Roper's
conversation
when ihf
was not in her sister's company, yet when
she was, Pekin was the sweetest of all
sweet creatures, and Mrs.
was not in her sister's company, yet when
she was, Pekin was the sweetest of all
sweet creatures, and Mrs.
Childrens - Tales of the Hermitage
50 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIFD,
panied Loid Macartney in his embassy
to China, and who had acquired suffici-
ent knowledge of the language to be
enabled to plead his passion, which he
did with so much energy, as to induce
the credulous Ousenque to alter her
dress to that which was worn by the
other sex, and request the captain of the
ship to indulge her with a passage to Eng-
land. The request was easily obtained,
and the uhfortunate girl quitted her coun-
try, home, and friends, for an ungrateful
and abandoned seducer, who, soon after
the ship was paid off, entered on board
another bound for the East Indies, leav-
ing her in a strange country, without
money to support or friends to comfort
her. The landlady of the public house
at which she lodged at Portsmouth, com-
passionating her forlorn situation, gave
her sifteen shillings out of her own pock-
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? AND ART DETECTED', jl
et, (though she owed near five-and twenty
for the room) and a letter to Lord Ma-
cartney, describing her situation, and
entreating his assistance. With thUr
letter in her pocket, and the child sast-
ened to her back, the poor creature set
off for London: but just as she had
reached the skirts of Kingston, she was
knocked down, robbed of a little bun-
dle that contained her purse, wardrobe,
and letter, and, in all probability, would
then have ended both her misery and
her life, but for the humane interference
of a stage coachman, who, perceiving
something lying on the road, jumped
from his box, and observing the insensi-
ble state to which she was reduced, lift-
ed her into the coach which happened to
be empty, stopped at the first public
house he came to, and left her in the
care qs the mistress, promising to pay
. f 2 all
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? 52 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
all expenses when he returned the next
day. This benevolent design was frus-
trated by the horses taking fright about
ten miles from Kingston, running away
with the carriage, and dashing it with
violence against a gate-post, by which
means the poor fellow was thrown from
his box and broke his leg.
The wretched Ousanque, thus reduced
to the most abject state of misery, wan-
dered round Kingston in a state of mind
little inferior to distraction, which was
heightened by the constant cries of the
insant far that nourishment which na-
ture denied it, and which the unfeeling
inhabitants refused to bestow. Then it
was that the idea os committing it' to tho
waves first occurred, and' the. conse-
quences attending it were no less savour-
able to Ousanque, than they were; to the
child.
Whilst
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? AND ART DETECTED.
53
1' hilst Mrs. Cavendish was attentive?
iy listening to the poor woman's relation,
Matilda was' amusing herself with ad-
mixing the beauty of the child j and.
when she heard. her Mamma declare it
was her intention to take both home
with her, the delight lie felt was visible
in all her features, and she protested she
would nurse it all day long^ and never
play with a doll again.
The singularity both of the mother's
and child's dress attracted her notice, and
called forth her astonishment j and when
the perceived that the popr little creature
was bound up so tight with a swathing
band that it could not use any of its
limbs, she was absolutely shocked at the
sight, and declared it was more cruel than
drowning it; " for then, Mamma,"
suid she, " it would have been out oj it$
F 3 . fain,
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? INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
pain, but now it has a whole life of mi-
serf. "
Mrs. Cavendish informed her it was a
custom with the Chinese to confine the
limbs of the children, from an idea that
they would grow crooked if they were
suffered to twist them about in any one
form that inclination dictated ; and their
feet in particular were subject to confined
ment, as the men of that Country were
more attracted by the beauty of a small
foot, than the charms of a pretty face.
Ousanque's joy and gratitude when
. Mrs. Cavendish promised to befriend
her, arid represent her forlorn situation
to Lord Macartney, was testified by a
thousand marks of respect and venera-
tion j she knelt at her feet, kissed the
hem of tier garment, and seemed to con-
sider her as an absolute deity.
Matilda entreated that the child might
>> be
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? AND ART DETECTED. . ' 5i5 '
be. pressed like an European, and that
she might have the satissaction of making
it clothes, a circumstance which -asto-
nished her Mamma, as she was by no
means fond of work, . -
Mrs. Cavendish fulfilled her promise'
of writing to Lord Macartney . in behalf
of the unfortunate Ousanque, and Was
in daily expectation of a reply, when
the poor creature was suddenly taken ex-
tremely . ill. . . An apothecary was imme-
diately sent for, who upon the first visit
thought the symptoms foreboded the
small-pox. The next day proved his
opinion to have been well founded^ and
i>>a short time the disease macfdMts ap-
pearance with every mark of virulence
and danger that colld attend it.
Every kindness that humanity could
dictate and feeling pay,' tfre utthappy
susferer received from her benevolent be,
nesactress,"
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? 56 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
nefactress, and at those lucid intervals
which the fever sometimes permitted
her to experience, she expressed her gra-
titude in such terms of genuine feeling,
that Mrs. Cavendish was often obliged
so leave the apartment to disguise her
emotions, and drop a tear to her misfor-
tunes.
From the first appearance of the dis-
order, Mr. Longford the apothecary
was convinced it would be fatal;. he in-
formed Mrs. Cavendish that no art could
save her j and the event f ;on proved the
clearness of his judgment.
The little insant began to sicken on
the day its poor mother died ; and as Mrs>>
Cavendish then considered it an absolute
duty to protect and support it, she re-
solved if it lived to bestow upon it such
an education as would enable it to earn
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? ANsA A RT. DETECTED. ' JJ
its own subsistence in a manner that was
respectable, and not laborious.
The first step she took after the death
of the mother was to have it made a
Christian, and "to entreat that Mr. and
Mrs. Fowler, who were her particular
friends, would join with her in becom-
ing sponsors. Matilda wanted it to bq
called after herself; butMts. Cavendish-
pointed put the inconvenience that would;
Vttend it; and it was at length agreed
that Pekin should be the name, by way
$f reminding it of its unfortunate mo-
ther's country.
Although the little Pekin received the
infection from such a satal-and dreadful
kind, yet it had the complaint in a most
favourable manner, and in less than six
weeks not a single mark of the disorder
vas. visible upon her skin. . . .
. Matilda's afiectjon foruhe child daily
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? |8 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
increased, and the little soul fooa testi-
fied that it was grateful for her kindness.
As soon as it could speak she undertook
to teach it the alphabet, and by the time
it was four years old it could read any
of Mrs. Trimmer's little stories as well
as its governess, who at that period had
entered her tenth year.
Mrs. Cavendish's youngest brother
had, to the great displeasure of all his
family, married the daughter ofacountty
shopkeeper, whose beauty had pleased
his eye, and whose art and duplicity ha*
imposed upon his understanding. He
Was then a young ensign in the forty-se-
cond regiment, and, though of good faT
mily, was possessed of a very small for-
tune, and therefore it was both an impo-
litic and irriprudent measure.
None of his relations except Mrs.
Gayendish would ever condescend to
have
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? AND ART DttECTfD.
haveany intercourse with him, or the ob-
ject of his affection; and though shc
was no less vexed at his marriage than
they were, she invited both himself and
bride to pass the summer with her at
Kingston. . .
The vulgarity of Mrs. Roper's man-
ners, the low cunning of her mind, and
the design and artifice which was visible
in all her actions, was so obvious to
Mrs. Cavendiih, that slie was astoniftied
that even a youth*>f nineteen could have
been duped by them. The young en-
sign, however, did not live long enough
to repeat the folly of his conduct ; for a
violent cold settled upon his lungs when
he had been about five months married,
which brought on a rapid decline, and
he died whilst on a visit to his asfectionate
sitter, recommending his wife and her
expected
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? 6o INNOCENCfe JUSTIF'jED,
expected little one to her tenderness and
protection.
Mrs. Cavendish was at that time in
deep mourning for an amiable husband,
and had her sisier-in-law been a disferent
kind of woman, her company and soci-
ety would have been a great acquisition,
as Matilda was then only nine months
old ; but the dissimilarity of their tem-
pers, dispositions, and manners was too
striking for such a plan to be adopted ;
and Mrs. Cavendish preferred allowing
her sister a hundred a year out of her
own income, to letting her remain an
inmate of the samily,- and hoped that she
would return to her own connsxions,
and spend it in what manner she thought
proper.
But Mrs. Roper knew her own inte-
rest too weil to quit the neighbourhood,
and, under pretence of violent asfection,
i declared
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? AND ART DETECTED. 6l
declared that all her happiness was cen-
tered in being able to trace her dear
Edward's features in the lovely counte-
nance of his amiable sister !
A small first'floor was accordingly
hired at Kingston, and under the pre-
tence of admiring one thing, and wiJJjing
for another, Mrs. Roper contrived al-
most to double her hundred a-year.
The little childy which proved to be
a girl, was extremely like its deceased
sather, and Mrs. Cavendish felt for it
almost a maternal tenderness : as there
was not more than twelvemonths disfer-
ence in the age of Charlotte (which was
the child's name) and tier cousin Ma-
tilda, they spent a great deal of ti me to-
gether, though the disference efthek
dispositions occasionedfrequent disputes
between tb? r>>>> 1 . . '? . . --r. t" -.
* '. 'From the moment Mrs. 'CavendiPa
o adopted
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? 62 INNOCEtfCE JUSTIFIED,
adopted the little Fekin, Mrs. Roper
became restless and dissatisfied, and with
much difficulty refrained from expres-
sing her disapprobation even before her
sister ; but this restraint was amply com-.
pensated for, in her absence, and Char-
lotte was taught {o consider Pekin as an
absolute obstacle to her happiness and
her interest. Mrs. Roper would be con-
tinually seizing all her acquaintance
with accounts of her own. misfortunes,
or ill-founded complaints of: her sister's
injustice, in giving away property which
ought to belong to her and Charlotte, to
a good-for-nothing, worthless, lUtle va-
gabond, who she knew would requite all
her kindness with scorn,artifice, and in-
gratitude t every body knows (she would
fay) what a horrid set of creatures the
Chinese are; that they live by cheating,
plundering, and theft \ and that little
wretch
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? AND ART DETECTED. 63
wretch has already given proofs pf its
national depravity.
Although this was the general tenour
of Mrs.
Roper's conversation when ihf
was not in her sister's company, yet when
she was, Pekin was the sweetest of all
sweet creatures, and Mrs. Cavendish the
most amiable of women. --Charlotte was
not of age to be an adept in hypocrisy,
and the refore she testisied her real dis?
like by a thousand ill-natured, spiteful
tricks, which poor little Pekin submit-
ted to in silence, without murmur or
complaint; for, notwithstanding Mrs.
Roper's malignant assertions, it was im-
possible to find. . a child more completely
agreeable. . .
9 * FART
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? 64 INNOCENCE. JUSTIFIED,
PART THE SECOND. .
A S this beautiful, amiable, and inte-
resting girl, advanced. in years, Mrs*
Roper had the mortification of perceiv^
ing that Mrs. Cavendish's asfection in-
creased, and that her own child seemed
darrf to lose ground-in her good ops-'
riibnV The truth was, Mrs. Cavendish
had discovered iii her niece's temper ani
inclination both to" jealousy and envy, and
a littleness of mfnd that was capable of
stooping to any meanness, which les-
sened her regard, and decreased her
esteem.
It was Mrs. Cavendish's wish to give
her little pretegee such an education as
v would
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? ART. DETECTEq. #5
"i . ~.
\you}d enable her t. o undertake the in-
struction of young ladies, and in the
capacity of private goyerness render
herself both useful and respectable, arid*
therefore, ihe took lessons from the fame
masters, and received the fame atten-
tjons from them, as Matilda and Char-
lotte did, Th^s circumstance was aX,
once pleasing to Marijda, and painful to
Charlotte, whose inveteracy against Pe-
kjn was increased by the encomiums
which were bellowed upon her, and
who, finding herself unable to injure her
in Mrs. Cavendith's opinion by ill-na-
tured hints and jly suggestions, was at
length resolved upon her ruin by the
practice of manoeuvres which were as
deeply laid, as they were iniquitoufly
designed. .
At the back of Mrs. CaveiustsiVs
house was an excellent garden, which 03 was
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? 66 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
was abundantly stocked with every kind
of wall? fruit--this fruit Mrs. Caven-
dish was particularly choice of, for the
- pleasure of presenting to such of her
friends as were not accommodated with
the convenience. of a wall.
Charlotte upon perceiving her aunt's
desire to preserve the fruit, was resolved
to defeat it, and watched her opportu-
nity of going . into the garden with such
admirable nicety, that she contrived to
twitch three or four peaches and necta-
rines from the trees every time she en-
tered it, the stone of which she always
placed at the bottom of a little box
which Fekin kept in her own bed-room.
For some days Mrs. Cavendish ima-
gined the trees were thinner without be-
ing positive as to the circumstance \ at
length she resolved to count the fruit
without mentioning her suspicion to a
single
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? AND ART DETECTED. ' 67
single soul. The next morning The
walked into the garden and'discovered.
that eleven of the finest peaches. were nA(. >'
sing--Matilda and Pekin, Mrs. Roper
and Charlotte were all at work JwHHS't
drawing-room when Mrs. Cavendish
entered, and expressed her vexation at
the circumstance, and her wish to dis-\
cover the person who had been guilty of .
such disgraceful conduct. - '. ""
" I thought Pekin," said Charlotte,
" you codd not eat all those peaches and'
neclarlnes, which I have seen you gather,
without being discovered; and had I
not known that my cousin would have';
called me tell-tale, I would have called'
my aunt to look at you the first time I
saw you take them. "
" Saw me take peaches ! Miss Roper/*
said the child, evidently embarrassed a*'
the boldness of the charge. ** I declare
upon
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? 6S INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
upon my honour 1 have never touched a
peach this year but what Mrs. Cavendish
was so kind to give me. " ; . , . .
" Yes," replied Charlotte, " I saw
you take peaches and netlarines too, if that's .
English ; and saw you carry them up<
flairs in your bed-room--? what say you
to that, Miss Honesty ? Can you deny
that? " , J
<< Tes, that I can," said Pekin, burst-
ing into tears, 'f* artd wonder how you
can be so wicked as to say such a thing. ''
" What do you mean j you little pre. .
sumptuous vagabond," exclaimed Mrs.
Roper, " by daring to accuse my daugh-
ter of uttering an untruth ? \ thought
how my sister would be requited for her
generosity, for the whole tribe of your
countrymen all are thieves and fwind-
<< My dear Mrs. Roper," said Mrs,
",'. . '. Caven-
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? . AND ART DETECTED.
Cavendish, " that little girl is under my
protection, and I can neither susfer her
to be insulted nor oppressed ; if (he be\
taken the peaches, she has been. guihy of
a very great fault, and I am* the person
to judge of the proper mode of punish-
ing it ; but I am inclined to think my
niece must be mistaken. "
" Oh, indeed. Aunt, I am not mis-
taken," replied Charlotte, " for I met
her eating one up stairs, and saw the
juice quite run down to her fingers'
ends. '*" l. '. . >>" - '.
. v Suppose," said Mrs; Roper, " you
were to go up frail's, sister ;rmost likely
the stones might yet be remaining eitHeV
in her drawers or boxes. 1 ch I \f ,m )? tt
Mrs. Cavendish followed the advice,
and returned in five rnihntes, with no*
less than f6rty stoaes. belonging to peaches
and nectarines. i\~*', * . '. * --'<i <"*
1 Pekin
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? JO INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
Pekin coloured like scarlet, and, in a
tremulous voice, said, <<< You did not
find those in my room, Ma'am. "
" Yes," replied Mrs. Cavendish, "tut
J did; and I must confes. , that I should
as loon have expected to have found a
dagger there: indeed, Pekin, this con-
duct of yours has wounded my peace,
' destroyed my hopes, and sapped the very
foundation of my frieodjbip. The tak-
ing the fruit I could very easily have
forgiven; but to assert an untruth with
all that calmness of asfected innocence,
is what I could not have expected, and
what I am resolved mt ta forgive;
therefore, go this instant to your apart-
jnent, and do not let me fee you until
my feelings are less exasperated, and my
anger more subdued. "
Fearful of offending, by presuming
to plead for mercy, the agitated Pekin
left
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? AND ART DETECTED. 71
test the room, and in an agony of Sr>ef
retired to her own apartment Matilda
was not suffered to go near her ftiend;
and hail not the servants who carried up
her fcod informed their mistress that
scarcely any part of it was eaten,, and
that the little prisoner was overwhelmed
. with grief, her confinement would have
been protracted much beyond three days;
but the apprehension of her making her-
self ill induced Mrs. Cavendish to for-
give the fault, and Charlotte had the
mortification of seeing her restored to
favour.
Mrs. Roper, who bad been accessary
to the scheme, was heartily vexed at its
ill success; yet botti Charlotte and her.
self were resolved to attempt another,
which, though more hazardous, was
Jikely to be attended with more certain
consequences. . . >>
Mrs.
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? 72 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
Mrs. Cavendish was particularly par-
tial to a small miniature of her late hus-
band's, which was set as a bracelet, and
was kept in a small box that was opened
by a spring-lock, and stood upon her
dressing-table. This box she made a
. point of never opening in the presence
of the servants, but all the children
were acquainted with the secret spririg;
Charlotte, therefore, resolved to make
herself mistress of this valuable treasure,
and disclosing her intention to an igno-
rant girl, who had formerly lived ser-
vant with Mrs. Roper, and was then
^oing to London, persuaded her so sar to
Second the design as to undertake the
disposal of it; and if any questions
were asked, to say she was sent by the
little girl who lived at Mrs. Cavendish's,
and that it was a picture she had found
as she was walking by the river side.
>>". T As
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? AND ART DETECTED. . 73
As Mrs. Cavendish had never lived at
Kingston, and the girl was known to
have been servant to Mrs. Cavendish's
sister-in-law, the jeweller had no reason
to doubt the truth of the circumstance
she related; he therefore took the pic-
ture, paid a guinea down for it, and
promised another, if it was not claimed
in the course os a month, which he .
thought likely to happen, as he con-
cluded it belonged to some pqrson in the
neighbourhood, and would be adver-
tised.
As Mrs. Cavendish never wore the
-bracelet but when she was particularly
dressed, a fortnight elapsed after it was
fold before the lpfs was discovered, and
Charlotte's patience began to be almost
exhausted. . At length the wished-for.
day arrived which was ta hurl deilruc-.
tion upon the object of her hatred, and
u give
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panied Loid Macartney in his embassy
to China, and who had acquired suffici-
ent knowledge of the language to be
enabled to plead his passion, which he
did with so much energy, as to induce
the credulous Ousenque to alter her
dress to that which was worn by the
other sex, and request the captain of the
ship to indulge her with a passage to Eng-
land. The request was easily obtained,
and the uhfortunate girl quitted her coun-
try, home, and friends, for an ungrateful
and abandoned seducer, who, soon after
the ship was paid off, entered on board
another bound for the East Indies, leav-
ing her in a strange country, without
money to support or friends to comfort
her. The landlady of the public house
at which she lodged at Portsmouth, com-
passionating her forlorn situation, gave
her sifteen shillings out of her own pock-
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? AND ART DETECTED', jl
et, (though she owed near five-and twenty
for the room) and a letter to Lord Ma-
cartney, describing her situation, and
entreating his assistance. With thUr
letter in her pocket, and the child sast-
ened to her back, the poor creature set
off for London: but just as she had
reached the skirts of Kingston, she was
knocked down, robbed of a little bun-
dle that contained her purse, wardrobe,
and letter, and, in all probability, would
then have ended both her misery and
her life, but for the humane interference
of a stage coachman, who, perceiving
something lying on the road, jumped
from his box, and observing the insensi-
ble state to which she was reduced, lift-
ed her into the coach which happened to
be empty, stopped at the first public
house he came to, and left her in the
care qs the mistress, promising to pay
. f 2 all
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? 52 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
all expenses when he returned the next
day. This benevolent design was frus-
trated by the horses taking fright about
ten miles from Kingston, running away
with the carriage, and dashing it with
violence against a gate-post, by which
means the poor fellow was thrown from
his box and broke his leg.
The wretched Ousanque, thus reduced
to the most abject state of misery, wan-
dered round Kingston in a state of mind
little inferior to distraction, which was
heightened by the constant cries of the
insant far that nourishment which na-
ture denied it, and which the unfeeling
inhabitants refused to bestow. Then it
was that the idea os committing it' to tho
waves first occurred, and' the. conse-
quences attending it were no less savour-
able to Ousanque, than they were; to the
child.
Whilst
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? AND ART DETECTED.
53
1' hilst Mrs. Cavendish was attentive?
iy listening to the poor woman's relation,
Matilda was' amusing herself with ad-
mixing the beauty of the child j and.
when she heard. her Mamma declare it
was her intention to take both home
with her, the delight lie felt was visible
in all her features, and she protested she
would nurse it all day long^ and never
play with a doll again.
The singularity both of the mother's
and child's dress attracted her notice, and
called forth her astonishment j and when
the perceived that the popr little creature
was bound up so tight with a swathing
band that it could not use any of its
limbs, she was absolutely shocked at the
sight, and declared it was more cruel than
drowning it; " for then, Mamma,"
suid she, " it would have been out oj it$
F 3 . fain,
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? INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
pain, but now it has a whole life of mi-
serf. "
Mrs. Cavendish informed her it was a
custom with the Chinese to confine the
limbs of the children, from an idea that
they would grow crooked if they were
suffered to twist them about in any one
form that inclination dictated ; and their
feet in particular were subject to confined
ment, as the men of that Country were
more attracted by the beauty of a small
foot, than the charms of a pretty face.
Ousanque's joy and gratitude when
. Mrs. Cavendish promised to befriend
her, arid represent her forlorn situation
to Lord Macartney, was testified by a
thousand marks of respect and venera-
tion j she knelt at her feet, kissed the
hem of tier garment, and seemed to con-
sider her as an absolute deity.
Matilda entreated that the child might
>> be
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? AND ART DETECTED. . ' 5i5 '
be. pressed like an European, and that
she might have the satissaction of making
it clothes, a circumstance which -asto-
nished her Mamma, as she was by no
means fond of work, . -
Mrs. Cavendish fulfilled her promise'
of writing to Lord Macartney . in behalf
of the unfortunate Ousanque, and Was
in daily expectation of a reply, when
the poor creature was suddenly taken ex-
tremely . ill. . . An apothecary was imme-
diately sent for, who upon the first visit
thought the symptoms foreboded the
small-pox. The next day proved his
opinion to have been well founded^ and
i>>a short time the disease macfdMts ap-
pearance with every mark of virulence
and danger that colld attend it.
Every kindness that humanity could
dictate and feeling pay,' tfre utthappy
susferer received from her benevolent be,
nesactress,"
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? 56 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
nefactress, and at those lucid intervals
which the fever sometimes permitted
her to experience, she expressed her gra-
titude in such terms of genuine feeling,
that Mrs. Cavendish was often obliged
so leave the apartment to disguise her
emotions, and drop a tear to her misfor-
tunes.
From the first appearance of the dis-
order, Mr. Longford the apothecary
was convinced it would be fatal;. he in-
formed Mrs. Cavendish that no art could
save her j and the event f ;on proved the
clearness of his judgment.
The little insant began to sicken on
the day its poor mother died ; and as Mrs>>
Cavendish then considered it an absolute
duty to protect and support it, she re-
solved if it lived to bestow upon it such
an education as would enable it to earn
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? ANsA A RT. DETECTED. ' JJ
its own subsistence in a manner that was
respectable, and not laborious.
The first step she took after the death
of the mother was to have it made a
Christian, and "to entreat that Mr. and
Mrs. Fowler, who were her particular
friends, would join with her in becom-
ing sponsors. Matilda wanted it to bq
called after herself; butMts. Cavendish-
pointed put the inconvenience that would;
Vttend it; and it was at length agreed
that Pekin should be the name, by way
$f reminding it of its unfortunate mo-
ther's country.
Although the little Pekin received the
infection from such a satal-and dreadful
kind, yet it had the complaint in a most
favourable manner, and in less than six
weeks not a single mark of the disorder
vas. visible upon her skin. . . .
. Matilda's afiectjon foruhe child daily
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? |8 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
increased, and the little soul fooa testi-
fied that it was grateful for her kindness.
As soon as it could speak she undertook
to teach it the alphabet, and by the time
it was four years old it could read any
of Mrs. Trimmer's little stories as well
as its governess, who at that period had
entered her tenth year.
Mrs. Cavendish's youngest brother
had, to the great displeasure of all his
family, married the daughter ofacountty
shopkeeper, whose beauty had pleased
his eye, and whose art and duplicity ha*
imposed upon his understanding. He
Was then a young ensign in the forty-se-
cond regiment, and, though of good faT
mily, was possessed of a very small for-
tune, and therefore it was both an impo-
litic and irriprudent measure.
None of his relations except Mrs.
Gayendish would ever condescend to
have
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? AND ART DttECTfD.
haveany intercourse with him, or the ob-
ject of his affection; and though shc
was no less vexed at his marriage than
they were, she invited both himself and
bride to pass the summer with her at
Kingston. . .
The vulgarity of Mrs. Roper's man-
ners, the low cunning of her mind, and
the design and artifice which was visible
in all her actions, was so obvious to
Mrs. Cavendiih, that slie was astoniftied
that even a youth*>f nineteen could have
been duped by them. The young en-
sign, however, did not live long enough
to repeat the folly of his conduct ; for a
violent cold settled upon his lungs when
he had been about five months married,
which brought on a rapid decline, and
he died whilst on a visit to his asfectionate
sitter, recommending his wife and her
expected
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? 6o INNOCENCfe JUSTIF'jED,
expected little one to her tenderness and
protection.
Mrs. Cavendish was at that time in
deep mourning for an amiable husband,
and had her sisier-in-law been a disferent
kind of woman, her company and soci-
ety would have been a great acquisition,
as Matilda was then only nine months
old ; but the dissimilarity of their tem-
pers, dispositions, and manners was too
striking for such a plan to be adopted ;
and Mrs. Cavendish preferred allowing
her sister a hundred a year out of her
own income, to letting her remain an
inmate of the samily,- and hoped that she
would return to her own connsxions,
and spend it in what manner she thought
proper.
But Mrs. Roper knew her own inte-
rest too weil to quit the neighbourhood,
and, under pretence of violent asfection,
i declared
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? AND ART DETECTED. 6l
declared that all her happiness was cen-
tered in being able to trace her dear
Edward's features in the lovely counte-
nance of his amiable sister !
A small first'floor was accordingly
hired at Kingston, and under the pre-
tence of admiring one thing, and wiJJjing
for another, Mrs. Roper contrived al-
most to double her hundred a-year.
The little childy which proved to be
a girl, was extremely like its deceased
sather, and Mrs. Cavendish felt for it
almost a maternal tenderness : as there
was not more than twelvemonths disfer-
ence in the age of Charlotte (which was
the child's name) and tier cousin Ma-
tilda, they spent a great deal of ti me to-
gether, though the disference efthek
dispositions occasionedfrequent disputes
between tb? r>>>> 1 . . '? . . --r. t" -.
* '. 'From the moment Mrs. 'CavendiPa
o adopted
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? 62 INNOCEtfCE JUSTIFIED,
adopted the little Fekin, Mrs. Roper
became restless and dissatisfied, and with
much difficulty refrained from expres-
sing her disapprobation even before her
sister ; but this restraint was amply com-.
pensated for, in her absence, and Char-
lotte was taught {o consider Pekin as an
absolute obstacle to her happiness and
her interest. Mrs. Roper would be con-
tinually seizing all her acquaintance
with accounts of her own. misfortunes,
or ill-founded complaints of: her sister's
injustice, in giving away property which
ought to belong to her and Charlotte, to
a good-for-nothing, worthless, lUtle va-
gabond, who she knew would requite all
her kindness with scorn,artifice, and in-
gratitude t every body knows (she would
fay) what a horrid set of creatures the
Chinese are; that they live by cheating,
plundering, and theft \ and that little
wretch
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? AND ART DETECTED. 63
wretch has already given proofs pf its
national depravity.
Although this was the general tenour
of Mrs.
Roper's conversation when ihf
was not in her sister's company, yet when
she was, Pekin was the sweetest of all
sweet creatures, and Mrs. Cavendish the
most amiable of women. --Charlotte was
not of age to be an adept in hypocrisy,
and the refore she testisied her real dis?
like by a thousand ill-natured, spiteful
tricks, which poor little Pekin submit-
ted to in silence, without murmur or
complaint; for, notwithstanding Mrs.
Roper's malignant assertions, it was im-
possible to find. . a child more completely
agreeable. . .
9 * FART
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? 64 INNOCENCE. JUSTIFIED,
PART THE SECOND. .
A S this beautiful, amiable, and inte-
resting girl, advanced. in years, Mrs*
Roper had the mortification of perceiv^
ing that Mrs. Cavendish's asfection in-
creased, and that her own child seemed
darrf to lose ground-in her good ops-'
riibnV The truth was, Mrs. Cavendish
had discovered iii her niece's temper ani
inclination both to" jealousy and envy, and
a littleness of mfnd that was capable of
stooping to any meanness, which les-
sened her regard, and decreased her
esteem.
It was Mrs. Cavendish's wish to give
her little pretegee such an education as
v would
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? ART. DETECTEq. #5
"i . ~.
\you}d enable her t. o undertake the in-
struction of young ladies, and in the
capacity of private goyerness render
herself both useful and respectable, arid*
therefore, ihe took lessons from the fame
masters, and received the fame atten-
tjons from them, as Matilda and Char-
lotte did, Th^s circumstance was aX,
once pleasing to Marijda, and painful to
Charlotte, whose inveteracy against Pe-
kjn was increased by the encomiums
which were bellowed upon her, and
who, finding herself unable to injure her
in Mrs. Cavendith's opinion by ill-na-
tured hints and jly suggestions, was at
length resolved upon her ruin by the
practice of manoeuvres which were as
deeply laid, as they were iniquitoufly
designed. .
At the back of Mrs. CaveiustsiVs
house was an excellent garden, which 03 was
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? 66 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
was abundantly stocked with every kind
of wall? fruit--this fruit Mrs. Caven-
dish was particularly choice of, for the
- pleasure of presenting to such of her
friends as were not accommodated with
the convenience. of a wall.
Charlotte upon perceiving her aunt's
desire to preserve the fruit, was resolved
to defeat it, and watched her opportu-
nity of going . into the garden with such
admirable nicety, that she contrived to
twitch three or four peaches and necta-
rines from the trees every time she en-
tered it, the stone of which she always
placed at the bottom of a little box
which Fekin kept in her own bed-room.
For some days Mrs. Cavendish ima-
gined the trees were thinner without be-
ing positive as to the circumstance \ at
length she resolved to count the fruit
without mentioning her suspicion to a
single
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? AND ART DETECTED. ' 67
single soul. The next morning The
walked into the garden and'discovered.
that eleven of the finest peaches. were nA(. >'
sing--Matilda and Pekin, Mrs. Roper
and Charlotte were all at work JwHHS't
drawing-room when Mrs. Cavendish
entered, and expressed her vexation at
the circumstance, and her wish to dis-\
cover the person who had been guilty of .
such disgraceful conduct. - '. ""
" I thought Pekin," said Charlotte,
" you codd not eat all those peaches and'
neclarlnes, which I have seen you gather,
without being discovered; and had I
not known that my cousin would have';
called me tell-tale, I would have called'
my aunt to look at you the first time I
saw you take them. "
" Saw me take peaches ! Miss Roper/*
said the child, evidently embarrassed a*'
the boldness of the charge. ** I declare
upon
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? 6S INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
upon my honour 1 have never touched a
peach this year but what Mrs. Cavendish
was so kind to give me. " ; . , . .
" Yes," replied Charlotte, " I saw
you take peaches and netlarines too, if that's .
English ; and saw you carry them up<
flairs in your bed-room--? what say you
to that, Miss Honesty ? Can you deny
that? " , J
<< Tes, that I can," said Pekin, burst-
ing into tears, 'f* artd wonder how you
can be so wicked as to say such a thing. ''
" What do you mean j you little pre. .
sumptuous vagabond," exclaimed Mrs.
Roper, " by daring to accuse my daugh-
ter of uttering an untruth ? \ thought
how my sister would be requited for her
generosity, for the whole tribe of your
countrymen all are thieves and fwind-
<< My dear Mrs. Roper," said Mrs,
",'. . '. Caven-
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? . AND ART DETECTED.
Cavendish, " that little girl is under my
protection, and I can neither susfer her
to be insulted nor oppressed ; if (he be\
taken the peaches, she has been. guihy of
a very great fault, and I am* the person
to judge of the proper mode of punish-
ing it ; but I am inclined to think my
niece must be mistaken. "
" Oh, indeed. Aunt, I am not mis-
taken," replied Charlotte, " for I met
her eating one up stairs, and saw the
juice quite run down to her fingers'
ends. '*" l. '. . >>" - '.
. v Suppose," said Mrs; Roper, " you
were to go up frail's, sister ;rmost likely
the stones might yet be remaining eitHeV
in her drawers or boxes. 1 ch I \f ,m )? tt
Mrs. Cavendish followed the advice,
and returned in five rnihntes, with no*
less than f6rty stoaes. belonging to peaches
and nectarines. i\~*', * . '. * --'<i <"*
1 Pekin
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? JO INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
Pekin coloured like scarlet, and, in a
tremulous voice, said, <<< You did not
find those in my room, Ma'am. "
" Yes," replied Mrs. Cavendish, "tut
J did; and I must confes. , that I should
as loon have expected to have found a
dagger there: indeed, Pekin, this con-
duct of yours has wounded my peace,
' destroyed my hopes, and sapped the very
foundation of my frieodjbip. The tak-
ing the fruit I could very easily have
forgiven; but to assert an untruth with
all that calmness of asfected innocence,
is what I could not have expected, and
what I am resolved mt ta forgive;
therefore, go this instant to your apart-
jnent, and do not let me fee you until
my feelings are less exasperated, and my
anger more subdued. "
Fearful of offending, by presuming
to plead for mercy, the agitated Pekin
left
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? AND ART DETECTED. 71
test the room, and in an agony of Sr>ef
retired to her own apartment Matilda
was not suffered to go near her ftiend;
and hail not the servants who carried up
her fcod informed their mistress that
scarcely any part of it was eaten,, and
that the little prisoner was overwhelmed
. with grief, her confinement would have
been protracted much beyond three days;
but the apprehension of her making her-
self ill induced Mrs. Cavendish to for-
give the fault, and Charlotte had the
mortification of seeing her restored to
favour.
Mrs. Roper, who bad been accessary
to the scheme, was heartily vexed at its
ill success; yet botti Charlotte and her.
self were resolved to attempt another,
which, though more hazardous, was
Jikely to be attended with more certain
consequences. . . >>
Mrs.
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? 72 INNOCENCE JUSTIFIED,
Mrs. Cavendish was particularly par-
tial to a small miniature of her late hus-
band's, which was set as a bracelet, and
was kept in a small box that was opened
by a spring-lock, and stood upon her
dressing-table. This box she made a
. point of never opening in the presence
of the servants, but all the children
were acquainted with the secret spririg;
Charlotte, therefore, resolved to make
herself mistress of this valuable treasure,
and disclosing her intention to an igno-
rant girl, who had formerly lived ser-
vant with Mrs. Roper, and was then
^oing to London, persuaded her so sar to
Second the design as to undertake the
disposal of it; and if any questions
were asked, to say she was sent by the
little girl who lived at Mrs. Cavendish's,
and that it was a picture she had found
as she was walking by the river side.
>>". T As
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? AND ART DETECTED. . 73
As Mrs. Cavendish had never lived at
Kingston, and the girl was known to
have been servant to Mrs. Cavendish's
sister-in-law, the jeweller had no reason
to doubt the truth of the circumstance
she related; he therefore took the pic-
ture, paid a guinea down for it, and
promised another, if it was not claimed
in the course os a month, which he .
thought likely to happen, as he con-
cluded it belonged to some pqrson in the
neighbourhood, and would be adver-
tised.
As Mrs. Cavendish never wore the
-bracelet but when she was particularly
dressed, a fortnight elapsed after it was
fold before the lpfs was discovered, and
Charlotte's patience began to be almost
exhausted. . At length the wished-for.
day arrived which was ta hurl deilruc-.
tion upon the object of her hatred, and
u give
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