■ vi- l s .r T HE ISTGWH '//;-// f^ay r '(r/Y/f/S/Yt HBX HfJBlROOKJE ?rt ited~ anrr „ . Mah-che § tee./ p BSll 1810 V SEP 1 2 191,7 T, Barr r£ PREFACE. Jl hate prefaces. I never read them, and why should I write them ? They stand like pales about a park ; I always overleap them, if I am told there is any thing within worth seeing. But, what can I do ? I am likely to lead a fine life with this performance, when people begin to quarrel with me, upon reading the first word of the first page of my work. This friend, and that friend, and t'other friend ask me, and here sits ano- ther, who is mighty curious to know, why I entitle my hero the fool OF QUALITY. Pray, was it not more decent to impute folly to one man, than to all man- kind, if I found myself under the necessity of doing the one or the other. Perhaps I call him a fool, in complaisance to a world that will certainly honour him with the same title, when they find his wisdom of a size not suited to their own. ' Why, pray, what is wisdom?' Tell me, first, what is folly. I will, then, tell you what is wisdom, if I find any smattering of it in your definition. ' I wonder, was there ever an age of wisdom, or a land of wisdom.* Look about you : the world will answer for itself. Does not every age and nation grow wiser and wiser? And have not all fathers, from the flood downward, been accounted no better than fools, by their posterity ? I wish I had not been born for some centuries to come. What a prodigy of wisdom should I then be, in comparison of what I am at this day ! * Indeed, I should be glad to be wise, if I thought I could get any thing ' by it.' Right, that is all the use that the worldjn*fe€s of it : it is the very end, purpose, goal, and business of all the wisdom upon earth ; if a man has length enough of sense to outreach all about him, by a yard and a half; he is, by a yard and a half, wiser than all his neighbours. 1 But was not Solomon then a fool to neglect riches, which he might have * had with a wish; and to ask for wisdom whose only use is the obtaining of ' riches ? Was not this wishing to mend a round-about road, when a quarter * of an hour would have carried him, by a short cut, to the end of his journey ?* I fancy, my dear friend, it would be no great matter of additional burden to take the folly of Solomon upon your own shoulders. For, in case he had taken the riches, how should he keep them, while any neighbouring power was wiser than himself. Paris was but five years younger than Solomon, when he, also, might have chosen either riches or wisdom ; and yet preferred a pretty wench to the one and to the other, I am not so young as Paris, by five times five years, and ii PREFACE. would therefore prefer the one or the other to the wench. ' You then allow ' that Paris was a blockhead in the present case ;' Sir, I allow any man to be so, in every case, where he happens to differ in opinion from myself: ' Why * pray, sage sir, have you got all the wisdom of the world to yourself, or what < quantity thereof, think you, may there be upon earth ?' Less, by five scru- ples, than any man in judiciary robes and a full bottomed wig, conceives to have fallen to his own share. ' But folly you take to be multiplied and vari- * ous :' Of two sorts, quoth an eminent author, that which belongs to the writer, and that which belongs to the reader of these works. ' Sir, this is wild discourse, and very wide from the purpose. Let me tell you, the world was never so wise as now. It is filled with men of deep eru- dition, and science.' True, my monitor, but arc they a jot the wiser for all their knowledge ? 1 At the rate that you talk, in the times of ancient ignorance, there might * have been a competent modicum of wise folk in the w orld :' — Possible — 1 And, by the same rule, in these our enlightened days of connoisseurship and * erudition, nearly all our literati may turn out fools :' — More than probable — * These arc riddles' — that might be solved — i Explain them, I beseech you :' — Not at present. I will tell you a story, and pray listen. It is worth the hearing. Fifty and five pilgrims met, one evening, at a great inn, that led to more roads than there are points in the compass. They supped merrily together, in a large hall ; and found, upon inquiry, that they were all bound to the castle of Final Repose, appointed for the reception of the sons of science! When the cloth was removed; Gentlemen, quoth the pilgrim who first en- tered, I rejoice to be joined by so much good company, on these my honour- able travels ; and I am still better pleased to have it in my power to conduct every man of ye, the shortest and surest way to your journey's end. Here, gentlemen, here is my map of infallible directions; the most accurate extract that ever was taken, of all inquiries, observations, and informations for the purpose. Pardon me, brother, said the pilgrim who sat next, your map must be erroneous by at least five degrees; by five, did I say? by seven, as I hope to get to my journey's end. Look here at my map, and believe your own eyes. I'll be damn'd, cried a third pilgrim, (peering over the maps of his neighbours, and taking out his own parchment) I'll be damn'd if the geographers, who designed the one or the other, were any better than adventurers ; they never reached the place of destination I'll be sworn. Gentlemen, said a fourth, with wonderful good temper, I do not swear ; but I have, critically, remarked all the charts produced. There's a blind beggar in our town, who is led by his dog, and if he docs not arrive at the place we are bound to, with better .speed, and greater certan y, than any of you three, I give myself, do you see, and all my goods, to tae devil, save a small perpetuity in remainder to, my son. That may be, exclaimed a fifth ; but, look ye here, my friends, here are the quotations, here are the authorities. Authorities ! quoth a sixth, a fiddlestick lor a hobby! are they unquestionable, unassailable, like these in PREFACE. itf my hand? Thus, every man's chart, throughout the fifty and five, was, like the hand of the son of Hagar, against the chart of every other man. Each insisted on being accompanied, in his own way, as a matter of mere charity to all the rest. They set out, the next morning, on as many different roads as there were persons at table ; and, yet no one of them ever arrived at the place proposed, if any dependence may be had on those customary posts, whom the world, from age to age, has paid for intelligence. * I do not clearly apprehend the application of your story.' If that is not your fault, it must be my own. It is at least a dozen of the twelve labours, to beat any thing into the head of some people. I will give you the chance of another tale. A certain prince sent an invitation to two distant personages, to come to his court. He, further, sent such directions, as could not be mistaken by any one living, who was willing to find the way. And he, lastly, sent a written promise, signed, and sealed by the seal royal, of the most happy accommoda- tions upon their arrival. The one of the parties invited, was a purblind man, who barely saw suffici- ent to discern his road. He, accordingly, was fearful of error. He cautiously held on his way ; and, thereby, reached his journey's end, the place of happy destination to which he was appointed. The other was a man who had all his eyes about him ; but he was a genius, had vast invention, and thought it a disparagement to tread in any path that had been beaten by others. He was for contriving short cuts, and opening new discoveries. He made excursions on all hands. He grew impatient of the accommodations appointed and reserved for him, at the court of the prince. He expected them on his journey, and sought for them at every turn. He found them not. He, therefore, travelled and strayed this way, and that way, in search of them. This led him still further and further from his road. Till, maimed by accident, and stiff with age, he grew equally ashamed and unable to return. — ' As plain as my nose.' — You can the readier follow. — But, talk to me no more about the world and its wisdom. I detest wisdom, I avoid it, I would not be bit by it. It is the tarantula, that spins a web whereby innocence is entangled. It is a politician, who opens a gulf for the swallowing up of the people. It is a lawyer, who digs a grave for the burial of equity. It is the science of Hocus Pocus, that bids happiness come and pass, by the virtue of cups and balls. It is a syllabub of fasting-spittle for the fattening of the vir- tuoso. It is a robe with a pompous train. A wig spread to the rump. A beard lengthened to the girdle. It is a ditch of puddle, with a hoary mantle, that will not be moved to merriment by any wind that blows. It is an ass in a sumptercloth. An owl, solemnly perched, amidst solemn ruins, on a solemn night. Descend to me, sweet folly ! if thou hast not, as I suspect, been my constant companion. Be thou, my sister, my playfellow, thou kitten of the solemn cats of state and learning. But, no. Thou never wert the offspring of such- iv PREFACE. stupid progenitors. Thou art ever joyous, ever young, although coeval in paradise with our first parents, ere they wished for the knowledge of good and evil. Pride pretends to spurn thee ; science affects to look down upon thee ; but they sigh for thee when no one sees : they have frowned thee away, and, when they seek they shall not find thee. Come, folly! for even thy petulance and little wickednesses become delightful, when thou incitest the yeanling kids and cooing turtles to combat. Thou art not captious, thou art not testy ; they laugh at thee, and thou laughest with them for company. The hours dance before thee, the graces smile in thy train. Thou art a com- panion for conquerors, a playfellow for crowned heads. But, alas ! thou art not respected as heretofore — when the monarch of all Asia sent his embassa- dors to wait upon thee, they came, with a mighty train, even from Persepolis nnto Laconia, to see thee riding upon switches, with Agesilaus and his little son. ' Indeed, my pleasant friend, thou almost persuadest me to be a fool , during * the remainder of my pilgrimage through the wisdOm of this world. But is * there no such thing as true wisdom in nature?' Sir, I have written a whole chapter upon the subject; but it lies a great way on, toward the end of my book ; and you have much folly to wade through, before you come at it. 4 Give me a peep I beseech you.' No, sir, you shall not anticipate. Do you want to be in port, without making any voyage ? — ' If I must win my way to i wisdom inch by inch, let me set out directly.' Here then begin ; and pray let me have your remarks, unpremeditated, as you proceed. I will answer you, as whim or judgment shall happen to dictate. DIRECTIONS FOR THE PLATES. Page. Vignette Title Page • Harry discovers Mr. Clement and his Family 78 Harry relieving the prisoners at the King's Bench 307 Tlie Gipsies 418 Mr. Fenton taking Harry and Mr. Clement to London 500 Harry at the Masquerade 507 The Heath of Maria de Laussanne « ♦ 640 Abenaide discovering herself to Harry* . . . . » • • 657 HISTORY HENRY EARL OF MORELAND CHAPTER I. The hero's family connections — introduction to company — beha- viour to the visitors — retires in disgrace — a stranger. irliCHARD, the grandfather of our hero, was ennobled by James the first. He married a lovely girl of the ancient family of the Goodalls, in tl*e county of Surrey, and at seven years distance had two sons, Richard and Henry; but dying early in the reign of Charles the first, he bequeathed £12,000 to his youngest, and near £20,000 annual income to his eldest son ; not in any personal preference to his brother, but as one that was to support the name and honours of the family. He appointed his brother-in-law exe- cutor and guardian, who, educating the children agreeable to their different fortunes and prospects in life, in about seven years after the death of their father, sent Richard, with a tutor, to make the tour of Europe, and bound Henry apprentice to a considerable London merchant. During the travels of the one, and the apprenticeship of the other, the troubles happened ; and Cromwell assumed the regency, before the fortune of the Morelands could be forfeited or endangered, by siding with the crown or the commonwealth. Richard returned to England a short time before the restoration ; and being too gay and too dissolute for the plodding and hypocrisy of Cromwell and his fanatics, he withdrew to the mansion-house of his forefathers. On his landing, he had inquired for his brother Henry ; but hearing that he was lately married, and wholly absorbed in matters of merchandize, as he had the utmost contempt (or all cits and traders, he took no farther notice of hira. No. 1. b 2 HISTORY OF HENRY In the country, he amused himself with his bottle, hounds, hawks, race-horses, &c. and debauching the persons of the neigli- bouring wenches, and in corrupting the morals of the neighbouring squires. But, on the restoration of his majesty, of pleasureable memory, he hastened to court, where he rolled away, and shone in his native sphere. He was always of the party of the king, Rochester, &c. where virtue was laughed out of countenance, and^ where all manner of dissoluteness became amiable and recom- meadabfe by the bursts of merriment and zest of wit. But towards the latter end of this droll reign, earl Richard, being advanced in age, and being still older in constitution than years, began to think of providing an heir to his estate; and, as he had taken vast pains to impair it, he married a citizen's daughter, who wanted a title, and with her got a portion of one hundred thousand pounds, which was equally wanting on his part. With his lady he again retreated to the country ,* where, in less than a year, she made him the exulting father of a tine boy, whom he called Richard. Richard speedily became the sole centre of all his mother's so- licitudes and affection*. And though, within the space of the two succeeding years, she was delivered of a second boy, yet, as his infant aspect was less promising, and more uninformed than his brother's, she sent him forth to be nursed by the robust wife of a neighbouring farmer, where, for the space of upwards of four years, he was lwmoured with no token from father or mother, save some casual messages, to know, from time to time, if the child was in health. This boy was called Henry, after his uncle, by his father's side. The earl had lately sent to London, to make inquiry after his brother, but could learn no manner of tidings concerning him. Meanwhile the education of the two children was extremely con- trasted. Richard, who was already entitled my little lord, was not permitted to breathe the rudeness of the wind. On the slightest indisposition, the whole house w r as in alarm ; his passions had full scope in all their infant irregularities ; Iris genius was put into a hot-bed, by the warmth of applauses given to every flight of his opening fancy ; and the whole of the family conspired, from the highest to the lowest, to the ruin of promising talents and a bene- volent heart. EARL OF MORELAND. 3 Young Harry, on the ojher hand, had every member, as well as feature, exposed to all weathers ; would run about, mother- naked, for near an hour in a frosty morning ; was neither physiced into delicacy, nor flattered into pride j scarce felt the convenience, and much less understood the vanity of clothing ; and was daily occupied in playing and wrestling with the pigs, and two mongrel spaniels on the dunghill ; or in kissing, scratching, or boxing with the children of the village. When Harry had passed his fifth year, his father, on a festival day, humbly proposed to send for him from his nurse's, in order to observe how the boy might turn out ; and my lady, in a fit of good humour, consented. Nurse, accord- ingly, decked him out in his holiday petticoats, and walked with our hero to the great house, as they called it. A brilliant concourse of the neighbouring gentry were met in a vast parlour, that appeared to be executed after the model of Westminster Hall. There was Sir Christopher Cloudy, who knew much, but said nothing; with his very conversable lady, who scarcely knew by halves, but spoke by wholesale. In the same range was Sir Stan- ish Stately, who, in all companies, held the first place in his own esteem. Next him sat lady Childish; it was at least thirty years since those follies might have become her, which appeared so very- ridiculous at the age of fifty-five. By her side were the two Stiltons; a blind man would swear that the one was a clown, and the other a gentlemen, by the tones of their voices. Next to these were two pairs of ill-mated turtles; Mr. Gentle, who sacrificed his fine sense and affluent fortune, to the vanity and bad temper of a silly and turbulent wife ; and squire Sulky, a brutal fool, who tyrannized over the most sensible and most amiable of her sex. On the opposite side was Lord Prim, who evidently laboured hard to be easy in conversation ; and next to him was lord Flippant, who spoke nonesense with great facility. By his side sat" the fair but dejected Miss Willow ; she had lately discovered what a misfortune it was to be born to wit, beauty, and affluence, the three capital qualifications that lead the sex to calamity. Next to her was colonel Jolly, with a heart, ever tuned to merriment, and lungs to laughter ; had he known how to time hk fits, the laugh might have grown catching. Below him was seated Mrs. Mirror, a widow Udy, 4 HISTORY OF HENRY industriously accomplished in the faults of people of fashion. And below her sat the beloved and respected Mr. Meekly, who always sought to hide himself faehind the merits of the company. Next to him was major Settle ; no one spoke with more importance on things of no signification. And beside him sat Miss Lovely, who looked sentiment, and, while she was silent, inspired others with sense and virtue. These were the principal characters. The rest could not be said to be of any character at all. The cloth had been lately removed, and a host of glasses and decanters glowed on the ta- ble, when in came young Harry, escorted by his nurse* All the eyes of the company were instantly drawn upon him; but he advanced, with a vacant and unobserving physiognomy, and thought no higher of the assembly, than of so many peasants at a country wake. Dicky, my dear, says my lady, go and welcome your brother ; whereat Dick went up, took Harry by the hand, and kissed him with much affection. Harry thereupon having eyed his brother, I don't know you, said he, bluntly, but at the same time held up his little mouth to kiss him again. Dick, says my lady, put your laced hat upon Harry, that wc may see how it becomes him, which he immediately did, but Harry, feeling an unusual incumbrance on his head, took off the hat, and having for some time looked contemptuously at it, he cast it from him with a sudden and agile jerk, as he used to cast flat stones, to make ducks and drakes on the mill-pond. The hat took the glasses and decanters in full career: smash go the glasses ; abroad pours the wine on circling laces, Dresden aprons, silvered silks, and rich brocades; female screams fill the parlour; the rout is equal to the uproar; and it was long ere most of them could be composed to their places. In the meanwhile, Harry took no kind of interest in their out- cries or distresses ; but spying a large Spanish pointer, that just then came from under the table, he sprung at him like lightning, seized him by the collar, and vaulted on his back with incon- ceivable agility. The dog, wholly disconcerted by so unaccus- tomed a burden, capered and plunged about in a violent manner; but Harry was a better horseman than to be so easily dismounted : EARL OF MORELAND. £ whereon the dog grew outrageous, and rushing into a group of misses and masters, the children of the visitants, he overthrew them like ninepins ; thence proceeding, with equal rapidity, be- tween the legs of Mrs. Dowdy, a very fat and elderly lady, she instantly fell backward with a violent shriek; and, in her fall, unfortunately overthrew Frank the fox-hunter, who overthrew Andrew the angler, who overthrew Bob the beau, who closed the catastrophe. Our hero, mean time, was happily dismounted by the inter- cepting petticoats, and fairly laid, without damage, in the fallen lady's lap. From thence he arose at his leisure, and strolled about the,, room, with as unconcerned an aspect as if nothing had happened amiss, and as though he had neither art nor part in this frightful discomfiture. When matters where once more, in some measure, set to rights, — My heavens ! exclaimed my lady, I shall faint ! the boy is possitively an ideot; he has no apprehension or conception of persons or things. Come hither, sirrah, she cried, with an angry tone; but, instead of complying, Harry cast on her a look of resentment, and sidled over towards his nurse. Dicky, my dear, said my lady, go and pretend to beat his foster-mother, that we may try if the child has any kind of ideas. Here her ladyship, by ill fortune, was as much unadvised as her fa- vourite was unhappy in the execution of her orders; for while Dick struck at the nurse with a counterfeited passion, Harry in- stantly reddened, and gave his brother such a sudden push in the face, that his nose and mouth gushed out with blood. Dick set up the roar; my lady screamed out, and rising and running at Harry with all imaginable fury ; she caught him up as a falcon would truss a robin, turned up his petticoats, and chastised him with all the violence of which her delicacy was capable. Our hero, however, neither uttered a cry, nor dropt a tear; but being set down, he turned round on the company an eye of indignation, then cried, come away, mammy, and issued from the assembly. Harry had scarcely made his exit, when his mother exclaimed after him : Ay, ay take him away, nurse, take him away, the little dev , and never let me see his face more. 6 HISTORY OF HENRY I shall not detain my reader with a tedious detail of the many and differing opinions that the remaining company expressed, with regard to our hero ; let it suffice to observe, that they generally agreed, that, though the boy did not appear to be endowed by nature with a single faculty of the animal rationale, he might, nevertheless, be rendered capable, in time, of many places of very honourable and lucrative employment. Mr. Meekly alone, though so gentle and complying at other times, now presumed to dissent from the sense of the company. I rather hold, said he, that this infant is the promise of the greatest philosopher and hero that our age is likely to produce. By re- fusing his respect to those superficial distinctions, which fashion has inadequately substituted as expressions of human greatness, he approves himself the philosopher ; and by the quickness of his feelings for injured innocence, and his boldness in defending those to whom his heart is attached, he approves himself, at once, the hero and the man. Harry had now remained six months more with his nurse, engaged in his customary exercises and occupations. He was • already, by his courage, his strength, and action, become tre- mendous to all the little boys of the village ; they had all things ,to fear of his sudden resentment, but nothing from his memory or recollection of a wrong; and this also was imputed to his native stupidity. The two mongrel dogs were his inseparable playfellows; they were all tied together in the strictest bonds of friendship, and caressed each other with the most warm and unfeigned affection. On a summer's day, as he strolled forth with these his faith- ful attendants, and rambled into a park, whose gate he saw open, he perceived, in a little copse that bordered on a fish-pond, a stranger seated on a bench of turf. Harry drew near with his usual intrepidity, till he observed that the man had a reverend beard that spread over his breast, that he he held something in his hand, on which he gazed with fixed attention, and that the tears rolled down his cheeks, without ceasing, and in silence, except the half-suppressed sobs that often broke from his bosom. Harry stood awhile immoveable, his little heart was afiectev% he approached the old man with a gentle reverence, and looking up EARL OF MORELAND. 7 in his face, and seating himself by his side, the muscles of his in- fant aspect began to relax, and he wept and sobbed as fast as his companion. Friend. — Pray, who is this ancient stranger? I have a great curiosity to know. Is he necessary, to your story? Is he to have any future connection with the child? How came he by the long beard? beards were not the fashion in those days. There must be some extraordinary reason for it, if there is any reason at all. Is his story long? Do you begin upon it directly? It is a great fault in authors, to hold their readers in suspense; our curiosity grows languid ; twenty to one it is vanished before you begin to give it any kind of satisfaction. Who, in the world is he? what business has he here? Author. — Sir, you see he is a stranger; I have mentioned him as such. If he chuses to continue so, for some time longer, I know of no right I have to discover him. Perhaps I am the only person breathing whom he has intrusted with the secret of his affairs ; I am, upon honour, not to betray him ; you must pardon me — pray proceed. CHAPTER II. Friendship contracted with the stranger — reception at his new friend's — courage in defence of dumb animals — ambition for power and knowledge — the reward of ingratitude — discon- tent productive of misery — happiness derived from content- ment — his second visit to his parents — estimate of the value of things. il he old gentleman turned and gazed at the child, as on some sudden apparition. His tears stopped : he returned the picture, which he held, into his bosom; and, lifting up his eyes, Great Power! he cried, is this the one, of all the world, who has any feelings for me ? Is it this babe, this suckling, whom thou hast sent, to be a partaker in my griefs, and the sharer of my afflictions? Welcome, S HISTORY OF HENRY then, my little friend, said lie, tenderly turning and caressing the child ; I will live the longer for thy sake, and endeavour to repay the tears thou hast shed in my behalf. The language of true love is understood by all creatures, and was that of which Harry had, almost, the only perception. He re- turned his friend's caresses with unaffected ardour, and no two could be more highly gratified in the endearments of each other. What is your name, my dear? said the old gentleman. Harry Clinton, sir. Harry Clinton ! repeated the old man, and started. And pray who is your father ? The child, then looking tenderly at him, replied, I'll have you for a father, if you please, sir. The stranger then caught him up in his arms, and passionately exclaimed, You shall, you shall, my darling, for the tenderest of fathers, never to be torn asunder, till death shall part us. Then asking him where he lived, and Harry pointing to the town before them, they both got up and went towards it. Our hero was now again all glee, all action ; he sprung from and to his friend, and played and gamboled about him, like a young spaniel in a morning, just loosed from his chain, and admitted to accompany his master to the field. As his two dogs frisked about him, he would now mount upon one, then bound upon t'other, and each pranced and paraded under him as if delighted with the burden. The old gentleman beheld all with a pleasure that had long been a stranger to his breast, and shared in the joys of his young associate. Being arrived near the farm-house, nurse, who stood at the door, saw them approaching, and cried out, Gaffer, Gaffer, here comes our Harry with the dumb gentleman. When they were come up, Good people, says the stranger, is this your child 1 No, no, sir, answered the nurse, we are but his fosterers. And, pray, who is his father? He is second son, sir, to the earl. of Moreland. The earl of Moreland! you amaze me greatly; is this all the notice and care they take of such a treasure 1 Sir, replied the nurse, they never sent for him but once ; they don't mind him, they take him for a fool. For a fool ! cried he, and shook his head in a token of dissent ; I am sure he has the wisest of all human hearts. I wish it may be so, sir, said the nurse ; but he behaved very sadly, some time ago, at the great house. She then made a recital of our young hero's adventures iu the mansion-parlour : whereat the old EARL OF MORELAND. 9 gentleman inwardly chuckled, and, for the first time, of some years, permitted his features to relax into a smile of cheerfulness. Nurse, said he, every thing that I hear and see of this child, serves the more to endear and bind me to him. Pray, be so good as to accompany us to my house, we will try to equip him better, both as to person and understanding. As this stranger's seat made part of the village, they were soon there. He first wispered his old domestic, who then looked upon the child with surprise and pleasure. The footman was next sent to bring the tailor, and some light stuffs from the town shop. Matters being thus dispatched, with respect to our hero's first coat and breeches, nurse was kept to dinner ; and after this gentleman had entertained his young guest with a variety of little tricks, child- ish plays, and other fooleries, towards evening he dismissed him and his nurse, with a request that she would send him every day; and a promise that he should be returned every night, if she desired it. Harry being thus furnished with the external tokens of a man- child having been born into the world, became an inseparate friend and play-fellow to his patron. At times of relaxation, the old gentleman, with the most winning and insinuating address, endea- voured to open his mind, and cultivate his morals, by a thousand little fables ; such as of bold sparrows, and naughty kids, that were carried away by the hawk, or devoured by the wolf; and of good robins, and innocent lambs, the very hawks and wolves them- selves are fond of : for he never proposed any encouragement or reward to the heart of the hero, save that of the love and appro- bation of others. At the times of such instruction, Harry, who knew no other dependance, and beheld his patron as his father and his God, would hang upon his knee, look up to his face delighted, and greedily imbibe the sweetness of those lessons, whose impres- sions neither age, nor any occurrence could ever after erase ; so prevalent are the dictates of lips that are beloved ! At other times, the stranger would enter with our hero into all his little frolics and childish vagaries, would run and wrestle with him, ride the rods, roll down the slope, and never felt such sweet sensations and inward delight, as when he was engaged in such recreations. No. 1. C 10 HISTOSY OF HENRY There was a cock at Harry's nurse's, the lord of the dunghill, between whom and our hero a very particular intimacy and friend- ship had been contracted. Harry's hand was his daily caterer ; and Dick, for the cock was so called, would hop into the child's lap. and pick his clothes, and rub his feathers against him, and court Harry to tickle, and stroke, and play with him. Upon Shrove-Tuesday, while Harry was on his road from his patron's, intending a short visit to his nurse and foster- tat her, a lad came to the door and ottered Gaffer a double price for Dick ; the bargain was quickly made, the lad bore off with his prize in triumph, and Gaffer withdrew to the manuring of a 'back-Held. Just at .that crisis Harry came up, and inquired of the maid for his mammy and daddy, but was answered that neither were within. He then asked after his favourite cock, but was told that his daddy had, this minute, sold him to yonder man, who was almost out of sight. Away sprung our hero like an arrow from a bow, and held the man in view till he saw him enter a great crowd, at the upper end of the street. Up he conies, at last, quite out of breath ; and making way through the assembly, perceived his cock, at some distance, tied to a short stake, and a lad preparing to throw at him with a stick. Forward he lushed again, and stopped resolutely before his bird, to ward the blow with his own person, at the instant that the stick had taken its flight, and that all the people cried out hold ! hold ! One end of the stick took Harry on the left shoulder, and bruised him sorely ; but not regarding that, he instantly stooped, delivered his captive favourite, whipt him under his arm, caught. up the stick, flourished it as in defiance of all. opponents, made homeward through the crowd, and was followed by the acclamations of the whole assembly. The old gentleman was standing before the court door, when his favourite arrived all in a sweat: — What's the matter, my dear, says he, what made you put yourself into such a heat? what cock is that you have under your arm? In answer to these several ques- tions, Harry ingenuously confessed the whole affair ; and when his. patron, with some warmth, cried, Why, my love, did you venture your life for a silly cock? Why did 1 ? repeated the child, why, Sir, because he loved me. The stranger then stepping back, and EARL OF MORELAND. 11 gazing upon him with eyes of admiration : May heaven for ever bless thee, my little angel, exclaimed he, and continue to utter from thy lips the sentiments that it inspires ! Then, catching him up in his arms, he bathed him with his tears, and almost stifled him with his caresses. r In a few days our hero was again restored by frequent fomenta- tions to the use of his arm; and his dada, as he called him, and he, returned to their old recreations. As Harry's ideas began to open and expand, he grew ambitious of greater power and knowledge. He wished for the strength of that bull, and for the swiftness of yonder horse : and on the close of a solemn and serene summer's evening, while he and his patron walked in the garden, he wished for wings, that" he might rly up and see what the sky, ai\d the stars, and the rising moon were made of. In order to reform this inordinacy of his desires, his patron addressed him in the following manner : I will tell you a story, my Harry. — On the other side of yonder hill there runs a mighty clear river ; and in that river, on a time, there lived three silver trouts, the prettiest little fishes that any one ever saw. Now God took a great liking and love to these pretty silver trouts, and he let them want for nothing that such little fishes had occasion for. But two of them grew sad and discontented ; and the one wished for this thing, and the other for that thing, and neither of them could take pleasure in any tiling that they had, because they were always longing for something that they had not. Now Harry, you must know, that all this was very naughty in those two little trouts; for God had been exceedingly kind to them; he had given them every thing that was fittest for them ; and he never grudged them any thing that was for their good : but, instead of thanking him for all his care and his kindness, they blamed him, in their own minds, for refusing them any thing that their silly- fancies were set upon. In short, there was no end of their wishing and longing, and quarrelling in their own hearts, for this thing and t'other. At last, God was so provoked, that he was resolved to punish their naughtiness, by granting their desires, and to make the folly 12 HISTORY OF HENRY of those two little stubborn trouts an example to all the foolish fish in the whole world. For this purpose, he called out to the three silver trouts, and told them they should have whatever they wished for. Now the eldest of these trouts was a very proud little fish, and wanted, forsooth, to be set up above all other little fishes. May it please your Greatness, says he, I must be free to tell you, that I do not, at all, like the way in which you have placed me. Here you have put me into a poor, narrow, and troublesome river, where I am straitened on the right side, and straitened on the left side, and can neither get down into the ground, nor up iuto the air, nor go where, nor do any one tiling that I have a mind to. I am not so blind, for all, but that I can see well enough, how mighty kind and bountiful you can be to others. There are your favourite little birds, who fly this way and that way, and mount up to the very heavens, and do whatever they please, and have every thing at command, because you have given them wings. Give me such wings also as you have given to them, and then I shall have some- thing for which I ought to thank you. No sooner ask than have. He felt the wings he wished for growing from either side, and, in a minute, he spread them abroad, and rose out of the water. At first he felt a wonderful pleasure in finding himself able to fly. He mounted high into the air, above the very clouds, and he looked down with scorn on all the fishes in the world. He now resolved to travel, and to take his diversion far and wide. He flew over rivers and meadows, woods and mountains ; till, growing faint with hunger and thirst, his wings began to fail him, and he thought it best to come down to get some refreshment. The little fool did not consider, that he was now in a strange country, and many a mile from the sweet river where he was born and bred, and haj received all his nourishment. So when he came down, he happened to light among dry sands and rocks, where there was not a bit to eat nor a drop of water to drink ; and so there he lay, faint and tired, and unable to rise, gasping and fluttering, and beating himself against the stones, till at length he died in great pain and misery. Now the second silver trout, though h'e was not so hidi-minded as the first little proud trout, yet he did not want for conceit EARL OF MORELAND. 13 enough ,• and he was moreover a narrow-hearted and very selfish little trout, and provided he himself was snug and safe, he did not care what became of all the fishes in the world. So he says to God: May it please your honour, I don't wish, not I, for wings to fly out of the water and to ramble into strange places, where I don't know what may become of me. I lived contented and happy enough till the other day, when, as I got under a cool, bank from the heat of the sun, I saw a great rope coming down into the water, and it fastened itself, I don't how, about the gills of a little fish that was basking beside me, and he was lifted out of the water, struggling and working in great pain, till he was carried, I know not where, quite out of my sight : so I thought, in my own mind, that this evil, some time or other, may happen to myself, and my heart trembled within me, and I ha^e been very sad and discontented ever since. Now, all I desire of you is, that you would tell me the meaning of this, and of all the other dangers to which you have subjected us poor little mortal fishes ; for then I shall have sense enough to take care of my own safety, and I am very well able to provide for my own living, I warrant you. No sooner said than done. God immediately opened his under- standing ; and he knew the nature and meaning of snares, nets, hooks, and lines, and of all the dangers such little trouts could be liable to. At first he greatly rejoiced in his knowledge; and he said to himself, — Now, surely, I shall be the happiest of all fishes; for as I understand, and am forewarned of every mischief that can come near me, I'm sure I love myself too well not to keep out of harm's way. From this time forward he took care not to go into any deep holes, for fear that a pike, or some other huge fish might be there, that would make nothing at swallowing him up at one gulp. He also kept away from the shallow places, especially in hot weather, lest the sun should dry them up, and not leave him water enough to swim in. When he saw the shadow of a cloud coming and moving upon the river, Aha ! said he to himself, here are the fishermen with their nets ; and immediately he got on one side, and skulked under the banks, where he kept trembling in his skin till 14 HISTORY OF HENRY the cloud was past. Again, when he saw a fly skimming on the water, or a worm coming down the stream, he did not dare to bite, however hungry he might be. No, no, said lie to them, my honest friends, I am not such a fool as that comes to neither; go your ways, and tempt those that know no better, who are not aware that you may serve as baits to some treacherous hook, that lies hid for the destruction of those ignorant and silly trouts that are not on their guard. Thus this over-careful trout kept himself in continual frights and alarms, and could neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep in peace, lest some mischief should be at hand, or that he might be taken napping. He daily grew poorer and poorer, and sadder and sadder, for he pined away with hunger, and sighed himself to skin and bone ; till wasted almost to nothing with care and melancholy, he at last died, for fear of dying, the most miserable of all deaths. Now when God came to the youngest silver trout, and asked him what he wished for ; Alas ! said this darling little trout, you know, may it please your Worship, that I am but a very foolish and good^ for-nothing little fish ; and I don't know, not I, what is good for me, or what is bad for me ; and I wonder how I came to be worth bringing into the world, or what you could see in me to take any thought about me. But, if I must wish for something, it is that you would do with me whatsoever you think best ; and that I should be pleased to live or die, even just as you would have me. Now, as soon as this precious trout made this prayer, in his good and his humble little heart, God took such a liking and a love to him, as the like was never known. And God found it in his own heart, that he could not but take great care of this sweet little trout, who had trusted himself so wholly to his love and good pleasure ; and God went wheresoever he went, and was always with him, and about him; and was to him as a father, and friend, and companion: snd he put contentment into his mind, and joy into his heart; and so this little trout slept always in peace, and awakened in glad- ness ; and whether he was full or hungry, or whatever happened to him, he was still pleased and thankful ; and he was the happiest of all fishes that ever swam in any water. Harry, at the close of this fable, looked down, and grew thought- ful ; and his patron left him to himself to ruminate on what he had EARL OF MORELAND. 15 heard. Now Harry had often heard talk of God, and had some general, though confused notions, of his power. The next day he requested his patron to repeat the story of the three little trouts. When he had ended, Dada, says Harry, I be- lieve I begin to guess a little at what you mean. You would not have me wish for any thing, but leave every thing to God ; and, if I thought that God loved me half so well as you love me, I would leave every thing to himself, like the good little trout. He does, my Harry ; he loves you a thousand times better than I love you* nay, a thousand times better than you love yourself. God is all love; it is he who made every thing, and he loves every thing .that he has made. Ay, but dady, I can't, for the heart of me, heh> pitying the two poor little naughty trouts. If God loves every thing, why did he make any thing to die? You begin to think too deeply, Harry, we will speak more of these matters another time. For the present, let it suffice you to know, that as he can kill, he can also make alive again, at his own pleasure. Harry had now remained about twelve months with his patron, when it was intimated to the earl and his lady, that the dumb man had taken a fancy to their child, and that he was almost constantly resident at his house. Alarmed at this news, and apprehending that this man might be some impostor or kidnapper, they once more sent orders to the nurse to bring the boy home. Nurse ran in a hurry to the stranger's, and having informed Jiiin of the necessity she was under to take away the child, many mu- tual tears were shed at parting; but Harry was the sooner paeilied, when nurse told him that it was but fdr a short visit, as before. When they came to the castle, there was no company in the parlour but the earl and his lady, and lord Richard, and some other masters of quality, about his age and size. Harry, however, looked about with a brow of disgust; and when my lady desired him to command kiss her, May be you'll whip me, he answered, sullenly: No, she replied, if you don't strike your brother Dicky any more. I wont beat him, says Harry, If he wont beat mammy. Come, then, and kiss . me, my dear, said my lady; whereon Harry advanced with a slow caution, and held up his little mouth to receive the salute. He was then kissed by his father, his brother, and the little masters, and all things promised future reconcilement and amity. 1(5 HISTORY OF HENRY A number of glittering toys were then presented to Harry on all sides ; he received them, indeed, in good part, but laid them all aside again, as things of whose use he yet was not wise enough to be apprehensive. This was imputed to his folly. Friend. Is it not too early for your hero to shew a contempt of toys 1 author. My lady, as you will see, imputed it to his folly, not to his philosophy. F. But children have a natural fondness for fine things. A. How so ; is there a natural value in them ? F. No, but— A. Education, indeed, has made the fondness next to natural : the coral and bells teach infants on the breasts to be delighted with sound and glitter. Has the child of an inhabitant of Monomotapa a natural fondness for garbage ? F. I think not. A. But when he is instructed to prize them, and see it to be the fashion to be adorned with such things, he prefers them to the glitter of gold and pearl. Tell me, was it the folly, or philosophy, of the cock in the fable, that spurned the diamond, and wished for the barley-corn? F. The moral says it was his folly, that did not know how to make a right estimate of things. A. A wiser moral would say, it was his philosophy, that did know how to make a right estimate of things ; for, of what use could the diamond be to the cock ? In the age of acorns, ante- cedent to Ceres and the royal ploughman, Triptolemus, a single barley-corn had been of more value to mankind, than all the dia- monds that glowed in the mines of India. F. You see, however, that age, reflection, and philosophy, can hardly wean people from their early fondness for show. A. I see, on the contrary, that the older they grow, and the wiser they think themselves, the more they become attached to trifles. What Would you think of a sage minister of state, who should make it the utmost height of his wishes and ambition to be mounted on a hobby-horse ? F. You can't be serious for the soul of you ? EARL OF MORELAND. 17 A. It has been seriously, and truly, and literally the fact: for Haman being asked, by the greatest monarch upon earth, what should be done most desirable for the man whom the king de- lighted to honour? he answered, (in the persuasion that he him- self was the person), " Let the royal apparel be brought, and let •' him be arrayed therewith, and let him be put upon the horse " that the king useth to ride, and let him be brought through *' the street, and have it proclaimed before him, thus shall it be " done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour," What shall we say here? could the sage and ambitious Haman think of nothing better than what would have suited the request of a child of five years old ? Or was it that the Emperor of Asia, or this world ttself, had nothing more valuable to bestow, than a fine coat and a hobby-horse? F. How many volumes do you expect this work will contain? A. Sir, a book may be compared to the life of your neighbour. If it be good, it cannot last too long ; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early. F. But how long, I say, do you propose to make your story? A. My good friend, the reader may make it as short as he pleases. CHAPTER III. Juvenile sports — courage of our hero — peace restoivd — Harry's magnanimity — attempts to frighten him — opinions respecting Harry — leap-frog — consequence of ditto — new characters — ■ conversation on the reality of spirits — Anecdote — the man in gibbets. .Y lady piqued, thereat, told the earl, that she resolved once more to prove the wits of the youngster in breeches; and whispering to Dicky, he immediately went out, and took with him his com- panions. Soon after, Dick returns without his shoes, and with a pitiful face, cries, Brother Harry, I want a pair of shoes sadly, will you give me your's ? Yes, I will, said Harry, and instantly Np, 1, j> IS HISTORY OF HENRY strips and presents them to him. Then entered another hoy, and demanded his stockings in the like petitioning manner; another begged his hat, another his coat, another his waistcoat, all of which he bestowed without hesitation; but when the last boy crime in and petitioned for his shirt, No, I wont, said Harry, a little moody, I want a shirt myself. My lady then exclaimed, I yon my conscience, there is but the thickness of a bit of linen between this child, and a downright fool. But my lord rose up, took Harry in his arms, and having tenderly embraced him, God bless thee, my boy, he cried, and make thee an honour to Old England ! Dinner, soon after, was ordered up, and Harry permitted his nurse to retire peaceably to the kitchen during the interval, as he and all the masters were then on terms of amity. My lady placed Harry next herself at table, but no peer ever paid such a price at Pontac's, as our distressed hero did that day for his ordinary : for he must sit up just so, and hold hi* knife and fork just so, and cut his meat, and open his mouth* and swallow his victuals, just so, and so, and so. And then, be- tween every two words, there were so many my lords and my ladies, and, I thank you sir, and, I thank you madam, and master this* and master that, that poor Harry, no longer able to contain him- self, cried, 1 wish I was with my mammy in the kitchen. After dinner, the children were set to questions and commands ; but here our hero was beaten hollow, as he was afterward at draw-glove, and shuffle the slipper. They next came to hot-cockles, and Harry, being first down, and his left-hand well warmed for near a quarter of an hour, till, more by good luck than any good policy, lie tixed upon a delicate little gentleman, the son and heir of lord and lady Toilet, Who lay down accordingly ; when Harry, endeavouring to sum all the favours he had received in One payment, gave master such a whirrick, that his cries instantly sounded the ne plus ultra to such kind of diversions. But Harry being chid- den for his rudeness, and obliged to ask pardon, all was soon made whole again. Now throughout these several amusements, though this group of little quality behaved themselves with great good manners to wards our hero, yet, as my lady's judgment of his intellects became EARL OF MORELAND. j