And, if you were not
attracted
by beauty,
have you not turned away, believing it
N2
?
have you not turned away, believing it
N2
?
Childrens - Roses and Emily
' What woman,' he
scornfully exclaimed, ' who pretends to
understand Greek and Latin. , can, if left
to herself, do more than explain a quota-
tion in. a newspaper? I would not wish a
daughter of mine to pretend. to learning
or poetry. ' 'Not to poetry,. Sir 7? ' said my
mother in an accent of; surprise. 'No,
madam; certainly not to. poetry; it pro-
motes idle fancies, fantastic images* and
vain conceits; its very basis is fiction, and
I had rather see a girl employed with her
needle than her pen; but J beg pardon,
madam, perhaps you are a poet ? ' 'No Sir>
not I myself. ' 'Some one of your family
then, madam? ' 'Possibly Sir,' said my
mother, throwing a significant glance to-
wards me. I blushed; when the cynic
approaching me, said, in rather a soften-
ed tone, * Have I detected you? May I
presume, Miss Falkland, to request the
favour of hearing some of the effusions of
your genius? For I am 'assured tltey will
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH.
257
convince me, whatever Im&y have thought
to the contrary, that the muses and graces
sometimes go hand in hand, and that
learning and talents are not confined to
our sex. ' 'I never thought they were,'
I replied, * and I now find that vanity and
curiosity are not exclusively ours. ' 'They
are not learned lines, Sir, said my mother.
'So much the better, madam; sonnets,
I imagine; or elegies, or odes, or songs,
or fables, or acrostics, or rebusses? '
'Neither, Sir,' replied my mother, pro-
voked at his sarcastic manner, which my
retort had instantly revived; * they are
neither; but whatever they are, they
would do honour to any person, even
to Pope himself. ' I observed a smile
lurking upon several countenances, as
my fond mother pronounced this
warm eulogium. Distressed as I was
at the conversation, and every moment
dreading to hear myself declared the poet,
I yet felt a security in the belief that the
lines themselves would not be produced
as a proof; but, to my astonishment and
confusion, my mother drew from her
pocket the very paper I had shewn Bel*'
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? 258
ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
mont; and presenting it to the gentleman,
i Read Sir, and judge for yourself,' (at the
same time throwing a glance of triumph
towards me,) 'judge of my daughter's
poetry. ' Fanny was in conversation with
Belmont in a distant part of the room,
and heard not what was passing; but at
the sudden silence of the company, as the
lines were reading, she looked up, listen-
ed, and in a moment her cheek was as
deeply crimsoned with surprise, as mine
was with shame. The gentleman, pau-
sing, pronounced them admirable, and jo-
cosely exclaimed, 'The laurel for Miss
Falkland. ' My father, who knew how
much Fanny shrunk from any thing like
publicity of praise, who approved of her
delicacy, and encouraged her reserve, at
this moment forgot his usual caution and
her diffidence, and replied, 'The appro-
bation of friends will be dearer to Fanny
than the poet's crown. ' 'To Seraphina
you mean,' said my mother. 'To Sera-
phina! then I am greatly mistaken; but
Come hither my dear girls,' said my fa-
ther, (ever wishing to draw truth from its
hidden recesses), confess to whom we
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. . 259
must decree the disputed bays, or the
golden violet. ' * To Seraphina,' an-
swered my poor mother, with emphatic
partiality; but my father, now zealous to
ascertain the fact, again enquired whose
they really were; for he had read them
as Fanny's.
"I left the room to avoid the humilia-
tingdiscoverywhichlthought awaited mo,
and eager to escape from the observation
of the company, and the astonished gaze
of Belmont. My ever-consoling sister
followed me, and would not be repulsed.
'More dear than ever to my heart, my
Seraphina,' she exclaimed, * has not this
originated in your partiality for me, and
ought it not to cement our friendship in
still closer bonds? ' Though my heart
could not reply in affirmation to the purity
of the intentions ascribed to me, yet her
tenderness calmed the agitation of my
spirits; and the nobleness of her nature,
which had ever shone most conspicuous
in moments of trial, inspired me with
a wish to emulate it, to rise superior to
the shame I had endured, and, by a can-
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? 260 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
did and public avowal of my folly, in some
measure, to expiate it. 'I will confess all,'
I said; ' I will confess it before the whole
party. ' 'No,no,'repliedmygenerousFan-
ny,' there is no necessity for it; it may not
be known ; let it pass; it will be soon for-
gotten by those who are indifferent to it;
but to me how dear has been this proof of
your affection; then let it pass with others. '
"Fanny's intreaties had no effect upon
me; I knew that had it been possible for
her to have erred as I had done, she would
have been capable o? a? iy atonement, and
I felt that nothing but a confession of my
guilt, would restore me to myself,
"I returned into the room, and with a
kind of mock-heroic dignity, which I as.
Burned in order to veil the shame and an-
guish of my feelings, exclaimed--' Friends
and enemies! ye, who are witnesses of my
disgrace, hear my confession, and award
your punishment. I plead guilty to the
charge of theft; I have strutted in bor-
rowed plumes, and . now, like the poor
jack-daw, am . 1 stripped of them all; not
even one feather remains to decorate my
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 261
cap. I quit poetry and the muses for ever,
and hope the lesson which humbled vanity
has this day inscribed upon my heart, will
never be erased. This dear girl from
whom I have pilfered,'----Fanny intreat-
ed me to proceed no farther; "myheroism
was but the ebullition of a moment; I
burst into tears, and was unable to utter
another word. Belmont arose, and, taking
ahandof each. led us to another apartment,
where, placing himself between us, he
exclaimed, 'Dear and interesting sisters! '
then turning to me,'Who, Miss. Falkland,.
would not fall, thus to rise? ' He pressed .
our hands between his, and imprinted a
kiss on each; mine was the tribute of
sympathising pity; Fanny's of respect
and admiration. I felt it such, but at
thatmoment she was ' too much mypride,
to wake my envy. ''
"Belmont Continued to visit us, and
was always our welcome guest. In vain
my beauty blazed upon his eye; Fannys
virtues sunkinto his heart; inherlie found
that' kindred mind' he had 'sought, and
he soonbecamc her. lover andherhusband.
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? 3 >i ROSE AND EMILY J OR,
"Disappointed in ray desire of pleasing
the only man whose esteem I had ever
seriously wished to obtain, I grew peevish
and discontented,and I turned, for a time,
disgusted from the insipid flatteries of the
fops who still surrounded me.
"I was not ignorant of the source of
Belmont's attachment to Fanny; for,.
whatever might be my boast of beauty, I
had long been conscious of her mental su-
periority ; but in a ball room,or in general
society, the charms of mind are neither
appreciated nor discovered, while those of
person are instantly acknowledged and
idolized. i
"In Fanny I had never, till now, found
a rival $ and I began to reflect, with
sorrow and perhaps humiliation, upon
the life of folly I had led. I was even desi-
rous oi bee ming like her; but how could
I begin my reformation ? Long habits op-
posed so strong a barrier between my
wish and my power, that, rather than
make any extraordinary exertion, I again
indolently yielded to them; and again
listened to all who flattered my vanity;
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH* 265
though they iio longer deluded my un-
derstanding.
"Happiness had fled with Belmont and
Fanny. From their house I always re-
turned with my mind corroded by dis-
quiet, occasioned by the comparison I
unavoidably made between her and me;
yet she was dearer to me than ever. The
cheerfulness of her temper gave buoy-
ancy to her step, animation to her eye,
smiles to her mouth, and the sweetest
modulation to her voice. At once lively
and intelligent, gentle and affectionate,
her various virtues, instead of losing, dally
gained new influence over the heart of
Belmont. The sphere in which shemoved,
was to him the central point of happiness;
his wife was his friend ; his home was his
? world. All who saw her, loved her--
'loved her so much that they forgot to
admire yet,instead of the attentions she
received, and the affection she inspired,
adding one to the number of the tww,
they only rendered her the more desirous
of pleasing, and more deserving the bless-
ing of being beloved. Every new duty
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? 264 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
she had to perform, served but to deve-
lope some new beauty of character ; and
never has the pronoun 'my' been pro-
nounced with more pride, than when
Belmont has said ' my wife,' and I, 'my
sister;' yet alas! the happiness she im-
parted and received could not give peace
to my bosom; and reflection came to me
but as the messenger of misery. Children
of the same parents, we had shared the
same solicitude, the same affection, and,
but for the fatal possession of beauty, my
mind might have been as richly endowed
as Fanny's. My powers of understanding
were enervated by the frivolous pursuits
which a too tender and indulgent mother
had permitted me to follow. I was a child
in information; in myself I had no re-
sources; books, in general, wearied me;
y for music I had no taste, and in needle-
work I found no amusement. A prey to
secret discontent, my temper became so
irritable, that I began to find my adorers
retreating from a shrine at which perpe-
tual homage was exacted, and my health
suffered from the inquietude of my mind.
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? SKETCHES OP YOUTH. " ? 65
A long and dangerous illness was the con-
sequence. On the pillow of sickness, the
veil which vanity had spread before my
fight, was withdrawn, and all her tinsel
trappings fell, tarnished, to the ground.
I saw myself, as I really was, a weak, de-
serted, faded beauty. When I surveyed
myself in the glass, I could retrace rione
of those charms which I had imagined
would for ever have held the world in
chains; all had perished.
"My mother wept over the remains of
mybeauty,and pressed the ruin still closer
to her bosom. ' My father said, 'Why
should we lament a flower that you find
the breath of sickness, accident, or sor-
row, can at once destroy? Why has it
ever been valued? But let us examine the
heart; let us explore the treasures of the
mind? Ah! my unfortunate Seraphina,
you possessed a fatal gift,and your parents
weakly imagined its power would have
been superior to that of intellect. We have
much lost time to atone for, but let us
not despair; nature has not been deficient
to you in mental qualities; let us culti-
N
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? 266 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
vate them, and they will teach you not tcs<<
regret the loss of beauty. See our Fanny 1
myintelligentcompanion; my affectionate
child; my consoling friend! ' 'Oh! ' I,
cried, interrupting him, and clasping his
hand, * make me but like Fanny,. and I
shall be happy. ' * You will be like her,*
he replied, 'if you will resolve to pursue
the same means. '
"My recovery was slow and doubtful;
I was no longer a beauty. My father
read to me, and by degrees I found
amusement in the books he selected; my
mind gradually strengthened, and he in-
stilled into it the principles of science,
taste, and truth. I received several offers
of marriage, but I would not quit my pa-
rents in their declining years; I was
happy in their affection, and other love
had been longextinguished. I closed their
eyes, and received their parting blessing,
'* With my Fanny and her amiable
Belmont, I continue to pass the sweetest
hours of my existence; I am become their
friend and companion. I now not only
talk, bnt converse ;with them. It is true
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH* 267
I am an old maid; but I trust neither a
peevish nor querulous one. I can witness
the happiness of others, with a smile of
? heartfelt pleasure; can sjrmpathise in.
their disappointments, from whatever
cause they flow; and tenderly tndeavour
to sooth their afflictions. Though my
youth deserved the contempt of the wise,
I trust that my old age will merit the re-
spect of the virtuous ; and remember, my
young friends,
'It is t'ae mind that irtakcs the body ricfi. '"
During this recital, the varied emotions
of Rose's mind, and some applications
which she made to herself, were visible in
her countenance; her changing hue told
what were her feelings; the expression
of her eye what were her thoughts.
"Dear, dear Mrs. Falkland," she said, " I
do not think I should have admired you
as a beauty so much as I love you now. '*
** And yet Rose," replied Mrs. Falkland,
M have you not fancied you could not
love any one who was not handsome ?
And, if you were not attracted by beauty,
have you not turned away, believing it
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? 268
ROSE AND EMILY. ; OR,
impossible that any charm or excellence
could dwell beneath a plain exterior I"
Rose blushed the confession her tongue
was ashamed to utter. "Is not Fanny ?
like her mamma r" she timidly enquired.
"Her very counterpart, my love: and
she does not resemble her mother more
in person than in mind; the same sweet-
ness of temper; the same kindness of
heart; the same strength of understand-
ing; the same self-command; the same
charm of character. She is once in a
year allowed to be my companion for a
month, and this month is not so much
her holiday as mine; she leaves a pleasant
home; parents tender and indulgent; bro-
thers and sisters who doat upon her, to
be dull with an old aunt; but she knows
in part the happiness she dispenses, and
this constitutes her own. My brother,
with whom I generally reside (as he is yet
unmarried) indulges us both in whatever .
little plans we propose ; and a short visit
to Matlock is generally one of them. You
will not suspect me of insincerity when I
say, that our visit this year has been pro-
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 26^
duefive of greater pleasure to us all, thau
any former one, and that I earnestly hope
it may lead to still further happiness--to a
friendship that will end but with our lives. "
Rose kissed the hand she held; and the
rest of the party fervently and affection-
ately repeated the same wish.
Mr. Falkland and Fanny were seen ap-
proaching; thegirlshas ened to meet therm
and when they returned together to the
spot where Mrs. Falkland and Mrs. Sydney
were sitting, " Brother," said the former,
"you must join me in awishlhave just ex-
pressed to Mrs. Sydney, that the friendship
our families have formed, may not expire
with the period of our association at Mat-
lock, but be continued even to the end of
our lives. " "I join in it from my heart,"
he replied; "what say you Fanny? " The
most affectionate smile played upon her in-
telligent countenance,andsheheld out her
hands toheryoungfriends,whoall extend-
ed theirs; the pledge of friendship was gi-
ven. and returned; and with hearts as
closely united as hands, they walked back
to the hotel to dinner.
n3
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? ROSE AND BMILV J OR,
CHAP. XVII.
Tus day of separation nearly approached,
and the melancholy morrow was at last
fixed upon. The parsonage, that spot
of" so much local felicity, which to leave
even for scenes of novelty and pleasure>
had been agony, was now thought of
with a tear. "O, Fanny! " Rose would
exclaim, "could we but take you and
dear Mr. and Mrs. Falkland with us,
what on earth should we have to wish
for more? " "My father! " replied Emi-
ly, with a sigh. "True, Emily, your
father; and then we should be quite
happy. " "Not quite]' said Fanny, " with-
out my father, and my mether, and all
my brothers and sisters. " "I forgot
them replied Rose, laughing; M I wish
we could have all; how delightful would
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 271
be a little village composed only of
friends! " and immediately the. little vi-
sionary pursued her phantom of felicity,
till she was lost in her own Utopia. . '
The day before they quitted Matlock,
every place, which was marked by any
particular remembrance, was revisited;
on some they lingered, unwilling to say
adieu; here Mr. Falkland had repeated
some of his own verses; there he had
read some favourite author; in this spot
Fanny had sung; on this bench Mrs.
Falkland related her narrative, and here
they pledged eternal friendship--how
could they bid adieu to scenes so
dear--go sacred 1 They were all sketch-
ed, and the party grouped by the
pencil of Isabel or Emily, as pre-
cious memorials of departed joys, when
the friends, who gave them interest,
would be far distant! Yet they loved
to indulge in the visions of future visits
to the same scenes, and with the same
society; and were cheered by the pro-
mise that Mr, and Mrs. Falkland and
Fanny would visit the parsonage before
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? 272
ROSE AND EMILY; OK,
the end of the summer. These hopes
beguiled the present hour, and softened
. the pang of the parting one; but a. tear
stood in every eye when the lip attempt-
ed to utter the last farewel; even Mr.
Falkland's spectacles glistened with the
dew of tender sorr<<w; and he scarcely
eould distinguish the object he handed
into the chaise.
The departure of a family that had so
warmly engaged their affections, left a
blank that no common-place company
could fill up; and they resolved upon
leaving Matlock also, and returning
into Yorkshire, where Mr. Falkland
resided. Their road lay across a diffe-
rent part of the Derbyshire Moors from
that pursued by Mrs. Sydney, but the
same bold, wild, and rugged features
marked it, and brought to Mr. Falk-
land's recollection the idea they had ex-
cited in the mind of Rose, of resembling
scenes, such as Ossian describes, of Fin-
gal's battles; and that she expected to
see some of the shades of his lofty heroes
or blue eyed maidens, or even great
jt. . ? '
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 273
Fingal himself, flitting before her. De-
lighted in thus associating the idea of
his little. favourite with the views before
him, and. knowing that it would afford
her pleasure to be so remembered, he
hastily wrote the following lines:--
THE SHADE OF LOB A.
On yonder mountain's cloud-cap't. head,
What grisly form is nigh?
E'en through the veil of mist I dread
The thunder of his arm, and lightning of his eye.
Pale king. of. shadows. ! Loda hail!
Why leave your airy cell 1
Borne on the hollow blast to sail,
Why leave green fields of rest wherein you dwell ]
Drop, drop your dusky spear,
Fell tyrant of the night!
The hero's rising . strength is neai>--
Great Fiugal's giant arm, great Fingai's matchless
might.
Hark! heard. yon not yon hollow groan,"
As through the mist dark Lunot pass'd?
Twas Loda's deepen'd, sulkn mead, .
He shrunk a shriv<<li'd scroll, and vanished in the
? ' Wait!
t TH<< uword of Fingal. . '.
N5
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? S7* ROSE AKD EMILY; OK,
Mrs. Sydney and her family proceed-
ed to the parsonage with their thoughts
almost entirely occupied by the friends
they had left; they saw only their forms*
heard only their voices; and even the
moors, which had before been to Rose
scenes of so much interest and fancy, now
appeared nothing but a dark and barren
heath; but the nearer she approached
her home; when dear and familiar ob-
jects met her eye; when she caught the
first glimpse of the white chimnies of
the parsonage, her heart bounded in her
bosom; she hailed the long-loved scenes
of her native place, and Matlock faded
from her mind; but it was a momentary
oblivion; and as she sprung out of the
chaise, she exclaimed--" O mamma, that
that we had but our beloved friends to
welcome to the parsonage ! ** The dear
and lively interests of home soon occu-
pied their hearts; the anguish of the
parting moment had passed away; and
all that remained was a tender and faith-
ful recollection of their friends, a delight
in dwelling upon every Little circum-
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? SKETCHES (C)F YOUTH. 275
stance that had occurred when they were
together, and in indulging the hope of
soon meeting them again. ,. *
The garden was visited by all; Rose
bounded over every path, and eagerly
examined every favourite plant, while the
more . patient hand of Isabel or Emily
raised up those that had fallen, and gave
them the support they wanted. The cat
accompanied them in their walk, purring
and rolling before them, and giving every
indication of joy. "Who can say cats
are insensible," cried Rose, " and that
they are incapable of attachment? "--
"vThey are undoubtedly," replied Mrs.
Sydney, " sensible of kindness, and will
distinguish the person who most caresses
them from every other; this is, there-
fore, a species of personal preference
that must be granted them. " "They
are an unhappy, persecuted race of ani-
mals," said Rose, piteously, and catch-
ing up her tabby favourite, which clung
to her shoulder, and returned her cares-
ses by rub"bing its velvet face against her
cheek.
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? 276 HOSE AXD EMILY *, OR,
Phoebe, who, on alighting from the
chaise, had immediately gone to her fa-
ther's, now returned with a countenance
of excessive dejection, and her eyes
swollen with weeping. Mrs. Sydney
anxiously and affectionately enquired
the cause. "My father is married," she
almost inarticulately sobbed. Mrs. Syd-
- ney concealed her surprise from the poor
girl, and asked her how long he had been
married? " He married, madam, on the
day we went to Matlock; he said he
knew I should not like to be at his wed-
? ding, and so he had it when I was away. "
"He was kind to you Phoebe, was he
not? " "O yes, he was kind, and cried
almost as much as I did; but he said he
thought I was too young to take care of
his dairy, and manage his house, and that
bis wife would. " Here the poor girl
sobbed aloud. w There is nothing very
distressing in this," said Mrs. Sydney, en-
deavouring to sooth her j "you will be
glad to ,see. your. father comfortable ; and
in his situation he wants a wrfe*to attend
to his house, while he is about his farm. 5'
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 277
'<< I know it, madam," she said, " but
what grieves me the most is, that I fear
I have been to blame; for when my fa-^
ther has asked me how long it would be
before I went to live at home, I used to
say I thought I was too young to manage
his house; for I could 'not bear the
thoughts of leaving you. He saw this,
and so he married; and now I have no
home. " "Is not this your home, Phoebe? "
"You are very good to me, ma'am, but
SI ought to have gone to iny father when
he wished me. I must not be a trouble
to you any longer, and I beg upon my
knees,'' cried the poor girl, "that you
will let me live with you as a servant;
I will do any thing for yOu; my father
says he will always find me in cloaths, and
I do not want wages. " "No, my good
girl," said Mrs. Sydney, raising her up,
"you shall live with me, but not as a ser-
vant. Your mother, humble as was her
situation, was myJriend, and never shall
her child want a mother's tenderness
while I live. You must not call yourself
a trouble to me. Are you not rny little
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scornfully exclaimed, ' who pretends to
understand Greek and Latin. , can, if left
to herself, do more than explain a quota-
tion in. a newspaper? I would not wish a
daughter of mine to pretend. to learning
or poetry. ' 'Not to poetry,. Sir 7? ' said my
mother in an accent of; surprise. 'No,
madam; certainly not to. poetry; it pro-
motes idle fancies, fantastic images* and
vain conceits; its very basis is fiction, and
I had rather see a girl employed with her
needle than her pen; but J beg pardon,
madam, perhaps you are a poet ? ' 'No Sir>
not I myself. ' 'Some one of your family
then, madam? ' 'Possibly Sir,' said my
mother, throwing a significant glance to-
wards me. I blushed; when the cynic
approaching me, said, in rather a soften-
ed tone, * Have I detected you? May I
presume, Miss Falkland, to request the
favour of hearing some of the effusions of
your genius? For I am 'assured tltey will
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH.
257
convince me, whatever Im&y have thought
to the contrary, that the muses and graces
sometimes go hand in hand, and that
learning and talents are not confined to
our sex. ' 'I never thought they were,'
I replied, * and I now find that vanity and
curiosity are not exclusively ours. ' 'They
are not learned lines, Sir, said my mother.
'So much the better, madam; sonnets,
I imagine; or elegies, or odes, or songs,
or fables, or acrostics, or rebusses? '
'Neither, Sir,' replied my mother, pro-
voked at his sarcastic manner, which my
retort had instantly revived; * they are
neither; but whatever they are, they
would do honour to any person, even
to Pope himself. ' I observed a smile
lurking upon several countenances, as
my fond mother pronounced this
warm eulogium. Distressed as I was
at the conversation, and every moment
dreading to hear myself declared the poet,
I yet felt a security in the belief that the
lines themselves would not be produced
as a proof; but, to my astonishment and
confusion, my mother drew from her
pocket the very paper I had shewn Bel*'
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? 258
ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
mont; and presenting it to the gentleman,
i Read Sir, and judge for yourself,' (at the
same time throwing a glance of triumph
towards me,) 'judge of my daughter's
poetry. ' Fanny was in conversation with
Belmont in a distant part of the room,
and heard not what was passing; but at
the sudden silence of the company, as the
lines were reading, she looked up, listen-
ed, and in a moment her cheek was as
deeply crimsoned with surprise, as mine
was with shame. The gentleman, pau-
sing, pronounced them admirable, and jo-
cosely exclaimed, 'The laurel for Miss
Falkland. ' My father, who knew how
much Fanny shrunk from any thing like
publicity of praise, who approved of her
delicacy, and encouraged her reserve, at
this moment forgot his usual caution and
her diffidence, and replied, 'The appro-
bation of friends will be dearer to Fanny
than the poet's crown. ' 'To Seraphina
you mean,' said my mother. 'To Sera-
phina! then I am greatly mistaken; but
Come hither my dear girls,' said my fa-
ther, (ever wishing to draw truth from its
hidden recesses), confess to whom we
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. . 259
must decree the disputed bays, or the
golden violet. ' * To Seraphina,' an-
swered my poor mother, with emphatic
partiality; but my father, now zealous to
ascertain the fact, again enquired whose
they really were; for he had read them
as Fanny's.
"I left the room to avoid the humilia-
tingdiscoverywhichlthought awaited mo,
and eager to escape from the observation
of the company, and the astonished gaze
of Belmont. My ever-consoling sister
followed me, and would not be repulsed.
'More dear than ever to my heart, my
Seraphina,' she exclaimed, * has not this
originated in your partiality for me, and
ought it not to cement our friendship in
still closer bonds? ' Though my heart
could not reply in affirmation to the purity
of the intentions ascribed to me, yet her
tenderness calmed the agitation of my
spirits; and the nobleness of her nature,
which had ever shone most conspicuous
in moments of trial, inspired me with
a wish to emulate it, to rise superior to
the shame I had endured, and, by a can-
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? 260 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
did and public avowal of my folly, in some
measure, to expiate it. 'I will confess all,'
I said; ' I will confess it before the whole
party. ' 'No,no,'repliedmygenerousFan-
ny,' there is no necessity for it; it may not
be known ; let it pass; it will be soon for-
gotten by those who are indifferent to it;
but to me how dear has been this proof of
your affection; then let it pass with others. '
"Fanny's intreaties had no effect upon
me; I knew that had it been possible for
her to have erred as I had done, she would
have been capable o? a? iy atonement, and
I felt that nothing but a confession of my
guilt, would restore me to myself,
"I returned into the room, and with a
kind of mock-heroic dignity, which I as.
Burned in order to veil the shame and an-
guish of my feelings, exclaimed--' Friends
and enemies! ye, who are witnesses of my
disgrace, hear my confession, and award
your punishment. I plead guilty to the
charge of theft; I have strutted in bor-
rowed plumes, and . now, like the poor
jack-daw, am . 1 stripped of them all; not
even one feather remains to decorate my
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 261
cap. I quit poetry and the muses for ever,
and hope the lesson which humbled vanity
has this day inscribed upon my heart, will
never be erased. This dear girl from
whom I have pilfered,'----Fanny intreat-
ed me to proceed no farther; "myheroism
was but the ebullition of a moment; I
burst into tears, and was unable to utter
another word. Belmont arose, and, taking
ahandof each. led us to another apartment,
where, placing himself between us, he
exclaimed, 'Dear and interesting sisters! '
then turning to me,'Who, Miss. Falkland,.
would not fall, thus to rise? ' He pressed .
our hands between his, and imprinted a
kiss on each; mine was the tribute of
sympathising pity; Fanny's of respect
and admiration. I felt it such, but at
thatmoment she was ' too much mypride,
to wake my envy. ''
"Belmont Continued to visit us, and
was always our welcome guest. In vain
my beauty blazed upon his eye; Fannys
virtues sunkinto his heart; inherlie found
that' kindred mind' he had 'sought, and
he soonbecamc her. lover andherhusband.
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? 3 >i ROSE AND EMILY J OR,
"Disappointed in ray desire of pleasing
the only man whose esteem I had ever
seriously wished to obtain, I grew peevish
and discontented,and I turned, for a time,
disgusted from the insipid flatteries of the
fops who still surrounded me.
"I was not ignorant of the source of
Belmont's attachment to Fanny; for,.
whatever might be my boast of beauty, I
had long been conscious of her mental su-
periority ; but in a ball room,or in general
society, the charms of mind are neither
appreciated nor discovered, while those of
person are instantly acknowledged and
idolized. i
"In Fanny I had never, till now, found
a rival $ and I began to reflect, with
sorrow and perhaps humiliation, upon
the life of folly I had led. I was even desi-
rous oi bee ming like her; but how could
I begin my reformation ? Long habits op-
posed so strong a barrier between my
wish and my power, that, rather than
make any extraordinary exertion, I again
indolently yielded to them; and again
listened to all who flattered my vanity;
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH* 265
though they iio longer deluded my un-
derstanding.
"Happiness had fled with Belmont and
Fanny. From their house I always re-
turned with my mind corroded by dis-
quiet, occasioned by the comparison I
unavoidably made between her and me;
yet she was dearer to me than ever. The
cheerfulness of her temper gave buoy-
ancy to her step, animation to her eye,
smiles to her mouth, and the sweetest
modulation to her voice. At once lively
and intelligent, gentle and affectionate,
her various virtues, instead of losing, dally
gained new influence over the heart of
Belmont. The sphere in which shemoved,
was to him the central point of happiness;
his wife was his friend ; his home was his
? world. All who saw her, loved her--
'loved her so much that they forgot to
admire yet,instead of the attentions she
received, and the affection she inspired,
adding one to the number of the tww,
they only rendered her the more desirous
of pleasing, and more deserving the bless-
ing of being beloved. Every new duty
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? 264 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
she had to perform, served but to deve-
lope some new beauty of character ; and
never has the pronoun 'my' been pro-
nounced with more pride, than when
Belmont has said ' my wife,' and I, 'my
sister;' yet alas! the happiness she im-
parted and received could not give peace
to my bosom; and reflection came to me
but as the messenger of misery. Children
of the same parents, we had shared the
same solicitude, the same affection, and,
but for the fatal possession of beauty, my
mind might have been as richly endowed
as Fanny's. My powers of understanding
were enervated by the frivolous pursuits
which a too tender and indulgent mother
had permitted me to follow. I was a child
in information; in myself I had no re-
sources; books, in general, wearied me;
y for music I had no taste, and in needle-
work I found no amusement. A prey to
secret discontent, my temper became so
irritable, that I began to find my adorers
retreating from a shrine at which perpe-
tual homage was exacted, and my health
suffered from the inquietude of my mind.
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? SKETCHES OP YOUTH. " ? 65
A long and dangerous illness was the con-
sequence. On the pillow of sickness, the
veil which vanity had spread before my
fight, was withdrawn, and all her tinsel
trappings fell, tarnished, to the ground.
I saw myself, as I really was, a weak, de-
serted, faded beauty. When I surveyed
myself in the glass, I could retrace rione
of those charms which I had imagined
would for ever have held the world in
chains; all had perished.
"My mother wept over the remains of
mybeauty,and pressed the ruin still closer
to her bosom. ' My father said, 'Why
should we lament a flower that you find
the breath of sickness, accident, or sor-
row, can at once destroy? Why has it
ever been valued? But let us examine the
heart; let us explore the treasures of the
mind? Ah! my unfortunate Seraphina,
you possessed a fatal gift,and your parents
weakly imagined its power would have
been superior to that of intellect. We have
much lost time to atone for, but let us
not despair; nature has not been deficient
to you in mental qualities; let us culti-
N
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? 266 ROSE AND EMILY; OR,
vate them, and they will teach you not tcs<<
regret the loss of beauty. See our Fanny 1
myintelligentcompanion; my affectionate
child; my consoling friend! ' 'Oh! ' I,
cried, interrupting him, and clasping his
hand, * make me but like Fanny,. and I
shall be happy. ' * You will be like her,*
he replied, 'if you will resolve to pursue
the same means. '
"My recovery was slow and doubtful;
I was no longer a beauty. My father
read to me, and by degrees I found
amusement in the books he selected; my
mind gradually strengthened, and he in-
stilled into it the principles of science,
taste, and truth. I received several offers
of marriage, but I would not quit my pa-
rents in their declining years; I was
happy in their affection, and other love
had been longextinguished. I closed their
eyes, and received their parting blessing,
'* With my Fanny and her amiable
Belmont, I continue to pass the sweetest
hours of my existence; I am become their
friend and companion. I now not only
talk, bnt converse ;with them. It is true
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH* 267
I am an old maid; but I trust neither a
peevish nor querulous one. I can witness
the happiness of others, with a smile of
? heartfelt pleasure; can sjrmpathise in.
their disappointments, from whatever
cause they flow; and tenderly tndeavour
to sooth their afflictions. Though my
youth deserved the contempt of the wise,
I trust that my old age will merit the re-
spect of the virtuous ; and remember, my
young friends,
'It is t'ae mind that irtakcs the body ricfi. '"
During this recital, the varied emotions
of Rose's mind, and some applications
which she made to herself, were visible in
her countenance; her changing hue told
what were her feelings; the expression
of her eye what were her thoughts.
"Dear, dear Mrs. Falkland," she said, " I
do not think I should have admired you
as a beauty so much as I love you now. '*
** And yet Rose," replied Mrs. Falkland,
M have you not fancied you could not
love any one who was not handsome ?
And, if you were not attracted by beauty,
have you not turned away, believing it
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? 268
ROSE AND EMILY. ; OR,
impossible that any charm or excellence
could dwell beneath a plain exterior I"
Rose blushed the confession her tongue
was ashamed to utter. "Is not Fanny ?
like her mamma r" she timidly enquired.
"Her very counterpart, my love: and
she does not resemble her mother more
in person than in mind; the same sweet-
ness of temper; the same kindness of
heart; the same strength of understand-
ing; the same self-command; the same
charm of character. She is once in a
year allowed to be my companion for a
month, and this month is not so much
her holiday as mine; she leaves a pleasant
home; parents tender and indulgent; bro-
thers and sisters who doat upon her, to
be dull with an old aunt; but she knows
in part the happiness she dispenses, and
this constitutes her own. My brother,
with whom I generally reside (as he is yet
unmarried) indulges us both in whatever .
little plans we propose ; and a short visit
to Matlock is generally one of them. You
will not suspect me of insincerity when I
say, that our visit this year has been pro-
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 26^
duefive of greater pleasure to us all, thau
any former one, and that I earnestly hope
it may lead to still further happiness--to a
friendship that will end but with our lives. "
Rose kissed the hand she held; and the
rest of the party fervently and affection-
ately repeated the same wish.
Mr. Falkland and Fanny were seen ap-
proaching; thegirlshas ened to meet therm
and when they returned together to the
spot where Mrs. Falkland and Mrs. Sydney
were sitting, " Brother," said the former,
"you must join me in awishlhave just ex-
pressed to Mrs. Sydney, that the friendship
our families have formed, may not expire
with the period of our association at Mat-
lock, but be continued even to the end of
our lives. " "I join in it from my heart,"
he replied; "what say you Fanny? " The
most affectionate smile played upon her in-
telligent countenance,andsheheld out her
hands toheryoungfriends,whoall extend-
ed theirs; the pledge of friendship was gi-
ven. and returned; and with hearts as
closely united as hands, they walked back
to the hotel to dinner.
n3
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? ROSE AND BMILV J OR,
CHAP. XVII.
Tus day of separation nearly approached,
and the melancholy morrow was at last
fixed upon. The parsonage, that spot
of" so much local felicity, which to leave
even for scenes of novelty and pleasure>
had been agony, was now thought of
with a tear. "O, Fanny! " Rose would
exclaim, "could we but take you and
dear Mr. and Mrs. Falkland with us,
what on earth should we have to wish
for more? " "My father! " replied Emi-
ly, with a sigh. "True, Emily, your
father; and then we should be quite
happy. " "Not quite]' said Fanny, " with-
out my father, and my mether, and all
my brothers and sisters. " "I forgot
them replied Rose, laughing; M I wish
we could have all; how delightful would
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 271
be a little village composed only of
friends! " and immediately the. little vi-
sionary pursued her phantom of felicity,
till she was lost in her own Utopia. . '
The day before they quitted Matlock,
every place, which was marked by any
particular remembrance, was revisited;
on some they lingered, unwilling to say
adieu; here Mr. Falkland had repeated
some of his own verses; there he had
read some favourite author; in this spot
Fanny had sung; on this bench Mrs.
Falkland related her narrative, and here
they pledged eternal friendship--how
could they bid adieu to scenes so
dear--go sacred 1 They were all sketch-
ed, and the party grouped by the
pencil of Isabel or Emily, as pre-
cious memorials of departed joys, when
the friends, who gave them interest,
would be far distant! Yet they loved
to indulge in the visions of future visits
to the same scenes, and with the same
society; and were cheered by the pro-
mise that Mr, and Mrs. Falkland and
Fanny would visit the parsonage before
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? 272
ROSE AND EMILY; OK,
the end of the summer. These hopes
beguiled the present hour, and softened
. the pang of the parting one; but a. tear
stood in every eye when the lip attempt-
ed to utter the last farewel; even Mr.
Falkland's spectacles glistened with the
dew of tender sorr<<w; and he scarcely
eould distinguish the object he handed
into the chaise.
The departure of a family that had so
warmly engaged their affections, left a
blank that no common-place company
could fill up; and they resolved upon
leaving Matlock also, and returning
into Yorkshire, where Mr. Falkland
resided. Their road lay across a diffe-
rent part of the Derbyshire Moors from
that pursued by Mrs. Sydney, but the
same bold, wild, and rugged features
marked it, and brought to Mr. Falk-
land's recollection the idea they had ex-
cited in the mind of Rose, of resembling
scenes, such as Ossian describes, of Fin-
gal's battles; and that she expected to
see some of the shades of his lofty heroes
or blue eyed maidens, or even great
jt. . ? '
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? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 273
Fingal himself, flitting before her. De-
lighted in thus associating the idea of
his little. favourite with the views before
him, and. knowing that it would afford
her pleasure to be so remembered, he
hastily wrote the following lines:--
THE SHADE OF LOB A.
On yonder mountain's cloud-cap't. head,
What grisly form is nigh?
E'en through the veil of mist I dread
The thunder of his arm, and lightning of his eye.
Pale king. of. shadows. ! Loda hail!
Why leave your airy cell 1
Borne on the hollow blast to sail,
Why leave green fields of rest wherein you dwell ]
Drop, drop your dusky spear,
Fell tyrant of the night!
The hero's rising . strength is neai>--
Great Fiugal's giant arm, great Fingai's matchless
might.
Hark! heard. yon not yon hollow groan,"
As through the mist dark Lunot pass'd?
Twas Loda's deepen'd, sulkn mead, .
He shrunk a shriv<<li'd scroll, and vanished in the
? ' Wait!
t TH<< uword of Fingal. . '.
N5
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? S7* ROSE AKD EMILY; OK,
Mrs. Sydney and her family proceed-
ed to the parsonage with their thoughts
almost entirely occupied by the friends
they had left; they saw only their forms*
heard only their voices; and even the
moors, which had before been to Rose
scenes of so much interest and fancy, now
appeared nothing but a dark and barren
heath; but the nearer she approached
her home; when dear and familiar ob-
jects met her eye; when she caught the
first glimpse of the white chimnies of
the parsonage, her heart bounded in her
bosom; she hailed the long-loved scenes
of her native place, and Matlock faded
from her mind; but it was a momentary
oblivion; and as she sprung out of the
chaise, she exclaimed--" O mamma, that
that we had but our beloved friends to
welcome to the parsonage ! ** The dear
and lively interests of home soon occu-
pied their hearts; the anguish of the
parting moment had passed away; and
all that remained was a tender and faith-
ful recollection of their friends, a delight
in dwelling upon every Little circum-
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? SKETCHES (C)F YOUTH. 275
stance that had occurred when they were
together, and in indulging the hope of
soon meeting them again. ,. *
The garden was visited by all; Rose
bounded over every path, and eagerly
examined every favourite plant, while the
more . patient hand of Isabel or Emily
raised up those that had fallen, and gave
them the support they wanted. The cat
accompanied them in their walk, purring
and rolling before them, and giving every
indication of joy. "Who can say cats
are insensible," cried Rose, " and that
they are incapable of attachment? "--
"vThey are undoubtedly," replied Mrs.
Sydney, " sensible of kindness, and will
distinguish the person who most caresses
them from every other; this is, there-
fore, a species of personal preference
that must be granted them. " "They
are an unhappy, persecuted race of ani-
mals," said Rose, piteously, and catch-
ing up her tabby favourite, which clung
to her shoulder, and returned her cares-
ses by rub"bing its velvet face against her
cheek.
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? 276 HOSE AXD EMILY *, OR,
Phoebe, who, on alighting from the
chaise, had immediately gone to her fa-
ther's, now returned with a countenance
of excessive dejection, and her eyes
swollen with weeping. Mrs. Sydney
anxiously and affectionately enquired
the cause. "My father is married," she
almost inarticulately sobbed. Mrs. Syd-
- ney concealed her surprise from the poor
girl, and asked her how long he had been
married? " He married, madam, on the
day we went to Matlock; he said he
knew I should not like to be at his wed-
? ding, and so he had it when I was away. "
"He was kind to you Phoebe, was he
not? " "O yes, he was kind, and cried
almost as much as I did; but he said he
thought I was too young to take care of
his dairy, and manage his house, and that
bis wife would. " Here the poor girl
sobbed aloud. w There is nothing very
distressing in this," said Mrs. Sydney, en-
deavouring to sooth her j "you will be
glad to ,see. your. father comfortable ; and
in his situation he wants a wrfe*to attend
to his house, while he is about his farm. 5'
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-24 14:36 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn2hfl Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SKETCHES OF YOUTH. 277
'<< I know it, madam," she said, " but
what grieves me the most is, that I fear
I have been to blame; for when my fa-^
ther has asked me how long it would be
before I went to live at home, I used to
say I thought I was too young to manage
his house; for I could 'not bear the
thoughts of leaving you. He saw this,
and so he married; and now I have no
home. " "Is not this your home, Phoebe? "
"You are very good to me, ma'am, but
SI ought to have gone to iny father when
he wished me. I must not be a trouble
to you any longer, and I beg upon my
knees,'' cried the poor girl, "that you
will let me live with you as a servant;
I will do any thing for yOu; my father
says he will always find me in cloaths, and
I do not want wages. " "No, my good
girl," said Mrs. Sydney, raising her up,
"you shall live with me, but not as a ser-
vant. Your mother, humble as was her
situation, was myJriend, and never shall
her child want a mother's tenderness
while I live. You must not call yourself
a trouble to me. Are you not rny little
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-24 14:36 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hn2hfl Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust.
