"I will, madam, for the future," said he, "whether I can raise money enough to buy it or not; but I am ashamed to say it, but truth will come out, I didnotintend to take any more pains with it; for I thought Campbell would soon have it all."
"Oh, farmer, I hope you will never give way to such ill-grounded suspicions again," returned Mrs. Meridith, "depend upon it I would act with the same fairness to you as to him," and seeing the poor man quite confused with a sense of his error, she offered him her hand, and begged him to believe her as much a friend to his interestas to Campbell's; "only I have known him a longer time," said she, "andhismother wasmine, when I had lost my own."
The farmer appeared quite melted by her condescension, and not being able to say another word, he gave her hand a hearty shake, and hurried out of the house to tell his wife how he had been mistaken in what he thought was Mrs. Meridith's intention.
About this time poor old Molly, who had been a faithful servant, first to their father and mother, and then to the present farmer Campbell and his wife, began to lose her strength, and she was not allowed to do any thing in the domestic affairs, but nurse the little ones when she liked, and rock the cradle. But her affection for Anna was not decreased by absence; and when she could no longer get to Rosewood to see her, Mrs. Meridith was anxious that Anna should pay her a daily visit. Mrs. Campbell had now four more children, and it was Molly's pride and pleasure to have as many of them about her as she could,but Miss Anna, and some of Edward Campbell's children must be there also, to make her as happy as any old woman of her age could be. In visiting her, and one or other poor person in the neighbourhood, part of every day was spent by Anna; and Bella would often accompany her, who, when she saw old Molly surrounded by the grandchildren of her former mistress, would sigh, and say it was just so in their country, and they were as happy and united, till the cruel white men came amongst them.
"When I was a girl," said she, "though they do call us savages, my father was good man; he did love his wife, and his father, and his mother, and his children; we did all live in one home;wework, and the old did look at us, and tell us what to do; we did no harm to anybody. Then came cruel war; my father and all the men went out to fight: oh shocking, shocking day! I cry now to think of it! then came cruel,wicked, white men; and I sold to be a slave!"
"Oh, do not talk of it," said Molly, clasping her feeble hands together, "be thankful, mydear, dearchildren, that you are born in England."
"No slaves here," said Bella, "but there be very many bad people, English people too; but notallbad, neither are all black people good. Icouldtell a great deal—but you are happy, happy people that live and die in this peaceful village: I lived in peaceful village once when I was a girl; I was happy then, so I am now I am old; my dear mistress very very kind to me; I shall die quiet here: no more wars, no more wicked white men; all good here: but I think of what is past, and that makes me cry. I never saw father, or mother, or brothers, or sisters, after I once taken away!"
All the children shed tears at her recital, and Molly folded them to her heart in unfeigned joy that this could never be their case. Anna and the elder boys each extended their hand to Bella, and their countenances more than their words told them how much they pitied her; the younger ones wept because the others did; and Mr. Campbell when he entered the room was surprized to find so sorrowful a party.
"Oh, father," said John, "Bella has been telling us how she was taken from her father and mother, to be a slave; was not that cruel?"
"Indeed it was, my dear," said he; "but they tell us now that the Slave Trade is abolished, or at least put under such restrictions, that it is less cruel than before."
"But why can't they hire the negroes, as servants are hired here?" asked Anna; "would not that be as well?"
"Ah, my dear," replied her uncle, "men, either as a body or individually, seldom do any thing well: but it is said thenegroes are of such a disposition that nothing but bondage will do for them."
"O, master, their own conduct makes them so," exclaimed Bella; "they treat us ill at the first, and then think we must not seek revenge, or even to escape from their cruelty; but if they good to us, we good to them; we don't come to them; we want to keep out of their way, but they come for us, and buy us whether we will or not."
"It is a bad subject, my good Bella," returned the farmer, "nor can I justify many of my countrymen in their treatment of you; butsomeare good."
"Yes, some are good," said she; "but it was my lot to fall into very bad hands at first."
"What did they do to you, my poor Bella?" asked John, his heart beating with compassion.
"Oh, they beat me, and starved me; and, worse than that, they killed my child; orthey would not let me see it after it was nine months old, but made me workhard hardwork!" Here tears seemed to choke her utterance, and the children looked at each other and their father, in silent distress.
"Get something to revive poor Bella," said he to Molly, whose weeping eyes bore testimony that her feelings were not blunted by age; "and do not begin this subject any more, my dear children," continued he, "you see how it distresses poor Bella, and it only opens to your knowledge crimes which I hope you will never have the inclination to commit. If, as the Scriptures declare, these people are suffering for the sins of their forefathers, and their state of slavery has been foretold so many thousand years, we must acknowledge all God's decrees are just, though the crimes of those who enslave and ill-treat them will most assuredly be punished."
Bella was now a little revived, and Anna proposed their returning home.
"Thank you, good Sir, for your kindness to a poor negro woman," said Bella; "my mistress will tell youall, but me talk no more about it, it tears my heart too much."
Molly begged her to say no more, and the children, after kissing her, promised never to ask her any more questions on so distressing a subject.
In a few days after this poor Molly died, as she was sitting in her arm-chair; and her young companions supposed her to be asleep, till their mother came in and perceived her altered countenance. She was laid on the bed, and the two eldest children sent to tell Anna that Molly was very ill. Bella and she came down immediately, and every thing was done to restore the pulse of life: but it had ceased to beat, and Mr. and Mrs. Campbell rejoiced that their faithful servant had not suffered more at theclose of life. She had lived in their family from the age of fifteen to seventy-five, and deserved, by her strong attachment to it, every attention which they paid her; and never did a master, mistress, and servant agree so well as Molly, and both the Mr. and Mrs. Campbells had done. All the children greatly lamented her loss, and with Mrs. Meridith's permission, Anna, Bella, and Syphax attended her funeral, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell being the chief mourners. Such is a village funeral, where the parade of ostentation is not known; but the simple honours which are paid to honest integrity come from the heart. Every one had a sigh and a good word for poor Molly, as they returned from the affecting scene; rendered still more so by the unfeigned grief of the children, and the grateful testimony her master and mistress gave of her fidelity and attachment. All the people were pleased that they were not above attending her funeral themselves; and thatMrs. Meridith should let Miss Anna (who washerchild now) follow, was another proof of her condescension. But Mrs. Meridith knew what was due to merit, though in humble life, and rejoiced that she had escaped from a world, where such an acknowledgment of it would have been thought ridiculous, or at least superfluous.
Anna had seen Bella so distressed at reverting to her former days, and had felt so much herself at hearing the recital, that she feared to ask Syphax if he had known similar troubles; but one day, as he was assisting her in planting a piece of the garden, he looked up, and with a dejected air said:
"Ah, Miss, this is a deal better than planting sugar-canes, with the whip over my head, and irons on my feet."
"Irons on your feet!" said she, shuddering, "poor Syphax, why was that?"
"All the slaves wear them in the West-Indies, Miss; I come from there."
"Did you know Bella, there?" asked Anna.
"No Miss, she came away before I did come there: she got good mistress before me."
"And where did you know Mrs. Meridith first?"
"In the East-Indies, Miss; I ashamed to say how I became acquainted; she be too good to me if she has not told all."
"I never heard her say more than that Bella and you were both servants she brought with her from the East-Indies," said Anna.
"So she did, Miss, and thank her for it a thousand times, for we had no friends there; poor Bella torn from all her's long ago, and I never had any but poor slaves like myself. I was born a slave, but I did not feel the whip, or the irons, and the cruel ratings the less for that; but I have been a sad, sad man, Miss," continued he; "ask me no more, and if my good ladyever tell you, do not hate me for it, as she has forgiven me: I knew no better then, but good deal of good has come of it to me."
Anna was too mindful of her kind protectress's maxim, "the way to be happy ourselves is to add to the happiness of others, not to take from it," to press for any farther explanation from Syphax, when she saw he wished not to give it; and she looked forward to Mrs. Meridith's promised recital with increased anxiety.
"I am afraid Syphax has been the cause of some of her sorrows," said she to herself. "How wrong of him to distress so kind a friend! and what has she gone through! Oh! if I cannot add to her happiness, I shall never be happy myself."
With this view she was still more attentive to the instructions her kind friend was continually giving her, and those of the different masters provided for her. Accustomed to be Mrs. Meridith's constant companion; to read to her, and hear herremarks on what she read, as well as to express her own, and have her judgment informed and set right when she had formed a wrong opinion, it was not extraordinary that her understanding was beyond her years; and when little more than fourteen, her manners and sentiments were those of a woman double that age, and in many respects her ideas and knowledge was far more correct. Her conversation, also, was of great use to William and John; she either lent to them or gave them an account of whatever books she read, and this encouraged in them a taste for literature it is probable they would not have indulged, but that they might converse more freely with her.
Mrs. Campbell had now seven children; four boys and three girls. The infant which she had in her arms when Mrs. Meridith first visited them was grown a fine girl of ten years old, and her sisters were one eight, and the other six; the two youngestwere boys, but none of these had that affection for Anna as William and John, who still thought of her as a sister. Anna would have instructed the girls in every thing she knew, had not her uncle and aunt prevented her.
"It is not necessary," said Mr. Campbell, "thatourdaughters should learn singing, and music, and French, or any accomplishment; though for Mrs. Meridith's child, as she has been pleased to makeyou, it is. Our's are farmer's daughters, and I hope never to see instilled into their minds a desire to be otherways; which might be the case were they to know a little, of whatyouI hope know enough to justly appreciate its value; and which is not worth anything, unless it enables you to amuse Mrs. Meridith, and to pass through the world with more credit to her, as her adopted daughter, than you could have done, had you been ill-bred and illiterate. But let my children never have an idea oflearning accomplishments, for they can never be useful to them. Every thing which can make them sensible companions they shall know, as far as books, and my ideas of education will permit; and should you continue to live here as your kind patroness has done, I hope you will not find them unworthy of your friendship, or less agreeable companions than Mrs. Meridith, has condescended to say she has found their mother."
Anna could not but allow the justice of his remark; and while she saw how little he thought of those acquirements, which most young ladies are proud of possessing, she imperceptibly learnt how far she ought to value them in herself. She could not say her cousins were the happier fornotknowing them, since she had not found them causes of unhappiness in herself: the idea of affording Mrs. Meridith amusement, or adding to her pleasure, gave a zest to her attainments; but this was a motiveher cousins could not have, since their father and mother did not desire it.
"I will not say then," thought she, "that they cannot be happy without them, but it is all best as it is; it is right I should endeavour to attain them, and that they shouldnot: thus shall we be each fitted for our separate stations."
The next time that Mr. and Mrs. Campbell came to dine with their kind friend, she recollected the promise she had given Anna of relating what had passed during her stay from Rosewood.
"I think it but right to relate it," said she, "lest from what has at various times escaped me you may have formed a wrong idea, and think that I was not so happy in the married state, as my regard for Mr. Meridith's memory would otherwise evince.
"You remember, Mr. Campbell, when I left your house, I was not more than six years old; happy in having lived with you,and wishing for no other home. I loved my father, for he was very good to me, but I had rather see him at your house than his own, for there I had no one to play with me, or be my companion. When I dined with him, which you know was not very often, it was generally after he had been fatigued with a long ride in the morning; and when he had loaded my plate with every thing he called nice, and what he thought I should like, and allowed me as much fruit after dinner as I could eat, and gave me one or two glasses of wine to help my digestion (and truly I needed something for that purpose, as I never rose from the table without a violent head-ach), he would drink himself five or six times that quantity, and then fall asleep; and I was ready to follow his example: for not daring to open the door, lest I should awake him, I had no other amusement than creeping to the window, and there, with my eyes half shut, and my head and stomachviolently oppressed, from the quantity I had eaten, I used to watch the coming of somebody to fetch me home; and glad I was to wake the next morning free from the head-ach, and without the expectation of going again to my father's.
"You know how differently the days passed at the farm, where I ate no more than was necessary for me, and I met with attention from all the servants and labourers, because I was the Squire's daughter; and, except the time your good mother took to teach me my letters and to spell a little, with the use of a needle and thread, I was allowed to play the rest of the day with Anna, whom I loved as a sister; and when you and Edward were at home, you always joined our party. Thus were my youngest days spent, and often have I looked back to them in far different scenes.
"At length a sister of my father's, who had married Sir Robert Meridith, and had no child of her own, proposed my living withthem, saying that I should be quite a rustic if I remained any longer at Rosewood; and with some reluctance, as I have been told, my father consented. My aunt was much older than her husband, and he paid her but little attention; her fortune had been his chief inducement to marry, and of this he made ample use, though what was settled on herself he could not touch. She was proud and haughty, and continually reproved me for talking so much of the farm and your family, whom, she said, I ought to forget entirely; but this I thought I never could do.
"I remained a twelvemonth with her, at their house in Leicestershire, during which time my father came twice to see me; and being told by my aunt that I was already much improved, and only wanted education to make me what I ought to be, as his daughter and the heiress of Rosewood, he affected to be satisfied, and told her he left my education entirely to her."Yet," said he, "I think my dear little Maria don't look so brisk and lively as when she was at the farm." I took this opportunity of inquiring for the friends I had left there; but he could not tell me half I wished to know, as how Anna was, and whether she went to school, and if Edward and you were grown; he said, you were all well, and grown very much, but as for any thing else he had not inquired. I sent you all many kind remembrances, and would have added some of my playthings for Anna, but as he travelled on horseback, neither himself or his servant could be incumbered with them.
"After this time my aunt went to London, and took me with her. My uncle had been there for many months; and his behaviour to my aunt after our arrival was still less attentive than in the country. He had his acquaintance, and she hers; a few old ladies like herself, with whom she formed card parties, and spent her evenings; while I was sent to what was called a very good school, and learnt every thing that was taught in it; and when I say this, my dear friends, perhaps you will not imagine it wasmuch morethan was good. I learnt from the masters who attended those accomplishments which are regularly introduced into schools; from the governess, all that feigned politeness, which teaches us to appear glad to see a person when we are not so; to tell them they look well, when their appearance is just the contrary; to acknowledge obligations where I felt none; and even to tell untruths rather than be uncivil, or say what would make my hearers think I wanted politeness. I learnt from the rest of the ladies, andsomeof the teachers, how to deceive our governess, and to make her think we had learnt our lessons when we had not; and these instructions, I am sorry to say, came very easy to me, though those from my masters were hard.
"Yet I often wished myself at the farm again, or at Rosewood, where I had nobody I desired to deceive, and scarcely knew what deceit was; but it was not required there, while here it was in daily requisition: for I had always some fault of my schoolfellows, if not of my own, to hide; and though from them I learnt to laugh at my aunt'sfinicalways, as they used to call them, I was obliged to put on all the courtesy and feigned politeness my governess taught me, whenever she came to see me.
"My father could never be brought to visit me in London, for he said he hated the smoke of it, and would by no means put himself in sight of a ladies' boarding-school, who would laugh at the manners of a fox-hunter, and teach his daughter to despise him. But when in the summer vacations I accompanied my aunt into Leicestershire, he would visit us for a day or two, and was evidently pleased when my aunt told him I was wonderfully improved,and knew as much as any young lady of my age. 'Well, well, I am no judge,' said he, 'but I hope she will make a good woman, and not disgrace her mother's memory. Ah! shewasa woman, Lady Meridith, which is not to be met with in these days.'
"'But have you forgot your old friends, the Campbells?' said he to me.
"'No, indeed, papa,' I replied, their kindness rushing on my mind, 'and I hope I never shall;' and my inquiries were renewed after them and their family, without dissimulation.
"He told me that your father and mother were grown very old, and that you and Edward were nice boys, with every promise of making as good men as your father was. From my pocket allowance I was enabled to send my good old nurse some token of my remembrance, as my father said he would not wish me to forget either her or her children.
"'They will behertenants by and bye,' said he to my aunt, 'and then what sort of figure will she make if shehasforgotten them?'
"I was then about eleven years old, and I remained at this school till I was fifteen. My father died, as you know, very suddenly, and I was not apprized of his illness till he was no longer in this world. I was then thirteen, and was at first very much hurt, as his strong attachment to me, though singularly expressed, had never suffered him to see a fault in any thing I said or did; and I was sure to meet with indulgence from him, whenever I needed it. He appeared to have been doubly kind to me after I had lost him, but the new mourning I now appeared in, and the increased consequence I gained in the school, and with my aunt, on being the heiress of Rosewood and Coombdale, both my father's estates, made me soon forget it; and in two years afterwards I left theschool highly accomplished, as my aunt's flattering friends told her (in my hearing), both in mind and person; and my vanity led me to think they told her true, though from the many lessons I had taken of dissimulation, I ought to have known the value of their commendations.
"I was now to be introduced to the world, but who was to introduce me was the question. My aunt was too old, and devoted to the card-table and her littlecoterie, to attend me to balls, routs, and dinner parties. Sir Robert had now given up even the appearance of civility to his wife, and lived in a distant county with another woman: but there was the widow of a brother of Sir Robert's, whom I had occasionally visited with my aunt, whose circle of acquaintance was much larger, and very different from hers. My aunt went round to about a dozen houses, while Mrs. Meridith visited all who lived at the west end of the town, and was intimatewith but a very few: to her therefore I was consigned to see the world, which, in the meaning they attach to it, is to dance at several balls, dine at different houses, yet mostly meet the same company; and be able to speak of the merits and demerits of the principal performers at both theatres, and at the opera house; yet in this I was to be careful not to deviate from the general opinion, lest I should be called singular, and positively to know nothing. A few noblemen's ladies, or their titled daughters, might venture to differ in their likes and dislikes; but such an avowal would not do for me, who was only a commoner."
Mr. Campbell smiled at these distinctions, and began to hope the recital of their friend would not cost her all the anguish he had apprehended, since she could so cheerfully speak of her introduction to them.
Anna laughed, and said, "I hope Ishall never be introduced to the world, for I should make a terrible figure in it; I have never been to boarding-school, you know, Mamma."
"True, my dear," returned Mrs. Meridith, "but the lessons you allude to are easily learnt without going there. I found them daily practised in the society I was in, and yet Mrs. Meridith was what was called an amiable woman, and, for so young a widow, remarkably strict in her conduct. She had one son, whom I had not yet seen, as he was then at college; but after I was so much at his mother's (for the evening parties to which I constantly accompanied her were so much later than my aunt's, that she allowed me to take up my residence there when we were in town,) he came home at the vacations, and I was introduced to him; and this Mr. Meridith, you will readily suppose, was afterwards my husband. But as my marriage will lead me into far differentscenes, I shall, if you please, defer them till some other evening. You must be as tired of hearing as I am of relating those circumstances which,—however new they may be to you, are old and stale to me; and I am sick of what is called a knowledge of the world."
"And so, dear Madam, should I," replied Mr. Campbell; "but I cannot help acknowledging that we have too much of it in our little village, though in a humbler way. Human nature is the same every where, and a deceitful heart the characteristic which the word of God has given to man; we need not, therefore, go to London, or the great world, to find it out, unless our eyes are shut to what is going on within ourselves."
Supper was then ordered, and Mr. Campbell with great pleasure told Mrs. Meridith the alteration her last conversation with farmer Ward had made in his conduct towards himself.
"He has told me all," said he, "and with that ingenuousness, which I fear is not to be met with in the circles you have described to us, acknowledged himself wrong."
"In that respect," said Mrs. Meridith, "people belonging to less polished society have the advantage, for they are not ashamed to own themselves mistaken when they really feel they are so; while more polite ones never will."
The next afternoon the Campbells again joined Mrs. Meridith's fire-side, and after tea she began what she called the second part of her adventures.
"After running the round of polite life which I told you of last night, for three years, I was married at eighteen to Mr. Meridith, the nephew of my uncle, and the ostensible heir to his title and estate; but the fortune belonging to it was known to be so reduced by my uncle's expenses, that the addition of mine was considered as a desirable thing, both by my uncle and aunt, and Mr. Meridith's mother. As for himself, I have reason to think he would have preferred me to any otherwoman, had I not been the heiress of Rosewood and Coombdale; but as he expected the Baronetcy, it was very convenient he should have a better fortune to enable him to support it, than would be left him with the title. We were married but a twelvemonth before his mother died; and my aunt, lady Meridith, soon after; and my uncle, Sir Robert, married again; and as it was not unlikely he would now have a son, all thoughts of the title were given up, I may say without regret, by either of us. My uncle had taken no notice of us for some time; and though he was appointed joint trustee for me, with a friend of my father's, he left every thing in his hands. By my father's will I was not to be put into possession of the estates till I was twenty-five; nor was I allowed sufficient for us to live on in the style we had been accustomed to; particularly as my husband's fortune was small, and from the hope of his possessing the estate of hisuncle, his mother had not proposed his following any profession. His father had property both in the East and West-Indies, but since his death the remittances had been entirely suspended; and Mrs. Meridith not caring to encumber herself with any litigation respecting it, had not pursued her inquiries into the cause. My husband now proposed going over to Jamaica, where the West-India estate lay, and to claim it for himself, as he hadsufficientdocuments to ascertain it as his property. I had one child at that time, and was large with another, but I determined to accompany him, and having settled every thing necessary in England, we embarked; intending to be absent not more than three years; and to return previous to my coming of age, I had one maid who attended me, and an old servant, who had lived with the late Mrs. Meridith, determined to follow the fortunes of his master.
"From this time my sorrows began;my first child, then about fifteen months old, died on the voyage, and I was so ill myself, from sea-sickness, that I feared I should not live to see the island we were bound to; and earnestly did I wish my husband had never thought of it. However we arrived there with the remains of my dear little boy, whom I had no sooner seen laid in the ground, than I was taken ill, and a premature birth was the consequence; but the child, which was another boy, lived, and I loved it with ten times more affection, from having lost its brother, and its being born in a strange country. I was too weak to nurse it myself, and a black woman was provided to suckle it.
"During this time my husband, who behaved to me with the fondest attention, found out the estate he was in search of, and was put in possession of it without much trouble. We lived in a house which was situated on it; my little boy grew, and I began to recover my health andspirits, and to think that, strange as the people were around me, I could live here happily enough till the time arrived for our return to England.
"Mr. Meridith every day brought me accounts of the flourishing state of the plantation, and the number of his slaves; but though this was the case, we did not appear to receive much emolument from it. The overseer he employed told him there were great drawbacks, and that it was necessary to use a stricter discipline towards the negroes on their having changed their master. I must say I did not like his reasoning, or his manner, and could not be persuaded but that he was imposing on my husband, to whom I mentioned my suspicions; but he thought them groundless, and declared his intention of leaving him in charge of the estate, while he went to look after that in the East-Indies, and which he had been taught to believe was still more considerable. Igave up my opinion to his, and offered to accompany him thither. At first he refused, but I could not bear to be left with my child in the care of Jackson, the man I thought so ill of; and therefore taking with us the black woman, who was nearly as much attached to my child as myself, with the English servants we brought over with us, we once more embarked on a stormy sea. Having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, we arrived at Madras after a voyage of nearly four months, during which time we were in two violent gales of wind.
"My husband having introduced himself and me to some of our countrymen, settled me there, and I remained with my two female attendants, and the man-servant I mentioned before, while he proceeded to Bengal to identify his property; which he understood, by some writings in his possession, was in that province, and bordering on the river Ganges. Those ofmy own sex and country, with whom I became acquainted, endeavoured to make my time pass as agreeably as they could in his absence; but I declined going into any company; my little boy, and the prospect of another child, engrossed all my attention, and many anxious hours I passed for the fate of their father, who was absent four months, during which time I heard from him as frequently as I could expect, but he did not recover his property here so easily as in Jamaica. While he was away, the black woman who nursed my little boy died, and her place was supplied by Bella; she was recommended to me by a lady who had lately purchased her, and offered to give her up to me on the same terms. Bella had seen many hardships, but her attention to poor Susee (the woman I lost) while she was ill made me like her, and she soon gained my good opinion and also my affection.
"Mr. Meridith returned a few weeksbefore I presented him with a daughter, whom I was enabled to nurse myself, and I had now two children, one born in the West, and the other in the East-Indies; I pressed them both to my bosom, and longed for the time when I should return to England, and live with them and their father, either at Rosewood or Coombdale."
Mrs. Meridith sighed when she came to this part of her tale, and a responsive sigh was uttered by all her auditors; who were too impatient to hear the rest of her eventful story, to interrupt the silence which for a moment or two prevailed; and she continued.
"After I was sufficiently recovered for him to leave me, Mr. Meridith again went up the country, in hopes of bringing with him, on his return, a true estimate of his property, or an equivalent for it in specie. Myself and children waited his arrival for another four months, and when he cameback, it was without any hope of recovering the estate for which he had had so much fruitless trouble. A very small part of it could be ascertained to be his; and for this he was content to receive a trifling sum compared to what he expected. But the negroes who were employed on the land concluded that he must have received much more, and when he had quitted the place to return home, they followed him, and after murdering our old English servant, who had this time gone with his master, they robbed him of all he had in his possession. Syphax was one of these negroes, whom he had purchased but a few weeks before, and brought away with him, having been pleased with his appearance; and though he was evidently connected with these who followed them, and knew their intention, it was tohisinterference that his master owed his life: for, though he had been his property but a little while, his kindness insensibly gainedhis affection; and, when the attack was made, Syphax joined those on his master's side. The negroes prevailed in gaining his property, but the eloquence of Syphax saved his life; and his contrition, and faithful attachment ever afterwards, made Mr. Meridith and me highly value him. I was saved the agony of hearing of this rencounter before my husband came back, or I should have suffered greatly. As it was, I was sufficiently happy in having him restored to me, though he came destitute of every thing but the clothes he wore, and bitterly lamenting the loss of our servant Wilson, whose death was not at first made known to me.
"'Our late voyage,' said he, 'has been entirely in vain; for I have given up the small part which I could obtain of the property, I believe to be mine, for a sum of money which I have been robbed of since; my poor servant was killed in mydefence; and I am returned to hear all my acquaintance blame me, for having attempted to recover what was at such a distance.'
"Syphax was in the room when he said this, and falling on his knees, he exclaimed, with the most affecting earnestness, 'Wilsonbedead, Sir; I will supply his place if you will let me; I have been very bad man, but the negroes did persuade me; I ashamed that ever I agree to them: but I did not know you a good master till I lived with you: I thought all white men bad men. They treat us ill, and we treat them ill, butyounever treat me ill. Wilson die for you, so will I: I keep your life as my own! and your's too, dear lady,' turning to me, 'and the children's for my master's sake. I will be your faithful servant.'
"I thanked him, and Mr. Meridith promised to consider him as such.
"'But will you return to the West-Indies with me?' said he; 'you say you have no friends there.'
"'Nor none any where, Massa,' said he, very affectingly, 'for bad men do not deserve to be called so. I have been very badly used in the West-Indies, but I go any where with you, to the end of the world.'
"He was then dismissed, and I would have persuaded my husband to return immediately to England: 'within a twelvemonth,' said I, 'and I shall be of age, and Rosewood and Coombdale will be your's. Surely on these estates we can live comfortably. O let us go, and think no more of property in the Indies, when we have so much at home.' He seemed affected by my earnestness, but made it appear so very necessary that we should once more visit Jamaica, and leave our property there in proper hands, to send us the remittances,that I agreed to accompany him thither again, secretly hoping that a few months more would land us in England."
Mrs. Meridith now found herself fatigued, and begged to postpone the remainder of her story till the next evening.
"The worst is still to come," said she, "and I do not find myself equal to the recital;" and her friends were too attentive to her feelings to urge her to continue it. Anna related what had passed between Syphax and herself in the garden.
"And his distress lest you should reveal his story, Mamma," said she, "is now accounted for; but he need not have been afraid, for I think it does him credit rather than dishonour."
"Undoubtedly," said Mr. Campbell, "for though he had consented to the plan the negroes had proposed, his attachment to his master got the better of his submission to them."
The rest of the evening soon passed away, and Mrs. Meridith was more than usually silent; she appeared melancholy, and as if the distresses she had still to relate lay heavy at her heart.
The whole party were true to their appointment the following evening, and Mrs. Meridith resumed her story.
"On our second arrival at Jamaica, Mr. Meridith had every reason to believe my opinion of Jackson (the man in whose care he had left his property, and the overseer to the plantation) was right, for he was hardly willing to let us re-enter our own house; and Syphax, who soon gained intelligence among the slaves of his rapaciousness, and cruel conduct towards them, informed his master, though not without great fear of the consequence. The very idea of having part of our property in our fellow creatures was to me always distressing; and I now proposed selling the estate while we were on the spot, and discharging Jackson without any recommendation. Syphax and Bella, who also came with us from Madras, eagerly seconded my proposal.
"'Oh, Sir, you don't know how he uses them,' said Bella; 'I have felt what they feel.' 'And I too,' said Syphax; 'at least, massa, put some better white man over them than he is.'
"Oh no, said I, sell them to some humane purchaser (if we must enter into this horrid traffic), and make Jackson's character sufficiently known to prevent his being employed again, at least over these poor creatures; and letusnot live in the constant apprehension of what they must suffer to provide us rum, and sugar, and sweetmeats, when we are not here to see how they are treated." My arguments prevailed, and the plantation was sold withthe slaves upon it; except those who were old and disabled, to whom we gave their liberty, and they were received into a charitable asylum for persons of that description, and to which Mr. Meridith presented a handsome donation.
"Bella and Syphax wept for joy when they saw some of their poor countrymen in this place, and were ready to think all the white men whom they knew in their younger days were not Christians; 'but now we see what Christians are,' said they, 'and we will love them dearly.' Alas! theyhadseen them before, or men bearing that appellation, but how deserving either were of the title, we must leave to the Judge of all hearts to determine.
"When the estate was sold (and I have reason to think it was disposed of to a compassionate man, as well as to great advantage to ourselves), my husband satisfied Jackson's demands; and we were pleasedto hear him say, that he meant to trade with the money he had acquired (and very badly I fear), and no longer act as overseer to any one.
"'There is one cruel white man less, then,' said Bella, 'to whip my poor countrymen,' We were now on the eve of departure, and my hopes were all alive for England, when the yellow fever broke out, and Mr. Meridith caught the infection. He would have insisted on my leaving him, but I would not hear of it; I sent my two children with Bella and Syphax to a distant part of the island, fully assured that they would take care of them; and with the best advice the place afforded, my husband at length recovered; but my poor English maid died of it, just as she was fondly hoping to return to her native country.
"I have often regretted both her and Wilson," continued Mrs. Meridith, after shedding a tear to their memory: "as ourhaving brought them from their home, though not against their inclination, made me more desirous of their returning with us; but both their lives were sacrificed to our service; and I think it but a poor amends to their families, the being enabled to assist them, who must feel the loss of a son and a daughter, too keenly for money to recompense, at least if they feel like me. It was my anxiety alone, and extreme solicitude for my husband, which prevented my taking the infection; and I was no sooner assured that there was no farther danger of it, than we re-embraced our children, and once more prepared for England. Bella and Syphax were now our constant attendants, and we embarked, and arrived in our own country in less than a month.
"I had then been of age about four months, and, after the necessary preliminaries, was put into possession of my estates, and the money we brought with usfrom the West-Indies was vested in the funds, and we hoped to live happily for many years; but my husband's constitution had received a shock from the fever, and the violent remedies which were given him for it, which he never recovered; and I had the misery of seeing his health daily growing worse and worse, though every medicine and change of air was repeatedly tried. His uncle and mine, Sir Robert Meridith, was not dead, but his second lady had brought him only daughters: so that he was now anxious for the recovery of his nephew, and often solicited us to try a milder climate. To this I should readily have consented, but he would not hear of it.
"'I have carried you over the seas often enough, my dear Maria,' he would say, 'nor will I again risk your precious life for what I have not the most distant prospect of obtaining; my health is too far gone ever to be recovered, but for thesake of our dear children, do you take care of your's.' But let me pass over the melancholy detail.
"Having tried the air of various places, without any material benefit, we at last settled at Coombdale, where he lingered out a painful existence for above three years, which all my attention could not alleviate, and which rendered him still dearer to me, as I saw the fortitude and resignation with which he bore his sufferings. I became a widow with two children when only thirty years old. Need I tell you my distress, or what I felt when I found he was no more—but that would be impossible! The faithful affection of Syphax and Bella, both to him and myself, I can never forget; and I now wished to live only for my children; and, in pursuance to his injunction, to exert myself for their sake; but alas! they were too soon taken from me!—But why do I say too soon? did not the Almighty, who gavethem, know the proper time? Oh! that I could cease to murmur! I lost them both in the small-pox within the year after their dear father; during which Bella and Syphax attended them with unremitting attention; and had it not been for them, I must have been swallowed up with excessive grief.
"I looked around, and the world seemed all a blank to me; not one relation whom I could love; when but a few months back I had an affectionate husband, and two children, whose ripening years seemed to promise me every comfort."
Tears now interrupted her speech, and her auditors felt too much to offer a word of consolation. Poor Anna wept aloud, and throwing her arms around her neck, said in broken accents, "Oh! my dear Mamma, I can never be to you what these were;—but all my life—every thing in my power,"—sobs and tears prevented her uttering more.
"I know what you would say, my Anna," returned her weeping patroness. "But let me not distress you and all my friends;—Alas! what does this melancholy retrospection lead to, but sorrow on every side, and impious murmurings on mine! Let me draw my melancholy tale to a conclusion.—Having seen the last duties performed to the remains of all I held dear, who were buried at Coombdale, and where, my friend," addressing Mr. Campbell, who could only bow his assent, "if you survive me, I hope you will see me buried also, I left the place where every thing reminded me of my heavy loss; and after a visit to London for a few weeks, to settle and regulate my affairs, I determined to seek the place of my childhood, and if among my first friends I could find any who could in any measure fill the vacancy made in my affections;—for to have no one to care for, and no one to care for us, is dreadful. I accordingly took my journey hither;and have found that quiet retirement, and a sincere desire to add to the happiness of others, will make sorrows, even like mine, supportable."
Here Mrs. Meridith ended her narrative, and the swoln eyes of her auditors gave a proof that they had been attentive to it. Their silence also was far more eloquent, in her opinion, than all the professions they could have made. Each looked at her with pity and admiration; and Anna thought she could never do enough, or be sufficiently attentive to such an excellent woman, who had encountered so many sorrows, and had been so good to her.
Supper was now brought in, but neither of the party could eat any, and they tried in vain to obliterate from Mrs. Meridith's mind the recollection of what she had related; the retrospection of her many trials had been too much for her, and she remained absorbed in silent grief. Afterher uncle and aunt had left them, on finding her friend did not retire to rest, Anna asked if she should read to her, "or would you like a little music, mamma?" said she, having heard that was sometimes efficacious in expelling melancholy.
"Which do you think," said Mrs. Meridith, "is most likely tosoothegrief like mine?"
"Reading, mamma, from what I have heard you say," replied Anna; "I am sorry I mentioned music."
"And what book can offermeconsolation?" said Mrs. Meridith, with a dejected air.
"I know but of one, mamma, and that is the Scriptures," replied Anna. "Shall I read in them?"
"Do, my child," replied Mrs. Meridith; "and there let me learn that the best of men are not exempt from affliction; why then should I repine at it. But I am an ungrateful creature."
The next morning Anna rejoiced to seethe countenance of her kind friend restored to its usual tranquillity; and after breakfast they walked to the farm, as Mrs. Meridith was anxious to see Mr. and Mrs. Campbell after her late recital. When they arrived neither of them were at home, and they were told that one of the labourers' wives had been taken ill in the night, and Mrs. Campbell was gone to visit her.
Thither also Mrs. Meridith and Anna bent their steps, and met her just come from the house, her eyes full of tears. "What is the matter, my dear aunt," asked Anna, "is dame Lewry very ill?"
"She is just dead," returned Mrs. Campbell, "and has left a distressed family indeed: her husband has such bad health, that for more than half the year he can do no work."
"What family has she left?" asked Mrs. Meridith; "she was always a very civil woman, and seemed industrious."
"She was," replied Mrs. Campbell,"which will make her loss more severely felt; she has left six children, and most of them too young to do any thing."
Mrs. Meridith entered the cottage, where the poor man sat surrounded by his children, with looks of the deepest sorrow. "Here is a case worse than mine," thought Mrs. Meridith: "poverty and ill health I never knew." She did not attempt to offer any comfort to the man at that time, but putting some money into his hand, she promised to call again.
He would have thanked her, but his countenance seemed to say, "thiswill not restore my wife to me;" and then looking at his children, he repeated with tears, "if it had beenme, instead of her,shecould have done something,—I shall never get over this stroke."
"The Almighty is able to support both you and them," returned Mrs. Meridith; "do not despair," and her eyes expressed the feeling of her heart.
On their return to the farm, Mrs. Campbell, ever ready to assist the distressed, said she intended taking the eldest girl, then about ten years old, into her family; and lest her father should feel the want of her at home (she being the only one who could be of any use in the house), Anna proposed their sending an old woman in the village, whose home was not very comfortable at her son's-in-law, with whom she then lived, to take care of Lewry's family. This arrangement was not put in execution till after the funeral, and they had consulted the poor man upon it; who readily acceded to any thing they mentioned, and was very thankful that his girl should get into so good a place as farmer Campbell's.
The old woman, to whom Mrs. Meridith allowed a weekly stipend, readily undertook the care of the younger children, who were chiefly girls, saying, "I knew their poor mother well, and a kind neighbourshe always was to me; andhetoo, I shall be happy to do him some good, and I'll take as much care of his children as if they were my own."
Mrs. Meridith and Anna frequently called at the cottage, and the smiling face of one of the little girls, then about six years old, always attracted their attention; and Mrs. Meridith asked her daughter if she would like to have her to Rosewood, and instruct her in what was necessary to make her a servant to herself.
"Nothing would please me more, mamma," returned Anna, "and, under your guidance, and with Bella to teach her what I do not know, I hope I should not spoil her; and Bella will be quite delighted, for she is already very fond of her."
"But your attention to your little favourite must not withdraw your affection fromme, my dear Anna," said Mrs. Meridith.
"Oh! my dear mamma, how can you think she will?" replied the affectionategirl; "can I ever loveheras I doyou, who have done so much for me?"
"Nor is she to be made our companion," continued Mrs. Meridith, "only when we chuse to be amused by her; but she shall always be with Bella and Syphax, and never in the kitchen if they can help it; and though from her coming so young we must expect her to treat us with familiarity, if we gain her confidence and esteem, and teach her rightly to appreciate her own character, we need not be afraid of disrespect. I should wish a servant to be well acquainted with me, and to believe that I would not betray the trust she reposed in me; and it is desirable this confidence should be mutual, though I am sorry to say there are but few servants in whom it can be placed; yet, I think the manner I intend little Betsy to be brought up, would be the most probable way to obtain such an one. Time will shew whether I am right or not."
The next week little Betsy was brought to Rosewood by Anna, with equal delight on both sides.
"I am going to be Miss Meridith's little maid," said the delighted child; "and I shall have all new clothes. But don't let the little ones" (meaning her brothers and sisters still younger than herself) "cry after me, dame: Imustgo to wait on Miss Meridith you know, she has been so good to all of us." This was said with such an air of importance that the whole party laughed at her: while little Betty walked off, quite satisfied, as they did not oppose her going.
"Now you must be very good," said Anna, "and mind what Bella says to you."
"And whatyousay to me, Miss," said the child, jumping along, "for I am to be your servant, and I will wait upon you by night and by day."
"Oh, you must not promise too much at present," returned Anna, "you are but a very little girl."
"But I shallgrow," replied she, "and then I shall learn, and I shall be able to work soon, and make all your clothes; see if I don't, now."
"All I expect of you at present," said Anna, smiling at herchildishness, "is that you will be a good girl, and mind what Bella says, and be very quiet in the house."
"Yes, I was quiet when my poor mother was ill, and so Ibewhen father is bad," returned the child, "and so I will when you are ill."
"And at all times," replied Anna, "or Mrs. Meridith won't like it, and then perhaps she may tell me to turn you away, and I shall always do as she desires me."
"O, I will be as still as a mouse," cried little Betsey, putting her finger on her lips. "I would not be turned away for ever so much;"—and then she began a long story how one of their neighbours' girls was turned away from her place, because she was not a good servant, and another girl turned out of the school, "so I know it is a very bad thing to be turned away," said she, "and I will try to keep my place now I have got one."
The simplicity of the child, and her rusticity of manners, amused Mrs. Meridith and Anna for some weeks; but there was about her a conceit, and high opinion of herself, which kept them from extolling her simple attempts to please, too much; though they gave ample credit for "doing the best," as she called it.
Bella was busy the first month in makingher an entire new set of clothes, which were plain and neat, and suited to the station Mrs. Meridith intended her to fill.
When Bella went to visit her father's cottage it was some time before Betty could be persuaded to accompany her, lest she should be left behind, or the little ones should cry after her; but on being assured that she should return again, she ventured to pay them a visit, and found her brothers and sisters quite reconciled to her absence; and though they expressed great pleasure at seeing her, they did not desire her to remain with them. And Bella amused her young mistress, after hernew servantwas put to bed, with the account she had given to her father and the old dame of her place, and the variety of things she had to do in it.
From this time the little girl began to conform to their ways, which were at first so strange to her, while her affection for Mrs. Meridith and her young lady daily increased, and Bella took every opportunity of reminding her how much they deserved it.
Sixteen years of Anna's life had now passed away, and her understanding and manners improved every day. William Campbell still continued in the farm, and often supplied the place of his father at the neighbouring markets; but John, who was of Anna's age, had for some time expressed a wish for another employment, and Mrs. Meridith proposed his being articled as a clerk to a lawyer in the neighbouring town, and who conducted her affairs in the neighbourhood.
"I look upon your children," said she to Mr. Campbell, "as my relations, and mean to assist them as far as is in my power, if you approve of my plan, Anna; and I will go over to L—, and speak to Mr. Mansell, and, perhaps, for the sake of the young man, we may remain there a few months, in which time he will be introduced tothose few acquaintance I have there, and I hope his behaviour will be such, that for his own sake they will notice him after we come away."
Mr. Campbell expressed his thanks. "Would my son take my advice," said he, "he would prefer the happy country life to the toils and puzzles of the law; but he is now old enough to know his own mind, and if he prefers it, I will wait on the gentleman you mention, and both John and myself will thank you, madam, to speak in his favour." John was delighted: it was what he always wished; and if Mrs. Meridith would be so kind, he would endeavour not to disgrace her recommendation.
The nearness of L— to Downash also made it desirable, as his father or brother visited it every market-day, and he should not feel it as any separation from them. But his three sisters were of a different opinion: they said he would soon become agentleman and forget them, and none of the family liked to lose his society.
Anna was surprised to hear Mrs. Meridith talk of spending a winter at L—, as she had often heard her rejoice that her residence was not nearer to it.
"I do it," said her friend, "to shewyousomething of society. The world is much the same every where, only as the circle advances in higher life, dissipation and dissoluteness of manners too often increase; you have read a great deal of what this world is, but it is necessary you should see something of it also, as your years increase, and not gatherallyour information from books. I know the society in a country town is not considered either very agreeable or improving, yet there may be some families at L— with whom you may form a pleasant acquaintance; and I wish also to show the neighbourhood that I do indeed look upon you as my daughter."
"It is formysake then, mamma, you are going to L—," returned Anna; "I can hardly bear you should leave Rosewood on my account."
"I do not expect to meet with any thing which will compensate for the change," said Mrs. Meridith; "but a little variety is necessary foryou, and after the seclusion I have lately lived in, I could not bring myself to venture farther from home at present; neither would it be prudent for you, who must be gradually initiated, if ever you join the giddy round of gay life, or it might be too much for you."
Anna replied that her whole desire was to live as she hitherto had done, and to follow the example of her kind friend in every thing. "If indeed, my dear mamma, you intend me the privilege of standing in your place hereafter," said she, "what ought I to be! and how far short shall I fall ofyourgoodness! It was that alone which first made you think ofme; andwhatever I am, all I have and know I owe to your kindness. Oh! continue to me your instruction and advice, that I may become more and more like you."
The winter was now fast advancing, but Mrs. Meridith would not leave Rosewood before Christmas, that she might enjoy the festivity of the season with her poor neighbours, who were fed and clothed as usual. On Christmas and New Year's day, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, andalltheir children dined at Rosewood; and on the evening of twelfth-day, the three elder girls with William and John, and a younger brother about nine years of age, were again invited to partake of a cake. It was Anna's treat to them, and they amused themselves by singing, dancing, or whatever she thought most agreeable to her younger cousins, who never visited her except at these times, and on her's and Mrs. Meridith's birth-day, which both happened in the summer months, lest, as their fathersaid, "it should make them dissatisfied with their situation at home," where they were constantly engaged in domestic affairs. The eldest managed the dairy, under the direction of her mother; and the youngest the poultry; and the care of the needle-work for her brothers, and the younger children, chiefly devolved upon the second girl, who used regularly to bring what wanted mending to her mother, and after receiving her directions, supply her sisters and the female servants with work. Mrs. Campbell had two other boys, who supplied the place of William and John, at school, and there was a little boy and girl still younger at home.
After Christmas, John, having been introduced to Mr. Mansell, and all preliminaries settled, removed to his house, and it was agreed on that he should board with that gentleman; and in a few days after, Mrs. Meridith and Anna, with Syphax and Bella, and little Betty, with the other servants, went into a ready-furnished house for the winter, determined to be sociable with the inhabitants, and to be pleased with all that was intended to please them. The estate which Mrs. Meridith possessed in the neighbourhood made her of consequence in L—, and the most respectable families made a point of calling on her after her arrival; and when they had been only one week in the town, Anna was surprised to find they were engaged every evening. Mrs. Meridith attended the balls with her, which were once a fortnight; and several private dances were given at different houses, where Anna was never in want of a partner. Mrs. Meridith's patronage was enough to bring her into notice; and had she not a mind well stored with antidotes against it, and the repeated cautions of her kind uncle, not to be imposed on by their adulation, poor Anna would have been in danger of losing all her steadiness of mind, and the humbleopinion of herself which was founded on propriety.
"Consider, my dear child, it is owing to Mrs. Meridith's favour you receive this notice," said Mr. Campbell; "herconsequence is such that whom she favours, every one who wishes to please her thinks it necessary to favour also; but letherwithdraw her protection, and where would your noticers be then?"
"Oh! you and my aunt and cousins would notice me," replied she, with an air of gaiety; "even if Mrs. Meridith gave me up; unless I should do any thing very disgraceful indeed; and even then you would care for me, I know."
"And so would I," said John, who was present at this conversation; "my cousin Anna would be always the same to me, let her name be Meridith, or Eastwood, or what it may."
Anna returned him thanks with earnestness. "It is only at Rosewood, and thefarm," said she, "that I expect to meet with real friends; and my intercourse with the world has not alienated my affections from them. But, my dear uncle, you would not have me quarrel with these people, because they do not notice me for my own sake? Be assured I properly estimate their attentions, and often smile at them all; but Mrs. Meridith has so often cautioned me against giving any one reason to think I treat them with contempt, that I am careful to return their civility: and if we understand each other right, it passes, like current coin, for no more than it is worth."
"Well, my dear," replied the farmer, smiling, "don't let it increase in value, and I am satisfied. Remember many people have been fined lately for valuing guineas atmorethan they are worth."