It is not to be supposed, however, that, as the early graces of childhood gradually expanded (as they did) into more than ordinary beauty, the avarice of the father was not occasionally encountered in its progress by! sudden gushes of love for his son. It was impossible for any parent, no matter how strongly strongly the hideous idol of mammon might sway his heart, to look upon a creature so fair and beautiful, without being frequently touched into something like affection. The fact was, that, as the child advanced towards youth, the two principles we are describing nearly kept pace one with the other.
That the bad and formidable pa.s.sion made rapid strides, must be admitted, but that it engrossed the whole spirit of the father, is not true. The mind and gentle character of the boy--his affectionate disposition, and the extraordinary advantages of his person--could not fail sometimes to surprise his father into sudden bursts of affection.
But these, when they occurred, were looked upon by Fardorougha as so many proofs that he still entertained for the boy love sufficient to justify a more intense desire of acc.u.mulating wealth for his sake.
Indeed, ere the lad had numbered thirteen summers, Fardorougha"s character as a miser had not only gone far abroad throughout the neighborhood, but was felt, by the members of his own family, with almost merciless severity. From habits of honesty, and a decent sense of independence, he was now degraded to rapacity and meanness; what had been prudence, by degrees degenerated into cunning; and he who, when commencing life, was looked upon only as a saving man, had now become notorious for extortion and usury.
A character such as this, among a people of generous and lively feeling like the Irish, is in every state of life the object of intense and undisguised abhorrence. It was with difficulty he could succeed in engaging servants, either for domestic or agricultural purposes, and, perhaps, no consideration, except the general kindness which was felt for his wife and son, would have induced any person whatsoever to enter into his employment. Honora and Connor did what in them lay to make the dependents of the family experience as little of Fardorougha"s griping tyranny as possible. Yet, with all their kind-hearted ingenuity and secret bounty, they were scarcely able to render their situation barely tolerable.
It would be difficult to find any language, no matter what pen might wield it, capable of portraying the love which Honora Donovan bore to her gentle, her beautiful, and her only son. Ah! there in that last epithet, lay the charm which wrapped her soul in him, and in all that related to his welfare. The moment she saw it was not the will of G.o.d to bless them with other offspring, her heart gathered about him with a jealous tenderness which trembled into agony at the idea of his loss.
Her love for him, then, multiplied itself into many hues, for he was in truth the prism, on which, when it fell, all the varied beauty of its colors became visible. Her heart gave not forth the music of a single instrument, but breathed the concord of sweet sounds, as heard from the blended melody of many. Fearfully different from this were the feelings of Fardorougha, on finding that he was to be the first and the last vouchsafed to their union. A single regret, however, scarcely felt, touched even him, when he reflected that if Connor were to be removed from them, their hearth must become desolate. But then came the fict.i.tious conscience, with its nefarious calculations, to prove that, in their present circ.u.mstances, the dispensation which withheld others was a blessing to him that was given. Even Connor himself, argued the miser, will be the gainer by it, for what would my five loaves and three fishes be among so many? The pleasure, however, that is derived from the violation of natural affection is never either full or satisfactory.
The gratification felt by Fardorougha, upon reflecting that no further addition was to be made to their family, resembled that which a hungry man feels who dreams he is partaking of a luxurious banquet. Avarice, it is true, like fancy, was gratified, but the enjoyment, though rich to that particular pa.s.sion, left behind it a sense of unconscious remorse, which gnawed his heart with a slow and heavy pain, that operated like a smothered fire, wasting what it preys upon, in secrecy and darkness.
In plainer terms, he was not happy, but so absorbed in the ruling pa.s.sion--the pursuit of wealth--that he felt afraid to a.n.a.lyze his anxiety, or to trace to its true source the cause of his own misery.
In the mean time, his boy grew up the pride and ornament of the parish, idolized by his mother, and beloved by all who knew him. Limited and scanty was the education which his father could be prevailed upon to bestow upon him; but there was nothing that could deprive him of his natural good sense, nor of the affections which his mother"s love had drawn out and cultivated. One thing was remarkable in him, which we mention with reluctance, as it places his father"s character in a frightful point of view; it is this, that his love for that father was such as is rarely witnessed, even in the purest and most affectionate circles of domestic life. But let not our readers infer, either from what we have written, or from any thing we may write, that Fardorougha hated this lovely and delightful boy; on the contrary, earth contained not an object, except his money, which he loved so well. His affection for him, however, was only such as could proceed from the dregs of a defiled and perverted heart. This is not saying much, but it is saying all. What in him was parental attachment, would in another man, to such a son, be unfeeling and detestable indifference. His heart sank on contemplating the pittance he allowed for Connor"s education; and no remonstrance could prevail on him to clothe the boy with common decency.
Pocket-money was out of the question, as were all those considerate indulgences to youth, that blunt, when timely afforded, the edge of early anxiety to know those amus.e.m.e.nts of life, which, if not innocently gratified before pa.s.sion gets strong, are apt to produce, at a later period, that giddy intoxication, which has been the destruction of thousands. When Connor, however, grew up, and began to think for himself, he could not help feeling that, from a man so absolutely devoted to wealth as his father was, to receive even the slenderest proof of affection, was in this case no common manifestation of the attachment he bore him. There was still a higher and n.o.bler motive. He could not close his ears to the character which had gone abroad of his father, and from that principle of generosity, which induces a man, even when ignorant of the quarrel, to take the weaker side, he fought his battles, until, in the end, he began to believe them just. But the most obvious cause of the son"s attachment we have not mentioned, and it is useless to travel into vain disquisitions, for that truth which may be found in the instinctive impulses of nature. He was Connor"s father, and though penurious in everything that regarded even his son"s common comfort, he had never uttered a harsh word to him during his life, or denied him any gratification which could be had without money. Nay, a kind word, or a kind glance, from Fardorougha, fired the son"s resentment against the world which traduced him; for how could it be otherwise, when the habitual defence made by him, when arraigned for his penury, was an anxiety to provide for the future welfare and independence of his son?
Many characters in life appear difficult to be understood, but if those who wish to a.n.a.lyze them only consulted human nature, instead of rushing into far-fetched theories, and traced with patience the effect which interest, or habit, or inclination is apt to produce on men of a peculiar temperament, when placed in certain situations, there would be much less difficulty in avoiding those preposterous exhibitions which run into caricature, or outrage the wildest combinations that can be formed from the common elements of humanity.
Having said this much, we will beg our readers to suppose that young Connor is now twenty-two years of age, and request them, besides, to prepare for the gloom which is about to overshadow our story.
We have already stated that Fardorougha was not only an extortioner, but a usurer. Now, as some of our readers may be surprised that a man in his station of life could practise usury or even extortion to any considerable extent, we feel it necessary to inform them that there exists among Irish farmers a cla.s.s of men who stand, with respect to the surrounding poor and improvident, in a position precisely a.n.a.logous to that which is occupied by a Jew or moneylender among those in the higher cla.s.ses who borrow, and are extravagant upon a larger scale. If, for instance, a struggling small farmer have to do with a needy landlord or an unfeeling agent, who threatens to seize or eject, if the rent be not paid to the day, perhaps this small farmer is forced to borrow from one of those rustic Jews the full amount of the gale; for this he gives him, at a valuation dictated by the lender"s avarice and his own distress, the oats, or potatoes, or hay, which he is not able to dispose of in sufficient time to meet the demand that is upon him. This property, the miser draws home, and stacks or houses it until the markets are high, when he disposes of it at a price which often secures for him a profit amounting to one-third, and occasionally one-half, above the sum lent, upon which, in the meantime, interest is acc.u.mulating. For instance, if the accommodation be twenty pounds, property to that amount at a ruinous valuation is brought home by the accommodator. This perhaps sells for thirty, thirty-five, or forty pounds, so that, deducting the labor of preparing it for market, there is a gain of fifty, seventy-five, or a hundred per cent. besides, probably, ten per cent, interest, which is altogether distinct from the former. This cla.s.s of persons will also take a joint bond, or joint promissory note, or, in fact, any collateral security they know to be valid, and if the contract be not fulfilled, they immediately pounce upon the guarantee. They will, in fact, as a mark of their anxiety to a.s.sist a neighbor in distress, receive a pig from a widow, or a cow from a struggling small farmer, at thirty or forty per cent, beneath its value, and claim the merit of being a friend into the bargain. Such men are bitter enemies to paper money, especially to notes issued by private bankers, which they never take in payment.
It is amusing, if a person could forget the distress which occasions the scene, to observe one of these men producing an old stocking, or a long black leathern purse--or a calf-skin pocket-book with the hair on, and counting down, as if he gave out his heart"s blood drop by drop, the specific sum, uttering, at the same time, a most lugubrious history of his own poverty, and a.s.suring the poor wretch he is fleecing, that if he (the miser) gives way to his good nature, he must ultimately become the victim of his own benevolence. In no case, however, do they ever put more in the purse or stocking than is just then wanted, and sometimes they will be short a guinea or ten shillings, which they borrow from a neighbor, or remit to the unfortunate dupe in the course of the day.
This they do in order to enhance the obligation, and give a distinct proof of their poverty. Let not, therefore, the gentlemen of the Minories, nor our P------s and our M------s nearer home, imagine for a moment that they engross the spirit of rapacity and extortion to themselves. To the credit of the cla.s.s, however, to which they belong, such persons are not so numerous as formerly, and to the still greater honor of the peasantry be it said, the devil himself is not hated with half the detestation which is borne them. In order that the reader may understand our motive for introducing such a description as that we have now given, it will be necessary for us to request him to accompany a stout, well-set young man, named Bartle Flanagan, along a green ditch, which, planted with osiers, leads to a small meadow belonging to Fardorougha Donovan. In this meadow, his son Connor is now making hay, and on seeing Flanagan approach, he rests upon the top of his rake, and exclaims in a soliloquy:--
"G.o.d help you and yours, Bartle! If it was in my power, I take G.o.d to witness, I"d make up wid a willin" heart for all the hardship and misfortune my father brought upon you all."
He then resumed his labor, in order that the meeting between him and Bartle might take place with less embarra.s.sment, for he saw at once that the former was about to speak to him.
"Isn"t the weather too hot, Connor, to work bareheaded? I think you ought to keep on your hat."
"Bartle, how are you?--off or on, it"s the same thing; hat or no hat, it"s broilin" weather, the Lord be praised! What news, Bartle?"
"Not much, Connor, but what you know--a family that was strugglin", but honest, brought to dissolation. We"re broken up; my father and mother"s both livin" in a cabin they tuck from Billy Nuthy; Mary and Alick"s gone to sarvice, and myself"s just on my way to hire wid the last man I ought to go to--your father, that is, supposin" we can agree."
"As heaven"s above me, Bartle, there"s not a man in the county this day sorrier for what has happened than myself! But the truth is, that when my father heard of Tom Grehan, that was your security, havin" gone to America, he thought every day a month till the note was due. My mother an" I did all we could, but you know his temper; "twas no use. G.o.d knows, as I said before, I"m heart sorry for it."
"Every one knows, Connor, that if your mother an" you had your way an"
will, your father wouldn"t be sich a screw as he is."
"In the meantime, don"t forget that he is my father, Bartle, an" above all things, remimber that I"ll allow no man to speak disparagingly of him in my presence."
"I believe you"ll allow, Connor, that he was a scourge an" a curse to us, an" that none of us ought to like a bone in his skin."
"It couldn"t be expected you would, Bartle; but you must grant, after all, that he was only recoverin" his own. Still, when you know what my feeling is upon the business, I don"t think it"s generous in you to bring it up between us."
"I could bear his harrishin" us out of house an" home," proceeded the other, "only for one thought that still cra.s.ses in an me."
"What is that, Bartle?--G.o.d knows I can"t help feelin" for you," he added, smote with the desolation which his father had brought upon the family.
"He lent us forty pounds," proceeded the young man; "and when he found that Tom Grehan, our security, went to America, he came down upon us the minute the note was due, canted all we had at half price, and turned us to starve upon the world; now, I could bear that, but there"s one thing----"
"That"s twice you spoke about that one thing," said Connor, somewhat sharply, for he felt hurt at the obstinacy of the other, in continuing a subject so distressing to him; "but," he continued, in a milder tone, "tell me, Bartle, for goodness" sake, what it is, an" let us put an" end to the discoorse. I"m sure it must be unpleasant to both of us."
"It doesn"t signify," replied the young man, in a desponding voice--"she"s gone; it"s all over wid me there; I"m a beggar--I"m a beggar!"
"Bartle," said Connor, taking his hand, "you"re too much downhearted; come to us, but first go to my father; I know you"ll find it hard to deal with him. Never mind that; whatever he offers you, close wid him, an" take my word for it that my mother and I between us will make you up dacent wages; an" sorry I am that it"s come to this wid you, poor fellow!"
Bartle"s cheek grew pale as ashes; he wrung Connor"s hand with all his force, and fixed an unshrinking eye on him as he replied--
"Thank you Connor, now--but I hope I"ll live to thank you better yet, and if I do, you needn"t thank me for any return I may make you or yours. I will close wid your father, an" take whatsomever he"ll order me; for, Connor," and he wrung his hand again--"Connor O"Donovan, I haven"t a house or home this day, nor a place under G.o.d"s canopy where to lay my head, except upon the damp floor of my father"s naked cabin.
Think of that, Connor, an" think if I can forget it; still," he added, "you"ll see, Connor--Connor, you"ll see how I"ll forgive it."
"It"s a credit to yourself to spake as you do," replied Connor; "call this way, an" let me know what"s done, an" I hope, Bartle, you an" I will have some pleasant days together."
"Ay, an" pleasant nights, too, I hope," replied the other: "to be sure I"ll call; but if you take my advice, you"d tie a handkerchy about your head; it"s mad hot, an" enough to give one a fever bareheaded."
Having made this last observation, he loaped across a small drain that bounded the meadow, and proceeded up the fields to Fardorougha"s house.
Bartle Flanagan was a young man, about five feet six in height, but of a remarkably compact and athletic form. His complexion was dark, but his countenance open, and his features well set and regular. Indeed his whole appearance might be termed bland and prepossessing. If he ever appeared to disadvantage it was whilst under the influence of resentment, during which his face became pale as death, nay, almost livid; and, as his brows were strong and black, the contrast between them and his complexion changed the whole expression of his countenance into that of a person whose enmity a prudent man would avoid. He was not quarrelsome, however, nor subject to any impetuous bursts of pa.s.sion; his resentments, if he retained any, were either dead or silent, or, at all events, so well regulated that his acquaintances looked upon him as a young fellow of a good-humored and friendly disposition. It is true, a hint had gone abroad that on one or two occasions he was found deficient in courage; but, as the circ.u.mstances referred to were rather unimportant, his conduct by many was attributed rather to good sense and a disinclination to quarrel on frivolous grounds, than to positive cowardice. Such he was, and such he is, now that he has entered upon the humble drama of our story.
On arriving at Fardorougha"s house, he found that worthy man at dinner, upon a cold bone of bacon and potatoes. He had only a few moments before returned from the residence of the County Treasurer, with whom he went to lodge, among other sums, that which was so iniquitously wrung from the ruin of the Flanagans. It would be wrong to say that he felt in any degree embarra.s.sed on looking into the face of one whom he had so oppressively injured. The recovery of his usurious debts, no matter how merciless the process, he considered only as an act of justice to himself, for his conscience having long ago outgrown the perception of his own inhumanity, now only felt compunction when death or the occasional insolvency of a security defeated his rapacity.
When Bartle entered, Fardorougha and he surveyed each other with perfect coolness for nearly half a minute, during which time neither uttered a word. The silence was first broken by Honora, who put forward a chair, and asked Flanagan to sit down.
"Sit down, Bartle," said she, "sit down, boy; an" how is all the family?"
""Deed, can"t complain," replied Bartle, "as time goes; an" how are you, Fardorougha? although I needn"t ax--you re takin" care of number one, any how."
"I"m middlin", Bartle, middlin"; as well as a man can be that has his heart broke every day in the year strivin" to come by his own, an" can"t do it; but I"m a fool, an" ever was--sarvin" others an" ruinin" myself."
"Bartle," said Mrs. Donovan, "are you unwell, dear? you look as pale as death. Let me get you a drink of fresh milk."
"If he"s weak," said Fardorougha, "an" he looks weak, a drink of fresh wather "ud be betther for him; ever an" always a drink of wather for a weak man, or a weak woman aither; it recovers them sooner."
"Thank you, kindly, Mrs. Donovan, an" I"m obliged to you, Fardorougha, for the wather; but I"m not a bit weak; it"s only the heat o" the day ails me--for sure enough it"s broilin" weather."
""Deed it is," replied Honora, "kill in" weather to them that has to be out undher it."
"If it"s good for nothin" else, it"s good for, the hay--makin","
observed Fardorougha.
"I"m tould, Misther Donovan," said Bartle, "that" you want a sarvint man: now, if you do, I want a place, an" you see I"m comin" to you to look for one."
"Heaven above, Bartle!" exclaimed Honora, "what do you mean? Is it one of Dan Flanagan"s sons goin" to sarvice?"
"Not one, but all of them," replied the other, coolly, "an" his daughters, too, Mrs. Donovan; but it"s all the way o! the world. If Mr.
Donovan "ll hire me I"ll thank him."
"Don"t be Mistherin" me, Bartle; Misther them that has means an"
substance," returned Donovan.