Pearson

“ VERANDAH STEPS, HOLMHURST.
“I spent the last three days of my absence with Hugh Pearson in his canonry at Windsor, a delightful old house overlooking the steep ascent of the hill, where different members of the royal family are constantly dropping in to visit the dearest man in the world, as the princesses of George III.’s time did to visit Mrs. Delany—and no wonder!
“Willie Stephens [325] and I had much interesting talk with the beloved H. Pearson; after being with other people, there is an ease in talking to him which is like exchanging a frock-coat for a shooting-coat. ”

“ Adventures at the Hagg.
“There is ne’er use fashing yourself, my young friend, about the matter,” observed Pearson, in his usual unconcerned manner, “many as pretty a man as yourself has been in a far worse difficulty, and my advice now to you is to make the best of it. I could hide you away among the mountains in the north, where, should every man in Dutch William’s army be sent out on the search, they could not find you; but, I’m thinking, a lad of your spirit would not be altogether satisfied with that sort of life. ”

“ Sociable as he was, fond of seeing a good play, his chief delight, if he was not out in the fields, was a book that would set him thinking or a poem that would touch his imagination, and Pearson was old beyond his years. ”

“ It is beyond possibility that any thing could have eluded our vigilance, or even stirred within the house, without our being aware of it.”
“’Tis well,” said Cromwell; “thy services shall not be forgotten, Pearson. Thou canst not preach and pray, but thou canst obey thine orders, Gilbert Pearson, and that may make amends.”
“I thank your Excellency,” replied Pearson; “but I beg leave to chime in with the humours of the times. A poor fellow hath no right to hold himself singular.” ”

“ Douglas returned from Greenock to Edinburgh, with all the despatch which the Flies of those days rendered practicable. The tidings were soon told, not with proud exultation, but with the chastened gladness which these were calculated to impress on his own spirit and all around him; and, instead of packing up for Greenock, and preparing for crossing the wide Atlantic, nothing was now talked of in Pearson’s kind circle but plenishing for the manse. ”

“ Mr. Pearson came after me, leading, unless I am mistaken, the Baron by his epaulette. We all three entered the captain's cabin--that apartment in which I had already spent such an agreeable twenty minutes. Mr. Pearson addressed the Baron in language which was eminently adapted to tickle the ears of a lady.
"'I've half a mind, you little brute, to choke the life right out of you. But I'll give you another chance for your skin. The fun's too good to lose. You said you wanted someone of the name of Godwin, and here is someone.'
"The Baron took off his képi. ”

“ This is certain, that Peggy Pearson did do me a good service, for I was no longer looked upon as a mere youngster, who had just come to sea, and who had not been tried.
“Well, sir,” said Bob Cross, a day or two afterwards, “it seems, by Peggy Pearson’s report, that you’re not frightened at a trifle.”
“Peg Pearson’s report won’t do me much good.”
“You ought to know better, Master Keene, than to say that; a mouse may help a lion, as the fable says.” ”

“ Marian laughed. “I had no notion of bringing it,” she said. “Well, Mr. Pearson, I guess we are all ready. You’d better start off before we think of something else we might like to take.”
“Just think, Marian,” said Delbert; “Mr. Pearson has not been outside the harbor since he has been here.”
“No? Never been to the Rosalie Group, Mr. Pearson?”
Pearson cleared his throat. “No; when a man is busy he don’t get much time for picnics,” he said.
“I am to show him the way,” continued Delbert, “and he is to make the launch go there.” ”

“ Pearson,” said she, “you are just like Dr. Johnson, I think: I do not mean that you are a man of the greatest capacity in all the world like Dr. Johnson, but that you contradict one every word one speaks, just like him.”
Mr. Johnson told me the story: he was present at the giving of the reproof. It was, however, observable, that with all his odd severity, he could not keep even indifferent people from teasing him with unaccountable confessions of silly conduct, which one would think they would scarcely have had inclination to reveal even to their tenderest and most intimate companions ”

“ It was Pearson's duty to clean the cups, and Pearson was in 'sicker' with influenza. Martin had been told to do Pearson's work for the next few days, but he had not realised what Pearson really did and he had forgotten about the cups. Moreover, after watching the match, he had gone off to the tuck-shop to eat ham and chocolate: so Leopard shouted for him in vain, and then, spurning the proffered aid of sycophantic aliens, he furiously washed his own cups and made his own tea. An angry man does not lightly reject an excuse for wrath, and Spots thoroughly enjoyed the nursing of his grievance. ”

“ Suppose there ain’t but one hat in the Lone Elm store, Burr!”
“Then,” said Burrows, darkly, “the best man of us’ll take it back to the Espinosa.”
“Oh, man!” cried Pearson, throwing his hat high and catching it again, “there’s nothing like you come off the sheep ranges before. You talk good and collateral to the occasion. And if there’s more than one?”
“Then,” said Burrows, “we’ll pick our choice and one of us’ll get back first with his and the other won’t.”
“There never was two souls,” proclaimed Pearson to the stars, “that beat more like one heart than yourn and mine. ”

“ Pearson’s belief that we now see a decline in speculative thought and in mechanical invention, all that can be said is that the facts do not bear him out.
There is one side to this stationary state theory which Mr. Pearson scarcely seems to touch. He points out with emphasis the fact, which most people are prone to deny, that the higher orders of every society tend to die out; that there is a tendency, on the whole, for both lower classes and lower civilizations to increase faster than the higher. ”

“ All this to say nothing of Pearson's own well-earned reputation for knowledge of custom, intelligence, and deftness in turning out the objects of his care in such form as to be a reference in themselves when a new place was wanted. Of course sometimes there were even real gentlemen who were most careless and indifferent to appearance, and who, if left to themselves, would buy garments which made the blood run cold when one realized that his own character and hopes for the future often depended upon his latest employer's outward aspect. ”

“ It seemed but probable, from his connexion with the Jacobites, that the Reverend Simon Stirthesoul was one of these disguised plotters.
“I gave you a packet of letters from Mr Harwood,” observed Pearson, as they were standing in the evening at their inn. “If you look over them, I shall be able to tell you the best route to take in order to call on the persons to whom they are directed. Your friend made it a great point that you should deliver them in person, and I am sure that he is a gentleman you would wish to oblige.” He fixed his keen glance at Jack as he spoke. ”

“ Pearson retired; and the General, holding the letter of Everard in his hand, looked again for a long while fixedly at Wildrake, as if considering in what strain he should address him.
When he did speak, it was, at first, in one of those ambiguous discourses which we have already described, and by which it was very difficult for any one to understand his meaning, if, indeed, he knew himself. We shall be as concise in our statement, as our desire to give the very words of a man so extraordinary will permit. ”

“ Pearson, whose expression of face revealed his satisfaction, said after prayers, ‘I shall give a holiday to-morrow in honour of the success of one of our number in winning a Balliol scholarship; I need hardly say that I mean Eversley.’ A cheer burst from the crowded benches of the school at this announcement. ”

“ In May 1665 he conferred upon Richard Pearson, then his deputy, the reversion of the office of keeper of the royal library, and he stated that he ‘is now at service in the fleet, and uncertain of subsistence for his family if he should die.’ He died ten years later, on 27 Oct. ”

“ In the troubled years which ensued Pearson cannot have resided much at Thorington. He certainly spent a portion of his time at Cambridge up to 1643. In that year, just before the opening of the Westminster Assembly, he preached a remarkable university sermon on ‘The Excellency of Forms of Prayer.’ He boldly declared his theological and political views, and with undisguised passion—from which his other published writings are wholly free—lamented the risk to which the cherished institutions of the church were being subjected by men who had little regard for learning and tradition. ”

“ In truth, if it could be done that way, this poet would be a stout champion. Give the poor knave five pieces, Pearson, and bid him go sell his ballads. If he come within twenty miles of our person, though, we will have him flogged till the blood runs down to his heels.”
“There remains only one sentenced person,” said Pearson, “a noble wolf-hound, finer than any your Excellency saw in Ireland. He belongs to the old knight Sir Henry Lee. Should your Excellency not desire to keep the fine creature yourself, might I presume to beg that I might have leave?”
“No, Pearson,” said Cromwell ”

“ But the people, who were in the cheering humor, cheered Hannah and the justices, and then cheered Ralph again. Granny Sanders shook hands with him, and allers knowed he'd come out right. It allers 'peared like as if Dr. Small warn't jist the sort to tie to, you know. And old John Pearson went home, after drinking two or three glasses of Welch's whisky, keeping time to an imaginary triumphal march, and feeling prouder than he had ever felt since he fit the Britishers under Scott at Lundy's Lane. ”

“ This vessel kept up a running fight with the Doris till the instant Captain Pearson laid her alongside; nor did she then give up a contest so fraught with temerity, until 9 men, including her captain, were killed, and 14 wounded. Luckily only 1 man was wounded on board the frigate. From this period Captain Pearson cruised, with very great success, against the enemy’s trade, until the month of September following, when he was obliged to come on shore through ill health. He subsequently commanded the Dictator of 64 guns, and Benbow, a third-rate. ”

“ Jack thanked Pearson for the offer. The temptation was strong, and whatever might have been his suspicions of the tall stranger, he determined to accept it.
“You will set off to-morrow morning by daybreak, with eight horses. Each of you will take charge of three and bestride another, and you will be able to dispose of them in London or its neighbourhood for handsome prices. They will make fine chargers, and will very likely be purchased by officers of cavalry. Long Sam knows London well, and will make all the necessary arrangements for their sale.” ”

“ Pope we knew was librarian of the Sunday School at home, and that if he knew any smugglers he had kept it a secret. Ed Mason had got rid of his pebble, and he now joined us again.
"Are you ready, men?"
"Ay, ay,—heave ahead!"
So we started once more. The streets were black as ink. They were paved with cobblestones, and there did not seem to be any side- walks. The buildings were fishermen's and clammers' huts, boat- houses, and small shops,—all dark and deserted. The fog shut out everything at a short distance. At the top of the hill there was one dim light in the rear of a little shanty. ”

“ An aged Italian sat behind it, reading a newspaper. He sold us peanuts, and exchanged facetious remarks with Mr. Daddles. As we left the peanut man, we heard a far-off shouting. Down the street came a tall, thin man, ringing a great dinner-bell. He was very lame and made slow progress. Now and then he would halt, and shout something at the top of his voice.
"What's the matter?" Sprague asked a man, who stood in the door of a cigar-shop, "is there a fire?"
The man grinned.
"That's the town-crier," said he.
"Town-crier!" exclaimed Mr. Daddles, "I didn't know there were any of 'em left." ”

“ I said ‘I.’ To whom are you alluding as ‘they,’ and when who walks away?”
“Well, your honor, I am the next to give the papers to, and please give me my papers of resignment. I don’t believe I want the job [224] anny longer. I am not after looking for a long job here.”
“It is bed-time now, Pat. To-morrow will bring forth something new. Pearson’s trial will take place, and probably you may have to fill his office, as assistant, here with me. We shall have to have another man in his place. I think you could do it.” ”

“ He was of the same kind of North yeoman stock, and with greater opportunities might have made himself a name {117} in the annals of literature. As it is, like Elihu Robinson of Egglesfield, like Wilkinson of Yanwath, like the late Wilson Robinson of Winfell, Lorton, Pearson's name was not known far beyond his native valley, but of him, as of the others named, it is truth to say that he was a living monument of what 'the soul of Nature,' if it be received into the heart of man, can do to elevate, to strengthen and refine. ”

“ Pearson, but I’ve got sort of in the habit of callin’ folks by their first names. Livin’ where you know everybody so well gets you into those habits.”
“Jim suits me. I hope you’ll cultivate the habit.”
“Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin’ to what I was goin’ to say, you, bein’ a newspaper man, ought to know everything, but it’s pretty plain you don’t know Elkanah Chase. Keep his profits! Why, when a feller is all but convinced that he knows it all, one little bit of evidence like that speculation settles it for him conclusive. ”

“ You cannot think ill of a man who gives you peaches like those.
Ed Mason intended to find out about the old elm tree, and he broached the subject fearlessly.
"Cap'n, Sam says that you said they planted a piece of willow where the old elm came up."
"What's that? No; they didn't plant no willow, but all this about the young feller that came callin' on his girl, an' cut a stick to keep off the dogs, an' stuck the stick in the ground in front of her door, an' then went away an' forgot it, an' the tree grew outer that stick,—all that's bosh. Don't yer believe it." ”