friend to state the whole affair to me, and it will soon be settled to his satisfaction. And now let me caution you, my son, never to let even your affection induce you to pry into the secrets of others: a good end does not justify the improper means employed to reach it. Honour is a sacred thing, and no motive should influence us to trifle with fixed principles-our 93views are bounded, and we ought to adhere to strict rules, not knowing how to modify them. ”

“ CHARLES. I like these pieces so well I shall be very happy to have them that I may copy them; I should be very proud, indeed, if I could draw but half as well. It is very inhuman not to pay an ingenious man the full price for his labour, or to undervalue the productions of an unfortunate gentleman.
The subject was now dropped, but when we took our leave, Charles gave Mr. Landbergen fifty guilders for the pictures; and as we walked home they were the subject of our conversation. ”

“ Nay, it would be for their own advantage, if, as my tutor says, no happiness is to be obtained by the violation of duty. Should you return from sea successful, and find her dead, repentance would imbitter your whole future life, for she assures me you have naturally an affectionate good disposition. Continue with her; when a mother in poverty begins to labour under a weight of years, it would be cowardly in a son to desert her. ”

“ I could not forbear, as I rode home, continually anticipating the pleasure I should experience, when I saw them again in a more comfortable abode, with a little garden and some other conveniences; since they suffer enough without having the wind rushing through every corner of the house, and the rain oozing through the thatch when they are in bed. When I am a man, I hope I shall never forget the resolutions I have now made, one of the principal is, to see myself that my poor tenants and labourers always have a comfortable warm habitation ”

“ Edward was obliged to take notice of them, or quit the army with dishonour. Such are the false notions that prevail, that a man of real courage must risk his life when a drunkard or a fool insults him; that life which is only due to his country, is 62sported away in consequence of a drunken frolic. I am glad, my friend, I am not in the army, I should not like to appear a coward, or enter into a broil to obtain the name that every boaster, who neither fears God, nor loves his friends, purchases with the blood of a fellow-creature. ”