Colonel James had not hitherto joined in the discourse. In truth, his thoughts had been otherwise employed; nor is it very difficult for the reader to guess what had been the subject of them. Being waked, however, from his reverie, and having heard the two or three last speeches, he turned to his brother, and asked him, why he would introduce such a topic of conversation before a gentleman of Dr Harrison's character? "Brother," cried Bath, " I own it was wrong, and I ask the Doctor's pardon; I know not how it happened to arise: for you know, brother, I am not used to talk of those matters. They are generally poltroons that do. I think I need not be beholden to my tongue to declare I am none. I have shewn myself in a line of battle. I believe there is no man will deny that; I believe I may say, no man dares deny that, that I have done my duty." The Colonel was thus proceeding to prove that his prowess was neither the subject of his discourse, nor the object of his vanity, when a servant entered, and summoned the company to tea with the ladies; a summons which Colonel James instantly obeyed, and was followed by all know, my dear, how gloomy the prospect was yesterday before our eyes, how inevitable ruin stared me in the face; and the dreadful idea of having entailed beggary on my Amelia and her posterity racked my mind: for though by the goodness of the Doctor I had regained my liberty, the debt yet remained; and if that worthy man had a design of forgiving me his share, this must have been my utmost hope; and the condition in which I must still have found myself need not to be expatiated on. In what light then shall I see, in what words shall I relate, the Colonel's kindness! O, my dear Amelia, he hath removed the whole gloom at once, hath driven all despair out of my mind, and hath filled it with the most sanguine, and, at the same time, the most reasonable hopes of making a comfortable provision for yourself and my dear children. In the first place, then, he will advance me a sum of money to pay off all my debts; and this on a bond to be repaid only when I shall become Colonel of a regiment, and not before. In the next place he is gone this very morning to ask a company for me, which is now vacant in the West Indies; and as he intends to push this with all his interest, neither he nor I have any doubt of his success. Now, my dear, comes the third, which, though perhaps it ought to give me the greatest joy, such is, I own, the weakness of my nature, it rends my very heartstrings asunder.-I cannot mention it: for I know it will give you equal pain—though I know on all proper occasions you can exert a manly resolution. You will not, I am convinced, oppose it, whatever you may suffer in complying-O, my dear Amelia, I must suffer likewise; yet I have resolved to bear it-You know not what my poor heart hath suffered since he made the proposal-It is love for you alone which could persuade me to submit to it -Consider our situation; consider that of our children; reflect but on those poor babes, whose future happiness is at stake, and it must arm your resolution. It is your interest and theirs that reconciled me to a proposal, which, when the Colonel first made it, struck me with the utmost horror: he hath, indeed, from these motives, persuaded me into a resolution, which I thought impossible for any one to have persuaded me into-O, my dear Amelia, let me entreat you to give me up to the good of your children; a I have promised the Colonel to give you up u their interest and your own. If you refuse thes terms, we are still undone; for he insists absolutely upon them-Think then, my love, how. ever hard they may be, necessity compels us t submit to them. I know in what light a wo man, who loves like you, must consider such s proposal; and yet how many instances have you of women, who, from the same motives, havi submitted to the same!" "What can you mean, Mr Booth ?" cries Amelia trembling. "Need I explain my meaning to you more?" answered Booth.-" Did I not say, I must give up my Amelia ?” "Give me up!" said she. "For a time only, I mean," answered he; "for a short time perhaps. The Colonel himself will take care it shall not be long-for I know his heart; I shall scarce have more joy in receiving you back, than he will have in restoring you to my arms. In the mean time, he will not only be a father to my children, but a husband to you." "A husband to me !” said Amelia. "Yes, my dear; a kind, a fond, a tender, an affectionate husband. If I had not the most certain assurances of this, doth my Amelia think I could be prevailed on to leave her?-No, my Amelia, he is the only man on earth who could have prevailed on me; but I know his house, his purse, his protection, will be all at your command-And as for any dislike you have conceived to his wife, let not that be any objection, for I am convinced he will not suffer her to insult you; besides, she is extremely well bred, and how much soever she may hate you in her heart, she will at least treat you with civility. Nay, the invitation is not his, but her's; and I am convinced they will both behave to you with the greatest friendship: his I am sure will be sincere, as to the wife of a friend entrusted to his care; and her's will, from good breeding, have not only the appearances, but the effects, of the truest friendship." "I understand you, my dear, at last," said she, (indeed she had rambled into very strange conceits from some parts of his discourse,)" and I will give you my resolution in a word-I will do the duty of a wife, and that is, to attend her husband wherever he goes.' Booth attempted to reason with her, but all to no purpose. She gave, indeed, a quiet hearing to all he said, and even to those parts which most displeased her ears; I mean, those in which he exaggerated the great goodness and disinterested generosity of his friend: but her resolution remained inflexible, and resisted the force of all his arguments, with a steadiness of opposition which would have been almost excusable in him to have construed into stubbornness. The Doctor arrived in the midst of the dispute; and having heard the merits of the cause on both sides, delivered his opinion in the following words: "I have always thought it, my dear children, a matter of the utmost nicety to interfere in any differences between husband and wife; but, since you both desire me, with such earnestness, to give you my sentiments on the present contest between you, I will give you my thoughts as well as I am able. In the first place then, can any thing be more reasonable than for a wife to desire to attend her husband? It is, as my favourite child observes, no more than a desire to do her duty; and I make no doubt but that is one great reason of her insisting on it. And how can you yourself oppose it? Can love be its own enemy? or can a husband, who is fond of his wife, content himself almost on any account with a long absence from her?" "You speak like an angel, my dear Doctor Harrison," answered Amelia; "I am sure, if he loved as tenderly as I do, he could on no account submit to it." "Pardon me, child," cries the Doctor," there are some reasons which would not only justify his leaving you, but which must force him, if he hath any real love for you, joined with common sense, to make that election. If it was necessary, for instance, either to your good, or the good of your children, he would not deserve the name of a man, I am sure not that of a husband, if he hesitated a moment. Nay, in that case, I am convinced, you yourself would be an advocate for what you now oppose. I fancy, therefore, I mistook him, when I apprehended he said, that the Colonel made his leaving you behind as the condition of getting him the commission; for I know my dear child hath too much goodness, too much sense, and too much resolution, to prefer any temporary indulgence of her own passions to the solid advantages of her whole family.' "There, my dear," cries Booth; "I knew what opinion the Doctor would be of. Nay, I am certain, there is not a wise man in the kingdom who would say otherwise." "Don't abuse me, young gentleman," said the Doctor, "with appellations I don't deserve."' "I abuse you, my dear Doctor!" cries Booth. "Yes, my dear sir," answered the Doctor; "you insinuated slily that I was wise, which, as the world understands the phrase, I should be ashamed of; and my comfort is, that no one can accuse me justly of it; I have just given an instance of the contrary, by throwing away my advice.' "I hope, sir,” cries Booth, "that will not be the case.' “Yes, sir,” answered the Doctor, "I know it will be the case in the present instance; for either you will not go at all, or my little turtle here will go with you." "You are in the right, Doctor," cries Amelia. "I am sorry for it," said the Doctor; "for then, I assure you, you are in the wrong." "Indeed," cries Amelia, "if you knew all my reasons, you would say they were very strong ones." "Very probably," cries the Doctor-" The knowledge that they are in the wrong, is a very strong reason with some women to continue so." "Nay, Doctor," cries Amelia, "you shall never persuade me of that. I will not believe that any human being ever did an action merely because they knew it to be wrong." "I am obliged to you, my dear child," said the Doctor, "for declaring your resolution of not being persuaded. Your husband would never call me a wise man again, if, after that declaration, I should attempt to persuade you.” "Well, I must be content," cries Amelia, "to let you think as you please.” "That is very gracious, indeed," said the Doctor. "Surely, in a country where the church suffers others to think as they please, it would Thus ended the conversation on this subject; what followed is not worth relating, till the Doctor carried off Booth with him to take a walk in the Park. CHAP. V. rison, with the result. be very hard if they had not themselves the same A conversation between Amelia and Doctor Harliberty. And yet, as unreasonable as the power of controuling men's thoughts is represented, I will shew you how you shall controul mine, .whenever you desire it." "How, pray!" cries Amelia. "I should greatly esteem that power." "Why, whenever you act like a wise woman," cries the Doctor, " you will force me to think you so; and whenever you are pleased to act as you do now, I shall be obliged, whether I will or no, to think as I do now." "Nay, dear Doctor," cries Booth, "I am convinced my Amelia will never do any thing to forfeit your good opinion. Consider but the cruel hardship of what she is to undergo, and you will make allowances for the difficulty she makes in complying. To say the truth, when I examine my own heart, I have more obligations to her than appear at first sight; for, by obliging me to find arguments to persuade her, she hath assisted me in conquering myself. Indeed, if she had shewn more resolution, I should have shewn less." "So you think it necessary then," said the Doctor," that there should be one fool at least in every maried couple. A mighty resolution truly, and well worth your valuing yourself upon! to part with your wife for a few months, in order to make the fortune of her and your children; vhen you are to leave her too in the care and protection of a friend that gives credit to the old stories of friendship, and does an honour to human nature. What, in the name of goodness, do either of you think that you have made an urion to endure for ever? How will either of you bear that separation which must some time or other, and perhaps very soon, be the lot of one of you? Have you forgot that you are both mortal?-As for Christianity, I see you have resigned all pretensions to it: for I make no doubt, but that you have so set your hearts on the happiness you enjoy here together, that neither of you ever think a word of hereafter." Amelia now burst into tears; upon which Booth begged the Doctor to proceed no further. Indeed, he would not have wanted the caution: for however blunt he appeared in his discourse, he had a tenderness of heart which is rarely found among men ; for which I know no other reason, than that true goodness is rarely found among them: for I am firmly persuaded, that the latter never possessed any human mind in any degree, without being attended by as large a portion of the former. AMELIA being left alone, began to consider seriously of her condition; she saw it would be very difficult to resist the importunities of her husband, backed by the authority of the Doctor, especially as she well knew how unreasonable her declarations must appear to every one who was ignorant of her real motives to persevere in it. On the other hand, she was fully determined, whatever might be the consequence, to adhere firmly to her resolution of not accepting the Colonel's invitation. When she had turned the matter every way in her mind, and vexed and tormented herself with much uneasy reflection upon it, a thought at last occurred to her, which immediately brought her some comfort. This was, to make a confident of the Doctor, and to impart to him the whole truth. This method, indeed, appeared to her now to be so advisable, that she wondered she had not hit upon it sooner; but it is the nature of despair to blind us to all the means of safety, however easy and apparent they may be. Having fixed her purpose in her mind, she wrote a short note to the Doctor, in which she acquainted him that she had something of great moment to impart to him, which must be an entire secret from her husband, and begged that she might have an opportunity of communicating it as soon as possible. Dr Harrison received the letter that afternoon, and immediately complied with Amelia's request in visiting her. He found her drinking tea with her husband and Mrs Atkinson, and sat down and joined the company. Soon after the removal of the tea-table, Mrs Atkinson left the room. The Doctor then turning to Booth, said, "I hope, Captain, you have a true sense of the obedience due to the church, though our clergy do not often exact it. However, it is proper to exercise our power some times, in order to remind the laity of their duty. I must tell you therefore, that I have some private business with your wife; and I expect your immediate absence." "Upon my word, Doctor," answered Booth, "no Popish confessor, I firmly believe, ever pronounced his will and pleasure with more gravity and dignity; none therefore was ever more im mediately obeyed than you shall be." Booth then quitted the room, and desired the Doctor to recal him when his business with the lady was over. Dr Harrison promised he would, and then turning to Amelia, he said, "Thus far, madam, I have obeyed your commands, and am now ready to receive the important secret which you mention in your note." Amelia now informed her friend of all she knew, all she had seen and heard, and all that she suspected of the Colonel. The good man seemed greatly shocked at the relation, and remained in a silent astonishment. Upon which Amelia said, "Is villainy so rare a thing, sir, that it should so much surprise you?"-" No, child," cries he; "but I am shocked at seeing it so artfully disguised under the appearance of so much virtue and to confess the truth, I believe my own vanity is a little hurt in having been so grossly imposed upon. Indeed, I had a very high regard for this man; for, besides the great character given him by your husband, and the many facts I have heard so much redounding to his honour, he had the fairest and most promising appearance I have ever yet beheld. A good face, they say, is a letter of recommendation. O Nature, Nature, why art thou so dishonest, as ever to send men with these false recommendations into the world!" "Indeed, my dear sir, I begin to grow entirely sick of it," cries Amelia; " for sure all mankind almost are villains in their hearts." "Fy, child," cries the Doctor; "do not make a conclusion so much to the dishonour of the great Creator. The nature of man is far from being in itself evil: it abounds with benevolence, charity, and pity, coveting praise and honour, and shunning shame and disgrace. Bad education, bad habits, and bad customs, debauch our nature, and drive it headlong, as it were, into vice. The governors of the world, and I am afraid the priesthood, are answerable for the badness of it. Instead of discouraging wickedness to the utmost of their power, both are apt to connive at it. In the great sin of adultery, for instance, hath the government provided any law to punish it; or doth the priest take any care to correct it? on the contrary, is the most notorious practice of it any detriment to a man's fortune, or to his reputation in the world; doth it exclude him from any preferment in the state, I had almost said, in the church? is it any blotch in his escutcheon? any bar to his honour? is he not to be found every day in the assemblies of women of the highest quality? in the closets of the greatest men, and even at the tables of bishops? What wonder, then, if the community in general treat this monstrous crime as matter of jest, and that men give way to the temptations of a violent appetite, when the indulgence of it is protected by law, and countenanced by custom? I am convinced there are good stamina in the nature of this very man; for he hath done acts of friendship and generosity to your husband, before he could have any evil design on your chastity; and in a Christian society, which I no more esteem this nation to be, than I do any part of Turkey, I doubt not but this very Colonel would have made a worthy and valuable member." "Indeed, my dear sir," cries Amelia, "you are the wisest as well as best man in the world." "Not a word of my wisdom," cries the Doctor; "I have not a grain,-I am not the least versed in the Chrematistic art, as an old friend of mine calls it. I know not how to get a shilling, nor how to keep it in my pocket, if I had it.' "But you understand human nature to the bottom," answered Amelia; "and your mind is the treasury of all ancient and modern learning." "You are a little flatterer," cries the Doctor; "but I dislike you not for it; and to shew you Í don't, I will return your flattery; and tell you, you have acted with great prudence in concealing this affair from your husband. But you have drawn me into a scrape; for I have promised to dine with this fellow again to-morrow; and you have made it impossible for me to keep my word." Nay but, dear sir," cries Amelia, " for Heaven's sake, take care. If you shew any kind of disrespect to the Colonel, my husband may be led into some suspicion-especially after our conference." "Fear nothing, child. I will give him no hint; and that I may be certain of not doing it, I will stay away. You do not think, I hope, that I will join in a cheerful conversation with such a man; that I will so far betray my character as to give any countenance to such flagitious proceedings? Besides, my promise was only conditional; and I do not know whether I could otherwise have kept it; for I expect an old friend every day, who comes to town twenty miles on foot to see me ; whom I shall not part with on any account; for, as he is very poor, he may imagine I treat him with disrespect." "Well, sir," cries Amelia, "I must admire you, and love you for your goodness." "Must you love me?" cries the Doctor. "I could cure you now in a minute, if I pleased.” "Indeed, I defy you, sir," said Amelia. "If I could but persuade you," answered he, "that I thought you not handsome, away would vanish all ideas of goodness in an instant. Confess honestly, would they not?" Perhaps I might blame the goodness of your eyes,” replied Amelia ;" and that is perhaps an honester confession than you expected. But do pray, sir, be serious; and give me your advice what to do. Consider the difficult game I have to * The art of getting wealth is so called by Aristotle in his Politics. play; for I am sure, after what I have told you, you would not even suffer me to remain under the roof of this Colonel." "No, indeed, would I not," said the Doctor; "whilst I have a house of my own to entertain you." "But how to dissuade my husband," continued she, "without giving him any suspicion of the real cause, the consequences of his guessing at which, I tremble to think upon.” "I will consult my pillow upon it," said the Doctor, "and in the morning you shall see me again. In the mean time be comforted, and compose the perturbations of your mind." Well, sir," said she, "I put my whole trust in you." "I am sorry to hear it," cries the Doctor. "Your innocence may give you a very confident trust in a much more powerful assistance. However, I will do all I can to serve you; and now, if you please, we will call back your husband; for, upon my word, he hath shewn a good catholic patience. And where is the honest serjeant and his wife? I am pleased with the behaviour of you both to that worthy fellow, in opposition to the custom of the world; which, instead of being formed on the precepts of our religion to consider each other as brethren, teaches us to regard those who are a degree below us, either in rank or fortune, as a species of beings of an inferior order in the creation." The Captain now returned into the room, as did the serjeant and Mrs Atkinson; and the two couple, with the Doctor, spent the evening together with great mirth and festivity; for the Doctor was one of the best companions in the world; and a vein of cheerfulness, good-humour, and pleasantry, ran through his conversation, with which it was impossible to resist being pleased. CHAP. VI. stab her instantly, unless she complied with his desires. Upon this, the serjeant started up in his bed, and, catching his wife by the throat, cried out, " D-n you, put up your sword this instant, and leave the room; or, by Heaven, I'll drive mine to your heart's blood." This rough treatment immediately roused Mrs Atkinson from her sleep, who no sooner perceived the position of her husband, and felt his hand grasping her throat, than she gave a violent shriek, and presently fell into a fit. Atkinson now waked likewise, and soon became sensible of the violent agitations of his wife. He immediately leaped out of bed, and, running for a bottle of water, began to sprinkle her very plentifully, but all to no purpose; she neither spoke, nor gave any symptoms of recovery. Atkinson then began to roar aloud; upon which Booth, who lay under him, jumped from his hed, and ran up with the lighted candle in his hand. The serjeant had no sooner taken the candle, than he ran with it to the bed-side. Here he beheld a sight which almost deprived him of his senses. The bed appeared to be all over blood, and his wife weltering in the midst of it. Upon this, the serjeant, almost in a frenzy, cried out, "O Heavens! I have killed my wife. I have stabbed her."-" What can be the meaning of all this?" said Booth.-" O sir,” cries the ser jeant, "I dreamed I was rescuing your lady from the hands of Colonel James, and I have killed my poor wife."-Here he threw himself upon the bed by her, caught her in his arms, and be haved like one frantic with despair. By this time Amelia had thrown on a wrapping gown, and was come up into the room, where the serjeant and his wife were lying on the bed, and Booth standing like a motionless statue by the bedside. Amelia had some difficul ty to conquer the effects of her own surprise on this occasion; for a more ghastly and horrible sight than the bed presented, could not be conceived. Amelia sent Booth to call up the maid of the Containing as surprising an accident as is per- house, in order to lend her assistance: but, be haps recorded in history. BOOTH had acquainted the serjeant with the great goodness of Colonel James, and with the cheerful prospects which he entertained from it. This Atkinson behind the curtain communicated to his wife. The conclusions which she drew from it, need scarce be hinted to the reader. She made, indeed, no scruple of plainly and bluntly telling her husband that the Colonel had a most manifest intention to attack the chastity of Amelia. This thought gave the poor serjeant great uneasiness, and after having kept him long awake, tormented him in his sleep with a most horrid dream, in which he imagined that he saw the Colonel standing by the bed-side of Amelia, with a naked sword in his hand, and threatening to fore his return, Mrs Atkinson began to come to herself; and soon after, to the inexpressible joy of the serjeant, it was discovered she had no wound. Indeed, the delicate nose of Amelia soon made that discovery, which the grosser smell of the serjeant, and perhaps his fright, had prevented him from making: for now it ap peared, that the red liquor with which the bed was stained, though it may, perhaps, sometimes run through the veins of a fine lady, what is properly called blood, but was, indeed, no other than cherry brandy, a bottle of which Mrs Atkinson always kept in her room to be ready for immediate use, and to which she used to apply for comfort in all her afflictions. This the poor serjeant, in his extreme hurry, had mistaken for a bottle of water. Matters were now soon accommodated; and no other mischief was not |