It was during his short stay in London that I met with him. The recent kindness of his kinsman had proved a sure pa.s.sport into the houses of his other relations. He procured from them all not only a general invitation during his stay there, but many flattering letters of recommendation to the princ.i.p.al families and military men whither he was going. His person was uncommonly graceful, and the bright glow of prosperity beaming on his fine open countenance, indicated the native honesty that warmed his heart. I was at that time not more than fifteen; Captain S---- about four-and-twenty. Such an object was well calculated to awaken the feelings of artless sensibility. Young and romantic as I then was, I could imagine no higher delight than that of marrying Captain S----, and following his fate "beyond unknown seas." Alas!
I knew not that he was already the betrothed partner of a more fortunate fair; and when, on his discovering what I found it difficult to conceal, he candidly revealed to me his situation, I could only offer up sighs and tears at his departure, which wore away _almost soon after_ the object which had created them disappeared.
_THIRD WANDERING._
The next morning I was punctual to my appointment; but waited above an hour before I perceived Captain S----. At length he came, and made no secret to me of what had detained him. He informed me, that having gone on the preceding day to Lord G--------"s he could with difficulty gain admission into the hall; where, after having been for some time insulted by the enquiring looks, and questions, of several impertinent footmen, he seemed likely to remain; not one of them, though a.s.sured he waited on his Lordship by his own appointment, appearing willing to stir from their chairs to announce him. He continued there some time; during which he had the mortification to see several of his old acquaintance alight from their carriages, and pa.s.s, without deigning to look towards him. He patiently waited the return of these great people, and then repeated his request of a moment"s audience, which was answered by a desire that he would call again the next morning, at the same hour.
He went, and sound orders to admit him. Lord G----, with that tone of authority which superior fortune always gives so the supercilious, however polished, and to the ungenerous, however courtly, reproached him in very acrimonious terms with having suddenly thrown up his commission, at a time when promotion was becoming general, and his country particularly demanded his services.
Stung to the heart at a reproof, which while he knew to be severe, he felt to be just, he alledged, in excuse, what to a delicate mind would have been an all-powerful one. His _wife_--her _situation_: Lord G---- interrupted him, by telling him that all such feelings should be sacrificed to self-interest. He then rang his bell, called for his carriage, and putting a solitary guinea into the hands of Captain S----, cast reflections on this conduct, that were as galling as unmerited, and wishing him good morning, rid himself of a visitor, whose reduced circ.u.mstances were his only mark of inferiority.
I was less surprised than Captain S---- at the conduct of Lord G----; and after making some comments, naturally arising from the transaction, I prevailed on him to accompany me home, and to relate to me his narrative, which he did in the following words.
"I was received in Jamaica with much kindness by my brother officers; and my letters procured me many distinguished attentions from the princ.i.p.al families there. My intercourse with many gay young men, and the life of amus.e.m.e.nt (not to say dissipation) which I led, might, in a heart less tender than mine, have dispelled the gloom that had hung over me since my departure from England. But I did not find it so; my mind perpetually wandered over the past scenes of domestic delight; and my heart inwardly sighed, as I reflected on the expanse of ocean that divided me far from them. My wife was young, and ignorant of the world; and though the letters which she wrote me were filled with love, and regret, I suffered myself to dread a change in her affections, and gave way to the most dismal forebodings, which, instead of being diminished, were augmented by time.
"A captain in our regiment, whose name was _Nesbitt_, was on the point of returning on leave of absence to England. The death of his mother had put him in possession of considerable property, and it was necessary that he should settle his affairs. My heart prompted me to make particular overtures of intimacy to Captain Nesbitt, that I might influence him to see, and give me a particular account of my family. At that time too, I had unfortunately lost to him a sum of money at play; which, though not very considerable, was more than I could command, previous to his departure. On my mentioning it to him, he treated it lightly, and a.s.sured me he had not at that time any occasion for it.
I received from him the most consolatory promises, and we parted with all the reciprocal good wishes that can be supposed to arise from a concluded friendship, and an a.s.surance that I should hear from him frequently on the subject which alone interested my heart.
"Captain Nesbitt was punctual to his word; he wrote me an account of his safe arrival in London, and that he was going to pa.s.s five or six weeks with a party of his friends at Swansea, from whence he should make it his first business to wait on Mrs. S----. The next ship brought me a packet from herself, in which she mentioned having seen him, and at a time when a visit from a friend of mine was particularly welcome, as she had just lost her father, and retired to a small farm-house near Glamorgan, till she should hear from me in what manner she should dispose of herself. She solicited my permission to join me in Jamaica, and that I would negociate her voyage with one of the first returning Captains, that he might settle in my name for every suitable accommodation. This was the project I ardently sighed for, but I wished it to come from herself; and the silence I had observed on it during her father"s lifetime, being no longer necessary, I answered her in the effusions of a heart filled with love and grat.i.tude, and gave, as she desired, all proper directions to forward her approaching departure.
"Nothing but witnessing her safe arrival, could convey such transport to my mind, as seeing the ship get under weigh, that bore my letter, and was charged with the commission to bring her once more to my arms.
I watched the wind and weather with anxiety, and in idea followed the vessel to her destined port. I pa.s.sed the intervening time in fondly antic.i.p.ating the arrival of the welcome stranger, and in preparing every thing for her reception.
"I had particularly attached myself to a Black, of the name of _Scipio_.
He was the servant of a gentleman whom I visited, who bought him in his infancy, and treated him more as a favoured inmate, than a slave. Scipio was possessed of a n.o.ble mind, and a heart susceptible of affection, and grat.i.tude. He loved his master, and lamented the destiny of those of his countrymen who were less fortunate than himself. Often would he wonder why they were so; comparing their labours with his own, and acknowledging their superiority. I frequently observed him to follow me at a distance in those hours when, oppressed by thought, I sought the plantain"s friendly shade, and shunned the converse of mankind; and oft would sorrow overspread his sable countenance while he watched me, as if fearful of my destruction.
"I was one day ruminating on my situation, antic.i.p.ating the pleasure, yet at the same time dreading the frustration of _all_ my hopes, when Scipio ran eagerly towards me, and announced the approach of a ship from England. I climbed the highest point, as if to bring her nearer to me.
It was too soon for me to expect my wife; all I could hope was a letter from her, and to that I looked with eager joy, as from the sh.o.r.e I espied the gaily painted vessel, gliding gently over the smooth surface of the deep, as the welcome harbinger of peace. With a palpitating heart I hailed her, as she majestically came towards us, but the flattering dream soon vanished, as I heard her p.r.o.nounced to be from _Bristol_.
"The keen edge of expectation was quickly blunted by the stroke of disappointment; yet was the selfish idea soon restrained by the surrounding mult.i.tude, as I observed the busy countenances near me, and reflected that the disappointment of _my_ hopes might be the completion of _theirs_. I was inwardly vexed that I had suffered myself, like a child, to be hurried away by my pa.s.sions, the ardour of which had proved so constantly fatal to my peace.
"In a few weeks, several ships from different ports arrived, but none that brought tidings to me. The only account I heard from England, in which I could be interested, was a letter received by Lord G---- from Captain Nesbitt, inclosing the resignation of his commission, for reasons which he did not a.s.sign."
(To be continued.)
ANECDOTE.
An Hon. Member of the Senate, some years past, inquired of a brother Statesman, if they had made a House? No, sir, says he, there are but nine; we want one to make a quorum. Aye, (replies the other) I knew you could do nothing till I arrived. Very true, retorts the wit, a _cypher_ completes the ten.
_THE FARRAGO._
N. II.
"ONE OF THOSE CLOSE STUDENTS, WHO READ PLAYS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT IN LAW."
TATLER.
Every grave author, who apothegmatizes for the advancement of learning, vehemently insists on the propriety of superadding application to genius. Much has been written to invigorate the la.s.situde of indolence, to expose the inefficacy of desultory studies, to lash the absurdity of procrastination, and to journalize the wanderings of the mind. But, deaf to the warning voice, there still exists a cla.s.s of students respectable for talents and taste, who, whenever fickleness waves her wand, fly mercurially from a stated task, glance on many subjects, and improve none. Their judgment, p.r.o.nouncing sentence against themselves, acknowledges the utility of fixation of thought, and marks, with mathematical precision, the point on which attention should rest; but their wayward imagination is eternally making curves. These literary, like other hypochondriacs, have their lucid intervals; and, at times, are fully apprized of the _flitting_ nature of their application. They write many a penitential annotation upon the chapter of their conduct, and frame many a goodly plan to be executed--_to-morrow_. The paroxysm soon returns; and every shackle, which st.u.r.dy resolution has imposed, their ingenious indolence will undo.
It is unpleasant to see those, whom nature and fortune have conspired to befriend, unqualified to gain the eminence of distinction, by a habit of turning out of the path. With this censurable volatility are commonly united, brilliant talents, a feeling heart, and a social temper. If their possessors would even _occasionally_ adopt and practice those plodding precepts, which dissipation prompts them to deride, they would discharge with applause every honorable duty of business and of life.
But, instead of turning the meanders of fancy into a regular channel, they are perpetually _roaming_, in quest of pleasure. They employ morning moments, not over learned tomes, but at ladies" toilets. After a night of revelry, amid the votaries of wine and loo, they will tell you of Charles Fox, who, like a man of _s.p.u.n.k_, at brothels and at Brookes"s, wenches, gambles, and drinks all night, and, like a man of genius, harrangues in the house all day. They talk of their privileges, and swear by the tails of the comets, which are the greatest ramblers in the universe, that they will be eccentric. The, style of _their_ legislation is, "be it enacted, by Fancy and her favourites, that whenever Genius chooses to cut capers, they be, and hereby are, allowable."
As I have a cordial aversion to the abstract modes of speculation, and choose, with Dr. Johnson, to _embody_ opinions, I proceed to ill.u.s.trate by two examples; one from the annals of literature, and one from real life.
The poet Shenstone was an officer of distinguished rank, in the regiment of careless bards. Every reader of his works will acknowledge that they bear "the image and superscription" of genius. But, still, he was an indolent, uneconomical, volatile character, who, lolling in the bowers of the Leasowes, wrote pastorals and the school-mistress, when, by a more vigorous exertion of his talents, he might perhaps have eloquently charmed the coifed sergeants of Westminster-Hall, or dictated new maxims of polity to an applauding House of Commons. At the very moment he was wasting his time and his patrimony, in the erection of rural altars to Pan and the Dryads, he wrote "Economy," a poem, in which he chaunts the praise of the _cittish_ virtues, and gravely advises his friends to devote at least a _rainy_ day to worldly prudence. In this production are some thoughts suggested, one may venture to affirm, by Shenstone"s experience, pertinent to the subject of this essay. The tolerating reader will pardon their insertion. Travellers over a dusty desart rejoice at the sight of verdure; and, disgusted by the insipidity of a meagre Farrago, its readers may exult to view a quotation.
"When Fancy"s vivid spark impels the soul To scorn _quotidian scenes_, to spurn the bliss Of vulgar minds, what nostrum shall compose This fatal frenzy? In what lonely vale Of balmy medicine"s various field aspires The blest refrigerant? vain, most vain the hope Of future fame, this _o.r.g.a.s.m_ uncontrol"d."
Who, but the acquaintance of genius and its inconsistencies could suppose that one, who knew so well the road to fame, should linger at "caravansaries of rest" by the way? That he, who advises "to collect the dissipated mind, to shorten the train of wild ideas and to indulge no expence, but what is legitimated by economy," should be desultory in his application and prodigal of his estate?
I had collected thus much of my weekly oblation to the public, when, instead of proceeding, as in duty bound, I forgot my own sermon, and--sauntered away. Indolence, deriding my efforts, s.n.a.t.c.hed my pen, overturned my ink-stand, and bade me go and "clip the wings of time"
with a friend. I obeyed, and visited Meander. He is a juvenile neighbour of mine, placed by his friends with a view to the profession of the law, in the office of an eminent advocate. The character of Meander is so various, that it almost precludes delineation. Were Sterne summoned to describe him, the eccentric wit would quote his Tristram Shandy, and affirm that Meander was a mercurial sublimated creature; heteroc.l.i.te in all his declensions. He has so much of the wildness of the fifth Henry in his composition, that were I not versed in his pedigree, I should suppose he descended in a right line from that prince. His ambitious projects, like the birds of Milton, tower up to Heaven"s gate, and he starts as many schemes as a visionary projector. So entirely devoted is he to the cultivation of the Belles Lettres, that his graver moments, instead of being dedicated to Blackstone and Buller, are given to Shakespeare and Sterne. He reads plays, when he should be filling writs; and, the other day, attempting to draw a deed, instead of "know all men by these presents," he scribbled a simile from Spenser. Notwithstanding his enthusiastic fondness for the study of polite literature, even from that, he frequently flies off in a tangent; and the charms of the ladies and of loo, full often cause him to forget that there is a poet or novelist in our language. The _ignis fatuus_ of his fervid imagination is continually dancing before him, and leads him many a fantastic, weary step "over hog and through briar." Nothing can be more sanguine than his plans of study and of steadiness; and nothing more languid than their execution. When I entered his lodgings, a domestic informed me that Meander was still in bed, having sate up all night, with a tavern party of friends. The servant continuing his narration, added, "that his master talked much of one Churchill, and at the hour of retiring, suddenly exclaimed,
"Wound up at twelve at noon, your clock goes right, Mine better goes, wound up at twelve at night."
I smiled at these traits of my friend"s character, and, as I well knew that his slender frame was exhausted by the labors of the night, plying the pasteboard play, vociferating drunken anthems and swallowing b.u.mpers, in rapid succession, I therefore suffered him to remain undisturbed. Unwilling, however, to lose that amus.e.m.e.nt, which was the object of my visit, I consoled myself for the absence of my friend, by surveying his apartment, the furniture of which would give one an idea of Meander"s character, without a personal acquaintance. On a small table, lay several of his favourite authors, in all the confusion of carelessness. Among others I noted Shakespeare, Congreve"s comedies, letters of the younger Lyttleton, Mrs. Behn"s novels, Fielding"s Tom Jones, and a mountain of pamphlets, composed of magazines and plays. In the pigeon holes of a desk, I saw a number of loose bits of paper. These puzzled me sadly. I thought, at first, they contained arcana of importance; and compared them to the Sybilline leaves of antiquity. But, I must own that I was a little chagrined, when I discovered that they were only that species of gambling composition, which I should call _loo a.s.signats_, but which, in plainer phrase, are denominated _due bills_.
On a low window seat, in a dark corner, lay a most ponderous folio, over which a diligent spider had woven a web of such size and intricacy, that the insect must of necessity have been months in spinning it. Curiosity prompted me to brush away this cobweb covering, and examine the book it concealed. The reader may easily imagine the state of my risibles, when I found the volume ent.i.tled "An abridgement of the Law, by Matthew Bacon." A drawer left partly open, revealed to view a bundle of ma.n.u.scripts, among which, I found a diary kept by my friend, some parts of which so completely ill.u.s.trated his character, that I proposed, with a few transcripts from it, to terminate this essay. But, the narrowness of my limits forbids, and the journal of Meander, the annals of volatility must be postponed. They shall form the subject of our next lucubration.
THE GENEROUS RIVAL.
I have always been of opinion, that those harmless delusions which have a tendency to promote happiness, ought, in some measure to be cherished.
The airy visions of creative Fancy serve to divert the mind from grief, and render less poignant the bitter stings of misfortune. Hope was given to man, to enable him to struggle with adversity; and, without her chearing smile, the most trifling distress would cut his thread of life.
It was this fascinating deity that eased the love-lorn Edwin"s fears; her gentle whispers soothed each froward care, and extended his view to scenes of fancied bliss--to that happy moment when propitious Fortune should present him with the hand of Laura. Pleasing delusion! delightful thought! that made the moment of separation less painful, that soothed the rugged front of peril, and softened the rude aspect of terrific war.
Edwin was the son of a merchant of some repute in the metropolis; at the commencement of the present war, he received an appointment in the army, and was soon after sent with his regiment to the continent.
Laura was the daughter of a banker of considerable eminence, a member of the British senate, and possessed of a very extensive fortune. The attachment that subsisted between these young people was unknown to Laura"s father, the proud, imperious Mr. Dalby, who expected to marry her to some person of distinction; or, at least, with one who was equal in point of wealth to himself. For this purpose, he invited the most wealthy part of the senate, peers and commoners, to his splendid mansion at the west end of the town; having totally deserted that which had for many generations been the residence of his ancestors, in the east.
Miss Dalby possessed in an eminent degree, the beauties of the mind, as well as those of the person; which, exclusive of her fortune, were sufficiently attractive to a man of sense and discernment. Many of these visitors became candidates for her election: most of them, however, were rejected by her father, to whom she was enjoined to report the name and rank of each person who addressed her on the score of love. Some, the most wealthy, she was instructed to flatter with hopes of being the happy man; reserving her affections for him whom the venal parent should select to be her husband. It was some time before Dalby could fix his choice, which long hung suspended between an earl and a viscount, of nearly equal fortune: at length the appearance of a ducal coronet banished from his mind both the one and the other; and he vainly flattered himself, in future, to address his daughter by the high sounding t.i.tle of--_Your Grace_.
The young Duke Delancy, led by curiosity to behold the lady who was thus exposed to sale--for, it seems, the intention of Dalby was generally known--became enamoured of her person; and, on conversing with her, found her every thing he could wish. He instantly made proposals to Mr.