No More Learning

X AM the younger 'son of an ancient
and respectable samily in the north of'
England ; and, as my sather wished my
elder brother to support the name with -
that degree of consequence which had
ever been attached to it, I was sent at'
an early age to try my fortune in" tho-
East Indies. My mother died at giving
me
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE* Cj?
me birth, and my sather had three
daughters by a second wife, who long
before my departure from England . had'
so sar attracted his asfection from the
children of the farmer marriage, that"
except for Frank, which was his eldest
son's name, he seemed to feel neither
tenderness nor anxiety.
Upon my first arrival in the East In-
dies, I generally received a few lines by
every packet; but instead of breathing
the asfection of a parent, or the solici-
tude of a friend, they merely contained
a flight account of his health, &c. and a
caution to be prudent in the management
of my salary; and in less than two years
all intercourse between us was suspend-
ed ; for though I wrote by every packet,
I never received a line in the course of
five-and-twenty years.
In that period I had not. only amassed
k a com-
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? $S FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
a comfortable, but a splendid fortune ;
and resolved to return to England for
the purpose of enjoying it. I had, un-
fortunately, remitted vast sums to an
eminent banker, and when I arrived in
town, I had the mortification of hearing
tha< he had become a bankrupt about six
. weeks before that period, and that hun-
dreds were involved in the dreadful ruin.
Happily I had still property enough re-
maining in my own hands to enable me
to enjoy the comforts, though not the
luxuries of life; but I resolved, before I
fixed upon my future resting-place, to
trace out my samily without disclosing
my real situation. I therefore threw
myself into the York post-coach, left
my servant at the inn, and in a short
time reached the place of my nativity.
My sather, I heard, had been dead some
ytars, and my brother Frank was in
. i -. posses-
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. 99
possession of the estate; my other bro-
ther was also dead, and my mother-in-
law and her three daughters were all
married and settled in London.
Middleton-hall is a large Gothic
building, situated in one of the most
beautisul, though remote parts of York-
shire, and about two miles distant from
a neighbouring town. As I was anxi-
ous to make trial of a relation's disposi-
tion whom I had not seen for many years,
I dressed myself particularly plain, hired
a boy to carry a small leather trunk which
contained my wardrobe, and walked
anxiously towards the hall. I was re-
ceived at the well-known gate by an im-
perious puppy, who, imagining by my
appearance that I was some needy depen-
dant, would scarcely inform me whether
his master was at home : at length, with
some difficulty, I obtained the wistied-
K z for
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? ? IOO FIXIAL INGRATITUDE.
for intelligence, and by begging and
intreaty got myself announced as a per-
son from India, who brought news of
consequence respecting his brother. My
reception from the master was such as
I might have expected from* the ap-
pearance of the servants--haughty, in-
solent, and presumptuous. -- Our persons
were totally forgotten by each other,
and therefore I gave a circumstantial de*
tail of the banker's sailure, and my own
misfortunes, without giving him a sus- <<
picion of my own identity, and con. ,
eluded by saying his brother was in Lon-
don, anxious to fold him to his fraternal
bosom, and convinced that he would riot
only "commiserate his misfortunes, but
endeavour to prevent him from suffering
by their weight.
I will not, my dear Sir, trespass
upon your time, or wound your feelings,
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. 101
by relating my cruel brother's reply ;
suffice it to say, it was inhuman as a re-
lation, and disgraceful as a man-and
induced me to quit his abode, resolving
never more to have any intercourse with
so bad a character, though not before I
had disclosed my name, and the real
situation of my affairs.
On my return to London, I saw a
villa in Devonshire advertised to be sold,
and pleased with the plan I became its
purchaser. Soon after my establish-
ment in my new abode, I became ac-
quainted with a neighbouring gentleman
whose samily consisted of three daugh-
ters and four sons; the eldest of the
former was at once attractive, amiable,
and engaging ; and though there was so
great a disparity in our years, I soon dis-
covered that I had made an impression
on her heart: in short, Sir, we were
x 3 very
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? 101 FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
very soon married ; and if perfect hap.
piness is to be met with on earth, I am
*he man who once enjoyed it! --Cruel
reverse ! Dreadful vicissitude ! --But I
will proceed with my narration without
digression, or taking a retrospect of my
ewn misfortunes. "
In less than a twelvemonth after my
marriage, my lovely Emily blest me
with a pledge of her asfection, and my
felicity was unbounded : but, alas! our
joys are of short duration, though our
miseries are permanent! My loved Emily
was snatched from me in the prime of
life, at the time our little darling mpst
wanted her maternal tenderness. Mr.
Cleverly, Which was heV sather's name,
soon followed the object of my affection,
and the rest of the samily removed to
London. The socrety of-my little Wil-
liam was at jonce a solace for my grief,
and
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. 103
and an amusement for my mind; and
my fondness increased beyond the bounds
of prudence. Naturally high-spirited,
he required restraint ; but my tenderness
was so violent, 1 could not bear to fee
him unhappy; his resemblance to his
beloved mother increased with his years;
but, alas f how disferent were they both.
in nature and disposition ! To send him
to school was impossible ; I, therefore,
engaged a gentleman as his tutor and in-
structor. The total unrestraint which
had. hitherto been put upon his inclina,
tions made him both daring and untract-
able/'ahd in less' than six. months the
wosthy man requested to decline the of-
fice he had engaged ist'. At length by
promises on my part not to interfere be-
tween him and his pupil, and the attract-
ing charm of an increased salary, Mr.
Pembsrton consented to remain ah inmate
ift
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? 104 FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
in a samily, the head of which he must
both pity and despise. His friendship
for me, however, induced him to stay *
until my son had reached his fourteenth
year, when the arrogance of his beha-
viour, and the insolence of his conduct,
absolutely compelled him to resign the
post, and leave his unthinking charge
to tbe practice of his own devices,
though not without repeatedly conjuring
me to conquer my weakness, and fend
my son to school; prophetically point-
ing out the dreadful consequence of my
not doing it.
Upon the departure of his preceptor,
William's temper submitted to no con-
trol, and too late I felt my error. His
person, I before observed, was like his
mother's; but to all the sensibility of
female softness was united a manly grace
that at once attracted and delighted the
beholder.
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. IO5
beholder. Oh ! how often have I gazed
with parental fondness on the beauteous
salse deception, until 1 Imagined a form
so striking, and a sace so manly, could
never be capable of an act of baseness I
Amidst the various amusements which
my son was fond of as he grew tig,
dancing bore the greatest pre-eminence ;
and there was not an assembly within
twenty miles round that he did not make
a point of constantly frequenting. The
graces of his person, and the excellence
he had attained in that accomplishment,
rendered him an universal savourite with
the ladies; and, in addition tb his other
follies, was the means of inspiring him
with vanity and conceit.
Within a few miles of our residence
lived a Scotch earl, whose pride and
poverty were equally conspicuous ; and
the eldest daughter of this great person-
age,
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? 106 FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
age, forgetful of her noble blood, deaf
to her sather's strong remonstrances, and
lost to a sense of female delicacy, pro-
posed to my son (whom she had fre-
quently danced with at different balls)
an elopement to Scotland.
Elated at the spirited proposal, and
delighted at the prospect of marrying a
title, my headstrong, unthinking boy,
eagerly grasped the splendid phantom,
and making a variety of excuses for re-
quiring a large supply of money, set off
in a chaise and four the following morn-
ing, without giving me the slightest idea
of the destructive scheme he was going
to adopt. The young lady had been
more explicit; for a letter left upon
her dressing table informed her sather,
that unable to conquer the strength of
her attachment, and convinced that she
should never obtain his concurrence, fhq
had
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. 107
had resolved to please her eye, though
lhe might lower her consequence.
The old earl, imagining I had been
privy to this transaction, sent me a let-
ter full of invectives ; upon the receipt
of which, I not only explained my to-
tal ignorance of the affair, but pro-
mised to make such an establishment for
my son, as mould enable him to support
his wife in perfect gentility. Softened
by my conciliating letter, and convinced
he was unable to give his daughter any
fortune, his Lordship called to apologize
for his petulance.
1 In a few days the young people re-
turned, and Lady Luty was introduced'
as the wife of my beloved William. I
forgot to mention, that a few years after
the death of my Emily, the banker, who
had been in possession of so large a share
? f my property, was, by the death of a
distant
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? l68 TILIAL 4VGRATITUDE.
distant relation, heir to an estate of a
vast amount, and had justice and gene-
rosity enough lo vest ten thousand pounds
in the funds in my name, by way of
compensation for the losses I had sus-
tajnedr. , -? . . . .
This sum I settled immediately upori
roy son, with permission to consider my
house entirely as his own, reserving to
myself two separate apartments, and;
retaining my old servants, chusing. still.
to. be considered as their master. i . .
s Mydaughter-in-law soon proved that
she tTiought me rather an intruder in m. y
own samily ; and as to my son, L never
saw him but at. the hour of dining.
Pleasure, gaiety, and dissipation, qccu-
pied ^he time of both; and the little af-
fection he once felt for his sather, was
converted. into neglect, indifference, . and;
sc^roj . . ; . i. i-. . . . t U
Several
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. . 10.
0,
several months passed tediously away,
whilst grief and age seemed jointly to has-
ten the approach of that period which
was to end my sorrows--when a suddep
transition took place. in the conduct of
my son and daughter ; indifference WAS
converted into kindness, and neglect
into zeal and attention. The satissac-
tion which this altered mode of conduct.
conveyed tp my'mind produced a visible
effect upon my health, and I seemed tb
have taken a new lease of life.
In one of those confidential conversa-
tions which filled my breast with glad-
ness, my son expressed a desire of mak-
ing some alteration in the house, and,
aster a little embarrassment, intre^ed
me to let him be considered as the master
of it, as it would save me the trouble
of looking into the domestic concerns.
Unable to refuse a request of one I
l loved
1'
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? lib FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
loved so tenderly, I put him in posses-
session of what he required, and in an
evil hour rendered myself dependant
upon him for the means of existence.
Whilst the deeds were drawing up for
this satal purpose, both Lady Lucy and
himself doubled their attentions; but
no sooner were they completed, and they
were in full possession of my estate and
property, than the mask dropped, and
I awoke to wretchedness. The first
step of filial authority which my un-
grateful son took upon himself, was to
discharge my faithful Trincard, a fellow
whom I had brought from India, under
pretehce that he was too old to render
me any service, and too bigotted to my
interest, to wish well to his present mas-
ter's.
To describe the various methods that
were adopted to degrade and humble me,
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. Ill
is impossible! at length, worn with grief,
a prey to misery, and the victim of mis-
guided asfection, I resolved to quit an '
abode which was rendered the feat of
wretchedness, and endeavour to trace
out the connexions of my long-lost
Emily. For this purpose I set out on
Friday morning, intending, if possible,
to walk to London : (for since the un-
fortunate day that I gave my property
out of my own hands, I have never re-
ceived a sixpence. from my worthless
son, and half a guinea is the amount of
my purse)--I had imagined I could
reach the neighbouring town, when
night overtook me, and Providence di-
rected me to this hospitable abode. --
" And now, young gentleman," said
Mr. Middletpn, turning to Edward,
" you have heard a lesson to caution
you against 4*J*btditnfe \ and if ever you
t a seel
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? J 12 FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
feel a repugnance to fulfil the injunc-
tions of your amiable parents, think of
my misfortunes, and the' misery I have
endured, and check the impulse of dis-
respect and disobedience. Vice is a plant
of a regular . and progressive growth, and
never rises by sudden transitions--flop
it as it first appears, or the pestilential
weed corrupts the foil; and totally destroys
the tender bud of virtue. "--Here his ,
emotions checked his proceeding, and
he burst into a flood of tears.
" I have to thank you, my dear Sir,"
said Sir George, " for a tale which has
bbth roused my indignation, and called
forth my compassion ; biit if the sooth-
irlgs of friendship can in any measure
compensate for the loss . of filial affec-
tion, that consolation you may fully
claim ; my house, my purse, and my
servants, are at ybur command; and
\ | ; x : here
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? FILIAL INGRATITUDE. 113
here you must spend the residue of your
days: consider me as your son, your
brother, or your friend, and in all those
capacities you will find me ready to
prove roy sincerity, and evince my esteem.
1 3 ? H*
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? ( "4 )
/
THE
AMIABLE BROTHERS;
OR, THE
INHABITANTS of the TO tFER.
FORSAKEN by her friends, neglect-
ed by her samily, and lost to every social
enjoyment, the Hon. Mrs. Montgomery,
at the age of eight-and-twenty, retired
from the world with two lovely boys,
and became the inhabitants of a solitary
tower, which was situated in one of the .
most romantic parts of Scotland. This
tower, which for years had been salling
into decay, had often attracted her ob-
4 scrvation
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? THE AMIABLE BROTHERS. HJ
servation and attention, when parties of
pleasure had been formed from Lord
Macdonald's feat, to view the wonderful
watersall of Coralin, which, darning
over precipices more than an hundred
feet high, was at once an object of won-
der and sublimity.
Lord Macdonald was one of those
rigid fathers who salsely imagine that to
obtain respect they must practise aujle-
rity, and who, self-convinced of his own
supremacy, would not suffer any part of
his samily to dispute it. The unfortu-
nate Lady Macdonald had too often felt
the inutility of attempting to oppose his
will, to persevere in a mode os conduct
which was always attended with heart-
felt misery, and at length patiently sub-
mitted to her Lord's caprices, without
presuming either. to repine at their in-
. justice, or murmur at their severity. -->
'"" * In
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? ItD THE AMIABLE BROTHERS.
--;-- ' ' *n
I n the society of her loved Louisa she
sound an antidote for her distresses, and
a balm for her sorrows; and when en-
circling her lovely form within her ma-
ternal arms, would totally forget her
own misfortunes. Beauty, which ought
always to be considered as a secondary
charm, Louisa possessed in an eminent
degree ; but the perfections of her mind
infinitely transcended those of her per-
son ; for she was gentle, humane, libe-
ral, and benevolent. . The accomplish-
ments she had acquired were equal to
the virtues she possessed, and Glasgow
resounded with the praises of her per-
fections. Lady Macdonald, proud of
possessing a daughter so deservedly ad-
mired, anticipated the hope of seeing
her united to a man who would value
her for her merits, and love her for her.
virtue.
' Far
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? THE AMIABLE BROTHERS. 117
Far disferent were the hopes and ex-
pectations of her Lord, who, disappoint-
ed in not having an heir to his estate, re-
solved to marry his daughter to some man
of high birth, and remote pedigree;
that if he could not perpetuate his name,
he might exalt his nobility; and the Mar-
quis of Clyde, a nobleman of immense
posseflions and high honours, was the
man destined to become the husband of
his beauteous daughter.
Had the Marquis possessed one virtue,
or acquired one accomplishment, the gentle
Louisa might not have shrunk with such
an excess of horror from her sather's
proposal; but when she compared the
disgusting manners of her future huf*
band, with the insinuating elegance os
her cousin Montgomery, her heart sick-
ened at the comparison, and she, who
had never in the slightest instance pre-
sumes
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? Il8 THE AMIABLE BROTHERS.
fumed to dispute her father's authority,
ventured to inform him that (lie could
never become Marchioness of Clyde.
At this intelligence his rage and indig-
nation were unbounded; and Lady Mac-
donald, perceiving that it could never be
appeased but by her daughter's sacrificing
her present and future happiness* by an
union with a man she despised, at length
gave her consent to a private marriage
with the object of her affection, with
whom she immediately quitted the king-
dom, and embarked for America, where
he flattered himself he could live much
cheaper than in England.
Ten years of perfect bliss flew rapid-
ly away, in which time the amiable Mrs.
Montgomery became the mother of two
lovely boys, and was indulging the hope
of returning to England and obtaining
the pardon of her enraged sather, when
she
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? THE AMIABLE BROTHERS. 119
she was destined to sustain the most
heart-rending misfortune ; for the object
of her increasing tenderness was sudden-
ly snatched from her by the violence of
an epidemic disease; and it was with
the utmost difficulty the lives of her
children were prevented salling a sacri-
fice to the same satal disorder.
Two years previous to this unfortu-
nate event, Mrs. Montgomery received
the melancholy intelligence of her be-
loved mother's death, by a letter from
a housekeeper who had resided in the
samily five-and-twenty years; and at the
same time she learned that her sather
was going to leave Scotland, though
none of the servants knew where he in-
tended to reside.
As soon at Mrs. Montgomery had dis-
posed of her esfects at Charlestown, her-
self, two children, and a female servant,
embarked
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? 120 THE AMIABLE BROTHERS.
embarked in the first ship that was bound
for Scotland, where stie arrived without
the occurrence of any particular circum-
stance during the voyage. All her en-
deavours to trace her sather's residence,
or find out his abode, were fruitless;
her mind, naturally inclined to the pen-
Jive cast, became habitually melancholy;
and the very cool reception she met with
from those persons who had once been
proud of her acquaintance, at length
induced her to fix her abode in the rp-
mantic situation I have before described.
Mrs. Montgomery was too tenderly
attached to her children to support the
idea of a separation; yet she was con-
vinced that they required more instruction
than she was capable of asfording them,
(as Malcolm had just entered his eighth,
and Duncan his seventh year) and she,
therefore, engaged a young man, who
had
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? THE AMIABLE BROTHERS, 121
had been usher in a capital school, as
preceptor to them, and had the gratifica-
tion of perceiving that both their minds
and manners were improved by his tui-
tion. . ' ' . '
As Mr. Maclean's father and mother
resided within twelve miles of the tower,
he always passed Saturday and Sunday
in their society, and returned to his pu-
pils on the Monday morning; and du-
ring his absence Malcolm and his bro-
ther used to amuse themselves by fishing
in the Clyde, and . in visiting the. little
hovels of the Scotch peasantry within
the vicinity of their mother's dwelling,
to distribute to each some proof of. her
liberality and some mark of her bene-
volence. . '.
Although nothing could be more op-
posite than the disposition of the boys,
yet there never were two brothers who
. - M lived
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? 122 tHE AMIABLE BROTHERS.
lived in greater harmony, or more readily
sacrificed their own inclinations for the
fake of promoting each other's happiness.
Malcolm was grave, studious, and fond
of solitude ; whilst Duncan was volatile,
inattentive, and delighted in variety;
yet as both possessed an uncommon share
of good nature, they had more satissac-
tion in promoting each other's pleasures
than in the gratification of their own.
Duncan would frequently lament the re^
tired life his mother had made choice of,
and anticipate the happiness he should
enjoy when old enough to be sent to the
university of Glasgow, of which his tu-
tor informed him he was intended to be-
come a member--whilst Malcolm would.
declare he had no greater idea os happir
ness than what he derived from the soci-
ety of two persons so tenderly beloved,
in relieving the distresses of his. fellow-
<<. -. I - crea-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-24 14:34 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn2hdw Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THE AMIABLE BROTHERS. I2J
creatures, and in admiring the stupen-
dous works of Nature, which were so
wonderfully displayed around their dwel-
ling.
It was Mrs. Montgomery's constant
practice to enumerate the qualities of
her lamented husband in the presence os
the children, and to inspire them with a
wish of emulating his virtues ; but their
grandfather's name was never mentioned,
neither had they an idea of his exalted
rank. They were early taught to de-
spise that greatness which could only
boast of hereditary distinction, and to
consider superiority os birth as only enti-
tled to respect when it was attended with
superior merit. '* The benefit of society,"
. she would often say, <>> demanded the
introduction of subordination ; but the
human mind, feeling the influence of
its own independence, spurned the bond-
H 2 age
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-24 14:34 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn2hdw Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
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