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Файл:Clarissa V. The history of a young lady
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CLARISSA • V
But yet, on some occasions, this brother and sister showed
themselves to be true will disputants.
Let tongue and eyes express what they will, Mr. Belford,
the fi rst reading of a will, where a person dies worth anything
considerable, generally affords a true test of the relations’
love to the deceased.
The clothes, the thirty guineas for mourning to Mrs. Norton, with the recommendation of the good woman for housekeeper at The Grove, were thought suffi cient, had the article of
600£. which was called monstrous, been omitted. Some other
passages in the will were called fl ights, and such whimsies as
distinguish people of imagination from those of judgment.
My cousin Dolly Hervey was grudged the library. Miss Harlowe said, That as she and her sister never bought the same
books, she would take that to herself, and would make it up to
her cousin Dolly one way or other.
I intend, Mr. Belford, to save you the trouble of interposing – the library shall be my cousin Dolly’s.
Mrs. Hervey could hardly keep her seat. On this occasion,
however, she only said, That her late dear and ever dear niece,
was too glad to her and hers. But, at another time, she declared,
with tears, that she could not forgive herself for a letter she
wrote,
16
looking at Miss Arabella, whom, it seems, unknown to
any body, she had consulted before she wrote it and which, she
said, must have wounded a spirit, that now she saw had been
too deeply wounded before.
O my Aunt, said Arabella, no more of that! – Who would
have thought that the dear creature had been such a penitent?
16
See Vol. III. Letter LII.
171
SAMUEL RICHARDSON
Mr. John and Mr. Antony Harlowe were so much affected
with the articles in their favour, (bequeathed to them without
a word or hint of reproach or recrimination,) that they broke
out into self-accusations; and lamented that their sweet niece,
as they called her, was not got above all grateful acknowledgement and returns. Indeed, the mutual upbraidings and grief of
all present, upon those articles in which every one was remembered for good, so often interrupted me, that the reading
took up above six hours. But curses upon the accursed man were
a refuge to which they often resorted to exonerate themselves.
How wounding a thing, Mr. Belford, is a generous and
well-distinguished forgiveness! What revenge can be more
effectual, and more noble, were revenge intended, and were
it wished to strike remorse into a guilty or ungrateful heart!
But my dear cousin’s motives were all duty and love. She seems
indeed to have been, as much as a mortal could be, LOVE itself. Love sublimed by a purity, by a true delicacy, that hardly
any woman before her could boast of. O Mr. Belford, what
an example would she have given in every station of life, (as
wife, mother, mistress, friend,) had her lot fallen upon a man
blessed with a mind like her own!
The 600£. bequeathed to Mrs. Norton, the library to
Miss Hervey, and the remembrances to Miss Howe, were not
the only articles grudged. Yet to what purpose did they regret
the pecuniary bequests, when the poor’s fund, and not themselves, would have had the benefi t, had not those legacies been
bequeathed?
But enough passed to convince me that my cousin was absolutely right in her choice of an executor out of the family.
172
CLARISSA • V
Had she chosen one in it, I dare say that her will would have
been no more regarded than if it had been the will of a dead
king; than that of Lousi XIV. in particular; so fl agrantly broken through by his nephew the Duke of Orleans before he
was cold. The only will of that monarch, perhaps, which was
ever disputed.
But little does Mr. James Harlowe think that, while he is
grasping at hundreds, he will, most probably, lose thousands,
if he be my survivor. A man of a spirit so selfi sh and narrow
shall not be my heir.
You will better conceive, Mr. Belford, than I can express,
how much they were touched at the hint that the dear creature had been obliged to part with some of her clothes.
Silent reproach seized every one of them when I came to
the passage where she mentions that she deferred fi lling up
some blanks, in hopes of receiving their last blessing and
forgiveness.
I will only add, that they could not bear to hear read
the concluding part, so solemnly addressed to her Redeemer.
They all arose from their seats, and crowded out of the apartment we were in; and then, as I afterwards found, separated, in
order to seek that consolation in solitary retirement, which,
though they could not hope for from their own refl ections,
yet, at the time, they had less reason to expect in each other’s
company. I am, Sir,
Your faithful and obedient servant, WILLIAM MORDEN.
LETTER XXXV
Mr. Belford, to the Right Hon. Lord M.
London, Sept. 14.
MY LORD,
I am very apprehensive that the affair between Mr.
Lovelace and the late excellent Miss Clarissa Harlowe will be
attended with farther bad consequences, notwithstanding her
dying injunctions to the contrary. I would, therefore, humbly
propose that your Lordship, and his other relations, will forward the purpose your kinsman lately had to go abroad; where
I hope he will stay till all is blown over. But as he will not
stir, if he knew the true motives of your wishes, the avowed
inducement, as I hinted once to Mr. Mowbray, may be such
as respects his own health both of person and mind. To Mr.
Mowbray and Mr. Tourville all countries are alike; and they
perhaps will accompany him.
I am glad to hear that he is in a way of recovery; but this
the rather induces me to press the matter. I think no time
should be lost.
174
CLARISSA • V
Your Lordship had head that I have the honour to be
the executor of this admirable lady’s last will. I transcribe from
it the following paragraph.
[He then transcribes the article which so gratefully mentions this nobleman, and the ladies of his family, in relation to
the rings she bequeaths them, about which he desires their
commands.]
LETTER XXXVI
Miss Montague, to John Belford, Esq.
M. Hall, Friday, Sept. 15.
SIR,
My Lord having the gout in his right hand, his Lordship,
and Lady Sarah, and Lady Betty, have commanded me to inform you, that, before your letter came, Mr. Lovelace was preparing for a foreign tour. We shall endeavour to hasten him
away on the motives you suggest.
We are all extremely affected with the dear lady’s death.
Lady Betty and Lady Sarah have been indisposed ever since
they heard of it. They had pleased themselves, as had my sister and self, with the hopes of cultivating her acquaintance
and friendship after he was gone abroad, upon her own terms.
Her kind remembrance of each of us has renewed, though
it could not heighten, our regrets for so irreparable a loss.
We shall order Mr. Finch, our goldsmith, to wait on you.
He has our directions about the rings. They will be long, long
worn in memory of the dear testatrix.
176
CLARISSA • V
Every body is assured that you will do all in your power to
prevent farther ill consequences from this melancholy affair.
My Lord desires his compliments to you. I am, Sir,
Your humble servant, CH. MONTAGUE.
* * *
This collection having run into a much greater length
than was wished, it is proper to omit several letters that passed
between Colonel Morden, Miss Howe, Mr. Belford, and Mr.
Hickman, in relation to the execution of the lady’s will, &c.
It is, however, necessary to observe, on this subject, that
the unhappy mother, being supported by the two uncles, infl uenced the affl icted father to over-rule all his son’s objections, and to direct a literal observation of the will; and at
the same time to give up all the sums which he was empowered by it to reimburse himself; as also to take upon himself to
defray the funeral expenses.
Mr. Belford so much obliges Miss Howe by his steadiness,
equity, and dispatch, and by his readiness to contribute to
the directed collection, that she voluntarily entered into a correspondence with him, as the representative of her beloved
friend. In the course of which, he communicated to her (in
confi dence) the letters which passed between him and Mr.
Lovelace, and, by Colonel Morden’s consent, those which
passed between that gentleman and himself.
He sent, with the fi rst parcel of letters which he had transcribed out of short-hand for Miss Howe, a letter to Mr. Hick-
177
SAMUEL RICHARDSON
man, dated the 16th of September, in which he expresses himself as follows:
“But I ought, Sir, in this parcel to have kept out one letter.
It is that which relates to the interview between yourself and
Mr. Lovelace, at Mr. Dormer’s,
you with an air of levity, which neither your person, your character, nor your commission, deserved; but which was his usual
way of treating every one whose business he was not pleased
with. I hope, Sir, you have too much greatness of mind to be
disturbed at the contents of this letter, should Miss Howe communicate them to you; and the rather, as it is impossible that
you should suffer with her on that account.”Mr. Belford then
excuses Mr. Lovelace as a good-natured man with all his faults;
and gives instances of his still greater freedoms with himself.
To this Mr. Hickman answers, in his letter of the 18th:
“As to Mr. Lovelace’s treatment of me in the letter you are
pleased to mention, I shall not be concerned at it, whatever it
be. I went to him prepared to expect odd behaviour from him;
and was not disappointed. I argue to myself, in all such cases
as this, as Miss Howe, from her ever-dear friend, argues, That
if the refl ections thrown upon me are just, I ought not only to
forgive them, but endeavour to profi t by them; if unjust, that
I ought to despise them, and the refl ector too, since it would
be inexcusable to strengthen by anger an enemy whose malice
might be disarmed by contempt. And, moreover, I should be
almost sorry to fi nd myself spoken well of by a man who could
treat, as he treated, a lady who was an ornament to her sex
and to human nature.
17
in which Mr. Lovelace treats
17
See Vol. VII. Letter XXVIII.
178
CLARISSA • V
“I thank you, however, Sir, for your consideration for me in
this particular, and for your whole letter, which gives me so desirable an instance of the friendship which you assured me of
when I was last in town; and which I as cordially embrace as
wish to cultivate.”Miss Howe, in her’s of the 20th, acknowledging the receipt of the letters, and papers, and legacies, sent
with Mr. Belford’s letter to Mr. Hickman, assures him, “That
no use shall be made of his communications, but what he shall
approve of.”He had mentioned, with compassion, the distresses of the Harlowe family – “Persons of a pitiful nature, says
she, may pity them. I am not one of those. You, I think, pity
the infernal man likewise; while I, from my heart, grudge him
his phrensy, because it deprives him of that remorse, which,
I hope, in his recovery, will never leave him. At times, Sir,
let me tell you, that I hate your whole sex for his sake; even
men of unblamable characters, whom, at those times, I cannot
but look upon as persons I have not yet found out.
“If my dear creature’s personal jewels be sent up to you for
sale, I desire that I may be the purchaser of them, at the highest price – of the necklace and solitaire particularly.
“Oh! what tears did the perusal of my beloved’s will cost
me! – But I must not touch upon the heart-piercing subject.
I can neither take it up, nor quit it, but with execration of
the man whom all the world must execrate.”Mr. Belford, in his
answer, promises that she shall be the purchaser of the jewels,
if they come into his hands.
He acquaints her that the family had given Colonel Morden the keys of all that belonged to the dear departed; that
the unhappy mother had (as the will allows) ordered a piece of
179
SAMUEL RICHARDSON
needlework to be set aside for her, and had desired Mrs. Norton to get the little book of meditations transcribed, and to let
her have the original, as it was all of her dear daughter’s handwriting; and as it might, when she could bear to look into it,
administer consolation to herself. And that she had likewise
reserved for herself her picture in the Vandyke taste.
Mr. Belford sends with this letter to Miss Howe the lady’s memorandum book, and promises to send her copies of
the several posthumous letters. He tells her that Mr. Lovelace
being upon the recovery, he had enclosed the posthumous letter directed for him to Lord M. that his Lordship might give
it to him, or not, as he should fi nd he could bear it. The following is a copy of that letter:
TO MR. LOVELACE THURSDAY, AUG. 24.
I told you, in the letter I wrote to you on Tuesday last,
that you should have another sent you when I had got into my
father’s house.
The reader may observe, by the date of this letter, that it
was written within two days of the allegorical one, to which it
refers, and while the lady was labouring under the increased
illness occasioned by the hurries and terrors into which Mr.
Lovelace had thrown her, in order to avoid the visit he was
so earnest to make her at Mr. Smith’s; so early written, perhaps, that she might not be surprised by death into a seeming
breach of her word.
18
18
See her letter, enclosed in Mr. Lovelace’s, No. LIV. of Vol. VII.
180
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