| | 1 | Author: | Ingraham
J. H.
(Joseph Holt)
1809-1860 | Add | | | Title: | Charles Blackford, or, The adventures of a student in search of a profession  | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | `If this Republic shall escape the catastrophe that terminated the career of
every one of its predecessors in ancient and modern days, it must be by the
prevalence of more just and liberal views in regard to the distinctions assigned
to BIRTH, MONEY, and OCCUPATION. The people must be made to see and to
feel that the LAW OF REPUTATION, as now observed, has a false basis—that there
can be no such thing as personal merit without virtue and usefulness—and
that no branch of industry which contributes to the general comfort is intrinsically
degrading. We have, even among the working classes a scale of merit
graduated by occupation, and that fixes, to some extent, the merit of individuals.
It is a relic of the absurd prejudices of Europe, by which Aristocracy and
Monarchy are upheld, and shows that, although we are as a nation free, the
marks of the old servitude are not yet obliterated.'—Walter Forward. Dear Blackford:—I have been thinking of you and your request and unpleasant
situation, every turn of the coach-wheel to this place. Your case has
undergone my thorough mental survey, and I am convinced I treated your
confidence and trust in me very unhandsomely. I have no wish to excuse myself,
though I might do so. The truth is I have been very often applied to by
students to lend money and seldom refusing, I have been sometimes trifled with
and imposed upon, not that I could suspect any such thing of you! Twice before
your application this morning I had two fellows ask me for money, which
for certain reasons I declined lending; your request was, therefore, unhappily
timed and in the hurry of departure I did not give it that consideration,
which your own character and my respect for you, should have challenged
for it. Pardon me, if I gave you offence, or by my refusal added to your mortifying
position. I would now, in some degree, atone for my indifference to
your request, and beg leave to enclose you a bank note for $50, assuring you I
shall not need it; and I pray you will oblige me by never bringing it to my recollection
again. Wishing you a happy deliverance from all your difficulties, I
beg leave hastily to subscribe myself, `My Dear Sir,—I write to lessen the weight of my obligation to you, by offering
you any service that is in my power. If, in your outset in life, I can do
any thing for you, you will confer upon me an infinite kindness, by naming it
with the same frankness with which I propose to serve you. The ladies join
me, in an invitation for you to dine with us this afternoon, at Hare Hall, where
you will see none but those whom you have already met with. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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