6. The Happiness of a Country Fireside.
As we carried on the former dispute with some degree of warmth,
in order to accommodate matters, it was universally agreed that we
should have a part of the venison for supper, and the girls undertook the
task with alacrity. "I am sorry," cried I, "that we have no neighbor or
stranger to take a part in this good cheer: feasts of this kind acquire a
double relish from hospitality."-"Bless me," cried my wife, "here comes
our good friend, Mr. Burchell, that saved our Sophia, and that ran you
down fairly in the argument.""Confute me in argument, child!" cried
I. "You mistake there, my dear. I believe there are but few that can do
that. I never dispute your abilities at making a goose-pie, and I beg
you'll leave argument to me." As I spoke, poor Mr. Burchell entered the
house, and was welcomed by the family, who shook him heartily by the
hand, while little Dick officiously reached him a chair.
I was pleased with the poor man's friendship for two reasons:
because I knew that he wanted mine, and
I knew him to be friendly as far as he was able. He was
known in our neighborhood by the character of the poor gentleman that
would do no good when he was young, though he was not yet thirty. He
would at intervals talk with great good-sense; but in general he was
fondest of the company of children, whom he used to call harmless little
men. He was famous, I found, for singing them
ballads and telling them stories, and seldom went out without something
in his pockets for them; a piece of gingerbread or a halfpenny whistle.
He generally came for a few days into our neighborhood once a year and
lived upon the neighbors' hospitality. He sat down to supper among us,
and my wife was not sparing of her gooseberry wine. The tale went
round; he sang us old songs, and gave the children the story of The Buck
of Beverland,
with the history of Patient Grissel, the
adventures of Catskin, and then Fair Rosamond's Bower. Our cock,
which always crew at eleven, now told us it was time to repose; but an
unforeseen difficulty started about lodging the stranger: all our beds were
already taken up, and it was too late to send him to the next ale-house.
In this dilemma, little Dick offered him his part of the bed, if his brother
Moses would let him lie with him. "And I," cried Bill, "will give Mr.
Burchell my part, if my sisters will take me to theirs."-"Well done, my
good children," cried I; "hospitality is one of the first Christian duties.
The beast retires to its shelter, and the bird flies to its nest, but helpless
man can only find refuge from his fellow creature. The greatest stranger
in the world, was He that came to save it. He never had a house, as if
willing to see what hospitality was left remaining amongst us. Deb
orah, my dear," cried I to my wife, "give those boys a lump of sugar
each; and let Dick's be the largest because he spoke first."
In the morning early I called out my whole family to help at saving an
after-growth of hay, and our guest offering his assistance, he was
accepted among the number. Our labors went on lightly; we turned the
swath to the wind. I went foremost, and the rest followed in due
succession. I could not avoid, however, observing the assiduity of Mr.
Burchell in assisting my daughter Sophia in her part of the task. When
he had finished his own, he would join in hers, and enter
into a close conversation; but I had too good an opinion of Sophia's
understanding, and was too well convinced of her ambition, to be under
uneasiness from a man of broken fortune. When we were finished for
the day, Mr. Burchell was invited as on the night before; but he refused,
as he was to lie that night at a neighbor's, to whose child he was
carrying a whistle. When gone, our conversation at supper turned upon
our late unfortunate guest. "What a strong instance," said I, "is that
poor man of the miseries attending a youth of levity and extravagance!
He by no means wants sense, which only serves to aggravate his former
folly. Poor forlorn creature, where are now the revellers, the flatterers,
that he could once inspire and command! Gone, perhaps, to attend the
bagnio pander, grown rich by his extravagance. They once praised him,
and now they applaud the pander; their former raptures at his wit are
now converted into sarcasms at his folly: he is poor, and perhaps
deserves poverty: for he has neither the ambition to be independent, nor
the skill to be useful." Prompted perhaps by some secret reasons, I
delivered this observation with too much acrimony, which my Sophia
gently reproved. "Whatsoever his former conduct may have been,
papa, his circumstances should exempt him from censure now. His
present indigence is a sufficient punishment for former folly; and I have
heard my papa himself say, that we
should never strike one unnecessary blow at a victim
over whom Providence holds the scourge of its resentment."-"You are
right, Sophy," cried my son Moses, "and one of the ancients finely
represents so malicious a conduct, by the attempts of a rustic to flay
Marsyas, whose skin, the fable tells us, had been wholly stripped off by
another. Besides, I don't know if this poor man's situation be so bad as
my father would represent it. We are not to judge of the feelings of
others, by what we might feel if in their place. However dark the
habitation of the mole to our eyes, yet the animal itself finds the
apartment sufficiently lightsome; and, to confess a truth, this man's
mind seems fitted to his station; for I never heard any one more sprightly
than he was to-day when he conversed with you." This was said without
the least design; however, it excited a blush, which she strove to cover
by an affected laugh, assuring him that she scarcely took any notice of
what he said to her; but that she believed he might once have been a
very fine gentleman. The readiness with which she undertook to
vindicate herself, and her blushing, were symptoms I did not internally
approve; but I repressed my suspicions.
As we expected our landlord the next day, my wife went to make
the venison pasty. Moses sat reading, while I taught the little ones; my
daughters seemed equally busy with the rest; and I observed them for a
good while cooking something over the fire. I at first
supposed they were assisting their mother; but little
Dick informed me in a whisper, that they were making a wash for the
face. Washes of all kinds I had a natural antipathy to; for I knew that
instead of mending the complexion they spoiled it. I therefore
approached my chair by sly degrees to the fire, and grasping the poker,
as if it wanted mending, seemingly by accident, overturned the whole
composition, and it was too late to begin another.